Two weeks ago I was leading a children’s chapel for our ECDP and I was telling them the story of Noah’s ark. I held up a wooden ship one of our members handcrafted for me as a gift and on it is a plethora of animal cut outs…giraffes, elephants, horses, birds, even snakes. Pointing to the animals I asked the children, “And who was on the ark with Noah? Without missing a beat, the children blurted out, “Jesus!”

That’s the thing about Jesus: He keeps popping up all over the place and at the most unexpected times!

Last week Jesus’ lakeshore invitation of “Follow me and I will teach you to fish” introduced us to “catch and release discipleship.” We are to join Jesus, learn from him, and be transformed into the live bait of God’s grace, dangled before a hungry world.  We are exercising the spiritual habit of courage when we respond to Jesus’ “Go Fish” by living generously, loving recklessly, by making peace with others, by telling the stories of Jesus, and our own stories as well.

Well today I want to talk about the spiritual habit of centering. God calls us to live from a deeper center and Jesus shows us how.

Our gospel reading comes from Mark 10: 17-31. As you are able, I invite you to stand for the reading of the Gospel.

Prayer: Holy God, let the rain come and wash away the ancient grudges, the bitter hatreds held and nurtured over generations. Let the rain wash away the memory of the hurt, the neglect. Then let the sun come out and fill the sky with rainbows. Let the warmth of the sun heal us wherever we are broken. Let it burn away the fog so that we can see each other clearly. Let the warmth and brightness of the sun melt our selfishness. And let the light of the sun be so strong that we will see all people as our neighbors. Let the earth, nourished by rain, bring forth flowers to surround us with beauty. And let the mountains teach our hearts to reach upward to heaven. Amen.
-A prayer by Rabbi Harold Kushner

Last Thursday, a 27 year old former student of Northern Illinois University opened fire in a lecture hall filled with students, killing six and wounding 15 others. This former student was held in high regard by both teachers and former classmates. At the time of the shooting he was a graduate student in social work at another University.

This kind of stuff doesn’t make sense, does it?! I’m not sure it is suppose to.

• School shootings,
• holy jihad, 
• 9-11
• genocide 
• radical extremism.
  

And it doesn’t require something of this magnitude to knock us and our lives off-center.
I still remember how it felt when my stepmom called to say that my dad had been hospitalized with chest pains. It was like the floor had fallen out under me. Off-center. You know the feeling, don’t you?!

Despite such bumper-sticker theology as, “Jesus is the only answer you will need,” my life experience tells me Jesus is not a “cure all.” He doesn’t make everything right that’s wrong with the world. But what I have found is that when my life gets off center, as it so often does, God’s love in Jesus has the power to pull me back to my spiritual center.

In today’s Gospel story Jesus offers us a way back to our spiritual center.

There are three parts to this story:
1st) A Problem is presented: How do I find eternal life?

As Jesus sets out on a journey, he is confronted by a rich, young, ruler.
The rich young ruler is a composite character:

• Mark’s Gospel tells us he’s wealthy,
• Matthew’s, that he’s young,
• Luke’s, that he’s from the ruling class.

Doug Coupland, concludes his book “Life After God,” with these words:
My secret is that I need God-that I am sick and can no longer make it alone. I need God to help me give, because I no longer seem to be capable of giving; to help me be kind, as I no longer seem capable of kindness; to help me love, as I seem beyond being able to love.”
This is a life deeply “off-center” and like the rich, young, ruler in our story, he intuitively knows it. He is lacking “eternal” or “spiritual” life.
The Greek word used here for “eternal” means “unending” not “later.” So when Jesus says in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full (to the max),” Jesus is talking about a full life in the “here and now,” not some time in the “sweet by and by.”

Verse 19, You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.”  He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.

Did you notice that the only commandments Jesus references are those that deal with interpersonal relationships? Left off are the commandments that speak directly to our relationship with God.

You see greed, envy, hatred, dishonesty, and a lack of respect are spiritual issues (they have to do with our relationship with God). They are indicators of a life deeply off center! Jesus is saying, “How can you say you love God and neighbor” when you have so much and so many have so little?” The fact is, the vast majority of people in the world were and continue to be poor!

