Ohana

It's funny to me how God works in our lives.  What I used to think was coincidence I now realize is the Holy Spirit working in our lives.  Let me give you an example.

Two weeks ago I was preparing a sermon for our congregation here in Haskell.  Throughout the summer we have been looking at the fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians 5.  Through my studies I ran across a section from 1 Thessalonians that went well with my sermon.  In 4:3-5, St. Paul tells us "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication; that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God..."  Since I was preaching about self-control, I incorporated these verses into my sermon and everything was fine.

But for some reason I couldn't quite let go of this verse.  It continued to rattle around in my brain for the next several days.  Myranda, the girls, and I took a few days off before school starts in order to have a time of rest.  During that time we were away, the verse continued to come to mind periodically.  At the time I wasn't sure why...

While we were gone, our lay leader here at Haskell UMC agreed to fill-in for me.   Yesterday morning I took some time to listen to her sermon.  She did a fantastic job.  I always love to hear other people preach and this gave me an opportunity to hear someone I have come to respect greatly.  Anyway, her sermon came from 1 Corinthians 12:12 where Paul discusses the importance of being the body of Christ.  Cathy did a marvelous job of proclaiming the truth of this passage.  In her sermon she reminded the congregation that it takes all of us to do what God has called us to.  No one has the right to get lazy and allow someone else do the job.  We are supposed to continue to work with one another and not become jealous of those who have gifts different than we do.

Well, after I listened to her sermon, I came back to mine in order to polish it up.  While I was finishing up, the Spirit led me back to the passage from 1 Thessalonians.  I noticed something I had never seen before.  When St. Paul is writing about sanctification as the will of God, the "you" he uses is the plural form of the pronoun.  In other words, as the Holy Spirit works in our lives he is doing so in the body of Christ.  The entire community of believers should be growing in holiness together.

I'm afraid that we in the United States have made Christianity too individual.  We think that as long as I'm okay and growing spiritually then everything is fine.  But the more I read Scripture the more I'm convinced this is a bad attitude to have.  As children of God, we are called to self-sacrifice.  We are called to serve one another.  We are called to submit to each other.  We are called to help one another in our Christian journey, not to run ahead for our own good.  In the Disney movie "Lilo and Stitch" Lilo says something very similar to this.  She says "Ohana means family.  Family means no one gets left behind." That's a lot of wisdom coming from a cartoon character.

Ohana means family.  Family means no one gets left behind.

So the Holy Spirit showed me some pretty amazing things the last couple of weeks.  I realize more and more how important a community of faith is in our development and growth.  I have come to appreciate all of my brothers and sisters more through this revelation.  May each one of you continue to grow in holiness, not for yourself but for the community of faith you serve.

Until next time...Ohana!

+May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.   



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