Intentional Interruptions by Jonathan Thomas

 

INTENTIONAL INTERRUPTIONS

By Jonathan Thomas

Chapter 1 opens with the story of a hike Jonathan undertakes one day.  He asked a dozen men from his church to join him on a 24 hour hike and leave their iPads, phones and watches at home.  Switching off and spending time with Jesus.  They had an experienced guide – he took them through the book of Philippians as they hiked.  But they hiked in silence for long periods at a time.  Why did he organise such a radical walk?  Well, it all started 3 years previously.  Jonathan then records a typical day in his life, full of pressures and little intimacy with God.  With the advent of social media our minds have shifted focus to the intentions ad expectations of others.  We are no longer taking time to focus on what we really want to do in our lives.  We are constantly interrupted and they combine to take away our rest – not just physically but spiritually.  We live in a digital age that could be called distracted hurry.

Jonathan sets out in the first half of his book the interruptions that distract us, rob our attention and keep us busy.  And he examines just why they are so addictive.  But we need to locate the problem within the bigger picture – what is the crisis and how can Christ be the answer?  We need to find true rest that is only found in Christ.  What if God wants to interrupt us?  What if he has intentions for our lives that we are missing out on due to the deliberately intentional interruptions of others?  In the second half of his book Jonathan explores 5 ways in which God may want us to be Interrupted – for his kingdom.

The aim is not to get you off your phone, make more time to rest or help you to simplify and digitally detox.  The aim is to invite you into the greatest life imaginable, one where we have the openness to be Interrupted by God and used in a way that will bring glory to him.

What does the word Selah mean to you?  Alistair Begg defines it as “think about that for a moment!”  And at the end of each of his chapters Jonathan encourages us to do just that with a series of 3 questions followed by a prayer.  These are great as they make you think about the chapter just read and its content.  Being honest and answering these questions means you really are allowing God to speak to you directly.

In Chapter 2 Jonathan refers back to a time in the past when Christians became obsessed with the secret agendas of 1980’s cartoons, 1970’s heavy metal played backward (I remember this!) and wonders if his concern for tech and social media is just the same.

He introduces us to 2 books that can give us an insight into tech and social media.  They are written by 2 people who spent years working for the biggest social media companies and their experiences.  During their time of working these 2 men wanted to learn how to take back control of their lives, to live out their own intentions not those of others.  Why?  Because they realised that the apps they created interrupted them and stole their time.

“Our phones, laptops and televisions are filled with games, social feeds and videos.  Everything is at our fingertips, irresistible, even addictive.  No app or feed wants to be ignored.  So they have been created in order to get your attention and keep your attention quickly and easily.”

Did you know that people unlock their iPhones an average of 80 times per day?  And people touch their phones an average of 2,617 times per day.  It was these 2 men’s job to try and get people to stay longer and watch more.  Many of these apps have their place and purpose in life and society.

Next Jonathan introduces us to a GP.  When Jonathan had to take some time off work due to stress this GP gave him a book to read – The Four Pillar Plan.  This book encouraged Jonathan to focus on some simple tasks like learning to relax, eat healthily, sleep well and do some exercise.  Many of the principles are ones that God has taught his people.  One of this GP’s top tips for living a longer, healthier life is a Screen Free Sabbath “every Sunday turn off your screens and live your day offline.”  It is now thought that there are more mobile devices on the planet rather than people.  We find it difficult to switch off!  This is the cause of stress today.  Like drugs, the more you use your smartphone, the more addicted you become.

Tony Reinke works for Desiring God and has written extensively on the Christian faith and technology in hid book 12 ways your phone is changing you.  In his preface he writes “my phone is a window into the worthless and the worthy, the artificial and the authentic.”  Reinke asks a simple question “what is the best use of my smartphone in the flourishing of life?”  He digs deep to see how our phones are changing us.  Each chapter explores the dangers of the smartphone: we are becoming addicted to distraction; we ignore real people in person; we become obsessed with wanting instant “likes”; we end up lonely; lose meaning; become increasingly harsh to one another.  At the end he briefly looks at “living smartphone smart” and introduces some limits we can adopt.

The phone is not the enemy.

Digital is not inherently dangerous.

Social media is not necessarily sinful matter.

This book is not going to call you to a social media-quitting phone-burning ceremony.

What does tech and social media do to our heart?  Our soul.  Our inner being.

There is a temptation to find your satisfaction, security and status in something other than the gospel.

What does your screen and social media entice you into at any and every moment?

The reason we get so attached is because they deliver so well at the start – just think of how often you scroll through your feed.  How does it make you feel?  It feels good.  It gives you status; it makes you feel secure; it offers instant satisfaction.  Slowly though the situation changes.  Your tweet doesn’t get any likes.  There is the pressure of posting the perfect picture even though life is anything but perfect.  Now you are in the grip of the very things you thought you were controlling.

“counterfeit gods always disappoint, and often destructively so.” Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods

This is when things become demanding – we start to sacrifice for them.

How will we ever learn to stop this?  There is a God, the only true God, who doesn’t demand bloodshed from us because he shed his blood for us.  The reason why we fall for the nudges that interrupt us is because we are constantly looking for the God who creates us to know and enjoy him.  But we often find counterfeit gods, functional idols, replacements for Jesus.

Do you look for God in the wrong places?

Jonathan becomes very real at this point and I think we should too.  We all crave false assurances.  But Jesus’ cross means that he gives us a solid security, a sonship status and a serious satisfaction.  There is a continual battle between the Spirit and the flesh, between the old man and the new man.  This means that we often want to go back to our old securities.

Putting a bible verse on Instagram, with the picture of a sunset in the background, makes you look like a spiritual giant but deep down you know you aren’t sharing in delightful devotion but in a moment of desperate demand for attention and status (ouch!).

John Calvin wrote that our heart is a perpetual forge of idols.  We seem hard wired to look to anything other than God to give us status, satisfaction and safety (so very true!).

We get distracted by these things to the degree in which we invite the nudges:

I choose to buy a smart phone

I choose to sign up to social media platforms

I choose to have work email on my phone

I choose to take my phone to bed

I choose to allow notifications

I choose to prioritise myself through a filter

I choose  to present a polished version of my life on social media

I choose. I choose.  I choose.

We are responsible for our own actions.  Often the idols we seek to create aren’t outside of us but are us.  Me … you.  We want to be God.  This goes back to the Garden of Eden.

Jonathan quotes Zack Eswine’s book Sensing Jesus and The Imperfect Pastor.  Zack lists 4 default settings of the fallen human heart that reveal our desire to be God.

Everywhere for all – desire to be omnipresent or FOMO

Fix it all – always on call, get involved, need to be there virtually

Know it all – omniscience – the more we know the more we want to know

Immediacy – desire to have everything now.

