What is the church in the time between? Working, watching and waiting...

What is the church in the time between?

"“A little while and you will see me no more, and again a little while and you will see me. So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going away to the Father’?” So they kept on saying, “What is this that he is saying, ‘A little while’? We do not understand what he is speaking about!”
Jesus knew that they were wanting to ask him, and he said to them, “Are you deliberating with one another about this—that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Truly, truly I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will change to joy. A woman, when she gives birth, experiences pain because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the affliction, on account of the joy that a human being has been born into the world. So you also are experiencing sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you."  John 16


“You must be prepared for action and your lamps burning. And you, be like people who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that when he comes back and knocks, they can open the door for him immediately. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he returns! Truly I say to you that he will dress himself for service and have them recline at the table and will come by and serve them. Even if he should come back in the second or in the third watch of the night and find them like this, blessed are they! But understand this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not think he will come.”
And Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us, or also for everyone?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful wise manager whom the master will put in charge over his servants to give them their food allowance at the right time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find so doing when he comes back. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions."  Luke 12

What is the church? Dependent on Grace...actively.

What is the church?  And what can we liken it to in the cupbearer?

"But remember me when it goes well with you, and please may you show kindness with respect to me, and mention me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house. For I was surely kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me in this pit.”"

The church, though chosen and blessed by God are not forbidden nor discouraged from using all available means before them to improve their situation.  The world is ours after all.  So when presented with a chance to gain Pharaoh's ear, Joe doesn't sit mum and think, "well, the Lord will provide."  The manna shows up miraculously every day, yes, but we still were required to go out and gather it.  With our hands.  And mix it and knead it and bake it to make bread.

In the same way, God provided the opportunity with the cupbearer and Joe avails himself of it.  And the cupbearer would actually turn out to be the means of grace to Joe... in God's timing...

"And it happened that after two full years Pharaoh dreamed...Then the chief of the cupbearers spoke with Pharaoh, saying, “I remember my sins today."

The church are those who can work with the cupbearer who forgets us and his three days with us in the pit but eventually remembers his sins before the king of Egypt, because we believe and trust in the one who dwelt with us, bore the cup of wrath for our sins though He had done nothing deserving of the pit, spent three days in the pit and then was restored to his place as King of Kings beside God's throne where he forgets our sins but never his great love for us so that in His timing, He can set us on the throne next to him!

What is the church? Known by its limping.

What is the church?  And what can we liken it to in Genesis 32?

"And Jacob remained alone, and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the dawn. And when he saw that he could not prevail against him, he struck his hip socket, so that Jacob’s hip socket was sprained as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for dawn is breaking.” But he answered, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Then he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” And he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked and said, “Please tell me your name.” And he said, “Why do you ask this—for my name?” And he blessed him there. Then Jacob called the name of the place Peniel which means “I have seen God face to face and my life was spared.” Then the sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip."

Despite the appearance of a few generations of enlightened christians, the church is not white, clean and neat.  It is not shiny, happy people who have got it all together.  Got it all figured out.  It is not "good" people.  

It is people who wrestle with God.  It is people whom God has interrupted, disciplined, blessed and disputed with and instead of walking away, instead of avoiding, instead of running from or ignoring, these chosen people have struggled to understand and have had the faith not to give up.  They are people who have been led to a hard place, a wilderness place, a place of darkness and death and dying and asked the question, "Why God?  Why?"  And not always gotten satisfactory answers.  Leastways, not right away, if at all.  And God not only allows this, He most often welcomes it.  

"Cease to do evil! Learn to do good!
    Seek justice! Rescue the oppressed!
    Defend the orphan! Plead for the widow!
“Come now, and let us argue,” says Yahweh.
    “Even though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white like snow;
    even though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and you are obedient,
    you shall eat the good of the land.
But if you refuse and you rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword." Isaiah 1

How can God be so tolerant?  How can he be so patient?  Because the church is His children whom He dearly loves.  The church are those children who want to know why, Daddy, why?

"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
 

Dr. Agitation will see you now.

Contentment, while restful and perhaps a healthier state of mind than the alternative, is not good for producing art. At least not in this puppy. When all is well or as well as can be imagined, i tend to adopt a certain mode that can best be described as Reading-a-halfway-decent-magazine-on-a-reasonably-comfortable- couch-in-the-waiting-room mode. i'm not sure what i'm waiting for... probably the same thing i'm always waiting for, divine intervention, but that's how it comes across. Days fly by and the only thing that marks them is the week of the football season or the next month showing up on our schedule board at work. This is the time of year when i want everything to slow down, my favorite stretch from the Archer's moon to Christmas and instead it's whizzing on past with nary a look up from my National Geographic. i gotta go camping and knock this thing on it's ear. Course, there's a lot to do, maybe in a couple of weeks.

Hmm, think i got that contentment thing licked.