“If You Go God Will Show…a New You!”
“Cure yourself of the condition of bothering about how you look to other people. Be concerned only…with the idea God has of you.”
A few weeks back my dad had invited me out to a four day conference being held at Southside Victory Church called ‘Rivers’. I agreed to go but to tell you the truth, I was pretty nervous about actually attending. See Southside Victory is one of those “Holy Roller” churches and I am a Holy Roller for sure, just in a different way (I am after all in a wheelchair:). But, I did go!
So there I am sitting in the third row from the front (I think my dad had us up front on purpose) and they began to worship with lively music. People were shouting, dancing up and down the isles, jumping and waving their brightly colored banners (it was actually quit elegant and beautiful), and of course “slain in the Spirit” laying and rolling on the floor in the open spaces at the front. One guy runs by me a few times and then grabs my hand and try’s to pull me up to the front. I smiled and politely said no thanks.
Then this couple, probably in their mid fifties, takes out these three to four foot long ram horns from under their seats and start blowing them as hard as they can right in front of me! I thought, are those things real (I later on asked them and sure enough, they were)! So here they were blowing these things for all they were worth, cheeks ballooned outwards, their faces getting redder and redder, and this strange kind of “ahhuuuga” noise coming from out of the horns. I got this big smile on my face as I thought, “No wonder these guy’s are getting slain in the Spirit. Their passing out from lack of oxygen!”
That’s when it happened. A moment and spirit of spontaneous unity that I did not expect. My father reached over, grabbed my hand and raised it in worship with his hands. It was in that moment that I two very real realizations. First, there is great Joy in real worship. No fluffy acts of trying to fulfill the requirements of performing a religious theatrical or professional presentation to the theme music of the day and no fake acts of trying to guard against the feelings of “what will they think of me if I do this?” The pure unadulterated and unrestrained spirit of Joy! And second, my father has faith in a mighty awesome God! But, if I did not go God would not have shown me that!
“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.”
Jesus told his disciples, “Go your way…” Not Peter’s way. Not James or John’s way. Go your way! It seems clear that throughout history and time God values human free will more then anything else and Jesus makes no hesitation in imparting that free will to his disciples when he sends them on ahead of himself. He wants their destinations to be set by their own dreams, goals, passions, and inner stirrings. Peter and Andrew were fishermen so maybe they would head for the fish markets and coastal communities. Matthew was a tax collector for the Romans so perhaps he might head for the Roman communities and military postings. In any case they were going where God was showing their dreams and aspirations for the Kingdom of God here on earth.
More importantly Jesus was telling them to go! This was like that moment (for those of you who have seen the movie ‘Transformers’) when the beat up Camero had sped up to them, its door flung open, and Jesus was turning to them saying “Fifties years from now when you are living in the safety of your comfy, white picketed home; are you going to look back at this moment and ask yourself, ‘Why didn’t I go?’”
What if Simon turned to Jesus and said, “If they want to go that’s o.k. but, I think I will just stay here with you Jesus where I know that it is safe.” Jesus would be like, “I am offering you the riches of life in its fullness and wonderment. Why would you just want to stay here and settle for the scraps? Nevertheless, the Kingdom of God has come near.”
Don’t miss the boat! Don’t recognize the call to move in upon your calling, your dreams, your hopes for a better future, a better you and not act upon it! Listen closely to that inner voice and when Jesus says go, then go!
It was the fall of 1993 and I distinctly remember walking down one of the side streets close to my best friend’s house when I had one of those moments of being called to go somewhere. It was as though someone was asking me “How would you feel if you were in a wheelchair?” Looking back I can recognize it as God speaking with me. I answered with what seems now like a lack of complete understanding to what I was being asked. Being in a wheelchair would be great. It would make me unique, I would stand out from others, and I would be special. And it did! I just didn’t count on or expect all the challenges that would come with it.
There was another time several years ago that I had a different calling to go. It was to the Mustard Seed and the homeless people of Calgary. While I was down there God showed me something I will never forget. It was a cold February evening. A number of the college students and I had been down there since early morning serving, cleaning, and walking/wheeling the streets while visiting the homeless beggars on 8th Avenue. The sun had pretty much set and the only light was coming from the street lamps and the natural aura from the moon.
