Making God's Kingdom Visible
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Andrew
We've begun a series at Napier Baptist on "Making God's Kingdom Visible" because I believe that is the call to the church. This week the sermon text is Lk. 4:16-30. This text has probably impacted me more than any other when it comes to understanding something of the mission of Jesus. I believe this passage (epecially the quote from Isaiah) is the key to understanding Luke's gospel (as well as who Jesus is and what was his message in the gospel of Luke). I came across this prayer in my reading this week - it seems to hard and unrealistic for me to pray. What do you reckon...?
Prayer for the Gift of Poverty:
Lord Jesus, I ask you for a new fullness of the charism [gift] of poverty. I ask you to reveal to me my inordinate attachments, my holding on to things or to persons, my 'richness' that keeps me from saying a more complete yes to you.
I surrender to you my excessive search for material comforts, and whatever material goods I have that I do not really need to serve you.
I surrender to you my excessive need for attention, for acclaim and applause. I surrender my selfish ambition, my search for honours, my vain glory and my pride.
I surrender to you my possesiveness of those whom I love. Teach me to love freely, leaving others free, teach me to love with an open hand. Teach me to love more and better.
Give me the interior poverty that depends on you and not on the world's acceptance. Teach me to enter by the narrow gate that leads to life. You are that gate, Lord, let me follow you, taking up my cross.
For you alone, Lord, are my portion. I have no inheritance, for you are my inheritance; I want no possessions, for you are my possession (Ez. 44:28).
- Robert Faricy in John Fuellenbach, Proclaiming His Kingdom: Meditations for Personal Recollection (Manila: Logos Publications, 1994).
9:16 PM
I'm feeling guilty leaving a comment since I'm sure it's meant to be for people in your Church only, but I see no problem with the prayer...mostly.
My reservations would be the idea of the "gift of poverty" and the idea that we should have nothing more than we need to serve God. These are concepts that can be taken to extreme and damage the actual good that comes from attacking our true idol of materialism.
Instead, I would agree with the ideas of asking God to help us not to idolise material wealth (or anything), to learn how to live in need or in plenty, to understand how to use our money to fulfill the command to love others as much as our selves. That in itself would radically change the way we Westerners live. Anything more is asking more than the Bible asks.
10:09 AM
That is a really big call. On the recent Youth Survivor weekend the lack of real coffee was an enormous deal for the adults, as was the bland diet of rice, and more rice, and more rice. We live in a society where waste is common, and excess the norm, and feel hard done by if we miss our luxuries. The weekend gave me insight into my wastefulness and wordly value system, and I am working hard to change these. It will be a while before I could shape up to the standards of the prayer though.
8:56 AM
Aother thing: I feel equating elective poverty with real poverty is patronising. There would be few hungry poor in Haiti (or Timor, or Maraenui) right now who would think of their situation as a gift.
Sometimes our privileged breast-beating misses the mark. We need to address waste and excess, and inequity, but if we CHOOSE poverty, we cannot assume the same footing as those who feel condemned to it.
9:33 AM
Please don't feel guilty at all Ali, this is an open blog that reflects our community - so comment away :)
Whilst the prayer may get my intellectual assent, I'm a long way from making it a reality in my life.
I totally agree with you Lauren about who are the poor? The poor aren't just those who have no food but also those who have no voice, no hope and no dignity. It's interesting in Luke's gospel to see that Jesus after his mission statement about the poor goes to Levi a rich tax collector (clearly an interpretation of someone who is poor). Levi, being a tax collector, would've been treated as a non-person by his fellow Jews for taking Jewish money and giving it to the hated Romans. Poverty (at least according to Jesus) is more than (but never less than) those who have no food.
4:51 PM
Great sermon on Sunday, Andy. Im really looking foward to this series...
Going to a school where probably 70% of students live in the Marenui area, it would be awesome to be able to do something with this call that we have as a church. Some of the stuff you hear about that goes on in these kids lives is so hard out...Its hard to believe that it happens just a few streets away from our Church.
It makes me feel so grateful for the life that I've been givin, and It would be awesome to help these people out in return
12:08 AM
Hey man, today was good stuff. I was bit unsure of your story about the adults at the camp towards the end of the sermon. The quote was, "I think you need to take off your halo," and after you said that sometimes that's exactly what we need to do. I just wondered what you thought the response to that situation should have been.
9:30 AM
Hey mate, I'd do exactly the same thing as Kaz and I think that was a responsible response (after all it's pretty dodgy to be on the booze when you're meant to be looking after kids). My point I was getting at was how eye opening this is and if we're to engage in mission in these places we will need to take off our halos. There was no slight on K or what she said, simply the point that mission is messy and we'll have to take off our halos.