On the edge

This past friday I went to my Seminary roomate's house warming party. It was cool catching up with him and just enjoy spending time with friends. A very interesting thing came out of that experience for me. The first is that this is their first house.
So, a first home. My friends have been married for a bit over a year by now. They just got their house a couple of months ago. When I came in I congratulated him on being a home owner now. His reply was; "I won't be a home owner until 2030." It made me laugh and now that I have thought about it I also know it tells me a lot about him. Realism, confidence, faith, perspective, etc. A lot of it is grounded in realism. He knows he doesn't yet own the house, he knows it'll be a long way before they "truly" own the house. However, he is confident they will make it through, after all he did say he was going to be a home owner. There is also a very real sense faith as how could one possibly know where life would lead or how it will go for the next 25 years or so. Finally, he was smiling as he said that; the prospect of owning this house is daunting and long, yet not crushingly impossible. Commitments are interesting, some are easy to get into and agree with. Others are more like very heavy, even annoying endeavors. As I sit here I wonder what kind of commmitment is Calvary to each one of us. It is obvious to me that many of you are deeply committed to Calvary. In fact, I can say that I now count myself amongst that group.
The reason I am wondering what kind of commitment Calvary is to you is the fact that it will affect how each will deal with the problems we have now and the ones that are coming. Pastor Kim has spoken often about the Chinese character for crisis ( I think that is the word) and the two meanings it has. I believe very strongly that if we see our commitment to Calvary the way my roomate and his wife see theirs with that house we will have a much easier time with the problems. It doesn't mean the problems won't be hard or we won't be scared, upset, annoyed, etc. But it does mean that we have little something inside us that pulls us through. In their case they're starting a life together, it's a house they like very much, etc. In my case, it is the love I see in the church, the family that makes Calvary what it is. The vision to do its best to adjust to this new world and work to live in it, etc. What's that little something that helps you know you love Calvary?
Just one more thing, that "little something" isn't so little. Have you ever notice how many of the most important things in Christianity are little somethings? A little baby changing the world. A man from a little unknow part of Galilee redeemed all of us. A faith system that started in a little, far away part of the Roman empire eventually conquered that empire.

It all starts with a little something. In the case of Christianity all those little somethings have been cared for by God! We are yet another "little something" in a long line that is deeply cared for and loved by God.