On Sunday, I preached at church. The message God put on my heart went hand in hand with the one He gave me to teach earlier that week (See my previous post, Practice what you Teach).
The Lord has been highlighting to me how the ideas of "sacred" and "secular" no longer exist. Instead, now we have kingdom. And places, people, situations, attitudes, etc. can be rooted in the Kingdom of Heaven or in the Kingdom of this world. This is so beautiful, because Luke 12:32 tells us “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." We have rivers of living water flowing from within us, and so when we walk into a room, streams flow in the deserts. Life grows out of death, and hope is released in places of hopelessness. We speak and destiny grows. We step and water flows. We give a word and God plants seeds of truth that grow, choking out the lies of the enemy.
When we try to make ourselves fit in places we don't, we are miserable and we spread misery. That's what happens when you think that you have to fit into the system. For most of church history, we have believed that it is somehow more holy to be in the sacred sector. So you have all these people who definitely should not have been ministers trying to force themselves into that job. That's why, for those of you who have studied classic literature, almost every friar, parish priest, pastor, or preacher was painted as an incredibly tormented or tormenting person. It breaks my heart. We have so misrepresented Jesus. Jesus wasn't harsh, cold, cruel, or doubleminded. He was just obedient. There is peace in obedience. He only did what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19).
How freeing is that? If God has gifted you to do business, please do that. But if God has blessed you to teach, don't feel the need to do the responsible thing and work a day job. Teach! If we live in New Testiment style community and walk out Christ in me the hope of Glory (Col. 1:27), presenting our bodies as living sacrifices, which is our spiritual act of worhsip (Rom. 12:1), we will find joy even in the most difficult of circumstances. This is life.
I love Robert Farrar Capon. He embodies this; doing what you love and loving what you do. He wrote a beautiful book on the scandalous grace of God called Between Noon and Three, some of my favorite reflections on the parables of Christ, and a really great cookbook called The Supper of the Lamb.
In regards to this topic of enjoying our freedom to obey, he has this great quote that seems to be alluding me, somehow. Basically, his thoughts on the issue are this: "If you can't find some way to enjoy your ministry, then (for everyone else's sake, if not for your own) please stop." I laughed when I first heard it. But that is so true. Joy is, I believe, the clearest sign of the Spirit's presence, and so if you aren't experiencing joy, you may want to reexamine your motives and actions. In obedience, there is joy. In sacrifice, there is stress and striving, but in obedience, there is bliss.
When I was preparing my sermon, the clearest word God gave me was this: Obedience is a supernatural privilege that always leads to good fruit. And so I leave you with that. Be blessed, and learn to rest in His beautiful plan.
