Void: Embraced or Fulfilled? (NYC re-visited)
When I was growing up, the salvation message went as follows: we all have a huge void in our hearts, one that cannot be filled with anything else...except Jesus. So God created the world, Sin entered the scene by a free will choice, Jesus was then sent to restore and fulfill humanity and all of creation, and we are given the choice to accept this gift of grace. Pretty simple, right?
I have found in youth ministry that often time we search: students searching for answers, for purpose; adults searching for relevance and organization. We have come full circle to embrace the doubt, embrace the void if you will. One way that a void is left is after an emotional event or a large gathering: retreats, conferences, special events, etc. One such event was NYC2011. There was mass scale service, worship times, and teaching times. There was freedom for students to bond and grow closer together, for adults to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. It is, as I was always taught, a mountaintop experience. Then, the crash, the hangover, the aftermath of one such event is what we all face. The slump of returning to our everyday lives, our everyday youth groups, and our everyday routines. We find ourselves commenting on how "we want to go back there!," "we want to live in that experience!" We have indeed embraced the void that is left all the while forgetting that in such an event we had become so fulfilled relationally and spiritually. Let's think about this, do we really embrace a memory and forget to live in the present and for a restored future?
Jesus addressed this very issue in Acts 1 when he ascended into heaven, or should I say, the two men dressed in white. The people were left staring into the heavens, waiting for the presence and experience of Jesus to come back! Staring at the sky! In the same way, we must heed this warning, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven (Acts 1:10-11)." Let's stop embracing the void and remember that in the dead time, in the time that seems to be a let down from our previous experiences, that we have truly been in the presence of God and that the Holy Spirit will come among us as we share with the world, in the valley, where we live, that the world has already begun to be unbroken and will continue this course through us until heaven comes down and we are filled with glory! Amen.
I have found in youth ministry that often time we search: students searching for answers, for purpose; adults searching for relevance and organization. We have come full circle to embrace the doubt, embrace the void if you will. One way that a void is left is after an emotional event or a large gathering: retreats, conferences, special events, etc. One such event was NYC2011. There was mass scale service, worship times, and teaching times. There was freedom for students to bond and grow closer together, for adults to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. It is, as I was always taught, a mountaintop experience. Then, the crash, the hangover, the aftermath of one such event is what we all face. The slump of returning to our everyday lives, our everyday youth groups, and our everyday routines. We find ourselves commenting on how "we want to go back there!," "we want to live in that experience!" We have indeed embraced the void that is left all the while forgetting that in such an event we had become so fulfilled relationally and spiritually. Let's think about this, do we really embrace a memory and forget to live in the present and for a restored future?
Jesus addressed this very issue in Acts 1 when he ascended into heaven, or should I say, the two men dressed in white. The people were left staring into the heavens, waiting for the presence and experience of Jesus to come back! Staring at the sky! In the same way, we must heed this warning, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven (Acts 1:10-11)." Let's stop embracing the void and remember that in the dead time, in the time that seems to be a let down from our previous experiences, that we have truly been in the presence of God and that the Holy Spirit will come among us as we share with the world, in the valley, where we live, that the world has already begun to be unbroken and will continue this course through us until heaven comes down and we are filled with glory! Amen.
posted by Levi at
9:19 AM
2 Comments:
I had a college prof who always refered to those "highs" as the real world. The way God created and intended it to be. I think maybe if we think of it that way we realize that intense worship and growth toward the Father is normalcy... And thats good. What we experience daily is a low, a bit of a mental shift for me to think in those terms. However, if we buy into that - what does it say about our daily lives in regards to worship and exemplifying Christ? If we want to be whole and Christ-like - restored to the way God intended all along shouldn't more than sinlessness be included? Perhaps even daily filled with the Spirit so that we are constantly present with Him?
Good thoughts Levi.
Duffy Robbins refers to these as monuments and footprints. The monuments are the points in our journey like NYC, places we can look back on and recognize where God was supernaturally present. Footprints refers to the daily journey we have as Christians. It is in the daily walk where we really understand and discover what it means to be a disciple. The monuments are necessary, but simply serve to remind us where real life is lived and gives us fuel to do so.
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