Serving Others: That's The Spirit

I was thinking last Wednesday about what it means to be filled with the Spirit. Now with a starter for ten like that I’m aware how many people might be turned off this blog entry straight away. In any case I continue.

My experience of being filled with the Spirit has been closely associated to ecstatic expression. Growing up in a particular church culture being filled with the Spirit was linked to making loud noises of praise and acclaim at certain points during a sermon and when the speaker or singer or whoever was emotionally moved by what they were offering. Perhaps they likewise might get ecstatic, jumpy, shouty and type of thing.

Now I don’t decry that at all – I still get caught up in such expressions from time to time and don’t see them as all bad at all. The problem is where our definition of being filled with the Spirit is limited to those expressions. To be fair as well to my upbringing, I hardly heard people testify of experiencing being filled with the Spirit and being led into a wilderness. There were no testimonies of having the Spirit leading to proclaiming good news to the poor, recovery of sight to the blind, broken-hearted mended, those in captivity released, those bound set free and all hearing that this is the year of the Lord’s favour.

What made matters worse for me last Wednesday as I pondered further was this rather convicting verse in the gospel according to Mark.

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)

Then it all began to be a bit clearer. The Spirit-filled life is one of the miraculous and the extraordinary – of that there should be no doubt. It should also be accompanied by rejoicing and exclamations fitting such wondrous occasions. There is this key element in being Spirit filled however that allows me to live like Jesus expressing His character all the time and His mentality. That mentality is not really about the ecstatic more than it is for being a servant.

Now of course anyone who jumps up and down and says that this applies to Jesus alone as He is the only one who has laid His life for many would be absolutely right. And absolutely wrong. The context suggests that this mentality of service is the heartbeat of any follower of Christ and this is the Master saying He shows the way in the fulfilment of His mission.

So imagine that then, being Spirit-filled is about serving others and serving them as Jesus served us – whole-heartedly, compassionately and with a desire that we should see God for who He is through these acts of grace.

That thought was bothering me all last Wednesday then on and off during the week. You see I want to be fruitful and productive in whatever I’m doing and now I am more than ever convicted that this is as much about having a Christ-like servant approach to relationships than ever before.

Just when I think it’s safe to dwell on that thought I have a night like tonight. As you know, I work for the North Staffs YMCA as a Christian Spiritual Development Worker which is really all about creating opportunities for especially the young people who reside there to get to know more about faith and Christ can make a good difference in life. Almost like creating gospel opportunities in the context of developing relationships.

One of the outlets for that is a Monday evening session called Chill, Chat and Connect where we do what it says get to know young people and offer them the chance to do activities and projects that particularly intrigue them. Two months ago one member of the team who did not strike me as particularly bold and confident suggested turning the canteen into a restaurant. People were behind the idea and it grew from there.

What was amazing about it was that this was an opportunity for the customers – the people who are the recipients of the services provided for them to support them in life’s journey, were now turning around and serving a number of their workers. There they were, voluntarily serving them and giving them top quality service at that in terms of food content and quality hospitality.

I was blown away by the quality of service and how well they did – more in a report that will be on the YMCA’s web-site. So there was all I’d been reading about in front of me – serving people is what it really means to be Spirit-filled and drawing them as a result closer to the Kingdom of God that is all about hospitality as that engenders the feeling of being at home and feeling relaxed enough to experience the healing that comes with that.

No, the young people on a whole are not born-again Christians and who’s to say they ever will be, but to see that in action was a testimony to me of what Jesus was talking about and how serving others with that level of sacrifice and gentle attitude is what it’s all about – indeed that’s the Spirit.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

Grace Expressions: A Lovely Day

This blog has been banging on about this, that and the other of late and I just wanted to use this entry to express my gratitude to God for life.

This morning I was part of a prayer meeting that looked at Jesus’ manifesto announcement in Luke 4 then his subsequent reminder to John the Baptist through the disciples that these things were happening before a final vision in Revelation 21 of a new heaven and new earth where there will be no issues like sadness, suffering and death. As we reflected on the past, present and future realities of God’s Kingdom I started thinking about what heaven would be like.

Now by heaven, I am of course referring to that ideal state of being that we think of when we talk of heaven, not the location of God’s residence or indeed the stuff that we look at up there. Whenever I hear people talking about going to heaven that is what I believe people are referring to, especially seeing as though that vision of Revelation 21 and backed up in 2 Peter is that we’re not really going to be in ‘heaven’ per se as what will be the point of a new earth.

Semantics aside, I was reflecting on those visions of idyll that strike the mind from time to time. It took everything in me not to be overcome with tears at the thought of blissfully looking at dear friends enjoying each other’s company, chatting, laughing, playing, having fun, playing music, sharing food and drink – celebrating life.

