Lightseekers and Tribedwellers 

October 2, 2022 

How many of you have ever had to train for something or learn something that made you push yourself, but also made you better? 

I pushed myself a couple years ago when I started riding my bicycle.  At first, I rode seven miles, and I thought I was amazing! But then my husband rode with me, and he said he had to slow down to ride with me. And when I was at my turnaround point, he said he needed to go farther so he would get enough exercise. So, I thought, maybe I can do more. Last summer I tried to go farther, and I made it to 18 miles of riding! This summer I did too. It made me stronger. I had to go faster, farther, and up more big hills to get to my 18 miles, but I did it! Sometimes you have to grow and push yourself, but it makes you better! 

Today we’re going to be talking about spiritual growth. It may sound scary or confusing, but the goal is to help you understand it a little better. (Carter, Owen, Landen, Paige, Dawson). Today you will say in front of all these people that you take Jesus as your Savior. That means you want to follow him. To follow Jesus means you commit to grow spiritually. 

You know how to make a pastor frown? Just call confirmation “graduation.” Why don’t I and my pastor buddies like that? Because every Christian is following Jesus, whether you’re a missionary in Africa or a new believer. It means you take one step at a time to grow closer to Jesus. We all can continually grow; we are never finished growing as Christians. 

Spiritual growth is about relationship. Imagine if you have a best friend, someone you can always count on. Imagine you go six months without ever talking to or being around your friend. After six months, if you see them again, and talk to them again, will you be as good friends as before? No, they would want to know, where have you been? You would have so much to catch up on. There would be some distance. 

But many of us treat our relationship with Jesus the same way. We claim him as Lord, and we’re excited to! We know Jesus will work in our lives. But then we slowly slip away. We start something, but we don’t grow in it. 

So today we’re going to talk about two important habits you and all of us can work on to keep growing spiritually and have a great relationship with God. 

The first habit is spending time with God. I call that being a lightseeker. Let’s all say, “Be a lightseeker.” To be a lightseeker is to say, “I will seek God, my light.” It means you spend time with God on your own. In confirmation this summer, we would go over to the prayer labyrinth next to St. Paul’s Lutheran and walk the labyrinth. Sometimes we weeded the labyrinth! Thank you! It’s a wonderful community labyrinth, and we helped keep it in shape. 

We walked the labyrinth in silence, and it felt peaceful. We felt God was with us. We were lightseekers. We sought God, our light. There are many ways to seek God: pray, read the Bible, thank God, or when you have a decision to ask God what you should do.  To be a light seeker has to be your choice. But the amazing thing is the more you spend time with God, the less it’ll feel like work and the more it’ll feel like something you can’t live without. Listen to what the writer of the Psalms says about spending time with God in Psalm 63:1, “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.” 

You can hear a PASSION for God! So, to be a lightseeker means you develop a friendship with God. Just like any friendship, we can only grow closer to God if we’re spending time with Him; if we decide “I will seek God, my light.” 

The second habit that helps you grow spiritually is to have good relationships with others. Be a tribedweller. Let’s all says, “Tribedweller.” To spend time with love and serve others. Your tribe is everybody: it’s believers and those who don’t believe in God. Tribedwellers spend time with love and serve others. That’s what you’re doing right now. A year ago, you joined the confirmation class. You came to worship, the church was part of your tribe. And you got together as a class, that was part of your tribe. You made a decision to be a tribedweller. And you had not one, but lots of teachers for confirmation and your teachers helped you grow. They built you up in your faith. Next, it’s your turn in your life to invest in the people around you by living out what faith in Jesus looks like.  

That grows our faith, just like it says in Hebrews 10:24-25: “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another.” 

Those are two important habits to grow spiritually: be a lightseeker who seeks out God regularly and be a tribedweller who receives from others and in turn loves and serves others. 

Be a lightseeker and a tribedweller: two habits that help you grow spiritually. But if you choose not to seek God and not to love and serve others, you won’t grow spiritually.  

The most important things in life require the most from us. My challenge for you this week is to consider, how will I seek God this week? I will do it by getting out my Bible in book form. Maybe you prefer the Bible app. There’s a million ways to seek God. Whichever way you do it, it’s the choice to earnestly seek God that makes you a lightseeker. 

If we want to be followers of God, and to be friends who help others, it takes a choice. Relationships don’t go well if we neglect them. Decide to be a lightseeker and a tribedweller and you’ll grow spiritually! You’ll find joy, peace and purpose. The more you seek God and love and serve others, the more you can’t imagine life any other way! Amen.