Sacred Profane

Profane

Sacred desk
              Profane space

Pulpit silent—no voice drifts   
     toward hearing ears.

Gangland Tag: “Holy” was here  
Holy   
Holy                                      
Holy

Lord God Almighty where is the church!

Are we fleeing the coming wrath

or

Running headlong

     arms           open          wide

A giant net of love and hope

      set to catch a falling star

      a human soul

Run church run!

Leave your hallowed sacred desk

and tag the world
                               Love has come….

About the Image: 

I wrote this verse as a reflection of what I saw just off I-80 in Nebraska.  Just 100 yards off the Highway sets and abandon church.  Windows are gone, pews are piled up and the old organ is smashed. The pulpit still stands alone in the corner surrounded by graffiti filled walls.  The words on the walls are both profane and sacred.  The side of the building still reads “God is with you.” 

I am caught by the decay of church buildings.   It challenges me to see the church not as architecture but as a sent people.  Sent to a world longing for hope, a world outside the walls.  Too many pulpits face empty pews.  The hope of the Gospel must incarnationally leave the building, empowered by both faith and deed.  Then, the church will once again encounter a hurting world and leave her mark on history.