Click HERE to view Rev. Rogers’ guided meditation during the service.
All right, I want to talk about your job. [Congregants moan and laugh]
“Go ahead, Richard; I’m retired.” [Congregants laugh] “Talk away. I’m unemployed. Go!”
See, I want to talk about your job as an infinite spiritual being living in a finite experience. That I think you have a role — I think you have a job — when you’re an infinite spiritual being living in a finite human experience. And I think that job is twofold. And I think that this may be the simplest talk I’ve ever given. Not always the easiest, but the simplest talk I’ve ever given.
And I think you only have two things that you’re responsible for as an infinite spiritual being living in a finite world experience. And those two things are:
1) To RELEASE what you don’t want; and
2) To DECLARE what you do want.
That’s it! That’s all we ever do!
Now. your job as you go through this life, is to say: “I want to release all the things that I don’t want.” Now, how many of you will agree that that’s part of your job? Is to release everything that you don’t want? And how many of us would actually declare what we do want? Right? That seems pretty obvious, right? You release what you don’t want, and you declare what you do want.
Now, why is it that we don’t do it? [Congregants laugh] Right? Why is it that we go asleep at the wheel? And we allow all kinds of craziness into our lives that is not what we want. And we get on to all kinds of stories and drama and situations why all this stuff is in our life. We tell ourselves that maybe I deserve it; maybe it was predestined; maybe it was the hand of God.
And what I want us to see tonight is your only job is to release what you don’t want and declare what you’re doing.
Anybody have been on a dating site in the last five or 10 years? Like two of us? I mean, I’m speaking … because guys talk, right? [Congregants laugh] I haven’t myself been on a dating site. Ever. Ever. But the tendency of what I’ve been told — from my friends — is that you either swipe left or you swipe right. If you don’t want it; if you’re not interested, what is it? Left? And if you’re not interested, you swipe left. And if you are interested, you swipe right.
Now, I don’t know these things, but I’ve been told these things. And I want you to see that I believe that life truly is that simple. We don’t believe it’s that simple, but life is truly that simple! That when we look at any situation, the Universe asks us, “Do you want more of this? Or do you want less of this?”
Now, you can say, “Well, I think I deserve … I don’t really want it, but I think it’s some karmic debt that I’m paying off. And so at some level, I think I deserve more of what I don’t want.”
And it’s like: NO!!!!!! That’s not what the Universe ever asks us! It’s very simple. The Universe rolls something into your life and says, “Do you want more of this or less of this?” And we get to choose! We either release it or we declare we want more of it.
And I want you to see that, because we don’t see how simple life is, we have made it much, much, much more complicated than it needs to be. Either swipe left or swipe right on literally everything in your life. Do you want more of this or less of this? You get to decide.
But there’s some requirements to successfully release and declare.
The first one is: there has to be a level of SELF-AWARENESS. That you actually know what you want. You actually have to be self-aware enough to know what you want. If you are unconscious — if you are unaware — then anything looks appropriate.
But you’ve been given free will! I can’t overstate how important that is. The entire Universe has given you absolute carte blanche free will for you to decide. But you have been given free will for you to decide to know enough about you to know: “Do I want more of this or less of this?”
You know, one of my favorite experiences — or one of my most uncomfortable situations — is going with somebody I don’t know to the Cheesecake Factory. [Congregants laugh] How many of you have ever been to the Cheesecake Factory? Sixteen-page menu. They have a whole section of specials: whole page! They have lunch specials; small plate specials; huge plate specials. They have 16 pages — and that’s not even the desserts. Right? Sixteen pages!
Now, if you go to the Cheesecake Factory with someone who doesn’t do well with decision-making, start with dessert, man. Just start with dessert. Because you’re going to be there for a very long time. [Laughs] You’ll actually begin to see the little sweat on their forehead as they go page by page by page and realize what a complicated process this is.
Because the Cheesecake Factory — and I’m going to get off this in a moment — they don’t even stick to one genre. You can get orange chicken and barbecue at the same place! I mean, at so many levels, it’s wrong! Right? [Congregants laugh] Stick to your genre! They’re so committed to their 16-page menu that they’ve gone rogue. [Congregants laugh]
Self -awareness. You actually have to know what you want.
Two: SELF-VALUE. One of the greatest problems that we have in our world today is that people don’t believe that they’re worthy of what they want. They believe that they’re worthy of whatever shows up, and that whatever shows up is good enough.
And so, you’re a child of God created in God’s image. And over and over again, God doesn’t bring anything into your life that is meant to be at a second rate or a second level, or a less than, or barely good enough. You are a child of God! And as a child of God, you are expected to not only know what you want, but to feel worthy of having it.
Because if you don’t believe that you’re worthy to have the blessings of God, no matter how much God wants to bless you, you will find a way to destroy it or diminish it or to give it away.
“I am worthy of the kingdom of heaven.”
Will you say it with me? [With congregants:] “I am worthy of the kingdom of heaven.”
One more time: [with congregants] “I am worthy of the kingdom of heaven.”
