Journey into Outer Grace

While in Wales recently, I visited one of my favorite places in the British Isles–Llangwyfan, or St. Cwyfan’s Church-in-the-Sea.  It’s an ancient place of worship to God.  While this part of Anglesey may have been inhabited by Christians as early as A.D. 200 (since it was on the edge of the Roman Empire), the first church was likely planted here by a missionary monk named Cwyfan (pronounced KWEE-von) in the 6th century AD.  “St. Cwyfan” would have lived nearby, ministering to his flock in Christ’s name, and left behind a gathered community of Christians (a llan).  Over many years this llan of Cwyfan became “Llangwyfan”.  The old building that still stands dates mostly from the 14th century.

What draws me to Llangwyfan is the remoteness and the beauty of this simple church on its frail island facing the sea, almost as if waiting, like a ship in harbor, prow pointed out for the coming journey.

It also draws me because at high tide the church is often an island, but when the tide ebbs it becomes part of the mainland again.  Back and forth–joined and not joined.  It’s like our calling as followers of Christ to be in this world (John 17:18), but not of it (John 17:16).  We are both joined to the world and yet we do not belong to it.  We are aliens and strangers in this rebellious world, not living for its idols, but yet we are sent into it to heal and proclaim the coming kingdom of Jesus who redeems such a fallen world as this.  Yet so often in my own life I see how I am part of that broken creation, a sinful mess, and it is a miracle of God’s grace that he not only restores me by his sovereign love but then uses me to help others find hope through the gospel.

Llangwyfan, Church in the sea, you are an island, you are part of the main; and like you we seek to stand on the border, with our citizenship in heaven and our hands touching the hurting earth for Christ’s sake. 

No, this is not a plug for Starbuck’s, despite the fact that they have a mermaid in their logo, and I love coffee!

On Wednesday night I spoke to a group of about 20 people at WasPSI, a monthly event attended by New Agers, wiccans, spiritualists, and people fascinated by paranormal ideas (i.e. ghosts).  Prior encounters with these kind of people have really given me a love for them and a desire that they might abandon their self-made gods and serve Christ.  I had been invited to speak on a neutral issue, that of folklore.  So I accepted.

That night I described the history of mermaids and other legendary aquatic creatures throughout different cultures of the world.  I finished with the selkie stories of northern Scotland, where the tale was told of magical creatures who looked like seals but at night came ashore and cast off their sealskins to dance on the sand.  A man could steal one of their skins and trap a selkie on land to forcibly marry him.  I used this as a metaphor of how we as human beings have lost something precious… a place we belong, a spiritual home. 

We are not the way we were meant to be.  We need to regain our sealskin [the image of God].  But how?  There is One who came to us in human skin to bring us back to our home, the ocean we must seek.  And just as in the mermaid stories that mention bells ringing underwater along the shore, I believe that there is a bell ringing for you and for me, calling us home.

The discussion afterward was OK.  I was happy enough with my presentation… but of course it’s so easy to wonder, “Did I say enough?”  I was trying to make them curious.  And I had a good conversation with a man called Ian afterwards (the leader of WasPSI).  Although I had hoped I would get more questions from people along the lines of, “What do you mean by spiritual home?” I did make some good contacts.  If I want to, I can follow up with those contacts in the future.  I am grateful that conversion is not my work; just sowing the seed or watering it.  Deus dat incrementum! (Latin for God gives the increase–1 Corinthians 3:5-8) 

This week I went on a day out with a young guy from our church whom I’ve been discipling.  We drove to the island of Anglesey, in the northwest corner of Wales.  Much of it is farmland, and not very industrialized–which is a blessing, since there are many places of historical significance or natural beauty that are preserved.  It’s interesting reading about the ancient times when the Roman army conquered even this far corner of Britain.  (see http://www.roman-britain.org/places/mona.htm) 

Off the western shore of Anglesey is the small island of Ynys Gybi, or Holy Island.  It has some high sea cliffs on the northwest corner, and rocky outcrops called “stacks”.  We did some walking along the cliffs and followed the path down to South Stack Lighthouse, as you see above in the picture with Mike.  We reflected on how this really felt like the edge of Europe… the land dwindles as you travel northwest from the continent, to the island kingdom of Great Britain, to Anglesey, to Holy Island, to South Stack.  Although Ireland does lie to the west, you can’t see it–only the vast ocean filling the horizon.  It feels like the end of the earth. 

Mike and I have been talking about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, and how the life of the ultimate Hero in us transforms us more into that hero-likeness.  But becoming his disciple is like coming to the edge of a continent (yourself)–it’s risky and unfamiliar territory.  If following Jesus means “denying self” then there is this fear of what I might have to give up.  We have come to a final shore and we cannot go on like before.  We can go no farther on our own feet; we cannot even swim the rest of the way.  Through faith in Christ we board the one thing that will carry us toward the blue horizon and a great destiny: the gracious, faithful character of God.  If we are “stranded” on this alone, we will embark on wonderful adventures indeed.

