Joy Complete

I amaze myself sometimes, and am amazed at others, too. What amazes me is that I--we--want a "spiritual life", to be close to God, to know how to live in ways that are holistically healthy, productive, and good...and yet we don't do it. At least, I don't do it, not often enough!

What's truly amazing is that we KNOW what it takes. It's not that hard, is pretty simple in fact. If we want a solid, ongoing, consistent spiritual life, then we have to, um, act spiritually!--in an ongoing and consistent way. We need to do spiritual things...the most basic of which are prayer and scripture study. We have to read the Word, reflect on it, pray about it some, and LISTEN to God. If you are like me, you KNOW that this works, that the Holy Spirit will teach you, guide you, edify you, comfort you, and give you "peace that passes understanding," whenever you are willing to give God the time of day...or at least, a little of your time every day. It works. Duh. And we do not need to be Biblical scholars, lettered theologians, or certified prayer warriors; we just need to spend time with God, on God's terms. But we don't, even though we know it works. Are we just plain stubborn?

Part of the lesson from Exodus 17 would seem to be that we ARE just plain stubborn, if we accept that the text speaks about human nature in general (and I think it does, like most scripture), as well as a specific historic circumstance. Those desert wanderers had experienced God's DIRECT intervention and salvation, in the most earthly and immediate ways, but they...forgot. And they kept forgetting. And whining, and complaining. It seemed God could never do enough.

In Philippians 2.3-4, Paul lays out pretty clearly the core of solid, ongoing spiritual life...or at least, describes what it looks like: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." The people of the Exodus weren't doing that; but lest we judge them too harshly, neither do we, not very often...and we aren't faced with the harsh realities and momentous upheavals in our lives which they were living through.

In the Matthew text for this week, we find that even religious "experts" have a hard time living out that core of spiritual life, even when the living incarnation of that life is standing before them and teaching them. They question Jesus' authority, and in what is really an ironically funny confrontation, Jesus tosses the ball back into their court, and they cannot respond, caught up as they are in their own brand of stubbornness and forgetfulness.

An old-fashioned word applies: REPENT. To escape my own stubbornness and forgetfulness, the only thing that will work is repentance. I have to "turn away" from my own pride, my own will, my own problems...and give God some time. And control. And I have to KEEP doing this...while a one-time repentance from sin may be absolutely necessary for Christian conversion and salvation, I find that I have to keep on repenting of my essentially selfish tendencies (and all that flows from them which mess up my life and others' lives too). I may be a "new creation" in Christ, but that new creature is stuck in this same old busted, selfish world, and is prone to relentless attacks from the Adversary, who would rather you and I not have a consistent, ongoing spiritual relationship with our Creator.

So...we gotta pray, and read the Word, and do spiritual things, if we are ever going to consistently "consider others better than ourselves," and "look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." To find that complete joy Paul speaks of, we need to get out of selfishness, and into selfless-ness. In that liberation we find not just joy, but God's blessing on our lives as well. But then, maybe those are one and the same.

Speaking for myself, I cannot do this on my own; God has to help me. He's just waiting to do that, too...if only I will ask!

Invocation for Proper 21A/Ordinary 26A

Lord God, send Your Spirit upon us today with specific intent to teach us, and may we learn most of all to seek Your guidance above all other sources. You're smarter than the smartest of us, purer than the holiest of us, more faithful than the most ardent of us, and better at loving than most compassionate of us. Send the Spirit to teach us to LEARN from You, first, to seek You, first, and to gently guide us into everyday spiritual growth. Help us understand that it matters not how long we have strayed, or wandered, or just plain ignored You. You stand ready to redeem, make new, and grant us the fullness of joy. Only you can help us get past ourselves, so come, Holy Lord, and help us get started...again. Amen.

A Prayer of Confession for Proper 21A/Ordinary 26A

Forgive our groaning and complaining, O God, most of it caused by our selfishness and lack of compassion. Forgive our forgetfulness, O God, most of it caused by our stubborn insistence upon getting our own way, and imposing our own will on the world around us. Forgive our faith put in all the wrong sources and in all the wrong places. Forgive our blind following of so many gurus and teachers and "wise" people, when the most true and ultimate source of wisdom is You...and only You. Heal us of the pain caused by our pride and stubbornness, and redeem the mess we often make of things because we thought our way was better than Yours. Reach into our deepest places, and there pour out Your balm of healing love, so that we cannot help but respond with renewed love of our own, wherever we see others in sin or in pain. Help us accept Your authority...and believe it, and live by it, and graciously use it, in Jesus' name. Amen.