agri.church

On Sunday I didn’t really have space to talk about those times in life when we are stuck in silence. When we find ourselves alone and it is utterly unwelcome.

A friend shot me an email pointing this omission out to me and I am grateful. The desert fathers of the fourth and fifth century spent very long periods of time alone in the desert. I’m talking decades of solitude long! Crazy… right? Their writings bear witness to the sometimes torturous experience of prolonged seclusion. They describe fierce battles with personal demons that I can barely imagine. Yet, their seclusion was by choice. They chose to head off into the desert. And they always returned to ’sociey’ for periods of intense ministry to others.

Sometimes I think we need to recognize that this world is messed up, and sometimes circumstances in life lead to loneliness. Sometimes we find ourselves alone and it just plain sucks. Not every period in which we find ourselves alone can be transformed into a glorious experience of solitude with God, nor should we necessarily welcome seclusion every time it is thrust upon us.

But even then we still have a choice to make. Even when we’re stuck in the unwelcome silence, we can choose. We can choose to let our ‘inner capacity’ for love shrink into nothingness and retreat into self-pity or worse self-loathing. Or we can choose to let the alone-ness to stretch our capacity to welcome others when the time comes. It’s so easy to write… not nearly so easy to do.

I’d love to hear from others on this one. I’m willing to bet that there are others out there that have more to offer to this discussion than I do

In a book called The Way of The Heart, Henri Nouwen writes:

Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self.

Nouwen’s writings have had a profound influence on my spiritual life. Especially my thinking and practice of solitude, but I still have difficulty accepting this idea. I have read this little book over and over, and it’s still hard.

So much of who I am is a seems to be the result of interaction with others. My ideas rubbing against the ideas of others… Is solitude really the furnace of transformation? Cause I really want there to be another way. I really don’t want to have to be alone with my nothingness, so if I could just point to another way then…

The thing is though, for all the ideas, knowlege and even wisdom gained form chatting away with others, I can’t think of a single significant change in my life that didn’t come from time alone wrestling with God… what about you?

I’ve been thinking about those times and seasons when we are forced into being alone and the solitude is not welcome… let’s talk some about that tomorrow.

Just a quick note about the labyrinth that I mentioned at the end of the message this morning…

A while ago I was able to walk this labyrinth and the experience was particularly helpful in learning about the link between solitude and true presence with others. I won’t try to explain it here but if you would like to find out a little more about what it will be like or want to see some pics, then head over to the online site here.

If you just want to discover more about it, then click on “discover”.  If you’d like to give the online version a spin before trying the ‘life size’ version, then click on “try it”.  Hope to see you soon in the branch basement…

Philippians 2:6-11 is believed by many scholars to be one of the confessions of the early church (verses 5-7 are below). It was likely sung as a hymn.

(5)Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: (6)Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, (7)but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

I would often read this passage and think, “Jesus - although he was God - or in spite of the fact that he was God - made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.” This made perfect sense from a human standpoint. Jesus is God. GOD! It wasn’t “normal” for him to be a servant.

But there is another way to read this passage: “Jesus - precisely because he was in very nature God…made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.” As John Ortberg writes, “Jesus did not take on the “outward form” of a servant…he was not disguising who God is. He was revealing who God is.”

If this is true, then God’s desire for us as we model Jesus is not that we would play “dress up” - occassionaly playing the part of a servant - but we would become servants through and through. It would be our very nature.

It is helpful to keep this goal in front of us as we move into other disciplines in the coming weeks. God is not wanting to do a small remodel in us - patch a leaky roof or replace the carpet. God is looking to do an extreme rennovation. Some things are to be torn down. New wings are to be added on. Everything is to be made new.

On Monday I mentioned that Richard Foster makes a number of distinctions between self-righteous service and true service. Here’s one of those distinctions…

Self-righteous service requires external rewards. It needs to know that people see and appreciate the effort. It seeks human applause - with proper religious modesty of course. True service rests contented in hiddenness. It does not fear the lights and blare of attention, but it does not seek them either. Since it is living out of a new Center of reference, the divine nod of approval is completely sufficient.

If our flesh whines against service, it screams against hidden service. The source of this desire? You guessed it, pride (here we go again). Now, let’s be clear. If someone recognizes and appreciates our service its not as if we need to reject their affirming words. Graciously receiving praise isn’t the issue - the issue is serving for the purpose of receiving praise.

