One in the Spirit #1

A question for you:

What do you think about the state of the world at the moment??

How are things going, what concerns or worries do you have, what are you seeing out there??

I wonder what comes to mind for you…

Zoom out >

• Conflict in the middle east > Israel, Palestine, Gaza, Iran as well
• Protests in LA around government actions on immigration & deportation, generally tensions and division around the impact of Donald Trump’s presidency

Zooming in >

• Locally > Queensland had a win the other night in a great game!
• Loads of new developments and upgrades happening in our local area, more people moving to the area and new infrastructure coming in to support that
• Even more locally > number of people who are unwell, having treatments across our community at the moment

Plenty going on, some of those things might have come to mind, I’m sure there are other concerns and issues we think of too.

When we observe world events, what’s happening in the world and what we see on the news: division, hatred even, serious conflict between nations and people, lots of bad things! We see all that in the world around us.

And we see it in our church as well, we see division, conflict, tension in our own church, here and across the country as people wrestle with what to do after the ordination vote at the end of last year. And there are plenty more issues our church faces too, like how are we reaching people, how are we connecting with people, how are we sharing the gospel and living faithfully?

So what do we do with what we see?

How do we handle all this, how do we respond to this, how do we see a future in the midst of all this bad stuff going on in the world and in the church…

Firstly, let’s take a moment! 

Let’s slow down, take a breath, not rushing to conclusions or spur-of-the-moment reactions. 

We need to take a moment here if we’re really going to consider the state of our soul, where our hearts and minds are at, not only our own thoughts, opinions and perspectives but what our good and gracious God has to say about all this.

Let’s take a look at some verses from Galatians we’ve heard this morning, where Paul writes a bit about God’s perspective: 

‘So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (3:26-28)

God speaks the language of our soul > he cuts deeper than surface level, he gets to the core of us and what’s going on around us, in him and through the work of the Holy Spirit we are called into something more than negativity, division, hatred, criticism, self-righteousness. Through the Holy Sprit we are called into ONE-NESS, oneness with the God who made us. A very different position there, not being blown around by the wind with whatever comes but firmly secured, anchored in the love of Jesus.

The examples I’ve just given are a snapshot of current affairs aren’t they, things that are going on or have been going on this year, the last few years. 

But what about before the last few years? What about across our lifetime, what about our ancestors and the ones who’ve gone before us, what about in the days of Jesus’ life on earth? Endless issues, conflicts, tensions, significant events! Too many to list or to count!

Do we think God has left the building when it comes to global events, things going wrong, problems coming up, all these issues continuing to pile up around us?

Do we think God used to be with his people, but he’s not anymore?

Do we think we’re on our own, cut off, helpless and blown around by the wind?

3 questions there, here are 3 answers for us this morning:

1. God is still here, he was always there, he will continue to be there. If God says he is with us, and we claim to be people who believe what God says, that means we take him at his word > he is here, he has always been here, he hasn’t gone and he isn’t going anywhere.
2. We might think it was easier for Jesus disciples than it is for us because they got to know Jesus in person, they were ‘closer to the source’ in a literal, physical sense. But if we go a bit deeper than surface level there we quickly see it was NOT easy for them, it was actually extremely difficult! Just about everything in a literal or physical sense is better for us! And we have the history of Jesus work in the world and the presence of the Holy Spirit with us to go on, we’ve got a bit more information than they had.
3. At times we do feel cut off, alone, blown around in the wind. The world can be a confusing and difficult place, but that’s where Jesus presence with us comes in. If we’re feeling blown around by the wind, we can remember the Holy Spirit is at work in a similar way > we can’t see the Spirit but we know he’s at work. When we think of the wind we can think again of the Holy Spirit, a good reminder how God is with us constantly and all through whatever comes our way. We are not blown around in an empty vacuum, we’re living and growing and sharing in the world God has made!

As God’s people TV, radio, newspapers are NOT our main source of information on the world around us. Neither is the internet, or what people around us might be saying, even our own thoughts on an issue > NONE of these things are our main, number one source of information on the world around us, how to deal with it, how to live in it. 

So what is? 

Easy answer, God’s word! Who God is, what God says and who he says we are > this is the number one source of information for us, the main thing, the thing we depend on, the most trustworthy source we can go to. Lasts longer than a news program, has more words and content for us to digest than a newspaper, comes from the creator of life itself. If we’re calling ourselves Christian people, that’s the source we want! That’s the source we keep going back to, that even goes with us.

How God sees the word and who he calls us to be in the world is NOT limited to our own ideas, thoughts, opinions, our limited perspective. He has a much bigger and better view of it all, he can always see much more than we can, and we have a window into that view through his word that he gives us > for our benefit. God’s word, the ways he reaches us in baptism and holy communion, prayer as well > these things are not for God’s benefit but for OURS. God doesn’t need anything from us, but we need everything from him.

We’re called into ONE-NESS with our God. Doing life with him, together in community, as God’s people together > not separate, isolated or alone but ONE with him, supported, encouraged and called by him to be who he says we are, despite and within what goes on in the world around us.

Such a powerful anchor-point there for us, next time we hear a bad news story or find ourselves slipping into a negative mindset about the state of things around us, we can find comfort and peace in the presence of our God with us. Of course there are negative things going on and some issues are complex and very hard for us to know what to do when we’re in the middle of them, but the key point is that God is right there with us.

And he has this to say to us, to you and me, to all baptized believers, and the door is wide open for all people to be ONE in the love of Jesus, ONE in the Spirit, ONE together as part of God’s family. Good news story right there, of hope, peace, comfort and joy. God’s peace go with you today, and in whatever you’re facing or struggling with at this time. He is with you, he cares for you, he knows you and he loves you. That’s the state of our soul in God’s eyes. Amen!