Monks, Friars, Prophets, and Me
Saturday, June 18, 2005
No, it's not Martin Luther, it's not Robin Hood, and it's not ancient Israel, but it IS very interesting. The Prophetic Conference has kicked off and I have been been hearing invaluable teaching from a monk with a Doctorate in Christian Spirituality, a Franciscan Friar, and many other ordinary people who have taken a prophetic posture in life by seeking, seeing, and resisting the forces of evil that exist in our society.
After hearing their stories and testimonies, I was able to read Isaiah 58 with fresh eyes, and to hear it for the first time as alive, Spirit breathed words to me from the mouth of God. For the first time, I think by the power of the spirit alone I was able to connect it to my own journey. Here is what I am hearing:
"They seek Me day by day and delight to know my ways...they ask Me for just decisions, they delight in the nearness of God. 'Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?' " In my spiritual journey over the past 4 or 5 years, I have traveled through a time of darkness and silence between me and God, where I have not been able to hear Him in prayer or the written Word, and I have been in a very dry place, spiritually. I know God is with me and I am able to speak of His goodness with conviction, but this testimony, though honest, is based on emotions and experiences from the past, now only taken by faith. I have enjoyed the blessings of God without hearing His voice, and as such, without the ability to obey. I have been (am) frustrated and confused by God's silence and apparent distance.
"Is this not the fast which I (the LORD) choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked, to cover him; and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?" I have seen and heard and now believe that it is possible to live this way. This is not charity out of the goodness of my heart, it must be out of a desperation for God from my profound and utter poverty. This is not a result of my training or education or intelligence or privaleged postion, it is by the grace of God only by the annointed power of the Holy Spirit within me.
(If the above described fasting takes place) "Then your light will break out like the dawn, and your recovery will speedily spring forth; and your righteousness will go before you; the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry, and He will say, 'Here I am'... and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail." The Word of the Lord. Could God be teaching me the way to hear His voice again?
Three chapters later, (Isaiah 61) Christ said about himself "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted/humble; He has sent me to bind up the brokenheartred, to proclaim libtery to captives and freedom to prisoners, etc...." I can no longer plead ignorance of the oppression and injustice that is taking place within my own country, within my own neighborhood, and for the first time I am seeing it as wrong! I cannot stand idly by anymore with a clean conscience. I do not know what I am supposed to do yet, but I wait for the same Spirit of the Lord God that annointed Christ to annoint me and give me a message or a task. Please pray for that I would be able to listen and obey.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 12:16 AM
Labels: San Francisco, Scripture Reflections
God keeps bringing me back to Isaiah time and time again this past year, begining at my first trip to Angola. These words stand in stark contrast to my Christianity, where I try and satisfy my desire to feel close to God by focusing on a dry personal spirituality. The fact is that that is not a bad desire (to feel close to God) but that my method of attaining it is opposite to my goal.
If I want to become closer to God I don't need to be doing spiritual rituals where my heart is not involved, I need to instead be seeking and acting on His will, which is clearly for the oppressed (economically as well as many other ways). I need to follow the advice of Jesus and seek first His kingdom, and then all those other things will fall into place.
Actually doing this though (following Christ's will for my life) is a very scary thing, and I tend to avoid it.