This past weekend I went on as a staff member to another retreat (my sixth) and heard this from a man who was in my small group,
"Before the retreat I would have said that I had been a Christian for forty years. But after this retreat I realized I had spent those forty years sitting on the couch. Now it's time to get up and go!"
We all need a spiritual tuneup from time to time -- otherwise we would remain "sitting on the couch" -- a spectator to the Jesus journey. There is a great similarity between our spiritual and our physical lives. If we spend our life literally "sitting on the couch" we will some be visited by some people we quickly wish were not in our lives -- "Mr. Fat, Mr. Cholesterol, Mr. Stress, and Mr. Coronary Artery Disease!"
The same thing will happens to us if we just sit by and watch the practice of Christianity and not DO IT as Jesus would. When we become a spiritual spectator rather than practitioner, we too, will visited by some unwelcome spiritual "visitors" who will not help us get to where we want to go in our spiritual life.
In the absence of some kind of regular spiritual practice (like physical excercise), life will somewhat less than what it could be. Jesus said he wanted us to have an "abundant life;" not just an ordinary, dull, and sedentary life.
What I again saw this weekend is not only God working powerfully among us and throughout our whole bodies, but I also how God sometimes breaks us open to teach us a deep spiritual lesson (and how God puts us back together again as well). I guess I would call this the "humpty-dumpty" effect. While all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again -- God does!
For most of our lives, we men protect our selves at all costs (otherwise wouldn't we share our feelings more?). And that protection of our hearts (our feelings) at all costs leads to tremendous damage to our most important relationships: wife, children, and friends. We have trouble connecting with them, telling them how much we love them -- telling our children we are proud of them and blessing them!
So, sometimes God uses us to show others our vulnerability. I was in a hospital emergency room three years ago when Sabine was diagnosed with cancer. It was then after weeks of ER runs and not knowing what was happening to her that I finally gave it up. God broke me open; knocked me to my knees, as I finally admitted that I was no longer in control, that I deeply needed God -- that God was now in charge. I was no longer (nor did I want to be) the "captain of my soul, the master of my fate."
It was a tremendously painful experience for me as I called one of my closest friends on the phone and sobbingly cried out, "I can't do it anymore. I need help! Come down to the hospital!" And my friend and his wife came to my rescue. God knew I needed help and I needed to be broken open before I realized it; before I willingly practiced what had been preaching -- "Let go and let God." And from that "breaking open" also came God's repair and strengthening and the realization that I needed some strong, supportive and Godly men in my life.
Most of us realize this at one time or another in their lives. I have come to realize that it is not my job to fix those men. I can invite men to the weekend retreat, but it the next step is between them and their God).
Like the that wonderful hymn, "Amazing Grace," I know that "I once was blind, but now I see -- was lost but now am found." It is a big step for a man to confess this. For most of us it is a life-long process of seeing and finding. And it is an open heart that leads us to do both.
Another powerful "fruit" of this weekend was to see a man stand up and ask to be baptized. Over the three days, God opened and moved in this man's heart -- and on the last day of the retreat he was mightily baptized with his new-found brothers-in-Christ standing around him and agreeing to sponsor him. I have come learn that few Christians today have ever seen an adult baptism! Perhaps that is why it was so powerful!
So, again, have seen blessings, men touched by God, men moved by God to be better husbands, fathers and friends. I have come to see that this is powerful spiritual work. And as a priest and pastor, I will have to say that I have seen God most clearly during these weekends.
A lot of men ask me about the "agenda." We don't publish or talk about the agenda because we want the weekend to special for each man. Each one of us who have been through the retreat came because of one fact -- he trusted the man who asked him. So I ask you, by trust, to come. The reality is that you either trust me or not. I pray that you do.
But I will give you more. I will give you a guarantee that this men's retreat is the best, most Spirit-filled that you have ever attended or I will see that you get your money back! No questions asked!
The next Wisconsin retreat is September 16-18 at the Mackenzie Center just north of Poynette. You can find more information at: http://www.lutheranmeninmission.org/events/oytl.html. Mark it down on your calendar today.
God bless you -- and keep moving forward -- spiritually as well as physically!
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