Go with the Flow

One day, our son Levin came back from church and said,
"Every day we go to church, I think, 'I don't want to go.'
Then I get there and have fun. So I guess the point is,
'Go with the Flow.'"

From that point on, Go with the Flow, became our theme.

Jesus described God's own Spirit filling us like a fountain,
that bursts out to overflow like a stream to others.

The first act of obedience we're called to as new Christians
is the simple step of being baptized...
letting the waters and words of God flow over our lives.

This may sound unnecessary or silly... but it's all God asks.

There was a general in the Old Testament who caught leprosy.
He heard a prophet in Israel could heal him but was furious
when the prophet simply said, 'Go dip in this river.'

But his servants suggested it was a simple thing.
And he obeyed and was healed.

Being flexible and fluid, being refreshed and refreshing,
are marks of being a Christian.
But too often we're the opposite.
Too often, we don't 'Go with the Flow.'

'Spirit' means wind or breath.
So that old expression 'Holy Ghost' is literally a 'Holy Gust.'
And God's Spirit blows and flows where it will.

When Jesus tells us to be 'born again, born from above'
('above' and 'again' are the same word in the Greek)
he says we're to be born of Water and of the Spirit.

Why?

Because to be born of Water and the Spirit
is to become like the Water and the Spirit.
... to Go with the Flow.

When we were first born, born from below
we came from water in the womb to take our first breath.
(I often wish people a 'Happy Breath Day' : )

Jesus says we must be born again... in the Flow from above.

When I was serving as a hospital chaplain,
a clear image developed of 'a Flow.'

I quickly learned that in a hospital there's a Flow
(I think) compromised of God's work, the patients' needs
and the dedication and care of the staff and loved ones.
I felt free to step into that Flow and be a part of it...
and step out anytime.

That Flow carried me to encounters I never imagined,
gave me ways of communicating I never knew,
and - most importantly for my sanity -
allowed me to step out of the flow
whenever I needed a break.

I realized the Flow did not depend on me.
Like in a river, the current does not rely on us!

One trap for ministers is to think it does.
Another trap is get hung up in one place.
Such a desire for control will drown you.

When I was little, my canoe overturned.
I became trapped, my chin wedged under a fallen tree.
I would have drowned had my uncle not pushed me free.

Sometimes we need that push to rescue us when we're stuck.
So we can be free again... to Go with the Flow.