Oh-My-Mater: Steubenville MC57/26/2016 Back in 1995 I found myself in front of a stage, looking up at Jesus, and wholeheartedly (yet scared) giving my life to him before his presence in the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Twenty-one years later, the fruit of that surrender was, looking down from that stage, with the eyes of Christ, at 1800 teens who were willing (yet scared) to give themselves to our Lord. The thirst I had back in 1995 was the same thirst these teens had in 2016. We were both struggling with dehydration, and never noticed. The Holy Spirit gathered together such a laid back ministry team for this conference. Kris Frank, Sarah Swafford, Dan Harms, Fr. Rick, and Bob Rice. We were a holy rag-tag group of laid back personalities coming together to serve these teens. However, the Holy Spirit moving in that room, was far from laid back. The Lord, the giver of life, took that weekend and energized, synergized, and baptized all those open enough to receive his fiery movement foward. Friday was all about getting to know the dehydration that we all struggle with. We were all thirsty but we always seemed to reach for the wrong thing to drink. We had done “our thing” for so long, that we grew comfortable in our dehydration and never noticed that our souls were dying to be revived. Kris Frank directed our attention to the Gospel of John. He mentioned the powerful, yet often missed statement that Jesus makes on his journey to Galilee, which is : “[Jesus]…had to pass through…” Although, the Sacred Scripture was talking about passing through Samaria, the point that Kris was making was that we are Samaria. We are just as broken and confused as the Samaritan’s were historically, and as Jesus had to pass through Samaria (which every other “holy” person avoided) so did He have to pass through Main Campus 5 on that night; to us. Jesus encountered us all in our personal Samaria. But, Christ didn’t just come to take care of the problem of Samaria (the problem of brokenness and infidelity) he came to give eternal living water to the one person. He came to fill the one person so that, in return that person would fill the rest of community. That person was the woman at Jacobs well. And that woman at the well was all of us on Friday night. Jesus had to pass through to encounter each us individually so that he can quench our thirst individually, so that when we were full, we could tell the community were to find this living water. And boy did we drink that water up that night. Saturday booked ended with more of that non laid back attitude of the Holy Spirit His servants; Father Rick and Dan Harms really brought the community on a journey above the clouds and through the desert. Father Rick talked about his journey on a Hot Air Balloon. His fear almost stopped him from going, however his yes, opened his eyes to something greater. His question was simple, are we putting fire in our balloon to bring us to the heights needed so that we can catch the right current, or are we just letting our balloon sink and catch bad currents. With a day of workshops ahead the crew had a lot to take in and process before they were hit with another adventurous tale. Dan that evening spoke of his trip in a desert where he was dangerously running out of water, and authentic fear of death was his shadow. His body screamed for water. He took this story as a foundation of Jesus’ thirst for us. The story of the Samaritan women was not just a story of Jesus giving someone water, but also of Jesus’ thirst for his people: “..Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey sat down beside the well…Jesus said to her ‘give me drink’” (Jn 4:6-7). Dan made it clear, that Christ thirst for us was finally quenched at the Cross when he cried out “I THIRST” (Jn 19:28), taking the final drink of the Passover meal, the Cup of Restoration; lakachti: “a bowl full of the vinegar stood there; they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar he said, ‘IT IS FINISHED’, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (Jn 19:29-30) Dan let all of us know that the restoration of our brokenness, our separation from God was finalized in his sacrifice. His thirst for us was quenched via his act of love. His challenge was to meet Christ at the Cross, respond to our restoration. And did we ever respond. The songs of praise and surrender filled the air as the procession of the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, made his way to encounter all of us personally. That Sunday, Sarah brought it together and basically challenged them to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. To acknowledge that we are thirsty no more. That we can and are called to be as courageous as the Apostles of the past. That we are the upper room people, and that the Advocate was on his way. Sarah said to us all “if the apostles had a hashtag it would read #convicted”. She wanted us to see that the power of that conviction, and ours, would once again prompt us to respond, and that response would move us forward to our homes, our friends, our communities, and the world. The weekend was all about conquering fear, and being filled with the waters of God’s unknown call for our lives. And if we all respond to that eternal thirst quencher, then this world will never know what it means to be spiritually dehydrated because they will be drinking from the same fountain of life that we drink. Back in 1995 I came before the King of Kings scared and fearfully of what he would ask of me, twenty-one years later I responded with 1800 teens “I do what scares me…because I have been a coward for too long” Drink up, the fountain of life will never run dry.
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AuthorOscar "Two Ten" Rivera is all about bringing the fire. Passionate, comedic, and driven to deliver the truth, the right way. Archives
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