This and That

I'm having a hard time focusing today, which I need to get past as there is so much to get done! Erin is on break and will be here this evening. We're spending most of the day tomorrow working on getting ready for a family shower for Baby Clinger on Saturday. :-) That will be fun!

But that means that I have just today to get things ready for Sunday morning--EasyWorship projection schedule and sermon--and I need to have a good start on my sermon for Sunday night. We're starting a new service at 5:30 on Sunday evenings ( called "Selah") and I found out that I was going to be preaching it too late to do one sermon for both morning and evening, so I'm doing double duty this week and next. :-(

I've read the last of Francis de Sales, but I'm to distracted by the rest of my day to reflect much on what he wrote. Ah, well, RIP Francis.

Peace, love and grace.

Changing Bitter to Sweet

STOP! This is the kind of theology that just makes me nuts! In the section titled "They Change It into Honey," Francis says, "It is true that devout souls encounter great bitterness in their works of mortification, but by performing them they change them into something more sweet and delicious. Because the martyrs were devout men and women, fire, flame, wheel, and sword seemed to be flowers and perfume to them. If devotion can sweeten the most cruel torments and even death itself, what must it do for virtuous action?"

I'm not sure how Francis is using the word "mortification," but it seems to me to be one thing to deprive myself of something I like and something else altogether to be subjected to "fire, flame, wheel, and sword" by someone else. I find it hard to stomach the thought that "cruel torments" are made sweet. Is it a good thing that people were burned at the stake or viciously slaughtered because of their faith? The fact that they had enough faith, a strong enough faith to withstand their torment gives me a goal to aim for in my own spiritual development, but the fact that they were subjected to something so horrible is still reprehensible and in no way sweet! And if Francis is using "mortification" in the sense of inflicting pain on yourself, than I can't even go that far with him.

We need to continue to strive for spiritual maturity and depth of convictions so that if we're called to martyrdom, we'll have the strength to withstand whatever pain and torments might be inflicted upon us, but having withstood them will not change their bitterness to something sweet.

Peace, love and grace.

Spiritual Agility

In today's reading, Francis says that, "devotion is simply that spiritual agility by which charity works in us or by aid of which we work quickly and lovingly....To be good a person must have charity, and to be devout, in addition to charity, he must have great zeal and readiness in performing charitable actions."

Hmmm....how does devotion help us work quickly and lovingly? That's a bit puzzling to me.

I'm wondering what's up with his concern over "being a good person." There are lots of good people all over the world. While I agree that charity is a primary trait by which we judge goodness, I would hope he see more to the Christian life than just doing good works.

Stay tuned for tomorrow when we hear Francis say, "....

Peace, love and grace.

Busted!

This morning I've moved on to reading an excerpt from Introduction to the Devout Life by Francis de Sales (1567-1622). Francis says that we all paint devotion with the lens of our passions. We think we're devout because we fast, but we don't see how our caustic remarks hurt someone. Or we pray three times a day, but then gossip about our neighbor.

He writes: "...many persons clothe themselves with certain outward actions connected with holy devotion, and the world belives that they are truly devout and spiritual whereas they are in fact nothing but copies and phantoms of devotion."

Ouch! That one hit me smack in the face!! It's one of the things I struggle with as a pastor. I may be wrong, but I have this notion that people look at their pastors and see people who are just a little bit closer to God than the average Jane or Joe. It's not something I try to foster, but perhaps I don't do enough to debunk the myth. Other than occasionally admitting my shortcomings in small groups and in sermons, I'm not sure how to do that. Maybe I need to call in the Myth Busters. Any suggestions?

Peace, love and grace.

True Religious Affections

Some of the affections of true religion are:
holy fear--trembling at the Word of God;
hope--sure and steadfast anchor of the soul;
love--God, neighbor, self;
hate--sin and evil;
holy desire--as the deer pants for the water;
joy--delight yourself in the Lord;
religious sorrow--blessed are those who mourn;
gratitude--thankfulness and praise to God;
compassion--God honors those who show mercy; and
zeal--what's missing from the lukewarm Laodiceans.

