The Sleeping Beauty

The church is alive, contrary to what “some say”; alive with the essence and the energy of God. However, like “sleeping beauty", she lies under a spell concocted by a culture who has not recognized her beauty.The voices of institutionalism and individualism have conspired, perhaps unknowingly, to keep her safely hidden from those in need of her goodness, truth, and beauty. But on lonely walks through the woods of my soul, I have caught glimpses of her beauty, waiting to be kissed, waiting to be received, this bride appears to be ready to awaken.Covered with layers of institutionalism and self centered individualism, the body of Christ, the church, the results of the resurrection of Christ, remains unseen by most of humanity.Individualism seeks to deconstruct or discredit institutionalism, while the institution that struggles to survive fights back. People, becoming weary of the struggle over the baby, seemingly are satisfied to have the child “cut in two,” much as Solomon offered. Alas one or the other will let go and yet neither have found the truth.Into the forest we must forge! Into the shadows of the stories told of the beauty of this bride. This is the journey that I have found myself on.... traveling over stones covered with moss, slippery with the dew of early morn. Light breaking through the trees reveals a turn in the path that is so easily unnoticed. My heart is pounding for a glimpse of this “sleeping beauty.” Moments of vision pierce through the shadows, rays of understanding, snippets of revelation, my spirit soars in anticipation....She is here, she is alive, the church, the people of God, the Body of Christ, the Temple of the Holy Spirit..... the continuation of the Christ, the community of pardoned humanity, the new creation!Exhausted I fall into the leaves, under the canopy of the oaks, serenaded by the sounds of nature, sleep overtakes. There she is .... her beauty is beyond anything I have ever seen. Not only do I see, but I feel it, somewhere deep within comes this flood of fulfillment, warmth, an embrace that seems to lift me into the heavens.A kiss that awakens every fabric of my being. There she is, in His embrace.But wait she is “us.” We are, you and I together, united in Him and each other We are “sleeping beauty.”We sleep under the power of separation from each other. Either by institutional dispute or individual demand, we allow ourselves to become separated from each other in the forest of this culture.Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, “He who looks upon his brother should know that he will be eternally united with him in Jesus Christ...in Jesus Christ we have been chosen and united for eternity.”“United for eternity.” These words have captured my imagination and have awakened my spirit. The two most important things that the church does is “worship and witness.” Our unity is both our worship and our witness.The world longs to see the truth, the goodness and the beauty of the body of Christ. All the while the voices of this culture continue to separate rather than unite, deconstruct rather than build.It is too easily forgotten that the communion of the brethren is a gift of grace. Paul says, “He is our peace,” (Eph. 2:14). Without Christ there is discord between God and man and between man and man.The beauty, the goodness, the truth that each of us seek is found in the unity, the communion of Christians. This is the church. A communion of the pardoned that gather “to remember", “to give thanks” for the One who lived and died and lives again. As we gather to lay down our individuality and be united to Him and to one another, “Sleeping Beauty” awakens and the future reality of eternity breaks into the present.My continual prayer is that you would join me on this journey. To walk into the woods arm in arm, to agree to share this path together. This path of forgiveness, of love and grace. To awaken in His embrace with His breathe on our lips, to be together with Him that is my desire.For I am convinced that as we gather in faith to worship He is present. And our unity, our gathering plus His Presence is our witness. And that witness is our mission.