Three: POWER. And THIS is another one that we tend to resist. We want to be powerful, but we’re afraid to be powerful. We think we shouldn’t be too powerful, right? And what I want you to see: that in this process, you are powerful. You are created in the image and likeness of God. You have the power to create what you want.
it actually doesn’t take any more energy to say, “No, thank you” than it does, “Yes, please.” “I’d like less of this and more of that. I release what I don’t want and I declare what I do want.” You have the power, over and over again, to make those declarations and allow the Universe to actually give you what you want.
Four: PERCEPTION. You have the ability to see it clearly. To see life clearly. To see what’s happening to you clearly. To see the possibilities in front of you clearly. And then to discern if it’s close enough to what you desire.
Because most of life doesn’t come to you exactly the way you thought it was going to come to you. It comes to you in a variation; in a theme; maybe in a different color or a different way. It’s going to show up in a way that’s slightly different than you expected. And you have to have both the ability to discern it and then decide if it’s close enough. Because if it’s not close enough, then you have to release it and claim and declare what you do want. But, so, your job is actually to use the power of discernment.
Now, we use the word judgment, and it’s like, “Oooooh. We can’t say that!” But you actually have to use the power of discernment and judgment over and over again to say, “Yes, this meets my needs. Yes, this fulfills my vision.” If it doesn’t, release it! And then declare what you do want.
And I want you to see that, every time you release it, you’re actually getting closer and closer to the kingdom that God created for you. But you have to have the ability to see it and then decide. Decide! Discern it; judge it. Judge it.
“Richard said I have permission to judge.”
Together: [with congregation] “Richard said I had permission to judge.”
Together: [with congregation] “Richard said I had permission to judge.”
Now, do you have permission to judge others? No!!! But if you don’t have permission to judge your own life, we’re up a creek without a paddle.
Two, four, six. No, I’m on five.
Here’s the kicker. You have to have the WILLINGNESS to stay in the process over and over until you get it right. Now, some of you may be able to create your life perfectly from the first time. I don’t know you. [Congregants laugh] The people I know actually have to work on this over and over and over again and say, “Well, you know, I thought that was it. That’s not it. I thought it was going to be close enough. It’s not close enough.” We have to work on it over and over and we have to release what’s not working for us and declare what we want.
Matthew. And can I just say; I’m going to quote Jesus. I think it’s fundamentally amazing that a man — a spiritual teacher over 2,000 years ago, — could tell stories that are so spiritually true that we are still using them, because they’re applicable 2,000 years later.
So the story that I’m about to tell you — read to you — I think it’s absolutely amazing that a spiritual teacher from the Middle East who had a very different background and upbringing than I had … I can listen to his stories and go, “That’s just true!”
Here we go. Matthew 13:24-30:
“Another parable he put before them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared …’”
The kingdom of heaven may be compared. Now, is that a pretty open statement? I mean, he is actually just giving you all kinds of room to just contemplate what he’s about to say. He’s not saying, “It’s exactly like this, and you have to believe every word that I’m saying.” He said:
“’The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed into his field. But when the man was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.’”
Now.
“’So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the household came to him and said, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then is there weeds?; And he said to them, ‘It was the enemy who has done this.’
The servants, ‘Then do you want us to go out and gather it up?’ And he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. But for now, let them grow together until harvest; and at harvest, I will tell the reaper: ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them together into bundles and they can be burned; but then gather the wheat and place it in my barn.’”
Now, let’s slow this thing down, okay? So I want you to look at this as your life. This is the kingdom, right? This is your life. This is how we create our experience. So, imagine in your life, you want to plant good seeds. Now, are we talking about wheat? No! We’re talking about the things that you want to create in your life that are represented by the wheat. Right? So those are your desires, your goals, your intentions. It’s everything that you want to create. Right?
Now, also what begins to happen is: in our sleep … Not only are we clear about what we want, but in our sleep is also our unconscious creations. Have you ever created anything from your unconscious place that wasn’t exactly what you wanted? We all have, right? Because most of our lives are not a perfect out picturing of the life that we want.
Now, what does he say to go do? Now, when we have something that shows up in our life that’s not exactly the way we wanted, most of us start to panic. Right? And most of us get a little … grinchy. And we get a little — and this is an Old Testament term — a little freaked out. [Congregants laugh]
And so what happens is — what Jesus is saying – is: let it just grow. Just notice it. Notice if you want it or don’t want it. Just let it grow.
Now, what do his servants say to him? [In snarky tone] “What did you have in your consciousness that allowed you to create this mess of a life? What were you believing? What were you saying? What were you praying for that allowed you to have such a mess in your life? In my life, we only have perfect things going on. I don’t have anything in my life that’s not perfect.” Right?
And I want you to see that maybe you have people in your life that, from time to time, judge your life because it doesn’t look perfect. Right? It doesn’t look exactly the way you thought it was going to look. And Jesus even addressed that. The servants came to him and said, “What the heck? You must not have put in good seeds.” And he said, “Don’t worry about it! Just let them grow. And then when the time is right, we’ll take all the old weeds out and then we’ll put all the good wheat in the barn.”
