Podcast

Facebook

Welcome and Prayer: Nancy Lopez

Good morning and welcome!     The Lord is with you!

Last week, Chuck mentioned 2 Corinthians 3:18, which reads:  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.  One of the most beautiful verses ever.  Several phrases caught my attention, these in particular:  “are being transformed” and “unveiled face.”

Unveiled is the Greek word anakalypto, meaning to uncover, for example, by drawing back a veil. I’m sure you have heard the word apocalypse; the Greek word apokálupsis meant a revelation, disclosure, or unveiling.  Remember how the veil was torn in the temple at Jesus death?  The separation between the holy place and the holy of holies was opened.  We are invited in, and the Spirit is released to dwell in us.  As our faith grows, we believe and train ourselves to follow the new way of the Spirit.  We grow in our new environment.

We often talk about it in terms of True Self and False Self.  One way I picture it is that our True Self is like the sun, always shining.  The False Self (actually “selves” since we have true parts and false parts of ourselves) are like the clouds.  The sun is always shining, but the clouds may veil its presence. We all have parts of ourselves that were formed in our first environment. We were born into and perhaps parented in the false;  we’ve lived in the false desires of the world and its culture. We have an enemy who offers lies and deceptions. We adapted, but those parts of us are small and superficial, like clouds compared to the sun.  They are trying to maintain control, security, and esteem. 

This past week, near the Vatican, did you read that Nero’s 1^st century Theater was uncovered?  It was revealed by uncovering the layers of dirt that hid the ruins and precious treasures that were already there.   We don’t wait for the gift of the True Self; we uncover it and let ourselves shine.

Transformation is the Spirit’s work.  Following our True Self is to follow the Spirit of Christ living in us, in sync with Christ’s impulses, operating freely by Grace.  Our False Selves are parts that haven’t yet come into Truth and therefore are not free. They have not been transformed. They live in cramped spaces of control, fear, greed, violence, and shame.  Those places were developed in adaptation, the Survival Dance instead of the Sacred Dance.  But now our True Self-in-Christ is wanting to bring transformation.  Living in that truth will set us free. 

Let’s pray together:  How wonderful it is to be called the children of God; our transformation is not yet complete.  Let us not be hypnotized or paralyzed but seek the Truth of our own being.  May everything we encounter assist this deep awareness of the Spirit’s call and leadership.  We present ourselves to Your Truth and Your Presence this morning, dear Lord.  In Jesus Name. Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Intro: The book of Proverbs is a collection of pithy sayings

If you read it several times, those clever lines stick in your mind
– for instance, here is one that comes to mind regarding this last week:
Iron sharpens iron,
so a person sharpens the face of a friend (Pr. 27:17)
• you might remember, last year, Guy Gray spoke here
◦ we met up again this past week — Gut has been my friend for fifty years
◦ I was fortunate to meet him in the early years of my ministry
• he guided me to a path of greater insight and understanding
◦ his has been a lasting influence all these many years
– I think God has placed people in my life strategically
• men and women who have opened my eyes and prepared me for what was next
• however, when it comes down to what I do for you,
◦ the most important, overriding service that I provide you,
◦ that has come to me directly from Jesus Christ, through the Scriptures

I know that God wants to use me as an influence in your life
– not a great deal of influence – that isn’t necessary
• it’s not my place to tell you how to vote,
• or to make you decide where you stand on controversial doctrinal issues
– however, I won’t hold back anything that I believe is vital for you to know
• in that regard, Paul is my example
I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable (Acts 20:20)
• it is God’s desire to personally direct your path through life

What kind of influence does God want me to provide?
They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you Galatians 4:17-19

