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David Orendorff       Luke 4:14-21      January 24, 2010

As a part of our Spiritual Renewal at Bear Creek we have been reviewing our Mission, Vision and Values.  Getting us to think together about why God has called Bear Creek into being and what we are supposed to do about it is a long, slow process.  I want to simplify the conversation a bit this morning by asking the question this way, “What is Bear Creek’s God given purpose?”

Because I believe it is fundamental to our life together I want to be helpful in answering the question.  So in my prayers during Advent I asked God what I needed to do to help with the Spiritual Renewal at Bear Creek.  What I heard to be God’s response was twofold:

• Be more intentional about my prayer life. My prayer center had become lost in my grandchild’s toys.
• And secondly, to go on retreat and ask God, “What can I do to best help Bear Creek with Spiritual Renewal” and then listen.

So I moved my prayer center to a useable place and now use it.  And in mid December I went on a three day retreat to St. Placid’s Priory in Lacey to ask God what I must do to help with Spiritual Renewal at Bear Creek.  For three days I spoke to no one but God and for 45 minutes, Sister Lucy as my Spiritual Director.  During the retreat I felt God answer me with two affirmations and a task:

• Affirmation #1 - I am loved.
• Affirmation #2 - I am loving.
• The task - Get clear about my own God given purpose.

Since it is Jesus I want to be like I looked to Jesus for my purpose.  Today’s scripture is one of those I read in my search.  It is clear in this passage that Jesus clearly knew his God given purpose. When he unrolls the scroll on the table, finds the 61^st chapter of Isaiah and begins to read he is announcing his God given purpose to his home congregation saying:

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

Then he adds, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” From Luke’s understanding Jesus’ God given purpose (spirit driven and anointed) is to the poor (economically speaking), to the captives (politically speaking), the blind (physiologically speaking), and the oppressed (sociologically speaking).  Luke will spend the rest of his gospel spinning this understanding out for his church because Luke thinks his church, if they are following Jesus, should have the same purpose as Jesus; that is, with the guidance and power of the Spirit they should be ministering to the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed.  Any other purpose than this is not of Christ and will not be filled with the Spirit.

Before I share with you the purpose statement from my retreat I want you to take time and work on writing your own God given purpose.  I know we don’t have nearly enough time to do this well, but I mostly want to get you started thinking.  The clarity each of us has about our God given purpose adds clarity to our God given purpose at Bear Creek.

In your bulletin are some questions to guide you.  We begin with a bit of self examination:

• First list two or three of your greatest gifts or talents. What are you good at? What comes easily so that you don’t really have to work at it (your strengths)? What kind of personality do you have that leads you to love in some specific ways?[1] What is your most natural love language? Is it primarily words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, or physical touch?[2]
• Now list your passions. What is it that when you do it you can easily lose track of time and though it tires you, it tires you in a good way that makes for a restful sleep?
• And now list the opportunities that have presented or are presenting themselves to you to use your gifts and your passions. Is it in your home, your work, where you volunteer? When you see yourself using your gifts and passions for love what do you see yourself doing.
• Now complete this sentence The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to ________________.

Using this process it took me three days based on a lifetime to write my God given purpose statement.  Starting with the last question here is the result:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me

• to be loved and to love
• to follow Jesus by worship, study and service
• to speak of God’s love wherever and whenever I can
• to serve Bear Creek and all God’s creation with healing love for economic, political, physical and sociological shalom as the Holy Spirit gives me power and opportunity.

This is pretty close to what Jesus said was his purpose.  However the circumstances of my life, in time, place, personality and gifts are different than Jesus’ and specific to me.

• I am a husband, father, grandfather and pastor. It is in these roles that I live out my purpose.
• I have certain talents, among them are lovingkindness, compassion, listening, encouraging, thinking and speaking. It is with these gifts that I serve my God given purpose.
• For a variety of reasons, I find myself in Woodinville serving at Bear Creek. Here is my opportunity to live out my God given purpose.

As I look over my life and regard my future I am convinced that the words of purpose I wrote on retreat, inadequate as they are, capture to a great degree why I was born and the purpose of my life.  Having some clarity about how and where the Spirit works in me gives me power to be Christ like and better serve God and you.

What gave Jesus power in life and motivated the disciples and the church was his clarity about his call, his God given purpose.  I am convinced that knowing our individual God given purposes to a life of faith and action gives us greater power to live the life of love we were meant to live.  With our personal clarity of purpose comes a greater community clarity which strengthens us at Bear Creek to live God’s purpose.  Our clarity of God given purpose is the heart beat of our Spiritual Renewal together. I pray that each of you know for what purpose you are born and that together we know to what purpose God gave birth to Bear Creek.  And I pray that together we live this purpose for the healing of all creation.  Shalom and Amen.

[2] go to http://www.afo.net/hftw-lovetest.asp to take a language of love test