The Maximized Life - Introduction

Have you ever had someone give you a break, a gift of mercy, let you off the hook, or otherwise just grace you with an unexpected gift? Whenever that happens to me I usually remind myself to make good use of the gift; to not waste it in other words. Not infrequently, I hear myself reminding my kids to do this with the breaks and advantages Nancy and I give them.

Our scripture text for tomorrow (which happens to be Father's Day!) is 2 Corinthians 6:1 which reads, "As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain." (New International Version) The Contemporary English Version has it, "We work together with God, and we beg you to make good use of God's kindness to you." And finally, Eugene Peterson's The Message captures that verse this way, "Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don't squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us."

Tomorrow, from this verse, we are going to discuss what Jesus called "life more abundant" or "eternal life." I call it a maximized life or a life fully lived. We are going to focus on ways to take full advantage of this gift we have been given as well as note five life wasters that we should avoid at all costs. I trust this very practical theme is going to be highly relevant to all of us, so I hope you will join your church family at one of our worship services (9:00 & 10:45).

Looking forward to the Lord's Day.

Process - Introduction

For several years a friend of mine had a bumper sticker on his SUV that read - "Been there, still there." Like most pithy phrases, that one-liner is certainly subject to multiple interpretations. My personal take on its meaning is that life is a journey and none of us are so accomplished or completed that we can claim to be done with the process or in possession of the proverbial t-shirt. Certainly, we can make and claim progress, but what we can't claim here and now is graduation from this process of soul-making called our life.

This week's scripture text speaks insightfully to this idea. Found in Mark's gospel it reads: ²⁶ Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. ²⁸ The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. ²⁹ And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.” ³⁰ Jesus said, “How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. It is the smallest of all seeds, ³² but it becomes the largest of all garden plants; it grows long branches, and birds can make nests in its shade.” ³³ Jesus used many similar stories and illustrations to teach the people as much as they could understand. ³⁴ In fact, in his public ministry he never taught without using parables; but afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them. (Mark 4:26-34 NLT)

I deeply believe that God has planted the slow but sure growing seeds of His kingdom inside the human heart. This is very good news for all of us. I could keep going here but come tomorrow and we'll talk more about what that looks like and the hope it affords us.

Hope to see you in the morning.

Stan

Soul to soul - Sunday Leftovers

This past Sunday's sermon was chiefly focused on the sixteenth verse of Romans eight which, in the New Living Translation, reads, "For His Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we are God's children."

Some translations of the Bible render that verse, "God's Spirit bears witness with our spirit..." Personally, I like the NLT's rendering the best, "His Holy Spirit speaks deep in our hearts..." From either, though, the point is clear - God longs to communicate with us, and does so at a deep level alternately referred to as our spirit or the depth of our heart.

In connection with this, I strongly believe that humans possess a sixth sense beyond the five physical senses, and with this additional sense we are able to communicate with God. The Bible refers to it as faith - a deep conviction or confidence that something is so. I also believe that the part of us that Paul called "spirit" or "deep in our heart" is the seat of that sense.

One other thing that I believe in regard to this subject is that God communicates with each of us in ways specific to our personality or nature. While we all share the common need and desire to intimately connect with God, the ways we make that connection are as varied as we. Thankfully, God loves us enough to learn a whole lot of love-languages.

The book of Acts is a compelling book which makes the above point abundantly clear. It records in vivid detail the first three decades of the Christian church's life. In it there are multiple accounts of the Spirit of God engaging individuals and/or multitudes. While some commonalities are discernible, the clearer point is the amazing differences in the many stories. Again and again, God profoundly connected with His early followers. Again and again, He did so in distinct ways; ways that no doubt were His gracious accommodation to the distinctiveness of those He was connecting with.

My encouragement this past Sunday was for all of us to ask God to sensitize us in regards to His ''voice'' and to help us be more aware and in touch with that place called "deep in our heart." My encouragement today is don't stress about this; instead, relax, pray the prayer sincerely and then leave the welcome mat out and your heart's front door unlocked. As Frederick Buechner said, "If you pray for anything other than God, you may or may not get it, but if you pray for God, you will always receive what you pray for."

Stan

Pentecost Sunday Leftovers

Sunday we celebrated the birthday of the Christian Church, a day we call Pentecost. Some two millennia ago and just seven weeks after Christ's resurrection, the New Covenant began with God ''pouring'' Himself out on a group of 120 Christ-followers. The book of Acts, which is a cursory overview of the church's first thirty years, begins with this story and continues the refrain of God powerfully moving in the lives of countless people from Jerusalem to Rome.

Before the monumental day of the Church's birth, the biblical story seems to indicate that God was not as universally accessible to the human family as He became post Pentecost. We could spend a lot of time and space speculating why this was the case, and, frankly, that's not an unprofitable conversation. For this e-reflection, though, I am satisfied to focus on the reality as we now enjoy it; the good news that every man, woman, boy and girl has the capacity to directly experience God.

By ''experience God'' I mean, we directly communicate with, are empowered by and sense the nearness of the Creator of all things. In other words, our relationship with the Divine is an intimate one, marked by mutual concern, listening and direction. This reality of God's nearness is what the New Testament text refers to variously as the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ or simply the Spirit. All of these monikers employ the idea of spirit which in the ancient world simply meant the deepest essence of a person. To encounter the Holy Spirit is to encounter God unmitigated by any mediation.

Jesus did not say God has a spirit rather God is a Spirit (John 4:24). In other words there are no secondary or superficial parts of God. Later, the Apostle Paul said that the Spirit of God communicates directly with our spirit (Romans 8:16). All of this is simply another way of describing the Edenic relationship when God met with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. That closeness has always been God's desire and is a reality we simply need to recognize and enjoy.

May you be filled with, baptized in, and fallen upon by the Holy Spirit even today. If that sounds too ethereal, then may you sense the nearness of God in your life right now and always.