Discipleship

Keep Asking

November 15, 2018 0 Comments

“Be filled with the Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18

Jesus makes it clear that our Heavenly Father knows how to give good gifts. So, He teaches his disciples to pray persistently. He wants us to keep on asking, seeking, and knocking. Then Jesus shows His followers that their Heavenly Father is more extravagant, glorious, and rich in His giving than they can imagine.

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you re evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:8-13

Do see how extravagant God is? “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

That’s generous! God will give to us the His Spirit who has been present when God is creating:
In the beginning. Genesis 1:1-3
In the incarnation of Jesus. Luke 1:35
In the baptism of Jesus. Matthew 3:16
In the extraordinary life and ministry of Jesus. Acts 10:36-38
In the birth of the Church. Acts 2
In the ministry of each local congregation. Ephesians 2:22

Paul urges his readers in Ephesus to be filled with the Spirit. Get filled with the Spirit. Keep on being filled with the Spirit. Paul has in mind the creating work of God. Where there is darkness, chaos, and formlessness in our lives and in the world the Spirit of God is present for a God-shaping struggle.  And into this darkness God can speak, “Let there be light.” 

Jesus promised that His very life, ministry, death on the cross, and resurrection is to make the in-dwelling gift of the Spirit possible. His words of comfort to the Disciples gathered in the upper room the night before His crucifixion made no sense and they seemed to have felt only confusion and grief. He says to them, 

“Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go I will send Him to you.” John 16:6-7

Later they understood Jesus. The way of the cross, the passion of Jesus, had opened the way of the Spirit for the creation of a new humanity. Peter would say in his exhortations to the people of Jerusalem gathered at Pentecost, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off–for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39)

Having received “the gift” we can ask for this gift to occupy our hearts, mind, soul, and strength over and over. Be filled with the Spirit. Having received Jesus as Lord, having received the forgiveness of the Heavenly Father, having received your adoption as children of God, are you open again, today for the filling of His Spirit?

Are you asking? To be filled with Holy Spirit.
Are you seeking? To be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Are you knocking? To be filled with the Holy Spirit.

In Scot McKnight’s recent book, Open to the Spirit, he suggests a prayer of openness toward our Heavenly Father:

Lord, I am open to the Holy Spirit.
Come to me, dwell in me, speak to me
so that I may become more like Christ.
Lord, give me the courage to be open.
Lord, I am open to the Holy Spirit.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Amen.

You have been created and born again in Christ Jesus for a dynamic living relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The whole movement and struggle of history is for people to be in this communion with God. So ask, seek, and knock.

If you are not sure that the narrative of Scripture is for our communion with the Father, Son, and Spirit consider this vision and exhortation from the Apostle Paul to the Galatian church:

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.’ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” Galatians 3:13-14

“…we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his son, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.” Galatians 4:3-7)

This is God’s intention for you: communion with Him, not isolation from Him. 

So by humble and sincere faith in the name and promise of Jesus Christ our Lord — ask again, “Fill me with your Holy Spirit.”




Discipleship, Prayer

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At a loss for words

October 15, 2018 1 Comment

If you have no words for “it,” does that mean “it” doesn’t  exist? 

A lack of vocabulary for the spiritual life does not mean the spiritual life does not exist. However, I do agree with Jonathan Merritt that our North American societies have an  ever decreasing competency with words associated to the workings of the soul and a religiously informed life.

In friendship with my neighbours in Vancouver for the last 24 years I have had many conversations where “I made no sense.” To speak of grace – makes no sense. To speak of salvation – makes no sense. To speak of sin – makes no sense. In fact, almost all the biblical vocabulary of life in relationship – makes no sense. And then to my despair even words I thought were shared were not. I have found, to speak of love – makes no sense at least in the way it make sense to me as a follower of Jesus. 