Paul’s letter to the Galatians is a fire alarm, an air-raid siren
– his passion is felt from beginning to end
• he was upset with them:
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? (Gal. 3:1)
◦ and afraid for them:
I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain (Gal. 4:11)
• the problem was that two different messages had reached Galatia
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ (Gal. 1:6-7)
– it’s good for us to know something about this controversy
• there was a dedicated contingent of believers with their own ideas regarding salvation
◦ when a large number of Gentiles formed a church in Antioch,
some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers and sisters, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1)
◦ this created an immediate conflict
And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question (Acts 15:2)
◦ when they arrived, the Pharisee believers argued:
“It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses” (Acts 15:5)
• although this issue was resolved at that council, the ultra-religious followers of Moses did not quit
– Paul’s message was, through Jesus we are saved by grace
• the message of the other group was, we are saved by grace plus something else
◦ they were adding requirements for the Gentiles that God did not authorize
• I hope you can see why this is so important that Paul would fight it aggressively
◦ this has ben an ongoing danger ever since – people adding prerequisites
◦ today people will give you the impression that you are saved by grace plus something
that you read only the King James Version of the Bible
or the only authentic Bible study is verse-by-verse
or “You must become an Evangelical to become a Christian”

So in verse 17, when Paul says, “They make much of you,”
– the “they” are members of the ultra-religious crew
• “make much” is literally “zealous for you” or “over you”
Martin Luther, “Now zeal properly signifies an angry love, or as we would say jealousy. . . . such a zeal the false apostles pretended to bear towards the Galatians.”
◦ in verse 18, Paul says zeal can be good if the purpose is good
◦ he provides his own example in 2 Corinthians:
I feel a divine jealousy [zeal] for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ (2 Cor. 11:2)
• the ultra-religious plan was to convince Gentile Christians, that their connection to God was defective
◦ they would act very concerned for the Galatians
(and they may have had a true concern–but they were still wrong)
◦ they wanted the Gentiles to feel “shut out”– “excluded”
◦ then they would offer them the way in–by keeping the law of Moses
– that’s the background for Paul’s passionate word picture in verse 19

What Paul describes here is the work Jesus has given me to do

Let’s take this line by line:
my little children
– this term always expresses deep affection
– John uses this expression many times in his first letter
• this is the only place ever in all of his writings where Paul uses this term
for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth
– the reference is specific to a woman in labor
• it seems an odd analogy for a man to use (I feel embarrassed by it)
• but the point is, Paul struggled and was in anguish over the Galatians
– giving birth is not a function of mechanical rules and requirements
• it is an organic process – it has to do with life
• life was the essence and goal of Paul’s ministry
until Christ is formed in you
– there is this strange language in the New Testament
• Paul talks about believers being in Jesus Christ,
◦ but he also talks about Jesus being in us – “Christ in you”
◦ Jesus made a similar reference, but in fruit-bearing rather than birth:
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me (Jn. 15:4)
– the life of Jesus within a person secures them in God
• the attributes of Jesus are seen in the person in whom he is formed
◦ in their words and actions and demeanor

For Christ to be formed in you must be the result of whatever influence I have in your life

I hesitate to refer to my work as “spiritual formation,”
– simply because that phrase is used too often of too many things
• but it is quite literally the formation of a Christian spirituality
• and it is a developmental process

When Jesus is formed in our lives:

We have a new center
– by nature, I was at the center of my universe – I was egocentric
We have new thoughts
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind (Ro. 12:2)
We have new desires, new feelings, new impulses

To have Christ formed in me, means, what is his becomes mine
– his will becomes my will
• I experience his compassion and his goodness as my own feelings
• his vision becomes my vision

As we experience this, we come to a new vision of ourselves
– an awareness of who we are and how we please our Father in heaven
• we are constantly knowing Jesus more intimately
• and knowing him intimately, we become more like him
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18)
– this doesn’t mean you become Jesus, but he causes you to become your true self
• there is a famous Hasidic story of Rabbi Zusha
◦ when dying, his students asked him why he was crying
“Because I know that in the next world they will not ask me, ‘Why weren’t you more like Moses?’ but ‘Why weren’t you Rabbi Zusha?’”
• Christ formed in you, means you become like the person God meant for you to be

Conclusion: We can see plainly how we have been shaped by life

But I feel it’s important to have a clearer view or our history
That it is not simply life with all its coincidences and contradictions that made us who we are today
or will determine who we become tomorrow
Listen to how the prophet Isaiah describes our formation:
“But now, O LORD, you are our Father;
we are the clay and you are our potter;
we are the work of your hand” (Isa. 64:8)
Can you remember that this week?

