November 16, 2003
Readings: Jeremiah 31: 16-21 & Philippians 3: 10-21
But this, this! Forgetting the things which are behind
and straining forward to the things before,
I press on toward the goal for the prize
of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
How do you know how far you have come? An answer depends on what you’ve set out to accomplish, of course. If it’s the lawn to mow, and you wonder how far you’ve come, a look back over the green will estimate progress well enough. If the goal waits at the end of a long drive, signs will report your advancement, and the car’s mileage meter, too. If it’s a test, or a series of medical treatments, the clock or the calendar will help you gauge how far you’ve already come. If it’s a diet, a scale is needed; after some failures, a group may be necessary. If you want a better swing on the links, a golf pro will help you see how far you’ve come. How many have had or heard a physical therapist exclaim, “Good! See how far you’ve come!”
We like progress–if we’re attracted to the goal. But obviously some goals are loftier than others. In that series of examples I just gave, did you notice that the more personal or internal the goal, the more likely another human is essential to help us make and see our development? So consider with me a puzzle. What if your goal is life itself–that is, to attain to the very highest purpose of human being–wouldn’t you expect to need some help? How else to know how far you’ve come, or what race is yet to run? If a better golf swing wants a golf pro, might not the soul need a guide? But how many people set their sights for the soul’s goal? For career advancement? Sure. For retirement savings? Yes. But spiritual growth? People, even church people, like to suppose this kind of growth takes care of itself. They ignore the puzzle, and the Bible’s warnings as well.
Some solve the puzzle by denying the possibility of the soul’s growth and transformation. “Life is hard enough,” they might say, “so you just do the best you can.” The Bible calls this, “And everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25) Others solve the spiritual progress puzzle–that is, their lack of application in making maximum use of their humanity–by declaring progress, in their own case, to be impossible, so mired are they in some pit of errors they know too well. If they are religious, they may hang on to the superstition that their amulets and prayers will be taken into account at the pearled gates. Still others say that they are saved from having to run this race; no progress needed because Jesus has already run it for them, and God has moved their token off the board to the home position! Another solution is to claim that we do have a guide: Jesus is our personal trainer. The only trouble is–how do you consult this supreme guide for training in unused spiritual muscles. Most people wouldn’t begin to know what to ask.
So is there a goal for the soul? How do you think brother Paul would answer? “Beloved, I do not consider that I have grasped hold; but this one thing: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forth to the things that are before, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” What do you think Paul would say? “Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to our example.” What do you think Jesus would say?
Some few years back, I used my January newsletter article to think about the uselessness of New Year resolutions. The point was simple: such resolutions lack accountability. The self who swears to herself to lose weight at the head of the year cannot out vote the self who, three weeks later, says the trip to the gym is too hard. (I just heard that the athletic clubs make the lion’s share of their money off their phantom January customers.) Lack of accountability–lack of a means to see how far you’ve come–characterizes most religious theories about spiritual growth and change. We are taught to believe that you just pray and hope for release from your worst traps and ruts, but all experience of real change runs in the opposite direction. Accountability matters.
How is it with your soul? Are you pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ? How are you doing it? How far have you come? How do you know? To whom do you make yourself accountable? Or does all this seem impossible or irrelevant to the pressures of your life?
When the prophet Jeremiah saw in a vision that his people would in good time return to their land, he told them to stop weeping about their condition, and prepare for the way home. But he was not speaking only of the sandy path they would tread in the desert, heading home to Jerusalem. No, he had seen enough of how the heart fails in the courage needed for rising. So he spoke not to the feet, but to the soul. Do not any more disbelieve in God’s commandment, that you should become like him.
For there is a reward for your work, says the LORD…There is hope for your future, says the LORD: your children shall come back to their own country.
“Your children” spring from your spiritual union with God. They are new powers of seeing and loving, ready to grow up in you. They are children born not of the flesh, nor of the will of men and women, but of God.
Indeed I heard Ephraim pleading: ‘You disciplined me, and I took the discipline; I was like a calf untrained. Bring me back, let me come back, for you are the LORD my God.’
Discipline is for disciples. What is your discipline, you, who desire to return to God, to make this journey into the spirit?
Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he not the child I delight in? As often as I speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore I am deeply moved for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD.
Such is the Spirit’s work, to find ways to speak against you, like a coach; to resist you, while you exert yourself, that you might really press on for the prize. And then always to remember you in your need of courage and encouragement. To love you with both the push and the embrace.
Set up waymarks for yourself, make yourself guideposts; consider well the road by which you’ve come. Return, O virgin Israel, return to these your cities.
Some sage calls the spiritual life “the arc of return”–the great second half of the human life, measured not in years but in purpose. The first half was all that our self did to set itself up, from infancy through childhood and adolescence and on into young adulthood–a thousand tasks, they swallow up the years and even all the energies of those who never discover the river that runs through us, the spiritual river. For this is the arc of return, the soul’s reunion with God. It is no mere future promise, but the pearl of great price for your soul now.
Waymarks–what are they? Practices and patterns of action that both guide and turn your soul toward the highest goal. Accountability is key. To whom do you make yourself accountable for progress in the arc of return? A small group. A journal? Your life’s partner or soul mate? A spiritual guide? Age is no exemption. Who is it going to be?
I believe you can offer no greater gift to your children or your spouse or to your own soul than to set up the waymarks on the road home. Consider well the highway by which you have come. Press on toward the goal of the upward call of God.
©Stephen H. Phelps, November 2003
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