The words “faith, hope, and love” are simple words yet they are complex constructs. As a construct these words in the context of the story of Jesus have narratives and relationships buried within them. There are treasures to be mined in these words! When Paul writes, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” he has the stories of Jesus and of Israel and of his Hellenized world in mind. He has a spiritual treasure trove available to him and these words were “short-hand” for grand visions for life and of humans flourishing.

Just about everything has to be uncovered and explained.

Most people avoid feeling stupid. Make them feel stupid and they will avoid you. The brilliance of Jesus is on display for us in the primary documents we call Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These histories of Jesus and of His relationships show us how He used language in a religiously saturated context. There was no end to the religious vocabulary available to Him. But, Jesus didn’t major on these words.

Instead Jesus used His life encounters and language to create analogies for spiritual realities that resided in the human heart and to divine realities that were still external to His “audience.” Jesus uncovered what folks didn’t know and then let them inquire about it. Then when there was some understanding, he offered invitations into it through Himself. In fact their religious language may have been a hindrance to flourishing spiritual life and relationship with Him that He envisioned. He had to help them break out of it.

We lack the cultural impulses of folks in the first century who were hanging around with Jesus, and therefore we often miss the scandal they experienced in both His activities and His words. They were scandalized by Him. And he didn’t mind that. That scandal was part of the breakthrough.

But truthfully, it seems to me, that many followers of Jesus in my city have a low tolerance for being misunderstood. We have a low threshold for the inquisitiveness empathy requires. We may be too quick to write off folks who simply don’t “get us.” They don’t understand us. And so, because they lack the words for “it” we may inadvertently do one of two things:

1. Make them feel stupid and therefore drive them away.
2. Assume they don’t have an interest in knowing God and therefore smugly take leave of them.

But most often I fear, because we don’t want to do awkward we don’t actually risk a look into the soul of another person at all.

So what can we do?

Humbly, start listening. Begin inquiring through the windows of the soul offered to us. Spiritual conversations are occurring all the time. Our neighbours are talking about their relationships, their ambitions, their desires, their hopes and fears, their frustrations and their delights. Our neighbours just aren’t using our vocabulary for the spiritual life. But they are talking about what they believe or at least they are talking about the matters that drive them. And behind these compulsions are an array of beliefs about life. We can look through these windows of the soul and draw out a belief-bridge to the heart. The Risen Lord Jesus has a way of walking across these bridges. Sometimes we need to say to each other, “That’s fascinating, tell me more; how did you come to believe that?”

All our beliefs are relational. Not all our beliefs are rational. Most often folks have unexamined beliefs. The gift you can give is to ask people to explain themselves. Probably they have not had anyone actually ask them to take a look at what they believe and where it came from. Beliefs often have been formed through these 5 P’s — parents, peers, professors, politics and pain. By entering into conversation we can become participants in the spiritual transformation God offers to both of us. Be patient. The question may need to be asked and then be given time to marinate for a while before a conversation is possible. I have it found it helpful to keep the Mark 4 parables of Jesus in mind: God is always sowing good seed in our hearts; sometimes these seeds come in the form of questions.

But later in relationship, we have to become willing to explain ourselves, to search for analogies and to tell the stories of Jesus rather than the treasured doctrinal constructions of our community of faith. We may need to invite folks into an encounter with Jesus in prayer and not just into an explanation of Jesus. Later we may be given permission to be teachers or “story tellers” of the grand narrative of God that we find in the Bible and now in our lives. I suggest we can ask for permission to explain before we launch. This is important, because just like you and me, I find that folks in my city are increasingly unwilling and unlikely to learn something from a stranger.

So listen. So explain. And do awkward. We are going to have to be willing to do awkward in order to love our neighbours well in the way of Jesus. And that means being present, and listening, and explaining – when we have been given permission.


Those who live loved have learned to listen.

