In the Midst of Others

Hello Ladies,
If you have been reading this blog from the beginning, you may remember a Greek word I talked about, Meta, which means companionship in the midst of others. It can also be translated fellowship in the midst of others.
I am experiencing that all over this week as my sister has come to town for a visit. The one who has known me all of her life and still loves me; the sister who laughs at my jokes-even the really lame ones; the sister who sounds so much like me that we can fool our mom on the phone. Caller ID put a stop to that joke, but it was fun while it lasted.
As we have talked, chilled, laughed, broken bread together, told her son to stop picking on her daughter-together, I have felt the warmth that having wonderful, close family brings.
I get that all the time with pastor Keith's family living so close, but this is different. They came into my life when I was an adult.
My sister Milissa came into my life when I was six. So we have played dolls together, watched cartoons together, sorta wished we were one of the Waltons together, learned to cook together, learned we didn't love math but were capable of doing it-together, got grounded together and finally grew up together. Though one of us couldn't wait to do so and the other fought it kicking and dramatically stomping her feet-I'm not saying which one us was which-you decide.
Aside from cyber-teasing my sister, or using self-deprecating cyber-humor (again, you decide), I wanted to share all this with you, my sisters in Christ, for a deeper reason. Whether you have siblings or not, whether you have a sister who's now a friend, or a friend who is as close as a sister, hopefully all of you have been blessed by a deep friendship with somebody. Someone with whom you can experience Meta.
There are some people who have never had that. They feel lonely or perhaps guarded. Some people, and maybe you can relate, have spent so much energy just trying to get through each day that they haven't had energy or time to connect with neighbors or co-workers let alone experience Meta.
The Bible tells us that we are meant to be connected, to draw close to God-together. To experience fellowship in the midst of others.
One of my favorite Bible passages is in Acts chapter 2, where we can read about the early church.
 "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayers. " vs 42.
Later in the passage we read, "And every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people, And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved." vs. 46-47.

There's a lot of substance here, enough for Pastor Keith to unpack into a three point sermon. I want to focus on two things though: Within six verses we see mentioned two times two things. Devotion to meeting together and eating together.
I think if the Bible places emphasis on them, so should we. We might feel that we have enough friends, are too busy to nurture the relationships we have, or worse, are too busy and emotionally tired to reach out to others in pursuit of friendship.
These are all things I have heard from women who tell me they are lonely, or have fair-weather friends, but not deep, sister-like friendships.
I have also heard from people who have great friends, that they feel badly for someone they've encountered who seems lonely, "somebody should reach out to them." They declare.
I often respond to that, by asking, "Do you think it is possible that God placed them in front of you because you are the somebody who should?"
God means for us to be together, to devote ourselves to meeting and eating together. Not solely those endeavors, of course, as there is work for all of us to do on Christ's behalf in our communities. But if we feel lonely, or are standing next to or in front of someone who does-we are called to reach out, to spend time together.
To experience Meta-fellowship in the midst of others-is to experience deeper connection, to laugh at each other's jokes-even the lame ones, to experience a rare closeness in the midst of others whom you are also close to, but not as close.
I encourage each of you reading this to reach out to someone God places in front of you, to nurture the friendships you already have, on your road towards experiencing Meta.
Blessings, Lorilise