Drawing Closer To God

Come into Simplicity

 

This morning, as we wake on our metaphorical cruise ship, we are still docked on the island of Simplicity.  It seems hard to leave.  Perhaps, it is hard to leave, because we really enjoy it here.  It is nice.  We enjoy the unhurried flow.  We enjoy the open people.  On the island of Simplicity, we have learned to treasure the gifts of God.  Only in relaxing our addiction to activity and giving up or obsession with having, can we learn to take simple pleasure in God's blessings.  In Simplicity, God blesses us beyond salvation with the enjoyment of this world; authentic relationships, fun playing with stuff and Happy meals!  Perhaps it is because of these beyond blessings, that we hesitate to leave the Island of Simplicity.

 

Or, perhaps, the reason it is hard to leave, is we are afraid we haven't got it.  We want to live here, yet, we fear if we move on, we will too quickly forget the pleasures of Simplicity.  We know the seduction of "More is Better".  We know that once we leave, "Busy is Important" will seep back into our thinking.  Off the island, the creepy, crawly fears of "What if" will settle in again.  We don't want to leave because we haven't got it yet.

 

Anyway, one more day can't hurt.  What's the hurry?  Let's spend one more day on the island of Simplicity and see if it will help us incorporate the lessons we have learned.  And besides all that, I want to explore Richard Foster's statement about internal and external. 

 

"The Christian Discipline of Simplicity is an inward reality that results in an outward life-style.  Both the inward and the outward aspects of simplicity are essential."  - Richard Foster -

 

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As we stay one more day, let's explore this inward, outward thing.  Let's begin with the "inward reality" part of Simplicity.

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Richard Foster explains the inward reality as God at the Center of our lives. 

 

I hope you understand what I mean when I speak of living out of the Center.  I am of course referring to God, but I do not mean God in an abstract theoretical sense, nor even God in the sense of One to be feared and revered.  Nor do I mean God only in the sense of One to be loved and obeyed.  For years I loved him and sought to obey him, but he remained on the periphery of my life.  God and Christ were extremely important to me, but certainly not the Center.  After all, I had many tasks and aspirations that did not relate to God in the least.  What, for heaven's sake, did swimming and gardening have to do with God?  I was deeply committed, but I was not integrated or unified.  I thought that serving God was another duty to be added onto an already busy schedule.

 

But slowly I came to see that God desired to be not on the outskirts, but at the heart of my experience.  Gardening was no longer an experience outside of my relationship with God - I discovered God in the gardening.  Swimming was no longer just good exercise - it became an opportunity for communion with God.  God had become the Center.  - Richard Foster -

 

Richard Foster explains there is an integration of our entire lives with God at the center; touching everything else.  It is like a Spider web.  Everything we do is connected to the Center.  Unless we are sinning, all of our activities become worship; all of our possessions become holy; all of our interactions become communion; because they connect us to God! 

 

With God at the center of our lives, our decisions can be made with confidence and joy.  We speak "yes" and "no" out of our center.  Our choices are in harmony with the Center.  Everything we do, everything we own, every person we encounter is synced with God.  We can value the true importance as it connects with God. 

 

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We are integrated instead of compartmentalized. 

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Think about a tool box.  I have several tool boxes.  Each one has a designation.  In B3 there are things that cut.  In A1b there are alan wrenches.  In C2 there are things that sand.  This is great for tools, but not for lives.  "It's Sunday morning I will open the go-to-church drawer.  When I get home I will close that drawer and open the Sunday- afternoon-watch- something- sports on TV Drawer."  Every activity has its own drawer.  There is no connection to any center.  There is nothing holy in any of our drawers.  Even the worship drawer becomes meaningless because it is not where our hearts are.

 

The problem with living out of separate drawers, is there is no center. 

 

Foster changes the metaphor, but makes the same point. 

 

Within all of us is a whole conglomerate of selves.  There is the timid self, the courageous self, the business self, the parental self, the religious self, the literary self, the energetic self.  And all of these selves are rugged individualists.  No bargaining or compromise for them.  Each one screams to protect his or her vested interests.  If a decision is made to spend a relaxed evening listening to music, the business self and the civic self rise up in protest at the loss of precious time.  The energetic self paces back and forth impatient and frustrated and the religious self reminds us of the lost opportunities for study or evangelistic contact. 

 

No wonder we feel distracted and torn.  No wonder we over commit our schedules and live lives of frantic faithfulness.  But when we experience life at the Center, all is changed.  Our many selves come under the unifying control of the divine Arbitrator.  No longer are we forced to live by an inner majority rule which always leaves a disgruntled minority.  The divine Yes or No settles all minority reports.  Everything becomes oriented to this new Center of reference.  The quiet evening can be enjoyed to the fullest because our many selves have been stilled by the Holy Within.  The business self, the religious self, the energetic self, all are at peace because they know we are living in obedience.  There is no need to wave the flag of self interest, since all things good and needful will be given their proper attention at the appropriate time.  We enter a refreshing balance and equilibrium in life.  - Richard Foster -

 

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Simplicity must have this inward component. 