Podcast

Facebook

Welcome and Prayer: Nancy Lopez

Good morning, RefleXion Community. The Lord is with you!

I bring another word picture this morning, and this time I remember where I heard it.  It was on James Finley’s podcast “Turning to the Mystics,” and this has been a helpful image for me.

If you will, picture with me a man looking into a mirror and seeing his own reflection.  Now see it from the perspective of the reflection looking at the man.  One day the reflection begins a conversation with his man:  “I’ve been with you a very long time.  I know your ways.  I dress like you; I move like you.  I think it’s time for me to break out on my own.  You’ve taught me well.”  “Well,” the man replies, “You are made to be my reflection. This is your Reality.  If you walk away, it’s not going to go well for you.”  “Nevertheless,” the reflection says, “I’m going.” 

From Thomas Merton, “There is no greater disaster in the spiritual life than to be immersed in unreality, for life is maintained and nourished in us by our vital relation with realities outside and above us.  When our life feeds on unreality, it must starve.  It must therefore die.”  And that’s what happened to the reflection who forgot how his Real life worked. 

I don’t think any of us would purposefully walk away from our Maker, but recently I did find myself outside of that reflective light.  Do you ever find yourself frustrated, discouraged, angry—feeling the feels of the big Ego?  You, like me, might realize that you have drifted away. 

This is how it looked for me:  First, my prayer:  Change them.   Then: I’ll try harder (I’ll work at it).  Then: I’m not doing well with this strategy.  I’ll ask God to help me. (Notice that I’m still trying to get my way).  I also realized that not only was I saying, “I can do this,” I was saying, “I should be able to do this.” Then, the turning!  Turning around is to repent, a turning away and a turning toward.

When I come to my senses and return to the mirror, I am returning to be-ing.  I am brought back to the Real.  Jesuit theologian Walter Burghardt once described contemplation as taking a long, loving look at the real.” A reminder that this is our way.  It’s not just a one time and done, it’s a way of living.  This is the gift of our Creator.  At times, we might find ourselves even saying, “This is Unreal.”  Ah ha!  Perhaps it is.

Pray with me, will you: Lord God, in You we live and move and have our be-ing.  Forgive us when we think otherwise.  Thank You for the gifts of the Real Life of knowing You and reflecting You.  Draw us back to long, loving looks at the Real.  Thank you for this place to listen and practice Your Presence.  May we be receptive and reflective.  For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory.  Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Him [Jesus] we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me Colossians 1:28-29

Intro: About twenty years ago, Barb attended a seminar at work

A psychologist lectured on Compassion Fatigue Syndrome
– it is a common condition among healthcare professionals
• their encounters with the suffering of others takes a toll
◦ if they are not treated yet continue to work, they can become numb
◦ they stop feeling empathy for their patients’ pain and grief
• the speaker provided the audience with a list of symptoms
◦ Barb said as she was going down the list checking boxes, she was thinking,
“Yes, that’s Chuck. Yep, that too.”
– I was burned out and seriously questioning whether I should stay in ministry
• one morning I told Barb I was going to fast until evening
◦ I read, prayed, listened—but did not get an answer
• so when the sun set, we went to see a movie
◦ I broke my fast with a salted pretzel and a Coke
◦ but in the middle of the movie, I could feel something big was coming
The movie was “Along Came A Spider,” and the dialogue was between actors Morgan Freeman (playing detective, Alex Cross) and Monica Potter (playing Secret Service agent, Jezzie Flannigan)
Cross: You do what you are, Jezzie
Jezzie: You mean you are what you do
Cross: No, I mean you do what you are. You’re born with a gift. If not that, then you get good at something along the way. And what you’re good at, you don’t take for granted. You don’t betray it.
Jezzie: What if you do, betray your gift?
Cross: Then you betray yourself. That’s a sad thing.
– I knew that God meant for me to hear that–it was my answer

