Sunday Summary: Misunderstood? God never gives us more than...

Cody began Sunday's message in the style of David Letterman with a top ten countdown.

Top Ten Christian Clichés:

10) A bible that's falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn't.
9) You can't out give God.
8) People meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.
7) God said it. I believe it. That settles it.
6) Where God guides, God provides.
5) If God brings you to it, he will bring you through it.
4) Everything happens for a reason.
3) God needed another angel.
2) When God closes a door, he opens a window.
1) God never gives you more than you can handle.

We've probably all heard these phrases more than we've cared to in the course of our lives. And it's likely that we may have used a few of them ourselves. But the time has come to put these overused Christian clichés on the shelf.

Why, you ask? Well, for one, very few of them have any direct relation to scripture (which often comes as a surprise to many). For two, they're often used in hurtful and manipulative ways, or because we simply don't know what else to say.

Let's set the record straight. God is not the source of all good and bad things that happen. We were given free will. That cliché kind of thinking -- blind acceptance -- hinders questions and conversation, which we hold in high regard at the Gathering. God isn't a puppet master or a strategic player, moving pieces around a chess board.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion or interpretation of theology. I'll say again that we respect and appreciate different viewpoints.

The idea that God would do these sometimes terrible things to us -- that's disheartening. God is love... it doesn't make sense. Let's face it, sometimes, life really sucks. And God sometimes feels so far away. What then? Where do we turn for comfort and support?

In a word: community. 

Rely on the community of hope. When life seems impossible, turn to community. They will help carry the burden and ease the weight on those who can't bear it.

And as "the community" here at the Gathering, we must be God's hands. We must let God's love show in us and among us. I'll leave you with a quote from a 15th century nun, Teresa of Avila, that still speaks volumes to this day:

Christ Has No Body

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

Compassion on this world,

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,

Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

compassion on this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

 Written by Kay Weiss, guest blogger