The Vision
From: Red Moon Rising: How 24/7 Prayer is Awakening a Generation
-By: Peter Grieg, David Roberts

So this guy comes up to me and says, "What's the vision? What's the big idea?" I open my mouth and words come out like this...

The vision?

The vision is JESUS—obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.

The vision is an army of young people.

You see bones? I see an army. And they are FREE from materialism.

They laugh at 9-5 little prisons.

They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday.

They wouldn't even notice.

They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the west was won.

They are mobile like the wind; they belong to the nations. They need no passport... People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence.

They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying.

What is the vision?

The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes. It makes children laugh and adults angry. It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars. It scorns the good and strains for the best. It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation.

It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games.

This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause.

A million times a day its soldiers

Choose to lose

That they might one day win

The great 'Well done' of faithful sons and daughters.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night. They don't need fame from names. Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: "COME ON!"

And this is the sound of the underground

The whisper of history in the making

Foundations shaking

Revolutionaries dreaming once again

Mystery is scheming in whispers

Conspiracy is breathing...

This is the sound of the underground

And the army is discipl(in)ed.

Young people who beat their bodies into submission.

Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms.

The tattoo on their back boasts "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes. Winners. Martyrs. Who can stop them?

Can hormones hold them back?

Can failure succeed? Can fear scare them or death kill them?

And the generation prays

Like a dying man

With groans beyond talking,

With warrior cries, sulphuric tears and

With great barrow loads of laughter!

Waiting. Watching: 24-7-365.

Whatever it takes they will give: Breaking the rules. Shaking mediocrity from its cozy little hide. Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting essentials. The advertisers cannot mould them. Hollywood cannot help them. Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.

They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive inside.

On the outside? They hardly care. They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide.

Would they surrender their image or their popularity?

They would lay down their lives—swap seats with the man on death row—guilty as hell. A throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days, they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.)

Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus.

Their words make demons scream in shopping centers.

Don't you hear them coming?

Herald the weirdo's! Summon the losers and the freaks. Here comes the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes. They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension. Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be. It will come to pass; it will come easily; it will come soon.

How do I know? Because this is the longing of creation itself, the groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God. My tomorrow is his today. My distant hope is his 3D. And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great 'Amen!' from countless angels, from heroes of the faith, from Christ himself. And he is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner.

Oct 29th, 2006 "Further Reflections on a Transformed Life"

Source Scriptures: Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 14:3

Following story told by Donald Miller in Blue Like Jazz: Non-religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality

“So I’ve been watching Nightline with Ted Koppel recently. He’s been reporting from the Congo, in Africa, and it’s terrible. I mean, the show is fine, but the Congo isn’t doing so well. More than 2.5 million people have been killed in the last three years. Each of eight tribes is at war with the other seven.

As the images moved across the screen I would lie in bed feeling so safe, as if the Congo were something in a book or a movie. It is nearly impossible for me to process the idea that such a place exists in the same world as my hometown. I met with my friend Tony the other day and told him about the stuff on Nightline.

“I knew that was taking place over there,” Tony said, “But I didn’t know it was that bad.”

“It’s terrible,” I told him, “Two and a half million people dead. In one village they interviewed fifty or so women. All of them had been raped, most of them numerous times.”

Tony shook his head, “That is amazing. It is so difficult to even process how things like that can happen.”

“I know. I can’t get my mind around it. I keep wondering how people could do things like that.”

“Do you think you could do something like that, Don?” Tony asked…looking at me pretty seriously. I honestly couldn’t believe he was asking the question.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Are you capable of murder or rape or any of the stuff that is taking place over there?”

“No.”

“So you are not capable of any of those things?” he asked again. He looked at me to confirm his answer.

“No, I couldn’t,” I told him. “What are you getting at?”

“I just want to know what makes those guys over there any different from you and me. They are human. We are human. Why are we any better than them, you know?”

Tony had me on this one. If I answered his question by saying yes, I could commit these atrocities, that would make me “evil”, but if I answered no, it would suggest I am better evolved than some of the men in the Congo. And then I would have some explaining to do.

So I answered, “You believe we are capable of those things, don’t you, Tony?”

He answered back, “I think so, Don. I don’t know how else to answer the question.”

“What you are really saying is that we have a sin nature, right Tony?”

Tony answered, “Pretty much, Don. It just explains a lot, you know? It’s funny how little we think about it, isn’t it?”

(Use examples of children, and the effect of police)

How many of you today have had children? Now, I want you, if you could, to let me in on a little of the training of your children. Go back, if you would, to your child being four or five years old, or earlier…and imagine a situation where your child has broken mother's favorite plate or dad's favorite mug...or you telling your kid to clean up their toys, only to find them out in the living room putzing around five minutes later. (What might your kid be tempted to say or do if they know what they've done was wrong?)

Now you could imagine, for a second, with how hard it can be to be a parent, why we have to train kids at all? We could wonder, for example, if we had one child that we trained right from wrong and the other we didn’t train at all, which one would be the better child? (The kid you teach right from wrong) That seems obvious to us, but that really should tell us something about the human condition…your condition and mine. We have to be taught to be obedient, respectful, and truthful as kids. It’s a flaw in the human condition. How do we know? Don’t train a kid, don’t give them boundaries, and see what happens. (So how does that apply to committed followers of Christ? Have we ever learned enough or walked far enough as a Christfollower that we can quit? How would that work if we packed it in as a parent with a child and quit instructing? The situation is similar...as God's people, we never quit learning, never quit transforming, and we recognize God knows better than we do.)

Here’s another situation: Why do the cities of Waynesboro, Harrisonburg, or Staunton have cops? (Keep folks in line? What kind of folks?) Sometimes I think if there were no cops, I would be fine. I was taught right from wrong on some level when I was a kid. But the truth is, I often drive completely different when there is a cop behind me than when there isn’t.” Why is that?

If we get caught, we will be punished. But that doesn’t make us good people, it only makes us subdued. The problem is the same it has always been.

I am the problem. (common humanity)

And it comes down to questions about my own motives and actions. I don’t have to watch the evening news to see that the world is bad, I only have to look first at myself. I’m not trying to beat myself down here; I am only saying that true change, true life-giving, God-honoring change has to start with the individual. It doesn’t end there, but it starts there.

The overwhelming majority of time I spend thinking about myself, pleasing myself, reassuring myself, and when I am done there is often nothing to spare for others. Six billion people live in this world, and I spend the majority of my time thinking of one. Me. I AM THE PROBLEM.