After that, Mike and I wandered along the cliffs and gazed out at the light shimmering over the sea; the long arm of the headland thrusts out to form a bay called “Abraham’s Bosom” (see second picture).  What a great name!  I read from Genesis 12 and we talked about how Abraham also faced an unknown future in following God to Canaan.  Daily surrendering our agenda to his displays the trust we have for our Father, and releases us to be real heroes & explorers in His name.  It was a good day; and hopefully it helped Mike to picture better the process of putting one’s life in God’s hands.  I need to remember it daily too.

See the link below for interesting news this week–over 25 new species of plants and animals have been discovered in the remote mountains of New Guinea.  It’s amazing that we are still finding creatures that have never been identified before.  There is so much to this earth that we still do not know.  What an awesome thing it is to to see the beauty of the bower bird and realize the weight of Colossians 1:15-16… “all things were created by him and for him”. 

Which makes me wonder: How much more of God’s love and providence in our lives is there to discover?  Have we assumed too quickly that we know how great it is?  Or is there more of this mystery to delight in–so that we too may get a glimpse of the Eden to come. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/02/08/weden08.xml&DCMP=EMC-new_08022006

Our blog is called http://vingilot.wordpress.com in reference to a ship in JRR Tolkien’s fictional world of Middle-Earth (as in The Lord of the Rings).  The Silmarillion is Tolkien’s history of the creation, fall, and redemption of Middle-Earth.  In Chapter 24, it says of the hero Eärendil,

“Now Eärendil became fast in friendship with Círdan the Shipwright, who dwelt on the Isle of Balar with those of his people who escaped from the sack of the Havens of Brithombar and Eglarest. With the aid of Círdan Eärendil built Vingilot, the Foam-flower, fairest of the ships of song; golden were its oars and white its timbers, hewn in the birchwoods of Nimbrethil, and its sails were as the argent moon. In the Lay of Eärendil is many a thing sung of his adventures in the deep and in lands untrodden, and in many seas and in many isles…”

From the Encyclopedia of Arda:

“[Earendil was] The mariner who sailed the Great Sea at the end of the First Age. He long sought a way to Aman, to seek the aid of the Valar against Morgoth, but the way was hidden. After the Sons of Fëanor attacked the Exiles of Gondolin seeking the Silmaril [rare and ancient jewels made by Feanor], Elwing his wife escaped and came to him at sea, through the power of Ulmo, in the shape of a white sea-bird bearing the Silmaril on her breast.Through the power of the jewel, it is said, Eärendil was at last able to find a way to the Undying Lands, and there stood before the Valar and begged their aid in the wars against Morgoth. The Valar listened to his plea, and sent the great force that finally conquered the Dark Lord and freed Middle-earth.Eärendil’s father was a Man, and his mother an Elf, so he and his wife Elwing and their sons were given the choice of race to which they wished to belong. Elwing chose Elvenkind, and Eärendil did so too for her sake. He now sails the [ocean of space] with the Silmaril upon his brow, shining as the morning and evening star.”

So I chose Vingilot because it is a symbol of grace–just as Earendil’s mythical mission was to seek divine pardon and the deliverance of His people (both elves and men) from evil, Jesus’ real mission was to bring us forgiveness and freedom.  By God’s grace, we are on this heavenward journey on the “ship” of faith, captained by Christ our hero.

Back in November, I was praying for the immanent release of the film The Chronicles of Narnia, that God would use it to touch children’s hearts across the world and re-enchant them with a desire for Someone like Aslan, and that they would be guided to joyful faith in Christ. After praying I was thinking about how our church could in some small way creatively meet this challenge.  It occurred to me that we could have a sort of ‘Narnia Club’ at a local elementary school, as a bridge between the worlds of literature and the biblical message. I searched the ‘Net to see if anyone else was doing it. Plenty of people around the world were doing it for their kids in church; few seemed to be using it as an outreach tool without reducing it to a tract; it was even harder to find a good model in the UK to use. But I found a church in the end.A man at Peterborough Community Church (near Cambridge) had developed this ‘course’ for kids over 5 years ago, weaving elements of games, video clips of the Narnia stories, and drama to create an enjoyable, intriguing experience for children that points toward the key themes of sin, salvation by grace, repentance, and faith in Christ. And it does it without manipulating the kids or down-playing our need for the Saviour. This church has equipped us with a resource manual, ideas for games, and practical advice–all for free! What’s really amazing about all this is that we are planning to do this in a Community Primary School. I won’t go into all the fine details about the British schooling system right now, but suffice it to say that of the three kinds of elementary schools in the UK, this school is the type that is most secular, most careful not to endorse Christianity. Yet in the UK such a school often teaches different religious customs and rituals to its students; the line is not drawn as clearly as it is in government schools in the USA. So the wonderful fact is that although the UK is more secularized than the USA, the state schools still have an open door for Christians to come and do assemblies, clubs, etc. as long as it’s not active proselytizing. While this door remains open, believers need to respond.