We had lined up with the rest of the homeless outside of the Seed’s main building and were waiting for them to open the doors and allow us to come in for dinner. A couple of the students and I were chatting about the days events while shivering from the cold and jumping up and down with the anticipation to getting in where it would be warmer. Then I noticed a scruffy and some what dirty native man a little ways off looking over at me. When he walked over we chatted for a few minutes and then he asked me if I would mind if he prayed for me! I was a little taken back by the faith of this homeless man but I of course said, “Yes, of course you can!”
I will neither forget that moment nor the face of this broken, native, scruffy, homeless man as he kneeled down and put his hands on my knees while praying for me. God called him to go and he listened and God showed up! I didn’t walk and nothing supernatural happened but a miracle did in fact take place that night sitting and shivering in the cold with this homeless man. The miracle of human unity. The miracle of my brotherhood with this man and his faith. The miracle when realized that when God calls, if I go God will show a new me!
If you go God will show… a new world to you.
If you go God will show… great character in you.
If you go God will show… changed lives because of you.
If you go God will show… transformation within you.
If you go God will show… a New You!
Coming to the Table in a New Light
“Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.”
“Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
A Sense of Preparation and Anticipation
In a lot of ways I some how can’t help but feel like the liturgical setting and practice of the last supper or communion has eroded the natural and much more creative practice to which Jesus and the disciples first practiced it. That’s not to say that it had little or no value within liturgy as it first was constructed, I just think that value has slipped away through time and lost the appeal of what Jesus meant to say through our remembrance of it.
In the gospels it is not a 5 minute setting where each disciple passed the tray of wafer like crackers and little plastic cups of grape juice, said a quick prayer and “gobbled” them done. In fact Jesus branched the Jewish festival of the Passover feast as a reflection to the New Covenant he was bringing! The Last Supper or Communion was something different something more then a simple wafer or even a feast. It had meaning and personal spiritual significance to those who were apart of it.
Jesus says to his followers earlier that they should go into the city and prepare for the evenings activities. I don’t know why but I picture Peter and his brother Andrew going off and hitching a boat to go fishing so that maybe they might bring a fish to the evening’s meal. Maybe James and John went to the local market to find bread, cheeses, fruits, and other good stuff while Philip, Thomas, and the others searched for a room in which they could host the event.
I don’t really know the order but they all had a part in organizing and preparing for the Passover meal. There was still something deeper about it though. There was this sense of preparation but also the greater sense of anticipation. Anticipation as to meeting up with the others and hearing about the adventures they encountered while preparing for the night. Anticipation as to whom else might be there and anticipation to what Jesus might have planned for the evening. The feast once it arrives becomes alive and full of laughter, joy, and the excitement of people talking with one another as they share their different stories, memories, talents, and gifts.
Unity in the Body
Jesus grabs there attention as he stands with a loaf of bread in his hands. He begins breaking it up and handing it to them as he says “Take, eat; this is my body.” What a peculiar and strange thing to say. I don’t know about you but when I picture the idea of eating a “body” I kind of loose my appetite. That being said, I don’t think Jesus intended us to think of it that way!
I think Jesus intended for the disciples and us to see it metaphorically. So let’s picture it for a moment… what thoughts come to mind as we imagine the disciples taking part in one body? The thought that comes to my mind is that Jesus was reminding them of the unity to which they had with one another through his relational participation with each of them.
The problem though is I think when we start reflecting on that word “unity”. Typically when we hear this word I think we tend to assume it means a grouping of individuals or elements which have all things in common. Like we find unity with the jocks of our schools or we find unity in those who believe, act, and follow the same endoctrinization or denominational system as ourselves. That’s not the unity Jesus was describing here though through the picture of his body.
Picture a single strand of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA). Do you know that if all the molecules of DNA in a single human cell were laid out end to end, they would stretch 2 meters. How many cells do you think there is in a human body? It is estimated that the average human adult has over 10 trillion cells in there body; each one with their own unique, specific, and extraordinary DNA strand! That blows my mind!
I can remember watching a film on the Intelligent Design Theory several years ago that stated the language used within the DNA structure is so complex that it is virtually impossible to be considered accidental or random in nature. If that is so, God in essence spoke each one of our identities into existence and in so doing left his imprint on each one of us.
