Spiritual Disciplines #9: Confession

          We now turn to the first of what Richard Foster, in his book, Celebration of Discipline, calls the corporate disciplines: the discipline of confession.

          Most of us have an idea of what confession is.  Confession is simply, after thorough self-examination, admitting our sin, as it says in the fifth step of twelve step programs, “to ourselves, to God, and to another human being.”  As hard as it is to confess our sins to ourselves and to God, confessing to another person is a downright terrifying idea for most of us.  We Protestants have been taught to be suspicious of the Roman Catholic idea of confessing our sins to a priest.  However, history has been teaching us that we Protestants may have thrown many babies out with the bathwater during the Reformation and that there is much wisdom in some of the practices we have rejected out of hand, even if some adjustments need to be made.

          It is true that many of our day-to-day sins can be dealt with “just between us and God,” but there may come a time when we need someone with whom to share our struggle and who can offer us assurance of God’s forgiveness.  That is why confession is both a private and a corporate discipline.  The Bible promises that if we confess our sins God will forgive us (1 John 1:9). The Bible encourages us to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another (James 5:16). The Bible gives us the authority to assure one another of God’s forgiveness (John 20:23).  While I am always ready to help anyone with this, the person to whom you confess need not be a pastor, any mature Christian can offer this. 

A couple pieces of advice in case you should be chosen by another to hear a confession.  Frist, listen, you are not there to trade stories or to share your experiences.  Second, take the sin seriously.  Third, you must not be shocked by the sin, nor should you act as if it is not a big deal.  Fourth, offer assurance of God’s grace and forgiveness.  Fifth, and most importantly, keep your conversation confidential.  The only exception to this would be if you are concerned about someone’s safety.  If that is the case, ask them to go with you to the pastor, or other appropriate authority.  If they will not go with you, tell them that you are going anyway and do so immediately.

As I said, this may be uncomfortable territory for most of us, but it is what it takes for us to truly be the church for one another and for our community. 

Pastor Brian.

Spiritual Disciplines #8: Service

          In Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster uses the story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet from John 13:1-17 as the ultimate illustration of the spiritual discipline of service.  The context that Foster gives for this story is the ongoing discussion among the disciples, recorded in many places in the gospels, about which of them is the greatest and which of them is the least.

          The act of foot washing was not just a ritual or cultural thing in Jesus’ time; in a desert climate where everybody wore sandals, if any shoes at all, it was a practical necessity.  As an act of basic hospitality, a host would provide a servant, the lowest servant in the house, maybe even a child, to wash the feet of the guests as they arrived.  At the very least, the host would have a basin available for the guest to wash their own feet.

          Neither servant nor basin was present as Jesus and the disciples gathered in the upper room that night, and none of the disciples, who were all still trying after three years to figure out their pecking order, was about to volunteer.  Of course, if Jesus had asked one of them to wash feet, I am sure that one would have said, “My privilege, Lord,” while simultaneously thinking two very different things in his heart, “Why does Jesus always make me do all the dirty work?” and, “Ha-ha, guys look who Jesus picked!”  (Foster will go on in the chapter to talk about the difference between selfish and selfless service.)

          Then Jesus himself, who “knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God (John 10:3),” got up and performed the service needed. (All true godly service comes from a secure knowledge of who we are in Christ.  Insecure people may try to get attention by service, but they can never truly serve.) 

Peter’s head almost explodes!  Peter is unable to accept service.  Sometimes, it takes as much humility, or more, to allow other people the opportunity to serve as it does to serve.  In a way, allowing others to serve us may itself be a form of service.  If service is a spiritual discipline that each of us needs to practice in order to grow in faith, then how will any of us grow if we do not allow ourselves to be served sometimes?

          Jesus message is simple: my followers serve others.  In serving others we build the spiritual virtue of humility.  We serve not because people need to be served, and certainly not because they deserve it, but because we need to serve.  We do not serve primarily to “help people” or to “make the world a better place,” and certainly not to make ourselves, or our church, feel good or look good.  We serve because service glorifies God and makes us better disciples.  The fact that people are helped and the world is made better are blessings that God adds to our service.  So, go and find a person or a place to serve today.  Start small, but get started.      

Spiritual Disciplines #7: Submission

Submission is not a popular word.  For many of us, the word submission conjures up imagines of abuses of power, past and present, in government, in workplaces, in families, and even in churches.  In Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster is quick to say that when authority is being destructive, when it is hurting people, submission is not required and, in fact, resistance might be necessary.

All of that, however, does not relieve us from the responsibility of practicing the spiritual discipline of submission.  Often, I have found that the people to whom I am being called to submit are not evil, they are simply mistaken, or not even mistaken, they are just not doing things the way I would do them.  One of the hardest things, I think, for young people to learn is that their boss may not be as smart as they are, yet they must do as they say.  If it is not an issue of moral compromise, we must submit to proper authority.  When it is an issue of moral compromise, we must “obey God rather than people,” (Acts 5:29) and be ready to face the consequences.

