Several years ago, a friend from work asked me about what I was doing during my vacation. I told him about CFO camp. (In case you do not already know, CFO is a Christian camp where we hope to experience a spiritual renewal of sorts.) He replied that he and his girlfriend were living together and that, as soon as they got married, they would start going to church. Of course, I told him that they did not need to wait to get married to go to church!

Upon pondering about this, I wondered how the church got a reputation that one needs to better oneself in order to be presented worthy of entering into our churches? Are we in the church the righteous ones, and those outside the church unrighteous? Uh, I don’t think so! When faced with a woman about to be stoned for adultery by the Pharisees, Jesus replied, “Let he without sin cast the first stone.” No one threw a stone. Jesus knows full well that none of us is without sin. None of us is worthy of experiencing the treasures of His Kingdom. Jesus went to the cross to make that happen.

As Joel Houston and Jonas Myrin wrote in the song “Broken Vessels”:

Oh, I can see You now,

I can see the love in Your eyes,

Laying Yourself down,

Raising up the broken to life.

You see, we are all broken. Without exception! For me, this is great news. God’s Kingdom is not just for the spiritual elite but for anyone who knows all too well that they can never be good enough to earn a spot in Heaven. It is only by Grace of a loving Father that we can be reunited into His arms! For too many times, I thought of myself as unlovable to people, not to mention unlovable to a God, who knows my every deed, my every thought. I share this with everyone who draws breath. However, we the hopeless have seen a great Hope.

So, how should this affect the way we do church? We need to be like an oasis in the desert, a place of rescue, renewal, and an escape from the deadness that so often presses into our very souls. It should be a refreshment that almost seems unbelievable! Tim Mackie (of Bible Project fame) called it “A fairy tale of the landscape of Grace” in his 2/13/2011 sermon. I believe that we at Zion join countless other oases that dot the earth. We might not look like the other oases, but in our own unique way, we can reflect a small snapshot of God’s plan for this world.

Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.