|
Love is a daily celebration of aliveness and permission to go deeper.
*Richard Moss. The I That Is We.
* * *
16Jesus' eleven disciples went to a mountain in Galilee, where Jesus had told them to meet him. 17They saw him and worshiped him, but some of them doubted.
18Jesus came to them and said:
I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth! 19Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 20and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.
*Matthew 28.16-20 (CEV)
* * *
The above Scripture shows Jesus giving the Great Commission to his first apostles, the disciples. Much focus among churches is on need to fulfill the Commission; not enough focus is put on the spiritual Reality making that possible, and apart from which the attempt to fulfill the Call is futile.
The vocation to beget other Christians rests on two realities. First, the authority of Christ undergirds the work of spiritual Christians. Second, the post-resurrection presence of Christ empowers the spiritual Church in using spiritual gifts. Only a person and people experiencing the divine Presence of Love, with its potentials, can be an effective Body of Christ.
Yet, what do we mean when we speak of the Presence of Christ, or of God? John of the Cross, in The Spiritual Canticle, gives this verse, putting it in the mouth of the Loved One speaking to the Bridegroom - God:
Reveal Your presence,
And may the vision of Your beauty be my death;
For the sickness of love
Is not cured
Except by Your very presence and image.
John of the Cross says, then, that the presence of God is of three kinds.
1) By Essence.
"In this way He is present not only in the holiest of souls, but also in sinners and in all other creatures. For with this presence He gives them life and being."
2) By Grace.
Here, by grace "He abides in the soul, pleased and satisfied with it." This Presence is manifested only in those persons prepared by Grace to receive the Grace of Presence.
3) By Spiritual Affection.
The Spirit grants Presence to devoted persons "in many ways, by which he refreshes, delights, and gladdens them." These persons are true fulfillments of being in Love, a lively romance with Spirit. The live the truth set forth by Moss, in the opening quote: "Love is a daily celebration of aliveness and permission to go deeper."
The above three manifestations of Divine Presence, John of the Cross refers to as: natural, spiritual, affective. In the first God is within us by nature, for God is the source and substance of all life. In the second God is in us by our acceptance of Grace, for we have entered a conscious relationship with God. In the last God is in us through a spiritual aspiration and longing, evidencing a person who is growing in loving communion with God.
All persons have God within by nature. Many persons have God within through simple faith. Few persons have God within by loving, ardent affection.
Sadly, a dis-ease of much of the Church, with all its talk of begetting followers of Christ, is much of the Church fails awfully at addressing the level at which we need to be to rightfully share Christ: deep, affective love. I see this in my own larger church communion as a denomination. We are battling for survival and without addressing making disciples that are so full of God-Grace that they will powerfully share Christ and Love through their very presence and, thereby, share the One experientially Who has all authority - including to pick up the pieces of broken lives, hearts, and home, and put them back together again in Love.
That is, at the level of by Grace we are working ardently, but we are failing markedly at by spiritual affection. Why? I can only assume many denominational and local church leaders, including many of us in the clergy, have not fallen deeply, ardently in Love with Christ. Thereby, we do not have the experience to share or engender in others.
If the Church is to continue to talk seriously about sharing Christ and making Christian disciples, it must look at the Great Commission it claims and more closely. The Church must do a better job of getting persons from natural grace, to saving [healing, reconciling] grace, to contemplative grace.
Yet, regardless of how the Church does or does not do this - and, again, more than not, it fails to do this (and it is my supposition that this failure is one reason for the lack of attraction it has in our society)- , every Christian is invited to a deep exploration of the Grace of Christ.
Remember, a basic claim of Christian spirituality is every person longs to know God intimately. Another claim of contemplative Christianity is the very means of that contact is principally through Christians embodying Grace in affective, ardent devotion.
The greatest proclamation of Christ is the embodying of the Spirit of Christ in you and me. I surmise the rise of contemplative Christianity in the last decades has arisen as a work of the Spirit to lead us to do just that embodying of Christ at a depth we cannot do through conventional, overly enculturated forms of faith.
* * *
*Charitable contributions would be appreciated to assist Brian in continuing his ministry. For contributions, contact Brian at barukhattah@embarqmail.com . Brian is in need of more funding to purchase a desk-top computer, after his was hit by lightening and is inoperable.
*The Spiritual Canticle is in The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross. Trans. K. Kavanaugh and O. Rodriguez.
*Brian's book of spiritual love poetry, An Ache for Union: Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major booksellers or the Cokesbury on-line store, cokesbury.com .
*Brian K. Wilcox, a United Methodist Pastor, lives in Southwest Florida. He is a vowed member of Greenbough House of Prayer, a contemplative Christian community in South Georgia. He lives a contemplative life and seeks to inspire others to enjoy a more intimate relationship with Christ. Brian advocates for a spiritually-focused, experiential Christianity and renewal of the Church through addressing the deeper spiritual needs and longings of persons.
|