I think every conscious person, every person who is awake to how things work in reality, has a moment where they stop blaming the problems in the world on others that aren’t like them, and start to face themselves. And we HATE this more than anything else…it’s SO much easier to pass the blame than buck up and face ourselves. I’m convinced this is the hardest issue I FACE AND WILL FACE as a follower of Jesus. The problem is not out there; the problem is this needy, self-centered beast of a thing inside me.

Now, we could identify ourselves as the problem, and spend the rest of our lives really headed nowhere if we don’t move forward from that: so that begs a question. How can I flip that around and choose to be a living solution instead of a living problem?

Paul anticipates this question from us, and he’s ready for it

(read verses 3-5) …And if you can remember back to last week, when I was talking about Christian service, the outward reality of devoting ourselves to what God is doing to redeem this world, I suggested that we cannot be a follower of Jesus by ourselves. You might have questioned that at the time, but Paul lays it out for us here. (vs 5)

Inflated views of ourselves are very dangerous to our soul. Paul knows this, and calls us to the opposite. When he says in verse 3: “I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think,” Paul makes the first task of the renewed Christian mind the death of pride and the cultivation of humility. What’s new about the renewed mind? Pride is put to death; humility begins to grow. And as he moves further, the spiritual gifts of verses 6-8 are to be used in humility. The opposite of high self-regard is not looking at ourselves as a piece of dirt, though it’s a good starting point to figure out our position before God.. The opposite of high self-regard is a humble trust in Christ, which means that the best way to use our spiritual gifts, to NOT waste our lives, to MAXIMIZE our lives is to forget about ourselves as our pursuit of being transformed into the image of Christ spills over in love to other people.

So when Paul moves on to verse 8b: “contributing to the needs of others, give generously; if it is leadership, lead diligently; if it is showing mercy, do it cheerfully.” I think Paul’s point is: when you don’t think too highly of yourself, but you forget about yourself and are filled with love for Christ and others, your ministry has the character of overflow. In giving your joy in Christ overflows with generosity. In leading your joy in Christ overflows with diligence, consistency. In mercy your joy in Christ overflows with cheerfulness. These four words (generosity, diligence, joy, cheerfulness) are meant to show us that Christian ministry is not duty-driven or begrudging. It’s the overflow of a self-forgetting, committed relationship with Christ; one where we grow in relationship with Christ by spending time with Him, by getting to know him…sticking by his side.

Let’s look at three things. First, we’re gonna look at the relationships between the gifts. Second, we’re gonna look at how the gifts form us as people of integrity and consistency in the world. And third, we’re gonna take a glimpse at how each of these gifts might look here at Middle River.

1. The Relationships Among the Gifts Themselves

The main observation I want to make here is that these gifts overlap with each other and even include each other, and are not rigidly defined. For example, in 1 Corinthians 14:3 Paul says, “The one who prophesies...” What do you think is the end of that verse? So here two gifts, encouragement and prophecy overlap.

And if you just look at the list itself, how would you precisely draw a line in verse 8 between contributing generously and doing acts of mercy cheerfully? I mean, it’s obvious that one who is joyfully merciful is a generous person. So these two gifts overlap. Or take “service” at the beginning of verse 8. How will you distinguish “serving” from “doing mercy”? I think the conclusion we should draw from this is that in seeking to receive and use spiritual gifts we should not think rigidly, as if there is a set number, or that they come in separate packages, so that if you have one you can’t have the other. I don’t think Paul would want us to think like that.

Instead, leave to God and our commitment to being transformed in this relationship with Him to determine how God will gift us and use us. Your combination of gifts may—probably will—be utterly different from anyone else’s. I doubt that any Christian has ever had only one spiritual gift, and I doubt that any Christian has ever had the same spiritual gift in the same degree. So instead of us trying to figure out the definitions and boundaries and names and differences we can do this: Go back to verse 1 and hear the call to offer all of ourselves to God. Then we can go to verse 3 and surrender all high and prideful thoughts about ourselves and instead focus on humbly following Jesus…and this is the foundation we rest on. Then begin to let this life overflow in love for other people in all the ways we can. And the ways of love that seem to more naturally flow out of your pursuit of God are your gifts, whatever you call them or whatever mix they are of mercy and service and giving and teaching and encouraging and leading. And this points to

2. How the gifts form us as people of integrity and consistency

If we are committed to knowing the Bible and its instruction for giving us the boundaries within which we can pursue this relationship with God, we should find more and more that these gifts in general display characteristics that all Christians are commanded to pursue.

Take the gift of doing mercy at the end of verse 8. As we grow in Biblical understanding, we find that all Christians are called to be merciful. Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful” (Matthew 5:7). And he told a parable about a person who was treated mercifully by a king by being forgiven for a massive sum and then goes off and chokes his brother who owed him a couple bucks—and the king responded, “Should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” (Matthew 18:33).

Or consider the gift of contributing. Paul says in 2 Corinthians that all of us should be free and willing in contributing, “for God loves a cheerful giver.” So contributing faithfully is an ordinary Christian value: expected of a disciple of Jesus!

So what conclusion can we come to: knowing that some spiritual gifts are things that God expects in some measure from all believers? My conclusion is this: Some of these qualities come more naturally from the reality that each of us is unique; and as we commit ourselves to this process of transformation, we find these things naturally flowing out. In other words, it seems to me that some take unusual spiritual delight in serving, or giving, or doing mercy, or teaching, or leading, or encouraging. The Holy Spirit has shaped their hearts so that they find themselves unusually drawn to these things.

Or it may be that only for a specific season God may come upon a person for an unusual ministry of church leadership or financial contribution which is simply extraordinary. Then after that season the gifting (feeling compelled to give or lead) may subside. This is all bound up in the fact that these are a gift from God, and assumes that we’re listening and obedient to God when he calls on us. This assumes that we’re spending time with God, getting to know him, committing to growing.

So I think the way to seek these gifts is to pray broad, earnest prayers that God would make you joyful and fruitful in every form of Christian love. And I think it would be totally fitting that some of us would have a special burden to become especially gifted in one or the other. And so specific prayers would be fitting even, and maybe especially if, one of these areas is a significant struggle for you. God, I struggle at serving others… it is my deepest weakness. Help me to move from this place to be a more well-rounded follower of You.

3. How Would These Gifts Look Here at Middle River?

Here is one snapshot for each of these gifts.

Service, I suspect Paul has in mind here the practical, often lowly, ordinary needs of people. So my prayer is that God may continue to raise up amongst us ladies and gents who have the gift of service: who joyfully and fruitfully serve. Who say: Is there a need I can fill? Is there a toilet to clean, a committee I can be a part of, SOMETHING I can do. I would love to serve, I’m committed to knowing I belong to this group.