The big problem with interruptions that play with these temptations is that they can derail, not only our plans but our hearts.  An interruption is an invitation.  And it is an invitation to form new habits, liturgies and loves.

Something that happens a couple of times and is novel can end up becoming a ritual … which in turn becomes a liturgy.

40% of decisions are made out of habit not choice.  Habits unlock a whole host of other actions and these habits can form the heart – they are actions of formation.

How often do we look at our phone first thing in the morning when we wake up?  These habits or rituals in turn speak to our heart.  We are either filled with hope or fear depending on what we see.  Or we are lifted high by the re-tweets or thrust low by the pictures from the party the night before – that you weren’t invited to, but everybody else seems to be having the time of their life in the Instagram pictures.  We have now set our hearts for the day.  

So many of the interruptions in our lives become the habits that are the architecture of our life.  It is what everything is built on.

Psalm 1 shows us a picture of how interruption can form us.  The basic premise is that there are 2 ways to live – the way of the wicked or the path of righteousness.  Straight away the Psalmist shows us that the way of the wicked is more “caught” than “taught”.  We start by walking with people then we stop to talk and then we sit to listen and be influenced.  Psalm 1 shows a series of interruptions that intend to stop you hearing the voice of God.  But there is good news.  There is another way.  The path of righteousness.  It is one that changes everything and makes us like an oak tree planted by a plentiful water source.  A life that is solid – based on the status, security and satisfaction only another can give.  Another who is truly all-knowing and all-powerful.  One who gave up everything for us.  So it is to him that we must turn now.

Chapter 3 starts by Jonathan stating clearly that this is not a book about time management and personal leadership.  There are interruptions that are distractions and Interruptions that are divine.  God wants our lives to be Interrupted – these are deliberate, divine and designed.

Think back to Genesis and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  They were interrupted and distracted by the snake.  The intention was clear, get them to doubt the goodness of God and then walk away from the Lord.  Our parents walked with wickedness, stood to consider the way of sin and sat down to eat in an act of defiance.  The interruption that promised true life was actually the original lie that destroyed life.  Even though we rejected our loving and lavish creator we see an amazing and eternity-changing Interruption.  Jesus walks in the garden, in the cool of the day.  The Lord comes to speak to them, to grab their attention, to show them a better way.  This was the first divine Interruption that is the basis for all others.  In grace God comes and speaks to us, even when we have rejected his words.

Or think of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, Boaz, the disciples like Simon Peter and Andrew of the church persecutor Saul.  All of them were Interrupted by God.  These weren’t just at the start of their ministries and callings, these were later on in life too.

Jonathan goes on to look at the story of Mary and Martha.  He shows that like Martha many of us are keen to serve.  Like Martha many of us end up worrying about all that needs to be done.  We start off with enthusiasm and joy, but then it turns to stress and distraction. 

The busyness ends up in distraction and like Martha at times we don’t value time with God.  Shockingly Martha rebukes Jesus for letting Mary just sit at his feet and listen to him.  At this point she is missing one of the most amazing moments in history – for all human beings – but especially for women.  Jesus is declaring women equal; Mary is like a disciple.  Jesus has come into Martha’s home, having accepted her kind invitation but she wants to serve Jesus … at the expense of being served by Jesus.

Martha at this point, doesn’t see sitting at Jesus’ feet as being important.  In fact, she is annoyed by it.  And that can happen to us. Our time with God disappears.

Jesus does not respond to Martha’s challenge and stress.  He replies “Martha, Martha”.  Then he goes to the heart of the matter: “you are worried and upset about many things.”  Jesus knows without thinking.  He knows how she is feeling.  He gave her the best advice ever: Choose the better.

Jesus is not saying Martha is terrible.  She was the one who invited him in.  He is not saying that activity is bad. Rather Jesus is saying that it is “better” – “the best thing” – “the important thing” to sit at Jesus’ feet.  This is about the priority of time with God in order to live a life for God.  Priority not exclusivity.

Look at the passage in light of what had just happened in chapter 10.  Jesus was sending out the 72.

·         Jesus sends us all out on a mission: Great Commission

·         Jesus wants us all to rest in the gospel: Who we are in Christ

·         Jesus wants us all to do good: spiritual and physical/mission and mercy

·         Jesus wants us all to spend time with him, in the word and prayer

God wants to Interrupt us in many different ways and some of those include physical, practical moments and ministries.

Rahab being Interrupted to help the Israelites

Boaz leaving the edges of his fields for gleaning

Jesus consistently responding to non-diarized meetings – the Samaritan woman at the well, the woman who had been bleeding for years, Zacchaeus hanging out of a tree, or the thief on the cross asking to be remembered.

Jesus was open to Interruptions – they were divine not distractions.

Our problem is we go and do but we don’t sit and be and then we end up distracted, worried and upset.  We end up like Martha.

“The story of Mary and Martha is actually about the necessity of the priority of the word of God in the life of active service for the master.” Kent Hughes

This is not contemplation versus activity.  This is about the need to spend time with God in order to serve him.

Prayer and bible study are key.  We try and do the work of God without God.  Time alone with God brings focus.  We get the bigger picture ...  Everything is put back into scale, the scale of God.  That is why it is the better thing.  Let Jesus serve you.

The real hero of the story of Jesus.  Don’t work and be a Martha, don’t sit and be a Mary – no – the Holy Spirit is saying, come to Jesus and listen to him!  Union with Christ means that I am in Christ and He is in me.  I am his and he is mine.  All the time.

The Spirit who inspired the text of the bible is also able to illuminate our hearts and minds when we read it.  We find Christ in the word but Christ is in us by the Spirit and so to read the bible in a prayerful manner is to meet with Christ.  It is communion.  It is a means of grace.  We don’t merely learn about Jesus, rather we meet with Jesus – intimately,

Chapter 4 explores our identity.  He uses 3 C’s that place our identity in the meta-narrative of the bible – creation, cross and consummation (Jesus’ Second Coming and the eternity we all face when everything is made right).  Within that framework there are 3 things that God commands us to do – sleep, Sabbath and slowing

Creation

Genesis tells us that God created everything out of nothing – look at Psalm 8.

Having seen the majesty of God in the wonder of creation, we are then meant to marvel at the way he has created us … and cares for us.  Surely this should fill us with wonder and worship and make us truly starry-eyed.

Everything was good in creation before we set foot on earth.  And then, when God created humanity together it was very good.  One reason for this is because we were created in the image of God, to represent him on earth and have a relationship with him – we can know God!!  God wants to know us.  God has created us with a spiritual capacity, an ability to know and be known.  But we need to remember that we came from the ground.

