Thursday, June 2, 2011

Can Spiderman Do This?

I read somewhere (before hard drive storage) that bioengineers have determined the chemical makeup of an ordinary strand of spider's web is five to 10 times stronger than steel. While I knew from personal experience they are sticky, clingy and tenacious, not to mention, almost impossible to get that well-woven spider web out of your hair, your eyelashes or your clothing, this was news to me. I understand why bioengineers would spend time to break the spider's genetic code so that they can create a biochemically engineered polymer of which a pencil-thick strand could stop a Boeing 747 in flight (well, that might not be a good idea, but, you get the point). Rather than stopping a jet in flight I just hope it can stop a 2 year old from falling on his head after scaling Mount Pantry in search of forbidden fruit.
Strange as it seems this bit of trivia reminded me of the relatively small but logarithmic power of the Body of Christ. A community of normal people separated from the world population by nothing more than a belief in Jesus as the “lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” A small population that not only stops powerful forces from destroying souls but reaches beyond its own culture boundaries to bring peace, joy and healing to a lost and lonely world, which, for the most part, doesn’t even believe it needs.
This wonderful web, woven by the Holy Spirit, is made up of the church’s witness and commitment by believers to the mission of God.
The person who led you to Christ. The person who forgave you before you wanted forgiveness. The person who sat with you silently when others wanted to speak into your life words you were not yet ready to hear. These and many like them are the strands of this powerful web community.
Now we too, are those strands. What we do as a part of this body will determine who will be standing where we are standing in our church 40+ years from now. When you combine our spiritual gifts with the body in which we serve, not to glorify our individual selves, but to build up this body, we, the church, become a most powerful web for the world.
First I thank God for believing in me. Second I thank God for giving me La Habra Christian Church. Finally, I thank God for the chance to be part of a web strong enough to stop the runaway train of sin and injustice in our community.

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