Jesus has diagnosed the rich young ruler’s dis-ease. He has a heart condition and it’s going to kill him if he doesn’t do something about it soon. So what is Jesus’ recommended course of treatment for this man’s heart condition?

2) Jesus responds, “There’s one thing you lack.”

Jesus offers to perform his own form of “bypass surgery,” by offering to excise the spiritual blockage to this man’s heart. By giving up the one thing that has knocked this man’s life “off center,” his wealth and all its trappings, the rich young ruler is shown the way back to his “spiritual center.”

So what one thing is keeping you off-center? Jesus is saying, “Let it go.”

Vs. 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him…

Love is what motivates Jesus to make this request of us. Those of you familiar with Alcoholics Anonymous know “intervention” is a painful but necessary step to healing! Why would anyone confront a drunk with his or her dis-ease…? Love! (they call it tough love).

For this man, his wealth had become a stumbling block to his relationship with God. And love says, “If you are following me you will care about the poor; about healing their brokenness and binding up their wounds.”

3) The Solution is rejected- the man walks away sad…

Vs. 22, When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

The man walks away from Jesus sad and dejected because he realizes that his life is off center and he has lived that way for so long he’s unwilling or unable to change.

How many of you watched the commercial breaks during the Superbowl? They’ve become cultural icons, haven’t they? And what are they selling?

• that appearance, affluence, and achievement ought to be the organizing principles of our lives…
• that compulsive busyness is the sign of a healthy and productive living; 
• that having a successful career is more important than being a good parent, being a good neighbor, being a kind and loving person, or taking walks in the woods. 
• That the most important thing in life is “to have my needs met.” (see Jay McDaniel’s book, Living from the Center).
  

We’re kidding ourselves if we think we are immune from such “cultural conditioning.”

God calls us to live from a deeper center. So how do we do this?

Dial back your clocks to the 17th century, to what Christian mystic Brother Lawrence called this “practicing the presence of God.” Brother Lawrence believed that it is possible to do everything, no matter how small or menial the task, for the love of God. I want to give you just three things you can do this Lenten season to practice God’s presence and thus maintain your spiritual center.
1st) Practice Silence.
All this busyness is only keeping you and me from developing our own inner world. It’s been said, “We get bored because we have no interior life.” I think that’s true.
Ask yourself, “How do I hear God’s voice?”
I’d be the first to admit that I don’t listen enough in prayer. It’s just too easy to highjack the conversation and leave God totally out of the picture! But as we learn to be silent, prayer can put us in touch with the heart of God. Prayer changes us so we can change our world.
Scripture contains the combined witness of the saints to the reality of God in their lives.
Here’s an exercise you can that combines both disciplines: Find a quiet place, clear your mind, and 1st focus on these words, “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10. When your mind is adequately clear and open, then walk through the today’s biblical narrative about a rich young ruler who lacks one thing, and then ask yourself this question:
“What did I learn? (What has this rich, young, ruler taught me about my own assumptions, blind spots, purposes, and limitations?)
Learn to be silent.
2ndly) Begin noticing ways God has already been present in your life.
Here are some questions to help you do this:

• What points me to God? (What functions as your spiritual compass)
• What heals me? (When facing brokenness where do you go for help?)
• What gives me hope? (When you get knocked down, what helps you to your feet?)
  

These answers to these questions are ways God has already been present in your life. Take note of them.
3rdly) Actively cooperate with God’s movement in your life and in the world through lifestyle simplification and service to others.
Ask yourself:

• What do I need to give up? (What is it you could easily live without? Its time to do some spring cleaning!)
• What can I do to help others? (Where are you, your talents and gifts most needed?)
  

Through serving others and lifestyle simplification we can actively cooperate with God’s movement in our lives and in the world.
Practicing the presence of God will not guarantee that nothing bad will knock your life off-center, but it will soften the landing and when you are ready to take God’s hand, it will help you continue the journey.
Next Week, the Spiritual Habit of Simplicity.