The Voice of Love is Calling! Part IIII
A Two-Spirited “Be the Church! Be the Church!”
The Shepherds were now becoming ‘One’ with the Triune God, quite the Two-Spirited, ‘New Wave’- ‘Rock Star’ flock. Their movement introduced new and unconventional ideas yet was rooted in ancestral tradition. They knew, without a doubt, God, The Good Shepherd, and Spirit were Still Speaking at times-- yet silently moving in the background at other times. In their two-spirited nature they also recognized themselves as the new lambs of the flock yet remembered the ‘Old Goats’, correction, ‘Angelic Kids’, who moved on before. The Two-Spirited church worshipped the ‘Wise One’ and engaged their community, connecting to both, looking for God’s lost sheep, God’s ‘One’s’-- the ostracized sheep. The hard work was paying off as the Two-Spirited ‘One God, Mother of All’ worked with the shepherds to become ‘one’ with the ‘one’ sheep. A Two-Spirited ‘ALL for One, and One for ALL’. A glorious vision ‘That they may ALL be one’!
A Two-Spirited ‘Faith no more’ moving on to ‘Trust without borders’.
A Two-Spirited Catching their breath and breathing together.
A Two-Spirited ‘Burn the Ships’ and ‘Moving On’, again, together.
A Two-Spirited sitting in the dark, together, and Running toward the light, together.
A Two-Spirited facing our fears, together and Living in Covenant, together.
A Two-Spirited No Banana, No Banana--- Banana! (are we missing a banana?)
A Two-Spirited No sustenance to Manna & Quail!
A Two-Spirited Addiction to Recovery!
A Two-Spirited Broken Bottom to a Radical Joy!
A Two-Spirited Desert to Delivery.
A Two-Spirited Destruction and Death to Revitalization and Rebirth!
A Two-Spirited stuck in the mire/muck to Way Maker/Miracle Worker!
A Two-Spirited Sleeping, then Woke—and together there they stood in the arms of Absolute Power—The Twin Towers with the Two-Spirited-- Giver and Gift/ Holy Spirit and Shepherd. Moving together in unison.
The feel of ‘I am yours, and you are mine’ permeated their beings. Together, with the Two-Spirited, the ‘Triple Threat’ aka ‘Three in One’ were ‘Opening Eyes’ and restoring vision to see that indeed there were still waters to walk on, seas to be parted, and darkness to shine light upon… and, oh, so much more! There were Mountains to Climb, Rivers to Run, Children to Rear… and, oh, so much more! The Triune God, paired with ALL the Shepherd’s of the world had ecumenical duties to fulfill. TOGETHER! A CALL to ALL Shepherd’s, A howl from the White Wolf— The Call of the Wild—The Call of Duty--That they may all be One! THAT THEY MAY ALL BE ONE!
Many old ‘goat’ish shepherds hearts began beating again, but now to a new rhythm—more ‘lamb’ish in nature. Excitement was in the air. A revitalization, A REVIVAL! Holy-Holy-Holy/You! A Two-spirited beat of the drum. They, Them, and Theirs, and the ‘One’ Shepherds knew their exciting ‘New Wave, Rock Star’ life, too, had just begun. Journeying toward a ‘New Order’, no longer as concerned with ‘how does it feel… to treat me like you do…’ because they could feel God’s Love—Rock On! “Kickstart My Heart” (where is Lyle for ALL this music). God is still speaking, the White Wolf is still howling, “No Matter who you are, or where you are on life’s Journey you are welcome here!” It no longer seemed like a ‘Welcome to the Jungle” but a “Welcome in God’s House.” Meanwhile because of ALL the cruelty His children, many Lost Lambs, had endured… Jesus wept.
Triune God not only included ALL, but was “Opening Eye’s” again in true Two-Spirited fashion, in thoughtful-thoughtfulness, Shining Light on another triune this Trinity Sunday, ‘three in one’, children who are often treated inhumanely, battered, beat up, broken, and forgotten—Some of their pronouns are as follows, “she/her/hers,” “they/them/theirs,” “he/him/his,” “ze, hir/hirs” and, oh, so many more—just ask to find out! ALL CHILDREN OF GOD/ALL SUPERHEROES/ALL TWO-SPIRITED! ALL a place in the Kingdom of Light, The Kingdom of Love. It is time they understood their Creator created them to create. Broken Vessels becoming Restored Vessels finding a ‘Place in the World’ (Michael W. Smith), even the darkest were transforming to become Lambs of God-- proud servants of the Almighty, such a ‘Good Good God’ (Crowder)—An ‘Awesome God’ (Michael W. Smith)! The Voice of Love is calling!
