something to post

My apologies for the lack of blog entries. I copy notes more often at the Park church facebook fan page. I can give you this advance copy of what I will put in the church newsletter for May:

Remember those coloring contests where it seems like the winners were the ones who never colored across the lines? I wanted to be that kind of a good "colorer."

Later on, I learned that art wasn't about just painting by number or filling in someone else's lines. Sometimes you need to work with blank paper or embellish and design beyond the printed lines. I am still trying to learn that lesson. My life has been mostly about staying within the lines. I am not that big on rule breaking and I know about the importance of healthy boundaries. But that simply doesn't get to the art of faithful living.

Mike Yaconelli wrote a good lesson for me in his book, Dangerous Wonder :

"Most of my life I heard the message loud and clear that Christianity was all about coloring within the lines and coloring well. If I was a good Christian, if I loved Jesus and wanted to please Him, if I read my Bible, prayed, and went to church, then I would get better and better at coloring. And if I lived a long and godly life, I would eventually be able to draw close to the perfect drawing. Wherever that message came from, it was a lie. I am fifty-five years old and my coloring still looks like it was done by a two year old. I believe God looks at my coloring and says, “Hmmmmm. You certainly like the color green! Lots of passion in this stroke. I like it.”

Even as I write those words, I can hear the “concern” of those who worry about others misunderstanding the gospel. “You’re not suggesting, are you, that nothing matters to God? Certainly, God has standards!” What I am suggesting is that God’s grace is so outside the lines of our understanding that we can only stand in awe and wonder. Christianity is not about learning how to live within the lines; Christianity is about the joy of coloring. The grace of God is preposterous enough to accept as beautiful a coloring that anyone else would reject as ugly"



I think this coloring analogy describes God in some other ways as well. God , too has been showing us the way to be creative in the art of soul work and True Life. Eventually we have to get beyond just coloring between the lines. God has given a Bible full of illustrations and examples.

When it came to the line between heaven and earth; Jesus was God's way of coloring across the line! Our Gospel is that the line between us and God, has been colored over with forgiveness. Jesus was always coloring across religious and social lines when he ate with "tax collectors and sinners" There were people in his days who didn't like the way he did his coloring. That's probably still true. The resurrection of Christ, is all about God coloring across the heavy lines of death. St. Paul says that "in Christ there is neither slave nor free; Jew nor Gentile, male nor female". Sound s like coloring across the lines to me! God colors outside the lines with grace. John Wesley too, even with his strict "method's” was a person who colored outside the lines when he preached outdoors and went to the people who were not inside the lines of the church's doors.



Pentecost is on May 23 and it is a great story about God not staying in the lines. The Holy Spirit will blow across the boundaries of language , culture and nations. God will color all over the world! Can we see it as the coloring work of love! We still need to get out the color crayons and let God teach us how to be creative again. We are repeatedly hearing that we need to do more coloring outside of the church, Can we color across the lines with new ways of doing business, trying different things in worship, being more inviting to others, and learning new things?

Pentecost teaches us to get out the color" red", for spirit, and fire and enthusiasm and courage, and reach out across the lines. Color with the power of wild wind! Art, like Christianity, is about being inspired, beyond the lines That's Pentecost. Let's go and do some coloring, with joy! Pastor Rory