The temptation has always been to forget our frailty.  To ignore the fact that we are dust.  God wants us to know our limitations, our frailty.  We don’t have to do all the things all the time.  Being able to understand our personal limits is actually a sign of strength.  We don’t have to push ourselves beyond our limits.

God designed us to sleep, before the Fall.  In the beginning when Adam and Eve were created, when they were very good, they were made to sleep.  Sleep is good.  Sleep has a purpose.  And yet we take our smart phones to bed and cause a sleep-deprived danger zone that is contrary to the creator’s care.  Why did God design us to need sleep?  He didn’t have to. But he wanted us to sleep, to rest, to close our eyes.  Sleep by God’s design is a daily reminder that we are but dust, with limitations.  It is a cyclical moment where we must close our eyes and admit that we are no longer needed.

We need to realise that bedtime is always a decision time.  Our default setting is to do.  That is, we are always trying to be in control.  And often we are – at least think we are …

We are physically forced to spiritually reflect and rest.  It is time to give up control – to stop trying to be king.  Will we give everything over to God or not?  And our handsets are a keystone habit that can push us to create liturgies that bring us to the brink of exhaustion.  It can be tempting to numb our thoughts and minds through screen time rather than prayer time.  We need to learn to take things to God.  Not our screens.

But it is also a time to remember the cross – we are beloved.  By doing this every day we rest our default setting and train ourselves to know our true identity.

It is our view of the character of God that determines our sleep pattern.

Then we have a Selah – a time to ponder your heart in bed.  If we don’t spend time searching our hearts, then even in sleep we will still be running from God.  David in his psalms assumes the Selah will lead to silence and refreshing sleep.

The second creation principle is the Sabbath.  This one is optional.  We are not forced by physical necessity to do it every day, rather we are commanded (and blessed) to do it each week.  Although God didn’t need to take a day off in creation, he did.  His day of rest was designed to put a rhythm into the week that all of us would follow.  He is the only one who doesn’t need a day off.  But he did it anyway.  He did it for us.

John Mark Comer encourages a weekly Sabbath by defining it as “a day to stop, stop working, stop wanting, stop worrying, just stop.”

Kevin DeYoung says that God offers us a Sabbath as “an opportunity to trust God’s work more than our own.”

Just like sleep, it is an opportunity to let God be God.

When we stop and consider our creation, we can clearly see that we have limitations.  But these are all complicated and compounded by the Curse.  This is the result of the Fall.  Having rejected God and gone our own way, deciding we knew best, we have been cursed.  From Genesis 3 we see that life will be hard, work will be toil and we will know the sweat of our brow.  We are meant to struggle with work.  It is meant to be hard.  Our bodies get older and frailer.  Then we are meant to ache and yearn for something more.  Rest.  God then gives us a Sabbath to show us that there is a Great Sabbath, a deeper rest, an eternal enjoyment.

Sabbath is about rest.  Holy Rest.  A divine Interruption to our week, to reset our heart and help us remember our creator, the cross, and the consummation of it all in heaven.  For that to happen we need to get into a regular habit that creates a liturgy of grace.

The need to slow down, Selah and stop, is first in the process of getting our lives back and it is part of the aim.  Whilst we may live busy lives for the glory of God, we need never endure hurried lives for the demands of others.  Jesus wants to free us from that.

The concept of slowing is about creating space.  Everything beautiful has room.  Jesus made sure that there was space in his life.  Not just sleep every day, and Sabbath every week but a daily slowing.  There were times in his day, no matter how crazy the crowds or deep the desperation of those around him when he slowed down.  And sometimes he stopped.

Think of the woman who touched the hem of his garment – he stopped to ask who had touched him. 

Or Zacchaeus in the tree – he stopped to tell him to come down.

He spent time with grieving sisters.

His pace wasn’t perpetual, but his cadence was consistent.  He would seek and serve the lost with great passion, but then he would take time out to pray to his Father.

John Mark Comer looks at how Jesus would seek out eremos.  This is the Greek word behind places like desert, deserted place, desolate place, solitary place, lonely place, quiet place, wilderness.  We see this eremos coming up when Jesus rises early in the morning to go and pray.  There is a rhythm to it.  And it was something he encouraged the disciples to do.  Go and pray, go and sail, go and get some food, come and rest.  It is a rhythm you can feel.

Jonathan looks at Mark 6 and a day in Jesus’ life.

John the Baptist has just been beheaded and so Jesus must have been emotionally drained.  But there was so much work to do that he and the disciples didn’t even have time to eat.  They must have been physically drained too.  But Jesus knew that this was not sustainable and so he commanded the disciples to rest – with and in him.  He invited them to the eremos.

The people didn’t see the disciples need for rest.  They just see their own needs for food.  Sacrificially Jesus sees their needs and makes a judgement call and decides to feed them.  Jesus commands them to work when they should be resting.  But he empowers them to do it.  He performs a miracle in their time of weakness.  He multiplies the food. 

While Jesus commands the disciples to miss some slowing in order to serve others, we need to realise that this was a divine Interruption.  The art of Christian living is knowing when that is.  Not every interruption is from God.  But the key thing to notice is that, after this Jesus makes them go on a boat to get away from it all and Jesus himself goes to pray.  In the end, we have to slow down.

A storm comes and now they are straining at the oars.  But all is not lost.  Just as Jesus performed a miracle to feed others, he now does one to calm the storm.  To feed the disciples spiritually.  He gives them a supernatural rest, and he teaches them and us, through it: we need to trust him for rest, even in the storms of life.  The result is that they can crack on and carry out more ministry.

Tim Chester in his book The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness highlights 6 heart motivations that stop us slowing down and stopping.

Firstly some of us are busy because we feel the need to prove ourselves.  We live in a society where what we do determines who we are.  Our worth is directly linked to our work.  So we work harder and strive for success, whatever the cost, because we feel we need to prove ourselves.

Secondly, some of us are busy because we let the expectations of others set our agendas (although not every personality type functions like this).  The idea of letting someone down or losing face, is terrifying.  We want to be people of our word – reliable and well thought of.

Thirdly, we can be busy because things get out of control.  Once we start seeking work to give us status, and then accept work from others to make us pleasing, work piles up. 

Fourthly, some of us are busy because we actually like being under pressure.

Fifthly, we are busy because we want more. We can experience internal and external pressure to succeed and see our worth in what we produce.

Sixthly we are busy because we want to make the most of this life.

All of these come from the Fall and our obsession with being God or simply ignoring him.  We are looking for our security, status and satisfaction in all the wrong places.  But, if we can remember that we are dust and that we are derailed and then start to slow down, sleep and Sabbath, we will realise that the answer to our problems does not reside with us.  We can slow down, stop, sleep, Sabbath and slay the social media sinkhole.  But to do this, we must look outside of ourselves, to the One who is neither frail nor fallen.

