Maturing Faith: In the Spirit
5th Sunday of Easter
1st John 4:7-21; John 15:1-8
Did you see the piece on the news Thursday night about Religiously Transmitted Diseases? Pastor Ed Gungor from Tulsa has written a new book (of course) in which he addresses the growing apathy in churches. His book is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at certain spiritual behaviors among Christian people – he has assigned interesting names to these RTDs, such as “individualitis” – the need to try to go it alone with just Jesus and me; “affluenza” – a faith life that measures success only if you have a Ferrari; and “inferioritis” – the tendency for Christians to feel that nothing they have to offer to God is good enough. Pastor Gungor makes one observation that I think is highly accurate – most of these are diseases of the spirit – spiritual diseases.
Also this week, I read Matthew Fox’s new book entitled A New Reformation. I want to share with you what he said in the introduction, page 7 – “Present-day Protestantism suffers from apathy, or what our ancestors called acedia, a lack of energy or a kind of spiritual sloth. Descriptors I would apply to today’s Protestantism are: anemic, tired, boring, incurious, unadventurous, emasculated, compromising, confused, depressed (a recent study found that about 80 percent of the pastors in one liberal branch of Protestantism are taking antidepressant drugs!), unmystical, lost, irrelevant, preoccupied with trivia, uninspired, one-dimensional, and burned out. All the issues that these adjectives imply are in fact spiritual in nature. Protestantism often lacks a profound spirituality (the word spirituality was rarely in its theological vocabulary until very recently) and this lack is beginning to show. What has happened to the protest in Protestantism? What will it take to bring it back? Protestantism has a proud and profound intellectual heritage, yet it is allowing itself to be mowed over by anti-intellectual fundamentalism, which has hijacked Jesus, Christ, and Christianity as a whole.”[1]
Two weeks ago, I attended the Cooperating Baptist Fellowship of Oklahoma General Assembly meeting in Stillwater, and our friend Daniel Vestal spoke. Daniel is always good in the pulpit, but I sensed in him a passion that I’ve not seen before. One thing he said took me back, and I quote – “There is a spiritual awakening happening in our world today, the likes of which has not been seen since the Great Awakening – and the sad truth is that most of us in our churches don’t even know that its going on . . .”
You and I would have to admit that we are experiencing something of a spiritual lethargy – even in our own congregation. If it were merely a case of lack of interest in the usual, same-o-same-o activities associated with church, I could probably write it off to something that will pass – kind of like a spiritual indigestion. But I am starting to hear from people – Christians, mind you – who say that they have less and less interest in the things of God, and less and less time for God at all. We are experiencing a spiritual malaise like I haven’t seen in my 49 years, and it concerns me – it ought to concern all of us.
John says this – “By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.” God’s Spirit – abiding in each of us. I have a hard time conceiving that the presence of the Spirit of God “takes a break” from time to time in our lives – or worse, that the Spirit of God would lose interest in the things of God. The testimony of the scriptures is quite clear – God expects that we mature in our faith, and that one evidence of that maturation is growth in the way in which the Spirit of God has movement in our lives.
You might say, “Pastor, you overstate the case. We are ecclesiological ‘moderates’ – and moderates don’t get excited about much of anything.” You are right about that – moderates don’t tend to get very excited about spiritual passions – or at least you can’t tell if they’re excited. But I don’t speak so much of excitement as I do “passion.” Did you hear the descriptors Matthew Fox used - incurious, unadventurous, irrelevant, uninspired, one-dimensional, and burned out??? If I were to attempt to diagnose our dis-ease, I might ask us some questions? #1 – Do you know how to identify the working of the Spirit in your life? #2 – How has that changed over the years you have been a Christian? And #3 – Does the Spirit work in your life more or less than in years past?
