the drum|rob fairbanks

A Prayer Litany - Lent 2

The following are prayers we offered at Immanuel this morning, the 2nd Sunday of Lent. The text this morning was Mark 8:27-38. Feel free to pray along with us. Peace.

God of all creation, we pray for the needs of our world. We pray for peace for those places torn by war and violence. There are so many who suffer from the hands of others, by oppression, hatred and dominance. We
pray for those who suffer. We also pray for those who hunger and are sick. It is an incredible sadness for us that there are brothers and sisters in the world today who don’t have enough to survive. There are those who are without basic medicine, food and water to sustain them. We humbly, yet resolutely ask you to move toward them with mercy and help.

Lord, hear our prayer, 

    and in your love, answer.

We pray for our city, the city you have placed us in, the city you have sent us to, that you would move through your people to show the Gospel and tell the Gospel so others could see the life that you have provided to each person. We ask that many would come to realize that there is love with their name on it in You. We pray against the hindrances that keep them from you be restrained…particularly if we are responsible for those hindrances. Give us repentant hearts regarding ill placed religious affections.

Lord, hear our prayer, 

    and in your love, answer.

We know that you care not only for the world, but also individuals. People like us. There are people in each of our lives that need your touch, your mercy, and your embrace. We now ask you to do your work in them, particularly_____________!

Lord, hear our prayer, 

    and in your love, answer.

Jesus, head of the church, breathe your life into this place. It seems as if following you and your ideas are the only way to be who we are to be in this city…so, lead us and humble us to follow. May we be so taken with you that those outside of your life could, just maybe, catch a glimpse of your radiance and embrace through our humble lives.

Lord, hear our prayer, 

    and in your love, answer.

Now, God of all grace, give us open hearts and open ears to hear what you have to say to your church today. As we hear the Scriptures read and taught, help us look to not how it might affect others, but at our own hearts and truly repent of our self-life. Please bear in us, each one, the heart of a follower.

Lord, hear our prayer, 

    and in your love, answer.

Lord’s Prayer

Now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now pray…

Prayer: Before the Day is Out

A beautiful and moving prayer from Walter Brueggemann that I used in my sermon this morning.

Before the Day is Out 

Unwavering in your power,

Unflagging in your zeal,

Uncompromising in your position,

    It is good for us – just past Sabbath again,

                               just past Easter again –

    to awaken to your will of constancy for your world.

We pursue our projects,

    depart to our private dreams

    invest in our deepest hopes.

    They are fragile and flimsy at best,

    at worst they are devious and destructive.

    Either way, they pale before your constancy.

We gladly affirm – past our inclinations –

    that you will well-being among us,

    that you intend justice for the vulnerable,

    that you command mercy and compassion among us.

Turn us, before the day is out, from our will to yours,

Wean us, before we sleep, from our petty hopes,

Relocate us in your eternal resolve,

    that the earth may be fully your realm,

    that the world may wreak with your shalom,   

    that we ourselves may find our true freedom

        in your sovereign purpose.

Yours – not ours – is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory…

    And we are grateful. Amen

From Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth

 

A Liturgy of Peace

This post is from Me...Rob

I wanted to put this out before it moved from the front of my thinking. A few of us have been very concerned about the increase in violent activity in our city (here is a different recent post about this). The question I have been grappling with is what is the church’s response to such issues. To be honest, the complexity of urban violence is beyond me. What can be done? What can I do? I am not sure.

Liv Larson Andrews

One thing we (Eric Blauer and Liv Larson Andrews) arrived at was we did not want to become desensitized to how these brutal acts fractured shalom. I believe many Americans are becoming fatigued by the constant cascade of news of this kind; that they are in a way de-selecting it for their possible choices of issues to be concerned about.

What we concluded was we wanted to publically grieve and passionately intercede. In real time, that meant that we would go humbly stand in front of “The Hop” (the location of a recent murder) and do a Liturgy of Peace. It wasn’t against anyone or even to gain some attention for our activism. It really was for us (because our hearts are broken) and for God (because we believe that prayer is more than just aligning ourselves with God’s way – it actually is efficacious). We wept…we interceded and we marked the spot with the sign of the cross.

