Passionate Spirituality with Benedict - 2 Intelligence to Understand.

Passionate Spirituality with Benedict – 2

Intelligence to Understand...

Almighty God, give us

Wisdom to perceive you

Intelligence to understand you

Diligence to seek you

Patience to wait for you

Vision to behold you

A heart to meditate upon you

A life to proclaim you;

Through Jesus Christ our Lord

Who lives with you

and the Holy Spirit

One God now and forever.

In this prayer we ask for wisdom to perceive God – but more than that, we need intelligence to understand.

Here's a short intelligence test: Fill in the blanks: 24 D IN A W, 26 L OF THE A, 7 D OF THE W, 12 S OF THE Z, 66 B OF THE B, 1 C ON A H T R, 1 S SHORT OF A P.... How did you do? Does it matter?

Is it possible to understand God?

We ask for wisdom to perceive God – but more than that, we need intelligence to understand Him.

What? Is that even possible? Isa 55:2 says “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord”. How can a mere sinful human being have a hope of understanding the creator and sustainer of all things? And yet...

Throughout scripture God chooses people of “understanding” to build temples, cities, rule his people. Solomon earned God's approval for asking for “Wisdom and understanding” rather than power and might. Don't be like a Donkey, says Psalm 32. Think! Thinking is Good.

Intelligence is a Renewed MindAugustine famously said “I believe that I may understand” - it is important to know that it is that way round in the life of faith. But you can't leave it out. The old US evangelist who would roar out “We don't want to theee-ology. We just want the Powwww-er of Gaaad” was on very thin ice. The Jeremy Clarkson approach to spirituality will make a wreckage in real life. The incarnation tells us that God can be expressed in all of human life – body, mind and spirit. It may be more than this -but it is definitely not less. You can't leave any of yourself out when you follow Him. He wants it all. Paul says “be transformed by the renewal of your mind” - renewal not anaesthetisation.

Intelligence is Learning from Mistakes

Questions are Good, We learn in theory and in practice – from our mistakes.

In Luke 9 we see some mistakes that people might learn from.

The “Quick fix” mistake. “Shall we call down fire from Heaven, Lord.” Yeah. Like you've been doing that for a while now, have you? Your path is singed with reluctant villages is it? Jesus rebukes them. Lesson: Don't be a twit. But also – Jesus is going to give up his life to save those who reject him. That's his whole purpose. Zapping them with judgement fire would be counter productive.

The “I can do it too” mistake. “I will follow you wherever you go”. Right. Before you know where I am going? Did you not here me says that where I am going you cannot come? You have to learnt to let Jesus be Saviour and Lord. Not you.

The “In your own time” mistake. “Let me first just.....” No. This is of prime importance. It's got to be all or nothing. Now or never. Not what I want but what you want. Now is the hour. You will not have this moment again; this meeting again; this chance again. Take it.

To understand something is to know what stands under it; what its foundations are.

For Jesus it is all about serving the Father in love.

As Father's say “When I say Jump you only ask How High?”

So what?

Jesus says “Follow me” - and he means all the way, now.

I expect we've made a few mistakes along the way?

The question is – do we have the intelligence to learn from them?

“Give us intelligence to understand you” Amen.

Passionate Spirituality with Benedict 1 Wisdom

Almighty God, give us

Wisdom to perceive you

Intelligence to understand you

Diligence to seek you

Patience to wait for you

Vision to behold you

A heart to meditate upon you

A life to proclaim you;

Through Jesus Christ our Lord

Who lives with you 

and the Holy Spirit

One God now and forever.     A prayer of St. Benedict

Passionate Spirituality – means everyday encounters with Jesus.

Do we have these? Do we want them?

Do we sometimes fail to recognize God's moment with us?

Can we train ourselves to recognize them more often?

St. Benedict wanted to develop a way of approaching God in our daily lives. Through Work, Rest and Play. I'm surprised he didn't invent the Mars Bar! We are looking at his prayer which asks God to help us to develop our sensitivity to His presence.

Wisdom – Intelligence – Diligence - Patience - Vision – Meditation – Proclamation are all part of this spirituality.

We need Wisdom to perceive His presence.

Light enters the eye and an electro-chemical impulse is produced by the retina to stimulate the occipital cortex of the brain. But this raw data needs to be interpreted by the brain. It compares it in a millisecond to patterns held in the memory so that we become conscious of what provoked the response previously. That perception is what we call “sight”.

