{"id":939,"date":"2014-05-10T20:31:07","date_gmt":"2014-05-11T01:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/?p=939"},"modified":"2014-11-25T10:11:06","modified_gmt":"2014-11-25T16:11:06","slug":"who-is-life-and-what-is-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2014\/05\/10\/who-is-life-and-what-is-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Life and What is Life?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/sermons\/?sermon_id=37\">Audio Link<\/a><br \/>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ukig-xX9_T8?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><br \/>\nActs 2:42\u201347<br \/>\nPsalm 23:1-6<br \/>\n1 Peter 2:19\u201325<br \/>\nJohn 10:1\u201311<\/p>\n<p>Who or what is life giving?\u00a0 In all reality, there is only one thing that is life giving, isn\u2019t there?\u00a0 We as Christians would say God incarnate, Jesus the Christ, the Word who has been before the beginning and is still here today, is the source of life.\u00a0 He was giving life to the world during the creation in Genesis and each and every day, today.\u00a0 If we agree that it is God, in Christ, the Word that is the source of life for all, then we might need to ask, what is life?\u00a0 Is life simply breathing or is life something more?\u00a0 Are we experiencing life now?<\/p>\n<p>Okay, so now that I have asked you so many questions, where can we find our answers?\u00a0 The readings today, I believe help answer this question of what is life giving, and what is life.\u00a0 Although the Psalm was not read, it was sung for you instead today.\u00a0 It is in Psalm 23, that we hear that the Lord is the center of life its self.\u00a0 All good thing said, all good things received, come from the Lord.\u00a0 He restores my soul or maybe better translated, restores my life.\u00a0 We hear that the Psalmist say \u201cmy cup overflows.\u201d\u00a0 Life is overflowing and abundantly being renewed.<\/p>\n<p>In the Psalm, we receive the imagery of the Lord being a Shepherd.\u00a0 The Shepherd is one who gathers and protects the entire flock.\u00a0 The Shepherd nurtures the young, protects the old and young alike.\u00a0 All that the Shepherd does is for the sheep of His flock.<\/p>\n<p>This same imagery is used in the Gospel reading today.\u00a0 Here Jesus says that he has a dual role.\u00a0 Not only is He the gate, the one who allows entry and prevents entry with the other sheep, He is also the Shepherd. If the sheep are not allowed entry, then they are in danger of death, from the danger that exists outside the reach of the Shepherd.\u00a0 Once inside, once coming to the true Gate, the Gate Of Life, the sheep enter and will be protected by the Shepherd.\u00a0 The Shepherd provides all that is needed for the abundant overflowing cup of life.<\/p>\n<p>Life comes from God and only God.\u00a0 Life does not come from money; life does not come in material things but only comes by following the Shepherd through the Gate.\u00a0 All this imagery is great but how does that look for us today, here and now?\u00a0 To help see this, we can look at the reading from Acts.\u00a0 The believers in Acts, are known as followers of \u201cThe Way\u201d.\u00a0 The way being what Jesus teaches, Jesus the Gate, the Shepherd who provides all. \u00a0For the first followers, they have the apostles providing teaching, fellowship, prayers and breaking of bread.\u00a0 Today, we have pastors, bishops and all the Disciples of Christ Jesus.\u00a0 The community of believers grew, as they gathered in community around Christ.<\/p>\n<p>It is in this community we are told that they have all things in common, share in what each have with one another, spend time in the Temple, and break bread.\u00a0 Life is more than just going about doing day-to-day business but centering the community upon the one who gives life.\u00a0 The people are able to experience life focused upon the kingdom of heaven breaking through to their community.\u00a0 As we know, not all of the believers were able to maintain these communities with this fullness of life.\u00a0 Paul often wrote to a variety of churches that struggled with their practices, their faith in God and to one another.<\/p>\n<p>What does this fullness actually look like?\u00a0 We hear it described in Acts but how can that look for us in our lives, or how has it looked for us at times?\u00a0 Have you ever been out in nature and just had this feeling of how lucky you are to be able to experience life and see what God is offering to you?\u00a0 Have you stood maybe in front of the Niagara Falls and with a group of people and you are all in sync, all together having all things in common, even if for just a moment in time?\u00a0 What about coming together with a group of people, from all walks of life, but for the time of that event, whatever it was, you were all one, all sharing, putting all your efforts towards a single goal, in solidarity like no other.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe some of you have been involved in sit-ins for a cause.\u00a0 Some of the women here may have been part of the women\u2019s liberation movement and maybe, just maybe even took part in burring their bras?