[Propertalk] FW: Gospel Notes - John 17:6-19 (Brian Stoffregen) - Part 3

[Joe Parrish]

Forwarded:

 


A MATTER OF MATURITY

Another approach I've taken to sanctification is to compare it with the
process of maturing. Justification is like being born and sanctification is
like growing up to become what we were born to be. We are both exactly the
same person (e.g., our DNA remains the same throughout our lives) and a
different person today from when we were five days or five years or fifteen
years old. We have more knowledge. We usually become more responsible. For a
while our strength increases, then it may decrease. Beyond these, I read the
following on a website:


 

[A]ll the cells in the human body (except brain cells) renew themselves,
with old cells dying and being replaced. The rate of renewal depends on the
type of tissue. Blood renews itself completely three times in a year, the
gut lining is renewed every three days and the skeleton is renewed every
four years. This means that no part of the body, even in very old people, is
more than 10 years old.


So, except for our brains, we have entirely new bodies every 10 years. We
are constantly changing. One cell replacing another cell.

Similarly, I think, the faith we have today is both exactly the same and
different from what God gave us at baptism. We might say that the DNA of
that faith remains constant, but our understanding, our knowledge, our
responsibly living of the faith is always changing.

Maturing is a natural process, but it can be hindered or block by the lack
of tender loving care, good nutrition, education, healthy environments,
adequate role models, etc. Another hindrance is "atrophy," which is a
technical term meaning, "if you don't use it, you loose it." If a muscle is
not used, it wastes away and becomes unusable.

Sanctification or maturing in the faith will happen naturally when the faith
is fed from the Word and Sacraments, when there is proper Christian
education, when there are faithful role models, when there are opportunities
to exercise faith. While we can't create faith or make it grow, we can
either hinder and block its growth or we can do what we can to fertilize and
feed the seed of faith God has given us.

However, Daniel H. Pink in Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates
Us, indicates in a section about mastery that a mindset can hinder mastery
or sanctification or maturity. He is writing about intelligence. One group
believes that intelligence is something like height. Once you reach your
adult height, you can't grow taller. Once you reach a particular level of
intelligence that's it. Another group believes that intelligence is
something like strength. Even as adults we can improve our strength through
pumping iron and other exercises.

In terms of mastery, there can be performance goals and learning goals. A
student may master the multiplication table and pass all the tests - that's
a performance goal. Once he's passed the tests, his mastery of the subject
is done. As a learning goal, mastering the multiplication tables is only
part of learning to use numbers and math and how knowing those tables can be
applied in many other situations, e.g., making only half of a recipe or
doubling it.

Another illustration from the book: Getting an A on a French test is a
performance goal. Learning to speak French is a learning goal.

An application: Winning at Bible trivia is a performance goal. Continuing to
learn the messages of the Bible and how they apply to one's life is a
learning goal - it's an activity that continues throughout our lives.

I have had adults tell me, "Everything I need to know about God I learned in
Sunday school." That mindset hinders maturing in the faith. Others may
think, "I passed all my confirmation tests and that's enough." I believe
that such a mindset may be a reason we often have difficulties getting many
adults to continue learning about their faith and scriptures. I remember one
judicatory person commenting about a church that was run by a bunch of
eighth graders. None of the congregation council members had attended any
Christian education classes since confirmation.

How do we instill a desire for folks to become more proficient at matters of
faith? To desire to be more open for God to do his sanctifying work - which
might make them even more weird when compared to the people of the world?

CONCLUSION

O'Day raises the interesting question: "It is interesting to ponder how the
Christian community's self-definition would be changed if it took as its
beginning point, 'We are a community for whom Jesus prays.'" [p. 798]

Have you thought of putting yourself on your prayer chain. That has happened
to me when I've been sick, but what about having the prayer group constantly
praying for the pastor-even when s/he is not sick and when there are not
conflicts in the congregation. I am certain that a large part of the
effectiveness of a pastor's ministry and the ministry of the congregation is
dependent upon the people's prayers for one another.

I know a pastor who used the church directory and prayed for every member of
the congregation. The people knew that their pastor was praying for them.

We have been assured that Jesus' prays for us. Which means, first of all,
that we are in need of prayer. We can't do it by ourselves. Secondly, we are
guaranteed help from God. How could the Father refuse the Son's requests?
However, we may not always want God's help that Jesus has asked for. We may
want to be part of the world, rather than hated by the world. We may want to
stay in our own "safe" areas, rather than to be sent into the world. We may
want to keep our individual identities, rather than wanting the unity that
becomes our witness to the world.

Do we want Jesus praying for us? If so, we need to listen carefully to what
he has requested from God. We need to prepare ourselves for God to
answer-and to be the answer God uses.

Brian Stoffregen
Faith Lutheran Church, 2215 S 8th Avenue, Yuma, Arizona 85364
e-mail: brian.stoffregen at gmail.com

 

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