Positively Connected: 2 Peter 1:1-11 - Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

We teach our children not to talk to strangers. As adults, we continue to live by that rule, but for different reasons. Most strangers are harmless. We don’t want to be bothered, we don’t want to be a bother, and we don’t want to be rejected. 

Anymore, we are so isolated that we don’t even know the people living next door to us. But does it really have to be this way?

Some filmmakers set up a ball pit on a busy city street. It was about four feet high, and big enough to give two adults plenty of space to sit in it. 

A sign hung above it, inviting people to climb in and make a friend. A few brave souls took the plunge, and that’s exactly what happened. 

They introduced themselves to the stranger seated next to them. Conversation starters were written on some of the balls, and as the participants were all smiles as they spoke about themselves. The poet William Butler Yeats was right: “There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven't yet met.”

The ten youth in the confirmation group I helped to lead at Camp Lutherlyn learned this lesson quite well. The first couple of hours are always awkward, but in less than 24 hours, you’d think they’d known each other their entire lives.

At camp, you learn that you can be yourself and be accepted at the same time. 

When I was their age, I did not believe that.  I believed there were two kinds of people in this world: those who fit in, and those who do not. In my mind, I was the and I would not go to camp. 

Have you ever felt that way? That there is something about you that makes you unworthy of belonging? Or are you intimidated by human connection because there are things about you that you don’t want people to know?

Could this be one of the reasons why we are in a loneliness pandemic?

On the other hand, there are those who believe that they are worthier of connection and belonging by the birthright of their race or social class, or because they are rich and successful. It’s people like this that make coming to church so difficult—even in congregations where no one behaves in this way. 

Any way you slice it, God created you for human connection. You need it as much as we need food and water. And not just any human connection. Positive human connection: the kinds of relationships which bring out the very best in everyone. Positive relationships in which you can be yourself, whether you’re mad, bad, sad, or glad. 

Every good and healthy relationship is rooted in the relationship you have been given with Jesus Christ. His love for you has nothing to do with your worthiness, but his graciousness. While you were a sinner and an enemy of God, Christ died for you. You have been made righteous before God and you share in the privilege of believing.

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But you cannot grow in faith and knowledge of God without relationships with God’s people. It is in the Christian community that the Holy Spirit cultivates godliness in you.

The one thing that makes Camp Lutherlyn such an extraordinary place is that we live with each other the way that God intends.

You wouldn’t think you could bring together a group of teens who were complete strangers to each other on a Sunday afternoon, and by Friday morning they will have bonded so much that they don’t want to leave, and they aren’t excited to get their phones back. But that’s exactly what happens. You wouldn’t think that quiet or reserved kids to have fun. But at Lutherlyn, they do. 

You wouldn’t think that teens would happily sweep floors, compost food waste, make their beds, and show respect for their counselors and for each other. But at Lutherlyn, they do. 

When I spoke at the final worship service last Friday, I told the campers that they showed up Sunday afternoon as strangers, but they’re leaving as family. They showed up as campers, but that they were going home as leaders. God gave them this week to show them that they are loved—and they learned of this love not just from the Scriptures and the songs, but in their relationships with their peers and counselors. I challenged them to think about how they could create this Christian sense of community in their schools, sports teams, organizations, friendships, and churches. 

We will do well to follow their example. Every camp counselor told the story of how God was working in their lives, especially through their struggles and failures. We don’t do that very often at church, and that needs to change. 

Our young people were given opportunities to let loose, laugh, have fun, and try new things. Most of our time was not spent sitting in classrooms, but outside, exploring nature, building friendships, and getting physical exercise. 

But there were also times when they spoke openly about their pains and struggles. We cried together and we prayed together.

Somewhere along the way, we got the idea that we must act, think, look, believe, and feel a certain way to fit in at church. If we allow that mindset to persist, there won’t be a church. But if we make the effort to be a mutually supportive community, if we each do our part to share equally in the work as well as in the fun, if we hold each other’s joys and sorrows in Godly love, we will thrive. I can’t think of fewer ways to delight in God as much as delighting in each other, whether you’re meeting for the first time or have been there for years. 

You don’t have to be okay as long as you know that you’re loved. And when you are loved, you know you will be okay. 

Remnant Confirmation Camp at Lutherlyn, June 30, 2023. Photo by author.