Even though we who are from dust have feeble frames, the Lord loves us.    The God who created the stars cares for us.  But more than that – after we gave it all away in the Fall – He came to us.  He became one of us.  And in dying for us, He brought us back into relationship with Him, each other and the creation.  And part of that must surely be reclaiming sleep, Sabbath and slowing.  The cross means that we can redeem the creation rhythms as we admit our frailty and fallenness.

Cross

Richard Coeke described how the gospel is a beautiful diamond that is multifaceted.  You can look at it for years, at different angles and it will always surprise you and bring joy.

An unintended danger with the modern “gospel-centred” movement is that it reduces the gospel diamond to a blunt, forensic statement – “the gospel is the answer”.  Yes but no.  Yes the gospel is always the answer.  But no, the word “gospel” is not.  We must look at the riches of God’s grace and apply it in a myriad of ways to the many situations in life. 

Jesus knows that we all get wearied and burdened.  Jesus knows.  Jesus understands.  Because God became man and dwelt among us, He knew us.  The bible says that Jesus can sympathise with us.  When Jesus sees us weary and burdened he says “come, come to me.”  Jesus offers us Ultimate Rest.  Jesus is not here offering us a new diary plan.  This is not self-help 101 or small tweaks to our coping mechanisms.  Rather Jesus is offering us something more amazing.  Himself.  All rest in the creation rhythms point us to the spiritual rest found in Jesus.

Jesus came to do what we cannot do, to earn that which we can’t earn, and to give what we don’t want to give.  He gives everything so that we can have it all.

Tim Chester in his book says that if you are busy because you are trying to prove yourself and find your worth in work, you should remember the liberating rest of God.  We need to delve into the wonderful doctrine of justification by faith alone.  If you are busy because you are trying to fulfil the expectations of others.  Tim points us to the liberating fear of God.  When we have a right view of God, other people go back to their right size.  We are to live for God, not others.

So how do we apply the bible?  Look at the liberating rule of God.  We need to put the rules of sleep and Sabbath in.  See the boundaries that God has laid out and live within them.  We need to believe that God has laid out and live within them.  We need to believe that God knows best and that he has everything in control.  Chester shows how the liberating refuge of God is the answer.  We shouldn’t try to find satisfaction in the buzz of busyness but the arms of God.

The pursuit of money and making the most of life were the last two.  The antidote to those are the liberating joy of God and liberating hope of God.  We need to look to Him and find ourselves in him.

John Piper said “God is the gospel”.  When our view of God and his gospel is too small, we will look elsewhere for joy and hope, and that will ultimately come down to working harder, doing more and sacrificing for the idols of this world.

Jesus really is the answer.  But he is the answer in an array of amazing ways.  As we learn to turn from our screens to our Saviour, we will seek the social media serotonin less and soak in the showers of God’s blessings.

Consummation

Tim Chester makes us look beyond our current situation and this life and reminds us that there is more than meets the eye.  The consummation is the fulfilling and enjoyment of all that Jesus has achieved for us.  At present we live in the light of what Jesus has done – it has been inaugurated.  But we don’t have it all.  So our sins have been forgiven, but we still get tempted and sin. We have been given eternal life but we still die physically.  We call this the “now and not yet”.  We have the blessings of the gospel now but there is more to come.

One of the reasons we get so addicted to stress, status, social media, success, soothing media and sinful habits is because we forget that there is more.  There is more to enjoy, more to embrace and more to experience in the here and now as well as in heaven.  Deep down, whilst we cherish our union with Christ and enjoy moments and seasons of communion with him, we know there is more.  But we forget this and try and fill the void with functional idols.

When we live in the hope of heaven we want to make sure that our life echoes into eternity.  We want to please the Lord, live on His mission and hear the words “well done my good and faithful servant.”  We live for God.  This will make us more compassionate, evangelistic and present in this age. 

Behind the creation principles of sleep and Sabbath is the overarching command to stop.  To pause.  To put down.  To push yourself to admit that you are but dust, but God is divine and in control.  To learn to stop, as we reclaim sleep and Sabbath and apply that to our work and the web, will make for awkward conversations.

Chapter 5 looks at 7 “keystone” habits that will change the default settings of our handsets and hearts.

1.     Set your sight on the Saviour

Ultimately our heart is the default and direction-setting fountain of our life.  Our heart is what leads and directs us.

Chapter 4 gave us a road map on this. 

Acknowledge your frailty and fallenness and in the acts of slowing, sleep and Sabbath look forward to the gospel.

Sleep reminds us of death but it also reminds us that through Jesus, death can be redefined as sleep.  Jesus has beaten death, the tomb is empty.

There is an ultimate Sabbath rest, the Lord Jesus.  The church moved the Sabbath principle from the end of the week (Saturday) to the first day of the week (Sunday) for 2 reasons.  Firstly, it shows that the resurrection is the start of our new life.  It changes everything.  Secondly, it radically reveals that we rest before we work.  We get a day off in grace, before we can even try to earn it.

Surround the sleep and Sabbath rhythms with Selahs that focus on the goodness and gospel of Jesus.  Read the bible, look to Jesus, ensure that you are preaching the gospel to yourself.  This is the first and fundamental step to learning to say “no” to the interruptions of the world and open yourself up to the divine Interruptions that the Lord has in store for you.

We need to set our hearts on things above, be transformed by the renewing of our minds, think upon the good and grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.  If we start from Jesus, then curate our interruptions, create new habits and liturgies and give time to divine Interruptions, we will see more of Jesus.  It is an ever-increasing sense of God’s presence.

2.    Switch off your notifications and create a social media-free screen

Notifications are one of the most potent parts of any strategy to interrupt us.  Get rid of anything that is what they call an “infinity pool” – a place of never ending interest. 

3.    Sleep without a screen and start the day with Scripture

We need to draw near to the Divine not our devices.  We need God, not gossiping newsfeeds.  There will be 2 instant benefits to a bed without screens.  Firstly, you will sleep better physically as it helps to create an environment of absolute darkness.  It lets your mind slow down and your heart settle.  Secondly, when you wake up you will be more refreshed and ready to read your bible.  This is about hearing more Scripture.  Our days are set by the things we read first.  That is why we read the bible before anything else.

4.    Start having a screen-free Sabbath

This is genuinely the most radical and it gives an amazing reward.  A day without screens, social media and streaming services is a sweet sabbath.  It not only changes your day, but it transforms your week.  The great thing about taking a weekly break from the blinking screens is that it disrupts the addiction. “While some like to say they keep the Sabbath, we know the Sabbath keeps us.”

