Kingdom Ready

This was the sermon I delivered last week in manuscript form. We began a series on spiritual discipline and this is the opening sermon in that series.

God Bless        

    So, about a week ago, I was sitting on a beach next to my wife and my parents. Beaches are wonderful, aren’t they? To sit there and feel the air, the sound of the waves and the sun beating down on you is almost surreal. You know what I’m talking about, that feeling that almost takes your breath away with its grandeur. By far, though, the most impressive thing is to look out on the horizon. It feels like the ocean is never ending, that this could wholly consume you, yet at the same time it is terrifying in all of its attributes.

            We all know this feeling that we get even though some of us may have never been to the beach. You all know that feeling? The same feeling that you get looking up to the sky and seeing the clouds and even the feeling you get when you see a gigantic fire -like a forest fire. A sort of feeling that takes your breath away. You stare at the skies’ vastness, the apparent never-ending blaze of flame, the idea that the ocean may never end; you get lost in its awful vastness. Yet, in a sense, it inspires some amount of reverence in us. We are almost sucked in by it.

            What if we could see God like that? What would change about us and the way we related to our creator?

            For the Israelites in the book of Exodus -the story of how God led the Israelites from their bondage in egypt into the land promised thousands of years in the past to Abraham- this wasn’t such a stretch.

            The bible tells us that God led the Israelites by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. This presence of God was so much for the Israelites that they said to moses, “But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” [Exodus 20:19b]

            You see, that same feeling we may get when looking out into the ocean, looking up into the sky, or watching a fiery blaze, that’s the feeling the Israelites had when they looked up at God. They gazed into His incredible vastness and the only responses were awe, fear and reverence.

            We find out later, though that this was merely the tip of the iceberg. To see God and live was impossible, the infinite glory of God was just too much for a finite human being to stand. Up on the mount Sinai, Moses asked God to see Him. God tells Him that to gaze upon His face is death but He can see His hind-parts as His glory passes over Him. Through this, Moses gets a taste of this wonderful, infinite, yet scary power. As he comes down from the mountain, his face is glowing. Once we enter into the presence of God, we will never be the same.

            God, throughout the story of the bible and even in our own stories now, has desired to be with us. God desires a generation that seeks to explore the skies, a generation that gaze at the fire in wonder. A generation that seeks to achieve that which is really, truly real, the divine center, God.

            Fast-forward ahead to the time of Jesus. In John 4:23, Jesus says “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for these are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” The emphasis here is on the word “seeks.” While, in one sense, God wishes for people who seek to enter into his presence, but in another sense God is seeking after us. Like the father of the prodigal son, God is waiting on the porch and running out to meet us as we approach, like the lost sheep out of one-hundred, God leaves the other 99 and goes to find us.

            That takes us to the subject of our teachings for today and the next three weeks after. The series itself is called Of Yokes and Flame, as well as this particular sermon. I’d like us to think of this less as a sermon series, though, and more of a journey. Standing up here I do not claim to be a master of this subject, I can say, however, that I am wrestling with applying it to my life. The subject is the spiritual disciplines.

            Of course, when most of us hear those two words put together in a sentence that insinuates some sort of discussion about them a myriad of thoughts and inhibitions come to our minds. It seems that, in our American culture, even the word “discipline” causes us to bristle a little bit. We find that whenever those two words are put together the subject is usually something that we feel we cannot even achieve. The title of being “spiritual” is usually given to people who are now, in some capacity, known as saints. But connecting with God doesn’t have to be something that the ordinary Kyle Casey can’t achieve. Although it will take some discipline maybe a little bit of hard work and the knowledge of one crucial point we can embark on this journey together.

            What is that point, you ask? The point is that our spiritual discipline allows us to seek and be sought out by God. This language is similar to the language one experiences in a dating relationship or in any relationship for that matter. Every relationship is a two-way street. One party seeks and the other party reciprocates that is how any valid, worthwhile relationship is achieved. Our relationship with God is not an exception. I mentioned earlier that God seeks after us, He is compared with the father of a prodigal son running to meet him on the road, a shepherd who leaves his heard to find one lost sheep, and we also found that God seeks after true worshippers. Throughout the old testament, especially during the time after David and Solomon’s reign as kings in Israel God is constantly seeking a generation of people who will “act justly and…love mercy and…walk humbly with your God.” God desires a generation of people who will walk humbly with Him. So the goal of our spiritual discipline is to seek and be sought. I truly believe that if you leave this church with nothing but that one statement in your mind, you will find that your life with God will be amazingly fuller.

            What would it change in our lives with God if we could fully understand that fact? What would happen in this worship service if we understand that at this moment we are being sought by God? What would change about our demeanor when we enter this church? What if we could all understand that the human aspect of our spiritual discipline is simply to seek God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength. That is the primary emphasis, but I want to latch on to the simplicity of this statement.

            You’re probably sitting there thinking that I am totally off of my rocker, spiritual discipline is supposed to be about striving, and you are true at some point. The point of a discipline is to work at something, like an athlete disciplines him or herself during training. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:25-27:

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

The disciplines themselves are not easy and discipline in general is not easy. Just ask any parent of a teenage child (I haven’t been a parent, but I have been a teenage child, maybe a little more recently than some of you, and I remember the mental anguish I put my parents through). Discipline is tough, but fortunately for us, that’s where it ends. The point of discipline is putting yourself in a place where you can seek and where God can seek you, but you will never be able to “discipline” yourself into a relationship with God. Paul tells us in Colossians 2:20-23:

Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: “Do not Hand! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