Also this week, I read Matthew Fox’s new book entitled A New Reformation. I want to share with you what he said in the introduction, page 7 – “Present-day Protestantism suffers from apathy, or what our ancestors called acedia, a lack of energy or a kind of spiritual sloth. Descriptors I would apply to today’s Protestantism are: anemic, tired, boring, incurious, unadventurous, emasculated, compromising, confused, depressed (a recent study found that about 80 percent of the pastors in one liberal branch of Protestantism are taking antidepressant drugs!), unmystical, lost, irrelevant, preoccupied with trivia, uninspired, one-dimensional, and burned out. All the issues that these adjectives imply are in fact spiritual in nature. Protestantism often lacks a profound spirituality (the word spirituality was rarely in its theological vocabulary until very recently) and this lack is beginning to show. What has happened to the protest in Protestantism? What will it take to bring it back? Protestantism has a proud and profound intellectual heritage, yet it is allowing itself to be mowed over by anti-intellectual fundamentalism, which has hijacked Jesus, Christ, and Christianity as a whole.”[1]
Two weeks ago, I attended the Cooperating Baptist Fellowship of Oklahoma General Assembly meeting in Stillwater, and our friend Daniel Vestal spoke. Daniel is always good in the pulpit, but I sensed in him a passion that I’ve not seen before. One thing he said took me back, and I quote – “There is a spiritual awakening happening in our world today, the likes of which has not been seen since the Great Awakening – and the sad truth is that most of us in our churches don’t even know that its going on . . .”
You and I would have to admit that we are experiencing something of a spiritual lethargy – even in our own congregation. If it were merely a case of lack of interest in the usual, same-o-same-o activities associated with church, I could probably write it off to something that will pass – kind of like a spiritual indigestion. But I am starting to hear from people – Christians, mind you – who say that they have less and less interest in the things of God, and less and less time for God at all. We are experiencing a spiritual malaise like I haven’t seen in my 49 years, and it concerns me – it ought to concern all of us.
John says this – “By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.” God’s Spirit – abiding in each of us. I have a hard time conceiving that the presence of the Spirit of God “takes a break” from time to time in our lives – or worse, that the Spirit of God would lose interest in the things of God. The testimony of the scriptures is quite clear – God expects that we mature in our faith, and that one evidence of that maturation is growth in the way in which the Spirit of God has movement in our lives.
You might say, “Pastor, you overstate the case. We are ecclesiological ‘moderates’ – and moderates don’t get excited about much of anything.” You are right about that – moderates don’t tend to get very excited about spiritual passions – or at least you can’t tell if they’re excited. But I don’t speak so much of excitement as I do “passion.” Did you hear the descriptors Matthew Fox used - incurious, unadventurous, irrelevant, uninspired, one-dimensional, and burned out??? If I were to attempt to diagnose our dis-ease, I might ask us some questions? #1 – Do you know how to identify the working of the Spirit in your life? #2 – How has that changed over the years you have been a Christian? And #3 – Does the Spirit work in your life more or less than in years past?
Your pastor can testify to my own life. I can say that in certain circumstances, I am quite aware – able to notice – when the Spirit is working in my life. I can give you a rather specific example – I have learned that when you cross my mind during the course of the day that I am to instantly pray for you – whether I know of your personal circumstances at the moment or not – and that if the prompting of the Spirit persists, that I am to pick up the phone and give you a call. Rarely is such a phone call unappreciated or not of immediate value on the part of the person on my mind. I’ve come to feel that about the worst that can happen is that I interrupt you at an inconvenient time, and you are always forgiving about that.
I can go on to address the second question in that sequence – “How has my recognition of the work of the Spirit in my life changed over the years?” I can answer that question in the positive and the negative. If I posture myself correctly for a day, I am prepared for the prompting of the Spirit. It doesn’t always come, but I am prepared. If I fail to posture myself correctly – fail to make adequate mental preparation – then the promptings of the Spirit are something of a surprise, and I don’t always respond adequately, and certainly not promptly.
And that third question – “Does the Spirit work in my life more or less than in years past? – I almost hate to answer that question. The sad part about living in human, fleshly, sin-tainted bodies (with minds to match) is that I am more able to resist the promptings of the Spirit – I have grown more adept, more sly in my abilities to avoid, delay, or otherwise disobey the urgings of the Spirit.
