Who are we listening to?
Cornwall/Montreal
June 11, 2005
We wonder what Jesus has in mind for us, don’t we? You wonder, for your life. We wonder for our congregation. We wonder for our denomination. And we wonder for the greater church, as well. We know that we can have ideas and we can imagine. In fact, this is one of the greatest ways in which we bear God’s image, I feel- in our ability and desire to think and plan and create.
In writing to the Ephesian Christian church, Paul says something that gives us all pause and something significant to think about. In the context of discussing God’s incredible purpose and the way it was being worked out in Paul’s life- not necessarily easily, but, without question, being God’s work, he wrote the following prayer and declaration.
Eph.3.14- 19- what a wonderful prayer and expectation for these Christians.
Then, Paul makes a great declaration- v.20, 21. How deeply do we believe this, and expect this? Do you know that Jesus’ plans for you exceed your desire or expectations? We all sell ourselves so very short. Now, this doesn’t mean that He intends to bless us with health and wealth- that is not the biblical promise, as we know. He might have a difficult road in store, through which the greatest of blessings will come. While en route to the Conference, I read a book Judith recommended- called Safely Home, by Randy Alcorn. It’s about a Christian family in China- a Christian fiction, you could say- I was inspired by their reliance on God, despite the cruel circumstances, and the feeling of blessing for dying for the Lord. We have a harder time with this kind of perspective. Yet, blessings and having more come in different ways. The point is that Jesus has more in mind- greater in mind- for you than you can imagine.
Do we understand that anything we can imagine for our congregation is paled into insignificance by what Jesus has in mind? I know that we want to do the right thing- that we are thinking about where we fit and what we ought to be doing, but to understand that no matter what we, ourselves, see, it will be short or less is important to know. (And the same applies to the denomination we are part of- which has already experienced this through Jesus’ love for us in bringing us to change all our paradigms, and he continues that process. Also, Jesus has more in store for the entire Christian church than we can consider.) But the greater groups are not our focus today. We need to focus here, and the lessons we consider will be easily transferred to your personal life, too. No matter what we can imagine or see, Jesus has more in mind for us- we think too low, is what this says.
Earlier, Paul had declared a vision that we’ve looked at, together, before:
Eph.2.6- we actually operate on a different platform than we imagine. If I can use computer terminology, it’s like we believe we’re on a Windows 95 platform, but we’re on a Windows Millennium edition. We’re higher than we normally think we are.
The result of this is that we are to live in a particular way that makes a difference in our lives. We are to live with our heads in the heavenlies- that is where we are- from where we are to draw insight and inspiration, not from our own minds. We can’t just think up what we want to do, or ought to do, but have to go higher.
We all have opinions. In our church, we all have opinions about what we ought to do or not do, and much more. We must understand something about opinions, though. I’ve heard it put this way: no opinion has any value unless it has been passed through Jesus’ mind first. Often we put up our own opinions as of equal value, or greater value, to Jesus’ opinions and thoughts on a matter. This is a perspective that helps us.
What place does Jesus have in our congregational life? What position does he have in each of our lives, who contribute to the life of this congregation, as parts of the body, but who cannot function, in our Christian calling and operation, apart from the body? We are part of the body, here, and we are part of the body, more generally. The body is the entire Christian church, but we have to operate and live as part, somewhere. There is nowhere in scripture that encourages individual life- a Christian separated from a congregation and involvement in one is no Christian. We can’t live out our Christian life apart from community- that was never in the mind of Jesus and is not in the mind of Jesus. Paul emphasizes this in his great passages about body life in his letters to the Corinthian Christians. This is hard for us, in the western church, to grasp. Such a premium is put on independence and self-determination- even among us, sometimes. We value ‘making it on our own’ and ‘independence’. However, these do not reflect God’s values, and his values trump yours and mine- and all of society’s. God values community and interdependence- not enmeshment, not independence, but interdependence.
During our Conference, last week, Randal Dick, responsible for International Missions, made some clear statements about our church. He explained that one of our sins, as part of the greater denomination to which we belong, is that we have been and remain addicted to the transactional and cognitive- the doing and knowing- as being the most important response to God. However, we cannot remain there- that way of being keeps us simply doing actions, often without investing a lot of ourselves in the actions. Knowing and doing can no longer be considered to be more important than knowing and being. Why do we come to church? What might you have said in the past? You, and I, might have said that we came to church to learn. Right? I know that is right- I’ve said that and heard others say it, too. Without question there is a need for us to have a combination of knowing, doing, and being. But we have to put an emphasis on the ‘being’, which causes us to enjoy a transformation that begins when something of God enters God wants to transform our being, and that will lead to a transformation of all we do. We have to act out of our being, rather than our knowing and doing. And our being has to be informed by the important question, ‘what would He have us do?’ When it comes to coming to church, why do we come, now? We come to worship God. Oh, without question, he always gives us something, but it might not be something learned- it might be an assurance of His presence, it might be a touch of His spirit, and it might be a point of learning.
