Now the Israelites grieved for their brothers, the Benjamites. “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel,” they said. – Judges 21:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 18, 2012): Judges 21

I love Data’s (Star Trek: The Next Generation) definition of friendship. Data is an artificial life form. In the Science Fiction series he is Pinocchio, always wishing that he could be a real little boy. But many of the human feelings and emotions are beyond him. All he can do is dream of the day when he might become real. So, he often sees and defines things differently from the way that we might describe them. All of this works because in the foreign language we often find the truth about ourselves and his definition of friendship is one of those truths. Data defines friendship this way. "As I experience certain sensory input patterns, my mental pathways become accustomed to them. The inputs eventually are anticipated and even missed when absent." I get that.

 

I often grieve for the people that I have lost in my life. I was talking with a friend the other day and our discussion turned to a mutual friend that died almost a decade ago. And all in a sudden the memories came rushing back. I could see her standing with her family as if it was just yesterday that I last saw her. But the anticipated sensory inputs were missed and the pain returned.

People do not have to die for us to lose them. Sometimes they just walk out of our lives for other reasons. But the pain is just as real. And there is a good reason for that. Whether we want to admit it or not, we were designed for community and we have an effect on each other. And when that effect stops, no matter what the reason, we experience pain.

The men of Benjamin had committed a sin, not just against God but also against the community and rest of the nation felt that they had to do something in response. They met the men of Benjamin in battle and just about wiped the tribe off of the face of the earth. But when it was over, they grieved and felt the pain. Their brother was gone. And things would never be the way that they had been ever again. But as tragic as the story was, it might have been more tragic if the destruction of the tribe had not met with grief – because then it would have meant that they had never made a difference to the community in the first place.

It is good to be missed – because that means that on some level we made an impact on community and on the individuals in the community. And that is exactly what is supposed to happen every time we come together.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ruth 1

Note: The VantagePoint Community Church Sermon "A Tale of Three Arks" from the Series "The Road" is now available on the VantagePoint Website. You can find it here.