\u00a0 Maybe some have participated in one of the Occupy movements last summer or one of the Anti-Occupy movements.\u00a0 How about being part of a farmer\u2019s co-op standing as one for the farmers needs.\u00a0 What about the diverse members of a trade union standing hand in hand for each other. This is how the people of the way, in our reading from Acts feel and experience life at that moment.<\/p>\n<p>To be fair, being a follower of the way was difficult in the early days.\u00a0 People were treated harshly, for their beliefs.\u00a0 This even happens today in other parts of the world.\u00a0 The worldly ways often do not align with the ways of God.\u00a0 It is in this misalignment that the cup does not run over with life.\u00a0 Perseverance by Who is Good and Right leads us back to the Gate and to the Shepherd.\u00a0 The Psalmist said that goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.\u00a0 This can also be translated that goodness and mercy shall dog me\u2026. Christ peruses us with perseverance, dogs us so we come to the gate to enter.<\/p>\n<p>In the reading from 1 Peter, we are told there is the potential for pain and suffering for being followers of Christ.\u00a0 At the same time, nowhere does it says we must stay and be abused.\u00a0 We are just told that it can and will happen. Christ is always dogging us and we need to follow Him out of these situations that are NOT life giving.\u00a0 Abuse, corrosion and oppression are never right and should not be tolerated.\u00a0 The believers in Acts could not be in a community that was being abused by fellow believers.<\/p>\n<p>Life is more than just breathing; life is being focused upon God, who is the giver of the abundant overflowing cup of life.\u00a0 Life is being in community for the sake of the community and those that enter the Gate and are protected by the Shepherd.\u00a0 Life is being with God, for God, with Christ, for Christ, with the Spirit, for the Spirit, for the sake of all peoples so they may be lead to the Gate and be with the Shepherd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Audio Link Acts 2:42\u201347 Psalm 23:1-6 1 Peter 2:19\u201325 John 10:1\u201311 Who or what is life giving?\u00a0 In all reality, there is only one thing that is life giving, isn\u2019t there?\u00a0 We as Christians would say God incarnate, Jesus the Christ, the Word who has been before the beginning and is still here today, is &#8230; <span class=\"more\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2014\/05\/10\/who-is-life-and-what-is-life\/\">[Read more&#8230;]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29,11,63,64,10,70,83,4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-admin","4":"post-939","6":"format-standard","7":"category-community","8":"category-death","9":"category-fellowship","10":"category-giving","11":"category-jesus","12":"category-life","13":"category-sermon","14":"category-spirit"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2m6h5-f9","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2002,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2018\/01\/28\/who-needs-the-kingdom-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":939,"position":0},"title":"Who needs the Kingdom of God","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"January 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Sunday, January 28, 2018 | Epiphany Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany Year B Gospel Mark 1:21\u201328 https:\/\/youtu.be\/fj-Qyf6qn-A Jesus starts his ministry with four fishermen and he takes his ministry to the neediest. 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It is easier to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Christ&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Christ","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/christ\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/fj-Qyf6qn-A\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":57,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2011\/11\/30\/giving-and-receiving\/","url_meta":{"origin":939,"position":1},"title":"Giving and Receiving","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"November 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Many of us have heard that it is better to give than to receive. \u00a0Advent is the awaiting of a gift from God, in his Son Jesus Christ. \u00a0As we await this gift, we also await another gift, the one of salvation that comes apparent at Easter. \u00a0Yes, I know\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2123,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2018\/11\/29\/6-marks-of-discipleshipgiving\/","url_meta":{"origin":939,"position":2},"title":"6 Marks of discipleship:Giving","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"November 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"November 25th, 20182 Chronicles 31:2-7Hebrews 7:1-10Matthew 6:19-24 https:\/\/youtu.be\/MLg7781mwHk Giving for a disciple is out of gratitude, not obligation. 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