Entries Tagged 'Spiritual Reflection' ↓

My sermon last Sunday focused on Jesus’ time in the Garden of Gethsemane (“olive press”) found in Mark 14.32-42.

In the midst of the agony Jesus was feeling, he was also greatly concerned for Peter, James, and John, who were supposed to “keep watch” with Jesus. I love the question Jesus asked his friends when he found them sleeping a short distance away …

Simon, are you asleep?

Their sleepiness was understandable. It was late (probably after midnight) and they had just completed an extra intense Passover Seder. Jesus had warned them throughout the night his suffering was about to begin, and that in the process, one of them would betray him, one would deny him, and they all would desert him!

That would have been a good time to stay alert!

Jesus said …

Stay awake and pray that you won’t give into temptation!

Jesus asked his friends to keep watch, to stay alert, to stay awake … to live ready.

I’ve always remembered a quote I read a long time ago by Smith Wigglesworth …

Live ready. If you have to get ready when the opportunity comes your way, it will be too late. Opportunity does not wait, not even while you pray. You must not have to get ready, you must live ready at all times.

I wonder how often God asks us if we’re asleep. Jesus, who wanted his friends to be alert that fateful night, also wants us to be on guard and to pray that we won’t give in when we are tested.

Peter learned that lesson the hard way. Years later, he challenged Christ-followers in a letter …

Be on your guard and stay awake. Your enemy, the devil, is like a roaring lion, sneaking around to find someone to attack. (1 Peter 5.8)

It’s an important lesson for us, too. We must stay awake, be alert, be on guard, and live ready!

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season. This morning, I was finishing up reading through Ezra and his prayer toward the end of the book sounded like a good prayer for the beginning of Lent.

Ezra, who has returned to Jerusalem with a group of Israelites that were in captivity in Babylon, heard that the people had sinned. Ezra says, “This news made me so angry that I ripped my clothes and tore hair from my head and beard. Then I just sat in shock until time for the evening sacrifice.” (That’s a pretty intense response to sin!)

Then Ezra prayed …

I am much too ashamed to face you, LORD God. Our sins and our guilt have swept over us like a flood that reaches up to the heavens. Since the time of our ancestors, all of us have sinned. That’s why we, our kings, and our priests have often been defeated by other kings. They have killed some of us and made slaves of others; they have taken our possessions and made us ashamed, just as we are today.

But for now, LORD God, you have shown great kindness to us. You made us truly happy by letting some of us settle in this sacred place and by helping us in our time of slavery. We are slaves, but you have never turned your back on us. You love us, and because of you, the kings of Persia have helped us. It’s as though you have given us new life! (Ezra 9.6-9; read the whole prayer in Ezra 9.)

As we turn toward God, and away from sin, may this Lenten season be an especially transformational experience for all of us!

I watched one of The Nines’ videos, one by Nancy Beach who is on staff at Willow Creek. The one thing she chose to share was, “Guard your heart.”

Nancy says her heart is grieved with the number of conversations that she’s had with people from other churches who work on staff with a lead pastor who is not exemplary in Christlikeness. And so she poses the question, “As people get closer to me, do they discover more or less of Christlikeness?”

Nancy’s key verse in pointing us toward Christlikeness is Proverbs 4.23 …

Above all else guard your heart for everything you do flows from it.

Nancy gives these three ways to “guard your heart”:

1. Spiritual practices: what practices am I going to intentionally engage in at this season of life/ministry?
2. Safe relationships: who do I have in my life that I can share openly with?
3. Stretching experiences: what ministry experience can I expose myself to that will jump start my spiritual life?

This is really a good follow-up to the Provisional Member Retreat that Randy and I just attended (and he reflected on here). Related to the concept of being and doing, Nancy says that if one does not concentrate on the being that it will eventually become evident. Perhaps you can cover that up from a distance, but as people get close to you, it will be evident.

