Harvey and I sit in the bars... We've entered as strangers. Soon we have friends. … They tell about the big terrible things they've done and the big wonderful things they'll do. … All very large, because nobody ever brings anything small into a bar. And then I introduce them to Harvey... and he's bigger and grander than anything they offer me. And when they leave, they leave ______.
Elwood P. Dowd in Mary Chase’s Harvey
Who is Harvey? Let me weave my way into a powerful theological answer!
In yesterday’s devotion – and in last Sunday’s sermon – I talked about the sense of community that many people find in a bar … or in a club … or on teams … or in some social or service organizations.
We all want places to belong, places where “everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came” (as the old Cheers theme song sings).
We also talked yesterday about Larson and Miller’s insight about how “the neighborhood bar is probably the best counterfeit there is to the fellowship Christ wants to give his church.”
In just a moment, I’m going to tell you a story about how a Christian can redeem his bar or team or club! But first … why do these organizations flourish? Larson and Miller say, “the bar flourishes, not because most people are alcoholics, but because God has put into the human heart the desire to know and be known, to love and be loved, and many seek a counterfeit at the price of a few beers.”
Ironically, or maybe intentionally, Larson and Miller’s book from which this quote derives is entitled “The Edge of Adventure.” Seeking community is a huge hunger in every heart. But when we seek it in the wrong place, we’re only on the edge of God’s plan. We taste a counterfeit hint of the blessing and adventure that our Lord offers, but we miss the true feast.
Nevertheless … a few lines from the classic old movie, Harvey reveal a Christian purpose for if and when God’s people adventure into a club or bar or any secular organization. Do you know the story of Harvey?
In the movie version of Harvey, Jimmy Stewart plays Elwood P. Dowd. Everyone thinks he’s absolutely crazy. Why? Because his best friend is an invisible, 6’3½” white rabbit. Naturally, everyone views a man who talks to a giant, invisible rabbit as insane … but the audience is in on the joke. Harvey, the invisible hare, is real! Doors open. Things move. Shadows appear. And only Elwood – and the audience – see it.
And – and here’s the theological part – Elwood sees something the world doesn’t see. Likewise, Christians see things that the world doesn’t always see … like God! And like Elwood P. Dowd in the following quote, a Christian’s primary purpose for venturing out in the world is to introduce people to Harvey (to God). (In fact, any other reason we gather with the world is, as Larson and Miller suggest, counterfeit!)
Listen to Elwood’s words in my favorite scene:
Harvey and I sit in the bars... have a drink or two... play the juke box. And soon the faces of all the other people they turn toward mine and they smile. And they're saying, "We don't know your name, mister, but you're a very nice fella."
Harvey and I warm ourselves in all these golden moments. We've entered as strangers - soon we have friends.
And they come over... and they sit with us... and they drink with us... and they talk to us. They tell about the big terrible things they've done and the big wonderful things they'll do. Their hopes, and their regrets, and their loves, and their hates. All very large, because nobody ever brings anything small into a bar.
And then I introduce them to Harvey... and he's bigger and grander than anything they offer me. And when they leave, they leave ______.
As Christians, our primary reason to be walk into a bar or join or club must to introduce people to Harvey (to God). Why? Because the world is hurting. There’s “big terrible things they’ve done” and had done to them. There’s “big wonderful things they [want to] do,” dreams that are merely earthly and temporary until we find our greater purpose in God.
Yes, life is full of “hope … regrets … loves … and … hates.” And they’re “all very large, because nobody ever brings anything small into a bar.” And that’s where we have an opportunity! It’s at this moment that we can (and a called) to introduce them to The One who is “bigger and grander than anything they offer me” – God and the love of Christ.
If we take the world up on its “offer,” the best we get is a counterfeit version of fellowship – the drunken vulnerability in a bar, some worldly service in a club, and a bit of “rah-rah” on a team. And simultaneously are we sacrificing our time in Christian community – the building up of others in the church and our being built up by the Gospel and the Body of Christ.
I’ll tell you more about this tomorrow, but the only reason a Christian should be deeply involved in the world is to “introduce [people] to Harvey [who]’s bigger and grander than anything they offer me. And [then] when they leave, they[‘ll] leave [transformed].
In Christ’s Love,
a guy who has a
not-so-imaginary
friend in heaven
No comments:
Post a Comment