We need wisdom – the awareness of the presence of God. The “fear of the Lord”. And the more we know the patterns of God's activity – the more wisdom we have – the more we will be aware of His presence. Where do we see these patterns? First of all – in Jesus. Read the stories. Also in the testimony of others – Benedict and your Cell or small group. And in our own experience too. Look at this story: Mark 5:21-43

The woman was “incurable”, a hopeless case. The girl had become incurable, a hopeless case. There is some “resentment” here. – “Spent all her money”, “why bother!” but also perseverance in hope. “If I just...”

Don’t be too quick to limit what Jesus can do.

How can you perceive – meet - God this week? Keep D.R.Y!

Determined: Woman: ill for 12 yrs! Not put off by the crowd,ignoring the urgency of her “betters”, knowing what she wants. Jairus: putting his beloved daughter forst, waiting for Jesus to deal with this mad woman, deaf to the bad news, willing to trust Jesus word “Do not fear”. e.g. determination: “You’ll go on and go on until you go on”as my Mum used to say in exasperation at my importuning. Jesus responds to those who are determined. Do you know what you want of God today?

Risky: the 4-letter word. Faith to be made well is true faith for Mark. Not doctrinal purity. Woman: Unclean but risks touching. Jairus: risks approaching this unrecognized teacher, risks leaving a dying daughter. Take a prayerful risk with God this week – how else will you know if he’s there? Speak, visit, invest, pray! Jesus responds to those who risk reaching out. Do you believe that God can and will do what you want?

Yourself: Jesus meets people face to face. Just a faceless, nameless woman - but He wanst to acknowledge her in public “Who touched me?”. At the home of  Jairus: “He took her by the hand.” He calls her by her name. A name says  "This is me".

Jesus calls us by our name – the real, now, you. As you are. It's personal.

Are you willing to trust yourself to Jesus today?

Almighty God, give us wisdom to perceive you. Amen.

Is Religion Worthless?

Luke 7:36-8:3 Is religion without works worthless?

Is it no use to venerate the temple of the Lord?

Is it no use to know the law?

Is it no use to seek righteousness and to eschew the company of sinners?

Nope. Not on its own. OT and NT agree.

Jeremiah 7:6 links ethical behaviour to true religion. “do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm.”  So does Jesus in Matthew 25 – to serve the poor, the homeless, the destitute, the imprisonment – is to serve God. To refuse is to refuse God.

In Luke 7 Jesus stresses that this is not a matter of theory or ethical debate. He says quite plainly that our faith is shown by our actions. As James puts it: 14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.

So the Pharisee Simon who is hosting this new Rabbi, Jesus, has been well taught. He knows the requirements of the law to maintain righteousness and ritual purity. He sets himself in judgement over Jesus. He wants to weigh up what Jesus does and so decide if he is a prophet or not.

But Jesus is not primarily interested in what Simon thinks of Him.

He is not primarily interested in what human beings think of Him. 

He is more interested in saving them – making them whole. So he demonstrates to Simon how to judge.

You judge a person by their actions. Actions speak louder than words. We need to take notice of what we are saying.

Is Jesus Welcome – where is the water for washing? - kiss? - oil? - love? The woman's response shows that she has been forgiven. That's the defining difference – love for Jesus. It's not that you earn forgiveness, of course, but that when you have been forgiven, forgiveness and gratitude flow out from you.

We rightly pour scorn on the tabloid newspaper presentation of those who think they can sin freely because they can go to confession afterwards. (Have you ever really met someone who lives like that?) But we are not so far from the faith called “Churchianity” as seen in Jer 7:4. The priority of buildings over ministry costs. The desperate need to cling onto our traditions – ancient or modern - even though they are not working. Schisms between people because of language, music, tradition or practice all simply demonstrate that these are people who do not have the love of Christ in them. They have not been forgiven. Therefore they cannot forgive others. Their “faith” is demonstrated by their actions. “Me, Us, Ours”.

How is “ethical behaviour” shown by Jesus? In welcoming sinners, touching  lepers, healing infirm women, rescuing the demon possessed. All those who are beyond the pale. It is relatively easy to learn to approve the latest trend, sing the latest songs, appreciate the latest choral piece, iron the surplice etc. but real love is too demanding. The cracks show.

What can we do? First remember the love of Jesus for you -just as you are – warts and all. Then let your gratitude to him flow out to those whom He loves. Sometimes, when people practice doing these things- especially when they are against their natural inclination, they find that something miraculous happens. They start to become the person that they are imitating. To be like Jesus.

Simon found no forgiveness, no healing, in Jesus but the woman did.

What failing, what illness, what need compels you to come to Jesus? What is on your heart? What is your passionate desire? Come and bring your concerns, your tears, your thanksgiving. And as you welcome Him in your daily life, He will assure you of His welcome.