During the linton season,
First Church has been focusing on health and recovery.
Each week we've been taking one word from the beginning of the creation story in Genesis chapter 1 as our guidance and our focus for our own spiritual health and our collective recovery.
Today,
Our word from the creation story is tell,
Tell.
And as we begin our time together,
Let me read a few verses from John chapter 12,
Starting at verse 20.
Now there were those who gathered to go to worship.
And a few came to Philip,
Who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
And said to him,
Sir,
We wish to see Jesus.
Philip went and told Andrew,
Then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
And Jesus answered them,
The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Very truly,
I tell you,
Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,
It remains just a single grain.
But if it dies,
It bears much fruit.
Jesus continues,
Those who love their life lose it,
And those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Whoever serves Me must follow Me,
And where I am,
There will My servant be also.
Whoever serves Me,
The Father will honor.
As we begin our meditation today,
I invite you to be in a posture most comfortable for you.
Seated upright in a chair,
Reclining or lying down.
And as you're comfortable,
Closing your eyes or resting your gaze on an inanimate object.
For you to be one in this moment with your breath,
Turning inward to the message that is already within you.
A message of great hope and expectation.
A message of peace and reconciliation.
A message that is within every breath.
Inspiration.
Now take just a few moments to find the rhythm of your breath.
Allowing any thoughts or feelings that may arise.
You do not have to create any stories about those thoughts or feelings.
Your mind,
Your heart are doing exactly what they should be doing.
Thinking and feeling.
Thinking and feeling.
And back to your breath.
Part of meditation is less about the message and more about returning to the breath.
To the moment that you have in the here and in the now.
To this time,
To this place,
To this moment in your life.
This story of those who are worshiping is almost a story within a story,
Isn't it?
From the very beginning of the Gospel of John,
There's an invitation to focus in this Gospel.
From the people who have walked in darkness,
They have now seen a great light.
We see this interplay of light and darkness,
Of listening and not hearing,
Of loss and of gain,
Of telling and of silence.
And in this interplay lies our very own story of God's claim and call on our lives through Jesus Christ.
It's a story that we are invited to speak and a story that we're invited to live.
I believe Jesus wants us to meditate less on the Son of Man being glorified and much more so on love and service.
Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,
It remains a single grain.
But if it dies,
It bears much fruit.
This juxtaposition of life and death and then back into life,
This reciprocity of giving and receiving,
The wholeness of what is there.
In the Christian tradition,
It is God who is telling of God's presence for the world through the person and work of Jesus Christ.
It is both in living and in dying that we find the message true.
That much fruit can be born out of both living and dying,
Of taking on and of letting go.
The story within the story.
And likewise,
Jesus continues,
Whoever serves me must follow me and where I am there will my servant be also.
One who is serving is out front and also following the lead of the ultimate servant.
And though Jesus may not be with us,
He says that he will be with us always in our acts of service.
Life and death,
Serving and following,
Giving,
Receiving,
It's the story within the story.
It's as simple as finding ourselves in this moment,
Breath after breath,
Inhaling,
Exhaling,
Loss gain,
Life death,
Story within the story.
So what is it that we must take away from this day,
Where we focus on the word tell?
The question that I have for you as you go throughout your day is to reflect on this.
How has your life told the story of the gospel,
Of living,
Of dying,
Of loss,
Of gain?
Your life is a story within the story.
And in each moment you have an opportunity to tell it like it is,
Just as it is.
It is the story that you are invited to speak and the story that you're invited to live.
So take just a few moments to set your intention for the day,
To live out of the gospel message of love and of service,
And in both of those giving and receiving.
Open your eyes,
Greet this moment with a smile,
And prepare to live your life as a story within the story of the good news,
The gospel of Jesus Christ.
