Purpose in Spiritual Disciplines

Please enjoy a blog writing by Elder Chairperson Jerry Verseput:

Several years ago I was visiting family in Southern California and attended a church service down there.  During the service they had an open-mic opportunity for people to share what God had been doing in their life.  Having grown up going to church, I know this is always a dangerous situation.  You run the risk of getting the guy who just likes to talk into microphones.  There’s the lady who can’t stop crying about her neighbor’s dog who has some sort of a blockage. The couple who needs prayer about whether they should get the XL or the XLT version of the car their thinking about.  As soon as the mic started going around I had already started my internal eye-rolling.

It turns out I was in store for a spiritual slap in the head.  A lady, I’ll call her “Marge”, stood up and mentioned that she was just going about her day a couple of weeks ago when she got this overwhelming feeling to write “Sarah” a note.  She commented, “I don’t typically write notes, but I felt like I was going to go crazy if I didn’t write Sarah a note.”  So she jotted down something simple, like “I just wanted you to know that Jesus loves you, and so do I” and put it in the mail.  What she didn’t know was that Sarah’s adult daughter had died a few days before.  Sarah was feeling overwhelmed and that God had abandoned her, and then she received Marge’s note.  Marge said she felt good that God could use her in this way, gave a few more details, and then sat down.

A skeptic would see this as a coincidence.  A Christian might think this is a wonderful story of how God works; more significant and obvious than little Johnnie getting over his cold or the house finally selling, but an extension of the same thing.  But this was not the typical “God told me…” story I was expecting, and I felt a little ashamed for my preemptive eye-rolling.  Everyone in that church service was getting a window into what it looks like when God needs something done, and a Christian has put themselves in a position to do it.  Here is a lady who just lost her daughter and is experiencing untold amounts of grief.  This doesn’t escape God’s notice, and although He has an infinitely bigger picture of life and death, He feels her pain just the same.  So He taps Marge on the shoulder and tells her to write a note to Sarah.  If this is true (and it sure sounded authentic to me), then the Creator of the Universe…let me repeat that, the Creator of the Universe just demonstrated a personal awareness and compassion for what Sarah was going through, and pressed Marge into service.  There was no sense of “please.”  In Marge’s words, “I was going to go crazy if I didn’t write a note.”  Now, admittedly, Marge certainly felt good about being able to bring some comfort to Sarah, but that wasn’t what had the impact on me.  The impact was that THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE looked around for someone who had the spiritual maturity to listen, found Marge, and said (commanded) “Marge, write Sarah a note.”

 

I want to do stuff like that.  If God is real, then we have no purpose than to serve Him and carry out whatever part of His plan He has for us.  On that day for Marge, it was to comfort one of His children who was hurting by writing a note.  In order to put herself into a position where she would "go crazy" if she didn't do what God was telling her to do, Marge probably has a fairly rigorous spiritual discipline regimen.  It probably involves prayer, and solitude, and study, and community with others.  But the goal isn't to fulfill an obligation to practice spiritual disciplines, or make her life more fulfilling.  It's so that when God says "go do this," she can hear it (obviously fairly strongly) and respond with "I got this covered."  Marge didn't know it (another by-product of her doing what God told her), but she really had an impact on me in terms of how I should view my personal and professional life, the purpose of spiritual disciplines, and the immaturity of eye-rolling in church.

God is Good

Please enjoy a blog post by Elder Ben Harrison:

Last weekend Mike closed the sermon discussing how Paul might have experienced the goodness of God in all his hardships.  This is a subject that resonates with me.  I feel that God keeps drawing me into a deeper understanding of how good He really is.

I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home.  We went to church and Sunday school.  I was taught early in my life that God is good, and if asked, I would have answered that He was.  Even so, I was afraid that God might not be trustworthy.  I mean, what if He required some major sacrifice from me such as becoming a missionary or serving people in some way that I did not like.

About ten years ago I attended a Renovare conference sponsored at Oak Hills.   Something wonderful happened to me during that weekend.  When it was over, I wasn’t afraid any longer about what God might require of me.  Instead, I became fearful of what I might miss out on if I wasn’t willing to obey God in whatever He asked.  I switched (I believe through a merciful gift from God), from fearing God’s required obedience to fearing my lack of obedience.  I don’t know if it is possible describe the impact that has made on my relationship with God.

Just recently God has reminded me of His goodness in a way that surprised me.  In the last few weeks I have struggled through a particular circumstance.  The specifics are not as important as what I am learning.  I felt as if I was on a forced journey; on a path which I did not choose and which I did not want to take.  That path lead me to a point of profound sorrow; almost a grieving (including tears, etc).  At one point, I prayed for God to rescue me.  Almost immediately, I felt an answer.  God was lovingly allowing me to feel His sorrow in what is a very sorrowful situation.  I understood He is much more mournful about this problem than I am.  In His goodness, He allowed me to feel a little bit of what He feels.  I sensed His goodness, a gift from Him, even though I was deeply sad.  How extraordinary.  I pray that all of us will continue to discover more deeply how wonderfully good God is, in all circumstances.

Mutuality in Mission/Life

Please enjoy the following blog by Elder Tim Hooey:

In one ear is a voice. The voice is encouraging and prompts me to write. “You have something to say, something people should hear. Yes, it could get messy, but you need to share in order to build up the body.” 

