"Life in the Spirit"

Scripture: Galatians 5:16-23

Yesterday, we talked about the "fruit of the spirit." Paul challenged Christians to live - not by the flesh - but by the spirit. He gave us a list of what life in the spirit looks like. On the list are qualities like, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." A good way to understand this list is to try an exercise. At the end of the day, take some quiet time to reflect on your day. What was the fruit of your interactions with people? Do words like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control come to mind? Or is it something else? This is the standard. This is how we know we are living in the spirit. One of the things that I notice that people often do (myself included) is to play the "blame game." That means that we look at the fruit of our lives and notice that sometimes, we sow the seeds of "enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy," among others. But, it is not our fault. Other people made us do it. If they would only straighten out their act, than our lives would reflect the fruit of the spirit. Let's be clear, Paul's admonition is not about some far off nebulous future when other people "get it," and act like us, thus allowing us to be spirit-driven. Paul commandment is for us, here and now. We are to be about sowing the seeds of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. What others do with it is up to them, and up to God. How will you respond to Paul's challenge?

"Christian Freedom"

Scripture: Galatians 5:1-15

Yesterday's sermon attempted in 20 minutes (give or take) to cover a topic that has been a subject of debate since the early days of the church. I am talking about Christian freedom. Recognizing that I am vastly oversimplifying things, I think what is important to recognize is the fact that, through Christ, we have been set free. However, as Paul makes abundantly clear, we are not to consider our freedom something to exploit for our own benefit. We are free so that we may share God's love with others. It is that simple. Freedom leads to love. Bada boom, bada bing. Love is the ultimate Christian virtue. Let me say that again. Love is the ultimate Christian virtue. If the freedom that we experience in knowing Christ has not made us more loving of others, than we need to go back to square one and figure out what went wrong. Yesterday, I explained that some of our confusion occurs when we try to equate the freedom that Paul is talking about with the freedoms that we enjoy as Americans. There are two important things to remember about that. One, we are talking about different kinds of freedom. Paul is not talking about our "rights". He is talking about liberation from the power of sin in our lives. Second, eve when we consider our American freedoms, most people would agree that even those freedoms are not really free. They are were won. They are defended. They are protected. And the quickest way to lose them is to not exercise them. So freedom should never encourage to sit back and relax and do nothing. That is not the purpose of freedom. And Christian freedom should inspire us to a greater love. That is what the LOTC path of discipleship (connect, grow, serve) all boils down to - equipping us to share our freedom with others in love. Love is the ultimate Christian virtue (did I say that already?). And we have been set free in order to love.

"Bad Things"

Our Summer F.E.A.S.T. began at LOTC this week. We are doing a bible study based on the movie movie "Soul Surfer." The main scripture verse for the first lesson is Jeremiah 29:11, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'." (NIV) That got the discussion going immediately about why do bad things happen (to good people). Does God cause them to happen? Specifically, did God cause a shark to bite the arm off of a 13 year-old girl so that she might have an opportunity to evangelize others? My response, and the general consensus in the room, was that no, God does not cause these things to happen. That would be contrary to the promise of God in Jeremiah (yes, I know that promise was extended to the people of Israel while they were in exile, but God's promises speak to God's nature). I do not (and cannot) believe in a God that makes bad things happen. However, I do believe (and offer praise and thanksgiving to) a God that enters into our suffering with a redemptive hope. The same is true for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It was not God's will - but human sin - that brought Jesus to the cross. But, God redeemed even the sin of people in order to restore a right relationship with all of his children. This is a complicated issue, one that theologians have been writing about and debating for centuries. I am not going to answer all of the questions about theodicy in one blog. But, that is specifically my point. This issue is far more complex than simple, pat answers. Preachers, pastors and others that try to give us simple, bumper sticker answer to deep theological questions ultimately do a disservice to people. So, let's keep the conversation going. That's my two cents.

"How to Influence People"

I hate to say I told you so (actually, that's not true, I really enjoy it), but, "I told you so." I just finished reading an article from the Huffington Post by pastor and writer Tim Suttle entitled "Why Are Evangelicals Losing Influence?". There is a lot of good stuff in the article. You should read it, especially if you self-identify as an evangelical Christian. The article is based on a study by the Pew Research Center that chronicled (you guessed it) the decline of influence of evangelical Christianity on Americans. Near the end of his article, Suttle makes his conclusions with poetic eloquence. "Popular evangelical leader Rick Warren once noted the church was meant to be the body of Christ, but it seems 'The hands and feet have been amputated and we're just a big mouth.' He's right. The evangelical church will enjoy great influence on American culture when it once again becomes the hands and feet of Christ, when it begins to act like the church. How this works out is always different in every context, but Jesus taught it always involves two simple things: love God, love your neighbor." Be the hands and arms of Christ, what a novel idea. Love God, love neighbor, what an inspiring concept. We have been teaching this at Light of the Canyon United Methodist Church for as long as I can remember (that's the "I told you so" part). In fact, it is the core of our teaching. We haven't perfectly lived into this truth yet, but we are on our way. For me, it is affirming to hear someone say on a national level what I have been preaching for over nine years. It makes me think that maybe I have not been barking up the wrong tree all of these years, after all. Only time will tell. But, until we see Jesus face to face (and I believe we will), I am going to try to practice and preach the words of Thomas Aquinas, "preach the gospel whenever you can, and when necessary, use words." Amen.

"Leaving Las Vegas"

I had an interesting experience this morning. My family stayed at Treasure Island in Las Vegas last night. I woke up before my wife and son, and took the opportunity to spend some time in prayer. I sat myself in front of the window of our room, which looked down on the Las Vegas strip. It's kind of a strange setting for prayer (unless that prayer sounds something like, "21 Lord, 21, I just need one big win to get me back in the game"). What does one pray for while enjoying such a view? Do I pray for lost souls? Of course, but I need to be careful to not get too high up on my self-righteous horse (please forgive the mixing of metaphors). One thing that I realize as I looked down (both literally and figuratively) is that Las Vegas specializes in distraction. And that is when I realize what I can pray for. I pray to God today for clarity. I prayed for clarity for myself as I seek to be faithful to the principles that I have claimed for my life. I pray for clarity for my church, that we might continue to live into our mission to occupy the "extreme center" of Christian discipleship. I pray for the United Methodist Church, that we might have clarity in "Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world." And, since it is July 4, I pray for my nation and our leaders. All of that while staring down at the remains of a Monday morning on the Vegas strip. This morning, we left Las Vegas and arrived a few hours later Zion, UT. The irony of that experience was not lost on me.