I was going to stay in ministry, but something had to change

My vision for the church had grown old and tired
– reading through Colossians, the Lord stopped me at the verses above
• Jesus told me, “This is what you will do. This is who you are.”
– immediately, I felt totally comfortable with this arrangement
• in this instance, Paul became my mentor and example

Paul wanted these Christians to know how privileged they were

In verse 26 Paul tells them about a mystery, “hidden for ages”
– in the New Testament, “mystery” doesn’t mean a puzzle or an enigma
• it refers to something unknown and unknowable
“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever . . . .” (De. 29:29)
◦ what mystery was Paul talking about? what had been hidden for centuries?
• God, the Savior of Israel would open the door to Gentiles
◦ no one expected this – not even Jesus’ disciples
◦ and when it began to happen, they still didn’t believe it
– Peter needed a vision from heaven to persuade him to go to a Gentile home to tell them about Jesus
• when he returned to Jerusalem, he “criticized” for being with Gentiles, so he had to explain
When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18)
• Paul mentions this mystery in several of his letters
For instance, Ephesians 3, When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to [humankind] in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (vv. 4-6)
◦ God had at last revealed this mystery
◦ and the Colossians were privileged to be beneficiaries of it

I wish we could hear Paul’s words the way the Colossians would have
To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (v. 27, and “you” is plural)
– Christ was among them, within their community
• but he was also within each person who had received him
• Paul explains it more fully in Romans chapter 8
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you (Ro. 8:9-11)
– reading both passages I noticed Paul refers to the Lord as “Christ” and not by his name, “Jesus”
• it is not that Jesus and Christ are not the same person or entity
◦ the title Christ derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah
◦ Jesus is the unique “anointed one” of prophetic promise
• I think for Paul, “Christ” refers specifically to his spiritual role
◦ as God’s appointed representative and shepherd-ruler
◦ it’s in his role as the Christ, Jesus takes his place in our lives

Recently I have wrestled with the idea of “Christ in me”
– in me where? my brain? my bones?
• I’ve wondered if this were merely a metaphorical indwelling
◦ but I don’t think so – and I’m pretty sure Paul meant literally
• in the Romans passage I read, Paul said we have the Spirit of Christ
◦ it is not that he is located somewhere in our bodies,
◦ but that your true self is spirit – and Jesus meets us Spirit to spirit
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Ro. 8:16)
– there is a real sense of Christ being in our true self—our aware self
(and if he is in me, then he is always with me)
• the most beautiful sermon from the 20th century that I ever read,
◦ was preached by G. Campbell Morgan
Morgan, We rejoice in Jesus’ first and second coming, because of “the mystery of His personal coming into our own life. . . . ‘Christ in you.’ That is the great miracle, the great mystery, the individual fact on which all the other facts of Christianity are based, and through which the other forces of Christianity become operative in the history of [humankind]. Christ in me—the Christ light—so that I see with His eyes. Christ in me—the Christ aspiration—so that I desire with His desire. Christ in me—the Christ impulse—so that I am driven as he was driven. Christ in me—the Christ consciousness—so that the world’s sin burdens me in the same fashion as it burdens Him, and the world’s agony hurts me as the world’s agony hurt Him.”

