By David Ryser &
Martha Paterik
Awake,
you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light. (Ephesians 5;14b, NKJV)
Martha is one of my favorite people
in the world. There are a lot of reasons
for this. Martha is a passionate lover
of Jesus. She knows Him…really knows
Him. And she thinks. I just love being around thinking Christians.
I especially appreciate them
because of their scarcity.
Recently Martha shared with me a
conversation she had with her mom.
Somehow they got to talking about church cemeteries. At one time, it was common for churches to
have cemeteries on their property. This
is not so usual anymore, and for a lot of reasons. Martha suggested that the reason churches no
longer have cemeteries outside of the church building is because all of the
dead people are on the inside of the building.
Her mother graciously pointed out that not all of the people in the
church building are dead. Martha agreed,
but noted that in the days of church cemeteries not everyone who was buried was
dead either. That’s why a string was tied
to the body and attached to a bell above ground.
If the person had been buried
alive, the movement of the body would cause the bell to ring.
But there’s not much point in
having a ringing bell to signal life if there’s no one around to hear it
ring. So someone would stand the
“graveyard shift” and listen for the ringing of the bell…just in case they had
buried a live one by accident. Upon hearing
a bell ringing, the one standing by would summon assistance and reassure the
one untimely buried that help was on the way.
Then the graveyard shift worker would assist in unearthing the one
buried alive and set them free.
Martha’s next words exploded in my
spirit.
So,
Doc, how many bells will you hear…the next time you step into a church? How many bells does God hear? How often is Jesus calling an untimely buried
person out of the tomb of church? If you
can’t resurrect the whole graveyard, then at the very least unbury the ones
still alive in it.
And I was reminded of Tom.
Years ago, Tom stood the graveyard
shift at a church that was renowned for its coldness and unfriendliness. He would greet people with a smile, a kind
word, and a hug. A big hug…a
squeeze-the-air-out-of-you hug. People
would stand in line to be greeted by Tom.
Several people confided to me that the only reason they attended that
church was because of Tom. He made them
feel valued and loved.
When Tom finally left that church,
he was greatly missed.
I typically do not attend a
traditional religious service on Sunday.
This is not a secret. So
occasionally I talk with people who do attend a conventional church service,
and they feel the need to explain…usually apologetically…why they do so. Many are getting very little out of the experience,
but feel God is calling them to stay.
And they don’t know why. They are
frustrated. They want very much to
leave. As we talk further, they usually
realize that they stay in their church because their friends attend there. Or they feel compassion for the people in the
church and want to minister the love of Jesus to them…like Tom.
They are working God’s graveyard
shift. And it can be hard work.
It’s hard observing people you love
slowly die from exposure to the religious system week after week. It hurts to see the light in their eyes dim
and eventually extinguish. To watch
their strength and passion ebb away to nothingness. To look on as they strain and claw for the
last little bit of life on their way down to spiritual death.
But someone needs to be there to
hear the bells…and to assist in unearthing those who should not be buried.
Maybe God is calling you to be that
someone.
If so, then let me encourage you to
be faithful to that calling without apology.
I have endured some misunderstanding and criticism for not attending a
traditional church service. Surely you
can endure those who ask, “Why are you staying in that church?”
Maybe now you have an answer to
their question: “I’m listening for
bells.”
And while you’re listening for
bells, you may also hear Martha’s words ringing in your spirit as well:
Let
it not be said of us that we walked by a ringing bell without taking
notice. Let us not be ones who left
behind those to claw their last bit of life on the casket/pew. You mentioned seeing the life slowly dying in
the eyes of people trapped inside a church; the light slowly extinguishing like
a candle burning away the last bit of oxygen.
What is sad is that they are in church because it is supposed to be the
place the Breath of His Life is found.
So they come week after week breathing in a poisonous gas that is slowly
killing them. Is it not a more vile
crime that we have tricked them with the false promise of God and delivered
nothing but a slower, more insidious poison than the world was offering?
Stand
the graveyard shift…stand the inglorious job of listening for life. They are dying for life…they are dying for
the Breath of His Life.
Hear
the bells ring, Jesus. The people are
dying for the life that You bring.
Responses to this article are
welcomed. You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com
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