sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 06/29/2014
video available at www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard
podcast here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan
or via iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379
Riding bike at night, cool wind against skin, music, stars, road rushing under wheels, body alive, sense of connectedness and love, free. Aware of needs, but not angry or distressed in that moment. Peaceful. Joyful. Content. Lucky. Life. Not all of it, of course – not even close. But a slice, a bite, of life. The good stuff. Being alive.
So much working together for me to have that experience of life. Thought about the kind of growth that had gone into that even being possible for me. Thought about how much more was needed to have that experience in a way that wasn’t dependent on my external circumstances. The people I’ve known for whom that’s the case. Jesus in particular.
Isn’t that what we all want, really, at the end of the day? To grow into the kind of people who can experience the reality of life, more and more, day after day, in a way that is independent of external circumstances? Sure, we want leisure, or protection, or belonging, or a meaningful outlet for our creativity, or food on the table, or better understanding of confusing or troubling things, or a more rooted sense of identity, or affection, or the freedom to pursue our own passions, or whatever it might be in any particular moment. But at the end of the day, don’t we want all of those things because they are part of getting to the experience of life?
Here’s my theory. Faith – our lives in trusting, intimate relationship with God - is meant to make a transformative impact on us at every level of human need. And God’s gift to us, the Spirit, is at the center of that transformative impact.
In other words, our experience of trusting, intimate relationship with a God who is as near to us as our next breath, with whom we can have some kind of personal interaction and communication, whom we come to know as Love, and as revealed among humanity in Jesus of Nazareth is the only sure way to life in the most meaningful sense of that word.
And when we look at the full spectrum of human experience - from anger and envy and selfish ambition and jealousy and hatred and hopelessness and desperate meanness on one end, to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, generosity, self-control on the other – the catalyst changing the script from one to the other is what Jesus’ first followers understood to be the Holy Spirit, the breath or wind of God. (for a primer on the Holy Spirit, consider listening to or watching our series called “Life After Easter” that we recently concluded.)
So we’re kicking off a series to run through July called “Summer of the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is our topic. In particular, the role the Holy Spirit plays in the growth of our capacity as human beings to experience the life Jesus came to give to us.
Today we’re going to look at how the gift of the Spirit brings about transformation in Jesus’ disciple, Peter.
First, though, a brief primer on our needs as human beings. Because faith – and the Holy Spirit, who is so central to faith – makes a transformative impact on us right at the level of our needs.
If you google “fundamental human needs” you’ll come across a taxonomy of Human Needs developed by Manfred Max-Neef and his colleagues. He’s a Chilean economist and researcher who spent much of his life working on problems of human development in third world countries. Max-Neef argues that the needs we have because we are human beings are few, finite, classifiable, and constant through all human cultures and across historical time periods. Here’s the list of needs:
Subsistence
Protection
Affection
Understanding
Participation
Leisure
Creation
Identity
Freedom
His theories are interesting on their own merits, but what’s important for our purposes is how the faith of Jesus – his life in trusting, intimate relationship with God – has a transformative impact on his needs. Take subsistence. He brings his need for food (and our need for that matter) to God, and God addresses it. Protection, same thing. Affection? Check. Understanding. Participation. Leisure. Creation. All the way on down the line to Identity and Freedom. Nothing lacking. He even tells his disciples, look, your Father knows what you need before you even ask. Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, fully incarnated as a human being, brings every one of his human needs to God, finds them satisfied through the Spirit, and has all the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, generosity, self-control one could ask for. Jesus’ life, day in, day out, in the midst of the pressures and the struggles and the persecution, has the chock-full-of-life quality of my midnight bike ride.
That strikes me as incredibly attractive. I want some of that. As much of that as I can get.
The witness of the Bible is that the Holy Spirit is what makes that possible. The personal, non-material, energetically animating, favoring presence of the living God as near to Jesus as his indrawn breath.
We see the Spirit at work in that way in a powerfully relatable way in the life of Peter. The fisherman who joins Jesus’ ragamuffin band of followers and later goes on to be a hero in faith.
