Break Open the Sky by Stephan Bauman

Author:Stephan Bauman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2017-05-23T04:00:00+00:00

IMPOSSIBLE UNTIL DONE

Becoming a community of differents, like the third race of the early church, seems impossible for many. If you’ve participated in a multicultural community or sought out conversations with people significantly different from yourself, you understand it’s hard work. Sometimes years of investment in hospitality bring only grief. It can kick the idealism out of the most well-intentioned altruist.

Yet Jesus offers an astonishing invitation. Unfortunately, it’s rarely talked about, maybe because it’s scary or prone to misinterpretation. Or maybe we simply assume people know about it, though few seem to understand and experience it.

The invitation? To exchange your life with Christ’s and to live out his power and presence here on earth through your thoughts, emotions, words, and deeds. The apostle Paul summarized it with a profound statement: “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”20 Theologians call it theosis, an oft-misunderstood word that simply means participation in the life of God. When we tap into this idea, even momentarily, everything changes. Our motives change; our perspective shifts; we change. As a result, we begin to want to reach out to people who are different from us. Our fear dissipates; we no longer fear losing what we’ve “attained.” We experience a love for others that surprises us, not to mention those around us.

The key to living this way? Letting our fear drive us to a place of desperation. So often we do all we can to push fear away or ignore it altogether. We esteem the person who appears to have it all together. His emotions are controlled. She refrains from comment. He defers to others. But sometimes this person is simply afraid—afraid of displaying emotion or of saying the wrong thing. Being brave requires us to muster the courage to feel deeply. Our emotions can drive us toward honest reflection, decision, and, ultimately, action. In this sense fear can be a gift, but only if we are honest with ourselves.

It’s in this place of desperation where the Spirit of God meets us most intensely. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” said Jesus.21 Yet the empowering presence of God, the participation in the life of God through his Holy Spirit, remains elusive for so many followers of Jesus. It’s this very promise—the sending of the Holy Spirit by the Father22—however, that more than anything can help us live a life of authentic faith. Without the Spirit of God consuming our hearts, inspiring our thoughts, and coursing through our veins, following Jesus becomes an exercise in futility. Ironically, while God sends his Spirit to help us overcome fear, many people are afraid of his Spirit, some deathly afraid. His answer? “Trust in God, and trust also in me.”23 I encourage you to simply ask him to come into your life in a new way.

God answers desperate prayers.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst…for they will be filled.”24 God designed the universe in such a way that

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