The Church as Lapidary

I was listening, online, to the presentation of Gradye Parsons, our General Assembly Stated Clerk, addressing the Eastern Regional Benefits Conference of the Board of Pensions. Gradye was talking about the state of the church and challenging his listeners using the Apostles’ Creed as his framework. He said, And this whole forgiveness of sins, this whole relationship thing that’s in the Church where, you know, you bump against me and I bump against you and we have to get sore about it and bruised and all this stuff and work through all of those things. This reality of forgiveness and living into forgiveness. It’s hard work. It’s hard work to be in relationships. And that’s what the Church is about. Is being in relationships with each other. To care for each other. To accept each other for the broken people that we are and realize that we are accepting each other because God is accepting us for the broken people that we are.

That statement caused my mind to jump to a sermon illustration I had used a few time. The object for that illustration was a lapidary. One of those stone tumblers which polishes the stones. Even old river rock can become smooth and beautiful after enough time in the lapidary.

In the lapidary, along with a few stones, are grist and water. Over time, as the lapidary turns, the stones bump against each other. The rough edges are chipped off and the grit polishes the stones.

Have you ever thought about the Church as a lapidary where, as Gradye said, …you bump against me and I bump against you and we have to get sore about it and bruised and all this stuff and work through all of those things. In the everyday life of the church we are constantly bumping into each other. In a healthy way, we are knocking the rough edges off each other. When we engage in sharing different perspectives on Scripture, various issues and projects with the grit of Holy Spirit we are being polished into being more faithful disciples.

If it were not for the lapidary of the church we would forever be just plain old river rocks. The small and large conflicts we encounter, if we are open to it, is all part of our development and growth. Where are you bumping up against another and finding small chips of your rough edges being smoothed off. As Teaching Elders and Commissioned Ruling Elders, what are your rough edges, and are you willing to stay in the lapidary long enough to become more smoothed and polished? Or, as soon as the tumbling begins, do you start to look for another place where there is not so much bumping against others? Do you embrace the diversity of thought and action, or do you only want to be with like-minded folks?