Irresistible Invitation by Maxie Dunham - Day 29

Irresistible Invitation:  Responding to the Extravagant Heart of God                   

Day 29: The Dwelling Place of Wonder

 

And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church. … Eph. 1:22

 

Maxie titles this day’s devotion, “The Dwelling Place of Wonder.”   It’s an interesting title, difficult to grasp at first.  The dwelling place of wonder…  The place where wonder dwells…

 

I wonder what you wonder about.  Bills, maybe. Children’s education, maybe.  Addicted loved ones, maybe.  Struggling with an adulterous affair, maybe.

 

Using the word another way, I wonder what it is that you find wondrous.   Or, more specifically, what is it that is wondrous about the church.  Does it seem wondrous to you to think that the church is the place where the gospel dwells?  Does it seem wondrous to you that the church – with all of it brokenness – is the body of Christ, that contains the heart and soul of the gospel?  It does to me.  But it’s true.

 

As the dwelling place of the gospel, the church is also where grace abides.  We use the word a lot: grace.  Sometimes we feel it, experience it.  It’s the cornerstone word of our faith.  And our churches are the homes of grace. 

 

Maxie Dunham shares a story that embodies the concept of grace.  He writes about an article printed in Newsweek many years ago.

 

“The article was about Hubert Humphrey’s memorial service.  Hundreds of people came from all over the world to say good-bye to their old friend and colleague.  But one guest was shunned and ignored by virtually everyone there.  That person was former President Richard Nixon.  Not long before, Nixon had endured the shame and infamy of Watergate.  Humphrey’s service brought Nixon back to Washington for the first time since he resigned from the presidency.

 

Before the service, people were avoiding Nixon like the plague – no one would talk to him or even acknowledge him.  Then, a very special thing happened, perhaps the only thing that could have broken the ice.  Jimmy Carter, who was president at that time, came into the room and was about to be seated.  When he saw President Nixon standing against the wall, all by himself, Carter walked over to him as though he were going to greet a family member.  Nixon stuck out his hand to the president, but to the surprise of everyone there, the two of them embraced, and Carter said, “Welcome him, Mr. President!  Welcome back home again!”

 

Commenting on the scene, Newsweek reported, “If there was a turning point in Nixon’s long ordeal in the wilderness, it was at that moment in that gesture of love and compassion.”

 

Maxie asks us: “Isn’t that what the church is all about?  It’s that home of grace where we, too, can be greeted with an embrace and feel that we belong.”

 

Maxie wonders, and I along with him, what our churches would be like if we posted huge signs saying “Welcome to our home of grace.”  Who do you think would show up if we really could say and really did mean the following:

 

-         Welcome home, you who are weary and heavy laden; welcome home!

-         Welcome home, you who are sinking under the onslaught of life; welcome home!

-         Welcome home, single mothers, forsaken by selfish men; welcome home!

-         Welcome home, young people who love rock music, whose body piercings say more about seeking and desire to belong than protest and rebellion; welcome home!

-         Welcome home, you who are poor, both the working poor and those who have given up altogether; welcome home!

-         Welcome home, you who have spent your life seeking success but have yet to find significance; welcome home!

-         Welcome home, you millions of baby boomers who are coming to retirement age but don’t know what to do with yourselves; welcome home!

-         Welcome home, immigrants – legal and illegal – who desperately need safety and a place to belong; welcome home!

-         Welcome home, you who do not feel at home anywhere; welcome home!

 

Maxie reminds us: “The church is meant to be the home of grace, a home for all.  If it is not a home for all, it is not a home at all.”

 

The dwelling place of wonder…

 

If we aren’t able to grasp this concept, then we may have lost our confidence in the gospel… because the wonder of it all “is that the gospel is still a saving, reconciling, healing power.”

 

And before we think we can get safely out of this day’s devotion and back into the safety of our day, Maxie goes one step further.  “Though we may think we’re doing a good job of letting our lights shine before others and offering a welcoming presence, consider this: larger national samples of unchurched people have indicated that most have never been invited to church by a Christian.  Not only that, but most unchurched people have said that they’ve never been told by a Christian what it means to believe in Christ, and never been invited to embrace Jesus as their Lord and Savior.”

 

Do we still have confidence in the gospel?  “The good news is that through Christ, God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves.  Our responsibility, now as much as ever, is to be Christ to others, to extend that sense of wonder, that hand of welcome, and that message of grace.”

 

The Heart of the Matter

-         Be honest: how do you feel about the idea of the church as the home for all?

-         Is it difficult for you to share with others what God has done in your life or to invite them to church?  Why do you think that is?

-         How did you end up in your current congregation?  Did you first come because you believed it could be a home of wonder or grace?  If someone invited you, take a moment to thank God for that person now.