The Economy of the Spirit
Isaiah 55:1-9
Sometimes when you read scripture, it just doesn’t make any sense. Let’s face it. Most people, including us, go through life with a logical mindset. We get 1+1=2. It makes sense. It is concrete. It is definable. Life in the Spirit is not always as easy to grasp logically. Like today’s passage which says, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”(55:1) (55:1) OK, I get that when you are thirsty, getting water is the solution. But how do you buy wine and milk without money and without cost? (I don’t think Isaiah was prophesizing about credit cards.) There’s an old saying we used in the South that goes, “you can’t get blood from a turnip.” I think it means the same thing. If you don’t have it, you can’t use it.
Well, not when it comes to the Spirit of God evidently. It’s a whole different economy when you’re dealing with things of the Spirit. Over and over again, we as a church have discovered that with God, not only are all things possible, but many more of those things are possible through us. Jesus told us that we would do greater things than he did. Do you believe that’s possible? Scripture invites us to look at ourselves and our world with new eyes. Indeed, it is in those times when we think we have little or nothing to offer that we discover the hidden depths of God’s Spirit which is part of us. Bubbling up like an unknown fountain, blessing flows from our lives in ways we never dreamed. It seems to happen more often when we decide to let down some of the barriers that hold blessing back and when we realize we don’t have to continue the same old assumptions that keep us stuck instead of allowing us to soar. In the economy of the Spirit, it is possible to buy the “wine and milk” without knowing from where the resources are coming because it is not just about our abilities or skills or expertise. It is about the Spirit of the Living God working through each of us and all of us together that allows a synergy of hope and generosity that just doesn’t seem possible in the world of 1+1=2. It is about trusting God, but perhaps just as importantly, it’s about trusting ourselves.
It’s essential – on a regular basis – to take time away to simply and intentionally become aware of the presence and leading of God. We sometimes call them “Sabbaths.” We often hear this term used to mean Sabbath rest – like the idea of Sabbath is simply to relax and do nothing. Most of us spend part of our weekly Sabbath in church on Sunday or Wednesday. While Sabbaths can be refreshing, they are usually not ideally doing nothing. Instead, they are times of intention – intentionally being aware of the tug of God on our hearts, intentionally reflecting on what is important about our lives and work, intentionally re-evaluating one’s purpose and dreams. But, perhaps most importantly of all, a Sabbath is a time to intentionally be available to that spiritual quality we call God – to allow the divine to do something new and unexpected in and through us so we can participate in the economy of the Spirit. Some of you have wondered why Rev. Robyn and I take sabbaticals – which are basically an extended Sabbath. Some have joked that they would love to have extra vacation time. A sabbatical is not lying on a beach somewhere slurping Mai Tai’s. It is a way to get out of the regular routine to intentionally spend time in prayer, study, reflection and learning. More people than pastors should consider adding a sabbatical to their calendar.
Isaiah gives us a good place to start with any sabbatical retreat. “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your energy on that which does not satisfy?” Yeah, why do we do that? Did you know you did? When the prophet encourages us to change our diet, he wasn’t talking about from pop tarts to broccoli. Listen to those words from a spiritual point of reference. “My ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” In other words, what are the things and ideas that are we drawing into our lives which aren’t good for us? Why do we spend so much precious time and energy spinning our wheels about things that ultimately don’t matter?
Don’t we know there are much richer, more meaningful, more amazing possibilities for our lives? It would appear not for many people. Those of us who are GLBTQ folk have some insight into how the damage believing lies about ourselves infects our souls. We have done lots of work on that issue around sexuality. We’ve had to remove layer upon layer of self-imposed and other-imposed false assumptions, hateful misuse of fact and, of course, the insidious manner in which we nurse those myths and lies in our own hearts long after the original perpetrator is gone. Most of us in this room are well on our way to breaking free from those shackling chains. Most of us have experienced those moments when the warm glow of truth causes the shadows within to flee. We have known the joy of breaking through ancient bondage (even when it is masquerading in contemporary packaging). We have claimed our heritage as whole, authentic and beloved children of God. We need to do the same work around our spirituality. We must learn not only to trust the goodness of God’s love but also trust the persons we have become – holy, beloved, capable, courageous, bold, beautiful and blessed. I’ve always thought that would be a good name for a Christian soap opera, “The Bold, the Beautiful and the Blessed.”
There’s a wonderful song we sometimes sing at church conferences and retreats that addresses the heart of what I’m talking about. The title is “I will change your name.” It is based on a passage from the 62nd chapter of Isaiah. It goes like this:
I will change your name
You shall no longer be called
Wounded, Outcast, Lonely or Afraid.
I will change your name
Your new name shall be
Confidence, Joyfulness, Overcoming One,
Faithfulness, Friend of God, One who seeks my face.
God has given us new names, new identities and yet we cling so tightly to the old unnecessary names.
Twenty years ago our forebears – some of whom are still in this room – marched from Lake Street down Park Avenue into the doors of this building for the first time. They had no idea what it would take to own the first property of any GLBTQ congregation in Minnesota. They had no concept of the work and the scope of the things that lay ahead. (If they had, they might have gone screaming back into the street!) But somewhere inside that group was the belief that they were part of the economy of the Spirit. They believed that 1+1 could equal a whole lot more than a meager 2. They trusted that God was leading them to do bold things and bring hope to their community. And somehow, they were able to trust themselves to accomplish great things. What a wonderful gift they left us!
That kind of courage lived on. Several years later when Fred Phelps brought his hate-filled message to the corner of Park and 31st, it was a stark contrast between the nasty signs on the other side of the street and the prayer happening on this side. Somehow, letting go of an “eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” was no longer just a nice platitude. It had become a way of being church. We didn’t even need the dykes on bikes who patrolled the street between the two groups although it is always a good day when there are hot lesbians in leather around.
In the economy of our world, it doesn’t make sense to meet hate with prayer, to challenge religious assumptions by asking if Jesus would discriminate, to buy wine and milk without money. In the economy of the Spirit, we are invited to come just as we are and watch God do miraculous things through us. In the economy of the Spirit, we come and drink deeply from the waters that never dry. In the economy of the Spirit, we claim the names God has given us, even when old voices still echo that they aren’t ours. In the economy of the Spirit, 1+1+1+1 equals so much more than the sum total of its parts. In the economy of the Spirit, God takes what we freely offer and uses it to make miracles happen. We’ve seen it over and over again. We’re going to see it again. Trust God and trust yourselves.
Sources:
www.homileticsonline.com; “Theophilia” biblical commentary, March 2007.
Creating a Life that Matters; song lyrics to “I Will Change Your Name”. UFMCC 2007.