A Spiritual Journey

Last Saturday I joined about 300 other United Methodists from across the Virginia Conference in the Bishop’s Convocation on Prayer.  It was an insightful and spiritually enriching experience.  The next day (Pentecost Sunday) I found myself spontaneously quoting Bishop Cho at the beginning of my sermon:  “No spirituality, no vital congregations; no spirituality, no fruitful ministries.” 

My colleagues and I are currently leading a strategic planning process for a local church. The process includes several phases and events, including a sermon on visioning. Such a process is a spiritual journey. The outcome is determined by how deeply engaged leadership and members depend on prayer to guide them. Truly vital and fruitful ministry is “born of the Spirit.” Faithful discipleship is also rooted in practicing the spiritual disciplines and allowing the Spirit to work through us. 

What is true for the church as a whole, must be true for those who seek to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.  When one says yes to the invitation of discipleship, the journey begins.  Each step along toward Christian maturity must be undergirded by prayer, informed by scripture and enlightened by spiritual discernment. Such a journey is empowered by an awareness that we do not journey alone, and that the empowering gift of the Spirit given at that first Pentecost continues to provide comfort, strength and guidance.

Thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit at that first Pentecost, for it is not simply a historical event, but a contemporary happening. We experience Pentecost when we are open and receptive to God’s will and purposes revealed through prayer and spiritual discernment. Through the gift of the Spirit we are empowered for living as faithful disciples.