Change, Discipleship

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A Prayer Room

October 11, 2018 0 Comments

 

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Jesus, Matthew 6:5-6

 

We have a prayer room. Its a grand experiment in carving out space for students who would like to carve out space in their lives to enter into the communion of God. If you don’t have experience stepping into a prayer room or in carving out space in your own home in order to persistently pursue communion with God, let me encourage you to designate a chair, a corner, and even a room for conversation with God. Entering into the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the prayer room is not meant to be a communion that you leave. Rather you are to live as a walking prayer room, for in Christ, you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The prayer room is an admission that we require daily realignment with Jesus and the Father’s heart in order to be fully occupied with Him.

 

Prayer rooms are places of direct encounter with God. So much of our faith, if we are not very careful, can merely amount to a succession of second-hand spiritual experiences. We listen to talks that tell us what to think. We outsource our prayer requests to others. We even read books like this one that inspire us with other people’s encounters and adventures. But alone in a prayer room we may sometimes encounter God face-to-face without a middleman. Often the Holy Spirit speaks directly to us in ways that no ministry session ever could.

Pete Greig/Dave Roberts , Red Moon Rising: Rediscover the Power of Prayer, p. 166

 

Those who live loved are learning to listen to Jesus Christ our Lord.

Discipleship, Prayer

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Following Jesus and Becoming Human

October 5, 2018 0 Comments

What is your vision of maturity? I have often returned to this question from Willie James Jennings over the past year. The process has forced me to grapple with the  powerful squeeze of culture and context on me. From early on we have absorbed a vision of being a person from our families, friends, teachers, professions and politics that remains largely unchallenged. It’s so unchallenged that our churches find it difficult and at times even impossible to challenge the individualism in which we have been steeped. We all want to be kings and queens; its our divine right. Being in control, being powerful, is driven largely by fear covered in a veneer of pride. All the while our souls are hollowed out and the name of God is taken in vain. And so, a vision becomes a myth shaping us and yet remaining elusive. To step out of that cultural or family mythology of identity though is to risk exile and alienation from someone and some body of people.

 

Recently I have delighted in watching my children and myself react to brothers and sisters in Christ coming to Vancouver from around the world who have a different vision of mature human persons. Sometimes their vision lived out means that they show up in Vancouver without knowing where they are going live. Like live tonight. What a gift! They are following Jesus and living into what my friend Miller says about Jesus. His mantra goes something like this: “Don’t you know, Jesus runs the largest hotel and accommodation chain in the world! Craig, why are you staying in hotels, when followers of Jesus have space in their homes?”

 

To actually read the words of Jesus and adopt them as our vision of a mature person, as a vision for ourselves means we risk humiliation, shame, and rejection. It means we may become taken up in the needs of other people for a time. It means the transgression against our agenda is going to inconvenience other people. Jesus was totally aware of this. For he said things like, “Blessed are those of you who are persecuted for righteousness sake.” “Blessed are those who are persecuted for my name’s sake.” And, “You cannot be my disciple unless you deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” “You cannot be my disciple unless you hate your mother, father, brother and sister.” In spite of these “cannot’s” Jesus fully expected that it was possible to have an identity rooted in Him and flowing from belonging in HIs family. He fully expected that He was forming a people who would be able to do His will. He says, “Who are mother and my brothers? Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” Jesus fully expected to reclaim persons and create a people who were human.

 

I have found my best mentors are the ones who encourage me to be more human as Jesus envisioned being human. This week is our annual Kindness Week at UBC. So, in honour of the UBC Kindness Week, I invited Jean Vanier to be my companion on my drives across the city. I’ve been listening to his 1998 Massey Lectures: Becoming Human. The five lectures form an awesome and challenging vision of being human. He speaks of

Loneliness
Belonging
From Exclusion to Inclusion: The Path of Healing
The Path to Freedom
Forgiveness.

You can check out the audio CD’s from the library or listen at the links above. (The CBC Audio Player only has four links available.)

Or, you can order the book based on the lectures, Becoming Human.

