The Garden Path

Last week I told you about the jasmine that grows along the path to my garden.  Today I want to tell you about the path itself.  It is made of flagstone, edged with cut stone that was left over from the rock that is on our home.  I created the path by first outlining the edges of it with the cut stone.  Then I filled the walkway with crushed limestone or road base.  In South Texas, we call it caliche.  The crushed limestone then had to be leveled so that the flagstone doesn’t wobble or shift when it is stepped on.  Since the flagstone is not uniform in thickness, each stone had to be leveled with more or less base to make it sturdy.  Then, since the flagstone is of random shapes, it was like putting a jigsaw puzzle together to make all the pieces fit without having too wide of a space between the stones.  That’s why this was my project and not my husband’s.  He doesn’t like to work puzzles.  Once the puzzle pieces were in place, I filled the space between each stone with concrete to hold them all together and to make the pathway strong and stable.

My pathway is long and narrow.  There are branches off the main path that lead to other areas in the yard.  One branch leads to the grandkids’ play area.  One branch leads to a bench that sits under an arbor, a quiet spot to sit and relax.  Another branch leads to the compost pile and further on to the rose garden.  But the first branch leads to the vegetable garden.  That’s the pathway that is used most often.

When I look at the flagstone in my pathway, and when I think about how all the stones fit together, I am reminded of the Church.  Not just “my church” or “my denomination” or even the “American church.”  The flagstone reminds me of God’s universal church – the church that began over 2,000 years ago when Peter preached and the Holy Spirit came into the lives of believers for the very first time, the church that has grown and continues to grow all over the world, the church that will live in eternity in Paradise with King Jesus on His throne.  The church where we will worship Him in heaven will most likely be a whole lot different than what we are used to here on earth.  After all, when we stop and think about all the nations, all the people groups, all the different kinds of churches that exist in the world today, and have existed for the last two millennia, do you think the church in heaven will be just like mine?  Or yours?  I doubt it.  I think it will be something entirely new, but something that we will all

agree glorifies God in the most complete, perfect way!  God is using all kinds of churches today to usher in His Kingdom.  Each of those churches is like one piece of my flagstone pathway.  Each church is held together with all the others by the Holy Spirit and our faith in the same Jesus.  We are each different in our language, our customs, our music, our buildings, and our form of worship.  But we are all alike in our trust in the same Savior, Jesus Christ, and His blood that was shed for each of us.  We are each sealed with the same Holy Spirit, and we will all worship together in the same heavenly chorus as we sing, “Holy, holy, holy, worthy is the Lamb Who was slain!”  Just like God uses many different individuals with different gifts within each church, He is using many different individual churches with many different looks, missions, and customs to make up His world-wide church! 

 

Read with me, Romans 12:4-6(The Message): 

“In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.”

All my life I have read that passage, and I have understood it to mean that a church is made up of many individuals with unique talents and gifts, none more important or less vital than the other.  That is true.  But think about that passage in a broader sense.  Think about all the individual churches, each with its own language, its own customs, and its own mission reach.  No matter its size or its location, each church is just as precious to God as any other, and each unique congregation is vital to His plan for this world. 

When we watch the news and hear about Christians in other parts of the world who are being brutally murdered because of their faith, or when we hear about churches that have to meet in secret, or when we hear about churches that have only a page or two of the scripture, do we give them a second thought?  I hope so.  I hope that we who have it so much easier will do all that we can to support our brothers and sisters around the world who are truly being persecuted, and that we will never forget that God is fitting us all together to form His church.  Just like my pathway would not be complete and would not serve its purpose if any of the stones were removed, God’s church would not be complete, it would not function as He planned, if any of His precious congregations did not exist.  God told us that His church would face persecution.  “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12).”  But He also told us that His church would never fail.  “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).”

Does that mean that people of all beliefs are a part of God’s church?  Not by any stretch of the imagination. 

 

Just like my pathway, the road to heaven is straight and it is narrow.  Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few (Matthew 7:13-14).”   On my path, if you turn off in another direction, you will not get to the garden, but in my yard, every path leads to somewhere equally pleasant and beneficial.  However, if you stray from God’s straight and narrow path, Jesus said your way will end in destruction.  Not all paths are beneficial or pleasant.  Don’t be fooled by all the “feel-good” doctrine that says there are many paths to heaven.  “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).’”  He also said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21).”

What path are you on today?  Is your life invested in a church that is a part of God’s straight and narrow pathway to Heaven?  Is your church bound together with all God’s other churches by the concrete of His Holy Spirit?

My prayer for you and for me today is that we will be vital, active participants in our own local churches, and that we will each be more sensitive to the needs of the churches in other parts of the world that may have needs that we do not even understand.  I pray that our hearts would be broken when we hear of the persecution of our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world, and that we would thank God every day that we are free to worship Him.  I pray that we would never take that freedom for granted.

“Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:11-14).”

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture is from the English Standard Version.