Be Here Now

"He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap. Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things. Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good." --Ecclesiastes 11:4-6

Sometimes it is easier to watch the wind and to look at the clouds than to be here now. There's always something beyond the horizon, something big on its way, something higher to attain... this is what I often choose rather than learning to love God, believe in His love for me, and serve Him while in this imperfect skin of mine -- right here, right now.

There are some pretty drastic implications in living this way. I forsake believing that this imperfect skin is, in fact, lavished with grace and is acceptable on that basis. This thinking will often lead me to the conclusion that it is some future version of me who is approved and has the pleasure of being called the 'Real Kristine' -- the true child of God, the better friend, the better girlfriend, the better employee, the better deacon -- rather than the woman who is found sitting at a computer typing out the various spillings and overflows of her heart. I will also deceive myself into thinking that joy is surely on its way -- definitely not here yet -- and is somehow not available to me right now. It's a similar case with healing, transformation, contentment... a plethora of stuff covered at the 'Walking with Jesus 101' class that seems to come back for 201, 301, 401... because it's sometimes allusive and needs frequent revisitation.

In God's economy, one is to be faithful with little and will then be deemed faithful with much. This certainly includes issues of character. If we are constantly looking to the clouds for the 'next big thing' or our 'next character breakthrough', we will ignore the small things and His work in them. We will ignore the identity that we have been given in Him NOW that enables us to do the sowing and reaping that we need to do NOW, whether in regard to the responsibilities on our respective plates or the pulling the weeds and tares out of our hearts to make room for the good that God so earnestly wants to cultivate (and has already cultivated!) in, through and with us. We must be careful to attend to the land that we have been bestowed -- here and now. We must be diligent to sow in the morning, do the work before us while there's still time, and not be idle at night. Who knows what God is doing?

The answer is: a lot. And it's all good. And it's all glorifying to Him. May I have the sense to be here right now, embrace it, and enjoy it.

Top 5 Sermons of the Year

Last night, I was provoked to think about my 'top 5' Living Stones sermons of 2008... I thought it might be a good exercise in looking at what God has done this year, so here it goes... in chronological order:

1. January '08 - Breathe In/Breathe Out - Parts One & Two [I love sermons that highlight our identity in Christ and our subsequent identity as a community. This series was a dose of fresh vision for me. I'm justifying the fact that I'm mashing 2 sermons into 1 with the fact that you cannot breathe in without breathing out... so there.]
2. March '08 - Love To Death - Betrayal [Harvey and Bobby taught this sermon together and it was one of the most impactful sermons I've heard at LS -- ever. It contrasted the betrayal of Judas with the denial Peter and addressed the potential for these attributes which reside in each one of us. Key moment: the look that Jesus gives to Peter as he carries the cross that would ultimately bear the sin of Peter's very denial. It'll cut you to the core and purge the selfishness, doubt, pride and fear right out of you. Freedom from the guilt of betrayal (both from our hands and the hands of others) is found in abundance at the cross.]
3. April '08 - Good Friday [It wasn't a 'sermon', per se, but the Holy Spirit brought it that night... Danny preached on the Crucifixion with an astonishing amount of zeal, thoughtfulness, compassion and conviction. I don't think anyone left that night without feeling the weight of glory that Christ wrought for us on the cross.]
4. August '08 - Integrated Humanity - Suffering and Prayer [Another one from Danny Daley -- the realities of suffering and prayer were preached with candidness. We looked at the lives of Joseph and Job in order to cultivate a biblical response to suffering -- ultimately, patience. Prayer should be approached similarly. But in all things -- dependence on God.]
5. November '08 - Ecclesia - The Body of Christ [The last 5 minutes of Harvey's sermon said it all: STOP LIVING FOR SMALL THINGS. Enough said.]

Worth mentioning are two services that -- as a whole -- were incredibly impactful. The Easter gathering in April and the 'Tricky' gathering in March were oozing with creativity and new ways to tell the story of Jesus. Ambient video loops, worshipful music, scripture readings with unique instrumental accompaniment, shadow screens, Jesus' ninja-logic... good stuff.