5.    Savour silence and solitude (be bored!)

Why have we created a world where it is hard to experience solitude?  We need to embrace solitude, silence and selah.  We need to welcome them.  And the only way to do this is to create space in our day.  But once we create the outer silence, we can start to work on an inner silence.  And that is cyclical.  Once we gain inner silence, we are happier with outer silence.  Silence and solitude are much-needed spiritual disciplines.

6.    Speak to people without a screen

We need community – we were created for it.  When we lift our gaze from social media we should become more socially minded.  We should remember how to relate to people.

7.    Select what serves you best

Enjoy apps that serve you.  There is a way to choose the best and be connected to others in a good and healthy way.

Habits form a new rhythm.  Which rhythm are we dancing to – the world or the Lord?  Don’t let others set your agenda.  Let the Lord.  And that is the good news.  It is easier to get out of step with the world’s line dance when you join the Lord’s twmpath.  When we follow the rhythm of the Lord, we will find a much better way of life.  We need to learn to keep in step with the Spirit in our use and non-use of screens.  And then, we will learn to dance with and delight in, our wonderful Saviour

Chapter 6 - Creation

In Matthew 6, Jesus gives a powerful command to his hearers in the Sermon on the Mount: “Look” (verse 26).  Jesus wanted his disciples to look.  That word doesn’t mean glance or remember.  Rather, the word means: Look closely, directly, be attentive.  This word is used through the New Testament in powerful ways, eg

Mark 10 verse 11 we see Jesus looked and loved the young man

Luke 22 verse 61 we see Jesus looking at Peter – and what a stare that was!

Jesus then adds a second word in verse 28 “see”.  That means to gaze, contemplate.  The passage is clear: Jesus wants us to look at creation and contemplate.  Many Christians over the centuries have done this – looked at creation, or just been in nature – and it has had profound effects on them.

Jonathan Edwards “Sometimes on fair days I find myself more particularly disposed to regard the glories of the world than to betake myself to the study of serious religion.”

Tim Chester “You have no reason to be bored – not in God’s world.  We live in a world with an excess of beauty, a redundancy of beauty.  Think about a leaf.  Every leaf is unique.  God could have saved you a lot of bother.  He could have made a world in which leaves were like plastic cups, punched out to the same design.  But every leaf is handmade.  And every leaf is a thing of exquisite beauty.”

We are meant to stop and stare, pause and ponder and carve out time to consider creation. 

Matthew 4: see the sun come into the darkness

Sermon on the Mount: see how the sun rises on the righteous and unrighteous (and rain)

Sermon on the Mount: see the good tree and bad tree

Sermon on the Mount: consider the rock as a foundation for a house

Matthew 9: imagine those sheep without a shepherd; look at how the harvest is plentiful

Matthew 10: see those sparrows being sold

Matthew 12: consider a bruised reed

Matthew 13: in The Parable of the Sower, look at the fields and farmer

Jesus intended for us to look at creation and be Interrupted.  To see.

God has made some things specifically always to communicate a specific message.  The rainbow is a classic example of that.  God created the rainbow to teach us that he would never flood the world again.

God uses some things a specific times to communicate eg the star shining in the sky for the birth of Jesus.

God has created all things generally to reveal his glory.

We can develop our understanding of God’s creation and learn to think about God with it.  Through reading the bible.  It goes 2 ways, the bible helps us read creation and creation helps us read the bible.  However, we must make sure that the bible is in the driving seat – the interpretive authority.

For this to develop you need 2 things: a bible and some time.

Chapter 7 – Compassion

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”  John Wesley

Luke 10 verses 25 – 37 the parable of the Good Samaritan

Jesus was explaining to the gathered audience that the law, the whole law, could be summed up in 2 commands: Love God and love your neighbour.  The scope and the scale of these 2 instructions often have people wanting to limit their influence and in Luke we have a teacher of the law giving external voice to his internal monologue with the shocking question, “Who is my neighbour?”

The Good Samaritan is Jesus’ response to the teacher’s question.  A man is robbed and attacked – he is in a desperate and destitute situation.  But then some religious people came along.  But the religious leaders were too busy to care, probably because they thought Temple worship was more important than helping others.  Why?  They thought the man was dead and could defile them on the way to worship (an Old Testament law stated that you were ceremonially unclean if you touched a dead body).  In a nutshell their religious activity was more important than love.

Jesus wants us to imagine the poor guy on the floor.  He’d be lying in his own blood, dazed and confused.  Desperate for help.  And then he sees a priest – help has come!  But he just walks on by.  Doesn’t make eye contact.  It’s the same with the Levite – even though he goes and has a little look – then he walks on too.  It must have broken the beaten man’s heart and ruined his belief in the God of Israel.  Surely these guys would have known the words “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” from their bible?  Yet on they walked … passing by on the other side of the road.

The listeners were waiting for the third person in the story.  And he was a Samaritan.  This would have been a huge shock.  The Jews considered Samaritans to be “mongrels”.  Read Luke 9 verses 52 to 54!

But look at the quality of the Samaritan’s mercy compared to the religious elite.  He sees him; he goes to him; he helps him there and then; he takes him to get more help; he leaves money – twenty-four day’s worth of food; then he even offers to come back and pay for any more!  This goes above and beyond.

The heart of the gospel is about Someone going above and beyond.  Remember how Paul put it; “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8 verse 9)  Jesus is the ultimate Samaritan.  He came to us when we could not save ourselves.  He gave himself for us.  And so the argument of the bible is, because you have been shown mercy, show mercy.  As the saying goes: We are saved by faith alone, but that faith does not remain alone.

Ephesians 2 – we are saved for good works.  And that includes ministries of compassion (sometimes called mercy ministries).  Jesus has been incredibly clear that the second greatest commandment is: Love your neighbour as yourself.  As he says at the end of the parable, we must all “go and do likewise”.  If you love someone as you love yourself, you give them what you think you should have; food, clothing, a dry place to stay; friends and community.

The overwhelming biblical call to help the poor are highlighted in scripture:

God gives Moses lots of commands to help the poor

The Sabbath ensures there is rest for slaves and aliens

The poor were allowed to glean from fields

Slaves were set free in the year of Jubilee

Deuteronomy 15 verse 4 says that we should work towards there being no poor

The prophets repeatedly reveal God warning against worship without mercy

Acts 4 verse 34 makes “no needy person among them” as a partial fulfilment of Deuteronomy 15 verse 4

Throughout the New Testament, care for the poor is a mark of genuine Christianity

There is a biblical mandate to care for the poor.  To have compassion.  To be like the Samaritan.  But, when it comes to obeying the bible and Christ in terms of compassion there is one excuse that keeps coming back to me.  I don’t have the resources.  And usually that means time.  In fact, we sometimes don’t even see the need to be compassionate, as we don’t have time to stop and see the struggling and suffering all around us.  We can be so busy that we miss the needs around us.

