And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. – Exodus 25:8
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me. For I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. – Matthew 11:28-30
When introverts go to church, we crave sanctuary in every sense of the word, as we flee from the disorienting distractions of twenty-first-century life. We desire to escape from superficial relationships, trivial communications and the constant noise that pervade our world, and find rest in the probing depths of God’s love.
― Adam S. McHugh, Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
We have recently been adding the description “an Urban Sanctuary” to our name. On signage, letterhead, etc., these words appear in an effort to describe something special and intentional that we hope to share with those who visit and/or join us at the busy corner of 12th and Guadalupe, in the heart of bustling modern downtown Austin. (In the language of marketing, this is “Branding”.)
The thesaurus lists the following words as synonyms for sanctuary:
refuge
haven – harbor
a port in a storm
oasis – shelter – retreat
house of worship and prayer
hiding place – hideaway
stronghold – den
asylum – place of safety
a place set apart
Outside our doors, on the sidewalk, beyond the edges of our gardens; the city clangs and bangs, bumps and jostles, pushes and pulls, honks and shouts, and at times wounds and weakens our neighbors. The busy world is a demanding and challenging place; and we invite folks, if even briefly, to leave all that behind in order to enjoy true sanctuary. This word, sanctuary, of course is apt for our physical house of worship – for the beautiful and lofty room where we gather to worship on Sunday mornings. Additionally, I’d like to challenge us all to consider the ways that the entire campus and we ourselves, as a faith community, can and should be sanctuary.
In order for us to truly be the safe and sheltering sanctuary that God and Christ would have us be, we need to be constantly doing the work required to ensure that we are each as individuals and collectively healthy and alert; ready, willing, and able to be the healing and nurturing haven that we can only be if we are sufficiently rooted in God’s love through Christ ourselves.
Even though Jesus says that his yoke is easy and his burden is light, there is still a yoke to put on and a burden to carry. We must be strong enough to carry ourselves and a little more, we must be willing to pull our own weight and share some of the weight our neighbors haul around with them. We must be sufficiently at peace that we have peace to share. We must love ourselves fully enough that we can properly love others. If our own lamps are empty and our own lights and dim and ebbing, we will not be prepared to be the warm and bright sanctuary others need us to be.
Please join me in ongoing prayer that God would help us and empower us to fully and unreservedly embrace what it means to be an Urban Sanctuary.
Peace,
Pastor Layne