There is something in each of us, which wants to 'grow' and 'mature' and 'develop' spiritually. We think all the methods and practices will make us reach the goal. We get focused.
But we focus in the wrong direction.
Growing in our spiritual lives does not happen by focusing directly on it.
Spiritual growth and maturity happens from concentrating on and entangling with the Father.
How startling would it have been to be poor and hear Jesus say, "Blessed are you"? What if you were mourning? Something that brings such hardship and is seen as a curse in some (most) cultures is now being told to you is really a blessing. It is really an interesting question because I have never really read that blessing from the standpoint of the poor or the mourning, or for that matter, from the standpoint of the humble or meek. I have generally always read it from the standpoint of the comparatively rich and the non-mourning.
I typically read the blessings from the standpoint of the selfish and prideful.
I typically read those beatitudes and blessings and speak of the direct challenge to changes it would mean for me, but I stay rich, selfish, and prideful because those changes seem so hard to make.
But what of the poor hearing that they are blessed?
What of the humble, meek, and mourning?
Would it be freeing?
Would it be confusing as it doesn't FEEL like a blessing?
How would that have felt to be told that? I honestly cannot imagine because I am rarely ever any of those things.
To my students,
I am for you.
I am for you in life and faith when it may seem no one is for you. Be reminded that I.am.for.you.
When it seems that even I am not for you, let me help you trust that I am for you. I hope for so much for you in life and faith.
In your life, I hope for your growth as a person. I am for you determining what you are truly meant to be and become. I am for you discovering and going after what will make you know joy and love; even if that has nothing to do with what your parents or your culture expects of you.
I am for you never feeling or becoming isolated from a sense of community that goes beyond the connectedness of Facebook into the intimacy of truly knowing others and being known by others. I am for you being connected to many many people but not neglecting commitment to at least a few.
I am for you discovering and truly knowing your heart's expression enough to own that voice within you that hopes to never.stop.expressing. Art is never done.
I am for you finding true love not tainted by what your culture and media says love and romance looks like. I am for you loving another person who has the courage to be a foundation of integrity, faith, and respect in your life instead of someone who is simply attracted to your sexuality.
In your faith, I am for you when it is hard to hold on. I am for you never giving up on the trust in God you once had. I am for you not getting lazy when it is easy to.
I am for you entangling your heart, mind, soul, strength with Jesus Christ....MORE....and MORE. I am for you always wanting to know more of Jesus, and learning what it means to obey him each day of your life.
I am for you learning to trust that you are beautiful and that God is always making you NEW, not because of the things you are good at but because you are a child of God who is outrageously beautiful. I am for you learning to trust that.
I am for you knowing you are NOT the church of tomorrow. You are the church NOW. I am for you not comparing yourselves to a church you once knew or were once hurt by. I am for you BEING the church you wish it was. I am for you not letting anyone look down you because you are younger. I am for you setting an example for all the people who are older than you; those who would rather categorize and complain about you than to know and listen to you. I am for you setting an example of those who have not "given up on Church" but of those who desire to be the church we are intended to be.
I am with you and I am FOR YOU.
- Your Pastor
This week I was out of town. So I asked one of my students to speak in my place. He recorded it so I could listen yesterday. He has revealed something I keep thinking about. Surrender without obedience is just laziness.
I have heard so many sermons and talks about surrendering to God, but it seems all the talks commonly stop at a similar point.
Surrender does mean learning to let go of all your worries, anxieties, expectations, and develop a dependent posture toward God. The only way God is going to lead you and come near to you is when you truly surrender, throw your hands up, and become fully dependent on Him.
My student spoke last week about his decision to drop out of school to truly develop this sort of faith.
"I don't want my life to make sense. I want to lose all care and worry for the future in order to gain boldness and courage in the present, so I can love people and get to know God better TODAY."
As a college pastor, it is no new thing to hear a student say, "college just isn't for me" or "I'm just gonna quit". Most of the time these are poor excuses for laziness, but this is entirely different. My student was clear to state that this not just a lazy decision to give up, but that, in fact, it was going to be much more difficult for him. He realized that if was going to abandon everything to follow Christ, there would be obedience on the other side of that surrender.
We don't hear that often enough.
We like the sound of letting go of our worry and anxiety to surrender, but we do not often enough hear or understand that once we develop a dependent posture toward God and His will for us, there WILL be work to be done.
Surrender is not an aversion of responsibility. Surrender is not an excuse to bum your way through life.
Surrender to God is a relentless openness to Him and His leading. Surrender to God is a lifestyle and lifetime of entangling our hearts with His.
But there is obedience on the other side of surrender.
Love is a relentless preference. for one person over another. any other. over you. There is, in love, the surrender of entangled fingers behind the head. This is not an emotion. it is not a feeling. It is an arrest. You are to cease your insincerity. and prohibit whatever pride you contain and
give up
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*one of those poems that started strong and just could not get finished
My lawn is beyond the point of repair or upkeep. It is beyond the point of little fixes toward maintenance. The weeds have dominated the grass, and at this point, I just keep mowing the weeds to make it look (better word: appear) nice. There is no real beautiful life but for a few patches, and the fact they are beautiful patches does not make the lawn look any better as whole. It only looks...well...patchy.
My lawn needs to be tilled up, re-rolled, and re-planted.
In what part of your life, your leadership, your ministry, are you just mowing weeds at this point?
What part of your life, your leadership, your ministry needs to just be thrown into the green waste bin to make room for whatever NEW BEAUTIFUL THING God is trying to create?
Sitting in the university cafeteria, I watched as a cross country runner loaded his lunch tray with piles of food. I elbowed a friend of mine and said, "Look how skinny that kid is, and look at his plate of food. I guess all I have to do is eat like that, and I could be as skinny as that." My friend responded, "Yeah, but he also runs about 10-12 miles every night."
James 5:17-18 talks about the prophet Elijah, and it starts off saying, "Elijah was a man just like us."
It is refreshing to know Elijah was just a man, but it is a challenge when you keep reading, "He prayed earnestly."
Take heart knowing, you too, are just a man. Take heed knowing you have to pray earnestly.
It is time to honor some of your sermon illustrations with retirement. They served you well, but they are tired and need to be hoisted to the rafters. It is time to retire
- guy crosses the grand canyon on a tight rope asking someone to jump in the wheelbarrow - draw-bridge operator who had to decide whether to close the bridge on his son or let all the train passengers plummet to the ravine - any and every Braveheart quote or reference - Courtroom Scene: God is the judge, we are the defendants, Jesus comes and takes the sentence for us
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What other sermon illustrations need to be retired?
A good friend of mine is directing a film about, who I might consider, the original ragamuffin, Rich Mullins. The idea of the Ragamuffin life of faith may have been communicated first by Brennan Manning, but it was first lived out in its strongest sense by Rich. Please take a moment to watch this small clip by Rich's little brother and a brief trailer for the film.
When asked, "What is the most important thing you do in preparing to preach each Sunday?" Dr. G.A. Buttrick responded: "For two hours every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, I walk through the neighborhood and make home visits. There is no way I can preach the gospel to these people if I don't know how they are living, what they are thinking and talking about. Preaching is proclamation, God's word revealed in Jesus, but only when it gets embedded into conversation, in a listening ear and responding tongue, does it become the gospel."
Realize the Golden Rule also means most people will treat Christians the way they themselves have been treated in our churches.