Opening Ourselves Up to God – Examen

By Church AdministratorSermons

Scripture | Philippians 1:3-11 (NIV)

Thanksgiving and Prayer

 3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

 

Sermon | Opening Ourselves Up to God – Examen

Pastor Thanael Certa-Werner

Have you ever been to a “Fast Decision Restaurant?” These are the types of restaurants where you walk in to find a long line waiting to get to the serving counter. Then, as soon as you approach, you must make 10 fast decisions in a row. Some great examples of these restaurants are, Blaze Pizza, Chipotle, Qdoba, Panda Express, and even Subway! If you don’t know what you want, you have to make decisions quickly because of the line of people behind you. I always feel the pressure to make decisions quickly, but I know that the 20-year-old working behind the counter is judging me because of the smoke coming out of my ears from all the quick thinking. Maybe you don’t feel that kind of pressure, but I do. But why is the first time ordering at these restaurants so challenging but then after a few times, it becomes second nature? This is because after more experience with the menu and the situation, we know what to expect. We know how to make decisions because we understand the menu well.

This is a great parallel to a central aspect of our lives: discernment. Do you remember high school guidance counselor and having to choose your career? Do you remember the aptitude tests, personality quizzes, and standardized testing? These were all there to help guide you as you made your big life choice of your career. This has even intensified as time has progressed to where some middle school students start taking specialized classes to help them in their future careers. How many remember or still get the constant questions from your family asking what your plans are, where you’re going to college, if you’ve found a job yet, when you’re getting married, when are you going to have kids… the list goes on and on. All these questions, tests, and special classes have to do with one major part of our lives: discernment.

What is discernment? It is the process of deciding what to do next. It can be the process of deciding what career you want to go into, but it can also be the process of deciding if you should stay home when you feel sick or go into work. One of the biggest questions in life is how do we discern our path in life? For Christians, this asks the question, what does God want with my life? Discernment, then, is a constant series of constantly asking this question through every step of life.

In the 15th century AD, Ignatius of Loyola asked this same question. This led him to develop the Examen prayer – the focus of our attention today. Adele Calhoun, the author of The Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, says, “Ignatius was concerned that the missionaries in his society would know how to detect the movement of God in their lives. He believed that discernment came out of awareness of how God moved uniquely in each soul. The examen provides a way of noticing where God shows up in our day. It is a practice that attends to what we might otherwise miss in the press of duties and busyness.” In other words, to be able to better discern, Ignatius came up with questions which help people find the movements of God in their lives.

These questions are:

  1. For what moment today am I most grateful? For what moment today am I least grateful?
  2. When did I give and receive the most love today? When did I give and receive the least love today?
  3. What was the most life-giving part of my day? What was the most life-thwarting part of my day?
  4. When today did I have the deepest sense of connection with God, others, and myself? When today did I have the least sense of connection?
  5. Where was I aware of living out of the fruit of the Spirit? Where was there an absence of the fruit of the Spirit?

This same idea of examination and discernment is exactly what Paul prays for in our reading today. He begins by praising God for His blessings through the Philippian people. “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the Gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.”

He recognizes God’s hand and work through these people and praises them for following in God’s leadership. Then he prayers a powerful prayer for these people in Philippi. He says, “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” What Paul is asking for here for the very thing which we are talking about today. His prayer is that they may have love tempered by knowledge and insight so that they may discern God’s call and movement.

The New Interpreter’s Bible states, “Here, head and heart are not opposed: our love for God grows as we learn more about God and about God’s love for us… for if our love is informed by knowledge and insight, we will understand something of God’s nature and will; therefore, what we want to do will be in accordance with God’s purpose.” But notice that Paul is specific in praying that the community might have this love with knowledge and insight – because it is together where true discernment can prosper. When we help each other by supporting, prodding, pushing, reminding, testifying, and loving – we help others grow in the knowledge, insight, and love of Christ.

The New Interpreter’s Bible continues, “True Christian love for others is not a sentimental affection but a sincere desire for what is best for them. Love is often said to be blind, but such blindness can sop us from discerning the deepest needs of those we love. True love, on the other hand, requires knowledge and insight in order to help others reach their full potential.” Our challenge this week is just that: to open ourselves up to the movements of God; to practice this by praying the Examen prayer; to be together and to help each other grow, increasing love, knowledge and insight; and to know Christ more.

And for that, thanks be to God.