Belonging

"Belonging" (This is an encore presentation of a devo first published on March 5, 2009)

"We are one in God our creator  Reborn by the breath of the spirit  We belong by the blood of the lamb  In the joy of this dance we are changed"  We Are Changed by Peter Mayer  Click to hear "We Are Changed"

A few weeks ago we had a very large funeral at church. There were lots of people from the community in attendance. In fact, most of the people who were at the funeral were people I had never met before. During the reception which followed the service, I was making the rounds of visiting with various individuals and groups. I found myself saying to them, "How are you connected?" "How do you belong?"  Those are appropriate questions for us to consider today: "How are you connected?" "How do you belong?"  Now, initially your answer might be, I don't know that I do belong, or that I feel very connected. Well, if that's the case, then let's spend some time there. Peter spells it out for us in a formula that is pretty traditional, in fact, one could say quite Trinitarian: "We are one in God our creator Reborn by the breath of the spirit We belong by the blood of the lamb" God is the creator. The Son is the lamb who takes away the sin of the world. The Spirit gives us spiritual CPR which renews, revives and refreshes. And then to just shake it all up, Peter adds, "In the joy of this dance we are changed"  It is a very old image of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit dancing together making it all happen. So, anyone who thinks God is just sitting up there in heaven in a rocking chair needs to have a new image. God is the Rock; God is also rocking! You and I are invited to a "holy hoedown!"   Check out these words:   Come, Join the Dance of Trinity (ELW 412)  1      Come, join the dance of Trinity, before all worlds begun- the interweaving of the Three, the Father, Spirit, Son. The universe of space and time did not arise by chance, but as the Three, in love and hope, made room within their dance. Text: Richard Leach, b. 1953 Text © 2001 Selah Publishing Co., Inc. www.selahpub.com All rights reserved. Used by permission. Duplication in any form prohibited without permission or valid license from copyright administrator. Talk about "dancing with the stars" Peace, rtg