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To live on the island of Simplicity we must live in submission to the Center.  God, as Center, allows us to say "yes".  But more importantly it gives us confidence to say "no".  We learn to listen to Center.  We have a basis for making decisions.  Does this please God the most?  We quit listening to "What makes us look good".  We stop choosing to please others.  We don't attempt to juggle everything.  We quit attempting to live a balanced life.  We live from the center and see the importance of everything as worship of God!  When we have learned to listen to the Center, we can speak Yes and No with no need to justify our choices.  We live without the guilt of competing selves.  We live in harmony with the Center. 

 

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"Sure sounds good, Tim.  But what does that mean?  How do you do it?"

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Let me say up front.  I haven't, at all, mastered living from the center.  But part of the answer lies in embracing two opposite metaphors.  I said Simplicity happens when we have God at the center of our lives.  Perhaps, that is not actually the only way to understand this.  We can also say it us moving to the center of God.  It is us who moves to live within God.  It is us who changes our orientation; to live within God. 

 

Consider two different views…

 

Ephesians 3:16-21 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen

 

Paul tells us we have the power of the Spirit so that Christ dwells in our hearts.  That is an amazing reality; Christ living within us.  Christ at the Center gives us harmony.  When we know his great love, we learn how to live from the center.

 

 In the same letter to the Ephesians Paul talks about it the other way. 

 

Ephesians 2:4-10  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-- it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

 

Not only is Christ the center within us, we have been created to live in Christ.  Perhaps, it is better for us to visualize it both ways.  Christ comes to live within us; giving us the power.  We must live in the center of Christ; learning to be in submission to him. 

 

 

 

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Living in Christ and with Christ in us then changes our actions.  Let's move from the inward reality to the outward expression.  When we get the inward right, what is the outward going to look like?

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Richard Foster points to…

10 Controlling Principles for outward expression of Simplicity:

 

Let me say it again.  When we live in the center of Christ and with Christ at the center then here is the kind of external principles we will live by.  This is the practical part of the sermon. 

 

1) Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status.

The question we ask before we purchase anything is, is this going to help or is it to make me look good.  We check the Center and we do it for effectiveness. 

 

2) Reject anything that is addictive to you.

 

1 Corinthians 6:12 "Everything is permissible for me"-- but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"-- but I will not be mastered by anything.

 

Anything we cannot give up, we should.  Pray over your activities and possessions…

 

3) Develop a habit of giving things away.

Be gracious.  Give stuff away.  If you can't, that may be a clue that there is a glitch in the inward Center.

 

4) Make sure time saving gadgets are.

Computers are fast they just take longer.  Evaluate your gadgets, do they save time or do they just allow you to do more stuff?

 

5) Learn to enjoy without owning.

Share.  Borrow.  Rent.  Look for things you don't have to own to enjoy.

 

6) Develop a deeper appreciation for the creation.

There is a lot of fun to be had right here in NM without owning anything but a pair of hiking boots.

 

7) Be skeptical of "Buy now and pay later".

If you can't afford it now, you can't afford it later, with interest.  This is a general rule, be skeptical.

 

8) Learn to be simple with your  "Yes" and your "No".

If you are living from your center, you should be able to say yes or no to requests without having to do a lot of tap dancing or let me check with my schedule, let's plan that in a couple of weeks.  I would like to but this is not a good week. 

 

9) Ask will this decision bring real Joy?

Is what I am considering, buying, or doing or being involved in, going to bring me joy as worship connected to the center?  Is it real or is it fluff?

 

10) Turn away from anything that draws us from seeking the Kingdom.

Is this thing or activity or person going to bring me closer to the kingdom or further from the joy of simplicity?

 

These are 10 principles of the outward which flows from the inward.  They are not rules.  This is not a new legalism.  This is not the kind of thing to be legislated and written in concrete, but it is the kind of thing to be taken very seriously. 

 

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Let's end again with our dots.

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How did the dots work this week?  Our dots meant one of three exercises…

- More is Better -   Get rid of something this week and don't buy a new one. 

- Busy is Important - Spend an hour doing nothing.

- Fear of What if - repeat Hebrews 13:5, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." 

 

This week use your dot's to spend some time with the 10 principles.  Spend some time reflecting on your center and the 10 principles.  (Handouts)

 

As we leave the Island of Simplicity, to a new destination next week, let's listen to the song of Simplicity one more time…    "Simple Gifts" sung by Alison Kraus

 

Tim Stidham

Los Alamos Church of Christ

February 27, 2011