I continued to get all nostalgic about some good days and times in my life. I will leave waxing lyrical about 2006 until I continue the Fasting series. What I can say is that if I was asked to make a point of the best time in my life I would struggle to come up with a better time than 2006 – it was a golden age for my spiritual development and life fulfilment, as I mentioned more later on.

It is understandable under these circumstances to kind of neglect what’s going on today. Perhaps become mournful at how things are not what they used to be. Then I had the day like I had today. I didn’t deserve it. There was nothing I could do to earn it. You could put it down as an expression of grace.

So there was that awesome prayer meeting to which I was referring previously. Then I had a constructive session packing up my stuff. Yeah I’m on the move again, this time from my office space to another place. More on that perhaps in another blog, perhaps not, but just to say I’m on the move again and it required me to pack up my stuff quickly. Knowing how much I love packing and moving (as well as here and here) it was actually alright hence the praise for a constructive session.

Then I had a sound lunch with my dear friend, Ray. That was followed by finally replacing the only pair of footwear I wear outside which was falling apart. I got a fair deal on it and it fits well, so I’m grateful for that. Then I was able to get some snappin for the bairns in the yard. (TRANSLATION: I went to Sainsbury’s to purchase goods that would particularly benefit our children.) I returned home to catch an hour’s nap before taking out my daughters to the library.

I am one of the richest men on the planet. I thought that as I walked with my two daughters to the library on this cool and relaxing Thursday evening. I looked at Abigail and Deborah and thought to myself that these two girls by the grace of God will grow to be outstanding women of God attracting the attention of honourable suitors and ending up with men who will further enrich the family in terms of material value but more importantly by their character and spiritual commitment to Christ. The same thought captured me on the way home from the library and what a blessing it is to spend what time I can with them, giving them the liberty to explore and find out more about themselves.

All of this on my favourite day of the week where I get to go out and have some library time with them before treating them to their Thursday Treat of their chocolate/sweet. It is such a tremendous blessing that I’m happy to take this time to highlight it and give God thanks for these blessings.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

For A Laugh

I cannot recall the last time I watched an entire stand-up comedy show on television. You know the likes of Richard Pryor, Lee Evans, Bill Cosby, Billy Connolly, Jack Dee or whoever. Now on one really wacky outing I purchased a Robin Williams stand-up routine on DVD. That was years ago and not too long after I gave it away. I remember back a few years and a friend treated me to go to a theatre and watch Harry Hill and that was good.

One of my good friends at the moment is Andy Kind who is a stand-up comedian by trade – and a good one as far as I know. I admire stand-up comedians and one of my current heroes looks to them as almost modern day prophets who can actually convey a lot of observational truth on the state of the world.

Tonight for the first time in a long time I sat through a stand-up routine – Chris Rock: Never Scared. Chris Rock is not Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy or Bill Cosby. I can see why he’s so popular and highly rated, he’s a clever guy. I didn’t find what he did laugh out loud hilarious and watched on with some bemusement as to how the audience was ‘rolling in the aisles’ at the material. I guess my American cousins would wander why I find some of the stuff I find so hilarious that way. For all that I understood why it was funny and yet beyond that I saw how the material when you scratched the surface and sometimes raw on the surface was social and political commentary that was thought provoking as well as humorous.

I still need to understand why there’s a need for such a propensity to profanity. There’s something as well about the return to sex-related jokes that seems to always be a winner. Talk about basic instincts – it’s as though because it’s so raw and so close to home and so in touch with the human experience that it’s the easiest thing to get a laugh out of. Right there with the profanity and the vulgar there’s a reference to sex and violence that depicts a lot of society and cannot ever be addressed without the push to make us laugh about it.

I don’t want to have to filter so much rubbish to get the gems from such a performance. I would love to see people just being creative without having to hit those marks. I would love to admire the cleverness of these men and actually take a journey that’s positive and life-affirming and building, possibly towards the heart of the gospel and kingdom living. I understand that because of the way of the world this may not be that likely, but that’s why I pray for comedians like Andy Kind and his mate Tony Vino, so that they can push through some light in the dark world of comedy.

Isn’t it ironic that something that produces a reaction that should leave us feeling better about ourselves, something that is so appealing in a child – laughter – isn’t actually used as a medicine to heal but a method to make us laugh at how ridiculous life really is. When I read about laughter being a good medicine and contrast it with what it takes to make people laugh today I so long for people to enjoy the real fullness of joy to be found in God’s presence where you can have a laugh and it’s at no one’s expense, but for everyone’s uplifting.

For His Name's Sake
Shalom
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