Central to this book is that sense of being too busy listening to the interruptions of social media and stress that we miss the little Interruptions that could be completely life-changing.  Not just us, but those that God has placed around us. 

We need to live our life in a way that has time for compassion.  The gospel of the ultimate Good Samaritan changes everything.  This gospel helps us get our priorities right.  And we need to be aware of the desire and danger of trying to justify ourselves.

McCheyne;

Objection 1: “My money is my own” Answer: Christ might have said, My blood is my own, my life is my own … then where should we have been?

Objection 2: “The poor are undeserving” Answer: Christ might have said, They are wicked rebels … shall I lay down my life for these? I will give to the good angels. But no, he left the ninety-nine, and came after the lost. He gave his blood for the undeserving.

Objection 3: “the poor may abuse it” Answer: Christ might have said the same; yea, with far greater truth. Christ knew that thousands would trample his blood under their feet; that most would despise it, that many would make it an excuse for sinning more; yet he gave his own blood.

The key is to build capacity for compassion into our lives.  We need margin in our diaries to have time to help the marginalised.  It is not about becoming more efficient so that you can do more stuff, rather, it is about learning to say no to certain interruptions, in order to have time for the right Interruptions.  And one of those must be compassion.

Good works are deeds done for the glory of God and the benefit of other people.

What does that look like?

Firstly we only see what we want to see.  We will only see the opportunities to be “good Samaritans” when we realise that is what God wants us to be.  We need to reorientate our hearts and minds to be like Jesus and loving him.  We do this by looking at Jesus and loving him.  Think about the initial setup to the parable – it is Jesus explaining the heart of the bible.  For him, it was simple: love God and (then) love your neighbour.  We always love because God loved us first.  More than that, we love others in the power of the love that God has for us in Christ Jesus.  In fact, even deeper, we love with compassion because the Holy Spirit lives within us and transforms our hearts and minds.  So love God.  That is the first step to seeing those who need compassion.

Secondly, make sure you believe that everyone should be offered mercy and compassion.  We are all made in the image of God and Christ died for the undeserving.  As such, there are no qualifications for compassion and mercy.  By definition those words mean undeserved!  And so, every Christian should offer mercy and compassion.  This is not an optional extra.  If you have been show mercy, you will show mercy.  If you have truly met Jesus – you will meet the needs of others.  Jesus told another parable along these lines concerning forgiveness and an ungrateful recipient of a king’s mercy.  It didn’t work out too well for that individual.

Thirdly, as we have seen repeatedly, keep remembering that every decision has an impact.

Finally, this will mean being strategic and sacrificial.  Compassion cannot be done casually. Sometimes we must give above and beyond what is “wise”.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan shows us that false religion can allow us to forget compassion.  But James tells us something beautiful about it: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  Compassion is truly an essential part of true religion. Let’s be intentional so that we can be Interrupted in the way God intended.

Go and do likewise.

In chapter 8 titled Communication, Jonathan shares some stories on his attempts at sharing his faith in the normal course of life.  He states that he has come to read the Great Commission in its entirety and finally grasped that the emphasis is on Jesus and not him.  The commission starts with Jesus saying “therefore” and ends with him promising an “and”.  The Great Commission is top and tailed, based upon, flanked, fuelled and surrounded by the authority of Jesus.  He has all authority (He has beaten death on the Cross) and “therefore” we should go. “And” more than that, he promises to go with us.  All that we do, we do with him.

Why do we struggle to tell people about Jesus?

Two reasons – distrust and distractions.  I don’t trust that God can use me and I often miss the open doors and opportunities because I am looking elsewhere.  As I fill my life with distractions, I probably miss more opportunities than I can imagine.  It is still vital that we place ourselves in a position of action.   We need to be able to make the most of every opportunity, even if they seemingly flop them.  Jesus will bring divine Interruptions our way.  This is the way God wants us to live.

1 Peter 3 verse 15 "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."  Peter is clear, we need to be ready for our plans to be disrupted.  One of the benefits of limiting the distracting interruptions in our lives is being ready to notice the evangelistic opportunities that come our way.  Open door.  There are far more than we realise.  When we slow down and pause, stop the rat race, and live life within capacity and with expectancy, I think we will see daily opportunities.

Have you ever noticed how interruptions are the life and ministry of Jesus?  He was interrupted by people he didn’t know – like the woman with the bleeding and the Samaritan woman by the well.  One just saw him and reached out to touch the hem of his garments.  The other tried to avoid him but he saw her heart and spoke to her.  Jesus never ignored the opportunities because he was catching up on the latest Bethlehem banter or Galilean gossip.  He was ready.

But he was also interrupted by people he did know, like Peter and his mother-in-law and his good friends Mary and Martha.  When they were in need, whether close or far away.  He was ready to drop his plans and go to see them, his diary had space.  Jesus lived a life that meant he was crowded and nearly crushed at times.  Yet by following the rhythms of Sabbath, sleep and selah.  He had time for interruptions.  Those were some of the most important and holy moments of life.

Do we see daily Interruptions as important and holy? 

Peter knew the best evangelism comes from a heart that reveres Christ.  When we know and feel the love of Christ, we will be a people who share the gospel.  We need to be Interrupted by him, for him, to know him and draw near.

The aim of evangelism is to take people to Jesus, so we should start there too.  If we are with Jesus, we will want others to be too.

Many people have been brought to the Lord through open-air preaching, literature distribution and talking to strangers on a plane.  Reaching out and responding to people online is also a growing and good area of evangelism.  Websites and social media platforms are the new church doors and notice boards.  Through the web we can share the gospel with people from our town or from Tehran.  We can answer questions for people who might never be willing or able to walk into a church building.  These are wonderful opportunities to make the most of.  Both have their place. And both are hampered by distrust and distractions.  Both open-air preachers and online missioners need to have a heart set aflame by Jesus, and a focus that means they can spot opportunities and make the most of them.

But what interests me in the Peter passage is how he assumes that people will ask you to give a reason for the hope that you have.  What?!  When did that last happen?  When did a non-believer ask you about your faith?  This teaching of Peter must surely be the fruit of a life lived in grace.  We all know what happened to Peter and how he denied the Lord 3 times.  Yet in that wonderful beach BBQ conversation, Jesus gives him grace upon grace.  Peter’s heart was full to the brim with lavish love and it overflowed.

