Clusters of Care
The young man sitting at the table looked and felt dejected. He was slumped forward with his head in his hands.
Everything about him seemed to hurt. This was true about his heart in particular. He lost his best friends. His family had moved from one community to another and all his friends were left behind.
The actual truth was his family had split apart a number of years ago and this recent move was necessary because his mom couldn’t afford the place the lived in. She had said something about his dad not sending enough money each month.
Stuff happens in your life… and it is hard to understand. This specially true when you are 12 years old.
But it isn’t just the young that suffer this kind of struggle. Not far from this young man sits another person. He is much older with an entirely different kind of problem – he has been fired from a job he has held for 16 years. Too old was his suspicion. They had said it was because the company was failing and it needed a new person at the helm. They had offered him a buy out package. Now he was out with nothing to do. The feeling in his heart is one large pile of sand entitled, “Useless”.
We are looking at only two scenes of life from yesterday. How in the world can we help them? They are looking for help today.
In our case these are people that sit in our church – or at least attend our church from time to time. They are the fringe so to speak. They are representative to literally hundreds of others not far from all of us that are lonely and broken having no support through their life struggles.
Reading some old letters again this week something caught my attention. The letter I was looking at was written by a man named Paul – to a group of people that lived in Corinth. He was describing how a group of people should work together. In the letter he describes the group as if it was a body – like your body or my body. Here is an excerpt from one of his letters.
1 Corinthians 12:23-26 (New Living Translation)
23And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect from the eyes of others those parts that should not be seen, 24while other parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together in such a way that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other equally. 26If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
The part that jumps out at me is …. “care for each other”. That has been the Hallmark of the Church for years. The church has always cared for people – hasn’t it?
The teen sitting with his head in his hands at the table has found help in the youth group. The older man has found help in a small group of men. Thankfully we have witnessed to success stories that have made a difference.
The question that must be asked is… “Where do you fit in to help?” You see, everyone fits somewhere and will connect with someone. That is God’s plan.
Every time I read of Jesus’ life and then follow him as he walks through life – he is involved with people.
He walked up to Zacchaeus, a tax collector, and said "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." (NIV) Luke 19:5
There are many other situations where he comes to their homes, spends time eating with them, and generally gets completely involved with them. I would dare say that this total involvement was what set him apart from other religious leaders of his day and produced such a great following. It was also likely what had him crucified – jealousy because of his effectiveness.
Do you remember the “old days” pictures and stories about the Bar Raising efforts in the rural setting. A family has lost their barn with a fire and everyone comes to help build a new barn for them. I saw an artists rendition of this lately – everyone was involved. The canvass he painted on was very big depicting the care.
Now the word “Clusters” – how does it fit?
In every group of people there are clusters of people that care for each other quite naturally. Common interests, family situations and perhaps age draw them to each other. As you look carefully at the Cluster you will see Care as the central theme. You will see each Cluster ministering to each member. They are natural and they flow with the situations that each group has encountered.
I know the clusters that I fit in and am very much aware of the places I receive the support and strength that I need.
Where do you connect in a cluster? An old song states, “Everyone needs someone sometime…” Some one needs you. Job number one today is to find them.
Everything about him seemed to hurt. This was true about his heart in particular. He lost his best friends. His family had moved from one community to another and all his friends were left behind.
The actual truth was his family had split apart a number of years ago and this recent move was necessary because his mom couldn’t afford the place the lived in. She had said something about his dad not sending enough money each month.
Stuff happens in your life… and it is hard to understand. This specially true when you are 12 years old.
But it isn’t just the young that suffer this kind of struggle. Not far from this young man sits another person. He is much older with an entirely different kind of problem – he has been fired from a job he has held for 16 years. Too old was his suspicion. They had said it was because the company was failing and it needed a new person at the helm. They had offered him a buy out package. Now he was out with nothing to do. The feeling in his heart is one large pile of sand entitled, “Useless”.
We are looking at only two scenes of life from yesterday. How in the world can we help them? They are looking for help today.
In our case these are people that sit in our church – or at least attend our church from time to time. They are the fringe so to speak. They are representative to literally hundreds of others not far from all of us that are lonely and broken having no support through their life struggles.
Reading some old letters again this week something caught my attention. The letter I was looking at was written by a man named Paul – to a group of people that lived in Corinth. He was describing how a group of people should work together. In the letter he describes the group as if it was a body – like your body or my body. Here is an excerpt from one of his letters.
1 Corinthians 12:23-26 (New Living Translation)
23And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect from the eyes of others those parts that should not be seen, 24while other parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together in such a way that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other equally. 26If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
The part that jumps out at me is …. “care for each other”. That has been the Hallmark of the Church for years. The church has always cared for people – hasn’t it?
The teen sitting with his head in his hands at the table has found help in the youth group. The older man has found help in a small group of men. Thankfully we have witnessed to success stories that have made a difference.
The question that must be asked is… “Where do you fit in to help?” You see, everyone fits somewhere and will connect with someone. That is God’s plan.
Every time I read of Jesus’ life and then follow him as he walks through life – he is involved with people.
He walked up to Zacchaeus, a tax collector, and said "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." (NIV) Luke 19:5
There are many other situations where he comes to their homes, spends time eating with them, and generally gets completely involved with them. I would dare say that this total involvement was what set him apart from other religious leaders of his day and produced such a great following. It was also likely what had him crucified – jealousy because of his effectiveness.
Do you remember the “old days” pictures and stories about the Bar Raising efforts in the rural setting. A family has lost their barn with a fire and everyone comes to help build a new barn for them. I saw an artists rendition of this lately – everyone was involved. The canvass he painted on was very big depicting the care.
Now the word “Clusters” – how does it fit?
In every group of people there are clusters of people that care for each other quite naturally. Common interests, family situations and perhaps age draw them to each other. As you look carefully at the Cluster you will see Care as the central theme. You will see each Cluster ministering to each member. They are natural and they flow with the situations that each group has encountered.
I know the clusters that I fit in and am very much aware of the places I receive the support and strength that I need.
Where do you connect in a cluster? An old song states, “Everyone needs someone sometime…” Some one needs you. Job number one today is to find them.
posted by Murray Lincoln at
Thursday, June 22, 2006
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