My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. James 1:19-20
“Community as discipline is the effort to create a free and empty space among people where together we can practice true obedience. Through the discipline of community we prevent ourselves from clinging to each other in fear and loneliness, and clear free space to listen to the liberating voice of God… Community has little to do with mutual compatibility. Similarities in educational background, psychological make-up, or social status can bring us together but they can never be the basis for community. Community is grounded in God, who calls us together, and not in the attractiveness of people to each other… I would like to describe one concrete form of this discipline of community. It is in the practice of listening together. In our wordy world, we usually spend our time together talking. We feel most comfortable in sharing experiences, discussing interesting subjects, or arguing about current issues. It is through a very active verbal exchange that we try to discover each other. But often we find that words function more as walls than as gates, more as ways to keep distance than to come close.”
Henri Nouwen in Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life (New York: HarperOne, 1981) 80-84.
As I serve brothers and sisters from Chile with the assistance of a translator from Guatemala this week, I am trying to create community by encouraging listening to one another to hear how God might teach us through one another.
Some may perceive me as having all the answers, and whilst I might share some content this week as a teacher, my focus is listening so that words don’t function as walls instead of gates.
Our generous service, whether paid or as volunteers, must create community through listening and loving. I may be attuned to this because I’ve failed so much with it in the past.
God help all of us create space where people can practice true obedience together and learn from each other what that looks like. Do this by your Holy Spirit we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.