Led by the Spirit

2012 Lent A Clean Heart, Create in Me C.S.Lewis Happy Little Easter! Sunday, February 26th Luke 4:1-2 "The long terrible story of humanity trying to find something other than God to make us happy." "God designed the human machine to run on God's self." Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert place where he was tempted by the devil for a long time. But led and fueled by the spirit he overcame the temptations of humanity and was refined, honed to sharpness, tempered into compassion itself. Jesus was not seeking peace or happiness in the desert but God's will and a testing of his faith in that will. The peace Jesus found was the assurance that humanity could be sustained by the Spirit. Where the Spirit leads there are trials and temptations but also salvation and hope. Where the Spirit leads our self-made castles crumble and we become servants and heirs to the eternl kingdom. Man does not live by bread alone, but on every Word from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4) That phrase "every Word from the mouth of God" obviously alludes to Jesus himself, the Word of God, yet it also points to the breath of God, love's own spirit, that breathes life into our dead dried bones. In Genesis it says that God spoke the world into being, and it is that sustenance tht Jesus relies on in the desert. So let us be a spirit led people, who walk into lonely desert places, not unaware and unafraid, but secure in the knowledge of the care and support we will receive and the promised outcome when we are led back out, a new creation, with a clean heart. Be led.

SMOKERS

I am concerned about smokers. They are under the influence of an addiction that impacts every area of of their lives. In the interest of public health we have made our church campuses drug and alcohol free. This is great. What does this say to the smoker? They are not truly welcome in our places of worship until they have conquered thier addictions. Yet we allow any other manner of brokenness within our doors to receive the very grace needed to mend. How can we protect our health and remain welcoming? How can we provide radical hospitality and clean air? Each church needs to decide.

Christ is calling for .... WHOM?

Lent 2012 A Clean Heart Create in Me
Saturday February 25, Luke 5:31-32

How does Christianity work? Who is it for? Interestingly, Christianity is not necessarily for the righteous but for sinners. According to Luke, Jesus has come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance. Why would you call those living in right relationship with God to begin living in right relationship with God?
I have several problems with leaders who in the name of the "church" teach prejudice against a group of people. Often it is that group that needs God's presence in the form of God's people. Now I am not suggesting that the alcoholic should continue to hang out at the bar among his friends who will lead him back to addiction or other such similar idiocies. I am not telling moms and dads to put their children in crack house day care. However, when the church says through words or policies that certain people are not welcome we are becoming judges, which has never been humanity's strong suit. We are called to reach out to the least and the last and the lost. These people may not look, act, talk or dress as "the righteous" do but these are the very people Christ came to call. When Jesus comes he will not allow cultural, financial, physical barriers to inhibit his work. We can emulate this now. Do we know how God will help? No! We are not called to understand and approve, we are called to be obedient and have faith.

Wrestling Passion

Lent 2012 A Clean Heart, Create in Me
Friday February 24 Psalm 51:17

I have 2 fabulous high school wrestlers in my church. They have a passion for this sport that they need to in order to be successful. With a controlled diet and exercise plan, this is a sport of the mind as well as the body. They must be able to conquer the hungers of their bodies and the defenses of their opponent. I hope if they read this that they realize how they inspire me.
Fasting from anything is a spiritual discipline but only if its fruit brings us closer to God. Lewis puts it beautifully: "Ascetic practices, (one's that deny our bodily passions and/or split our attention), which in themselves strengthen the will, are only useful in so far as they enable the will to put its own house (the passions) in order, as a preparation for offering our whole self to God."
He asks us how can we love God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strengths if we are of a split will? So ask the Lord to break our stubborn denial to change our priorities from satisfying our passions to submitting to a diet of God that exercises our faith, so as we conquer the hungers of our bodies we may also be successful in the defeat of our opponents. May God be at the center of your living and loving today and may your fast bear fruit.

My Cross and How I bear it

Lent 2012: A Clean Heart Create in Me from C.S.Lewis
Thursday 2/23 Luke 9: 23-24

I hate that sappy poster: If you love something set it free, if it comes back, it is yours but if it does not, it never was. I remember my first collossal broken heart and how that was supposed to bring me hope just devstated me even more. Here comes Jesus spouting seemingly the same nonsense. Oh Boy!
Give up what I love to receive something that I can't even imagine. Hmmmmmm. But what if the cross I'm asked to bear is that which breaks my heart today? Injustice, Poverty, lack of health care, war, and death are all crosses that some people must bear. My friend Marguerite's heart breaks for those people who are struggling to nurture their family alone. She bears it by offering before and after school care, training, support and love. This does not stop the problem but it so transforms the world that more people do more than survive they thrive and then they help others as well. A cross is not meant to punish us but discipline us, hone us, refine us.
My Cross? You. You break my heart. I am called to resource God's people to respond to God's call in their life. How can I so transform the world so that You can get what you need to follow God more effectively and efficiently? How do I bear this cross? I try to stay healthy. I nurture networks of people and resources that are ready for that moment when an inspired person says yes to God. I find many and different ways to connect and communicate with people all over the world. I study and train. I serve a church. I laugh... a lot. For someone who bears a cross, I laugh an insane amount. That helps me bear it. After all laughter is ever so much more attractive than a groan. What is your cross? How can God (possibly through me) help you bear it?

Do I stink? or Do You Smell What I smell?

Lent 2012 A Clean Heart Create in Me from C.S. Lewis

Psalm 51:1-2 cleanse me.

C.S. Lewis brings up a very good point: Christianity has nothing to offer the person who does not recognize their need. I have been watching a bbc show called Kingdom, where one of the characters has such an odor that others have to cover their faces to converse with him. How could this man not know that he stinks? Even if he, (like Erin's boyfriend, Cody)has a limited sense of smell, wouldn't he notice the behaviors of those arond him? If we had no sense of our germiness, odor, dirt, or fallen nature would we ever seek to be made clean? I think back to times when regular bathing was considered unnecessary and even unhealthy. Are we back in those times now as we consider our souls? Do we all bear such marks of sin that we cannot detect our own need for forgiveness? Open my eyes that I may see.... Create in me a clean heart O Lord.

For the Ankens and the community they've inspired

On Sunday morning, the sun rose on the cold white of the cemetery at Steuben corners. A family gathered to shed tears and set family members at rest. We gathered on holy ground and said sacred words. We created a place that will always exist out of time and beyond common sense. It is a place of love and memory,a place of joy and prayer, a place to connect and find peace. As we travel to that place whether in person, in our mind or in our dreams we will find exactly what our hearts need according to God's Great Will for us. Our friends are not gone but have simply travelled further on, out of sight but never out of mind. They go ahead and we can so choose to live a life centered on Christ that the services on Saturday and Sunday are not a goodbye but a breath until we all are together again. Until that time, we remain, created in love, taught through grace, and empowered to love others. Thank you Charlie and Georgianna for shining so brightly. Shine on!