So, back when I was wondering about my new job description,

Jesus spoke to me through these two verses — I will take them line-by-line
– “Him we proclaim”—proclaiming Jesus would then be for ever my priority
• my ministry was to present and promote Jesus
◦ this has proved to be tricky—for myself and others
◦ ministers are like everyone else, we want to know that we’re good at what we do
◦ but the truth is, there’s no way to calculate our effectiveness
• instead of simply preaching Jesus, we end up promoting ourselves (it seems like a subtle shift)
For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake (2 Cor. 4:5)
– I enjoy talking about Jesus; telling his story, explaining his teaching
• that comes first—present Jesus, bring him into focus
• it’s a continuation of Jesus’ ministry—as well as an extension and expansion of it
◦ as such, the love of Jesus is revealed in broader dimensions (“all the world,” “all flesh,” etc.)

Then Paul says, “warning everyone” – literally, to place in mind
– to provide biblical and spiritual counsel—personal care
• answer questions if possible; give direction; spiritual training
– “teaching everyone” for me means to inform, to instruct
• to help make sense of the Bible for others and clarify things
– “with all wisdom”—in scripture, wisdom the useful application of knowledge
• some people don’t get why I study certain subjects
◦ they understand my biblical and theological studies,
◦ but why neuroscience? why psychology and sociology?
• I started studying human consciousness because I want to be as fully conscious of God’s presence as possible
◦ how were the prophets and apostles so aware of God? Is it a matter of discipline or is all grace?
◦ I want to be useful as a resource — and to know where pastoral counseling leaves off and psychological therapy begins
– “to present everyone mature in Christ” – complete
• think of working on a project until it is finished—that is what this word means
◦ and God’s finished work in us is the fullness of Christ in us, the hope of glory (Php. 1:6)

For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me (v. 29)
– this is my work—sometimes it is toil and struggling
• but it is also the presence and support of God’s Spirit

Conclusion: I want to tell you to spend some time in scripture

Read, and think about what you’ve read
I want to tell you to spend some time in prayer;
pray your anxieties and sit in silence with your heart open to God
I want to tell you to spend some time in Christian conversations; with friends or our Lexio Divina meeting
I want to tell you to do these things, but I won’t
Instead, be kind to someone who isn’t doing well
As far as it is possible for you, be gracious with everyone
This is how we move toward maturity, and best represent Jesus
And remember, Christ is in you; remind yourself to enjoy him

Podcast

Facebook

Welcome and Prayer: Nancy Lopez

Welcome to RefleXion!     The Lord is with you!

A couple of weeks ago I shared a little story with my Lectio Divina group, and I referenced a book where I thought I had read it.  I went back to look for it this week, and it wasn’t in the book I thought, so I’m not sure where I heard this tale.

It’s like this…There was a young woman who lived in a comfortable stone cottage, one she had built herself and loved.  One day she found herself wanting to cross the stream that she could see from her door.  As she reached its banks, it seemed too wide for her.  She asked Jesus to help her; he brought her a stone to step on, and she took her next step.  The next time she was in the stream, the gap still seemed too big, so she asked Jesus for help again; he immediately brought her another stone to step on.  She made progress, but day after day it still seemed so far, so wide, so dangerous; and Jesus always brought stepping stones.  But one day, Jesus was late, so she turned around to look for him, in the direction of her comfy stone cottage.  To her astonishment, the cottage was being deconstructed stone by stone.  The stones she was stepping on were taken from her comfortable little place, and now she could never go back.

If you’re like me, you can look back and see the structures you had, comfortable, familiar, safe; but perhaps they  no longer a fit for your journey.  Scripture says, “all things work together for good.”  Nothing is wasted.  There’s always a bit of deconstruction going on.  Cells in our body break down and get rebuilt regularly.  In philosophy, deconstruction is the literary criticism that questions traditional assumptions about certainty, identity, and truth. 

Many of our beliefs and ways of looking at things have changed, haven’t they? John Dewy, an American scholar in the early 20^th century, said, “All learning begins when our comfortable ideas turn out to be inadequate.”

