Step 10

"Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."

 
Step 10 ushers us into a new mode of recovery...maintaining, nurturing and sharing.  Step 10 functions as a daily reminder that we are a work in progress, not a perfected work.  In this step, we see the combination of steps 4 through 9 put into our daily practice of living in wholeness.

 
The word in our Christian vernacular that describes Step 10 is 'holiness.'  I often hear this word holiness and wonder what people think of this term.  Is it that they are from the Holiness tradition, or perhaps a Pietistic faith tradition?  Do they have in mind perfection in which we never sin again?  Do they line up more with the way of the Pharisees with their Laws which one can keep without ever really changing the insides of who they are?  Or do they follow Jesus' example in which he breaks the purity, or holiness, laws of his day by working on Sabbath, touching lepers, eating with 'sinners' including prostitutes, thieves, a betrayer, among others?

If Jesus is our chief example of holiness, then what does his life via the Gospels teach us?  Jesus most often fights for those who have been excluded from, rather than welcomed into, the groups that seemingly have it all together.  Jesus dwells with both those striving to please God in his tradition as well as those considered outside the covenant tradition.  He tells parables, teaches and lives in such a way that leaves us with a clearer picture of holiness.

Holiness is bringing wholeness into our broken world.  It is a choice to not use that which has divided humanity in the past- things like ethnicity, socio-economic classes, religious persuasions and gender.  Instead, holiness is the invitation to bring the wholeness of God into each area that we tread.  Whether that is at a church, in school, at work, shopping, drinking a beer with a friend, hanging in the yard with a neighbor, sitting around the table with family, we are invited to choose to live a life marked by wholeness, by holiness.

Therefore, do we live into this way of Jesus, his way of holiness?  Mark Galli once wrote that "The difference between Jesus' holiness ethic and that of the Pharisees is this:
        The Pharisees refuse to touch any unclean thing.
        Jesus aims to make the unclean holy."

Are you living as Jesus would live?  Are you aiming to make that which is unclean holy?  Or, in light of this sermon series, are you willing to bring wholeness to our world?

 

Step 9

"Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others."

Forgiveness is a powerful tool in the spiritual life.  I shared with the congregation that...
             If there is a hinge on the gate to the second half of life (the place of depth of soul and peace), that hinge would be forgiveness.

This word, forgiveness, is directly tied to the word "amend" in this Ninth Step.  To amend means to change.  To amend a relationship is the possibility of bringing wholeness to that which is broken.  In order to do that, we must change.

What do you think one must change? 
       Is it that we must change our right to be right? 
      Or our perception of what has been? 
      Or own the ways in which we have hurt another? 

This step invites us to delve into restorative justice which has the primary goal of bringing wholeness out of brokenness.  It is our invitation to stand before God, before ourselves, and others and say "I'm sorry, please forgive me."

If our faith is built upon this goal of living whole lives, why do you think forgiveness  is so important?
Secondly, why is it that so many struggle to forgive others? 

What are your thoughts?

Step 8

"Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

Who have we harmed in our lives?  Where should I look to create such a list?  How do I know if I really harmed others?

These, among many other questions, begin to form within our minds as we take a look at this step.  The invitation of Step 8 is to acknowledge not just to God, to myself and to another the exact nature of our wrongs, Step 8 now invites us to begin the necessary journey toward wholeness.  In order to find wholeness, one must first go looking into the closets of our past and reconciling (making right) those things that are wrong, the moments that we harmed others, and free the skeletons that still appear to you- often at weird times!

And so we go about making a list.  Our list is really an extension of the list that began in Step 4.  Yet now we have grown past justifying our behavior and what others have done to us and we are ready for God's Spirit to do the deep working of changing us. 

Grab a pen and some paper...
      In the next 10 minutes, write down every personal relationship you have; i.e.- mother, father, wife, husband, child(ren), friends from high school, etc.

After each name, try to think through your relationship and ask yourself- "What part have I played in any of the problems with this person?"  Write your thoughts down next to their name.

Then, when the list is compiled, begin to pray for willingness to go to that person to apologize and ask for forgiveness.  There may be one or two people who you have a strong resistance against and you are thinking- "No Way!" Pray...pray today and all the days ahead.  God will give a willing spirit.

Remember this quote yesterday-
"God will show you the best way, the best place, the best time and the best words.  Wait and pray for them all." Breathing Under Water  

And to drum up a bit of conversation...why is it hard to acknowledge our mistakes, hurts, disappointments that we cause in relationships?  In essence, why is it hard to ask for forgiveness from another for your actions?

 

Step 7

"Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."

"Lord, have mercy on me" is a cry throughout our scriptures.  It is a humble cry of our realization of our finiteness as we gaze upon God's infiniteness.  Our humble cry is taking what we are, that which we have done- our good moments of life as well as those moments we regret- and lay them to the side and simple say...
                            Lord, have mercy.

I have seen too many people use this phrase as a whip to beat themselves up.  Through their remorse or sense of guilt, they believe they are unworthy.  Yet, in light of our scriptures, this phrase drips with the humility that reminds us that we exist in the midst of One who is merciful, who abounds with grace because His very nature is Love! This prayer is one of acknowledgement that we exist solely by God's mercy.

As we rest in the realization that you and I cannot coerce or manipulate God to answer prayers or be what we want God to be for us, we turn to a new freedom of saying "Lord, have mercy on me."  This humble prayer is one that has writing in the parentheses
                          (I'm willing to become what You would have me be). 

What would happen if we lived in an economy of grace in which our humble prayer is to allow God to do in us what we have yet been able to do- to provide peace, joy and freedom?  If we lived as God has called us to be, would we find that we are more grace-filled? More guided by trust and hope rather than fear?  Willing to see that serving others is our high calling rather than serving ourselves?

During the services, we anointed people with oil in the ancient tradition of consecrating (setting apart) a people to God.  We said "You have been set apart by God and for God!  In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit."  Now that we accept this as our call, how do we live into the new life that Jesus promised us? How does it impact you as a person that God has set you apart for His larger purpose?

Perhaps this week, our time spent with God should be focused on the prayer- Lord, have mercy.  Allow it to simmer...allow the Spirit to guide...allow yourself to let go of your life and find true life!