Sabbath

All things not God, all things made by God need rest...and maybe especially us. Because, unlike goats and beetles and flies and lizards, we try to outwit and outrun our limits. We think we're the exception, the one for whom busyness will translate into fruitfulness. We think because we've figured ways to build impossibly tall buildings and dig immensely deep, broad holes, to spy on babies in the womb, to tease our strands of DNA, to send whole computer files from New York to Nairobi in a split second - we think because our industry and ingenuity seem boundless, we can also figure out a way around our God imposed need for stillness. We can't. The need is not conjured away by medication, technology, discipline, cleverness, sheet willfulness. It always come back to take its due.

Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God

J. R. Vassar visited our church last weekend and preached to us about sabbath rest. As I sat in my chair, already overwhelmed with life and exhausted, his sermon hit me square in the face. Thinking about carving out a true sabbath makes me want to cry, both out of the uneasiness I feel at the necessity of saying no to protect our sabbath (and my lack of confidence in myself to follow through) and out of great desire for a time to rest. Many thanks to J. R. who reminded me firmly that God did not suggest that we rest, he commanded it.

Watch J. R. Vassar's sermon here. 

 

Possibility

I've been thinking a lot about community over the past few months, years, lifetime. There is this craving in my heart, my life to be a part of something bigger. I think it's part of what points me to Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit. We are called as the body of Christ, his church. I'm not called all alone to live life just as good as I can muster up to be until someday I scrape across the line and into heaven. There is so much more life to live. There is so much good news to tell. There's a story and we're in the middle of it, all of us together.

This is a video from Soma Communities. Watch it. It was life changing for me. One of their pastors, Caesar  Kalinowski, came to visit our church this week and we had the incredible honor of getting to talk to him about the Gospel and community, about living on mission and making disciples. My heart has never been more broken for community nor have I ever been so hopeful. The church and life and community as I've always dreamed that they could be has never seemed so far or so close.


Soma Communities - Tacoma, WA from Verge Network on Vimeo.

A Generous Heart

gen·er·ous

   

[jen-er-uhs]  Show IPA

–adjective

1.

liberal in giving or sharing; unselfish: a generous patron of the arts; a generous gift.

2.

free from meanness or smallness of mind or character;magnanimous.

3.

large; abundant; ample: a generous portion of pie.

4.

rich or strong in flavor: a generous wine.

5.

fertile; prolific: generous soil.

This advent, at my church, we've been talking a lot about being generous. We live in a world that is obsessed with stuff. Coveting versus contentment. I'm just as guilty as the next girl. I covet a nicer apartment, a better wardrobe, and I wouldn't turn down a large gift card to Starbucks. I like my comforts and I pay for them.

As a Christian, as a member of my church, though, I'm commanded to be generous. After all, my money, my resources, all that I have, and all that I am - it's God's anyway. I know that to be true. He's provided for me always. Always. I've been in want, but I've never been in need. When I give on a Sunday morning, I'm supporting the Gospel. That's why it's such a big deal. Ministry takes money. No way around it. I know that, I work for the church. If people stop giving, I stop getting a paycheck.

Sunday I left church a little sad. I'm sad because I haven't always managed my money very well. I'm ashamed because my debt keeps me from being extravagant in my generosity. My first job was  a very good one. I brought home a nice paycheck, but instead of paying off debt, I spent it. I justified it by spending some of it on charity and friends, but truth be told I spent most of it stupidly and on things that I thought would give me happiness, contentment, but they never did. Now, here I am looking at my future from a deficit. I wish I'd gone to a college that had offered a larger scholarship. I wish I'd saved more. I wish I'd never used a credit card. I wish I hadn't spent thousands to start a master's degree I never finished.

I can't go back in time. I can't undo my mistakes, but I can do my best to give regularly, sacrificially and cheerfully. Every month my largest check goes to my debtors. My second largest to my church. I hope that one day this is not the case.

What do I covet? I covet a life without debt so that I can give more than my 10%. So that, in addition to my church, I can give to those who are in need. So I can buy dinner for a friend who is short on cash. So I can pay the heating bill of someone I don't even know. So that I can give more to my church so that the Gospel can continue to go forth in our city.

Lectio Divina

I'm reading "The Forgotten Ways" by Alan Hirsch with some ladies at work. There's a very big buzz around the book and discussions about being missional are big at our church at the moment. So, we decided to check it out.

In the chapter we're discussing this week, the topic is discipleship. What is it? How do you make it happen? How do you cultivate an environment that is about becoming more like Jesus and less about a big church service? Why does it even matter? There's good stuff in there. I was bummed that there was no pat answer or definitive check list for me, but I wasn't really surprised. Sanctification (becoming more like Jesus) is rarely that cut and dry.

While discussing discipleship Alan asks "What is the everyday requirement for those who consider themselves Christian?" Dang. Good question. He says we need a "radical minimum standard for discipleship" and that we often "confuse the bare minimum with the extraordinary and keep lowering the bar until we clear it." So true. This really got me thinking. What is the bare minimum required of me? What should my life be made up of without question? I am embarrassed to say that I was mostly stumped and that the responses I came up with felt canned and so very far from genuine.

One thing that Alan suggests as a basic practice is "promoting core spiritual disciplines." Sounds good right? But, what does that look like? Two of the ideas that he expands on are prayer and engagement with scripture - two things I've felt personally challenged on as of late. I was relieved when he mentioned a Catholic tradition of prayer called Lectio Devina that combines the two and I'm excited to give it a try. He outlines how you can use this for a group or on your own in the back of the book. Here's my summary of what he suggestions for personal meditation:

Settle in and slow down. Get comfortable and take a minute just to breathe and clear your head and heart.

Lectio Read over a small portion of scripture and let it seep in. Let yourself linger. 

Meditatio Pick a phrase that stuck out to you and think about why it did. What might God be speaking to you through this scripture in this moment? 

Oratio Talk to God about it. What is he telling you and what is he asking from you? How can you actively respond to his prompting?

Contemplatio Rest. Remember that God is God and you are not (Psalm 46:10). Remember that he's in charge and he loves you. Depend on him. Trust him and take the risk of living the life he's calling you to live.