Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Omothumadon?!

Ephesians 4:1-3 - I, therefore ... beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Holy socks, what in the world is omothumadon? Pastor Paul Hanson enjoys so much digging deep into meanings of words to round out and bring depth to our understanding of something a word, thought or circumstance. I for one will miss this.

I wrote about truth again yesterday. Anyone who reads this blog will hear me say time and time again that Jesus Christ is the Truth. You may get tired of hearing this and tired of hearing we must know what truth is, but I'm not going to stop because it is true! Without this Truth we have nothing. Without Jesus there is no hope, no peace. Somehow I knew there was a connection between my truth dissertations (!) and omothumadon. I really like saying this word out loud...now that I know how to say it.

In order to have peace, we must be like minded, being in one accord. That is the meaning of the Greek word omothumadon - with one mind, with one accord, with one passion. Anyone who reads this blog will also realize my passion...the truth of who Jesus Christ is. It is so wonderful to be in the presence of those who have this one mind and passion. There is a cameraderie. There is a bond. There is strength and encouragement. And iron sharpens iron!!

Pastor Paul suggests that unanimity, being like minded, gives us hope, focus and the grace to accept. There's hope again. That comes with peace. That comes with knowing the truth, which comes from a relationship with Christ and which is essential in today's world. Why do you suppose the world is so troubled? Is there any unanimity? Is there peace? 

We are in the process of looking for a new pastor and our search committee believes it has found the man. We will hear him for the first time next Sunday. That evening we will vote whether to accept him or not. As Pastor Paul was teaching, he said some will not agree with the others. Chances of there being a unanimous vote are slim. Some will not want him. And how will that affect us as a church? It is our duty, Pastor Paul told us, to realize that "there is a cause bigger than any individual." We must get over ourselves and our preconceived ideas in order to see God's hand at work in our church. We must first be of one accord. We must allow God's will to be done and that means stepping out of the way. When we do this, no matter how we feel, we are glorifying God and accepting that He is the bigger cause.

Pastor Paul told us a story, that I wrote about in my blog on Community. Community is just another word for one accord. It was a great story. I don't think we know how we might be blessed if we let go of our way of doing something for the sake of  "a cause bigger than yourself." 

In the Book of Acts this is precisely what happened to the believers of that day. In Acts 2:1 it states "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place."  This could only happen because they were "omothumadon,"  the meaning in this scripture for one accord. It was at that moment the birth of the Christian church began through the power of the Holy Spirit.
And, oh, how the Church needs this "omothumadon." Stop grumbling about the little things. Why would God want to let His Spirit rest in a place of unrest? Don't we trust that He can handle every situation, perfect it, if we just allow Him? Another thought is when we are grumbling or fussing or obsessing about something we cannot control, we are like Israel when they grumbled in the wilderness...never happy, always wanting more...or the old days. Aren't we ultimately grumbling to God Himself? 
In talking with a friend yesterday she said what was in the back of my mind: if people don't like something, perhaps it's then they need to move on to a church where they can have what they're looking for. It only brings division if they stay...and the Holy Spirit cannot do His work. Not everyone leaves with animosity; it's just their time to move on. I have learned over the years not to judge or criticize someone's leaving. God may have a greater plan for them elsewhere. That could happen to me, too. I say: Hallelujah! Oh, I certainly believe the Holy Spirit can come into a church and change people's hearts if they are not exactly in one accord with the rest. But imagine the possibilities if that didn't have to happen, if we were all unified to begin with.
This country could use a dose of omothumadon. More and more as I see what's happening in the world, see how things have taken a change that is unsettling, I see how history is repeating itself. The Word of God is filled with examples of how we are to live and the consequences if we do not. We [as individuals and a country] have exchanged the truth of God's word for a lie... (Romans 1:25). The Word of God is the beginning place of learning about being of one mind, in one accord.

Romans 15:4-7 - For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.

No comments:

Post a Comment