Early February is a miserable time in Chicago. You’ve had a month of snow, ice and cold and you know you have another month of it yet to come. People have cabin fever from being stuck indoors. They are longing for the warm summer months, sitting outside on the front porch in the early evening, chatting with the passing neighbors.

February in Florida is much more pleasant. I have a nice screened porch where I can sit in the late afternoon as the temperature warms up to the low 70s. Nobody stops by to chat, however. Maybe it’s because I live in an apartment building, but I’ve found far less sense of “neighborhood” in Ocala than I did in Chicago.

It strikes me that the church has to become a kind of neighborhood where people can enjoy the companionship of one another. Martin Luther wrote in Part III, Article III of the Smalcald Articles that the Gospel offers comfort and help through the spoken word, through Baptism, through the Sacrament of the Altar, through the power of the keys (forgiveness of sins) and: “through the mutual conversation and consolation of the brethren.” That last provision is often forgotten. We do the work of the Gospel when we support, help, and comfort each other.

Maybe we ought to sing Mr. Rogers theme song as a hymn in church:

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood
A beautiful day for a neighbor
Could you be mine?
Would you be mine?

The church as our neighborhood. It’s worth giving it a try.

Read Mark 12:31 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne