This is the year we are going to learn to fly; that's the ambition Pastor Jeff is inspiring in us and for us as people who gather together at Community Life Church.
Isaiah 40:31 says: "but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; the will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Here on Grand Manan we are used to seeing gulls swooping and soaring gracefully, even in gale force winds. In fact, they are more agile in the air than eagles (but Isaiah didn't have the advantage of living on Grand Manan to be able to watch gulls in their agility and power in the air). Can you imagine being able to do that?
Of course in our own strength, it would be impossible. Just like being fully the human you were intended to be would be impossible in your own strength. But take a deep breath, breathe in the Spirit of Jesus and let his Spirit work in you and you can start to be what you think is impossible in your own strength.
Want inspiration in this impossible task? Look at Jesus. He lived as the ultimate expression of what it is to be human. He was the most fully human person who ever lived. That is what he meant when he called himself "son of man". Biologically and literally, Jesus couldn't be a "son of man" since he was born of a virgin.
In that time and culture "son of" meant "the ultimate expression of". So when Jesus was referred to as "son of God", that was a way of saying that Jesus was the ultimate expression of God. You want to know what God is like? Look at Jesus.
Jesus often referred to himself as "son of man". You want to know what the ultimate human person is like? Look at Jesus.
Each one of us can be more fully and completely human than we are. Breathe in the Spirit of Jesus; let the Spirit of Jesus work fully in you, providing you the strength to do what you thought to be impossible in your own strength, and learn to soar and swoop like seagulls, with the excitement of life as it is meant to be lived. Like Jesus did.
So, let's learn to fly in 2012!
