A View from the Balcony

You then, my child, be stong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.

--II Timothy 2:1-2 (NRSV)

 Faith gets formed in a variety of places.  Mine grew on the balcony.  For one who has always had a strong aversion to high places, sitting in the front row of the balcony at Zion-St. Paul United Church of Christ in Bay, Missouri posed a massive challenge. 

I moved up to the balcony to hold down the bench with old Louie, who sang bass on the hymns he liked and stood silently through the rest of them.  We sat on opposite ends of the front pew with a lot of open space between us.  We nodded in greeting, but never conversed.  It was probably the generation gap thing.  But Sunday after Sunday, we shared that same pew, worshipping God in the balcony--each with our own gifts and perspectives.

Several years ago, I spent some time in the empty sanctuary, reminiscing about the place that had been so special to me.  It was mid-morning on a mid-week day.  The building was empty--but unlocked, open for all--just like always.  From the balcony I remembered the saints.  I could still locate them in the pews.  I remembered the pastors of my youth and the legendary stories that accompanied their ministries. 

Sure, it's just another old church building; yet it is so much more to me--it is the sanctuary for a community that lives in and beyond time.  Here is a place where we learned the first words of faith.  It is a holy space where little ones are still cradled in pastors' arms and welcomed through the waters of baptism, where the hungry are fed and sustained with Holy Communion, where couples make vows for a lifetime, where prayers are prayed in seasons joy and in sorrow, where the resurrection is celebrated in the valley of the shadow.  It is the place where the cross leads to trust.  It is a home for Christ's community amid the tensions and the troubles of the world. 

Louie is long gone now, but I still think I can hear his deep bass voice. Others, too, have come to sing the songs and be strengthened in the faith.  There is always movement as we come and go from such spaces.  I hope some other child has found the stairs up to that balcony and found a place to grow in faith, accepted and loved by a gracious and merciful God.

And, I hope it is so in every church building.  I pray there will be a loving community that teaches faith.  May God be blessed, and may God bless that community with peace and power and life.