Deuteronomy 28:1-14 Blessings for Obedience
28 “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
7 “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. 8 The LORD will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 9 The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. 10 And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, 14 and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
Speaking of God and servants, let’s recall the time God called to Jonah and told him to go preach to Nineveh because the people were very wicked. Jonah hated this idea because Nineveh was one of Israel's greatest enemies, some of the most evildoers, and Jonah wanted nothing to do with preaching to them! They were so ROTTEN Jonah felt they did not deserve God’s mercy. As Jonah claimed another’s unworthiness, God likely reminded Jonah the importance of “Be Impeccable with your word.” For God so Loved the world, and God’s love was for ALL God’s children! Yet, we ALL can relate to Jonah on some level. Pointing the finger, exclaiming ‘THEIR SIN IS WORSE!” BELIEVING THEIR SIN IS GREATER! WHAT TOXIC RUBBISH! The struggle is real. However, I wager, WE ALL can relate Jonah. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL! Instead of planting prosperity and cultivating kindness, we gossip and cast judgement… we aim to lift ourselves by damaging others… material possessions come before people… and so much more. Meanwhile, again, Jesus wept.
Tis true, Jonah tried to run away from God. Have you ever tried this? Hiding from God, Running from God? I certainly have. I had a lot of masks for hiding, and a big closet; I ran for decades--I still have a lot of running shoes---ask Josh. Running and Hiding. Definitely, not a sign of trying to ‘Always Do My Best’.
So, here we have Jonah, and the Jonah we have is on the run! His ‘Always Do My Best’ was broken too. Any WAGERS that Jonah’s movement bode ill with our Maker-Lover. Wagers? Anyone, Anyone? Oh, did I mention I gamble too. Masks, bad habits, and running. Ahh! The list grows. Although, Don’t Forget, thankfully, we serve The King of Contrast! Back to the Running, this was not ‘Cool Runnings’, it was more like an escapee running-- a criminal running. Did anyone watch Prison Break? The two-spirited Wentworth Miller breaks out of Prison… The guard is yelling, “We got a runner. WE GOT A RUNNER!” Yeah, that is the type of fleeing I am talking about. Which also reminds me, I have a great friend, I actually married her and her husband here at Kingsbury, she two-spiritedly ran from two weddings, later she was lassoed and married by a two-spirit and lived happily ever after. Jonah would not be so lucky on the ending.
Back to Jonah—Criminal on the run-- The one-type ‘runner’ in us ALL. If Jonah’s dog could kick a cactus at him, he probably would have. The mans’ Keeper & best friend both signaling him to STOP! Signaling, bad thought, bad action! Yet, it happens. It does happen! We hear, but we do not listen. So, two-spirited, Jonah being Jonah, choosing to feed the wrong wolf, continued to run in the opposite direction of Nineveh and headed by boat to Tarshish.
What is the Matter with you all? Why the worried looks? I doubt there were dogs or cacti on the waters. Oh wait! Lest we forget, No Don’t Forget, God is on the waters! And, God probably had some righteous anger toward the little nincompoop, Jonah. God sent a great storm upon the ship and the men decided Jonah was to blame so they threw him overboard. I Imagine Dragons (but you all know that), but I also Imagine Jonah let out a howl as he was plummeting in the cold water down below. He probably hit the water with a ‘Thunder’ and thought of the water, “You take my breath away”. Who said, ‘don’t rock the boat?’ As soon as they tossed Jonah in the water, the storm stopped. Should we assume? No ‘Don’t make assumptions.’ Discerning is okay, though. Let’s Discern together two-spiritedly. At this ‘One Moment in Time’, Jonah is in Deep-Deep water.