How do we combat this desire to be applauded? We intentionally find ways to serve in hiddenness. Maybe we anonymously buy a gift card for a person who has lost their job or we choose to serve in a role that is behind the scenes. Someone (or maybe it’s multiple folks, I don’t know) at the Branch takes out the trash every week. I’m not sure who they are. No one has really been assigned to do it. Whoever it is, they just serve - never looking for attention or applause.

We silence our screaming pride when we serve in such a way that God’s approval is all we need. So what could you do today to serve in hiddenness? Get creative. Take a leap. Give it a shot. Let’s grow together!

Take a minute to read John 13:1-9:

Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He now showed the disciples the full extent of his love. It was time for supper, and the Devil had already enticed Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to carry out his plan to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he had around him. When he came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, why are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now why I am doing it; someday you will.” “No,” Peter protested, “you will never wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “But if I don’t wash you, you won’t belong to me. Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”

Richard Foster comments on this passage by writing: “When Jesus began to wash the feet of those he loved, Peter refused. He would never let his Master stoop to such a menial service on his behalf. It sounds like a statement of humility; in reality it was an act of veiled pride.”

So often we don’t mind doing the serving. But being served? We’d rather not. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve responded to an offer of help with these words, “No thanks. I’m ok.” I may desperately need the help but I am too stubborn - too prideful to admit it. Or, if I can accept the offer, I then feel an overwhelming need to pay the person back. I have to get even (in a good, godly way, of course). But again, all of this is pride. And pride must go.

So….it is true that pride dies a little death when we serve others. But it also dies when we receive the service of others, never feeling we must repay it.

The spiritual disciplines help to root out those things in us that are not yet like Jesus. The discipline of service is no exception. While it helps to transform many things within us, perhaps the thing it most directly roots out is pride.

When pride has a grip on us we feel that we are better than other people and better than God (it’s amazing we fool ourselves into believing this is possible, but we do). And if there happens to be someone who we can admit is smarter or wealthier or better looking than us, pride will cause us to do everything possible to reverse the situation. The problem, of course, is that as long as there is one human being on the planet we will not stop until we have more than them. Pride is never satisfied.

So, how do we end this life-destroying-never-ending-competition? John Ortberg suggests that if we are to become servants we must first embrace our weaknesses and limitations. This is a hard thing to do in a narcissistic world, but it must be done. We must face who we are. We must come clean. If we don’t, pride’s roots will sink deeper and deeper into us.

So maybe today you need to confess to God that you are not God. Or maybe you need to tell a trusted friend or spouse - someone who can hold you accountable. Or maybe it’s you. Maybe you need to hear those words come out of your mouth.

Whoever you tell one thing is sure. We actually become stronger - more Christ-like - more fully human - when we admit our weaknesses. It’s a beautiful paradox.

For the next five weeks Andy and I will be writing a brief, daily post (a 2-3 minute read) about the week’s spiritual discipline (this week’s discipline is service). Consider each post a continuation of Sunday’s message - a further exploration of how this discipline can be lived out in our lives. Enough said. Let’s dive in!

Richard Foster (author of Celebration of Discipline), in his chapter on the discipline of service, compares the many differences between self-righteous service and true service. One difference he notes is this:

Self righteous service is affected by moods and whims. It can serve only when there is a feeling to serve (”moved by the Spirit” as we say). True service ministers simply and faithfully because there is a need.

Picture Jesus. The crowds have been relentlessly pressing in on him. And why wouldn’t they? They long for healing and wholeness and they know that Jesus can give it. So they come - by the thousands - always pursuing - always hoping. It’s in this context that Jesus learns of his cousin, John the Baptist’s, murder. With this news Jesus tries to retreat to a quiet place. But when he arrives there are 5000+ people waiting to greet him.

Jesus’ response is remarkable. The Scriptures tell us that when Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

What would you had done if you had been in Jesus’ shoes? Would you have felt like serving? And what will you do today, when you’re tired or busy and a crowd (or a single person) shows up where you expected peace and quiet (and believe me…they will show up)?

Self-righteous service springs into action when we feel up to it. But true service - service as Jesus modeled it - springs into action simply when there is a need. Today, which will you choose to practice?

this post is just to test chris’ author rights on my blog… I gotta have the proper level of control over that loose canon, ya know

Chris and I will be blogging everyday about the discipline from the previous Sunday.  They will be collected under the category “discipline”.  This will have it’s own RSS feed at this address.  See you then.