And I want you to see over and over again that, when you are committed to releasing the old, you don’t have to fear it! It doesn’t have to wig you out. You just notice: “Oh, that’s not what I want. I’m going to swipe left. I’m going to release that. I’m going to release that belief. I’m going to release that experience. And I’m going to declare what I do want. And I’m going to put that in the barn. I’m going to put that in the storehouse. I’m going to put that in the life that I truly want. I’m not going to be afraid when something shows them in my life that I didn’t ask for or didn’t think I asked for. I’m simply going to let it grow and then I’m going to let it go. I’m going to release it over and over again.”
John 9:
“As they passed by and saw a man blind from his birth. And the disciples asked the rabbi, ‘Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?; And Jesus said, ‘It’s not this man’s sin, nor his parents, but so that the works of God may be manifest in him, so that the glory of God could be revealed.”
See, when we judge another — when we think we know what the highest and the best way is for anyone else — we miss the point. And what I want you to hear me say is that everything that we’re creating today is for the glory of God to be revealed. That that’s the hope; that’s the prayer. We want our life to be an out picturing of the glory of God.
And all of us are going to have some rain. All of us are going to have some challenges. All of us are going to have some problems. All of us are going to have things that we would probably rather not have in our life. And in those moments, it is for the glory of God to be revealed. That, in our hardships, in our difficulties, in those times, we don’t judge it. We know that, in those moments, the glory of God is being revealed.
So here we go. I want you to think about three things about your life that you’re not exactly in love with. Can you? Can you think of three things in your life … And I want you — if you want to make a note tonight, I want you to make a note — three things in your life that you’re not in love with in your life. And I want you to do the inner work and say, “What’s the belief that’s creating that in me?”
If you’re not living at the level of abundance or the level of love or the level of health — if your life isn’t out picturing what you had imagined what you wanted — what I want you to actually do is slow it down and say, “Is there a belief in me that this is all that’s available to me? Is there a belief in me that’s created this situation over and over again? And if there is a belief in that, I want to release it. Holy Spirit, release any belief in me that is creating this experience. Release any belief in me that is supporting this experience in my life.”
And I want you to release it| Ask the Holy Spirit to come and help you release what’s no longer working; what no longer makes sense; what is no longer satisfying; what is no longer good. Release it! And we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us release anything. Swipe left! Let it go!
Now, I want you to look at three things in your life that you absolutely love about your life. And what are the beliefs that are supporting that? We want to declare more of that! And to look at your life over and over again as: “What’s working and that I want to create more of? What beliefs aren’t working for me that I’m willing to release; to no longer create more and more of that in my life.”
That, over and over again, I want you to release and declare.
Together: [with congregants] “I release and I declare.”
One more time: [with congregants] “I release and I declare.”
Now, is there anything in your life that is too big for you to release it? No!!! No!!! You ask the Holy Spirit to help you release anything in your life that’s no longer working. And you release it. You give it to God. And that situation, that energy, that pattern, that thought process is released. And you declare what you want. Over and over again.
“I release and I declare.”
Together: [with congregants] “I release and I declare.”
Over and over again! It’s really just that simple! That you release what you don’t want.
Now, if you don’t tell yourself — if you don’t look at a situation and say — “You know, I don’t want that anymore. That used to work for me. I used to accept that behavior. I used to accept that situation. I wasn’t mine, that wasn’t a problem for me.”
But as we grow and mature, our outer life reflects the changes that are going on within us. And when we realize it’s no longer working, we release it and we let it go.
“I release and I declare.”
One more time: [with congregants] “I release and I declare.”
Matthew 5:3 — we talked about last week: “Let your answer be ‘yes, yes,’ or’ no, no,’ for anything else comes from evil.” Or makes craziness. Right?
And so, when you’re going through your life, there’s a million things coming at you. And you decide over and over again: “Do I want more of this?” If you want more of it, praise it; give thanks for it; celebrate it! Enjoy the heck out of it! If you don’t want more of that, ask the Holy Spirit to release that and anything in you that’s helped create that. Simply release it and let it go.
And as you release it over and over again, you actually allow yourself to be in charge of the creation process. And it’s really that simple. You’re either releasing things or you’re declaring things. That’s all you get. Everything is either a “yes” or a “no.”
Now, where it gets confusing is when we sometimes say “yes” to things that we really should be saying “no” to. Or we say “no” to things that we really, truly want. And when that’s going on, we are really confusing ourselves and confusing the Universe, because It’s not sure how to support us.
So when you look at your life, can you see some things in your life that you need to release? Without judgment; without any big hoop-dee-dos. That you just need to release it? And can you see things that you’ve never yet been willing to declare as a possibility for you? That you can live a life that good? And over and over again, it truly is this simple. You release what you don’t want, and you declare what you do want. And it’s all for the glory of God. It’s all so that your life out pictures the kingdom of heaven.
You ready? Let’s pray.
I invite you to open your mind, your heart, your soul to the activity of God. That tonight we give thanks. We give thanks that we have the power of discernment to release what no longer serves us. We release it and we declare what we desire. Release and declare. Release and declare. In the name and through the power of the living Christ, we give thanks. And so it is. Amen.