These are what Edwards gives as proof that all true religion comes from affections. And when I stop and think about it, I think I have to admit that I can't think of anything I've done (whoa, that's a whole lot of "thinks") that hasn't been motivated by some "affection." Can you?

Peace, love and grace.

A Heart Deeply Affected

Edwards believes that we don't make changes unless we're moved by affections. My preaching doesn't move anyone to action unless I appeal to their affections. There's no effect without affect.

If this is true, how must I change my sermons so that people become not hearers only, but doers? Hmmm...

Any suggestions?

Peace, love and grace.

iNstitute '08

It's taken me a while to get to this post, not for any real reason other than I just hadn't thought to post about it. (Duh!) But I have to say that iNstitute was awesome this year! We had a great Care Group. Now, I know that everyone always says they had a great CG, but this one really was. It was most evident outside of our CG times. Almost every day, when I would see one CG member, I'd see at least half the CG and when I'd look for someone else I'd find the other half of the group. They really hung together and it was wonderful to see!

We had one young woman (Hi, Claire) who came late because of another camp. I worried that she might not fit in because of having missed the first day-and-a-half and that the group would have bonded without her, that she'd never really be a part of the group, but just an appendage to it. BUT! It was as if she'd been there all along. They welcomed her, found a place for her in the skit we were working on, and she was in one of those halves of the group every single time! They were awesome!!

We didn't get into deep philosophical discussions, they didn't get all weepy over each other during our last long CG time, but they were fun to be with for the week. I got to connect with a couple of them during the iNstitute reunion, but had to leave right after our worship time so I didn't get to see most of the others who were there.

So here's a shout-out to you all--you're iNcredible! Stay in touch. I look forward to seeing you all next year. (Except you, Sam. I'll see you at Visitors' Nights and when you can come back as an adult.) And don't forget about other Conference youth events, like CIA in October. Make sure your youth leader knows about it and gets you there. We can have our own mini-reunion.

Keep believing!

Peace, love and grace.

The Spring of Action

Still on Jonathan Edwards. He says that it is affections--love, hatred, desire, hope, fear, etc.--that move us to action, and that without these affections there would be no activity; the world would be motionless and dead.

As I ponder that, and wonder if it is true, it makes me stop to think about my actions. What causes me to get up and walk in the morning? to go to work? to straighten the house? to do laundry? or any of the myriad things I do each day without thinking about them? What affections are at work in me? Is it love, desire, hope, fear, covetousness, ambition, pride? Or is it something else entirely?

My prayer for my day (and yours) is to be more aware of my actions and what is driving them. Are they caused by some affection and if so, what is it? What is driving yours?

Engagement of the Heart

Jonathan Edwards' Engagement of the Heart says some things that appear to be in opposition. He says "The importance of religion is so great that no halfhearted exercise will suffice....in nothing is lukewarmness so odious." This to me says that if your expression of religion is not completely heart-felt, then it stinks.

In the next paragraph he says, "True religion is a powerful thing. The power of it appears, first, in the inward exercises of the heart (which is the seat of all religion). Therefore, true religion is called 'the power of godliness,' in contrast to the external appearances of it, i.e., the mere 'form'...when grace is at work within us, it sometimes 'burns' within us, as it was for Jesus' disciples."

I'm not sure what he means by "inward exercises of the heart," but it sounds like the practice of spiritual disciplines. If I'm correct in this, do you not need to practice the disciplines in order to form the heart inwardly? None of us is born into the world as practicing Christians. It takes time and training to mold us into followers of Christ.[1] In Mary Kay, we had a phrase that I think fits here--sometimes you have to "fake it 'til you make it."

This is what John Wesley did, as well. He served as a priest for years before he had his famous Aldersgate experience. It wasn't until then that his heart burned within him, yet he had been doing the work and will of God for years. I'd hate to think that the years he spent before his Aldersgate experience were odious to God.

Or perhaps I'm missing something.

Peace, love and grace.

Note
1. I got this phrase from Steven Blair at Institute.