Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Like A Tree // Interior Life

sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 01/20/2012

video available at www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard/ondemand

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20My son, pay attention to what I say;

turn your ear to my words.

21Do not let them out of your sight,

keep them within your heart;

22for they are life to those who find them

and health to one’s whole body.

23Above all else, guard your heart,

for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4:20-23

In a series called “Like A Tree” focused on spiritual growth. On becoming, as we talked about last week from Psalm 1, people who are like a tree planted by streams of water.

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Text today from the book of Proverbs, structured as instructions or wisdom from a father to his sons.

לֵבָב [lebab /lay·bawb/] : inner person, center (translated here as “heart”)

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The kind of growth we’re talking about, spiritual growth, begins in our inner person, our heart, our soul. And from there flows to the rest of us.

A fundamental idea in spiritual growth is that life comes from God, and God alone, and if we are drawing on his life, with intentional, focused engagement, growth will happen. Just like a tree planted by streams of water will draw nutrients and moisture and energy from the soil and sunlight, and growth will happen. And the more it grows, the deeper its roots will grow, and the broader and higher it’s branches, and growth will multiply.

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We draw life from God first and foremost through our inner person, our heart, our soul. If the center of us is connected to him, moving towards him and not away, at peace, secure, then we will grow. We will be like a tree planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in season, our leaves not withering, whatever we do prospering, as Psalm 1 describes.

Our world is full of things promising life and demanding our attention.

Work.

People.

Shiny objects.

Tasty things.

Exciting things.

Pleasurable things.

Numbing things.

Fearful things.

If any of these things get our first attention, if our inner person imagines that it might draw life – or have protection – from any of these things, our inner lives will fall into turmoil.

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The center of us will move away from God, the true source of life. We will become disconnected from him, and by extension our connection with everyone else will become corrupted, twisted. Peace will leave like heat escaping when the door is left open in winter. Security will turn to insecurity. And growth will sour and give way to death.

Even in religious settings, it’s easy to lose the plot and allow spiritual growth to stagnate. It happens as soon as our focus becomes anything other than the Jesus. This is what happens in bounded set churches…

[Illustration showing people inside and outside of a circle…]

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The primary concern in a bounded-set organization is how we are doing in relationship to the boundaries (particular behaviors, conviction about a particular set of beliefs, ways of dressing, ways of worshipping, etc.). Our concern for ourselves becomes: am I staying inside of these boundaries? Our concern for others becomes: how do I get and keep them inside of these boundaries? Or sometimes: how do I ensure or maintain the purity of those within the boundaries?

But then of course our inner lives grow stagnant, we become dry and empty inside, and the rest of our lives get emptied of life and love over time.

Remember, we are a centered-set church.

[Illustration with Jesus at center, people with arrows oriented in various directions surrounding…]

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Our primary concern in a centered-set church is whether we are moving towards, away from, or stagnant in relation to our center, Jesus. Our concern for ourselves is this: What is our next step in discipleship, in spiritual growth? Our concern for one another is: How do we support one another in taking that step? Because our desire is life (Jesus: “I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full.”) And if we want more life, we must move towards Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the Life. And love is our aim (Jesus: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”). To love someone is to serve them in their pursuit of life, is it not?

Spiritual growth is a process of day by day re-orienting our inner selves, our hearts, our souls toward the center. Toward Jesus. Because eventually, over time and with focused engagement, all the rest of us will come along for the ride.

As the writer of proverbs says:

23Above all else, guard your heart,

for everything you do flows from it.

(for from it flow the springs of life.)

In Luke 6:45, Jesus says it this way:

The good man brings up good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things stored out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

So here is the question today: How is your inner life?

How is your heart? How is your soul? Is it settled and at peace in your relationship with God? Is your identity as beloved child of the good God secure? Or are you experiencing an inner turmoil and discontent? Anxiety? Self-hatred or doubt?

Ignatius of Loyola can be very helpful to us in “guarding our hearts” or keeping them oriented towards Jesus for life. (noble birth in the 1500s, leader in the Spanish military, wounded by a cannonball, ended up having a profound conversion experience while recuperating, and then eventually founded the Jesuit order, devoting his life to training people to care for their interior life with Jesus.)

He taught that our souls move in and out of two states: “consolation” and “desolation.” Consolation being when we experience an increase of faith, hope, love, and inner joys that draw us towards God. Desolation being when we experience darkness of the soul, turmoil of the mind, inclination to low things, restlessness from disturbances and temptations which lead to loss of faith, loss of hope, loss of love, apathy, separation from God.

One of the practices Ignatius recommends is the daily examen. Simply a regular time each day to examine your inner life and point yourself towards God.

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The Daily Examen is a tool we will be using throughout this series, and add a unique element each week. It works by setting aside some private time each day (10 minutes should be enough, although you can take much longer if you’d like) and following 6 steps:

1. Stillness: Become aware of the Presence of God. Quiet your heart, and listen. In this moment, become present to Jesus.

2. Gratitude: Review your day with gratitude. Seeing through a lens of thanks, appreciate God’s gifts in each event of the day.

3. Reflection: Become aware of your emotions. Review your positive and negative feelings. Did you choose Jesus’ way in each situation?

4. Joy & Sorrow: choose one feature of the day, and pray. Rejoice in a success, or ask forgiveness for a sin. If necessary, plan to make amends.

5. Hope: Look toward tomorrow. Move toward expectation. Ask God to shine light on tomorrow’s path. Resolve to grow.

6. Question of the Week (this week): Am I finding my identity in my relationship with Jesus, or increasingly in my tasks, relationships, ministry, or vision?

Closing thought.

Above all else, guard your heart.

More literally, keep watch over your heart with all diligence. In other words, this is the one thing that matters. Your inner self is the whole game. Like coaches that say “defense wins championships.” Anything else you are doing – if you are doing it instead of keeping your inner life on track with God – is foolhardy. It’s like driving with your eyes closed. You, and everyone else, would be better off with you staying where you are and doing nothing. Or maybe think of it this way: If you’ve got 1 gallon of gas in your tank, and there is a gas station 20 miles north of you, but the place you’re trying to get is 100 miles to the south, turn north and use what gas you have to get to the gas station!

Sometimes we are fooling ourselves that we don’t have time or energy to attend to our interior lives. That they will somehow get better on their own, if we just keep plugging along taking care of our exterior lives. Doing our work. Taking care of our families. Making a difference in the world. Not so! says proverbs. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. If your heart becomes lifeless, so does the rest of you in short order.

What is the point of life without any life? What is the point of working hard to make a living when there is no life in your living? If that’s what we’re doing, we are living to die. Far better to die to some of the things we think will bring us life, in order to have the real life God alone can give us.

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Which brings us to the practical tips:

1. Option A. Try the Examen + the morning and evening prayers for 1 week. Not kidding. Just do it. No matter what it means you have to give up to do it. A 1 week experiment to turn the arrow of your heart towards the center, and see what your experience of life is. And then give an honest answer to this question at the end of this week: How did I experience life this week? Have I grown at all?

2. Option B. Do nothing different. Keep on keeping on. And then give an honest answer to this question at the end of this week: How did I experience life this week? Have I grown at all?

3. Together We. Try the buddy system.

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