Here’s where you get the Mother’s Day part of the message – some of you thought I’d forgot, didn’t you? Mothers remind me of the Spirit – at least they are adept at nagging – I mean, urging us – like the Spirit does. But my third example is no more clearly seen than in the case of mothers – as we mature, we all seem to grow more proficient at avoiding, shunning, or otherwise overlooking suggestions from mom. By the time we arrive at adulthood, perhaps the only influence our mothers have over us is that which they generated many years ago – for we have long since taken to our own ways, and the making of our own decisions. Advice from mom is rarely solicited, and perhaps even less frequently applied. Not because moms are not valuable – we just learn to assert our independence.
Ah, there’s the rub. Independence. I suspect that American Christians have more trouble with what I’m about to say than Christians in other parts of the world. Independence is such a part of our culture in this country that it rather naturally works its way over into our Christian psyches and faith practices. We conceive that maturation must mean independence – from Christ, maybe from God, and certainly from the Spirit. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“By this we know that we abide in him and he in us . . .” Did you hear the word – abide – the illustration from John’s gospel for us today is the vine and the branches. There is no “independence” in the world of vine growing. Rather, we see something quite dependent – branches can’t grow if they’re not still attached to the vine. We remain in the vine. We get our life forces from the vine. If God is our Source - if Christ and the Spirit of God are our Source – we must remain attached – fully dependent on the Spirit – for any “fruitful” outcome. When we achieve “dependence,” only then can we speak of “interdependence” – the idea that the vine, this source, needs us, just like we need the vine.
I have a berry vine growing in my backyard. Actually, it’s the only thing growing in my garden this year, and it’s starting to take over. I consulted a berry vine expert this week, and I now know how to address its overgrowth. You know about berries – well, really any fruit, for that matter. It’s the new branches that bear the best fruit. In the berry world, last year’s new branches produce the “king fruit,” and this years “new growth” will produce something less spectacular. But it will mature, and will produce more and better berries – next year.
In the epistle, John comes back to remind us that “God is love.” Then in verse 18 he says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear . . .” So much of the reason that we don’t mature in the Spirit is fear. What did the man say in the garden – “I hid, because I was afraid . . .?” Isn’t fear the thing that works against us when it comes to obedience to spiritual prompting? “Don’t call your friend – they’ll think you’re nuts for calling out of the blue like that!!” “You can’t teach a Sunday School class – what if the children know more that you know?” By the way, I can help you with that one. We have some smart kiddos back in the back, and some of them just might know more than you know – but not to worry – they’re pretty gracious about helping adults, and Mary and Gary and Debbie can teach you a couple of tricks so that you don’t look like you don’t know what you’re doing. Remember, perfect love casts out fear. Love trumps evil. Christ has defeated death – that’s the theme of Easter, and really the theme of the Christian life, all year long.
I know you think I sound like a broken record, but we first start learning how to respond to the promptings of the Spirit with our sisters and brothers in this church. I say to you, this church, because this is where God has planted you. Grow here. Mature here. Bear fruit here. Then we branch out, much like Philip did when he trusted the Spirit to lead him to that Ethiopian in the desert. He didn’t fail – how could he – he followed the leading of the Spirit.
Brothers and sisters – friends of mine on this journey – love is being perfected in us and among us. Abide in the Spirit. Bear fruit. Mature in your faith – in the Spirit.
Richard W. Dunn, PhD.
[1] Matthew Fox, A New Reformation: Creation Spirituality and the Transformation of Christianity, (Inner Traditions, Rochester, Vt.), p.7.
I can go on to address the second question in that sequence – “How has my recognition of the work of the Spirit in my life changed over the years?” I can answer that question in the positive and the negative. If I posture myself correctly for a day, I am prepared for the prompting of the Spirit. It doesn’t always come, but I am prepared. If I fail to posture myself correctly – fail to make adequate mental preparation – then the promptings of the Spirit are something of a surprise, and I don’t always respond adequately, and certainly not promptly.