Teaching, I pray two things. First, I pray that everyone who learns anything about God and his ways at Middle River would not be afraid to share with their neighbors and co-workers. And second, I pray that members of our church would see needs in the church, even if they’ve never stepped out in an area, and stand in the gap in that position. That is most obvious in the nursery during morning worship; if we want to be a place where folks with young kids can have an opportunity to have an opportunity to take a breath from parenting and pay attention to their own hearts, we MUST have men and women willing to serve in that capacity.

Contributing, The only way that this church can continue not only to survive but make the step to thriving is if God does two things: he causes each of us to delight in the ordinary, radical, Christian habit of regular, sacrificial, cheerful giving. And, second, he give some of us (over and above) the spiritual gift of contributing with extraordinary generosity (some are poor who have this gift, and some are rich). God knows who those are, and is speaking or will speak to you or me in this area.

Leading, simply, I pray that God will fan the flame of devotion in myself, in the Church Board, and the deacons the gift of committed, consistent leadership, that is, to set the example for others of the pursuit of transformation, of a life committed to Christ and for his word and for the mission of this church. And second, I pray that those in positions of leadership at Middle River would lead by example, by consistency and in humility, not by power or manipulation.

I am continuing to learn from experience and listening to the stories of others, that the path to joy and freedom goes through the dark valley of looking honestly at myself, and I believe that every committed follower of Jesus has to deal honestly with his or her own brokenness. I think Jesus communicated so strongly that we’re all broken, and that nothing is going to change, whether in the Congo, or the Shenandoah Valley, or Middle River Church, until you and I look honestly at the person in the mirror, recognize our natural desire to center our lives on ourselves, and then make the crucial move to lean heavily on God as we commit, with one another, to transformation. This life is both God’s gift and a commitment to discipleship…we need both sides to be a living example that this message we proclaim is real.

October 22nd, 2006 "The Process of Transformation"

Source Scriptures: Romans 12:1-2, Jeremiah 31:31-33

(Have everyone grab a book…hymnal (blue or green), Bible, stick a finger in it, and hold it up)

Imagine this book being your life. It’s a living book, this life; it folds out in a millionsettings, cast with a billion beautiful characters, and it is almost over for you. It doesn’t matter how old you are; it is coming to a close quickly, and soon the last chapter will come to a close and all your friends will walk out of your funeral and drive back to their homes in cold and still and silence. And they willgather around in the living room or dining room and think about how you once were…and feel a kind of sickness, an emptiness at realizing you never again will be. You see, we get one shot at this life, one good crack at it...and it's over.

So soon you will be in that part of the book where you are holding the bulk of the pages in your left hand, and only a thin wisp of the story in your right. We assume those who are older here today are in this place, but none of us know. Some of us will know that things are wrapping up, others will be shocked at how the story ends without a riding off into the sunset moment. Realizing this, and listening to the whisper of God out of all the noise of our lives, “Don’t waste your life,” should cause us to step back for a second and take account.

Death has a funny way of reminding us that we are not immortal. We fight death in our society, we ignore it, we come up with age-defying creams, life-extending surgeries, Botox injections, crash diets, jobs that take up so much of our time and our minds that we think life can go on forever…but sooner or later, a relative, or a friend, or a neighbor, dies. Some die after a long life, some unexpectedly, but it is a screeching reminder for us, like nails on a chalkboard, that what we have won’t go on forever.

And last week, we got a glimpse into the reality that God is not calling us to be “good people,” he’s calling us to transformation, and in order for transformation to take place, something must DIE inside of us (it’s our old life, with its passions and pursuits and priorities), and we must be diligent and consistent and courageous to move beyond that empty life into the life God has called us to.

When we are called to be TRANSFORMED, that’s not a once and for all activity (present tense, with an eye toward the future)

(there are some this morning who have been followers of Jesus for five or six times the life of Seth here, who have walked steps in the journey of faith, but NONE of us will EVER be at the point where we’ve walked enough, transformed enough, and can plop down).

And the reason none can ever get to that point is because this life of following God is fundamentally a RELATIONSHIP.

The fundamental difference between Christian faith and all other forms of spirituality will always be that the Christian faith offers a relationship with God, and this relationship is NOT, I repeat NOT, a series of 1,2,3 steps to achievement or success or answers to prayer.

I know people who have actually gone through struggle and emerged on the other side, but I guarantee you they didn’t do it by walking through three steps. (Rowena here is a survivor of breast cancer…Rowena, how about you tell us the three easy steps you took to emotionally and physically make it through the process of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery...Mary)

(three steps, or complex process?)

Chalkboard

Have folks call out the concepts a person would need to understand (supposedly or for real) in order to become a "Christian" (stand at board and write as they call out ideas)

Ask them if a person could believe all these ideas were true and yet not be a Christian. (have friends that do!) (Do you think it’s possible, then, that a person could know and even believe all of these concepts and not be a Christian?) (erase the steps)

(Write) What ideas would a guy need to agree with or what steps would a guy need to take in order to fall in love with a girl?

1. A guy would have to get to know her.

2. A guy would have to spend time with her

(What are some other things?...it's not exactly a scientific process)

I have come to believe that the sooner we embrace this reality, the sooner we will fall in love with the God who keeps shaking things up, keeps changing the path, keeps rocking the boat to test our faith in Him, teaching us not to rely on easy answers, bullet points, magic formulas, or genies in lamps, but rather in HIS guidance, HIS existence, HIS mercy, and HIS love. The Bible is NOT a self-help book; it is a collection of 66 letters, histories, praises, laments, wisdom, pain, joy, life, death, faith, unfaith, and the daily reality of the human struggle.

And that is a RELATIONSHIP, and RELATIONSHIPS are defined by the reality that they are NOT set in stone; they change you, if the relationship is real and defining for your life.

And the command to SUBMIT to God is central for us this morning. God knows better than we do, so we kneel down before him as King and recognize we are humble servants. First. And because the Christian faith is one that REFUSES to stay on the inside, there is, perhaps, no part of Christian experience where a greater change occurs, than in the area of where we dedicate our time and our energy, an what is a priority for us.

Listen to one woman’s story, and see if you sense some parallels between her story and yours: “When I was first converted,” she said, “I was so full of joy and love that I was only too glad and thankful to be allowed to do anything for my Lord, and I eagerly entered every open door. But after awhile, as my early joy faded away, and my love burned less fervently, I began to wish that I had not been so eager; for I found myself involved in this line of work that become very burdensome to me. At last it became so unspeakably burdensome to me to live the sort of Christian life I had entered and was expected to live, that I felt as if ANY SORT of manual labor would have been easier; and I would have infinitely preferred scrubbing all day on my hands and knees to being compelled to do daily work as a follower of Jesus.”