I have to admit, I am a person of great inner tension. Sometimes I come from some activity and wonder what it was for? Was it for me or for Jesus? Was it healthy or stilted. In short, I’m a bit of a tortured soul. But I want to testify that praying for our city on Monroe St. on Friday at 5:30 with two fantastic ladies might have been one of the “purest” acts of Christian service I’ve been involved with for some time. I’m grateful.

Christ have mercy! May shalom rest on Spokane.

r

Exercising "Indifference"

I've been writing the last couple of weeks about the discipline of listening. I must again admit that I'm a novice at this discipline.

This week I've been trying to put into practice the spiritual discipline of “Indifference.” “Indifference” doesn't mean anything like “I don't care” or “It doesn't make any difference to me,” but has more to do with the idea of holding things lightly. As Ruth Haley Barton puts it,

“This is an ‘interior freedom’ or state of openness to God in which we are free from undue attachment to any particular outcome….There is a capacity to relinquish whatever might keep us from choosing God and love, and we have to come to a place where we want God and God’s will more than anything – more than ego gratification, more than wanting to look good in the eyes of others, more than personal ownership, comfort or advantage.”

As someone with a personal makeup that is fairly intense, I find the idea of listening in general hard and exercising “indifference” towards something a bit of a departure from my core make up. 

While I think there are many nuances to this concept, where it has shown up for me is in the interactions I've had this week. I've tried to move into each one of them holding the “outcome lightly.” The ultimate goal has been to try to listen (dual process – listening to the person and attempting to attune my ear to the voice of God) and not being dominated by what I want or what would be best for me.

One example can be found in an interaction I had with another pastor here in Spokane. As potential result of the connection could have been a significant advantage for myself and for the church plant I'm working on, so I had to prepare myself going into the meeting to not try to move the conversation a particular way or to create a pathway so that I could get it where I wanted. What I attempted to do was stay in a listening posture hoping to hear through what he was sharing and hoping for God's Will to be displayed in some way. I think that was accomplished.

How hard is it for you to engage others while holding your personal aspiration lightly?

r

Communal Listening Liturgy

Here is a liturgy I wrote for our new group, Immanuel to attempt to put into practice what I have been talking about the last two days.  Enjoy!

Note: I passed out the texts in advance to others so I was not the only one leading.

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There are many things that we need from God. One is how he is leading us. In the Old Testament, we are told that under Moses, the People of God followed God in a cloud and a pillar of fire. They refused to move until the cloud or pillar moved and when it did move, the people packed up and went forth.

I hope we can always receive fresh revelation from God, but also discernment.  One thing that we have looped back to several times is the potential of, instead of launching something new, joining something else that is going.

3 thoughts:

1)    Joining God where he is already working.

2)    Supporting a need that is clear we can assist

3)    Seeing ourselves in a humble manner. 

Listening exercise.

Breath – Breathing is one of the most vital and involuntary things we can do. It is both required and innate. Most of the time we are completely unaware of its rhythm. We just do it.

When we move into an anaerobic state, we become completely aware of our breath, because we are heaving for more.  There just isn’t enough air around us to satisfy our need. It is more like gulping, then breathing. It is like we are reaching out for just a bit more so our body can recover.

It is noticeable when we are still as well. When we are completely still many things that are happening become apparent. Noises that are unnoticeable become glaring when we stop. For me, I can hear my “tinnitus (a ringing in my ears from listening to music too loud).” I also become painfully aware of my thoughts swishing around at break neck speed. I touch on things that are unresolved, insecurities I have, and dreams that I long for. I also notice my breath.

For a moment, let’s just concentrate on that...our breath. It is a sign of life.  If you can sense your breath, it is a sure sign that you are still on the earthy side of living.

Psalm 146:1-4 - Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.

Psalm 104:24-30 - O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great. There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it. These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

Stop…

Breath is a gift from God. In fact, the Greek and Hebrew from breath is the same God chose for His Spiritual manifestation – the Holy Spirit. It is the same word. Both are a gift.

Job 33:4 - The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life 

Stop…

Let me state some core beliefs.

• We believe in the Holy Spirit, His indwelling and attentive leading.
• We believe that the Holy Spirit not only desires to speak to us individually, but as a community.

I Samuel 3:1-9 – The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. 6 Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 The Lord called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

This is our prayer – Speak to us Lord, WE are listening.

Stop…listen (I gave an unusual amount of time on this one, bordering on awkward, attempting to do my own listening to the Holy Spirit for when to conclude the silence)

After, spend time to debrief what people have heard.