Focusing on being, and guarding your heart, is a challenge in a world that values “productivity,” seeing a product produced. We’re better at measuring effectiveness by what we “see” people “doing.” In ministry (and in all of our lives) it is what you don’t see that is most important. It is the time spent with God in the secret place. That is where he molds and makes us.

It’s in the secret place where we are filled with the Holy Spirit and receive God’s empowerment for ministry. That is where we receive his guidance so that we are not just “busy” but have focus. That is where we discover what God is doing and he invites us to be a part of it, so that we are not out there doing our own thing and assuming God will bless it. This is where we are sure we are not just “doing things right” (management), but “doing the right things” (leadership).

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6.6)

I am still making my way through Eugene Peterson’s Eat This Book. Earlier, I wrote about the first three chapters, and in this post, I’ll reflect on the last couple chapters of part one.

In chapter four, Peterson talks about story and suggests, “Story is the primary verbal means of bringing God’s Word to us” (40). Peterson writes, “Story doesn’t just tell us something and leave it there, it invites our participation” (40).

This has implications for preaching, of course. Since the Scriptures are primarily story (narrative), then preaching should be storytelling.

Peterson rounds out the chapter by discussing exegesis, which he describes as “focused attention, asking questions, sorting through possible meanings. Exegesis is rigorous, disciplined, intellectual work” (50). Peterson writes, “exegesis is an act of love. It loves the one who speaks the words enough to want to get the words right” (55).

But exegesis does not mean mastering the text, it means submitting to it as it is given to us. Exegesis doesn’t take charge of the text and impose superior knowledge on it; it enters the world of the text and lets the text “read” us. Exegesis is an act of sustained humility: There is so much about this text that I don’t know, that I will never know. (57)

Exegesis isn’t just for preachers and teachers, it’s for all disciples (i.e., students). This section challenges me to be a better student of God’s Word. Peterson writes, “All our masters in spirituality were and are master exegetes” (50).

As part one of the book nears an end, Peterson discusses the difficulty of reading the Bible. He notes, “eating the Bible gave John a stomachache” (63). That is, “There are words in this book that are difficult to digest” (64).

But it is not just the hard sayings, it is the way the Bible comes to us. There are moments when it strikes us as totally strange, impossible to fit into our scheme of thinking and living. We try our best to domesticate this revelation, to fit it into our version of the way we would like things to be. (65)

The Bible is the most comforting book; it is also the most discomfiting book. Eat this book; it will be sweet as honey in your mouth; but it will also be bitter to your stomach. You can’t reduce this book to what you can handle; you can’t domesticate this book to what you are comfortable with. You can’t make it your toy poodle, trained to respond to your commands. (66)

Peterson concludes this section with good advice …

Eat this book, but also have a well-ctocked cupboard of Alka-Seltzer and Pepto-Bismol at hand. (66)

In her book, The Organic God, Margaret Feinberg talks about the abundant kindness of God. She writes …

I must not just accept that God is kind, I must embrace his kindness as my own.

Feinberg says that kindness is largely learned: God displays his kindness through people who give us mini lessons of kindness. When we grow close to God, we can’t help but encounter his kindness.

That kindness invites us to recognize the needs of others and take the steps necessary to meet those needs.

Feinberg recognizes that there are people in the world who are “unappreciative, difficult to be around, or down right obnoxious.” How are you kind to these people? How are we to “love our enemies” (Luke 6.35-36). She gives some pointers, starting with looking inward. “I’m forced to reflect on just how kind or unkind I really am.”

The full text that instructs us to love our enemies goes on to say, “do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.”

Feinberg adds …

The hard truth is, when I show kindness, I expect something in return … a sense of satisfaction, a smile on a person’s face, or a word of thanks.

Feinberg’s first word of advice is, “Drop your expectations,” and her second word of advice is, “People cannot give you what they do not have.” She goes on to explain that there is a freedom in realizing that people cannot give what they do not have.

