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So, what. What does it really mean in my day-to-day life that I profess a faith in Jesus Christ as the anointed one, the Messiah, the incarnation of God on  earth? What does it mean that Paul exhorts us to put on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of salvation? Do I translate my time on Sunday  morning at St. Andrew’s into the way my life is lived- the way I interact with others – or is my time here something to be gotten through because I feel guilty if I don’t go? All of us have myriad pressures and people pulling at us to do this or to do that. Life in the twenty-first century is complicated. Life  probably always was and will be complicated. We’re probably much alike in that nearly every day there is more to do than time to do it. We have to pick and  choose our priorities. We’re tired or frustrated for any number of reasons and sometimes we take it out on others – not because we’re mad at them per  se but because too much is pressing on us and they just happen to be the next person with whom we come into contact. And if we have on the breastplate of  faith and love, my guess is you’re like me and almost immediately, I realize that I’ve done wrong in snapping at the other person – and hopefully I apologize  for my actions. Hopefully that breastplate of faith and love is something we wear so continually that most of the time we’re not even aware of it –  it is such an integral part of who we are and how we live and treat the other. That’s what Paul was hoping for in his first letter to the Thessalonians.  Know  the love of Christ so deep within you that it permeates all that you are and all that you do.

Transformation – being re-formed. A thorough and marked change – usually for the better.  In mathematics, transformation is defined as “a change in an expression or equation resulting from the substitution of one set of variables by another”.[1] Paul urges the Thessalonians to substitute the variables of faith  and love for those of the self-seeking and self-serving world around them. If they do that, he says, then when we encourage each other we will build  each other up. Spiritual disciplines are sometimes a bit like a physical fitness program. Attending worship, praying, finding one ministry that really engages  your heart. You know you should do it – and it can sometimes seem like “one more thing” to add to your day. If you start, though, even very slowly, over
time your stamina builds up and you do feel better. Your chances of a longer, healthier life – both physically and spiritually- are enhanced. But it takes  perseverance and an eye kept firmly on the goal to keep at it. For some, being physically active makes their day. For some, no matter how long they are at it,  it’s still a struggle.

Spiritual disciplines have much the same effect. Starting your day with prayer grounds you for the rest of the day. Working concessions offers you  fellowship together with the knowledge that the money raised funds outreach and other ministries that enable St. Andrew’s to be a visible presence in this  community as a place which helps to care for the least among us. After Mother Teresa died, her memoirs were published. Some people were shocked to  learn that she had long periods where she felt the absence of God. This is true more often than we would like to think. Life is uncertain and unfair and  sometimes we just don’t get it. It can be hard to keep on believing in a God of mercy when all around us we see acts of injustice- acts which are not merciful  but spiteful and mean and sometimes deadly. It can be hard to keep on believing if we see our ministry as just one more thing we “ought” to do – or feel  guilty when we don’t come with a heart of love and grace and a desire to serve. As the authors of Listening Hearts put it: “We are accountable not only for doing our ministry but also for the spirit in which we do it.”[2]

Paul, speaking to the believers in Thessalonica, has much the same challenge. Remember, he warns them, you do not have control. “When they say, ‘there is  peace and security’ then sudden destruction will come upon them” (1 Thes. 5:3). The surest way to make God laugh is to tell God your plans, or so the  saying goes. There is no escaping God’s presence. God’s presence, though, can be seen as light and life- not darkness and judgment. “God has destined us  not for judgment but for salvation” (Id., v. 9). And God calls upon us to encourage one another to build up each other” (Id., v.11). Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher and theologian, wrote in his journal: What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know… The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do… What good would it do me to be able to explain the meaning of Christianity if it had no  deeper significance for me and for my life? [Emphasis in the original][3]

Paul’s response to Kierkegaard’s quandary is to put on the breastplate of love and faith – and when love and faith are such an integral part of who you are  that you no longer see or feel them as separate from you – a weight constraining how you live and act but rather see and feel them as something that you  carry comfortably and with ease, then you will discover what God wishes for you to do. The process of discernment is lifelong. We live longer. We move  from place to place. We change jobs. Our families come into being and, in time, children grow up and move away. Members of our families die. Life is  constantly changing – all around us –whether we will or not. But the breastplate of love and faith is a constant. What God really wishes us to do may change  in the specifics or the location but it never changes in the fundamentals. Love, faithfulness, kindness, being part of a community, showing mercy  towards others.

The “Listening Hearts” process is used during discernment of a call to ordained ministry in the Diocese of Indianapolis. This process involves the person  who believes he or she has a call to ordained ministry writing a “focus statement” that spells out in very short form why they believe they have a call and  what the issues are surrounding that call. The person then meets with a group of three other people and they spend a morning or an afternoon praying and  talking together. The purpose is not to say “yes” or “no” but rather to walk the questions with that person. To facilitate clarity, if possible, around the  questions. This process is not limited to questions about ordination. In fact, it is very similar to a “clearness committee” used within the Quaker tradition.

The purpose of a clearness committee is to help the one with a question discern issues and achieve clarity about the way forward while knowing that he or  she is surrounded by love and prayer. Those who are part of the clearness committee or the listening hearts group ask questions to help the inquirer discern  God’s will in the particular instance before the group. A listening hearts group or a clearness committee is one way that we, as community, can  encourage and build each other up. Discernment questions are like this. They help us to become conscious of what we know deep within but have never been able to articulate. More importantly, they can open us up to the presence of the Spirit or raise our awareness of the absence of the Spirit.[4] There’s
a wonderful prayer of Thomas Merton that comforts me on those days – or during those times- when the road is pretty rocky or life seems too muddled to  feel certain of the way forward.

God, we have no idea where we are going.
We do not see the road ahead of us. We cannot know for certain where it will
end. Nor do we really know ourselves, and the fact that we think we are
following your will does not mean that we are actually doing so. But we believe
that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And we hope we have that
desire in all that we are doing. We hope that we will never do anything apart
from that desire. And we know that if we do this, you will lead us by the right
road, though we may know nothing about it. Therefore, we will trust you always
though we may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. We will not fear, for
you are ever with us, and you will never leave us to face our perils alone.[5]

Put on the breastplate of love and faith. Know that you are surrounded by others who have you well-being in mind. Encourage one another and by doing so  know that you are part of building up the community of saints to be the presence of God in this place and this time. Amen.