As all of you know, this congregation has been asked by its governing board, the Session, to make a significant decision in the life of this church on July 1.  In the business world, or for people who don’t have an active faith life, or aren’t part of a congregation, such a decision might be just a matter of weighing rational facts.  In the church, however, we talk about a process called “spiritual discernment”.  Spiritual discernment is different than just regular decision-making.  Spiritual discernment is a process that includes God in church decisions, family decisions, and personal decisions.

Sometimes we need to get into the nitty-gritties of how to live as a Christian, tools that we can take out into the world and put into practice.  This is one of those days.  The process of spiritual discernment is so important and central to the Christian life, that I’m going to do a teaching sermon on it this morning.

Spiritual discernment is different than just regular decision-making because we invite God into the process, and try to imagine our decision from God’s perspective.  Spiritual discernment is what we do when we need to decide between different “goods”.

Imagine a house on a breezy spring day, its doors and windows opened wide to let the wind flow through.  So it is when we invite God into our decisions with the doors of our hearts and minds open – our eyes as windows raised to see what God will show us, our ears open to hear what God may say.  It is then that the wind of the Spirit can sweep into our midst and speak to us afresh.

God knows our deepest potential, sees the hidden complexities of our circumstances, comprehends our situation in relation to the larger picture, and grasps the broader implications of our plans.  Discernment is our effort to tap into the flow of this divine wisdom.

In classical spirituality, discernment means distinguishing God’s Spirit from other spirits that are present in a given time and place – such as the spirit of a nation, the spirit of the times, the spirit of competition.  To put it another way, discernment is distinguishing the voice of God from other voices that speak to us:  the voice of our parents echoing from years past, the voices of friends,  voices of urgency or fear.  These voices are neither bad nor good in and of themselves.  God often speaks to us through them.  But, if followed indiscriminately, such voices can dominate us and lead us along a wrong path.

Discernment is a prayerful, informed, and intentional attempt to sort through these voices to get in touch with God’s Spirit at work in a situation and to develop a sense of the direction in which the Spirit is leading.  Discernment is more a journey than a destination.  We may not find answers for all our concerns, but we can be receptive to God’s presence as we ponder the questions. 

Although rational analysis based on the best available information is crucial to good discernment, discernment is more than saying prayers that ask God to guide us in rational consideration of matters.  It is a mode of prayer that involves opening our entire selves to the working of the Holy Spirit.  It bids us let go of preconceived ideas so that we can be open to new possibilities with a readiness to view things from new perspectives.  Discernment beckons us to be still and listen with the ear of our heart.  It draws us into alignment with God.

Those decisions that are the most difficult to make, and where we need the most guidance are the ones in which we must choose between two goods.   It’s not so difficult to decide between good and evil, as in whether or not to rob a bank or commit murder.  The most difficult decisions are when all the options before us are good in various ways – and we still have to make a decision.

• Will we spend more time at work or with family and friends?

• Will we stay home and rest, or commit to fixing dinner at Union Station once each month?

• Will we spend the holiday with this part of our family...or this one?

• Will we go deeper into a relationship...or maybe end a relationship?

• Will we take this new job or stay where we are?

• Will we speak up or keep our mouth shut?

Although making a list of the pros and cons of a particular decision can be an important part of the decision-making process, sometimes that isn’t enough.  Sometimes the decision calls for a deeper type of discernment that specifically includes asking for God’s help.

I want to share with you the processes of spiritual discernment that I have found most helpful.  I learned them many years ago from a book called Inviting the Mystic/Supporting the Prophet, by Katherine Marie Dyckman and Patrick Carroll.  Each of these methods of spiritual discernment has been helpful at various times in my own life.  The first three come from St. Ignatius, who lived many centuries ago.  The fourth one has also been used by Christians for many centuries.

Steps for Spiritual Discernment

St. Ignatius’ Steps of Spiritual Discernment

1.        Imagine yourself on your deathbed, someday off in the future.  What decision would you like to have made, way back then, when you made it?  Such a prayerful fantasy is a way to access your deepest values, your best and truest self.

2.        Place yourself before the judgment seat of God.  Your life is over and you are meeting with the God who loves you, to evaluate your life.  Feel God’s love and God’s purposes for your life. Before the eyes of God what would you like to have decided?

3.        Imagine someone you love coming to talk with you.  This person asks you the same question you are asking.  How would you direct this other person?  What advice would you give to another in the same situation as yourself? 

For more complex decisions: 

1.        Get as much information you need to make a wise decision.  Sound rational analysis based on the best available information is crucial to good discernment.

2.         For a period of time (1-3 days?), live in your mind as if you’ve chosen one alternative.  It’s best to choose the less attractive alternative first.  Avoid going around in circles.  Ask God to help you listen to your  heart, notice what you are feeling and thinking.  Listening to everything you can in your reading of Scripture, in the voices of others, and in the movements and moods of your life; live in your mind as if you have made that particular decision.  At the end of each day, write down what you thought and felt.  

3.         For the same amount of time, take the other side, and do the same thing.  Listen to your feelings.  Compile a similar list for the side you are considering.

4.         Offer your reflections to God, ask for guidance and listen for it.  Make a tentative choice and live with that decision for awhile before actually committing yourself to it.  Pay attention to feelings, look for peace.  Does it seem right and good?  At this stage, you will probably experience a sense of peace, even if the choice involves some difficult or painful steps.  You’ll sense that you’re on the right track.

5.         If you experience peace in the tentative choice, go forward.  If not, go back and do the process again.               

Lastly, whatever processes you use to make your decisions, remember that you make them within the context of being a follower of Jesus Christ.  Make your decision always in the light of God’s purposes, what you read in scripture, and what you know of Jesus’ path.  Make your decisions in the context of the Christian life as the Apostle Paul describes it in his letter to the church in Philippi.

            “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  Let your gentleness be known to everyone.  The Lord is near.  Do not worry abut anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.   Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”   
                                                                            -Philippians 4: 4-9

(See: Inviting the Mystic, Supporting the Prophet, Katherine Marie Dyckman, L. Patrick Carroll, Paulist Press, 1981.  The first portion of the sermon is drawn from Grounded in God, Suzanne G. Farnham, Stephanie A. Hull, and R. Taylor McLean.)

(c) Copyright 2007 by Barbara A. Anderson.  All rights reserved.  Permission granted for non-profit use with attribution.