This realization can set us free to be kind again. There’s “a renewal or restoration” that “takes place when I give up the sense that I am owed something. … I can give freely, not expecting anything in return. I can put aside the fear of exploitation” (that I am being taking advantage of).

I believe Feinberg has discovered the gold mine of kindness. As we set out to offer kindness to others, we will be tested. Sometimes our reservoirs will seem depleted. But these two tips will help us grow.

And we must remember to draw on the reservoir of God’s kindness, “the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Titus 3.3-4).

Everyone invests in something. We invest our time, energy, and money in things in which we expect a good return (be it financial, emotional, or spiritual).

Christ-followers invest their lives — their time, energy, and money — in God. But sometimes we wonder if our investment is really worth it.

One day, Peter, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, reminded Jesus that he and the other disciples had given up everything to follow Jesus. He wanted to know, “What will we get?” Part of Peter’s question involved trying to determine if the investment was worth it.

Jesus assured Peter that the return on his investment would be more than he could imagine. Jesus said, “everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19.27-30).

The reality is, God is worthy of our whole heart and life. The old Anglo-Saxon word for worship is “worthship.” Worshiping God involves acknowledging God’s worth. The God who sent his son into the world to save it is worthy of our praise. The God who took our place on the cross is worthy of our worship. The God who comes alongside of us and fills us with God’s power is worth honoring.

God is worth our investment. In fact, investing in God and God’s work (with our time, energy, and money) is the best investment we can ever make!

Centre Grove’s council has been reading, discussing, and acting on Bishop Robert Schnase’s Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. So far, we have completed discussion of one of the practices (Radical Hospitality) and we recently started on a second (Intentional Faith Development).

In this chapter, Bishop Schnase stresses the importance of learning together in community. He writes …

Churches that practice Intentional Faith Development offer high quality learning experiences that help people understand Scripture, faith, and life in the supportive nurture of caring relationships (62).

Among the benefits of learning in community, Bishop Schnase suggests that …

Learning in community helps people explore possibilities that God may have for them that they never would have considered on their own (63).

Bishop Schnase notes that “Growing in Christ-likeness is the goal and end of the life of faith … This growth in Christ spans a lifetime” (64). Further, “The Christian faith is not static but dynamic. It requires cultivation” (64). I love the word cultivation. It’s a great way to understand the discipleship process Christ-followers engage in throughout their lives.

I like how Bishop Schnase describes Bible study. It reminds me of what I blogged recently in Eat This Book. Schnase writes …

Bible study is not just about self-improvement but about setting ourselves where God can shape us, intentionally opening ourselves to God’s Word and God’s call (65).

Bishop Schnase also challenges and reminds church leaders to personally engage in Bible study. It’s easy for church leaders to neglect their own personal spiritual growth by spending all their time in the Scriptures preparing sermons or Bible studies for others. Bishop Schnase writes …

Bible study changes churches. When church leaders take their own spiritual growth seiously and immerse themselves in the study of Scripture, in prayer, and fellowship, they understand the purpose of the church and the point of ministry differently (73).

Church leaders must be growing themselves in order to be effective in leading others. Bishop Schnase asks …

How can church leaders make good faith decisions for the congregation without proper grounding in the faith? (73).

Bishop Schnase closes the chapter on Intentional Faith Development reminding the reader that spiritual transformation is ultimately God’s work. Schnase writes …

No matter how dedicated our efforts, the transformation of human hearts and minds is God’s work through the Holy Spirit, and intentionally learning in community is our way of placing ourselves in the hands of God so that God can sculpt our souls and recreate us in the image of Christ (78).

The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, and if we’re going to be faithful to God’s call, we must be intentional about developing faith in people.

In the next post in this series, I’ll blog some of the practical ideas Centre Grove is considering as we engage the concept of Intentional Faith Development.

A few months ago I wrote that I would read Eugene Peterson during Lent. Unfortunately, my reading got pushed out for a while out due to the work we had to do for commissioning (as Provisional Elders) and I’ve just recently gotten back to reading Peterson’s Eat This Book.

