sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 08/19/2012
video is available at www.sundaystreams.com/go/milanvineyard/ondemand
Second week in series on discernment. When we’ve got decisions to make, how do we make them? How do we know what we were made for? How do we know what to do in a difficult situation? How can we tell if the voice in our head is our own, or God’s, or someone else’s? How do we know which path is the best one, which step is the most beautiful one? Do we wait, go, take that risk, hold back? Am I being afraid or just wise? Am I being courageous or just foolish? Is this God’s will for my life?
Clarification: sometimes in Christian circles, discernment gets applied to judging that which is “out there” – ideas, artistic expressions, and especially the actions of others. Discernment is a gift that is given to us for a higher purpose than that. Discernment is for shaping our lives, in here, decision by decision, in a way that gives life to us, and to our world. The only “out there” it is concerned with is the will of the God who is other than we are, but who desires to be “in here” in such a way that we are made one with him and his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Today, exploring just two key ideas about discernment:
1, God always desires good for us. Always. Even, and maybe especially, when it doesn’t look like it.
And 2, Together, we can do this. We, You and I. Together. We can do this. We can discern God’s will and join him in the adventure of a lifetime.
Discernment is an ancient Christian practice.
Live as children of the light…and find out what pleases the Lord.
Galatians 5:8,10
Chalkboard assignment: together we follow the way of Jesus…
Our assignment is to embark on an adventure, not to fill out a ditto sheet.
Remember dittos from elementary school? Or Mimeographs? Churning out copy after copy? All you had to do was find the answers and fill in the blanks. And if you didn’t know the answers, or couldn’t figure them out, you could just copy someone else’s. Sometimes we are presented a picture of faith like that. But that’s not the kind of faith we’ve been called to by Jesus.
Jesus invites us into an adventure. One where the ending has been anticipated by the resurrection, but one in which there are untold chapters to discover along the way, one in which we get to write the details of the story hand in hand with God.
Adventures require discernment.
An adventure without discernment is like the story of Rip Van Winkle….someone who takes the path of least resistance in life, drinks some strange liquor, and falls asleep for 20 years, waking up unrecognizable and alone, unsure of what’s even happening in the world.
A true adventure with discernment at its heart, however, is like an epic love story.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.
Philippians 1:9-11
Our primary text for this series is found in Romans:
Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is true worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve (discern) what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:1
[pray…]
God always desires good for us.
Understanding this is foundational for discernment. God always desires good for us. God always desires good for us. We talked about this at the end of last week’s message, but let’s unpack it a little here.
Some of us may remember that the word translated will (God’s will, good pleasing perfect will) is the Greek word thelema. Sometimes we think about God’s will like an immutable, master plan, a divine blueprint perhaps. There is a word that gets at that sense of the meaning of will, but it’s boule, not thelema. Thelema is the word for will that means pleasure or desire. In any particular moment or circumstance or situation, what is God’s desire? What would give him pleasure? That is his thelema will.
And the witness of Jesus, and the whole of the scripture, is that God desires good for us. That he loves us. That he is, in fact, love. And love always desires the best for the other.
In fact, if we were able to apprehend in any particular situation or circumstance or decision what the very best thing for ourselves would be – the thing that would give us the most life, be the most life-giving and joyful thing in the world – then we would know God’s thelema will for us. And because this universe is created by God out of his love for his good pleasure, it would also be the thing that would give the most life to the whole of creation, the planet included and all of its creatures, our brothers and sisters, even our enemies. As Romans 8 says, in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Trusting that truth about God’s heart for us, having faith that his will is always good for us, is at the heart of discernment.
[Hunger games illustration: Katniss dehydrated, her frustration at not receiving a silver parachute when she was thirsty, realizing Haymitch must have a good reason, hunting for water…]
God gave us free will as human beings. We are free to do as we please. We have our own desires. They aren’t always good, pleasing, and perfect, though, are they? No, because we aren’t ruled by love, not through and through, the way God is. Love that is patient, kind, not envying, not boasting, not proud, not dishonoring others, not self seeking, not easily angered, keeping no record of wrongs, not delighting in evil, rejoicing with the truth, always protecting, trusting, hoping, persevering, never failing.
Because God is love, his thelema will is good, pleasing, and perfect. Not too shabby, eh?
Good. Through and through good.
Pleasing. Bringing a wide smile to the soul, happiness in the heart, joy and health to the body, delight to the mind.
Perfect. Whole and complete, not missing a good thing, no loose ends, nothing forgotten, no collateral damage.
If the voice underneath the choice isn’t love, it isn’t God’s thelema will. No matter how wise it seems. No matter how it seems like it might not work out in our best interest. God is love, and God’s thelema will is always good for us. Love always leads to the best. The best for you. The best for me. The best for this broken world. The best. This truth doesn’t conform to the pattern of this world. This truth is where the renewing of our minds starts. This truth is where discernment starts.
Together, we can do this.