I would like to call this “warm contact” evangelism.  A sharing of the gospel that happens with people we know and see regularly.  Family, friends, neighbours, work mates and baristas.  People needed to be up close and personal to see Peter as a man who was loved by God and who loved him back.  It must have come out in his words and actions.  More than that, in his attitudes, hopes and fears.  He had a hope that was so deep, people saw it and wanted him to explain it.

As we slow down and savour Christ and as we live a life of compassion, people will ask questions.  They will notice that we don’t sacrifice to the idols of success, sex and social media status.  They will see us take time to listen, help and talk.  We will be different.  We will stand out.  We will have opportunities.  We simply need to enjoy the daily disruptions that can lead to genuine relationship in which we can share the reason for our hope.  People need to see a living faith.  They need to know a Christian.  Then, it is through the lens of that community that people are willing to explore the facts.

Jesus designed the mission of the church to work through Christians in the community.  That is why the word “Go” is still important in the Great Commission.  It means “as you go”, where you go, wherever you go.  In getting on with our day-to-day life, we need to live and speak for Jesus where we are.  In a sense there is no sacred/secular divide.  There is no mission/mundane separation.  All of life is living out the Great Commission.  It’s just that most of time we don’t realise it and therefore don’t make the most of it.

We need to be present in community, concentrating on looking for divine Interruptions.

We all have different personalities, gifts and weaknesses.

Jesus asked questions of people.  He wanted to hear them.  He wanted to understand them … or more correctly, He wanted them to understand themselves as they spoke.  We need to make sure we let people work through their questions.  We need to make sure we let them talk.

Just keep going.  Keep looking.  Keep listening.  Keep speaking.  

We are responsible for faithfulness and God is responsible for fruit

Chapter 9 Conscience

We can numb ourselves in many different ways.  Amusing ourselves to death with media, books and novels.  Even exercise and other achievements can help avoid thoughts.  Many go for making money, buying things and getting more stuff.  But today, society seems to focus on social media and the internet.

As a result many of us are hardly ever alone with our thoughts, and therefore seldom deal with deep regrets, hurts and shame.  The “hope and fears of all the years” that Jesus came to free us from, are tightly locked away in a box in our mind labelled “Do not open”. 

We would rather be comfortable than confronted.

Some of us have lost the space for conscience, confession, conviction and therefore a comfort that is deeper than avoidance.  Why has this happened?

It is easy to see how society has encouraged us to fill our moments and minds with medicinal methods. Companies, corporations and even countries want us to spend money and time.  It is good for the economy.  They want us to use their products to make us feel better.  We even have a term for it: Retail Therapy.  There is a deeper reason too: Satan.  If we delve into our conscience we may find Christ and Satan doesn’t want that.  He wants to keep us away from searching our hearts and finding hope.

But we are not simply victims in this.  Let’s be honest: we are scared of our conscience and so we welcome these avoidance tactics.  There are numerous reasons for this.  For some, we are afraid of crushing condemnation.  We fear we are worse than we think and too bad for God.  A quiet moment may reveal that there are things in our hearts that we don’t want revealed.

Another reason is the gnawing suspicion that God will give us a boring burden in our times of quiet.  It is possible for a Christian to think that God is boring.  Or more accurately, that God’s ways (particularly his holy ways) are mundane.  We believe that sin is more fun. 

What if God is good?

Heidelberg Catechism:

What is your only comfort in life and death? That I am not my own but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.  He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has set me free from all the power of the devil.  He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head indeed all things must work together for my salvation.  Therefore by his Holy Spirit he also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for him.

Jesus is our only comfort.  He is our true comfort.  We shouldn’t fear him, we should flee to him. 

Jonathan looks at the story of The Prodigal Son found in Luke 15 verses 11 – 32.  It is one of the greatest passages on conscience and conviction.  The son clearly despises the father as he wants his stuff but not him.  He wants his father dead.  He wants to fast forward to inheritance time.  There is something wrong with his son, in his heart.  And so, he goes to the big city and fills his life with everything.  He lives a fast and full life.  But then it all goes wrong and he ends up with next to nothing left.

The only thing he is left with is his conscience.  Conviction.  He knows that what he has done is wrong.  He spends time alone, with his conscience.  All of his lower-case interruptions and distractions are gone.  And then, by the grace of God he gets a Divine Interruption.  He looks at what he has and remembers what he had.  The conclusion is clear: His father is better … much better.

The son had been comfortably numb before the pigs.  But he was running even then.  He had tried to fill himself with anything and everything except his father.  The reality is, sometimes we need to be shocked into our conscience.  Why?  Because we ignore it.  What did the father do?  He ran to the son.  He celebrated his return.  He gave him everything he had. 

It is helpful to understand that the father is not meant to represent God the Father but God the Son, Jesus.  This is because he is the one whom the Father sent for us.  Jesus is the One who came to us on that first Christmas morning, gave everything for us on the cross and ultimately suffered self-humiliation.  He became sin and took on our shame so that we could be the righteousness of God.  Right with God. 

Romans 8 – there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  You cannot lose your salvation.   Our union with Christ is assured.  We cannot be condemned, but we can have conviction.  There is still a need for conscience, conviction and confession in the Christian life.

Even though we are forgiven, and that is forever, we still need to confess our daily sins.  We see that most clearly in the prayer that the Lord Jesus taught us.  Matthew 6 verses 9 – 13.

There are sins in the life of the believer that bring clouds between us and God.  There are thoughts and actions that grieve the Holy Spirit.  And there are patterns and persistent lifestyles that can sear our consciences.  But the Lord doesn’t want us to box them and move on in a lukewarm state of rebellion.  The lack of condemnation does not mean that God doesn’t want to deal with the crooked ways in which we are wandering. Jesus wants us to confess them.

Our Father in heaven

·         Am I living as your child?

·         Am I enjoying your presence?

·         Or have I sought to satisfy myself in other gods?

Hallowed be your name

·         Am I living for your name? Or mine?

·         Am I representing your name well? Witnessing?

Your kingdom come

·         Whose kingdom do I want – who is the King of my life?

·         Am I building for me?

·         Or am I building for and with Jesus?

Your will be done on earth as in heaven

·         Am I following your plan, the Bible?

·         Are my decisions based on your word or my wishes?

Give us today our daily bread

·         Am I trusting you?

·         Resting in you for resources?

·         Is what you give enough?

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us

·         Am I forgiving others?

·         Or am I holding a grudge?

·         Is there something I am hiding from you?

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

·         Am I playing with sin?

·         Joking around with temptation?

As we come before the Father and let our conscience be searched by the Spirit, He will shine his searchlight on the Saviour.  The Holy Spirit loves nothing more than showing us Jesus.  Thus when we spend time in our conscience we will be led to the cross.  We see our sin and run to Christ.  There we get consolation, comfort and confidence that our sins have been forgiven.

