Scripture
Mark 1:14-15; Matthew 7:24-29
Shape: Circle
At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus introduces, through the Parable of the Wise and Foolish builder, the two fundamental questions of Christian spirituality. What is God saying to you and what are you going to do about it? But how can we do what God is asking of us if we don't know what he's saying? What Jesus illuminates in Mark 1:14-15 is how to discern what God is saying. Thera are times when it feels like our world and God's world are colliding (called a Kairos). When we have those times, we can step more fully into the Kingdom and wrestle with these two questions through a process of Repent and Believe.
Story
Priscilla Schirer has said that the sin of the Old Testament was not believing in God, the sin of the New Testament was not believing in Jesus, and the Sin of today is not believing in the Holy Spirit. Our church traditions teach us to "believe in" or to "listen to" Jesus, but they fall short of dealing with the practicalities of really understanding when the Holy Spirit is communicating. Looking back, I can recall specific messages, visions, and communication from the Lord that I tended to keep to myself for fear of not being believed. Now, I realize that the Holy Spirit is communicating regularly and often in a variety of ways to all of us. In processing Kairos moments with others, I se a repeated pattern of self-doubt, of deflection, and of not trusting the voice of the Holy Spirit.