I’ve heard people say, “Don’t look back, that’s not the way you’re going!”  But, like the young woman in the story, you can look back…and be astonished! Things are being deconstructed, but nothing is lost.  It has all had its way with you.  To deconstruct is not to destroy.  Scripture says, “all things work together for good for those who love God.” Let’s welcome the Spirit working a forward-facing work in us and take each step as it’s made possible.

Let’s pray:

O Jesus, what a marvelous, wonderful author and finisher of our faith You are. Let us not side-step our calling, but follow You, willingly and whole-heartedly.   Keep astonishing us.  Turn Your Face toward us this morning, we pray; as we turn ours toward You, in gratefulness that You are leading us in Glory .  Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr. 

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” John 21:15-17

Intro: Last week, God’s question to Elijah was, “What are you doing here?”

We’ll start with that question: “What are you doing here?”
– isn’t one reason that your here is because you came to hear what I have to say?
• Okay, I feel uncomfortable when I think that or say that
◦ not only because it’s like I have to give an oral report every week
(and feel like I’ll be graded on it),
◦ but because I can’t take myself that seriously
• I’m a mediocre guy who makes more mistakes than gets things right
– However, I do take God seriously and the work he’s given me
• and I take you very seriously – so I don’t want to waste your time
• but I’m like a court jester; the silliness of what I do and who I am, causes others to think

If what I do is part of the reason you’re here, then perhaps I should explain why I’m here
– so that’s what I’m going to talk about for the next two weeks

This idea came to me Wednesday night in our Lexio Divina
(Jim refers to our Lexio Divina meetings as a “workshop on learning to listen.” We listen for the Spirit to speak to us through the Scriptures, in silence, and through each other)

The reading was in Matthew 2, and was about the birth of Jesus and the visit of the magi
– one of the women in our group said that what spoke to her was,
“The shepherd and the star” – both images are were references to Jesus
• that had an immediate effect on me
◦ and the more I thought about it, the more it spoke to me
• a few days later, it was my inspiration for these talks
– so today we’re going to ease our way into it

John tells us how Jesus reconciled with Peter after his resurrection

It’s a beautiful and complex story, but we won’t go into those details
– we watch Jesus approach Peter and patch their relationship
• Peter needed the Lord to do this for him
• after reconciling with Peter, Jesus gave him his assignment
◦ he said it three times, in three words, and mixing it up each time
Feed my lambs – Tend my sheep – Feed my sheep
– the biblical tradition of the shepherd-leader has a long history
• Moses spent forty years as a shepherd before spending another forty leading Israel through the wilderness…
• God removed King Saul and replaced him with David, whose primary qualification was he had been a shepherd
“Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel” (2 Sam. 7:8)
[The LORD] chose David his servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;
from following the nursing ewes he brought him
to shepherd Jacob his people,
Israel his inheritance.
With upright heart he shepherded them
and guided them with his skillful hand (Ps. 78:70-72)
– Israel’s poets and prophets perceived God in role of shepherd
• the most famous psalm, Psalm 23, begins with, “The LORD is my shepherd”
◦ God leads, feeds, waters, and give rest and protection to every believer
• then we hear the prophet Isaiah announce:
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young (Isa. 40:11)

When Jesus came, he saw people through the eyes of a shepherd
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Mt. 9:36)
– Jesus chose the shepherd as one of the images he used to describe himself
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd (Jn. 10:14-16)
– and now here, at the end of John’s gospel, Jesus enlists Peter to continue his shepherding work
• later on, Paul regarded all church leaders as shepherds
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God (Acts 20:28)

The thought of being in pastoral ministry terrifies me

One of the most famous preachers of the 19th century, Charles H. Spurgeon, said,
“If you can do anything else, do it. If you can stay out of the ministry, stay out of the ministry.”
– the writer of Hebrews said pastoral leaders:
are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account (Heb. 13:17)
• James wrote,
Not many of you should become teachers . . . for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness (Jas. 3:10)
• I’ve run into people around town who attended Capo Beach Church when I was there
◦ more than once I’ve been greeted with, “Hi, Pastor Chuck!” And I’ve answered “I’m not a pastor any more”
◦ one woman replied, “But you will always be my pastor” – that creeps me out
– there are too many ways that I can fail you
• I’ll give you one example

