The hot sun steadily rose over the dry desert landscape.
The tents of Israel’s encampment could be seen stretching in every
direction. Already the lines were forming. After a refreshing reunion
with his wife and children along with his father-in-law the night
before, Moses sat down heavily facing the task that faced him every day:
long lines of people coming to him with their problems, seeking
solutions, looking for answers. It started in the morning and went on
through noon, and then wearily stretched on through the late afternoon
hours. Divorce cases, neighborly disputes, not so neighborly disputes,
cases involving damaged or stolen property, personal injuries, unpaid
debts and lending abuses and personal scraps – Moses heard it all. He
listened to as many as he could each day and gave the best answers he
could based on God’s Law. But at day’s end he always had to send crowds
of people away unheard and unsatisfied – and then he would collapse into
bed, exhausted.
“This is no way to do it.” The words were those of his
father-in-law, Jethro. Jethro had watched the tiring display all day and
just had to say something. “Why are you doing all this, and all by
yourself, letting everyone line up before you from morning until night?”
“Well, this is the way it is,” Moses responded, somewhat
defensively. “People have problems, and they come to me to hear from
God, and I tell them like it is from God’s laws and instructions.”
“Moses, you’ll burn out – and the people right along with
you,” Jethro warned. “This is way too much for you – you can’t do this
alone…”
This incident between Moses and his father-in-law,
recorded in Exodus 18, perfectly pegs our need for small groups: “This
is way too much for us – we can’t do this alone.” The salvation
masterpiece the Lord wants to paint in each of us is one painted on a
canvas of community, connection and fellowship. Rejecting that canvas
leaves us with only a skewed self-portrait resembling what you might see
in a hall of mirrors in the carnival funhouse. “This is too much for us
– we can’t do this alone.”
The rest of the story with Moses? Moses listened. He gave
up going it alone and picked “able men” who feared God and embodied
integrity. He appointed them as leaders over thousands, hundreds,
fifties and tens, each according to his abilities. Every ten families
now had someone appointed directly for them to go to for help and
counsel – and that someone had a whole network of support above him. The
result? What Jethro predicted: “They will share your load, and that will
make it easier for you. If you handle the work this way, and it falls in
line with God’s thinking, you’ll have strength to stand the strain, and
the people in their settings will flourish too.” And so they did. I
can’t think of a better way to sum up the blessings waiting for us in
embracing small group life.
Load Sharing. “They will
share your load, and that will make it easier for you.” Okay, picture
it. You’re pulling into your driveway with the trunk and back seat
loaded to the max with groceries. Would you really insist to your spouse
and able-bodied children that you do it all yourself? Don’t we welcome
sharing the load then? What about when life has piled us to overflowing
with the good, the bad and the ugly it offers? Jethro’s counsel reflects
the wisdom found elsewhere in the Bible: “It’s better to have a partner
than to go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth. And if one falls
down, the other helps, but if there’s no one to help, tough!”
(Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)
Who doesn’t need life made a little easier? Is there risk
in involving ourselves with others, in seeking community and fellowship?
Absolutely – we have to depend on others and they may (and will sooner
or later) let us down (just as sooner or later we will disappoint them).
It is in the give and take of face-to-face relationships that we
develop the grace of forgiveness, of love, of perseverance. Which is
precisely the point – the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control) is
borne not on isolated twigs but on branches with healthy connections to
a common vine as we “bear one another’s burdens and in so doing fulfill
the law of Christ.”
Empowerment. “You’ll have
the strength to stand the strain.” By listening to the counsel to stop
going it alone, Moses found empowerment and strength he had never
experienced before – as did the people in their groups of ten when they
actually had someone to talk to who knew their names and circumstances;
who knew their lives. The writer of Hebrews – writing to believers
weighed down with the strain of increasing hardship because of their
faith, people feeling strung out, burned out, and ready to call it quits
– knew the key to fresh empowerment for their faltering steps: the
fellowship. He repeatedly calls them back to it. “For as long as it’s
still God’s ‘Today,’ keep each other on your toes so sin doesn’t slow
your reflexes,” he urged, following that counsel up later with this
further encouragement: “Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging
love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do, but
spurring each other on, especially as we see the Big Day approaching.”
