I said in my last sermon that March 2020 was the first time, by my knowledge, that Bethel had cancelled a church service in its 100-year history for something other than extreme weather. Shortly after that sermon, I received an email that proved me wrong. Bethel had cancelled a service before and I wanted to tell you that story because I think it captures a critical part of what it means to be the Church and we can be encouraged and challenged by it in these days of separation.
The Lost Boy
The story comes from the life of 13-year-old Graham Lidstone. At that time, there was no Awana and Bethel ran a group called Brigade for boys to learn both God’s word and practical skills. They did activities like knot tying, fire starting, and canoe trips up the Goulais River.
On one particular Saturday afternoon, young Graham was set to earn his badge for orienteering, meaning, he was taken to a wild area just out of town, given a map and a compass and told to get from point A to point B. He was also given a whistle and told “if” he got lost to blow the whistle 3 times every 5 minutes or so and head north to the river, so he could be found. I am sure you can see where this is going. In a pre-cell phone age, leaving a young man alone in the woods could turn disastrous pretty quick.
It wasn’t long before Graham decided, “I am lost”, and started heading north toward the river, which he found easy enough. However, finding a teenage boy somewhere along the bank of the Goulais river proved a more difficult task than expected and despite faithful whistle-blowing, Graham soon found himself lost in the woods with dusk approaching. I should mention this story takes place in November, and Graham recounts it was the first night it snowed that season. Graham was not prepared for a night in the cold bush, and it was God’s grace that kept him from panicking in what could have been a very desperate situation.
Luckily, preparedness was a virtue of the Boys Brigade and Graham took out his box of matches and lit himself a fire to stay warm. As night fell, Graham was still alone, lost, and outside. He spent his time stoking his fire and praying that God would send someone to find him. Eventually, he dozed off to sleep.
When he woke in the morning, the sun was up and Graham was motivated to try and solve his predicament. Knowing from the map that he was bound to hit a road going south he marched on using his handy compass. In his mind, he knew he had to get to a road, find a phone, and call his parents. However, knowing the time and day, one of his main concerns was that he would have to call his parents at Church, and they would be most annoyed that he had interrupted the service with his phone call.
Unbeknownst to Graham, however, the leaders of the Boy’s Brigade were already in action. Graham’s parents were informed that the missing boy they had heard about on the radio earlier was their son. The Church was quickly mobilized to head out to look for Graham at first light. The Search and Rescue leaders did not let anyone go searching after dark.
So, when Graham met a boy walking down the road, he didn’t expect to see what he did when he got back to the group. Almost every man from the Church was out scouring the area and the women were back at Graham’s house comforting his mother. The body of Christ at Bethel Bible Chapel had taken the morning off their normal worship service to literally search for one lost “sheep”.
The Inseparable Body
This story captures something special about who we are as the Body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:24-26 says,
“But God has so composed the body, giving greater honour to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together.”
Imagine the shared grief at finding out Graham was lost in the woods? What more can a parent ask for than to have compassionate friends present with them in their fearful moment? And imagine the euphoria of the crowd when they see Graham walking down the road toward them and the cheers that must have gone up at the Lidstone residence when they got the call that their son had been found safe. If there was a fattened calf to be found, it would have been served! There are very few places in society that create that kind of bond between people other than the Church of Jesus Christ. That kind of life together is what the Church is meant to be. We are not members of a social club, we are not conscripts in an army, we are members of the family of God and we care for each other as a family, in good times and bad.
A Better Way
In this season of separation let’s be on the lookout for situations like this! Ways we can step outside our normal routine and sacrifice our time, energy, and structure for God’s kingdom. One thing Jesus’ example of love shows us is to what extent we must be willing to set aside our own concerns, agenda, and even health and safety for the good of others. Jesus died for our sins so we could be forgiven. I don’t think we should be sending our kids out into the forest in January, but there are lost people around us in our neighbourhoods, in our social networks, and even in our homes. Provincial lockdowns do not stop the Church. We are who we are primarily because of Jesus’ love for us and all of our gatherings, service, and love come out of that identity. I miss seeing all of you on Sunday, we need it again, but this story of a time when Bethel chose something else for Sunday morning inspired me to think of our relationship with each other differently. I think the greatest failure we could commit in this season is not to fail to meet together but to fail to love each other.
This season has added conflict, tension, and uncertainty in every layer of our lives. Those things may affect us, but they do not define us. We must lean into our identity as forgiven, loved, blessed, and transformed in Jesus so we can obey Jesus in our lives to love God and love others.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
– John 13:34-35