We are used to taking a problem/solution approach to many things. Even in the church, when we get to business of our church, it’s easy to default to the problem/solution model, rather than to consider Jesus’ approach, desires, and ideas. There is no such thing, in the church, as anything that is not spiritual. For us, paying a hydro bill is spiritual. For us, cleaning the carpets is spiritual. Nothing is unconnected with the heavenly dimension, from which we are to operate. So, again, everything has to pass through the mind of Jesus Christ. I think this is vital for our church councils to work from and it is my intention to be more intentional and better at leading in this. We must not make decisions based on our own thinking- those will be substandard decisions- they will be transactional and won’t be Jesus or people centred, oftentimes.
We cannot have the relationship that Christ wants while we’re focused on a simple transactional approach. This is what has led to some difficulties over the years, when people have come to disagreements on doctrine and practice. This is why so many have left us- their focus- even ours- has been incorrect. Focus has been on knowing and on differences, and people have bolted, rather than being willing to stand on the platform together, and, together, asking the question, ‘what would Jesus want’. That takes operating from the heavenly realm-the heavenlies- and that is the correct place to look for the direction we want. If we don’t come from the heavenly to the earthly, we have no hope of dealing with the diversity that is us.
Matt.21.41-44- the end of an interesting parable- and the conclusion is somewhat surprising. This passage emphasizes the reality that the degree to which anything of value happens in church comes directly out of brokenness- ours and those we want to serve. Some of the passages read during our service, today, bring this focus- in particular Ezek. 9.4, when you tie that to 1 Cor.11.24- about the brokenness of Jesus- it gives a pattern for us. This passage, in Matthew, gives no option of not coming into contact with the stone. We know, from other passages, that the rock is Jesus Christ- 1 Cor.10.4.
This passage gives two options for coming in contact with the stone. You can fall on the stone and be broken or the stone will fall on you and grind you to powder. Which do we prefer here? For my part, I choose the first- the idea of falling on the stone- I don’t want the stone to fall on me/us and break us. If we don’t respond to Jesus, in brokenness, however, this may be necessary- but let us not make that necessary.
In brokenness, we can operate- we can grow- we can go forward.
The way for us to inhabit the heavenlies is for us to fall on the rock- to get into contact with the rock- and to allow the growth and change that the rock will bring to us. This is the only way for us to inhabit the heavenlies.
Supplication is the form of prayer that involves boldly grabbing and clinging. In it, we get to present ourselves in the heavenlies, at the throne, and enter a tenacious committed dialogue with Jesus to seek to understand what He thinks about something. We get to engage the Lord in dialogue- something other faiths cannot envision or practice with their gods. We never have to default to our opinions- we get to rise to Jesus’ mind. We get to seek his thinking. Through that process comes clarity, confidence, and peace.
If we, as a church, spent more time seeking the Lord, on His terms, we might be- would be- very amazed. When we enter the heavenlies, we’ll make better decisions, with results not seen before because, in brokenness, we’ll be letting Him do His work.
1 Chron.13.7, 9, 10- what was Uzzah’s sin? Is this ever true for us- for you/me? Of course it is- there are so many ways we want to help God- God doesn’t need help! He needs/wants us to be transformed to look at matters as he does, and this means he wants us to spend time in the heavenlies, with him.
We’re afraid of prayer that ushers us into the heavenlies and that unleashes His power. But for our going forward, we need to grab on and hold on and go forward. A Christian author, by the name of George Otis, said: “the lack of transformation in the church today is not due to a lack of process. The lack of transformation is tied to a lack of appetite. The things of God happen where God is present. The church today has a problem with lack of appetite for the presence of God.” (George Otis is one we might not have quoted awhile back, but this is a particularly good insight.) In reality, we often keep God, Jesus, and His Spirit on a leash, and we don’t really want Him/the Spirit to have His way.
We need to change in that. Without question, to allow Jesus to mold us can be frightening. Had any of us understood on December 31, 1994 what the next decade would mean for us, we might have allowed fear to cripple us. But, we went forward, following Jesus, day-by-day, and look where we are. Yes, the church is smaller because many chose to hold on to error. Yes, the church is smaller because we didn’t market change as well as we ought to have. Both of us are responsible, and we seek God’s forgiveness for our errors. However, each of us is here, and the journey has been tough but exhilarating. I’m grateful for that. Now, we’re to go forward. Yes, the journey continues, but such is the case for all Christians. We, now, cannot stay in the past, on any score. We are to go forward. What do we have that we didn’t have before? Grace! We must go forward in that grace, enjoying it ourselves and helping others to it, as well. We don’t know where we’ll end up- Jesus knows. The goal is to end up there together, though.
Jesus began transforming people after his resurrection, and he is working to continue our transformation. He needs for us to yield to him and be moldable. He needs for us to go forward with him.
Before we take communion and use this as a time for commitment to WHATEVER Jesus has in store, let’s take a few minutes (??) for prayer. I want to affirm our desire for Jesus to have His way. Perhaps you’d like to do the same, privately, or corporately.