And this woman’s story should raise a question for those of us in this room who are followers of Jesus: Have we ever gone to work as a servant of Jesus, believing it to be our duty and THEREFORE WE MUST DO IT, but longing to go back to our own REAL interests and pleasures the moment our work was over?

How many times have we worked in our church community and wished we weren’t there, sometimes hated that we didn’t just decide to sit in a pew on Sundays because that was so much easier?...or maybe you HAVE loved your work, but in doing it, you find so many cares and responsibilities connected with it that it that you lose sight of the love you carry, as the heavy burdens cloud your sight and weigh you down?

THIS is a roadblock that stands in the way of us all in the path of transformation, and we have several options for how to approach this roadblock:

1) we can continue in our service in whatever fashion it might be, whether pastor, church board, bereavement committee, church cleaning, handing out bulletins, counting money, or visiting someone who needs to be heard and prayed with, but we don’t WANT to be there…that attitude infects those around us, whether they outright know it or not. This option is unfaithful, and will kill a church faster than a whole lot of things.

2) We can refuse to serve, and settle for sitting in the pew as a spectator; or, if our church refuses to let us take that place, we leave and find a church where we CAN be a spectator, where our Christianity represents itself by our willingness to simply come. That option is unfaithful, and will kill a church probably almost as quickly as the first.

3) We can quit participating in a church altogether and convince ourselves we can be a Christian by ourselves; then we don’t have to have any commitments period. That option is terribly unfaithful, a self-centered shrinking from responsibility, or

4) We can take our frustration, our duties, to God, lay them down at his feet, and ask him to protect us, change us, and empower us to see the service he asks of us, whether it’s cleaning toilets or leading a massive evangelistic event, as a delight, as something we WANT to do because it MEANS THE WORLD to our church, to the world, and foremost, to GOD for us to find pleasure in it.

It is ALWAYS very pleasant to do the things we WANT to do, even if they are difficult to accomplish, or make our bodies tired. If our WILL is really set on a thing, we view the obstacles that stand in the way of reaching it as NOTHING, and laugh to ourselves at the idea that anything could stand in our way.

How many people have gladly gone to the ends of the world in search of wealth, or worldly ambition, or prestige, or positions of honor, and haven’t cared about the cost it took to get there? (And many of these same folks would have felt and said that if God would dare to ask of them anything even approaching the costs of the pursuit of things, or the church asked of anything more than the bread crumbs of energy from their table, “OH, this is TOO HEAVY.” How could you ask of me, God, the same sacrifice for your kingdom that I would gladly bear to have a little cash in my pocket?

I am ashamed to think that any follower of Jesus should ever put on a long face and shed tears over doing a thing for Christ which a worldly person would leap at for money. What we need is to WANT to do God’s will as much as other people WANT to do THEIR will. And THIS is what God desires from us, expects of those of us in this room who have given Him our lives.

(Jeremiah 31:31-33)

You see, that’s the fundamental difference between the old law (given from the outside, controlling us by force), and the new law (written WITHIN, calling us to service because we WANT to), and we grow into that. And THAT’S the separation Paul plops right down in front of our face in Romans time and time and time again.

If you want yourself, choose yourself…just know where that path leads. If we want life, God is asking of everything from us, and you know the passion we have for acquiring things, pursuing comfort, a little more cash? This new life, this new heart, this transforming life God will give us will cause us to WANT to do these things for Him!

So, you see, God’s way of working, is to get possession of the inside of us when we bow our knee before him and willingly call him LORD of our lives, to take the control of our will, and to work it for us. Then obedience is easy and a delight, and our service sets us and others free. God has expectations for us to live up to that seem downright stupid to the rest of the world.

There was an interview with a literary reviewer from the New York Times not too long ago, where the interviewer asked the critic why he thought the Harry Potter series was selling so many books. “Wish fulfillment,” the guy answered. He said the lead character could wave his wand and make things happen, and this is one of the primary fantasies of the human heart. As followers of Jesus, we must reject this idea in all its many forms, even if 9 out of 10 of the “Christian” bestsellers in America are about 3 easy steps to this or that, or 7 steps to our best life NOW.

So, how do we make our mark, how do we live as people being transformed? We center our lives on the defining reality of what God is doing to redeem this world. We recognize it is a relationship, and that in order to grow in this relationship, we must get to know God, and we get to know God by spending time with Him, and that’s more than just reading Scripture, its trusting God with our deepest and darkest secrets and struggles, our joys and blessings, its trusting each other, its working beside one another in this church with joy, its making this place where God is transforming lives a priority instead of a leisure time activity.

We speak the truth with our words AND our lives. We must remember this. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Start today. This life is too short; don’t waste your life, don’t let me waste mine. Let’s treasure God here, let’s treasure one another…

Sermon Oct 15th, 2006. Do NOT be _______ formed, DO be _________formed!

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 “Though I am free and belong to no person, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law, I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak, I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do this all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

Romans 12:1-2

When Christ came into the world, and lived and died and rose from the dead, and set the redeeming kingdom of God in motion, and unleashed the mighty gospel on the world—two powerful impulses, or forces, spread everywhere the gospel spread.

The “at home” impulse and the “pilgrim” impulse

These two impulses are always in tension with each other. At times they push in opposite directions, and the great challenge is to find the biblical balance. We could call these impulses the “at home” impulse, and the “pilgrim” impulse. In other words, the gospel can and must and does find “a home” in every fallen culture in the world. It can and must find a home in the culture. It must fit in. That’s the “at home” impulse. But at the same time, and just as powerful, the gospel produces a pilgrim mindset. It loosens people from their culture. It criticizes and corrects culture. It turns people into pilgrims and aliens and exiles in their own culture. When Paul says, “Do not be conformed to this world,” and “I became all things to all people,” he is not confused; he is calling for a critical balance of two crucial biblical impulses.

You see, if we slide to the extreme of either one of these impulses, we find ourselves in an unfaithful position, which is where none of us should want to be this morning. We cannot withdraw from the world as if it doesn’t exist: first, because we are called to love and give our lives for those around us, and second, because Jesus didn’t come to give us life sometime in the future, he came to set us free and give us life RIGHT NOW. In the same way, we are perfectly useless, we waste our lives if all we do is conform to the world around us. And the key to not wasting our lives, then, Paul says, is being transformed. “Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed.”