Foster says that the great benefit of submission is that it relieves us from the burden of having to be in charge all the time.  It is simply letting another have their way and not insisting that we get our own way all the time.

Foster also says that Christian submission is founded in Christian freedom.  The Christian voluntarily submits to authority, God’s authority and human authority, following the example of Jesus Christ who “became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8)  

It is through this lens that we can understand commands in the New Testament like “slaves obey your masters” (Ephesians 6:5 and others) which is given “for the sake of the gospel.” (1 Corinthians 9:23)  Clearly, Jesus was not in favor of slavery, but his message to slaves was, “You are free, and now because you are free, submit for the sake of the gospel.”  If the infant church in the first century Roman Empire would have gone around telling slaves not to obey their masters, it would have hindered the spread of the gospel and it would not have ended well for the slaves. 

Of course, these verses should never have been used to condone slavery as such, but we can transfer this idea of submission into our modern working world.  Christians should be the best and most obedient citizens and employees for the sake of the gospel, except when asked to make a moral compromise.  The better citizens and employees we are, the more attractive the gospel is and the more God receives the glory.  By the way, I employee the same logic as above to understand the New Testament passages about the status and role of women.  “Wives submit to your husbands” (Ephesians 5:22) meant something different in the first century than it does in the twenty-first century.

Our first submission is to God and God’s Word.  Then we are called to submit to our families, our church, our employers, and to our government at various levels.  When we submit for the sake of Jesus Christ, we become more Christ-like and we draw others to Christ.

Spiritual Disciplines #6: Solitude/Silence

           In Psalm 46:10 God says, “Be still and know that I am God,” but we live in a world in which stillness is simply not tolerated. If we have even a moment of unoccupied time out comes the smart phone or in go the earbuds.  I am as guilty of this as anybody.

However, if we take Psalm 46:10 literally, we might conclude that the only way to know God is to be still.  If we feel the need to constantly entertain (distract) ourselves, we will not be able to know God at a deep level.  The reason for this is that, while God can and does often speak to us through other people and various forms of media, God connects to us most deeply in our inner thought life when we take time to turn our thoughts toward him.

Of course, Psalm 46:10 is also true if we turn it around.  We are able to be still when we know that God is God, that God is in control, that God can and will take care of us.  We can be still when we trust that God can run the universe without our help.  Psalm 46:10 invites us to be still in order to know God better and, because we know God, to be still.

As I have said, stillness, silence, and solitude does not come easy for most of us.  For this reason, in Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster recommends that we begin by taking advantage of the “little solitudes” of daily life.  Perhaps the next time we have to make a long drive by ourselves, we might for some of the time, leave the radio off and allow God to speak to us in our thoughts.  To get started just take five minutes to be quiet and still and think about Psalm 46:10.  Soon enough you may find that you can pass longer periods of time alone with God.

Spiritual Disciplines #4: Study

           As we continue our series on the spiritual disciplines from Richard Foster’s book Celebration of Discipline, we come to the last of what Foster calls the “inward disciplines.”  This time we are looking at the discipline of study.

Of course, our first subject of study, as Christians, is the Bible, and we should all know by now that we do not read the Bible simply for information, and most of us are likely very dutiful at reading the Bible devotionally, such as reading The Daily Bread or Upper Room or a devotional guide.  Reading the Bible devotionally is a vital part of the Christian life.  This kind of reading could be called reading for inspiration.  The goal of practicing the discipline of study, or any of the spiritual disciplines, is not information, nor even inspiration, but transformation.

When reading the Bible, or any text, we need to read to understand to apply.  The questions to ask ourselves while reading are: What does it say? What does it mean? What does it mean to me?  Far too often when we read Scripture we want to skip ahead to the last question, in fact in group Bible studies we often ask each other, “What does this verse say to you.?”  To really study the Bible, we need to first, take in the actual words that are printed on the page as they are.  Next, we need to try to determine what the Holy Spirit through the biblical authors was trying to communicate to the original audience and to the Church throughout time.  This is what the passage means.  Finally, firmly rooted in the words of the text and in God’s intended meaning, we can begin to discern how to apply the text to our lives.  Foster says, that for some people and in some situations these steps may require three separate readings, but with practice, all three can often be done simultaneously.

Foster says that while the Bible is the primary focus of our study, we should also study other religious and literary writings, other people, nature, and, most importantly, ourselves.  As Methodists, we often say that our reading of Scripture is informed by reason, our own best thinking and that of others in our community, tradition, the best of the thinking of the historical church, and experience, our own spiritual experiences and those of others.

The real breakthrough in my understanding of the Bible, and to be sure there are still parts of it that I do not fully grasp, came not as the result of college or seminary, although those certainly helped.  No, the real breakthrough came when I changed from reading the Bible for information or inspiration to reading the Bible for transformation.  Many people try to read the Bible and make it fit their lives and their opinions.  They look to the Bible to find justification for what they want and how they want to live.  When I read the Bible, I am trying to find out how God wants me to live and to become who he wants me to be.  I seek to wrap my life around the Bible, rather than to wrap the Bible around my life.  When you do that, I promise you from experience, the Holy Spirit will help you understand and your life will be changed.

