Last night was "Grafiti Gate"
Have you ever taken enough time and made yourself volnerable enough to examine yourself and then expose what you see to someone else. In common language we call this "confession."
Grafiti Gate is not something I want to completely explain but I'll hint. It's a worship experience that involves the deepest levels of transparancy. You are to first confess yourself out loud (we had a sort of coffee house station going on) then you move on to some more contemplation and other things and then quiet worship. You then make a "covenant" with God. through all this you hear powerful insrtumental music. I'm giving you this description that you'll hopefully understand the power of this process. God, in the cracking of our hearts shell can enter and speak loud in the quiet places, shine light in the darkest places.
I had the opportunty to listen to some of the covenants which were made. I have never experienced anything like it. In the faces of the people who read to me I saw the greatest most profound expressions of freedom and relief. There's a highly quoted verse in the scriptures that reads something like this; "where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom." How do you read this? Is that word "where" about a location you can plot on a map? Or is it something deeper, more personal?
We've created around our hearts a shell, a barrier that sufficates us and whatever we hold inside of it slowly becomes moldy. The spirit of the Lord is already in every place on the map it's everywhere outside of us. So when we say "where the spirit of the Lord is..." it's not that we have to find somewhere He is, because we're already there we must put our insides out and expose the mold and the rot inside of us to what's ouside of us. Now we ask "how?" Now how on earth can we expose the deepest parts of ourselves to the outside where God is?
In the scriptures "confession" literally means, "to cast down." When we cast down our deppest darkest secrets we are throwing them down through our barrier. When we intercede for our "mold" we bring life to it. When we own our emotions and grown over them we're eventually free from them.
My prayer is that God's people would become exposed and stop living their label. Cast Down your pain reach into the deepest places in your heart. These are not things that will necesarily pop into your head on a whim. Listen, IT WILL NOT BE EASY.
Expose yourself and be transparent for "where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom."
4 comments:
Great Post, Wes. Thanks.
Hey Wes,
I think you so beautifully said this. Keep on learning, thinking and sharing. Your the best. I love you.
Amazing Post!!! I said the same thing to Ashley. I am so blessed to have the chance to hear what you two are learning. Thank you for sharing!!!
I am very glad that Confession is a regular part of my Sacramental life. I hope this isn't too long, but this is one of the most meaningful Confessions I say during the week.
Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to You and to one another,
and to the whole communion of saints
in heaven and on earth,
that we have sinned by our own fault
in thought, word, and deed;
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved You with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.
Have mercy on us, Lord.
We have been deaf to Your call to serve, as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved Your Holy Spirit.
Have mercy on us, Lord.
We confess to You, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives,
We confess to You, Lord.
Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people,
We confess to You, Lord.
Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves,
We confess to You, Lord.
Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work,
We confess to You, Lord.
Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to commend the faith that is in us,
We confess to You, Lord.
Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done: for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty,
Accept our repentance, Lord.
For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.
For our waste and pollution of Your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.
Restore us, good Lord, and let Your anger depart from us;
Favorably hear us, for Your mercy is great.
Accomplish in us the work of Your salvation,
That we may show forth Your glory in the world.
By the cross and passion of Your Son our Lord,
Bring us with all Your saints to the joy of His resurrection.
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.
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