Victorious Living through Christ pt4 "Searching the Interior", First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY

Victorious Living through Christ pt 4
“Searching the Interior”
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 2/6/2011
Based on Isaiah 58:1-9a and 1 Corinthians 2:1-16


If you are looking for a truly good movie to go and see, may I suggest going to “The King’s Speech”, which is currently showing at the local cinema. It is a story about King George VI, and how he strove to overcome a speech impediment. As the second son of King George V, Albert was not anticipating his eventual ascent to the throne of the United Kingdom standing in the shadow of his older and more charismatic brother, Prince Edward VIII.
Prince Albert, was plagued with a sever stammer when speaking. He went to the best therapists of the day, trying a range of techniques going back to ancient Greek medicine to more modern treatments. Nothing seemed to help, and after his closing speech at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, one which was an ordeal for both him and the listeners, Prince Albert resolved to never see another therapist. Out of desperation and through a friend’s reference, Albert’s wife Elizabeth (mother to Queen Elizabeth II, current Queen of England) encourages Albert to go and see Lionel Logue, an Australian-born speech therapist. Wikipedia on line.
Mr. Logue, used very unusually methods in treating Prince Albert, with the most being, having Albert go back into his memories and recall portions of his life that might have set the stage for his stammering. This was met with resistance by the Prince, but over time, along with other methods such as breathing exercises, the Prince took on the challenge to recall incidences in his childhood, thus doing internal examinations, looking for experiences that kept him from speaking without stammering. Eventually with lots of work and understanding some of his childhood experiences, Prince Albert, was able to overcome much of his stammering.
One of the twists in the movie comes when the Arch Bishop of Canterbury is challenged by the future King of England (which also meant, holding the title as ‘Head of the Church of England’) to have Mr. Logue, at his side during the coronation, it is revealed that Mr. Logue had no formal education or credentials to back up his methods, thus having his success with Prince Albert being diminished and not worthy of standing next to the future King of England.
Have you ever had anyone throw out the “superiority” card at you, thus trying to diminish or dismiss your abilities, your opinions, and your validity as a person? I suspect we all have at one time or another. This was an issue with the Church in Corinth. Paul is addressing a church in conflict, because there were people in this church that felt they were superior to the common member of that faith family.
Paul started his address to the church in Corinth by saying, he came not to bring to them “a greater knowledge”, but rather he came and kept the message simple; first telling them about Jesus and who he was, and then what Jesus had done for every person. Paul then goes on to say, “6-9We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it's not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so. God's wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don't find it lying around on the surface. It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out God's best in us…”
Paul then says, to be able to overcome what is holding us back, we need to not rely on the wisdom of the day, but rather go to God’s way of providing healing and growth. “God's wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of God’s purposes.” Paul shares this can only come once our feet are on firm spiritual ground. What does that mean to you, this being firm on Spiritual ground? How do we get our feet on firm Spiritual ground? Again Paul helps us out by saying, “Spirit can be known only by spirit – God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing…”
Last week, I suggested that the next step in living a Victorious life through Christ was to turn our will over to God and let God become the guiding person in our life. Yet how do we do this? What do I functionally, turn my life over to God? How do I let my Spirit talk to God’s Spirit?
We need to take time alone, without distractions and search our soul. We need to trust in God’s love and take a deep look at who we are. We need to take a moral inventory of ourselves. This was Mr. Logue's method for Prince Albert. "Albert, look at what went on in your childhood that caused you to become afraid of your potentiality!"
God told Isaiah to shout out and don’t hold back and tell those who called themselves God’s chosen people, to look at their own sin. God asked, “How do you expect me to commune with you and bless you when you forsake My ordinances; Why do you fast in My name when you serve your own interest and oppress others; You come to worship only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist.”
We are experiencing this type of behavior in this session of our legislation. We have a large group of elected officials who are presenting their agenda’s on fear and ignorance, of trying to pass laws that are discriminatory and taking away dignity and freedoms at almost every level of life in this state; being directed at our educators, at the GLBT community, and even toward Federal laws.
To deepen our Spiritual growth, both individually and as a faith community, we need to take a moral inventory of ourselves, by asking hard questions like: do I really care about what happens to my neighbor? Do I really believe in equality of all people, or am I afraid of losing my privilege by actually working toward justice for all? Am I really willing to put myself out on the line and speak out about protecting the rights of all people, when I might not agree with the way those people act and behave?
God told the people of Israel, “Is not this the worship I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”
This isn’t something that I am telling you, this is God’s message to us. Without opening up our Spirit to God’s Spirit, we will not be able to hear God’s true message. God’s love is not for some, it is for everyone. It is through our actions that this love, this will of God is experienced here in our physical world.
If anyone thinks that the church shouldn't be political, I would suggest taking a closer read of what the Hebrew and Christian scriptures are saying. God's call and Jesus' message is for Social Justice, to reconcile humanity to humanity, to balance out the differences between those who have, and those who have been disenfranchised. It attacks political power that creates injustice.
We think that when we come to church and give prayer, give our tithes, sing pretty hymns that talk about loving God, that God is pleased with us. The honest truth is, God doesn’t care one eye-ode about those things. God is more impressed when we are busy taking care of business. God asks us to take a moral inventory of our most inner self, so that we, like King George VI can overcome our fears, our stammering and speak out against injustice.
The economy of those who are self-seeking is that of fear, deceit, and of self-interest. The economy of those who’s spirit is in communion with God’s spirit is one of joy, of freedom, of hope, and of selflessness. As we come to Christ’s table, let us remember what Christ spent for our lives and understand that through that same sacrifice we too are called. Amen