This week my wife and I drove into Chicago to be a part of the National Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I don’t know if you’ve been to Chicago, but downtown Chicago is a beautiful city filled with gloriously carved stone skyscrapers from the early 1900s and dozens of shimmering towers from today. The sight of these lit towers from a sailboat on lake Michigan at night simply takes your breath away. The cityscape beckons you back toward the shore; promising that when you step onto the finely carved granite and cement you will find the very thing for which your soul has been craving.
From the edge of the city a thirsty soul can see a rich community of artists. Immediately, the lonely and displaced artist’s soul is beckoned to come closer. There is the “golden mile” filled with fine shops luring you in from the outskirts. Each of these shops offers only the best. Do you desire to appear better? Not looking so hot? The golden mile will fulfill your desire with custom made designer shoes and custom fitted dresses. Do you desire relaxation? The golden mile is filled with five star hotels to cater to your every desire. Massage? Right away. Fine food? Coming sir. Tattoo? Down the street, two blocks to the left, turn right into the alley, the door behind the dumpster. The city promises that every desire can and will be fulfilled.
As my wife and I traveled toward this glorious city of promise, I saw all of these cars streaming into the city. Other people were also drawn in to quench their thirsty souls. I saw all of these cars intimately: bumpers in my windshield; truck grills practically in my trunk; people drinking coffee, not watching where they are going and practically sitting in my passenger’s seat. All of these people were putting up with everyone else, kindly honking their horns at each other, and greeting each other calmly with an interesting greeting of the finger; just so that they can find the promise of the city. And, I thought to myself, “Self…Why aren’t this many people steaming into church?” Isn’t this scene of city traffic the very thing all Christians dream to see just outside the church door? After-all, God has given the church a special promise that will water the soul of any spiritually dry person. It is a fact that every person who enters Chicago will be disappointed by its inability to fulfill the cravings of their life. No matter how well the things the city has to offer is marketed, obtaining stuff will always leave us with just a lot of stuff, rather than a quenched soul. God’s promises, on the other hand, will never leave us dry. So, why are not people cutting off other people on the highway in order to get into church where the thirst quenching promises of God can be heard?
Do not forget how powerful God’s promises are. It is easy for the faithful to get discouraged and forget. It is easy for the words of God's promises to ring dryly in the ear because it has been heard so many times. Do not forget how powerful God's promises are. God promised Abraham land and a great world full of descendants. You know Abraham: landless cattle herder Abraham; non-convinced, questioning God all the time Abraham, childless old, old, old, old Abraham. He had no reason to have faith. But, the assurance of the things hoped for: the promise of land and the promise of many descendants, kept him moving and motivated in life. He strove to reach God’s promised city despite the fact that he knew he would never see it or enjoy the fruits of God’s promise directly. He would not see the great city of Jerusalem. He would not see the earth populated with his descendants. That is how powerful God’s promises are. They draw us in even if we will not directly benefit from them. They draw us in like moths to beautiful blue lights. Of course, God doesn’t kill us, and God isn’t blue, so that’s a bad example. Some better examples: God promises do draw us close like the smile of a newborn child or the beauty of a forested mountain at sunrise or the mystery of a glorious lit city at night.
We still find ourselves drawn toward the promised city of God. The beautiful city comes down to us out of heaven. There is no temple because God is there. God is no longer far far away. God is right there. God’s light shines bright, not only on the people of the city, but it spills out of the gates of the city to the four corners of the earth. The gates are wide open and everyone the light touches is invited in. There will be no more separation or segregation or hating or sinning of any kind. Crying and weeping will be no more. All will be given the chance to wash their robes in the waters coming from the throne of Christ and forgiveness and love will make everything clean and new. Hunger will no longer plague people as the tree of life provides more than enough food for all.
These images from Revelation provide a powerful promise to us and I find that I am drawn to the city of God. How can you not be? How can we not want to be a part of the city without hatred? How can we not get excited about a city where everyone, even the too short or too fat or too skinny or too dumb or too whatever, are all accepted in? How can we not get excited about a place where forgiveness has the last word and all of our hurts and pains and sins are washed away forever? Who reading this doesn’t want to be a part of that? No one, of course! Who reading this doesn’t want to tell others to get in the backseat of the car and come along for the glorious ride? No one, of course!
So I am forced to ask: with the promise of such a glorious city, why aren’t people knocking down the doors of the church wanting to be a part of it? This is a question I take very seriously. This is a question that God’s church cannot afford to ignore. This is a question that our own congregation cannot afford to ignore. And, the only way we can answer this question is by looking first at the messengers of this glorious vision; ourselves. So, here’s a question to us.
Is this congregation a church of wishful thinking or a church of faith? There is a difference between wishful thinking and faith after-all. Wishful thinking anticipates some great thing to happen out of the blue. Expecting to catch a pop fly for the first time when one has never put on a baseball glove before in life is wishful thinking. Faith is the assurance of something hoped for. Expecting a major league player with a perfect record to catch a pop fly is faith. Faith is the assurance of something hoped for.
Here’s the difference between the two types of church. A church of wishful thinking wishes more people would quit whatever they are doing on a Sunday and fill the pews. The church of faith sees that God has opened the table to everyone and therefore invites their friends and family and neighbors to come in and eat. A church of wishful thinking wishes people would get their acts together, and because of this expectation, gets bogged down in correcting little misdemeanors like forgetting to turn off a hall light or misprinting something in the bulletin. The church of faith experiences the forgiveness of God every morning, and shares that forgiveness freely with everyone around. A church of wishful thinking desperately wishes to raise lots of money from bake sales and yard sales, so that they will get enough to pay the pastor and the light bill. The church of faith gives freely from God’s gifts to them for the healing of the world and for the healing of those in need in their community. They understand how truly blessed they are. Any proceeds from a bake sale or yard sale is seen as a gift from God so that ministry to the poor, disadvantaged, or abused can occur. A church of wishful thinking wants to see immediate results from the efforts of their people in leadership. The church of faith prays that God will cause to sprout the seeds that everyone in the church casts on the ground. They expect this to happen in God's own time, just as God’s promises to Abraham sprouted in God's own time.
The church of wishful thinking is a church that is bitter; expects much, but does little; desires a full church, but does not desire God. I am afraid that many churches can in some way be characterized as a church of wishful thinking. The church of wishful thinking will never see a traffic jam outside its doors. No one wants to be a part of such a misdirected church?
But, we don’t need wishful thinking when we have a God who promises a beautiful city where everyone is lovingly accepted, and washed clean; even those of us who have messed up trying to do this church thing correctly. Who needs wishful thinking when forgiveness for everyone is available now and bitterness can be wiped away right now? Who needs wishful thinking when God promises a city where everyone is welcome & division will be no more? Who needs wishful thinking when God is present with you right now, filling the room with life & love? Who needs wishful thinking when the deepest desires of our soul are being filled right now so tightly that we can’t possibly contain it? Who needs wishful thinking when we have faith; a faith that moves mountains, a faith that moves us out of here, a faith that endures forever?
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