We pick up in Luke 22, during the famous Last Supper, Jesus’ last meal with his students before his arrest and eventual crucifixion. (Peter is also called “Simon.”)
24A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest…
31“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
33But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”
34Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”
The implication here is that Peter was part of this “greatest” debate, and that Jesus identifies him as one having a special place among them – and yet warns him that his strength is not what he might think it is. In the middle of it we see Peter asserting his commitment and faithfulness, saying “I’m ready to go with you to prison and to death!” The point is not that he’s wrong, it’s that he’s doing it all. It shows something about what’s happening inside of Peter. He’s insecure. And it leads to posturing.
All bragging, posturing is a form of insecurity, and it reveals deep down anxiety. We want people to think highly of us. Because if they think highly of us they will include us, we’ll belong. We’ll have help surviving. We’ll receive their protection, their affection. We’ll be given opportunity to participate. Our identity is tied up in others’ perceptions of us.
What would have given Peter life in this situation? Maybe listening to Jesus’ words about the difficulties coming. Maybe taking them seriously, asking for help, advice, direction. Embracing reality, and his vulnerability in the face of it, engaging the world as it really is, as he really is.
But no, his insecurity and anxiety get the better of Peter. So he postures, brags. Doesn’t really hear what Jesus is saying. Has his weight on the wrong foot, so that when the real world blows against him, it’s that much easier for it to knock him off balance.
Peter’s heart is warm towards Jesus, though, which is part of the tragedy here. He does love him. He wants to be ready to go with him. But that gets twisted by anxiety into this spectacularly useless posturing.
It’s a nice sentiment Peter offers – I’m ready to go with you – but it’s not actually true, is it? Peter isn’t ready. But he can’t see that about himself, because he can’t see what’s coming, and he can’t see his own vulnerability in the face of it. Why not? Anxiety, insecurity. Run of the mill stuff we all experience every day. We can relate to Peter here.
Minus the insecurity and anxiety, maybe Peter embraces his vulnerability. Says to Jesus, “Jesus, I want to be helpful to you. I want to go with you all the way to prison and death if I have to. But I’m not sure I’m ready. What should I do?”
And maybe Jesus says to Peter, “Peter, this road leads to a place I have to walk alone. As much as part of me wants you with me, the truth is it’s more than you can handle. It’s more than I can handle, in fact, but I’m called to go there, so I know I’ll find the grace I need when I get there. You, you’re calling is different. Listen to your calling, be faithful to it, there will be grace for it. Have no fear; ask God for the help you need when you find yourself alone. He loves you, as he loves me.”
A little later on, that night…
45When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46“Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation (enter the trial).”
47While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
49When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” 50And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
51But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.
Peter is at the center of this story, too, as other accounts tell us. He’s the one who cuts the ear off the servant of the high priest.
What are Jesus’ instructions to Peter? Pray that you will not enter the trial. That’s supposed to be Peter’s weapon. Bringing his needs to God, in his vulnerability, for God to address them. That’s the protection he wields in his vulnerability.
But that’s not what Peter does. He pulls out a sword. It looks like courage in the face of a terrible threat, but it’s not. Not truly. What it is is abandoning his trust in Jesus and putting his trust in a sword. And once again it’s because he is afraid, anxious, insecure. As we’ll see, even the most heroic looking courage, when it springs from fear, is less than the kind of confidence that comes later from the Holy Spirit.
And now one more scene with Peter before the Holy Spirit comes on the scene…
54Then seizing him [Jesus], they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”
57But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.
58A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
59About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
60Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Now Peter’s courage has failed entirely. This is always what happens to courage that comes absent the awareness of God’s presence. Peter is separated from Jesus, alone, and he’s acting fully out of fear and desperation, like a cornered animal. Peter’s fear is especially visible in contrast with Jesus, the one who’s been arrested and is facing trial and torture, who looks Peter full on in the eyes, unafraid, unangry. Jesus, seeing clearly in peace, looking at Peter running blind in fear.