(transfiguration is the only other place in the gospels that uses this word)

The Transformation Is Not Just External

I point this out for one reason: to make the point that the nonconformity to the world does not primarily mean the external avoidance of worldly behaviors. That’s included. But you can avoid all kinds of worldly behaviors and not be transformed. “His face shown like the sun, and his clothes became white as light”! Something like that happens to us spiritually and morally. This takes place first in our inside, and by nature, because the gospel is meant to transform ALL of us, it must show itself on the outside.

Transformation is not switching from the to-do list of what everyone else is doing to the to-do list of the law. The alternative for a follower of Jesus to immoral behaviors is not a new list of moral behaviors.

And that fact is easy to see for folks in societies where they know if they give their lives to Christ, they will lose everything; it’s obvious to them that decision will define their life. You could even go to a major city today like Seattle, Portland, New York, and folks can see pretty easily that God is calling them to something that will define their lives…but here in the Shenandoah Valley going to church is still a status symbol of middle class society because it shows you’re a “good person” and a contributing member of society, and a church is supposed to do that…show you how a “good person lives.”

*Newsflash*

The ultimate goal of the gospel and why Jesus came is NOT so we can become “good people,” and the ultimate goal of the gospel and why Jesus came is NOT EVEN to make us “good citizens” of the countries we live in. The ultimate goal of the gospel and the reason Jesus came was to create a community of people who love God and love others boundlessly, who are a part of a global community of followers of Jesus first, who know their identity and aren’t afraid of it, and if ANYONE asks of them ANYTHING that runs counter to the life they have in Christ, they refuse to participate. You see, when Jesus said “The Kingdom of Heaven is forcefully advancing, and forceful people take hold of it,” he wasn’t talking about a bunch of individuals sliding a T-shirt on their bodies that says “I’m a Christian” or CD in their car that says Jesus every five seconds on the song; something they could tack onto their lives that doesn’t fundamentally shake their lives to the core.

If we read the Bible, pray, talk, and live our lives thinking we can slap a name on ourselves and nobody can challenge us on that stance, we’re dead wrong, and we will waste our lives. You see, God is the Lord of the Universe, and because He is, he reserves the right to handle his creation the way he wants…and God had a problem with his creation that they turned their back on Him and really could have cared less about the situation. God, in his freedom as Creator, could’ve just wiped everything out and started over. Or, because we can read in the Bible of God’s great love and pursuit of his Creation, God could’ve spoken a word to us: “Everything you’ve done and will do is forgiven. Just because I say so.” Now, you can do this and keep on living like I don’t really matter, don’t really care….

But God didn’t do that. In fact, he loves us so much that he sent Himself in human form to show the way of faithfulness, and gave of himself in incredible love to the death for us. Because you see, if he had just spoken the word, we wouldn’t have known that God is deeply grieved by our ignoring Him, and we wouldn’t have known what a faithful, full life looks like in a relationship with God. We wouldn’t know any better. But we do, because of Jesus. But the most ironic twist to this story is that we’ve turned this extraordinary event, this extraordinary life and example, this incredible love and we’ve allowed ourselves to turn it into something small and manageable, that on the cross, Jesus took care of stuff for me…all I have to do is say “Yes,” slip on the Christian T-shirt.

I think it’s similar to the difference between a multiple choice test and an essay test. With multiple choice, you often choose the right answers because you’ve memorized them. Yet it’s entirely possible that you can’t construct the parts into a whole. You can’t make sense of them so that they make sense of the larger picture. That, in fact, is why our educational is seeking to move away from that, because it’s not forming you as an individual to react creatively to a situation, to be able to see the whole as you deal with the fill-in-the-blanks and the multiple choices. (transition from elementary to middle to college) In an essay you either know what you’re talking about or you don’t. And when you don’t, it’s painfully obvious to anyone and everyone, including yourself.

So, you see, in a system where you can give the “right answers” and talk the talk, you can be a “good person” on the outside, say you believe in Jesus, and be rotten to the core on the inside. That was me as a teenage and an early twenty-something. I could say the right things, attend church when I wanted, and turn and do what I wanted the rest of the time and still call myself a “Christian” because I was “good kid.”

That approach makes God want to puke. (And I’m not just trying to say something gross). HE said it, right in Revelation (Laodicea)…you wanna make God angry, wanna really light a fire under Him, make your goal to be a “good person”, and your Christianity as something you can tack on to your life. Because if you do that, or I do that, we’re spitting on what God showed us in Jesus.

Our goal is not to bring up “good people” in this church; our goal is to bring up “transformed people”

So transformation is a profound, blood-bought, life-changing removal from death into life, that takes place from the inside out.

The story of God acting in human history is compelling stuff, Oscar-worthy, it’s what we’ve been hungering for from the day we were born. LIFE, not boring. Yet somehow many of us who profess to follow Jesus have dreamed up the most fantastic ways to rob the Story of its power to attract and invite and mean the world to people.

Do you ever wonder, let’s ask some hard questions here:

Why is Christianity so often as an unattractive religion when Jesus, the person on which it is founded, is considered to be one of the most compelling and attractive figures in the history of the world (even by critics of Christianity)?

Why can folks call themselves “Christian” and never set themselves apart from the rest of the folks around them who are bored, cynical, and headed nowhere as if being a Christian held no way to escape that reality?

Why can professing Christians talk about “their faith” as if its a phrase they’ve gotten bored with rather than a story of something profound, mysterious, life-changing, and beautiful?

Why can’t professing Christians seem to discuss their “faith” with anything near the passion, enthusiasm, or imagination they have for hobbies, sports, celebrities, films, or music? (I lapse into that…am I as passionate about who God is and the life He offers as I am about the Orioles or the Giants?)

The answer to these is not to get all whipped up into an emotional frenzy, because fired-up emotions only go so far before we burn-out or quit b/c there’s no significant heart change. As examples of this:

I’ve been to youth conferences where the leaders whipped the kids into a frenzy, saying “Burn all your secular CDs when you get home, secular books, tank tops…blah blah blah”, so the kids get home and burn the CDs and two months later…what happens? they buy them all back again. (this is not a commentary on whether or not secular music is all good or all bad, or Christian music is all good or all bad, or even tank tops…just making a point)

Or maybe a closer to home example was when “we” were miffed over the last couple of years when Wal-mart quit saying “Merry Christmas,” and folks got all up in arms… “don’t shop there!” but two weeks or a month later, what happens?

You see, emotional ploys only last so long, but God wants people who give everything to him, and no matter how many times they fall down and mess up and fail, they pick themselves up, they depend on Christ, they love their neighbors period. and they put one foot in front of the other in their lives; because they have found life, and they simply WILL. NOT. SETTLE. For less than that.

