Powerlessness and Recovery
The sermons at the Sunday service during Lent are an application of the Twelve Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous for all of us regardless of whether we have any addictions or not.
On the First Sunday in Lent we focus on the first three steps.
The first step focuses on powerlessness and unmanageability. What are you powerless over? It falls into three categories: stuff, others and ourselves.
That’s right we can be powerless about almost anything. Right now I’m powerless over the electricity running through this computer. I’m totally dependent on lots of things entirely out of my control to communicate with you now. I am powerless to get anyone to read this. You either do or you don’t. It’s even more frustrating to realize that I am powerless over areas in my own life. Have you ever been awakened in the middle of the night by a song playing in your head? No matter how hard you tried you couldn’t turn that song off! Jingle writers know this.
There are lots of areas in which we experience powerlessness. The one’s that give us difficulty are the ones that we don’t know about or arn’t willing to admit to ourselves that, I really am powerless over, ___!#&@%(!!)___! What’s more, certain areas of powerlessness that I’ve got make my life unmanageable, (and I can’t stand it!). With this comes the realization that it’s not their fault, it’s fault, or God’s fault. I’m just powerless to change XY@Z.
There are lots of folks who just go on doing the same things over and over and over, … , and over again. You know those tried and true strategies. “My luck has to get better sometime.” “I’ll just yell louder and they’ll do it my way.” “I’ll just ignore it, them, OR MYSELF, and maybe things will change.
You and I know they won’t change, or at least change for the better. So what to do? It’s best to make a powerlessness list of all the stuff you’re powerless over, the people you’re powerless over, AND most importantly the areas about you that you’re powerless over. Hint! These may be things that you’re not very aware so writing them down is really helpful.
Isn’t Lent fun!!!!!
What happens next?????
In twelve step programs what follows is, “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” Now here’s an advantage we have because we can just come right out and say that Jesus Christ can restore us to sanity. Just a minute! If I’m saying that Jesus can restore me to sanity that, tacitly at least means that I’ve just declared myself insane?!?! Yup, I did. If you or I continue to live in an unmanageable situation, that is NUTS.
You and I need Jesus to restore us, to heal us. Where? In our minds! That’s where the insanity of our life resides. We have to be WILLING to believe this. It means that we are saying goodbye for good to the crazy notion that we are really in charge of us all the time, and others some of the time. So let’s go back to our powerlessness list. Are you ready to ask Jesus to restore you to sanity about the specific things you wrote in your powerlessness list? Are you ready to undergo the changes that will happen, to live in Christ’s sanity? Pray specifically for restoration with each item you mentioned. Do it every day during Lent. The season is long enough for you to experience some real change.
Now things get even more interesting. “Made a decision to turn our will and our life over to the care of Jesus Christ. WOW! The key here is turning our wills over to Him. In other words turning how and what we decide over to Jesus. Giving our “initial freedom,” to Him. It’s helpful to do this every day in the morning as early as possible so that we can go through every moment focused in His will. “Not my will, but thine be done.”
The following is addressed to Episcopalians. Let’s have a Prayer Book moment, pp 302-3. Starting in the middle of p. 302 you will see a series of questions addressed to those who are to be baptised. Whenever you receive communion the assumption is made that you reaffirm these promises. We do this specifically at the Great Vigil on Holy Saturday. The renunciation questions imply powerlessness. In the next three questions there is the a clear implication of what is said in steps two and three. Focus on the words, “savior,” “whole trust,” “follow and obey.” What do these terms mean for you?
If doing these things become an explicit part of daily life you will be amazed at how different your life begins to be.
Happy Lent!
