Pleasant Grove UMC

This past week I attended Renew “U”niversity at Simpsonwood.
During the two days of this seminar we were reminded of many of the things that we already know but often forget.
We are wonderfully made of multiple and interconnected spheres of health.
We are physical, emotional/mental, social, financial, and spiritual beings. To be well is to be whole and balanced in each of these areas. To suffer in one aspect of ourselves is to suffer in each of them in turn.

While, there were many other lessons learned, the one I want to share with you is a simple one.
We are continually stretched and pulled in many directions. But we also need time to be alone with God.
How can we possibly be still with so much going on. The answer is simple and yet equally difficult and profound.
We can trust God to hold all of our worries for us for a little while. We don’t have to ask God to take away all our struggles and burdens, but just take the weight off our shoulders for a time of worship.

Can you trust God to hold on to your cares for a while? Of course the answer is yes. The deeper question is will you.
This week I have started trusting God to hold things for me so that I can catch my breath and really be present to God in times of worship and prayer. As a result God has been faithful and has usually given me back that which I have placed in God’s care. But I haven’t gotten everything back. Somethings God has chosen to keep at least of now and what I have received back has not seemed nearly as heavy or as daunting as when I laid it down.

May you be restored in all aspects of your health.
May you be made whole and filled with peace.
May you be filled with the boldness to trust God to hold your worries so that you may be cleanse and healed.

In Christ,

John

“Healing on the Sabbath”
Luke 13:10-17

 

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Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/20/10 – Day 28
The First Day of Spring
Listening to The Teachings of Jesus: Part 16
Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” – Luke 21:29-33

For most of us in the Southeast spring came a day early this year. Friday was the first day that we were able to turn off the heater and leave the doors and windows open all day long. I was amazed at two things on this sunny day. First I was amazed at how quickly a house that has been so cold can become uncomfortably hot. At the same time I was surprised at how sweet and clean the fresh air (undoubtedly filled with allergens) smelled. We had not noticed how stale and used up the air in the house had become. The fouling of our air was not an over night phenomenon rather it was a slow and gradual process over weeks of bitter cold.

Likewise this time in Lent usually provides a breath of fresh air for our spirits. As creatures of habit, we need season of refreshment, renewal, and growth. What a gift that our spiritual calendars should be in sync with the natural rhythms and weather patterns. We know that there is still a threat of frost in the coming weeks, but we now know for certain that the longer days and warmth of spring are upon us. Similarly, we are reminded of the nearness of the kingdom of God, while not completely present in our lives. We may still have battles and struggles between here and Easter, but we have tasted the sweet air and sunshine of what is to come.

Today we will spend some time in the sunlight. We will listen for God in the explosions of life that surround and fill us. We will meditate on the gospel of resurrection in the midst of colors quickly overcoming the greys of winter. Once more we will discover all that has been eagerly waiting in dormancy for the first golden rays of spring. Tomorrow we will carry this excitement and joy with us into our places of worship. Tomorrow we will allow our hearts to bud and bloom in unrestrained joy as we sing praise to the God of the fig trees and willing servants. Today and tomorrow we will strain to lift our voices above the hymns of creation in honor of our Lord. – Rev. John Mattox

Let us pray,
O God, in mystery and silence you are present in our lives,
bringing new life out of destruction,
hope out of despair, growth out of difficulty.
We thank you that you do not leave us alone but labor to make us whole.
Help us to perceive your unseen hand in the unfolding of our lives,
and to attend to the gentle guidance of your Spirit,
that we may know the joy you give your people. Amen.
- Ruth Duck, 464 UMBOW

Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/19/10 – Day 27
Listening to The Teachings of Jesus: Part 15
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Luke 12:32-34

If we wanted to trace our spiritual history back to its beginnings it would be a simple statement, “God heard the cries of his people in captivity and acted with an mighty hand to deliver them from the house of bondage.” Over and over throughout Scripture and human history this simple story is rehearsed and repeated. God hears the voices of God’s people and enters into the fray setting the oppressed free. It happened for Israel repeatedly, and it happens for us. This is the source of our patterns of behavior and the basis of our trust during this season of Lent.

But have you ever listened long enough to these stories to hear the full explanation as to why God would do such acts of power on behalf of such a miserable and ragtag bunch of folks? Moses told Pharaoh to let the Children of Israel go so that they might…SERVE THE LORD. The simple fact and beauty that we often miss is that we are not only saved from something terrible (slavery to sin and death) but we are also saved for something much better (freedom to choose to serve God and others). God forgives the past so that we might have the present as a new day complete with a fresh choice to serve God free from the baggage and sin that clings so tightly to us.

God not only wants to make us free, God wants to give us a new land of opportunity and prosperity. God wants to create a new people and create a fresh start. Only when we are free from fear can we truly choose to serve God and others.

