Dearly Beloved

  The musician known as Prince has a well known song entitled Lets Go Crazy and it has caught my attention for several different reasons.  The first one is because it became the song that got played every time the Minnesota Wild scores a goal at home, and the second reason is for the opening line in the song.  It goes "dearly beloved we are gathered together to get through this thing called life."  What really is pulling at my heart strings is the phrase dearly beloved.  We just don't hear that phrase anymore unless one is at a wedding and maybe a funeral.  In two instances the Apostle Paul uses this phrase in reference to Philemon and Timothy, and it is sign of relationship and closeness.  I think there are several things we can learn about being beloved.

  We live in a time where we are encouraged to have many friends and to make connections with them.  I know with myself and if I were to take a look at my friend list on Facebook, it would not only be expansive, but with a lot of the people on the list, I can't remember the last time I talked with them, or even looked/wrote on their Facebook wall.  I know I am not the only person who has this issue.  The irony with social media is that we can communicate with people all over the world, but how often do we form and maintain meaningful relationships with anyone in our circle of friends.  Being dearly beloved means that we view people more than just a number, or what they can do for us, but it is seeing people for who they are as people for who they are and not what they can provide for us and our ego. 

  Another thing about being dearly beloved is that there is a level of intimacy with the people in the relationship.  Intimacy is about being open and honest with people.  Now I do admit that there are varying levels of intimacy.  We often don't share the same stories with acquaintances as we would with our best friend and or significant other.  When we are intiment with each other, it means that we are honest with each other and we tend to keep it real.  It is the ability to share truth with each other and not having to sugar coat it.  We should always tell the truth, but how many of our friends get the unfiltered version of it where we don't dress it up.  Being intiment with other people means that we don't hide anything, and that we are completely honest with each other and are willing to stick around for the good and the bad, because our intimacy is based on ones relationship with each other and with God.

   Being dearly beloved also means accountability.  As I have witnessed many weddings along with infant baptism/dedications, I have noticed everyone in the room has a special connection to the people in the ceremony.  I feel like when one is a dearly beloved, there is an element of trust and accountability. Whether its the accountability to come along side the parents to raise a Godly child to helping the couple remember and live our their vows.  As Paul wrote in his letter to Philemon, he encouraged Philemon to take Onesimus back, and not to treat him as a slave, but as a fellow worker in Christ.  Truly beloved not only treat each other with respect, but we make sure that wrongs are righted and that we care more about restoring relationship and growing in grace. When we take this approach to life, it often means sacrifice.  We are more concerned with glorifying God than we are having our own back scratched.

   Being dearly beloved also means that we right wrongs that have been committed.  Paul pleads with Philemon to not only take Onesimus back as a brother and fellow worker, but if Onesimus has any outstanding debt, to put on his tab.  Being dearly beloved means we do not let things fester and allow mole hills to turn into mountains, and vice versa.  Being dearly beloved means more than saying sorry or performing actions without meaning it, but it is fixing what is wrong and creating healthy boundaries within the relationship.  Being dearly beloved also means seeking out and granting grace and forgiveness.  These two things are a necessity to any growing relationship.  It is sometimes putting down our ego and seeking out people to make things right.  Now we can not always control their response or reaction, but we can control how we respond and our intentions going into the situation.  Humility goes along way, but this does not mean we need to be a push over.

  Finally, when I think of being dearly beloved, I think of communion.  It is a group of Gods people gathering around the table to remember the sacrifice of Jesus and that the tomb is now empty.  In my tradition, when we take communion, we are figuratively gathering around the table and partaking in the meal.  I know for me growing up, the kitchen table was one of the most intimate places in the house.  My parents spent many nights at the kitchen table with friends talking and playing cards with close friends as us kids played.  I went over to some friends house for Christmas Eve, and we ended up not in the living room, but around that table eating, talking and sharing a lot of laughs along the way.  I think that communion reminds us that no matter what the world tells us, we are beloved by God and that the church is more than just a place to sing a few songs and here a sermon.  Church is a place where family gathers to do life together, because  as a Christian, we are family encouraging each other to grow, along with celebrating the good times and praying with each other through the bad