“Take, eat; this is my body.” This unity Jesus spoke of was a relational interjection which he has with each one of us as we also have with one another through our expressions of love, kindness, compassion, joy, and fellowship. The things we think about affect those around us. The words we speak transform, for better or worse, the people we are close too. The actions we take, either for ourselves or others, begins a processes of change which is inevitable whether we accept it or not but we do have the power to choose whether we do it in remembrance and reflection of our unity in his body, his character, his persona, or not.
Missional Agenda to Pouring Out a New Covenant
Jesus then takes his cup and says, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Looking back we can easily see the tie Jesus was figuratively placing between his death on the cross and the cup he held in front of himself but, what about the disciples? What do you suppose they were thinking in that moment and time?
It might seem radically different but blood was considered to be a life giving element. So I imagine the disciples were not seeing Jesus’ cup of the New Covenant as a representation to his actual death but rather a picture of the way he lived his life! Jesus lived a life which was poured out not for himself and not just for those of his friends. He lived a life that was poured out for many so that they might remember and follow his lead by pouring their lives out into the hearts, minds, and spirits of many more!
Jesus’ life was filled with the imagery and acts of a missional focus to reach out to others in need in whatever way that took shape. That same indwelling call that Jesus had is passed on and shared with us as we in essence drink from the same cup. As we are empowered through his body we are sent out to do his work and incarnate his presence with the rest of his people regardless to there beliefs, life styles, or outer image.
How can we do this? I remember reading a friends blog a few months ago and he referred to another article on the site ‘Towards Hope’ called ‘Ten Tips for Living the Incarnation…[Plus One]‘. John Santic has outlined a beautiful picture of what it means to live incarnationally and I encourage you to read is article but for the sake of pouring it out for you here is a synopsis of his 10:
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Attentive Listening
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Formative Practice
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Proximity
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Holistic Gospel Proclamation
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Patience
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Generosity
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Advocacy
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Hospitality
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Reading the Culture
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Pathos
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[Plus One]…Simplicity or ‘Here’s to Nothing’
Coming to the Table in a New Light
I don’t know about you but when I reflect back on what the disciples may have experienced and encountered at that supper table in a dimly lit room, I begin to see myself coming to that table in a new light. A light filled with hope, promise, future, and purpose. A light filled with communion. Communion with God. Communion with Jesus. Communion with my brothers and sisters. Communion with many!
Expressions of Epiphany: Taking the First Steps
O.k. O.k. It has been awhile since I have had the chance to blog!!! In truth, I have a good reason! Actually, an excellent reason!! Expressions has been a dream Bonnie and I have had for some time and we are finally taking the first steps in making it a reality.
That is where my time has been going. I have been writing and developing a website for Expressions (Click Here) with the aid of my good friend David. As well as planning for the coming month and kickoff of our group starting this weekend. With that in mind, I am looking forward not only to the kick off this Sunday but also to hearing Brian McLaren speak at the First Christian Reformed Church here in Calgary on Saturday (Click Here for Details).
It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t mention the excitement of having been able to see the Blue Man Group a few weeks ago. Bonnie got us tickets for my birthday and we both agreed that it was possibly one of the best shows we have ever been too. I could also really see what Leonard Sweet meant when I heard him speak on the effective ways in which we as a church can communicate with one another as the Blue Man Group communicated with the audience.
This past weekend I spent sometime at my Dad’s “Holy Rollers” church. I guess I was rolling in my own way (Ha, ha – if you know what I mean). In honesty, it was a great time of seeing what it really means to experience the joy of the Spirit! It reminded me of a poem a friend gave me along time ago.
“When God puts us back together again; (with the aid of our willingness to cooperate); this great church will be marked by; the dignity and scholarship of the Anglicans, the order and sacraments of the Roman Catholics, the warm fellowship of the Methodists, the Presbyterian desire for good preaching, the Lutheran respect for sound theology. There will be the Baptist concern for individual salvation, the congregational respect for the rights of lay members, the Pentecostal reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit, and the Quaker appreciation for silence. We will find there the Mennonitesense of community, the social action of the Salvation Army, the social justice of the United, and the Reformed love of the Bible, all wrapped in Orthodox reverence before the Mystery of God.”
Expressions
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years By Donald Miller
Eternity in Their Hearts By Don Richardson
Follow Me to Freedom By Shane Claiborne & John Perkins
Journey to Significance By Neil Cole
Organic Leadership By Niel Cole
Forge Canada
Friend of Missional
Missional Apologetics
The Missional Network
Verge Network
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