Next weekend I am preaching at my childhood church, where my parents are currently elders. I have been searching for a message and a sermon title for about a week, praying that a word might come to me that would tie all of the thoughts I had about what I might preach on together.
I was sitting in Starbucks today, sipping an Iced Venti Caramel Macchiato and journalling my thoughts on the impending sermon, when a man sat down in the chair next to mine and smiled at the stack of books to my right. "Pouring through scripture on a Sunday?" he asked. I smiled and told him that I was seeking a message I might share with a small, fairly traditional, congregation in West Palm Beach. We talked for a few minutes about what he did for a living, that he was a pastor at Calvary Assembly (the church my good friend Nick used to record music at) until 2002 when he went into the business/secular realm. It turned out that we both attend the same church now, where he plays in the worship band on Sunday mornings. Insane. He picked up his coffee and headed out, leaving me a little startled and a little amused at the same time.
I looked down at the words I had been writing, about the habit of division ingrained in all of us, about how God craves us to be fully present seven days a week, about how appearances are nothing if our heart is separate from Him. And the word came to me: Gestalt. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The parts, themselves, are not inherently bad if they are not ends in themselves but means to a greater end.
Here's where it gets weird. I called my parents to tell them that a sermon title had finally come to me. I knew my mother would like it because she's always liked the name of the company I work for (Gestalt). Once she contained her laughter, she proceeded to read a word from the notes she had been making about the communion message she was preparing for after my sermon: Gestalt. Gestalt! What?! Incredible.
A few minutes later I got a call from my friend Laiza, who is in my Thursday night Bible study. She said that she was able to get next weekend off from work and could come lead worship on the day I am preaching. My parents' church has been without a music ministry for a few months now, singing hymns a cappella, and I really wanted to bring someone with me to share the gift of music with them again.
Everything — all the parts — are coming together.
I am finally at peace with the direction I've been heading in my preparation for this sermon. The whole will indeed be greater than the sum of the parts.