Click to hear this sermon sermon070107

Exodus 17: 8-13; I John 4: 7-21

That has certainly changed in our time. Shortly after the Second World War, a great population shift began to take place in America. Where previously, most people had either lived in bustling city neighborhoods, or out on the farm, many people now chose to leave both of those settings, and choose a third - a house of their own within traveling distance of the city. The suburbs in America grew in three waves: the first was residential- people started buildings houses out in the 'burbs. The second wave was commercial- people started building malls and shopping centers out in the 'burbs. And the third wave - the most recent one - was industrial - people started to build factories and offices out in the 'burbs.

At first, the suburbs depended on the nearby cities - that, of course, is what the word means - sub-urb - under the city. Suburbs were bedroom communities. People lived in the 'burbs, but they shopped, worked, went to church - in the city. We still see some of that happening - but less and less.

Now, the link between the suburbs and the city has grown weaker than before. It is not unusual for someone to live in the suburbs, and never go downtown. You can live, work, play, shop, go to church, get medical care - and never go into the city. As a result, most cities aren't doing well. But suburbs are booming. Early in the 1990s, America reached a milestone - as of that time, more people now live in the suburbs than live in the city and rural areas of America combined. More and more, the suburbs are the identifying habitat of America - it's what people think of when they think of who we are.

None of this, of course, is shocking to us in Cicero. It's what's happened all around us. I have been amazed when I've seen pictures around of the vast flat farmland that used to surround Cicero. Once were fields and pastures as far as you could see - now are cul- de-sacs and winding neighborhoods of hundreds of houses. The houses have slowly but steadily made their way up Route 81, and enveloped our community like a great wave.

Now, here is the question I want to put in front of us over the next few weeks: what do the suburbs mean spiritually? What kind of environment is this to live out our Christian lives? It's important to ask this, because many religious leaders look down on the suburbs. It's easy to find the spirit of the farm community - people are tied in with creation, and take part in the production of the grain and the fruit. The strong, tough spirit of the little country church represents the strong rural faith.

In the same way, many talk of the spirit of the city - with its teeming humanity, and its obvious social demands. It's easy to identify the soul of Jesus suffering with those who suffer in the city. But the suburbs are not seen the same way. I have heard people . from every direction judge them harshly. The 'burbs are seen as spiritually sterile places, they say - superficial and self-absorbed, cookie-cutter -- even soulless places to live.

There are several reasons for this judgment - and over the next few weeks, in a series entitled "Christ in the 'Burbs", I want to talk about those reasons. And, in each case, I want to talk about how God is addressing that issue in the suburbs - often through the influence of the suburban church. I believe Christ is alive and well in the suburbs; but I also agree that there are special spiritual challenges presented by this way of life that has grown so prominent in America. And I want to talk about those challenges.

Today I want to talk about the challenge of isolationism. Some people say that the suburbs promote isolation in a very unhealthy degree. This is especially evident when we compare suburban life to city life. I drive through city neighborhoods often, mostly on my way to hospitals. I can not recall driving through any city neighborhood - any time of day, and any season of the year - but what there were bustling signs of life. People are out and about. They are walking on the sidewalks, conversing at the front porches, hanging around street comers, congregated around the local grocery store or bar.

I'm not saying that you never see active street life around a suburban neighborhood. On a Saturday morning in the summer you'll see kids playing games, people walking dogs, washing cars, and so on. But there are many times that you can drive through a suburban neighborhood and see absolutely no sign of life. That's because a great deal of suburban life happens behind closed doors, and inside the fences. In fact, that is one of the reasons people move to the suburbs - for privacy, and for quiet, away from the noise of a clamoring neighborhood. Of course, there are apartment complexes and trailer parks and such in the suburbs; but the most prevalent picture by far is to have your own castle - a privately owned home, with a tended lawn, a fence, and privacy.

Perhaps the true symbol of this is the disappearance of front porches. In older village and city neighborhoods, houses were built with a big front porch - it was a real selling point - the idea being that you could sit out there in the evening, and talk with whoever walked by on the sidewalk. In the newer suburban neighborhood, to begin with, there is probably no sidewalk, and the front porch has been replaced by the back deck. Because on the back deck, you can have privacy and control.

Now here's the first disclaimer. No doubt I am exaggerating - no doubt there are many exceptions to the picture I am painting. But I still believe that the desire for privacy and control of your own living space are key reasons that the suburbs exist. Now here's the second disclaimer - I'm not saying that privacy and control of your own living space are bad things. To a certain degree, they are good and necessary things.

But let me paint a couple pictures of how they may go too far. It is entirely possible for people to live next to each other for years, and never know each other. I don't even mean intimate knowledge - I mean knowing your neighbor's nan1e, and what they look like. I have literally known people who could not tell me their neighbors' names. I have known of situations where someone, for exan1ple, was interviewing for a job, and found themselves sitting across the interviewing table with a close neighbor they had never met. I'm not going to judge that, because I've been there - I get pretty absorbed in my own stuff, and an1 not always neighborly. I like my back deck; I like my fence.

The point is, what we see more and more is that the suburban lifestyle pushes us away from community, toward isolation. We don't have to go along with it; but if we're not careful- if we don't fight it - we can find ourselves living in our own little lonely world. Not a castle at all - but in a prison of our own making. And it is happening! There is tremendous loneliness and spiritual hunger in our suburbs. Little wonder that one of the booming waves of TV programming are the reality shows, that allow watchers to see inside other peoples' lives and houses. Little wonder people are seeking community through MySpace and other electronic neighborhoods.

God had a different idea. Picture Moses out on that hillside, trying to keep his arms up to encourage the Hebrew army. And after a while, he gets tired, and suddenly, there is a friend supporting his left arm, and a friend supporting his right. That's the picture God paints for us - people supporting people. As the rock group U-2 titled one of their most beautiful songs last year - "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Y our Own." Or picture Elijah, retreating to a cave, and praying desperately that he has tried to serve God, but he is doing it all alone. And God replying, in effect, "Well, of course you're doing it all alone - you've retreated into a cave! Get out of there, and look around -you'll see hundreds of prophets like you doing my work. Your isolation is warping your mind."

Now picture Jesus beginning his ministry by calling twelve men - taking them out of their comfortable homes, and forcing them to become a community of disciples. Again and again we see that there could be no secrets between them - everybody knew what everybody else was up to. Imagine the emotional interdependence of that family of faith Jesus formed. Togetherness was an essential part of their call to be disciples.

Or imagine the early church, described in the Bible in the book of Acts; the Bible tells how they shared their possessions, their secrets, their cares - everything was out in the open. Holding back in isolation was actually punished. The spirit of this community was described by John, in the scripture lesson from the New Testament for today: "Those who say, 'I love God,' and hate their brothers and sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen." In other words, the interaction we have with one another is a representation of our love for God. A spirit of privacy and isolation takes us in the opposite direction.

Someone has pointed out the 'one anothers' in the Bible. That phrase, 'one another' is one of the most prevalent in the New Testament. It comes up in dozens of ways. Here are just a few: Love one another; depend on one another; be devoted to one another; rejoice with one another; weep with one another; live in harmony with one another; greet one another; forgive one another; submit to one another; carry one another's burdens; wash one another's feet; offer hospitality toward one another.. . This list goes on and on. Isn't it obvious? God did not intend for His people to isolate from one another.

Among the many reasons that this church is important, a key one is that here we take giant steps toward the kind of community for which we were made. We've all heard the old refrains - I can worship God by myself out in the great outdoors, and the birds don't take up an offering. Or, I can sit at home and watch church on TV, and the sermon is better, and no one looks funny at my bunny slippers. Both of those scenarios or OK on occasion - but both of them fall short. Because God wants us together, caring for one another. You won't get a good old kickball game out by yourself in the woods.

Of course, there are many exceptions to what I have said. There are block parties, there are neighborly acts, there are conversations over those fences. Suburban life has seen the development of its own means for people to congregate - such as the soccer game, the car pool, the senior center and the nursery school, and so on. I'm not saying there are not ways for people to connect; I'm saying that our lifestyle can take us far in the other direction if we're not intentional about community. And there is a lot of secret hurting going on behind our nicely trimmed hedges and our stained fences. The second Great Commandment of Jesus is 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

So here are some questions for all of us suburbanites: how are your neighbors? When do you leave your comfort zone? Where do you find community? Where do you show the real you? How are you reaching out in the name of God?