One other practice that is related to breath in the Bible is praise…

Psalm 150 - Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

End by going around the group allowing people to express praise or gratitude to God in response to last reading.

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Peace,

r

The Listening Christian Community

As I mentioned yesterday the idea of listening for God's direction in ministry and mission is something that is critically important, but quite difficult.

In thinking about how we are to listen it seems like there are three components that have to be grappled with.

The first one is captured in the word, Immediacy.

When I say immediacy, what I'm referring to is the imperative of obedience. The requirement for the Nation of Israel was to respond appropriately to whatever the “pillar of fire or the pillar of cloud” was doing. If it moved, the people were to move. If it stayed put, the people were to remain still. I think an axiom of this component might be: if we ever expect God to speak to us, we must be willing to unreservedly respond by saying, yes to what we hear. An example of this happened to me a few years ago while I was seeking God’s guidance as to whether I should take the presidency of Christian Associates or not. It was something I emotionally really wanted, but was still honestly seeking God's direction as I much as I possibly could. My process included seeking advise from loving friends, engaging in what the Mennonites call, clearness committees (click the link to see how they work). I was personaly praying and listening as well.  It was a hard, but good process. During one of those nights of seeking God I actually heard audible voice in the middle of the night. Just so you know, I can count on one finger how many times this has happened to me in my life. The voice said, “You're not done yet.” Well, that was not the message I wanted to hear, so I sought to rationalize it several different ways. The realty was, New Community, the church I was pastoring at the time simply wasn’t ready for that profound of a transition. After a few hard days of trying to justify the message to fulfill my emotions, I concluded that I shouldn't expect God to continue to speak to me at all if I'm not willing to obey when he does speak to me. The upshot, I pulled my name from the application process. One year later, I was re-approached by Christian Associates and got a green light from God that time.

The second aspect of listening is that of Intimacy.

The very nature of listening is intimate, isn’t it? To listen to someone is a wonderfully loving and honorable act. Intimacy reflects both relationship and trust. In John 10, Jesus is described as the Good Shepherd.

It says,

“He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When He has brought out all his own, He goes on ahead of them, and His sheep follow him because they know His voice.” (John 10:3-4)

Ok, here is a toughie - shouldn't it be normal for a follower of Christ to be able to recognize the voice of their Savior, of the Good Shepherd? Isn't that the promise that we receive as Christian? The challenge, however is, many of us do not have our minds and hearts attuned to the voice of the Spirit. I find on a practical level that the Spirit normally speaks through sublte promptings in my mind (like Elijah's still small voice). Over time I've had to sensitize my thinking to recognize and discern what is just my crazy brain spinning in circles, making stuff up and what is the gentle, loving voice of God's Spirit.

Lastly, there is the aspect of Time.

We are all so used to receiving what we want immediately. Whether it is fast food, or pizza delivered to our house, or the reconciling of a difficult relationship. We all want instantaneous results. The reality, however, is in the area of listening it just takes time. And that is where I struggled the most. If you know me well, you know that I am seriously ADD. I know, many people say that. In fact, recently I was bemoaning the fact that I am ADD to my wife (a therapist) to which she responded back, like talk’in trash, you are not any worse than anyone else. Well, at that, she dug up a test for me to take. I have never been good at test, but I "aced" this one. I crushed it!!! Anyway, holding still and listening is just east of torture for me…at least for much of my life. I will admit that I am getting better at it as I get older. The real challenge for all of us is our minds have so much “spinning” going on, that it is very difficult to hear! We must learn to stop, to rest, to suspend input (that suspending includes FB/Twitter/iPhone/email) long enough to begin to parse out the voices in our mind.

That is the charge this new little band of brothers and sisters are attempting to live into…together. To listen for the good voice of our loving Lord to direct us into mission in our city. I can hardly think of a more challenging or privileged calling for a community to have.

Peace y'all!

r

The Listening Leader or Is Christian Leadership and Listening Oxymoronic?

I have started on one of those “Read Through the Bible in a Year” programs for 2013. I have done this annually for many years but have dropped the practice in the last few for a variety of reasons. Nonetheless, I believe it is vital to get the full scope of Scripture and there are no shortcuts in getting there. You just have to sit down and read. I believe that the Gospel is found in the entire Bible, not just in select verses that evangelicals have hyper-focused on for the last several decades. It was NT Wright and a few others who have asked the poignant question: Do we actually need to read the whole of Scripture to arrive at a clear and full understanding of the gospel?” Sadly, most will unequivocally say that you need to engage the full corpus of Scripture, but in real time their lives deny the fact. 