In the King James Version, it isn’t called “self-imposed worship” it is called “will worship”. In other words, if the only thing we rely on to cultivate a relationship with God is the things that we do we have created an idol out of ourselves. Our “doing” is not what achieves a relationship with God it is simply our “being”. This applies to the disciplines as well. The goal of a spiritual discipline is not for us to earn our way to a relationship with God as our divine center, rather it functions as a sort of middle-man to put us in a place where we are wholly seeking God and He is able to touch every aspect of our lives, to seek us. The goal of a spiritual discipline is to seek and be sought.In the King James Version, it isn’t called “self-imposed worship” it is called “will worship”. In other words, if the only thing we rely on to cultivate a relationship with God is the things that we do we have created an idol out of ourselves. Our “doing” is not what achieves a relationship with God it is simply our “being”. This applies to the disciplines as well. The goal of a spiritual discipline is not for us to earn our way to a relationship with God as our divine center, rather it functions as a sort of middle-man to put us in a place where we are wholly seeking God and He is able to touch every aspect of our lives, to seek us. The goal of a spiritual discipline is to seek and be sought.            This is why in one place Jesus can say that to follow Him we must take up our cross daily, but in another He can tell us that His yoke and the burden associated with it is light. As a matter of fact, it is this idea that this sermon gets part of its title. Let’s go there to  Matthew 11 verses 28 through 30:

In the King James Version, it isn’t called “self-imposed worship” it is called “will worship”. In other words, if the only thing we rely on to cultivate a relationship with God is the things that we do we have created an idol out of ourselves. Our “doing” is not what achieves a relationship with God it is simply our “being”. This applies to the disciplines as well. The goal of a spiritual discipline is not for us to earn our way to a relationship with God as our divine center, rather it functions as a sort of middle-man to put us in a place where we are wholly seeking God and He is able to touch every aspect of our lives, to seek us. The goal of a spiritual discipline is to seek and be sought.            This is why in one place Jesus can say that to follow Him we must take up our cross daily, but in another He can tell us that His yoke and the burden associated with it is light. As a matter of fact, it is this idea that this sermon gets part of its title. Let’s go there to  Matthew 11 verses 28 through 30:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Spiritual disciplines are not meant to burden you forever. Although taking up a discipline will burden at first, we find that the more we discipline ourselves the more freedom we have from our own bondage to ourselves. Our burdens are taken away. The burden to look good all the time. The slavery to our stomachs. The lust we may have. All, taken away. That must have been the point of Jesus telling us to take up our cross and follow Him. At first the burden may be hard, but freedom is found thereafter. After all, He does help us carry our burdens.Spiritual disciplines are not meant to burden you forever. Although taking up a discipline will burden at first, we find that the more we discipline ourselves the more freedom we have from our own bondage to ourselves. Our burdens are taken away. The burden to look good all the time. The slavery to our stomachs. The lust we may have. All, taken away. That must have been the point of Jesus telling us to take up our cross and follow Him. At first the burden may be hard, but freedom is found thereafter. After all, He does help us carry our burdens.            Again, the purpose of any spiritual discipline is to seek and be sought by God.

Spiritual disciplines are not meant to burden you forever. Although taking up a discipline will burden at first, we find that the more we discipline ourselves the more freedom we have from our own bondage to ourselves. Our burdens are taken away. The burden to look good all the time. The slavery to our stomachs. The lust we may have. All, taken away. That must have been the point of Jesus telling us to take up our cross and follow Him. At first the burden may be hard, but freedom is found thereafter. After all, He does help us carry our burdens.            Again, the purpose of any spiritual discipline is to seek and be sought by God.In the book The Sacred Way by Tony Jones, Abba Joseph of Panephysis recounts a story between two Abbas. The Abbas were the leaders of a monastic movement sometime in the fifth century that felt called by God to go into the desert to seek Him and place them in a place where they could be sought by them. The Abbas often took upon others as their mentors.

Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to Him, “Abba, as far as I can, I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?” The Old man stood up and stretched his hands toward heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, “If you will, you can become all flame.”

This is where the other half of the sermon takes its name from. The phrase “if you will” doesn’t mean the type of will I was discouraging earlier, but rather a choice. Seeking after God is a choice after all. As a matter of fact, it was Abba Lot who was relying on his will to seek after God. He believed that doing was the end all. Abba Joseph showed him who really was in charge. By reaching his hands toward Heaven he showed who the power was obtained to. The fire comes from seeking God.This is where the other half of the sermon takes its name from. The phrase “if you will” doesn’t mean the type of will I was discouraging earlier, but rather a choice. Seeking after God is a choice after all. As a matter of fact, it was Abba Lot who was relying on his will to seek after God. He believed that doing was the end all. Abba Joseph showed him who really was in charge. By reaching his hands toward Heaven he showed who the power was obtained to. The fire comes from seeking God.            I would assume that Abba Joseph would say the same thing to us as well. We would come to him and say that we go to church, participate in worship and serve our congregations and he would tell us that if we chose to, we could be all flame. This is not to say that none of us have any flame, but to be totally consumed by that flame.

This is where the other half of the sermon takes its name from. The phrase “if you will” doesn’t mean the type of will I was discouraging earlier, but rather a choice. Seeking after God is a choice after all. As a matter of fact, it was Abba Lot who was relying on his will to seek after God. He believed that doing was the end all. Abba Joseph showed him who really was in charge. By reaching his hands toward Heaven he showed who the power was obtained to. The fire comes from seeking God.            I would assume that Abba Joseph would say the same thing to us as well. We would come to him and say that we go to church, participate in worship and serve our congregations and he would tell us that if we chose to, we could be all flame. This is not to say that none of us have any flame, but to be totally consumed by that flame.            That is the challenge for today. Can we begin to be consumed by God? Perhaps you are out there and have no desire for this sort of an encounter. Perhaps then you an pray for the desire to desire to be wholly consumed by God. We need to remember that the goal of all of our disciplines is to seek God and be sought in return.