Spiritual Formation
Spiritual Formation • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Becoming a Modern Monk
Beginning a new series - all about spiritual formation. Christ being formed within us. Transformation/change.
Galatians 4:19 “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,”
Today, I want to make the argument, simplifying the complexity of life, the goal of the Christian. And then, how we will accomplish this goal.
What is the aim and goal of the Christian life?
2 Corinthians 5:9 “So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.”
2 Corinthians 5: 15 “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
What are we saved from?
Luke 9:23 “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
Luke 14:27 “And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
The paradox here, is that fullness of life, joy, purpose, is found in following Christ, remember, we were saved from living for ourselves.
We are going to look at a Scripture for a bit of a deeper dive of this goal - the way of the cross.
Philippians 3:3–11 (NIV)
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
The gift of Righteousness is the ground that paves the way to that of knowing Christ.
The goal of knowing Christ, etc. is not to merit righteousness but because, as Paul said “Who loved me and gave himself for me.”
What knowing Christ entails from this portion of Scripture:
The Present power of his resurrection &...
Sharing in his sufferings- (The sufferings of Christ from 2:5-11 ) to (opposite of triumphalist - all glory, no pain. But also not the gloomy stoicism that is “slug it out in the trenches” without a sense of Christ’s presence and power). The suffering is transformed into intimate fellowship with Christ Himself.
Reminder of 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
All that to “Become like him in his death” Cruciform lifestyle is the present goal and resurrection the final goal.
The cruciform life is developed clearly in the book - life of sacrifice for others (Philippians 2:1-5 - humility, valuing others above yourself, looking to others interests - “Other Regard”.
For Paul - the way of the cross, becoming servant of all instead of “selfish ambition” and, in that servanthood, humbly obedient to the point of dying for another in place of “vain conceit (boasting/pride)” (2:3–8)
This is the Christian life, The power of His resurrection enables us to live it and guarantees our final resurrection and glory.
So that is the biblical argument for the Christian life - living for him, the cruciformed life.
How do we accomplish this?
How do we actually change and succeed at - Knowing Christ, living in his resurrection power for a cruciform life?
Distractions today. Most technology and convenience in history, yet - these don’t form us, much of it distracts us from spiritual formation.
We are going to visit the ancient practices of the monastic men and women.
The monastic life
How / why it started
Monastic comes from a word that means solitary. They separated themselves from society for a single purpose. Ridding themselves of distractions and all the temptations in society. A way of life marked by a separation from the world and a complete dedication to God. Monks had a single focus in life. Seek God and be transformed from the inside out.
Therefore, they created what’s called “The monastic Rule” - for clarity, these are essentially spiritual disciplines.
We owe much to the monastic people: their care to copy manuscripts, literature and protect them are a reason we have so many ancient documents, including the scriptures themselves.
In later years, monasticism was abused and somewhere along the way the ascetic life turned from its original intent to a way of masochism and meriting forgiveness.
Like the monks, we need a specific rule of life. (that our lives would be pleasing to Jesus and like him)
We all have one right now. Our attitudes, way of living day in and day out are our rule. The problem is, for many, and we can all improve, our rule is not set up to having Christ formed within.
We need to have proper practices and disciplines that please God.
Practices don’t change us, the Holy Spirit does.
Practices/disciplines, however, create daily space for Him to change us.
Failure to act in certain definite daily ways guarantee transformation will not happen.
These ancient rules/disciplines make theology practical.
The body (neo-platonism) is not bad.
Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”
Physical actions please God.
Discipline is necessary to be a disciple. In order to learn there must be a boundary or program by which we live our lives so that consistency can take place.
Our whole life is to be brought into alignment with the purposes of God. It’s His way, His order, His supremacy.
The fruit of the Spirit is self-control, God wants you to control yourself. So that the Holy Spirit can increasingly conform us into the image of Christ.
Matthew 11:28-30 ““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.””
No one who truly knows what Jesus is like could not fall madly in love with him. And the new motivation for obedience was from that place of love. Serving others the way he did, ordering my life the way he does, because I love him.
If we wish to follow Christ and take on his yoke we must accept his overall way of life as our way of life.
The key of the easy yoke, is to learn from Christ how to live our total lives, how to invest all our time and our energies of mind and body as he did. Following his preparations, his disciplines for life in God’s order that enabled him to receive his Father’s constant and effective support while doing his will
WWJD
When faced with decisions and responses in life, we are told to ask the question. That’s better than nothing. We look at the Sermon on the Mount and make the commitment to respond the way Jesus taught.
But we are missing the big picture. We were never meant to use these as “on the spot” decision making but rather the character in the sermon on the mount is illustrative of a new person, one who has Christ’s way of life.
Trying to respond and make decisions according to Jesus’ teaching with taking his total way of life and disciplines is like asking someone who hasn’t played the piano before to play Beethoven’s moonlight sonata or asking a child to bench 400 pounds.
The professionals can do these things. Athletes are on the big stage not because they just do the performance but their whole way of life has prepared them for those moments.
NFL players lives look incredibly different than our own.
We, as new creations, our lives ought to look incredibly different than those without Christ.
Transformation is not automatic, It requires intentional consistent discipline - we must as Paul said in Romans 6:13 “Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.”