Now, let’s fast forward 7 weeks or so. Jesus has been raised from the dead, forgiven Peter, restored him, and slipped into the heavens to rule over the new creation that has begun with his resurrection. Peter and the other disciples have been waiting in Jerusalem, as instructed by Jesus, for the promised Holy Spirit. The Spirit is dramatically and powerfully poured out on Pentecost, and the disciples start giving thanks to God in all kinds of foreign languages that they’ve never studied or learned before. Which creates, as we might imagine, quite a scene.
2Amazed and perplexed, they [the crowd] asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
14Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd:
“Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say….
Zoom in on Peter for a second. Peter, taking his stand… raising his voice… declaring...
All in the face of a mocking crowd.
And then going on to give a speech without defensiveness, but confident, eloquent.
Is this the same Peter we saw 7 weeks ago?
Well, yes and no. Yes, it’s Peter – the Peter we met on his fishing boat, laying it all down to run after Jesus, and the Peter we saw walking on water, and announcing that Jesus was the Christ; we’ve known he had this in him – but something’s changed. He’s not acting like a person acts when he or she is insecure and anxious. Not at all.
You can only give the kind of speech he gave here, unprepared and impromptu, when you aren’t battling anxiety. This is Peter, secure, peaceful, unafraid.
Next chapter, it continues.
3 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
6Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
"...what I do have, I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene - walk!"
What Peter had to give was authority.
Authority can only be exercised effectively when one is secure. (Seizing the man’s hand, raising him up...)
And what Peter had also was that he could walk after having been a cripple himself, metaphorically speaking. The transformation we’ve seen already in Peter is mirrored in this beggar. Begging, crippled to standing upright, walking, leaping, entering the temple, praising God. Peter is giving away what he himself has received from God. Who gives away what they’ve received? People who are secure and unafraid do, confident that they will be provided for.
We’ll stop here in the story, for now. There’s one more bit of it that we’ll get to next week, but for now, I think we can already see what an incredible difference the Holy Spirit makes in Peter.
Which Peter is more likely to be experiencing life as Jesus is training and inviting him to experience it? Which Peter is more likely to be growing and thriving?
Which Peter is more likely to ask God to address his needs for
Subsistence
Protection
Affection
Understanding
Participation
Leisure
Creation
Identity
Freedom?
The Peter with the Holy Spirit, that’s which Peter.
Which Peter is the true Peter?
Peter, like any one of us, is this extraordinary mix of personality and experience and dreams and passions and hurts and strengths and weaknesses, and like all human beings, vulnerable and flawed. Before the Holy Spirit he’s all those things but he’s also profoundly alone, anxious, afraid, and insecure in the face of a dangerous and sometimes cruel world. With the Holy Spirit he’s all those things – including vulnerable and flawed – but he’s also profoundly not alone, secure in his belonging with God, confident that he is beloved and cared for and provided for. And that changes everything.
God desires and offers that for each and every one of us through the gift of the Holy Spirit made possible in Jesus’ saving work on the cross.
This kind of transformation we see in Peter is the work of the Holy Spirit, in cooperation with the person. It’s not like a magic pill or some kind of hypnotic spell – we’ll talk about that more, next week. It’s, at the most basic level, what happens when God himself is present to a person who receives and cooperates with him. And God is presenting himself to us through the Holy Spirit.
Practical Suggestions (a 3 minute guided exercise, to try now and practice each morning):
1. Remember a Life experience. Bring to mind the time you last experienced life.
2. Consider your Life strategy. Think about the ways you’ve been trying to get more of it, the ways you’ve been trying to either get your needs met yourself (the posturing or the sword or the lying) or insulate yourself from the pain of not having them met.
3. Consider Jesus’ approach. Decide whether or not you trust Jesus’ approach that the way forward is actually bringing your needs to God to address.
4. Take stock of your fear. Consider the role fears or anxieties or insecurities play in keeping you from trying Jesus’ approach.
5. Ask God for the gift of his Holy Spirit, for him to make himself present to you in a new way for you to receive and cooperate with.
No comments:
Post a Comment