Okay, to my point… while reading through the Pentateuch I was once again arrested by the narrative of how God led the nation Israel with a “Pillar of Cloud and a Pillar of fire.” These two images represented God’s presence for the people. To simply state the scenario, God firmly instructed them that their role was to unreservedly follow Him in fire and the cloud. When the cloud and fire moved, they all were to “Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies” and follow (sorry, I could not resist the temptation to quote a Neil Diamond song). When it was stationary, the nation pitched their tents and hunkered down. Pretty simple, right? I am being serious when I say that my dog Buckley could track with those commands. Buckley come! Buckley stay! Bam. This is easy stuff.

Now to the present–a group of us are embarking on a new church plant here in Spokane (it is called Immanuel Church). The clear marching orders from God so far are… ready? “Listen!” That's right, simply listen. Once again simple, easy - right? Nope. As the quasi-leader of this new tribe I realized that listening is not my long suit. I have listened… once or twice. :-)  I have even taught on “listening.” See, I’m a “teller” not a “listener.” Ok, how I put that was kinda overstated, but... Anyway, as a value, I believe with all my heart that today's best type of leader must possess in her/his "tool-box" a highly refined discipline of listening–to others, to their own heart, and to God (as a friend and I like to call – a tri-phonic approach).

• Ok, our listening to God test is being taken: As of now, not an epic fail! More like a failing forward.
• However, Immanuel's resolve: live into the listening life of a follower community. We're commited.

2 questions:

1. How are you at listening to God?  I know some find it easier than others, so it wouldn’t surprise me if some of you find a listening posture your natural repose.
2. What has made listening easier/more effective for you?

Seriously, I/we need help!

r

I know who you are

My mom has had cancer for almost five years.  She prays that she will live to see her three daughters get married.  Last summer, the first one of us daughters had her wedding in our front yard.  My mom wept: It was like God was giving back, gift-wrapped, her deepest desire that she had surrendered fully to Him.

 

One of our friends who had been battling brain cancer died last week, leaving her two sons without a parent.  One of her sons has Asperger’s syndrome and will need to live with and be cared for by her other son.  She told me once her prayer to see her first grandbaby…God didn’t grant her request.

I don’t know why God hasn’t healed my mom from cancer, and I certainly don’t understand why He would take this mother away from her young sons, never realizing her dream of seeing a grandbaby

Yet “sometimes the only way to understand is fall on your knees and say you don’t…Because God knows sometimes there is suffering beyond our knowing.

When we want to know answers, God simply wants us to know Him.

The answer to our suffering is so incomprehensible that it has to be incarnated — the Word must come to us as flesh…He came – because in all our pain, we don’t want some answers like we want a Someone”

                ~Ann Voscamp.

J.J. Heller echoes this belief in her song lyrics: “I don’t know what you’re doing, but I know who you are.”

Yet again, we hear the reverberations of this faith in the powerful words of Oswald Chambers: "Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.”

This I know with all my heart: The character of God is trustworthy and steadfast.

                And I know He knows our pain: He loved enough to lose a child so we could live.

“Since the children have flesh and blood,
[I] too shared in their humanity –

so that by [my] death, [I] might break the power of him who holds the power of death—
that is, the devil—

and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

~Hebrews 2:14-15 

“There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.” ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Jessica

An Election Day Prayer from Stanley Hauerwas

Your Strange Super Power – October 30, 2012

                    A prayer written while flying yesterday... 

You are so gracious…though holy, you give and accept.

While you are regularly ignored, you stand with arms open, heart open

toward the ones who amble past without a nod of acknowledgement.

 

I, however, am always needy, damn needy.

Wanting credit when it is not even mine to allege.

Though my call and claim is that of a servant,

to give because I have been given to,

I still regularly and unabashedly enshrine myself toward the ending point of praise.

 

But you have that strange and inextinguishable super power to…

Live loving, even while slighted

To embrace, even when pushed away

To wholeness, in the midst of soul bedlam.

 

While I crave…you love

While I try to attempt to distance…you hold, like a Father.

While I stand in shards of brokenness…you…I stand with you.

Amen