Change, Discipleship

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Mountain trails and the fears that bind us

July 15, 2018 0 Comments

This past week Douglas Todd wrote succinctly on seven issues he believes arise in the work of some diversity journalists. He was responding to a CBC piece exploring why minorities are not likely to pursue outdoor recreation. Also this week, The Guardian published the stories of three African Americans who have faced their dread of “hiking while black.”


My reflections follow Wendell Berry’s observations of entering the “big woods.”

 

“Always in big woods when you leave familiar ground and step off alone into a new place there will be, along with the feelings of curiosity and excitement, a little nagging of dread. It is the ancient fear of the unknown, and it is your first bond with the wilderness you are going into. You are undertaking the first experience, not of the place, but of yourself in that place. It is an experience of our essential loneliness, for nobody can discover the world for anybody else. It is only after we have discovered it for ourselves that it becomes a common ground and a common bond, and we cease to be alone.

 

And the world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles, no matter how long, but only by a spiritual journey, a journey of one inch, very arduous and humbling and joyful, by which we arrive at the ground at our feet, and learn to be at home.”

— Wendell Berry, The Unforeseen Wilderness: Kentucky’s Red River Gorge

 

 

To enter the wilderness is to embark on a spiritual journey. 

 

When we enter it, even when the territory is familiar, we enter into the danger it possesses, a danger that may be masked by our familiarity. As one friend cautioned me soon after moving to British Columbia in 1994, “Always respect the river. Always respect the mountain.”

 

The wilderness exposes us to elements beyond our control. And here in BC we can get into the wilderness quicker than we realize.

 

All spiritual journeys generate anxiety. The moment we realize we have stepped out of cell range, may be the moment of intense relief, or perhaps its one of severe anxiety.

 

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

 

I have a friend who trains for marathons on the trails of the North Shore Mountains. One morning he almost kissed a bear. He turned the corner and there was the bear, large and menacing on the trail. Amazingly my friend had the presence of mind to take out his phone and record the bear as it lumbered towards him. My friend retreated slowly. On the video you can see the bear coming toward him and hear his soothing words being offered between shallow breaths, “Whoa bear. Whoa bear. That’s a good bear. Whoa bear.” And then when the bear turned away and moved off into the bush, he turns the camera to himself and says, “That was close.” 

 

Ridiculous right?

 

I asked him, “Why did you take the phone out and record the moment?” He laughed and said, “I wanted to make sure that if the bear did something to me, my family would know what happened.”

 

Does the wilderness contain a real and present danger?

 

I grew up in the foothills of Appalachia and was a frequent visitor to the valleys and towns seen from the Appalachian Trail’s ridges in Georgia. I don’t remember being anxious that my mere presence on the trail would invite violence. However, as an adult I have learned from black friends that they would never venture alone or without the company of another white person through those places, even today.

 

To enter the wilderness, an unfamiliar territory, is to enter into what Wendell Berry calls “a little nagging of dread.”

 

But, what if the wilderness magnifies a dread fomented at home in urban and even rural landscapes? What if it calls out a dread that always lurks around the edges of one’s psyche? What if your body has a history of attracting domination and violence that strives to eliminate you from certain spaces? What if others have turned your body into a permission slip to question your right to be “there?”

 

Then, as you might see we do have a problem in the wilderness. And I say “we” purposely. When my family hikes, we hike as a racialized family. But my concern on the trail is the same concern I have for my daughter on Fraser street or even at her school — will she be respected by others as a person?

 

Really I can’t imagine the full extent and the awful pain a full-bodied dread curated since the slave ships crossed the seas can create.

 

But I do know this: such dread is real enough for the souls who venture out. The fear on the trail then, is not that we might meet a bear. Well honestly, I don’t want to meet a bear and if I do, I want to be prepared. The fear, hanging just behind the joy of being in God’s creation, is that we might meet some de-humanized folk for whom the great outdoors is a space in which they feel free to act cruelly without restraint on their baser, yet finely nurtured, racist impulses. 

 

And then, who would be there to help us?

Change, Discipleship

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