Jesus, the Two-Kegger Cul de Sac and Us

I've shared this story before but it bears repeating.  Several years ago, back when I pastored in Cleveland, I was at a meeting in a Covenant Church in Columbus, Ohio.  The pastor of that church, John, told me that when his church made plans to build their new building he and his wife, Jen, wanted to move into the neighborhood where the church was located.  They found a house and moved in.  Only after they moved in did they discover that their cul de sac was known as the “two-kegger cul de sac” (so named because of the amount of beer they consumed at block parties).  John discovered that the two other streets in the area had begun to hold their own block parties separate from the street on which he and Jen now lived.  Why?  Because there were some Christians on the other two streets who disapproved of some of the goings on at previous block parties (“unmentionable” behavior is what John called it).  John said to Jen, “This is exactly where we want to be!”  Within a year or so of moving to the neighborhood, John and Jen began to host a weekly investigative Bible Study in their home, made up of people from the “two-kegger cul de sac.”  John also shared with me that he sometimes referred to that Bible Study as “the cussing Bible Study” because all of those who came had no faith and were simply free to be who they were.  John and Jen saw themselves as “sent” among the people of their neighborhood.

In the John 20.21, the Resurrected Jesus says to his disciples,“Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  I don't know about you, but it is so easy for me to forget my own “sent-ness.”  The Father sent the Son; the Son and the Father sent the Holy Spirit; the Father, Son and Spirit have sent us, me, you – the Church.  The word “apostle” means “sent one” or “messenger.” In that sense, we are all apostles; we are all sent into the world in which we live.

What does it mean to understand ourselves as sent (apostles)?  How ought I to be living my life if I understand that God has sent me to where I am?  What about you as you read this post?  What does it mean to be an apostle in your 97%?  Among whom are you and I sent?  What is your two-kegger cul de sac?  Or, to put it the way the teacher of the law put it in Luke 10, “And just who are your neighbors?”

- Pastor Stacey Littlefield