I was at a retreat last weekend where 10 of us found ourselves in a cabin learning to listen to each other and to what the Spirit was up to.
He spoke through silence...
He spoke through prayer...
He spoke through meals...
He spoke through laughter...
He spoke through late night pipe smokes...
He spoke through Scripture...
He spoke through walks...
He spoke through stories...
He spoke, "Wait."
We listened.
I invited a friend of mine to come and teach at the community that I am involved with that Sunday night. This friend happens to be a provocative prophet in my life and in the lives of many others. I get the impression that because of that, people don't like him--especially church people. He speaks an "other" language.
The gist of his teaching was how our righteousness can potentially kill Christ. Using Matthew 1 as the guide, we examined how the "righteous" thing for Joseph to do when he found out that Mary was with child (not his) was to stone her. To stone her would have been to eliminate Jesus.
Is it possible that God cares less if we're righteous than if we are obedient? Could it be that obedience sometimes involves that which is isn't righteous?
He closed with Matthew 1:25: "But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus." That is--Joseph didn't have sex with Mary (his wife!) until Jesus was born.
God closed with these marching orders: "Don't spread your seed on what I AM doing."
I haven't been able to get by that.
It seems that we don't error on the side of waiting, but that we error on the side of "spreading our own seed." Perhaps we need to quit masturbating on what God is doing. Masturbation--although an intense term here--takes that which is holy and sacred and intended for worship and defames it. Masturbation is all about instant gratification--self-gratification.
Maybe when we "spread our seed" this way--all we do is make a huge, gross mess!
3 comments:
I'm a bit confused with the "seed" idea. I don't really understand what led him to the conclusion that God is saying, "Don't spread your seed on what I AM doing". What he is paraphrasing? Is there a reference?
I'm also confused to where you take this. Are you saying we spread our own seed rather than God's? Are you saying that people are getting off on God's word, using it to gratify their own desires and wishes?
On another note, I've been reading your stuff since maybe last November and found it very interesting! Keep up the good work. :) It's been thought provoking and challenging.
Thanks for your comment--great thoughts!
I want to be careful here to point out that we all need to be very careful in making blanket statements like "This is what God meant." You didn't do this in your comment--I'm just cautioning us all to take God's Word seriously and humbly.
My friend was acting as more of a catalyst than anything else on this evening. The insight that he pulled out of the end of Matthew 1 spoke powerfully to me and to the place that the community I am apart of is in.
Hopefully the following helps a little...
If you look at the very end of Matthew 1, the author seems to make a point of the fact that Joseph literally didn't not have sex with Mary until after Jesus was born. My friend who was teaching made an interesting observation that Joseph's "seed"--or sperm--never entered Mary until after Jesus was born. That is--once Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant--he could have had sex with her and then claimed the pregnancy for his own.
For a more crude explanation--sperm is kind of gross and messy. Joseph chose not to make a mess near what God had miraculously done inside of Mary.
I have never thought about it in terms of "getting off" on God's word. Perhaps that is what we do when we take His Words out of context and make them tell a story that fits our faulty thinking better.
Further thoughts?
Jer -
I love the audacity you inject into this blog in sharing the Truth.
I was reading Lewis Smedes not to long ago, and he had some comments along these lines.
In effect, he said that all sex outside of marriage is the manifestation of our need for control. Masturbation is doing it "my way". So is sex with a boy/girlfriend. Its not about love, it's about controlling another, or feeling what it's like to have someone submit to you. Regardless of who you are with, it's all self-gratification.
It's Satan's lies that say you are having sex outside of marriage to show your "real" love for another. Nope, it's all about you at that point too.
How easy it is for us to "paint" a rosy picture of sin just so we can keep doing it, meanwhile making a huge mess of God's original plan.
I also think of God's promise for provision and I have spoke with others who have asked, "If God didn't want you to masturbate, or have sex, then why did He give us the desires?" I am sure you have heard this - it's God's fault right?
My usual response has something to do with mentioning that nocturnal emission is God's way of allowing release. And the desire you have is a seed of it's own. There is nothing wrong with either one, but it shows trust on your part to be patient that God will give you "release". Unfortunately too many of us are not willing to wait, for a mate, or God.
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