Jesus said “I have come that you might have LIFE and have it to the FULLEST!”

That requires all of us: our insides to the Holy Spirit for transformation, our outsides that prove to the world that this affects everything. And THAT is why this passage is CRUCIAL to our life as a church community.

• If we long to break loose from conformity to the world, that we know is empty,
• if we long to be transformed and new from the inside out,
• if we long to be free from a Christianity that’s just about duty and instead persevere so we get to the point thta what God asks of us is what we love to do,
• if we long to offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice so that our whole lives become a spiritual act of worship because of what God has done to reach and live amongst us and set the example and pay the ultimate price for that;
• then we ought to (as a church) give ourselves with all our might to pursuing this—the renewal and transformation of our entire selves

(Honesty from the web journal of my friend Bethany, who just returned not long ago from an extended missions trip to Mexico with YWAM)

“I thought i had all my little christian duckies in a row when i left mexico (which is SO delusional)...but I’m realizing more and more that i have so much to learn...so much to glean from others...so much to understand about life as a christian...about what it means to love jesus in this generation…
that not everything is black OR white...left wing OR right wing...

that the final word on things shouldnt be "he said she said", it should be based on what God said...

that my choices shouldnt be determined by what is best for ME, but by what the highest good for OTHERS is (love)....

that nothing i have is my own, even the breath in my lungs...

and that God is NOT (necessarily) found in crowds, He’s found when you fall on your face and tell Him you need Him...and thats when you realize, He isnt the one hiding, you are....

Honestly, I’m afraid for my views to change because for as long as i can remember they have shaped who i am, but its time that my views come from a desire to know who God is, instead of from politics, parents, or legalism...i need to be more open minded and think that maybe, just maybe, i might be wrong about some things...my life is too short to waste time checking a box at the poll declaring my faithfulness to one party or the other...because someone entirely different deserves all the faithfulness my little human heart can muster...i need to know what matters...and i need to live for that...i think I’m done wasting time...”

My friend Bethany was honest enough to admit she’s just reached the starting point. And she’s got the rest of her life, starting now, every second, minute, hour, day, month, year, and hopefully decades to live into this commitment.

Officiating at the funeral of Robert Shull’s father Garland clicked something inside me so that when I read Bethany’s writing here, I wept…because I know how often I fall into the trap of wasting time and my life. That’s why we need reminders, we need to challenge one another and know we’ll stick together, we NEED Christ, or we’re nothing.

Here's a quote from one of the most tremendous Christian thinkers of the twentieth century, as a conclusion.

Sermon Oct 8th: Three emphases in the life of a disciple of Jesus (NOT an easy 1-2-3 step process to easy Christianity!!!!)

How would you describe your understanding of the meaning of your life? In your church?

In what way does your life bear the mark of Jesus’ call to communicate good news (in word, in deed, in growth in Christ)? To confront evil (idolatry in its various forms, evil in yourself, in the church, in the world)? To be a presence for healing (willing to suffer with others, to endure conflict and set an example as a maturing Christian, to pray for others)? Where is your weakness? Where can you grow?

Matthew 10:11 From the time of John (the Baptist) until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful people take hold of it.

(italicized words are those used in present tense by Jesus...kingdom is not far off somewhere beyond death, but begins when we submit our lives to God...plus it gives an image we should not be afraid of; an image of invasion, of light bursting into darkness. There are plenty of these images throughout the New Testament; but we must separate the reality of the invasion from the expectation placed on us by God to love radically and give ourselves for the sake of all.)

Luke 10:23-24 Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings (considered "important" people) desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.

1. Proclaiming Good News

If the gospel is really good news, does it mean good news primarily for Nate, or does it mean good news for the world…I think that question is central for those of us who claim to be followers of Christ…

A continuing image of the meaning of life to work with:

You’re high up in the air, in an aisle seat, looking past your neighbor and out the window. Down below you is a mass of cloud cover looking like fresh snow, marbled, with mountains and valleys throughout. Imagine that your understanding of reality is defined by this view: what you see in the cabin and outside your window. The airplane and its passengers are what you might call a small, unique closed system moving inside what appears to be vast space with a boundary of white mass below.

Imagine this being the understanding of reality that world lives with. They invite you to view reality from a very small window, and they are quite certain they’re providing you with an absolutely truthful view of reality. If you join them, you are expected to see as they see. Failure to embrace their view means you’re misunderstood, excluded, and even eliminated.

Let’s imagine some more. Get out of your seat, reach into the compartment above, and carry the yellow package to the front of the plane. It’s a parachute. Strap it on. Now go to the big door with the red sign, open it, and jump. When you pass through the white stuff, pull the cord. As you pass through the white boundary of clouds, down below, previously hidden from your view, is a world of wonder and struggle, joy and pain, truth. And there’s land and promise. It’s a place where men and women, boys and girls learn how to emerge from serving themselves to serving the God of the sea and the land and the sky and all that ever was and is. It’s the world you were meant to see.

When you touch the ground and look up, do you see the plane? No? But it’s there, isn’t it? You know it exists, you’ve just come from there. Remember this: You know about the world’s story, but they don’t know about the one you’ve just dropped in on.

And now the hard work begins…because as we dedicate ourselves to becoming a part of the story of God and God’s people that is forcefully advancing into the world of illusion and confusion, we will have several more of those parachute moments. And with each one, the view will widen and the clouds part further…and we see more of the real Story, the one that was always there but had been hidden from our sight.

And all along we find clues along the trail, like children who find special stones along the seashore…and we get excited about them…but it’s slow work, figuring out what it means to be a part of this community of God’s people.

The struggle of this reality of learning is that we tend to learn best through our mistakes and failures

Jesus and the inner circle of disciples come down off the mountain after the transfiguration right into the midst of a mess: the scribes, the crowd, and a distraught father. The scribes and the disciples are in a hot debate when Jesus arrives. In order for everyone to get a sense of what’s going on, Jesus asks his disciples, “What are you arguing about with them?” Out of the crowd the voice of the troubled father sounds in reply.

Read Mark 9: 17-18

In this instance, the father delivers the ministry report publicly, exposing before everyone the disciples’ failure in their attempts to cure his son.

Jesus is terribly insensitive with all the folks around him, and draws the peoples’ attention to the bigger picture (the world outside of their airplane compartment), the larger sphere of unbelief in which they live. “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you?” Jesus laments.