Spiritual Disciplines #3: Fasting

Fasting is voluntarily abstaining from food for a specific period of time for spiritual purposes.  Closely related to fasting is the practice of abstinence, which is the abstaining from certain foods for a period of time.  The idea of fasting and abstinence is all about discipline and self-denial, learning how to say “no” to oneself, and focusing on God.  Fasting is always accompanied by prayer.

In Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster writes, “In a culture where the landscape is dotted with shrines to the Golden Arches and an assortment of Pizza Temples, fasting seems out of place, out of step with the times.”  For this reason, the ancient practice of fasting may be more important in our time than ever before.  It is important to note that while fasting may have some physical health benefits, it is primarily a spiritual exercise.

Before I describe how one might fast it is necessary to note that fasting is not for everyone.  For some with certain health conditions skipping even one meal may not be advised.  However, one can still abstain from certain foods at particular times, for example, giving up chocolate during Lent.  This is also sometimes called a partial fast.

Fasting is simply the skipping of one or more meals.  The “rules’ for your fast are between you and God, unless you are part of a group that agreed to a group fast.  Some choose to allow themselves juice during their fast, others do not.  Some choose to fast a whole day or more.  Some choose a “daylight” fast which, during the winter months at least, would allow for breakfast and dinner at normal times.  A daylight fast is practiced by Muslims during the month of Ramadan.  Because Ramadan is a lunar month it sometimes occurs during summer which, in our part of the world, can make this fast very difficult.  There is also a practice known as “skip-a-meal” in which people skip one meal a week which, in addition to the spiritual benefits of fasting, makes them more aware of world hunger and then donate the money they would have spent on the meal to a hunger program.  Anyway, like I said, the “rules” are up to you or the people with whom you are fasting.

I have to confess, I am kind of a weakling when it comes to this.  My fast is lunch one day a week, usually Tuesdays.  So, I would like to invite you, especially with Lent approaching to join me in fasting at least one meal a week, or abstaining from a certain food for at least one day a week.  In fact, let’s make it a “skip-a-meal” and donate the money to our Food Pantry.  Let us fast and pray (and give) together and see what God will do in us and in our churches. 

Spiritual Disciplines #2: Prayer

This month we continue our discussion about spiritual disciplines, following Richard Foster’s book, Celebration of Discipline, with a discussion on the discipline of prayer.

Prayer is talking to God.  I have often called prayer a wish properly addressed.  What do I mean by that?  If we sent a letter, or an email, but did not put on it the correct address, it would not arrive at its destination.  Too often we express our wishes, our hopes, our dreams, and our fears, to ourselves, to others, or even just to the air around us.  Too often even what we call our prayers are merely addressed “to whom it may concern,’ rather than being addressed directly to God.

Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Anxiety, worry, is the direct opposite of prayer.  Or, as I said before, prayer is worry properly addressed.  Imagine how much, and how deeply, you would pray if you took every worry, every wish, every hope, every fear and addressed it to God in prayer rather than simply talking to yourself, or others, about it.  Imagine if every time you said, “Oh my God,” or “Thank God,” it really was a prayer and not just an expression.

One of the greatest difficulties many people have with prayer is knowing what to say.  Of course, sometimes we don’t have to say anything.  Romans 8:26 says, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through groaning too deep for words.”  And, while there is a danger of falling into overly formal and repetitive prayer, (Matthew 6:7) many people find it useful to use some kind of pattern or outline for their prayer time.  Many of you may have heard me talk about the ACTS model or “The four things to say to God every day.”

·         Adoration – “I love you.” – We praise God and tell him we love him.

·         Confession – “I’m sorry.” – We confess our sins and ask for forgiveness.

·         Thanksgiving – “Thank you.” – We thank God for all that we have.  “Count your blessings.”

·         Supplication – “Please…” – We ask God for the things we need, for ourselves, and others.

I believe that prayer changes things, but the first thing that prayer changes is the one who prays. Foster said, “In prayer, real prayer, we begin to think God’s thoughts after him.”  I have found, over and over again, that when I really pray about something, especially in the area of inter-personal relationships, that while I am praying, my perspective begins to change and I am able to see things more clearly and positively.  Having said that, I can also tell you about many times that God has come through for me and my family and our churches in real concrete ways in direct answer to prayer.

But what if the answer is “no?”  Sometimes God says, “no.”  There is simply no other way to put it.  That is God’s right as God.  We pray for the healing of a loved one, but instead God takes them to heaven.  (Not really much to complain about there, if we really think about it.)  We pray for the new job, but God seems to want us right where we are.  All we can do is trust that what God wants for us, in the long run, is better than what we want for ourselves in the moment.  Garth Brooks sang, “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.”  I would only correct that by saying that God answers every prayer but sometimes the answer is “no.”

I leave you with the prayer of St. John Chrysostom and early church father from the 4^th Century: “Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.”