This morning Steve led us, using the story of Jesus casting the demons out of Legion as a basis to review the core values we have at ThirdSpace and to ask questions of where we are and where we’re going. He concluded that the story speaks of a man who experiences Jesus-induced change:

• From exclusion to community
• From insanity to wholeness
• From living amongst the dead to being with the living
• From nakedness to being clothed
• From self-harm to being commissioned to serve others
• From violent uncontrollability to shalom

The questions we were then set to consider as we sat or wandered around the park, were the following:

OUR THIRD SPACE VALUES:

CHRIST. Jesus brings renewed life to this man; all others seem to have given up on him. Jesus then returns him to his own people and asks him to tell his story. What is our story of Christ’s rescue? What is our Third Space story? How do we place Christ at the centre of all we do?

CELEBRATION. I imagine that he returned to his own people and there was a celebratory meal to welcome him back. There he told his story. How might we tell the story through celebration? How might we use the meal to build the Kingdom?

JOURNEY. He journeys from darkness to light. Have we arrived or are we still conscious of our own journeying? How can we encourage each other in our journeys more effectively? Can we use the redemption journeys of others to help us?

JUSTICE and SERVICE. He was ostracised, marginalised, living amongst the tombs. There are those in our worlds in those situations now. How might we seek justice for them? How might we serve those we meet in those situations? Has Third Space a role to play in this? What is it?

CONNECTED. Jesus was the God-man incarnated in his time and his culture. Yet he was transcendent Christ for all time. We seek to be ambassadors – rooted in our time and community and yet representing the interests of another Kingdom and dancing to a different tune. How do we maintain a salty “in the world but not of it”?

          COMMUNITY. He was returned to his own people. We too are a people called together. What is our next step? How might we discern the path ahead?

These are questions we intend to explore further – perhaps with Michael Mitton who is with us on Wednesday…

We finished with the words we have used before, written by Steve, in the sharing of bread and wine:

Perspectives – bread and wine

Bread – in all its variety – wholegrain, white bleached, flat, mother’s pride, granary, unleavened, pitta and crusty, soft and seeded. It is just bread – a staple – food for all, for the rich and the poor.

But in your outstretched hands, in your body, you transform this element into spiritual nourishment which in turn transacts our horizontal dimension with your vertical reality. We thank you that we stand in that crossing place once again.

For on the night before he died….Jesus gave thanks….took and broke….and shared….saying, “Take, eat, feed and remember – it is my body.”

ALL: We share this bread as one people with the risen Christ in our midst.

Wine – in all its variety – white and red, flat and sparkling, oaky and tannin rich, young and old, chardonnay and merlot, grenache and cabernet, old world and new world. It is just wine – a staple of celebration for all.

But in your wounded hands you transform this element to seal the new transaction between God and us. This wine spilt opens the new way, curtains rent asunder, the mundane becomes translucent with your presence. We thank you that we stand in that place once again.

For on the night before he died, Jesus gave thanks….took the cup….and shared it….saying, “Take, drink, it is given for you. It is my blood.”

ALL: We share this wine as one people with the risen Christ in our midst.

So we have eaten and drunk this transforming meal which brings heaven to earth. As Kingdom builders, we journey with Christ our Lord.

ALL: AMEN!

Good stuff! And a challenging morning – inspiring as ever. Thanks Steve!