Usually, I read a book as quickly as I can so that I can get through as many books as possible (it’s hard to keep up with all the books I want to read!). But with this book, I’m reading a lot slower (Peterson’s stuff is usually pretty heavy/intense). So far, I’m going through each chapter three times, the first time without a highlighter, the second time with a highlighter, and the third time simply to review the statements I’ve highlighted.

Here are a few of the things I highlighted in the first three chapters …

The Christian Scriptures are the primary text for Christian spirituality … We grow in accordance with the revealed Word implanted in us by the Spirit (15).

What I want to call attention to is that the Bible is livable; it is the text for living our lives. It reveals a God-created, God-ordered, God-blessed world in which we find ourselves at home and whole (18).

These statements are pretty straightforward. If we, as Christ-followers, are going to grow, we’ve must be people of the Book.

Peterson describes eating the book as internalizing the Scriptures.

Eating a book takes it all in, assimilating it into the tissues of our lives. Readers become what they read. If Holy Scripture is to be something other than mere gossip about God, it must be internalized (20).

In our reading of this book we come to realize that what we need is not primarily informational, telling us things about God, but formational, shaping us into our true being (23-24).

Ultimately, everything is formational. Christ-followers, in order to grow more Christ-like, must ensure that they are being formed by God’s Word.

I also like how Peterson describes Bible reading as participatory.

Christian reading is participatory reading, receiving the words in such a way that they become interior to our lives, the rhythms, and images becoming practices of prayer, acts of obedience, ways of love (28).

Toward the end of chapter 3, Peterson offers quite a challenging statement for Christ-followers, and Christ-following leaders, in particular …

God and his ways are not what most of us think. Most of what we are told about God and his ways by our friends on the street, or read about him in the papers, or view on television, or think up on our own, is simply wrong. Maybe not dead wrong, but wrong enough to mess up the way we live (34-35).

To guard against misleading others, we must “eat the book” (i.e., God’s Word) — internalize it so that it becomes part of who we are. Internalizing God’s Word is especially important for leaders and communicators who have the potential to influence many people.

I look forward to continuing through the book. I’ll write another post or two as I make my way through it.

As Pentecost Sunday comes to a close, I’ll share one more thought about life in the Spirit (I previously wrote about Dynamite and Immersion).

I’ve always understood the role of the Holy Spirit to be largely about empowerment. Moments before Jesus ascended to heaven, he told his followers …

… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere … (Acts 1.8)

The Holy Spirit was poured out on us to empower us to tell people about Jesus!

In recent years, I’ve been particularly struck by the missional nature of how God spoke to the people who had gathered in Jerusalem from different lands and languages. It’s quite a miraculous story …

And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.

God acts in the world through people who are led by, and filled with, the Holy Spirit. May God continue to pour out the Holy Spirit upon all people, freeing them from sin and empowering them for the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ!

Tomorrow is Pentecost Sunday. I recently reflected on the word Dynamite. I’m also thinking about the word immersion.

Immersion is one of the forms or methods of water baptism (along with sprinkling or pouring). The United Methodist Church recognizes/practices all three forms. But when it comes to being baptized in the Holy Spirit, immersion is the only way to go!

In Ephesians 5.18, Paul writes …

Do not be drunk with wine, which will ruin you, but be filled with the Spirit.

Don’t just sip. Don’t simply drink of the Spirit in moderation. Be completely intoxicated with the Holy Spirit!

What would it look like if all Christ-followers were immersed in the Spirit? What would it look like if all Christ-following leaders and pastors were so full of God’s Spirit that others thought they were drunk?

It wouldn’t be the first time. On the first post-resurrection Day of Pentecost, some of the people who had gathered in Jerusalem for the religious celebration charged …

They’re just drunk, that’s all!

They were right, of course. (They just had the wrong intoxifying agent in mind.)