Revisiting Ministries Retreat

From January 12: "I just got back from ministries retreat, and it was a time of such deep renewal. Soon, I hope to write up more of my reflections but for now this short post will suffice." 

Soon is a relative term, right?
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From a weekend of teaching from Dr. Levison and prayer.
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A vision of and summons to leadership:

"Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching." - Isaiah 42:1-4

Receive that. Take it upon yourself. Rest in the delight of God. You are the servant of the Lord, chosen and beloved. The Spirit is upon you. Leadership need not be loud and upfront. It is not for all to shout in the street. Lead with a whisper. Speak as to not blow out a candle before your lips. Lead in stillness, the quiet. Do not rush. Remain steadfast. 
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Isaiah 50:4-5. Let God awaken you. Listen - listen for a word. Encourage the downtrodden - sustain the weary with a word.
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Cut the expectations out - rid yourself of the image you hold of the perfect leader, an ideal you fail to meet. Rather, you, you yourself, follow and go forth.
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The Spirit is not just present on the mountaintops. The Spirit comes not only in the special and the spectacular. The Spirit is a powerful wind, yes, but also a quiet breath. Worship God with every breath. Be guided by the Spirit in the valleys too. The Spirit is present at the ash heaps. The Spirit is present in exasperation  when life is faint and gray, when all feels like death, still the Spirit of Life is there. Live an inspired life, the whole of it, heights, depths and plateaus. All is sacred.
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Break out of the chains of busyness. Cast down the idol of productivity. Live with the verbless spirituality of Daniel. Spirit of the Holy God in you. The Spirit here is not poured or filling but - . You may be inspired without having to do. You Spirit. You will not get backs on the back when you are verbless, but you will be restored. Stop scrambling and running. Rest in God's delight. Stand still loving and beloved.

Contemplation of the Cross

Flogged. Pierced. Ridiculed. Slapped. Burdened. Contorted. Crucified. This is the Cross of Christ. It is horrific. We adorn our churches with a symbol of death. This is what we hold up as a symbol of hope? 

We see in Grunewald’s painting Christ stretched out, his hands upturned impaled with the nails. His head is downcast and his body distorted. He is stripped bare. Blood drips down his body. This is the “wondrous cross?” This is what Christ call us to?

We cry lead me to Calvary. Do we know what we are saying?

The Son of God died. Have we heard it so much that we are no longer shocked? Jesus, God’s very self, Creator of all, the Most High, King of kings, Commander of the hosts of heaven, the Messiah, lowered himself and died.

Yet at his death, death too was slain. As John the Baptist proclaimed, Christ came to take away the sin of the world. Christ overcame sin not through power and might, but in death. He absorbs evil and suffering so that in his death, they die too. The light takes in the darkness, and the darkness cannot remain.

 Christ’s death is not a sacrifice to save us from God; it is God’s self-sacrifice to save us from sin, to save us from ourselves. It by his blood that God reconciles to himself all things.

This is our hope, this is our call. It is the wondrous cross full of sorrow and love. Christ’s love is abundant that he would die, that he would take the full horror of the cross so that we might live. But the cross is not just to be accepted and revered; we are not just to stand in awe, we are to follow. We see more fully in the cross, in his death, Christ’s call: “I am the way, the truth and the life.”