Community

Yesterday was honestly one of the best Sunday's I've had at Otter Creek in a while (I guess since Dr. Camp's last sermon). I thought Philip Duncan did a GREAT job - like, really good - at song selection and just helping to mold the service. I couldn't even sing all of "Blessed Be Your Name" because I was so choked up. The thing that got me the most was seeing Doug Sanders sing those words on the front row with his glasses off and his eyes closed. And then seeing that guy (I can't remember his name, but he's a doctor that sits front-and-center every Sunday) limp over to put his hands on Doug. Sheesh, I'm even tearing up just thinking about it right now.

Josh's message was terrific. And Danielle's testimony was incredibly powerful too.

The message made me think of this past week's episode of Community - have you been watching that show?

There is a scene between a middle-aged African-American lady (Shirley) and a late-20s blonde white girl (Britta: the pervasive love-interest character). Shirley had been doing crazy stuff all episode - she was way too passionate about Joel McHale's character doing something she perceived as offensive - though in the universe of the ethics of that show, it was completely within bounds. Turns out that she was just projecting her anger about what was going on in her life.

Shirley: "My ex-husband came by this morning and he asked for his ring back. It was his mother's and he wants to give it to his new girlfriend."
Britta: "Shirley, that sucks."
Shirley: [Talks about her feelings on the issue for a bit]
Britta: "I totally get that."
Shirley: "I feel better now."
Britta: "Let's go check on Annie."

The scene I'm talking about starts a little after the 13 minute mark. (It may get taken down at some point - if so, sorry)



This formula gets screwed up from the start SO often. In stead of saying "Shirley, that sucks," the response is often, "You're better off without him!" or "It's time to move on - let's find you a man!" or some other form of "Stop feeling sad!"
As we saw yesterday at Otter Creek, sad feelings are valid. In stead of, "It was God's Will" or something like that, it seemed like Danielle would've appreciated a "Danielle, that sucks" mixed in there. It seems like even in trying to "comfort" someone in grief, the confidante still tries to turn the attention on themselves sometimes - wanting to be remembered as the one who gave the great advice or something like that in stead of letting Shirley/Danielle just talk through the crap that they're feeling. Like most things in life, real issue that are messy probably won't get wrapped up as quickly or neatly as the TV conversation mentioned above, but it's a good framework for starting to walk with someone through their suffering.

What's more, the final piece of the "Community" equation was "Let's go check on Annie." Annie was another character who was upset about something (comparatively trivial). Perhaps an important step in overcoming grief in her own life, Shirley needed to then go "check on" another member of their community.

Britta completely exemplifies a Christian example in this scene.

I'm not even going to apologize for using this cheesy cultural reference. There.


"One another" hits:

John 13:34 - "'A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.'"

Romans 12:10 - "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."

Romans 15:7 - "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God."

Ephesians 4:2 - "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."

1 Thessalonians 5:11 - "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."

1 Peter 3:8 - "Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble."