Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
3/10/2021
An Anxious Christian is Easily Distracted.
I read an article about anxiousness and prayer that opened my eyes to see a deeper story. Jesus says these words in John 10: “I came that they might have life and have it abundantly”. The theme of life and fullness of life runs through this chapter in the miracle and in the “I am” saying. But it runs also through the narrative of the chapter. The fulness of life, what it means to be human, is modeled and lived by Jesus Christ.
What does it mean to be human?
It means to be contemplative, to be compassionate, to be courageous.
We are in much of our life an anxious church, an anxious people in an anxious world. An anxious church finds compassion very difficult. We are worried about preserving our own life. An anxious church finds courage very hard. We want to stay with the familiar pathways. An anxious church is easily distracted from what is really important, like the Martha of Luke’s gospel. An anxious church is likely to be far too busy to be good news to the world.
The antidote to anxiety is dwelling deep in God: in contemplation.
The many different communities we serve need a contemplative church. The people around us who are like sheep without a shepherd need a church that is willing to take God seriously. We are really no earthly use without a heavenly dimension. We are a poor social club. We are not the society for the preservation of ancient buildings. Without prayer, we can easily become an empty group of do-gooders concerned more for our own survival than for the salvation of the world.
Knowledge abounds in this generation. But wisdom remains scarce.
Facts seem plentiful but truth is rare.
Trends and fashions abound but
where is the wisdom on which a person can build their lives?
I quote a short extract from Rowan Williams. The quotation is from his address on Contemplation and Evangelism given to the Synod of Bishops in Rome in 2012. The full address is available on the web. Rowan argues that contemplation is essential to the life of the Church because of the need to detach ourselves from the culture and act independently.
“In this perspective, contemplation is very far from being just one kind of thing that Christians do: it is the key to prayer, liturgy, art and ethics, the key to the essence of a renewed humanity that is capable of seeing the world and other subjects in the world with freedom – freedom from self‐oriented, acquisitive habits and the distorted understanding that comes from them. To put it boldly, contemplation is the only ultimate answer to the unreal and insane world that our financial systems and our advertising culture, and our chaotic and unexamined emotions encourage us to inhabit. To learn contemplative practice is to learn what we need so as to live truthfully and honestly and lovingly. It is a deeply revolutionary matter.”
Jesus's deep relationship with the Father enables him to offer meaning and significance and perspective on the otherwise random events of life. That meaning is vital in order to live reflective lives. In order to be fully human.
The Church is called to model what it means to be fully human, to live life in fellowship and community with God, to bring the sacred and the holy into ordinary life, to live life in all its fullness.
We are the Church.
There are many different ways to pray: as many ways as there are people. The Church needs all of them. In saying that we are called to be contemplative I do not want to say that we are to prefer one way of prayer above another. But I am saying that our first calling is to rest in God, to dwell deep, to abide in the vine so that we might live the abundant life and be a channel of God’s grace.
May God give us grace to be together with a contemplative, compassionate, and courageous church.
Will you not stop and pray with us and your family for one hour this week?
He listens!
You Keep On Getting Better (feat. Majesty Rose) – Maverick City Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMEGUx7MfCM
The article is taken from: https://www.oxford.anglican.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/170517-Lazarus-1.pdf
