A friend of mine (WVG) posted this quote to her facebook status this morning and it is so good I decided to steal it, use it for my morning devotional and expound a bit on over here.
"Healing begins with taking our pain out of its diabolic isolation and seeing that whatever we suffer, we suffer it in communion with all of humanity, and yes, all of creation. In doing so, we become participants in the great battle against the powers of darkness. Our little lives participate in something larger". ~ Henri Nouwen
So very very insightful. How incredibly powerful. I have been thinking alot about the place for healing lately. Is it within the context of community or is it within the context of isolation? How does one go about treating brokeness anyhow? Nouwen’s quote suggests that darkness must be brought into light and it must be kept there. That is important. We will often expose darkness to light only about as long as it takes darkness to get a decent tan and then thrust it back in the dark because quite frankly i bothers us (as it rightly should). In order to treat darkness (within ourselves and others) it needs the constant exposure to light where it might wither and die. It is the nature of darkness to seek out isolation and shadow because it is there that it can grow unhampered and without restraint. It will do everything it can to remain in the dark (this is why Nouwen calls it "diabolical" because it has a will that works against God). Darkness is like cancer – it requires radiation therapy only this radiation comes from the light of the Son. There is only one community of light on the great old earth – the community that makes up the body of Christ.
Matthew 18:20 says: "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
When we seek the healing presence of Christ seek out the community of believers
When we seek the compassion of the Son of God seek out the community of believers
When we seek forgiveness of the Son of Man seek out the community of believers
When we seek the holiness of Messiah seek out the community of believers
When we seek sanctification of the Word made flesh seek out the community of believers
This is a heavy task for it calls the community to be an open body with arms outstretched welcoming the cancerous and the blind. It speaks directly against the kind of community that shuts its doors to darkness because it has forgotten what its purpose is and that it exists SOLELY for the sake of the other (God and the world) and not for itself.
I love Matthew 18:20 more when it is read within the context of the previous verses (Matthew 18:15-19) that set it up which read:
"If a brother or sister sins, go and point out the fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. "Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. "Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven."
These verses speak directly to how Christ calls us to respond to darkness when it erupts within the midst of the community. Most powerful to me is his admonition when a brother or sister refuses to repent – Christ calls the community to "treat them as you would a pagan and a tax collector". It is brilliant because he is speking to a community of people who would naturally cast such folks out of the community and yet this community wants to model themselves after this speaking Christ. That is why they are listening to him in the first place. So then the question is (and must be) asked – how does this Christ treat pagans and tax collectors? When the community discovers the answer to that question they are to do likewise with the obstinate brokeness in their own midst. This is the role of the community of believers…to be Christ. To be light to darkness.
I think I will close with a prayer inspired by Matthew 18:18:
Father take my broken soul rags though it be
and bind up the darkness within it
Father take my broken soul washed in light
and loose it to the world outside
that in my brokeness I might become your healing
that in my darkness I might become your light
Amen and Amen.
Harnessing Chaos 