Leaving time for Divine Interruptions in our conscience will mean that we will no longer need to be comfortably numb, but can be comfortable in Christ (in life and in death).

Chapter 10 Communion

Christ not only died to give us union with him, but also communion with him.  That is, the experience of relationship: Love, peace, joy, comfort, conviction, drawing near etc.

Communion is the outworking of union.  It is because we are united with Christ (and thus indwelt by the Holy Spirit) that we can enjoy communion with him.  Communion is the fruit of the union and not the basis.

Communion is a myriad of different things.  There are not just spectacular manifestations of the Spirit.  It can be a still small voice, comfort in sorrow, challenge in church, joy in suffering, or assurance amid doubt.  Don’t limit God or miss out on His wondrous gifts of intimacy.

Jesus would often “withdraw to a solitary place (eremos).”  It was always to spend quality time with the Father.  The habit has common features: Jesus goes by himself, often early in the morning, sometimes inviting the disciples to join him, but always to pray.

Think of all the times Jesus does this:

·         40 days for his inauguration of ministry

·         Before he chooses the 12

·         After hearing of the death of John the Baptist

·         After feeding 5000

·         After a long night of ministry

·         After the 12 have been on a mission trip

·         After healing the leper

·         On the mount of Transfiguration

·         In the Garden of Gethsemane

This withdrawal to be with God was often to prepare for something or to process something.  Basically Jesus dotted his life with silence and solitude – to give it a rhythm.  In effect, he was breathing.  It is important that we breathe in life.  We need breathing space.  But that breathing must be more than a Christianised form of yoga; it needs to be breathing space with the Spirit – the breath of God.

Throughout the centuries Christians have spoken about the spiritual disciplines of silence.  This mainly happens when there is external silence.  Ultimately, we have to turn things off: Social media, entertainment and work email/phone.

C S Lewis imagines how Satan wants to keep us surrounded by noise.  In his book The Screwtape Letters he describes how a devil perceives silence and why they want to stop it at all costs: “Noise – Noise, the grand dynamism, the audible expression of all that is exultant, ruthless and virile – Noise which alone defends us from silly qualms, despairing scruples and impossible desires.”  Lewis knew silence is the soil in which spirituality soars.

But it is not just about quiet on the outside, for you can still have noise inside.  There can be a roar of silence.  And so, sometimes we want external noise to drown it out.  But there is so much more in silence!  God wants to meet with us and draw near, And whilst that happens predominantly in church and our devotions, it can also happen in creation, acts of compassion, communicating the gospel and having our conscience cleansed.  In all of these, and more, we can enjoy communion with God.

We have forgotten how to be bored.  Actually we are scared of being bored.  We make sure every moment of our lives is filled with some sort of entertainment, email or exercise.  The flip side to not having “boredom time” is that we don’t have any time to be Interrupted by God.  We don’t have moments or minutes for God to nudge us.

All communion with the Lord is a gift of grace that is only possible through the work of the Spirit.  So whilst God uses means of grace (like church, preaching, Bible reading and the Lord’s Supper) we need to look to the Spirit to bring about that experience of communion.

Ephesians 3 verses 14 – 21 - notice 3 references to power:

Verse 16 strengthen you with power

Verse 18 may have power

Verse 20 according to his power

This is a prayer for power, from power.  It is a prayer for power to do “immeasurably more” than we could ask or imagine.  In a nutshell, this prayer is a personal prayer for power, that Christ may dwell in our hearts and our hearts may delight in Christ’s love.  When it comes to communion with God, Paul is saying, pray big or go home.

Look at how he describes the physical act of prayer: Kneel before the Father.

We see desperation and intimacy here.  Kneeling was not the usual position for prayer and isn’t in my own non-conformist tradition.  But it can be when I am desperate.  And look at who he is kneeling in front of … his Father. 

Praying should be like talking to a father: honest, dependent, open and natural.  This has to be one of the most unique aspects of Christianity – the Fatherhood of God.

Ephesians 1 verse 5 “In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will”.  God went beyond redemption to adoption.

“To be right with God the judge is a great thing but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is a greater.” J I Packer.

On the cross having lived a perfect life, and dying in our place, Jesus obtained: forgiveness of sin; imputation of righteousness and adoption as sons.  It is the full package.  But we need to see that this adoption is not simply external and legal but relational – communal.

Romans 8 verses 14 – 16

This is an experience of the Spirit that is for all believers.  For me and for you.  We don’t just want formal externalism.  We want God himself.  Isn’t that how Jesus described eternal life in his High Priestly Prayer? “Now this is eternal life; that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

God offers “immeasurably more” than we imagine, adoption into a relationship.  Fatherhood.  And our Father God answers our prayers “out of his glorious riches”.  Not financial wealth – but the gospel.  Back in Ephesians 1 verse 6 he defines the riches: “to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given to us in the One he loves.”  Glorious riches are the glorious gospel of great grace. 

What does Paul want?

Ephesians 3 verse 17 “dwell” is about living somewhere.  Being at home.  When you are at home, you belong and change things.  You may live in a hotel for a short while but you don’t change things.  You just complain or move on.  Could this be how we let Christ live in our hearts?  He is welcome on a Sunday morning during worship and Word but we don’t want him to change things or search every part.  This is not how Christ should be in our hearts by his Spirit.  He owns our heart; he has the deeds to the house.  He can (and will) change things.  He can (and will) go everywhere.  But this is a thing of degrees with us.  To let him dwell is to let him be Lord and become more like him.

“Our greatest hindrance in the Christian life is not our lack of effort but our lack of acquaintedness with our privileges” John Owen

We need to make sure we know the gospel and grasp God’s love for us.

Ephesians 3 verses 17 – 19

God wants us to know his love.  Love is foundational to our faith.  We are to be nourished and stablished by love.  How do we know what this love is that Paul is praying about here in Ephesians?  Look at the context.  In chapters 1 and 2 he spells out the gospel of grace and shows us the love of God.  What do all these dimensions mean in verse 18?  Simple: no matter where you look there is love.  Love is everywhere in the gospel – it is all of love.  “Wide” means it embraces all (Jew and Gentile); “long shows it goes into eternity; “deep” reminds us that it is for the vilest offender; and “high” helps us see that the gospel lifts us to the heavens.  This is a limitless love.

According to Paul we need power to grasp the limitless dimensions of God’s love.  Divine power!  We require limitless power to grasp limitless love!

Paul is not praying that we would love God more or that he would love us more.  No he is asking that we would grasp his love more.

Ephesians 3 verses 20 and 21 “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us.”

God has so much more for you that the distractions of tech and social media.  He has himself, for you!