Listening to Jesus’ lament, the disciples recognize that they are more influenced than they realize by their lack of faith and the twisted belief systems of the larger society in which they live. Here we are given a lesson in contrast. Jesus lives, breathes, and acts from within the great reality of God’s presence and rule. He expresses his complaint in order to rescue them, to free them from captivity to what is false, and to open their eyes to the freedom of what is true.

So Jesus turns to the boy’s father and the crowd and says, “Bring him to me.” The evil spirit within the boy now reacts to being in Jesus’ presence, convulsing the boy, causing him to fall to the ground, to roll around, and foam at the mouth. Rather than allow the demon’s behavior to influence him, Jesus observes what is happening and digs deeper, “How long has this been happening to him?” Jesus asks the father. The distraught father responds, “From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.”

Jesus replies, “If you are able! All things can be done for the one who believes.” Jesus points to himself as the One who is able. (The kingdom of heaven is forcefully advancing)

2. Confronting evil:

And that is a central reality of Christianity that is severely underemphasized in this day and age is the reality of sacrifice.

(Oscar Romero)

In life the Archbishop looked like a typical South American peasant. Oscar Romero was born on the feast of the Assumption in 1917 and raised in a remote El Salvadoran village. In early life he was apprenticed to a carpenter.

Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador. Like us, he could not find his voice at first. Like us, he went along with the status quo. And then, “something changed him,” and gave him the power to speak out for peace and justice. From that point forward, he could not condone war on the poor.

In one telling incident two weeks before his death, 72 sticks of dynamite were found in the basilica where, the day before, Romero had led a funeral service for a murdered Christian leader. Many followers of Jesus were present at the Mass. If the dynamite had exploded, the whole basilica would have been destroyed.

Romero was desperate. How could he reverse the worsening situation? His final sermons constantly return to the question of what should a Christian do in such a catastrophic situation.

"“I have frequently been threatened with death. I must say that, as a Christian, I do not believe in death but in the resurrection. If they kill me, I shall rise again in the Salvadoran people."

No, I strive that we may not just have on paper and grasp in our minds what the church has tried to further in us, but that we may live it and interpret it in this conflict-ridden reality, preaching the Gospel as it should be preached for our people ... though I continue to be a voice that cries in the desert, I know that the Church is making the effort to fulfill its mission".

The next day, as he was saying Mass in the chapel of the Carmelite Sisters’ cancer hospital where he lived, a single rifle shot was fired from the rear of the chapel. Romero was struck in the heart and died within minutes.

Romero was immediately acclaimed by the people of El Salvador, and indeed by the poor throughout Latin America, as a true martyr and saint. For Romero, who clearly anticipated his fate, there was never any doubt as to the meaning of such a death.

"Martyrdom is a great gift from God that I do not believe I have earned. But if God accepts the sacrifice of my life then may my blood be the seed of liberty, and a sign of the hope that will soon become a reality… A bishop will die, but the church of God – the people – will never die."

While we do the work of ministry, faithfully proclaiming, teaching, and healing, we are not able to make people see or understand the good news of the kingdom of God. This kind of knowing is a gift that God gives, God reveals, and the Holy Spirit helps us see.

3. To be an agent of healing

Seeking healing

Read Matthew 11: 28-30

As we give up our load, Jesus offers us his yoke. The image suggests an experienced ox who knows the furrows of our field, who bears the weight of the work. The younger, inexperienced ox yoked alongside bears the light and easy end of the yoke. In this yoked companionship, the older ox leads, heaves, and carries the load, while the younger ox stays alongside, learning the ways of the field. Jesus went the distance, set the example for us, and walks beside us , giving us the ability to follow Him. We are called to stay close, in yoked companionship, and learn the ways of Jesus.

Providing healing

Sometimes we may get discouraged because what we’re doing for the Lord seems unsuccessful. The children in the Sunday School class we teach are restless and inattentive. The neighbors we’re trying to reach with the gospel are politely indifferent. The members of our own family are far from the Lord. The world we lift up to God in prayer grows increasingly violent and rebellious. All of this can add up to deep discouragement about our self-worth.

But Oscar Romero wrote: “We plant the seeds that one day we will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development…We cannot do everything, and there’s a sense of liberation in realizing that.” This attitude helps us do small things and to “leave an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.”

Oct 1st "The rhythm of a disciple of Jesus"

When Jesus calls us to follow Him, we may not be aware of the images we have of God (deal with possibility of images)

(Wendy Miller’s story of stars, connecting to knowledge that one day we will all appear before God, then fear that God would see her as dirty and unacceptable and throw her out of heaven, solved issue by refusing to deal with it; but stopping the thinking process about it, she would not feel the fear. Others of us today oftentimes have had to experience a drastic situation that has turned our lives upside-down in order for us to recognize we’re not in this for ourselves, we’re not self-sufficient, and the sad thing is, we continue to push away and cover over this loneliness…some here today may do this until their dying day)

Simon Peter remembers his own need to hide from God. He asks us to join him on the day that Jesus walks to the seashore nearby.

The day begins like other days. No matter where Jesus goes, a crowd gathers (because of initial healings and tossing the demon out of the man). Simon does not recall what Jesus taught the crowd that day, but he does remember Jesus’ asking to use his boat as a place to sit while teaching.

(Read Luke 5:4-10)

Simon sees Jesus’ divine power produce the miraculous catch of fish, and suddenly he is overwhelmed with fear. He feels unclean, unacceptable in the presence of this Holy One in his boat. He falls down at Jesus’ feet and begs him to leave. Simon wants Jesus out of his life. That would solve Simon’s problem. He would no longer have to feel afraid, weak, and sinful in the presence of this One who knew more about the lake and fish than he did (a career fisherman nonetheless!)

I think Simon’s response revealed something we’ve touched on several times in the past few weeks that deep within our beings we are fearful people. We fear being harmed or dying, and as a result fear drowning, fire, falling, and a whole host of other things. In response, we create laws that protect our safety and arrange our lives in ways that give us security. Stoplights, double yellow lines, speed limits, etc all speak of a reverence for life as well as our desire to protect ourselves from the fear of being harmed.

Continuum of small fears (cold toilet seat on winter morning) to big (fear from 9/11)

We experience another kind of fear, an internal dread in the face of rejection, abandonment, or condemnation. From birth, children need to know they are wanted, loved, safe, and accepted. Without these gifts of a caring presence from parents or guardians, a painful and empty place can settle into a child, resulting in all kinds of behaviors- often addictive- in an attempt to fill that hole.

However, even persons who grow up with caring, good parents or guardians experience on some level this dread and fear of rejection and loss, as well as a driving desire to feel accepted. Ever since Eden all humankind has been living at a lonely distance from God, self, others, and creation. Each of us experiences this loneliness that only God can intervene in.

