Stage 5

We’ve been looking at the stages of spiritual journeys.

We’ve covered the first four steps:

1.   Recognition of God – when we first meet God

2.   The Life of Discipleship – when we learn about God in a community of believers

3.   The Productive Life – when we work for God

4.   The Journey Inward – when we come face to face with God and see both Him and ourselves for who we are.   A time of rediscovery and acceptance of His love for us in spite of our attempts to put Him in a box.

We also looked at an important roadblock in the journey called the wall

-       the make or break point for many Christians

-       the time when the mature Christian finds him or herself making the choice of

o      trusting God and going forward,

o      trusting in his faith and taking steps back,

o      or trusting in himself and giving up the journey altogether.

So what’s on the other side of the wall?

Stage 5 – The Journey Outward

A total surrender to God’s will so that HE directs our lives.

Sounds a little like we’ve been there before?

But wait, this time our eyes are wide open and we know the consequences of following God, AND we are not afraid.

We know that we have a job to do in the Kingdom.

We’ve come through the crisis at the wall - we have chosen God’s way. - There’s no turning back. There’s nothing else.

Let’s look at three Biblical examples, people we’ve looked at in earlier sessions. In each example I’d like us to identify the wall each of them came through before they decide to follow God no matter what?

   1. Ruth: Ruth 1:16-18  

16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

Wall: death of husband

2.   Elisha: 2 Kings 2: 1-6

When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.”

But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”

“Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “but do not speak of it.”

4 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.”

And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”

“Yes, I know,” he replied, “but do not speak of it.”

6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.”

And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on.

Wall: knowing that his mentor was about to die (leave him)

3.   Peter: John 6:52-69

52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit  and they are life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Wall: a teaching from Jesus that ran counter to Peter’s religious belief system – a teaching so radical that many fellow believers left.

In each instance, the motivation of the person was a desire to love honestly and live according to God’s purpose. There was no self involved.

-       Ruth went with Naomi because she loved her.

-       Elisha accompanied Elijah because he was a faithful servant.

-       Peter stayed because no matter what others thought, he knew Jesus was Messiah and nothing else mattered.

How do people enter Stage 5?

At stage 4 we take God out of the box we’ve put Him in and in the process see who we really are. We come through the wall by discovering forgiveness and experiencing healing.

The key word here is process. Healing is a process.

In stage 5 we discover that God truly loves us even though we’re not yet perfect, or complete, or whole.

Wholeness means being aware of our faults and not letting them trip us up.

-       We know who we are with all our faults.

-       We God loves us, despite these faults.

-       And we recognize that God loves others the same way he loves us.

Entering stage 5 takes us to the place of loving others like God loves us.

And remember the stages are cumulative, stage 5 comes after you have been through the training in stage 2 and service in stage 3.

Your love is expressed through service to others.

-       This may be to a group of people – like Mother Theresa who served the sick and poor in India.

-       Or Pastor Wanda, who serves the people of this community.

-       This can also be one or two individuals – like Brother Charlie who serves Brother Rich.

And because God never sends anyone into service without first equipping them, the fruits of the spirit manifests at this stage in the journey.

Remember back when we were discussing Personality testing, and I shared some examples with you, and got on my soap box about how they can be used to assign people jobs in the church?

In stage 5, God assigns the job and God directs the way it is to be carried out. For many people, the calling is unlike anything we would have chosen for ourselves.

I am sure when Mother Theresa joined the convent at the age of 18, she never imagined that God would redirect her plans of service. After serving for 17 years as a teacher and high school principle she came across a half-dead woman lying in front of a Calcutta hospital. She stayed with the woman until she died. That event shaped the service God had destined for her. The work God chose for her involved working with the poor and dying living on the streets in India. She wanted them to be able to die in peace and with dignity. Can you imagine the obstacles she faced? How can mere mortals face death every day without love, peace, kindness, gentleness?

We have heard our Pastor say a number of times, this is not the path she would have chosen for herself. She has shared with us some of the obstacles she faced in coming to the pastorate. Now that takes love, patience, faithfulness, and temperance.

What are the cages in Stage 5?

There really aren’t cages at stage 5, you don’t really get stuck, but you may appear to be by others.

You may be accused of being too heavenly minded for any earthly good. Have you heard that before?

People expect us to act like the world acts,

-       when we don’t, they say we’re in denial.

-       when we give money away, we’re poor managers.

-       when we spend our vacations on a mission’s trip, we’re saps.

-       when we refuse to compete and play political games, we’re weak.

In actuality, at stage 5, you’re doing what God has called you to do. You don’t crave man’s recognition. You don’t want the spotlight on your hands. You want God to receive the glory.

Because of this, you may be accused of apathy. You don’t care what color the choir robes are. It’s not important that the reader mispronounced the Hebrew names in the passage he read. Again, those things are worldly, and if the results aren’t eternal, they don’t have your attention.

What is the crisis that moves a person from Stage 5 to Stage 6?

There really isn’t a crisis in going from Stage 5 to Stage 6.

Stage 6 – the Life of Love is actually a deeper level of Stage 5. It is when we reflect God’s love more clearly consistently than we thought possible.

Stage 6 saints feel compassion for others. There is no cost too great, job too big or too small. Stage 6 saints put the needs of others above their own.

Now, to be honest with you, this is an elite group.

Examples might be:

-       Mother Teresa,

-       Jim Eliott, the missionary who lost his life trying to save the Auca Indians from annihilation,

-       Terry Law, an American missionary who is ministering in Iraq today.

What are the cages in Stage 6?

Again, there really aren’t cages at stage 6, you don’t really get stuck, but you may appear to be by others.

You are content. A common accusation is that you don’t take care of yourself. People say “buy yourself something, take a vacation, do something for yourself”. They don’t understand the concept that your joy comes from God and nothing else matters.

Or you’re reckless, “you drive into “bad areas” to work with low-lifes. People take advantage of you. Why are you wasting your time on them? Can’t you work with “normal people?” They forget Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and some of those have Aids, and live under viaducts, or in the ghetto – and are all important to God.

So that’s it. That's the full journey on earth for the believer

·       from that initial meeting of God,

·       through gaining knowledge and understanding of who He is, and then discovering who we are

·       and what purpose we serve in the Kingdom,

·       to living a life that brings God glory.

I hope you’ve gained some insights to where you are on the journey.

·       I want to remind you that the journey is both the process and the passage, not a race.

·       We’re not in this to reach a certain stage by a certain time. Stages are places where we can evaluate where we have been and consider where we’re going.

·       Stages are cumulative: one builds upon the other.

·       Stages are fluid: we moved back and forward throughout our lives.

·       Your home stage is where you operate most of the time and it characterizes your life of faith.

·       Cages are where we get stuck, when we stand still and refuse to move.

·       Crisis is the time to move because faith is more then belief, it involves action, and that action requires faith in God.

Discussion Questions

Stage 5

Do you have a glimpse of God’s purpose (vocation, call, ministry) for your life?

Stage 6

Can you think of someone who emulates a selfless Life of Love?