Scattering and Gathering

As our time in Ofunato came to a close it may have been that my mind was already changing gears and focusing on the Pentecost sermon I’m working on for this coming Sunday. We got an early start, leaving Ofunato at 6:30AM and so we only had a few minutes to gather as a team, take some photos and pray together. But as we took the photos and said our goodbyes I couldn’t help but think about the theme of my upcoming sermon. The people of Babel were afraid of being scattered. That’s why they built the tower. It says so in Genesis 11:4. So God comes down and scatters the people across the face of the earth. (Gen 11:8) The rest of the Old Testament is an ever repeating story of God’s people being scattered, then gathered, then scattered again, gathered again etc. The theme continues in the New Testament as Jesus gathers his disciples and then sends them out. He gathers great throngs of people, only to send them home and move on to the next village. When his time is over here on earth he leaves his disciples with a clear directive. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Scattered, once again!

And then on the day of Pentecost God fearing people are gathered from so many places (you know, that list of locations that almost every scripture reader inevitably gets tongue twisted on). And the Holy Spirit descends upon them and allows each one of them to hear the good news in their own language. God embraces their diversity, gives them the message of the Gospel in their own tongue, and then presumably sends them back to the places from where they came. It’s the gathering and scattering of God’s people once again.

These tulips open up every morning when the sun rises and wakes them up. Then in the evening they close again.

If you go to the bay you can see the water level rising up at high tide and going back down at low tide.

Often the wind will change directions near the mountains, flowing up toward the summit at first and then when it warms up, flowing back down to the flat land below.

It’s almost as if nature itself is breathing in and out, in and out. In some ways the repeated gathering and scattering of God’s people is like a natural rhythmic breathing of the church. God gathers the people and then sends them out, over and over again. So last week God send six individuals from Seattle and one from Chicago to Japan. There they gathered with two more individuals from Tokyo and were sent to Ofunato. Once in Ofunato they gathered with three others who live and serve there. Together each morning and afternoon they were sent out to temporary housing complexes where they gathered with victims of the disaster. Then they returned to base camp where they gathered for prayer, fellowship, and rest. This morning the nine were sent off from Ofunato to return to their homes and back to the people who sent them in the first place.

Gathering, scattering, gathering, scattering… the body of Christ breathing in and out.

So please pray for those who remain in Ofunato; for Lina, for Chikako, and for Fred. And also please pray for those who will soon be flying back to the U.S. One is already in the air as I write this. The rest will return soon. Please pray that God will continue to gather and scatter God’s people; that the body of Christ will continue to breathe life.