Failing faith is rekindled in the warmth of the
face-to-face encounter. “Two in a bed warm each other; alone you shiver
all night.” Why do we insist on shivering (and then try to look like
we’re not)? For the same reason I remember choosing to shiver on cold,
rainy days in grammar school: I was too proud, thought it too shameful (uncool)
to admit I needed a jacket. Shouldn’t we be able to do this on our own?
Shouldn’t Moses have been able to handle the people (all two million of
them) by himself? And so we shiver and shudder under the strain of the
load we were never meant to carry in our own strength.
Flourishing life. “And the
people in their settings will flourish too.” Literally Jethro said, “The
people will go to their place in shalom.” What is shalom? Wholeness.
Peace. Perhaps shalom is best defined as “flourishing fittedness.” It’s
being where you’re made to be, doing what you’re made to do. This is the
ultimate goal and benefit of embracing small group life. Small group
life is not just one more option or program among many like an entrée at
a smorgasbord. It’s the God-way into the wholeness and fittedness we all
crave. It is the arena of spiritual formation.
This is why in his letter to believers scattered
throughout the ancient world, James urged them, “Make this your common
practice: confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so
that you can live together whole and healed.” This is why Jesus selected
twelve to be with him and then later to send them out to preach
and to cast out demons. Upon a close reading of the gospels, you almost
walk away with the impression that the miracle making and wonder working
Jesus was summoned to do was often an obstacle to one of the key things
he felt called to pursue: to be with those the Father had entrusted to
him. It seems he was forever seeking to get off with them alone because
they needed fellowship with him, and he with them.
This is why the early church met publicly (identity with
the larger community) and from house to house (intensive face-to-face
interaction). This is why John cut his last two letters short, saying,
“I don’t want to write you with pen and ink, but I hope to come to you
soon and we shall speak face to face,” (literally, “mouth to mouth” –
how’s that for closeness?) Why? “That our joy may be full.” Flourishing
in our place. Fittedness. Fullness of joy. Fullness of life. That’s the
treasure hidden in the field of small group life.
Proviso. Yes, there is one
proviso we would be remiss not to note. Yes, small group life is the
God-tool for making life easier by sharing the load, strengthening us to
stand up under the strain of it all and causing us to flourish in our
place. But it’s not always easy. It gets messy at times. Moses still got
the hard cases. Every “able man” set over groups of ten was still
surrounded by ten families experiencing the milieu of real life issues.
Each no doubt did enough “untangling” of conflicts and arguments to last
a lifetime. Jesus could have said, “Where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there problems will arise.” That is, and always
will be, true enough. But what he actually said – “Where two or three of
you are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them” –
is also true. And that’s what makes small group life not only
worthwhile, but an irresistible draw for Jesus-lovers.
GET ME PLUGGED IN
How do I find a group to attend?
We have groups meeting all over the Treasure Valley on
just about every night of the week. Check out our listing of open small
groups in the Winepress either online or at the info counter in Heritage
Hall. Contact Mike Freeman at 377-1477 or via email
mike.freeman@vineyardboise.org
if you need help locating a group.
How can I get involved in leading or hosting a group?
Come to the Small Group Summit on May 14th and
hear about our vision for small group leadership and how you can get
started. The Summit is from 9AM to approximately 4PM in the Chapel. It
is offered free of charge, with lunch on your own from noon to 1PM.
There will be worship, drama, and an interactive presentation of the
vision, values, and direction of small groups at Vineyard Boise. All
group leaders, co-leaders, host families, small group worship leaders
are welcome to come, as well as anyone who thinks they might be
interested in leading a home group. Sorry – there is no childcare for
this event. Please sign up at the info counter in Heritage Hall or in
today’s V-mail; or you can call Mike Freeman at 377-1477 or email
mike.freeman@vineyardboise.org