Discernment is a gift.
1 Corinthians 12 talks about how God gives his Holy Spirit with different manifestations to each of us for the common good, and one of those manifestations is the “diakrisies pneumaton” or the discernment of spirits. In other words, we recognize the voice of God because God places his spirit within us to empower us to recognize what is from him and what isn’t. God himself, within us, teaching us how to discern his thelema will, assisting us.
In the adventure of faith God invites us into, the Holy Ghost is a ghost writer for our lives. Helping us write the story we’d want to write if we were better writers, the voice behind our voice. It’s our story, with our name on the cover, but we aren’t writing it alone. It’s an adventure fueled by the grace of God, poured out through his holy spirit, meeting us in our weakness and blindness and holding our hand, helping us step by step.
Discernment is a habit we can develop.
Dallas Willard writes about how grace is not opposed to effort, only to earning. We can, through thoughtful, intentional, grace driven effort, develop a habits of discernment that allow our wills to cooperate with God’s good pleasing and perfect will much more gracefully over time. So it may seem like a ton of work right now, but it will take less will power over time; it always takes work to break a habit – (conforming to the pattern of this world) and form new ones (be transformed by the renewing of your mind).
Brain researchers have shown that when we develop a habit, at first, our brains are firing on all cylinders, especially the outer parts where we do complex thinking. But over time, a primitive part of the brain called the basil ganglia takes over and the rest of the brain becomes completely freed up. The term for this is “chunking.”
[consider backing your car out of your driveway…]
Most of our decision making habits are formed by the pattern of this world. Feels good? Do it. Protects you from pain? Do it. Gets you more money? Do it. Gets you the stuff others have? Do it. Makes others approve of you? Do it. Serves your ego, the image of yourself that you want to project? Do it. Everyone else is doing it and looking happy enough? Do it.
As followers of Jesus, we need a new habit, a renewing of our minds. Does this step cooperate gracefully with God’s good, pleasing and perfect will? Do it. Does this step trust in God’s goodness above all else? Do it. Is this step true to the deepest desires God has placed in my heart? Do it.
Discernment is a process
In addition to the process of developing habits of discernment, discernment itself is a process.
We even hear that in the language of Romans 12: be transformed, renewing. Discernment happens bit by bit, step by step. Prayer, prayerful thinking, conversation, evaluation, tentative decisions, more prayer, confirmation, courageous, prayerful action.
We will sometimes get discernment wrong, and that’s OK.
Discernment is part of faith, it’s never certain, and failure is part of how we learn and grow. God remains with us in all of our decisions, even when we get discernment wrong. He’s there to show us where we went wrong, help us move in the direction where deeper life lies. Sometimes we’ll get confirmation that our discernment was right, and sometimes we’ll be left just living in faith, trusting that God’s first desire is always that we do what we are doing in trusting relationship with him, even moreso than that we do this or that particular thing.
That we discern is always more pleasing to God than how effective our discernment is. Because it means we are desiring what he desires, even when we don’t know specifically what he desires, and his desire above all else is that we would desire him. Because he is the source of all life, and his good pleasing and perfect will is that we would have life, and have it to the full.
Discernment is a team sport.
Although it’s concrete, particular, and personal, we are never meant to be alone in it; then y’all will be able to test…
The witness of the community to the thelema will of God in all our lives, the traditions of the community of faith shaped by our corporate discernment of God’s will, the scriptures written by the inspired voices of our predecessors in faith, the ways in which we help each other in prayer and conversation discern God’s will, all of these shine light on God’s thelema will for us as we seek to discern it for our lives. If we try to go on our own, without this, we can find ourselves drowning in a sea of confusion, like someone underwater who can’t figure out which way is up.
It doesn’t matter where you start.
Discernment is like breathing for a Christian. It starts at birth, and may feel just as unfamiliar at first, but you never outgrow it. You just learn how to do it better and better. And sometimes you may need some help, or breathing room, or to do it consciously again because fear has made you hold your breath without you noticing.
But wherever you are, there is no step to take without it. So start wherever you are. God’s holy spirit is available to you to help you take a deep breath and catch the scent of his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Practical Tips:
1. Ask for the gift of discernment. Nothing complicated about this. God, please give me the gift of your holy spirit so I can discern your will, your good, pleasing and perfect will. Maybe have someone pray with you for the impartation of this gift.
2. Continue a daily Awareness Examination. Ask God to look at your day with you. What does God show you about your day? What was important to God from your day? Talk to God about your day.
3. Add a cue and a reward to help it become a habit. Maybe when you set your alarm clock for the morning. Or when you brush your teeth. Some cue that will almost always be present towards the end of your day and will have space on the other side of it before you sleep. As for a reward, you can go for the intrinsic reward, which will be a sense of peace and God’s presence as you fall asleep, or add an artificial reward, like some ice cream (just don’t forget to brush your teeth again) or a TV show you enjoy, for example.
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