In the other ear is a voice. The voice is compassionate and asks that I keep my thoughts to myself. “Don’t you see, by writing about this you are only creating more hierarchy, objectification and distinction. You are losing the trust you have worked so hard to build.”

Mutuality in mission and life is a messy endeavor.

I have been a part of a group that, for the last year and a half, has attempted to engage a marginalized community in Folsom. We have gone about this, not by creating programs, but by seeking friendship. 

Creating programs for, or “serving”, the marginalized has a tendency to create space between the one who has all of the answers and the one who needs direction. Grant it, not all programs are bad. Many are useful and necessary. But when a large group of middle to upper class folks enter a community of people with less resources in order to “help” the result can be demoralizing and humiliating. The effect on both the marginalized and those “serving” is subtly thwarted.

Mutuality in friendship requires humility, trust and an openness to learn from one another. Entering more fully into God’s Kingdom and being complete in Christ means learning from those we have a relationship with, and not in a backhanded “Through this experience I have learned to appreciate all I have” sort of way. Learning from each other means actually hearing what people have to say and then hearing or seeing God through the person. The person whom God uses may be a nine year old in need of a mentor, an illegal immigrant, or a single dad struggling to take care of his kids.

A friend of mine once attended a church that would sometimes gather to share a meal together. Everyone would bring a dish to share with the group. They referred to this tradition as a Pot Faith. I find this ridiculous and funny. Once a month the group I am apart of from Oak Hills has a pot-luck (taboos and all) at Theodore Judah Elementary School. We eat with families from the school and neighborhood. Having a pot-luck is an intentional way of creating an environment where everyone contributes and we are all on equal ground (my strange green jell-o is no different than your strange green jell-o). For more than a year we have shared a meal once a month with marginalized families. There has been nothing magical about this time together. Much of the time it is awkward. However, over time many relationships have been created and many of those relationships are now friendships. I guess it is fair to say we have had great luck faith in relationships.  

If you are interested in talking more about engaging the community surrounding Theodore Judah Elementary school through mentoring programs, conversational english tutoring, or developing friendships though pot-lucks email Tim Hooey at thooey@gmail.com.

Trustworthy

Please enjoy the following blog written by Elder Allison Carlos:

Basic explanations of what trustworthiness means can be found from various sources, in books, articles, or online. A number of interesting points are made, such as the description of it as a moral value, considered to be a virtue. Intrigue seems to surface as explanations reflect upon trustworthiness in terms of how well actions meet expectations or beliefs. Yikes … that can be a little hard to think about!

Maybe it is not so hard for more obvious matters of trust, such as when we are asked to keep a confidence of another person. That seems fairly straightforward. However, trustworthiness is a more difficult concept when considered in terms of how one acts in a manner that is in conflict with stated beliefs and expectations. Now that is truly painful to think about, yet is such a challenge in so many areas of life. And,… the challenge doesn’t evaporate as one becomes a believer in Christ.

A well quoted example of this is the apostle Peter in his denial of Christ. In Matthew 26:34-35, Jesus predicts Peter’s denial of Him. “I tell you the truth”, Jesus answered, “This very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times”. But Peter, declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” In subsequent verses, 26:69-75, Matthew recounts the three times Peter denies Christ in fear for his safety, the crowing of the rooster, and Peter’s despair at recalling Christ’s words to him. Well, by most measures of trustworthy behavior one would typically consider, this would seem to rank pretty high on the “gee whiz” scale.

In the book Absolute Surrender, Andrew Murray reflects upon this event in Peter’s life. He provides a description of the progression of Peter’s transformation through his failings as he denied Christ out of concern for himself. He suggests that although Peter believed in and was devoted to Christ, Peter was not ready to fully follow Christ. He had not been brought to an end of himself; he did not know himself (the shadows and fears of his own heart), and he therefore could not fully follow Christ. Remember, as much as Peter loved the Lord, he was often quick tempered and had great confidence in what he thought he knew of the Way of Jesus.

A.W. Tozer comments in The Pursuit of God that self (self-love, self-righteousness, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, etc.) is an “opaque veil that hides the face of God from us”. That the whole work of God in redemption is to undo the tragic effect of sin and bring us back into right and eternal relationship with Himself. Thankfully, God is faithful and trustworthy in his plan that restores that which is broken in us when we cooperate with Him.

After the betrayal, Peter had choices. He could have continued to focus and trust in himself and his understanding about life in Christ, never experiencing fullness as he ultimately did. Or perhaps, still focusing on himself, he may have deemed himself unworthy and become weak and imprisoned in that failure. He chose neither of those paths, but instead a path walked by one who has put their worth and trust only in Christ. Peter was humbled. His love for God’s truth in Christ allowed him to stand in the pain of his betrayal. He wept bitterly, allowed Christ to pierce him to reveal his true heart and mind, repented, accepted mercy and grace, took his place within the community of disciples with greater vision and wisdom, and surrendered his life to be kept by the power of the Spirit.

Romans 8:1-2 provides a wonderful reminder that as we are surrendered in Christ we can live without condemnation because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set us free from the law of sin and death.

When confronted with a spiritual formation challenge in his walk with Christ, his self-sin, in faith and love Peter acted in a manner worthy of trust. He accepted that his hope is only found in the power of Christ and not within the confines of self and human understanding.