sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 06/24/2012
video from the service is available at http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard/ondemand
This is our chalkboard assignment from Jesus…
Today, creating breathing room for the disconnected to connect.
5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:5
And later…
20“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
John 17:20-23
Universe fundamentally relational.
Quantum entanglement.
Emergent properties of systems as more and more simple parts come into connected relationship with each other: neurons - consciousness, subatomic particles - fixedness
God himself is relational: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Body of Christ (the church) an emergent phenomenon. No one part on its own is the body, all the parts together are. “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am with them.” (which interestingly is followed by Jesus’ teaching about forgiving someone 77 times…)
It is things in particular relationship to each other that makes things as they are, that gives rise to all life and beauty and joy.
The work of creation is bringing things into new and life-giving connected relationship with one another. Music. Cooking. Art. Families. Teams. Businesses.
The work of the enemy is the undoing of connections. Destruction. Tearing. Making friend into enemy, family into stranger. Disconnecting the connected.
The enemy’s whisper in the garden: Don’t trust him. You can be like him – you don’t need him. You can be fine on your own.
Exile. Isolation. Death as the cessation of all relationships...
Is there greater pain in the world than the pain of broken relationships? And the more connected the relationship is meant to be from a life-giving perspective, the deeper the pain of the break. This should come as no surprise. Because a tear in a relationship is a tear in the very fabric of the Trinity’s universe, a universe birthed out of love.
The work of new creation is taking what the enemy has uncreated and recreating it in indestructible, incorruptible form. Using redemptive tools like mercy and forgiveness and self-giving love for the other. Making enemy into friend, stranger into family. Love Re-Connecting the disconnected.
It all begins with a restored connection to God through Jesus. He is the source of all life. Without connection to him, there is no real life.
5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:5
The restored connection happens through two movements, the movement of God towards us and the movement of us towards God.
We see the movement of God towards us in Jesus himself – God taking on human flesh, coming to us and among us – even the most sinful of us – with favor and forgiveness and healing and mercy and unconditional love. Naked and vulnerable from the cradle to the grave – risking the most violent of rejections from us.
We see the movement of God towards us in the parable Jesus tells of the prodigal son and the Father. The Father who waits eyes peeled on the horizon for his son to return, running towards him with open arms, cutting off his plea with a kiss, with robes, a ring, sandals and a feast.
Have you ever tried to emulate that movement towards someone who has broken relationship with you? It is perhaps the most difficult movement in the universe, the one which will encounter the most entrenched resistance.
This is the movement we call Grace.
Thankfully, that is the movement God makes, though it costs him his very life.
Our movement towards God, critical as it is, is simpler. It takes only the breathing room created by Jesus and the empowering of his holy spirit to do. And that is receiving God’s movement towards us by trusting him. By trusting him with our lives – a 180 degree turn from the untrusting actions we took when we took our lives into our own hands in the garden.
I trust you. I trust your forgiveness for my sins. I trust your embrace. I trust your invitation to follow you out of this mess I’ve made. I trust your leadership and goodness. I can be like you – but only as I depend on you for life, because you are my greatest need. On my own, I can do nothing.
And out of that restored connection to God, Jesus leads us into restored connection in every other relationship.
20“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
John 17:20-23
Our connection to our selves – heart, mind, body, soul.
Our connection to others – friends, family, strangers, enemies.
Our connection to the rest of creation – the earth and its inhabitants, systems and structures.
Our job as a church, then, is to join Jesus in creating breathing room for the disconnected to connect.
Which means, first and foremost, announcing, demonstrating, and embodying the good news of God’s grace.
This is the era of Grace. Grace that brings freedom in community is on the move, and the judgment that enslaves in isolation is on the run.
Grace flies in the face of judgment. The fear of judgment is what makes us hide in the garden. It’s what makes us blame one another. It’s what gives us permission to dismiss and disown and destroy one another. There is no room for judging if we are to create breathing room for the disconnected to connect. Judgment belongs to the Lord, and the Lord alone, and he has chosen to extend Grace. So must we.
Grace in our words…
Grace in our symbolic actions…
Grace in our community – our words and actions lived out towards one another, room in our worship services and small groups and ministry teams…
Announcement of Grace and invitation to receive Grace…
Practical Tips:
1. Tell someone that God is moving towards them with grace
2. Show someone that God is moving towards them with grace
3. Move towards someone with God’s grace
No comments:
Post a Comment