Ye means ya’ll

Ye means ya’ll

Reading Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove book entitled New Monasticism he said, “Ye is not thou and ya’all is not you. I grew up memorizing the King James Version of the Bible. I was glad to replace all those ye’s with you, never thinking of the significance of exchanging a plural ye with a singular you.

After all the teaching of how God wanted to create a people of God in the Old Testament, Jonathan asks how did the Church reduce it’s teaching to: what God really wanted was for us to become a good person who would have a relationship with him individually by confessing our sin and trusting in him for eternal life. If every “you” is indeed singular this understanding would be fine, but if we replace all the you’s with ya’ll we get a very different idea. Ya’ll are the light of the world means the church is really important. This would mean that Jesus is calling us as a community to be a people of God. Is it really true that apart from identification with his people I cannot have a relationship with God and without the church there is no chance of being holy? Jonathan would say this is true.

When our first “Karen” family wanted to become a member of our church, together we read this promise to this family.

As we now receive you into the fellowship of the church:

We make this covenant with you.
We renew our covenant with God:
To bear each other's burdens,
To assist in times of need,
To share our gifts and possessions,
To forgive as Christ has forgiven us,
To support each other in joy and sorrow,
And in all things to work for the common good,
Thus making known Christ's presence to the glory of God.
As we unite with each other now,
May we all be joined with Christ our Lord.

Last November this family of 5 came to us knowing no English at all. Everything was a struggle from learning how to work a stove and thermostat to figuring out how the school and medical systems worked. He came to me Sunday after Sunday showing me bills with his hands literally shaking. One Sunday he completely unnerved me by motioning with his finger like he would decapitate himself. The stress he lived with became my stress as well. Fortunately a job opened up at the Hatchery, we found a nice 4 bedroom home on Nevin street where several families could live together sharing the rent, the children are in school and doing really well, the severely anemic baby is as healthy as a lark, and parents are happy and relaxed in their living arrangements.

As we read this promise to this family I asked myself, is this what it means to be church to one another?

Actually this is what I always believed not knowing the extent to which this conviction would be tested in my life. How many times in my life I have been exposed to serious needs in another forced to remember the words of John….But if anyone has material goods and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person.

I was visiting in a Sunday school class in Virginia one Sunday and we were discussing Jesus questions of Peter, Do you love me? Of course Peter said he did and Jesus responded to him to “Feed his sheep”. I asked the question, Why does Jesus always speak in poetry? Why didn’t he say teach my people, but he says feed my sheep? A young man in class responded to me that maybe it isn’t poetry. Maybe he actually meant feed…. it may cost us something.

Could the sharing of our resources actually be the heart and strength of Christian community? My Dad always said you never really learn about something until you invest your money in it. That is certainly true. Certainly our mistakes are painful and our success is sweet when we pour something really special to us into someone or something else.

Usually what we invest in is what we really love and appreciate. However, in the church community when one sees a great need it is not necessarily someone you really respect or care for. I have often thought it might be the opposite. In this sense we are called to love someone in a way that costs us a great deal even though we personally really don’t like the people we help. This is a hard one because ordinarily we try to avoid situations we don’t like. However, when our church community is a given and not a choice we certainly need to accept and love whatever is thrown our way in terms of problems. Lord have mercy.

Could the offering actually be a type of communion? We celebrate communion remembering Jesus Christ who gave his life for all humanity. In the offering we give to the Lord within the community of faith. Our money is an expression of something very valuable we worked for so it is part of us. When we give our offerings we actually give something of ourselves to another. It is true that we give as unto God expecting nothing in return. At the same time I believe relationships are sacred and fruit of Christian community. Is it wrong to expect relationships in return?

Relationships are sacred and forever. It was almost 2 years ago I started to take 5 guys to church from a house on Lime Street. We did numerous things together like hiking, staining the deck, mulching, building a bike shed for their bikes, even replacing a roof at some townhouses, before we found them their first job at Greenleaf greenhouses. They spoke very little English. On the way home from church Koe Ne Too asked me. You love me? Not sure I understood correctly, I asked him if he can say that again. He asked again, You love me? I was totally uncomfortable with this question. I responded that I care a lot for him. He seemed satisfied . I still hear that question when I see him.

John Ebersol an Amish builder built a barn for me in 98. We have continued to connect a number of times. One time he called and asked me when I was coming “to sit with him”. I really like that phrase. When we sit with each other we become engaged in each others lives naturally. Our offerings become like communion. Resources are shared and everyone is cared for. It certainly is an act of faith. We are tempted to say many times, Lord have mercy, this burden is too much. But God has been good. We are of all people most blessed and I believe God feels loved as we love each other. We most certainly are a “ya’all. Maybe the kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven has more to do with who we are sitting with then what we understand.