And so at times as we catch a glimpse into the Gospels we hear Jesus calling his followers “children” or “little ones.” Simon, even though he ran a fishing business and was an “adult” was still a vulnerable, scared child in his response to Jesus. Just like we can reason childishly that we can ignore our longing for whole relationships with God and others, Simon believed that if Jesus left, his problem would disappear

How does that jive with a community that challenges one another, loves one another, forgives one another? our tendency in our individualistic society is to run away, to find another place where our sense of self-sufficiency won’t be disturbed, where we won’t have to deal with deeper relationships, with disagreements, with conflicts, or with the discomfort of someone suffering and us not having the answer…our inclination, instead of facing the situation, is a childish response; we run)

But how does Jesus respond to Simon? He comes to him where he is, with his fears and childlike ways of hiding, and says, “Don’t be afraid…I am here with you, I invite you to stay with me. I am here to show you what God is like.” Don’t be afraid. Stick with me.

(segue)

Simon recalls that early in his ministry, Jesus invited all those who were following him to enter into a rhythm of life and ministry:

1) to come and be with

2) being named (the inward journey)

3) being sent out (the outward journey)

We tend to focus on the being sent out into all the world of Mark 16 and Matthew 28. But Jesus included all three movements in the life of his followers: turning aside from daily activity to come to Jesus, learning to be with Him, and then responding as Jesus walked alongside and directed them on an inward and outward journey.

I’m going to read from Mark 3:13-19 slowly, and pay attention to hear what stands out to you. (read)

Coming and Being With

They came to him…to be with Him (Mark 3:13-14):

Jesus calls us to come. Our turning aside from all the priorities and commitments we carry in our daily lives is response to this call. This time with Jesus puts us in the place where we learn to stop, take a deep breath, and listen. While this sounds simple, every single one of us today who’s been around the block a few times knows the agenda of the last day or week continues to sound its many voices and demands at us…all of them bouncing around like a bunch of kittens that drank mountain dew for breakfast. It gets crazy in our heads with all the stuff we’ve got goin’ on! (this is why we have established a discipline, a habit of gathering together on Sundays to worship God together, that’s why we’re taking time to think about multiple ways we can spend time and deepen our relationships with another in and around your fragmented schedules; it is a priority we set in our lives, just like praying before a meal, to remind ourselves that everything we are, that the air we breathe, the blinking of our eyes, everything, is centered on and depends on God)

Being Named: the inward journey

In order for us to really understand what’s taking place in this scene; in ancient Israel, they didn’t just toss around names like we do in this society. If you read down through the Old Testament and look up or pay attention to what the names mean, you’ll find that almost every single name either stands for something the parents were going through at the time, or a name for the child to grow into and seize ahold of. There was deep meaning in one’s name in that society, and this situation reflects that.

So up on that mountain, Jesus names the disciples, “Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder),…and Simon the Cananean (who was called the Zealot)”

Simon, like a vast majority of men, thinks he is a rock. As he continues to share with us his own story and pilgrimage, Simon reveals how little he was aware of his own weaknesses and how much he avoided knowing. Jesus begins by giving him a strong nickname, holding high expectations for Simon of his potential in Jesus’ sight, and during the rest of their time together shapes and shows Simon what it really means to be a Rock.

James and John also need guidance. (argument arises in the disciples of who is the greatest of them all, and good ol’ John mentions who was not of them, the core group, was driving out demons in Jesus’ name…now how dare he do that. Jesus basically tells him, “stop being a jealous idiot, if they’re not against me, they’re for me.” What are you so worried about? And just afterwards, they start heading towards Jerusalem, and they come up on a village that Jesus sends the disciples ahead into to get things ready, but the town rejects them because they’re headed to Jerusalem. And good ol’ James and John step into the mix again, and man are they hot, “Oh, Jesus they’ve done it now. Do you want us to call down fire from heaven on these terrible people?!” But Jesus turned and rebuked them.

You see, all along, Jesus is forming this group of folks surrounding him, and with James and John, he is inviting them to begin owning and dealing with their anger response when confronted with certain situations. In the face of rejection, James and John want to fly off the handle with rage against those who would not accept them. Jesus meets them where they’re at and calls them out of that place of misdirected anger. (story of climax anger moment in N.C. State game and teammate willing to challenge?)

If Jesus were to walk into this room today, walk to the front, and speak to us, having known some of the struggles we’ve gone through as a church in the past, I think he’d say, “Middle River Church of the Brethren, I give you the name Unity, and I will walk beside you and encourage you to live into this name, that over time you would transform perceptions folks may have had in the past to look at you and say, those folks love people and each other. They’re committed to one another, even when they disagree. But that takes time and hard work.

Sent out: the outward journey

The gifts and strengths of the disciples are identified by Jesus, and now they are given the responsibility to set an example for and guide others who are dealing with longings they have in their own hearts On the outward journey of being sent, our lives – no matter what role we play in the Kingdom of God, if our pursuit is authentic, will reflect Jesus’ call to communicate the good news, confront evil, and be a presence for healing.

As you have the rest of your lives to read these stories and let them shape you; please recognize they direct our attention centrally to Jesus; who is the visible image of God and his love, who communicates good news, who confronts evil, and who brings healing into the painful loneliness we carry as human beings.

So the mature life of a follower of Christ will have a rhythm to it, like a wave, if you could picture it: coming to be with Jesus and others following him, receiving renewal for the hard work of being a disciple, and being sent out again.

This requires a commitment on our parts, because we cannot grow unless we are willing to undergo the journey of growing in relationship with others on the same path as us in this local church community. We cannot grow if we run away when we are challenged, we cannot grow if we are afraid to challenge one another, we cannot grow unless we serve one another, we cannot grow unless we trust one another, we cannot grow unless we are willing to give our lives for one another, and all of this cannot be accomplished by hopping around from church to church according to whatever suits our fancy. (Emphasize flipside)

If we are to set ourselves apart from others in this world in order to have a witness that actually speaks something of substance to others, we must set a high priority on our community here and what membership in this group means to us.

In what ways are you resisting what God is naming and seeing within you?

How would you describe your understanding of the meaning of your life? In your church?

In what way does your life bear the mark of Jesus’ call to communicate good news (in word, in deed, in growth in Christ)? To confront evil (idolatry in its various forms, evil in yourself, in the church, in the world)? To be a presence for healing (willing to suffer with others, to endure conflict and set an example as a maturing Christian, to pray for others)? Where is your weakness? Where can you grow?