And that third question – “Does the Spirit work in my life more or less than in years past? – I almost hate to answer that question. The sad part about living in human, fleshly, sin-tainted bodies (with minds to match) is that I am more able to resist the promptings of the Spirit – I have grown more adept, more sly in my abilities to avoid, delay, or otherwise disobey the urgings of the Spirit.
Here’s where you get the Mother’s Day part of the message – some of you thought I’d forgot, didn’t you? Mothers remind me of the Spirit – at least they are adept at nagging – I mean, urging us – like the Spirit does. But my third example is no more clearly seen than in the case of mothers – as we mature, we all seem to grow more proficient at avoiding, shunning, or otherwise overlooking suggestions from mom. By the time we arrive at adulthood, perhaps the only influence our mothers have over us is that which they generated many years ago – for we have long since taken to our own ways, and the making of our own decisions. Advice from mom is rarely solicited, and perhaps even less frequently applied. Not because moms are not valuable – we just learn to assert our independence.
Ah, there’s the rub. Independence. I suspect that American Christians have more trouble with what I’m about to say than Christians in other parts of the world. Independence is such a part of our culture in this country that it rather naturally works its way over into our Christian psyches and faith practices. We conceive that maturation must mean independence – from Christ, maybe from God, and certainly from the Spirit. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“By this we know that we abide in him and he in us . . .” Did you hear the word – abide – the illustration from John’s gospel for us today is the vine and the branches. There is no “independence” in the world of vine growing. Rather, we see something quite dependent – branches can’t grow if they’re not still attached to the vine. We remain in the vine. We get our life forces from the vine. If God is our Source - if Christ and the Spirit of God are our Source – we must remain attached – fully dependent on the Spirit – for any “fruitful” outcome. When we achieve “dependence,” only then can we speak of “interdependence” – the idea that the vine, this source, needs us, just like we need the vine.
I have a berry vine growing in my backyard. Actually, it’s the only thing growing in my garden this year, and it’s starting to take over. I consulted a berry vine expert this week, and I now know how to address its overgrowth. You know about berries – well, really any fruit, for that matter. It’s the new branches that bear the best fruit. In the berry world, last year’s new branches produce the “king fruit,” and this years “new growth” will produce something less spectacular. But it will mature, and will produce more and better berries – next year.
In the epistle, John comes back to remind us that “God is love.” Then in verse 18 he says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear . . .” So much of the reason that we don’t mature in the Spirit is fear. What did the man say in the garden – “I hid, because I was afraid . . .?” Isn’t fear the thing that works against us when it comes to obedience to spiritual prompting? “Don’t call your friend – they’ll think you’re nuts for calling out of the blue like that!!” “You can’t teach a Sunday School class – what if the children know more that you know?” By the way, I can help you with that one. We have some smart kiddos back in the back, and some of them just might know more than you know – but not to worry – they’re pretty gracious about helping adults, and Mary and Gary and Debbie can teach you a couple of tricks so that you don’t look like you don’t know what you’re doing. Remember, perfect love casts out fear. Love trumps evil. Christ has defeated death – that’s the theme of Easter, and really the theme of the Christian life, all year long.
I know you think I sound like a broken record, but we first start learning how to respond to the promptings of the Spirit with our sisters and brothers in this church. I say to you, this church, because this is where God has planted you. Grow here. Mature here. Bear fruit here. Then we branch out, much like Philip did when he trusted the Spirit to lead him to that Ethiopian in the desert. He didn’t fail – how could he – he followed the leading of the Spirit.
Brothers and sisters – friends of mine on this journey – love is being perfected in us and among us. Abide in the Spirit. Bear fruit. Mature in your faith – in the Spirit.
Richard W. Dunn, PhD.
[1] Matthew Fox, A New Reformation: Creation Spirituality and the Transformation of Christianity, (Inner Traditions, Rochester, Vt.), p.7.
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