Ordinary Time: Practicing Life with Christ
Welcome to the First Sunday after Pentecost. This Sunday marks the first Sunday of 2021, where we have as a community proclaimed and heard the full Gospel through the seasons of Advent-Christmas, Lent-Easter and Pentecost. The question to us today is will we practice the New Life made possible by the Gospel we have heard?
Last week, on the Day of Pentecost 2021, I wrote that this Gospel centred Life is really a Simple Life. Live by the Spirit, and do not make room for the the desires of the Flesh (Galatians 5:16). Living by the Spirit is not some fuzzy idea of being ‘spiritual’ or ‘religious’ or ‘otherworldly’. Instead to live by the Spirit is to practice living with the firstborn of the New Creation, Jesus of Nazareth who died, and was raised from the dead, never to die again. Since His ascension and the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, a New Kind of Life is available to us. And this New Life is a Simple Life - living by the Spirit that Jesus lived by, and was raised by and now is with and in us.
But how can we know if we are living by the Spirit? How do we know if we are living by the Spirit and not according to the Flesh? How do we evaluate this?
According to Paul, the evidence is easy - look at the outcomes. The rest of Galatians 5 spells out the ‘works of the Flesh’ and the ’fruit of the Spirit’. It’s a passage worth reading and meditating on because it will develop a discernment we all need. But if I had to summarise, it would be this - the result of walking by the Spirit, are a community that loves God and one another. In the same way, Luke describes the Church as a result of what happened on the Day of Pentecost, Paul is almost all his letters, is concerned for one thing and one thing alone - a healthy community of faith, who having their hope in Christ, now love one another as the Body of Christ.
This is an important truth to grasp. Often we mistake spiritual people for people who have some powerful spiritual giftedness. Maybe they’re always prayerful. Maybe they teach well. Maybe they perform miracles. Maybe they can tell the future. Or maybe they’re just successful in everything they do. It is important for us to see that Paul does NOT indicate any of these things as spiritual success. He points to a community of people, who despite all their diversity, remain united in love for one another.
Spiritual success is not defined by some super human individual. Instead, it is a kind of human individual that is bonded to others, in a kind of way that honours Christ. In other words, success is individuals who see themselves not as individuals, but as members of the Body of Christ - the Church. Spiritual people edify one another with their words. Spiritual people contribute their gifts and abilities in such a way that actually build the common good. Spiritual people help bridge differences and generate peace. Spiritual people are able to live with sinful people who take a long long long time to heal, to be restored and mature. Their lives are marked by long suffering, gentleness, self control for the sake of Love.
Does this mean that once we start living the life of the Spirit, all our relationships are going to be healthy and good? Our marriages, our families, our friendships, our communal life will reflect a vision of the heavenly life?
No. Jesus is perfect example for us. Despite being someone who lived according to the Spirit, he had enemies. People hated him. There were many who misunderstood him, including his own disciples. He had deep disagreements with his family members. Life on earth even for Him was not yet as it is in Heaven. But as Someone who walked by the Spirit, he bore the fruit of the Spirit in his life. And ultimately He bore the Cross for every single person, and loved each one to the end. Life in this broken world means our relationships will never be ‘perfect’. But it does mean we cannot live a simple life, a righteous life - in right relationship with God and one another, just like Jesus.
Paul perhaps captures the posture best in his letter to the Romans -
“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12:9–18 ESV)
Let me end with the question I began with - as we enter Ordinary Time in 2021, will we practice the New Life made possible by the Gospel preached to us? I like the word Practice. Practice means, we don’t get it right all the time, but it’s ok. Practice means, the Best is yet to be, so keep going. Practice means, we are still working this out. But let’s not give up, let’s keep practicing. But what are we practicing towards? The title of one of Eugene Peterson’s books puts it best - Practice Resurrection. Practice living with the Risen Lord. Practice living the Life of the Future now, in fellowship with Jesus by His Spirit.
Welcome to fellowship with Jesus, the firstborn of the Life to come. Welcome to New Life together in Christ. Welcome to Ordinary Time 2021.