God sent a Big Fish, some may call it White Whale, to swallow Jonah and to save him from drowning. Discerning again, the smell in the fish’s gut was probably disturbing. While in the belly of the Big Fish/White Whale, Jonah prayed to the Creator for help, repented, and praised God. For three days Jonah ‘lie’ in his TOMB—the gassy belly of the fish—I imagine smelled like death. Day four—He is Risen-- God had the Big Fish/White Whale throw up Jonah onto the shores of Nineveh. Born Again. Another chance. “My Heart Will Go On”.
At this point, Jonah decided that ‘Be impeccable with your word’ was pretty ‘whale’-ish in nature. It was a Big Fish! So, Jonah went off to ‘Heal the World’ and preached to Nineveh and warned them to repent before the city is destroyed in 40 days. The people believed Jonah, turned from their wickedness, and God had mercy on them. Forty days of darkness—and they would survive.
Jonah was still Jonah, though. He didn’t listen to the instruction ‘Don’t take anything personally’. Instead of owning his sin, I discern Jonah probably blamed the Ninevites for his ‘out of the water’ experience. Again, feeding the wrong wolf he became angry, and bitter, fueling his disgust that God did not destroy the Ninevites who were Israel's enemy! He despised his enemy. But was it not said, ‘Love your enemy’—yet, even after the Big Fish it seemed foreign to Jonah. Instead, it seems, Jonah was stubborn and insisted he label enemies and count their sin for them.
When Jonah sat to rest God provided a vine to give him shade. The next day, God sent a worm to eat the vine. Jonah now sat in the hot sun complaining and wanting to die. God called out to Jonah and scolded him for being so concerned and worried about just a plant while God was concerned with the ‘heart condition’ and lives of 120,000 people who lived in the city of Nineveh.
Do you all recall, “The One you Feed”, the two-spirited story of the Two Wolves? The wolf we choose to feed wins. Well, in two-spirited fashion there is another ending to THE STORY OF THE TWO WOLVES:
…the old Cherokee Grandfather smiled and replied, “If you feed them right, they both win.” The story goes on. “You see, if I only feed the white wolf, the black wolf will hide in the dark waiting for me to falter so that it can pounce and get the attention he craves. He will always be angry and will always be fighting the white wolf. But if I acknowledge him, both he and the white wolf can be satisfied, and we all win.
For the black wolf has qualities that I need and that the white wolf lacks: self-care, tenacity, courage, fearlessness, strength of will, and resourcefulness. The white wolf instead provides compassion, caring, heart, and the ability to value the needs of others over my own.
You see, the two wolves need each other. Feeding only one and starving the other will eventually make both uncontrollable. Caring for both allows them both to serve you, so that you can do something greater, something good with your time on earth. Feed them both and you will quiet their internal struggle for your attention, and, when there is no battle inside, you can then hear the voices of deeper knowledge that will guide you in choosing the right path in every circumstance.
Peace, my son, is what we must all strive for in life. He who has peace inside has everything. He who harbors a storm within his heart and soul has nothing. How you choose to treat the opposing forces, and opposing forces within you will ultimately determine how you live.”
Don’t be a Jonah, casting shade while living under a no shade, worm rotted, non-leafy tree. Balance ‘Daniel Son’, Balance.
Isaiah 40: 10-12
See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?
As you go out into the world, pay attention to the Two-Spirited nature of the world, WayMaker/Miracle Worker, Spirit/Whisperer, Shepherd/Lamb of God. ‘Come As You Are’ (Nirvana), singing those words ‘Just as I am, I come, I come.’ I think I am finally coming to my senses, and since there are 5 senses, there are 5, two-spirited. 5 senses, and 5 sermons. ‘Here I Go Again on my own’… thinking again. But, Listening to ‘The Light in Me’ (Brandon Heath) next week we will be wrapping up this sermon series. What a ‘SPRING FORWARD’ it has been. Let us close today with a lesson from Alpha/Omega:
John 3:1-17 (New International Version)
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.[a]”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”[d]
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[e] 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,[f] 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”[g]
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
In the name of Jesus/Emmanuel, Christ/Lord, Son of God/Son of Man, Author of Life/Bread of life, and OH, SO MUCH MORE! Amen.
(Music: 'Just As I Am, Well Done, Sanctuary)