Suppose I assist you in deepening your life in God, but that part of your life is activated only on Sundays or only seems real when we meet together–when we pray, and enter the Scriptures–and the rest of the time and everywhere else we’re preoccupied with other things? What if every other day of the week we live like earthlings, unaware of God, and caught up in all the things of the world? What if on the weekdays we are worried about our bodies while neglecting our spirits? The the point I want to make is that I am a “supplement”! What I do is not your nutrition, your source of energy or healthy growth.

What happens when we’re here is reinforcement, a remembering, a refreshing, and refueling. Reflexion is a rest stop in this long journey and a break from the everyday pressures. We leave here and return to the road. A benefit of being here together, is that it supports our lives and gives us stamina in the trenches. Our real life in God is what we nurture and practice every day.

Abraham Maslow, a twentieth century psychologist and humanist,
– was convinced that humans have a “transcendent nature” that needs to be nurtured
• he believed there was a human need to experience transcendence
• he argued that church on Sunday could get in the way of that rather than provide it
Maslow, “The experiences of the holy . . . the divine, . . . of surrender, of mystery . . . gratitude, self-dedication, if they happen at all, tend to be confined to a single day of the week, to happen under one roof only . . . . ‘Religionizing’ only one part of life secularizes the rest of it.”
– Maslow refers to this kind of rupture between one day of the week and the other days as “dichotomizing” (dichotomy is a division of one thing into two parts)
• he argues that dichotomizing results in psychological disorders
Maslow, “Isolating two interrelated parts of a whole from each other, parts that need each other, parts that are truly ‘parts’ and not wholes, distorts them both, sickens and contaminates them.”
• St. James made a similar observation 2,000 years ago
People who are double-minded “are unstable in all their ways” (Jas. 1:8)
◦ we can break this down further and make it easier to digest
Brenning Manning, “Christianity has designated certain places more sacred than others, some days holier than others, and some actions more religious than others, giving the impression that contact with God happens primarily, if not exclusively, on the first day of the week in a building called church. Confining God’s presence to certain predictable times and places is restrictive and leads to the unspoken assumption that the rest of the week is irreligious.”
My dad used to say, “Some people have enough of the Lord in them to be unhappy in the world and enough of the world in them to be unhappy in the Lord.”

If we correct the division between sacred and secular, what is possible?

Being here together will enrich our daily experience of God
– but the reverse is also possible
• our daily experience of God will enhance our being together
– let’s say we have a day that is unusually distressing
• we pray and we call or text to share our need with a Christian friend
◦ we breathe, turn our awareness to God, and receive peace
◦ the answer may not have arrived–yet–but it’s on the way
• then we meet together here and share our hardships and successes
◦ this is what the Psalms describe when the poet says,
“I will thank you in the great congregation;
in the mighty throng I will praise you” (Ps. 35:18)

Conclusion: Sometime ago, a friend of mine lost his wife after a prolonged illness

When I called him to see how he was doing, he told me that a minister involved in his wife’s memorial service told him to write out his eulogy; that way he wouldn’t risk losing a thought or rambling. Also, if he were to be flooded with emotion and unable to keep reading, his daughter could finish reading the eulogy for him.
The problem was that my friend did not consider himself a writer or capable of putting together something worth reading at her memorial. He was struggling with it and getting nowhere. So I asked him if he was busy, or if I could come over to his house, interview him briefly, and write the eulogy for him. He said he didn’t want to put that on me, but I told him, “This is easy for me. It’s what I do; it’s who I am.”

There are two specific places passages in the Scriptures where Jesus spoke to me and gave me my assignment like he did with Peter.
Years passed between these two events,
but on each occasion, Jesus said, “This is what you do. This is who you are”
Next week and the week after,
I am going to share those two words with you