Happy Dependence Day!

With July 4th quickly approaching, Americans everywhere are making special plans to gather with family around the grill or pool, possibly even taking in an evening of fireworks, in order to celebrate our longstanding independence as a nation.  Independence and freedom have a special place in our culture. In fact, within the western mind, freedom could be named as one of the highest virtues, even worth the cost of one’s life.

As of note, Jesus also has much to say about freedom and liberty. In his inaugural address while speaking in the synagogue at Nazareth, he quotes Isaiah:

“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has appointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  Luke 4:18-19

But liberty that comes from Christ finds it genesis not in exhaustive rebellion seeking the independence of a sovereign.  Rather, true liberty finds its home only in utter “dependence” on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That dependence does not come naturally for you and I, especially in times of blessing. But as our model and despite his capabilities, Jesus relied entirely on the will of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit. His attitude was one that said, “by myself I can do nothing” (John 5:30).  He lived conscious of his dependence on the Father, for when he prayed, “he was heard because of his reverent submission” (Hebrews 5:7). 

Prayer is the conduit for our life empowering, perspective focusing, dependency on God. Relationship cannot exist without its constant practice and dependence gives way to self-sustaining shortsightedness.  Only when we fix our gaze through prayer upon the one who has created us to be a reflection of Himself, as a right image bearer of God, can we find freedom from self, liberty from sin, and life giving dependence on the giver of all that is good.

Happy Dependence Day!

Being made One

Over the last few months, our church has made the idea of “oneness” a unifying theme for our community and family of faith.  Upon becoming one we have worshipped together, shared meals together, played games together, and, yes, we have even hunted eggs together. As a result, our Kingdom community is being built and family ties are forming from week to week. For the average participant in a typical team building exercise or unifying endeavor, the adage goes, “practice makes perfect.” So one might think that the more we interact, the closer we will grow and as a result unity will flow out of the spiritual bonds that are formed. But Christ’s Church is not just a social community or team of which to show solidarity. Our family requires something deeper to draw us together.

            In his book Life Together Dietrich Bonhoeffer offers a few words to this effect. He states:

One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self- infatuation and despair. Let him who cannot be alone be aware of community. Let him who is not in community be aware of being alone. Along with the day of the Christian family fellowship together there goes the lonely day of the individual. This is as it should be. The day together will be unfruitful without the day alone, both for the fellowship and for the individual.

Bonhoeffer is saying that we cannot function properly in Christian fellowship without periods of solitude, specifically in prayer with our Heavenly Father. For the Christian, right speech and right fellowship are actually formed in the quiet times of reflective prayer and meditation. “Practice makes perfect” only when our relationships with one another flow out of THE relationship we have with the Father, facilitated most intimately by prayer.

            As a result I must ask myself, when was the last time I spent time with God like my family depended on it? What if my time with the Father was as sweet as my time with my wife or closest friend? How much closer could I be to my church community if my prayer life was at the forefront of all I do? This week, let’s take some time to prayerfully reflect on these questions as we journey in faith together.

In Christ,

John Bennett