Today Jesus tells us that God wants us to have the kingdom. God fully intends to give us the riches of eternal life that begins today and never ends. We do not have to worry about tomorrow and what worlds might await beyond this. We can place our trust in God for all these things. What we are then left with is today. Today we find ourselves freed of the shackles and liberated to do what is good and just and right. Knowing that we are heirs to the unimaginable and eternal wealth of God makes us free to share the things we now hold in trust with a generous and joyful spirits and thankful hearts! Do you trust in the promises of a Holy and Righteous God? Today is your chance to show it! Live as free children of the Living God. Today you have been set free! Thanks be to God! – Rev. John Mattox

Let us pray,
O Lord, our treasure
Help us not to be afraid of the
slings and arrows that are all about us.
Help us to put our trust only in you.
Amen.
-Rev. Katie Mattox

Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/18/10 – Day 26
Listening to The Teachings of Jesus: Part 14
You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?
- Luke 11:40
Have you heard some of the things that young people are saying about the Church? They are saying that we have lost touch with authentic Christian faith and practices. They are calling us judgmental hypocrites and narrow-minded bigots. To many of our children and grandchildren we have become whitewashed tombs. We are seen as those who strain for gnats and swallow camels. While I know there are some exceptions, I think they are mostly correct in their assessments. Rather than becoming offended, I think the Church should take these things to heart and begin a time of reflection and reformation. These might turn out to be words of life for us and for the youth we have neglected and excluded.

Think about it, for generations we have been focused on how our congregations and members should act. We have stressed how to behave in a manner that is pleasant and culturally expectable, but we have said very little about the need for transformation of the soul. In most congregations we just want people to show up on Sunday dressed appropriately and behave in a quiet and courteous manner. The result of course is to discourage those who do not dress or act in ways consistent with our taste. But have we become better people of all our attention to appearances? Are we any less likely to cheat on our taxes or spouses than anyone else? Statistically speaking we are not. We just sin with a little more tact and style. We have come too often to see Sunday morning as a way to escape from the guilt and consequences of our weekday transgressions. Now we know what some of us have long suspected, we are not fooling anybody!

Today we will forget what we think a Christian is suppose to look like and how we think we should act. Instead we are going to focus on an inward transformation and regeneration that begins deep inside and works its way out. Today we remember that God can see through our masks and start being honest. We need God to fix the broken mess inside our hearts, souls, and minds. We need to stop treating symptoms and start seeking the cure for our present condition. Today we stand naked before God and ask to be made whole. Stop playing games and let God deal with you in a real and lasting way! – Rev. John Mattox

Let us pray,
O Lord, who created all that is
all that was, and all that will ever be
Forgive our shortsightedness. Help us to be your people
both inside and out.
Amen.
-Rev. Katie Mattox

Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/17/10 – Day 25
Praying with St. Patrick
“I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9

One of my favorite hymns, Be Thou My Vision, is attributed to Saint Patrick. Today while some celebrate the Feast of St. Patrick with green beer and ethnic stereotypes that would be unthinkable if they were directed against anyone other than the Irish, we will meditate on his words and have him lead us in prayer. – Rev. John Mattox

Be Thou My Vision
(from the 1964 Hymnal of the Methodist Church)
Attributed to Patrick (389-461)
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art;
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my Wisdom, and thou my true Word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, and I thy true son,
Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise;
Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
Thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my treasure thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Let us pray,
May the strength of God pilot us,
May the power of God preserve us,
May the wisdom of God instruct us,
May the hand of God protect us,
May the way of God direct us,
May the shield of God defend us,
May the host of God guard us against the snares of evil
and the temptations of the world. Amen
– Patrick

Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/16/10 – Day 24
Listening to The Teachings of Jesus: Part 13
But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” -Luke 11:28
For all of us who think that we can sit still and look engaged while our minds are really some where else, be on notice God is wise to you. From an early age I learned that to really pay attention I have to keep busy. I am one of those people who doodle while on the telephone or during meetings. Sometimes people get the impression that I am bored and not listening, but that could not be further from the truth. Occupying my hands is the best way for me to focus. There are times when what feels the most like prayer to me looks like something else.

I have learned that some of us can understand and retain information better is we can connect it with something tactual and immediate. When did we forget that we also use our bodies to listen? There is a practical reason for all of our sitting, standing and kneeling during worship. Sometimes we have to do something to keep moving in order to be continually aware of God’s presence.

Does anybody read instruction manuals for fun? Have you ever read a wiring schematic just for trivia knowledge? Maybe, but probably not (and I would not tell anyone if you did) some forms of communications are for helping us do something. God does not speak to us because God wants to hear the sound of God’s voice. God’s voice we are told is the prime mover, when God speaks things happen. God does not disrupt the fabric of our being just to give us nuggets of information that we can use to impress friends and win bets with. God expects us to do something in response to what we are hearing. At times we have to be busy doing in order to hear and certainly to understand.

Today I think God is telling you to do something. I think God is telling us important things to do all the time, but we are to often not in a place to hear it. Today I want you to take a step toward what God is calling you to do. Today I want you to listen to God with your body. Take the time and expend the effort to do something uncharacteristically godly and see if you don’t receive a blessing. – Rev. John Mattox

Let us pray,
Lord,
How often have we sought signs,
in the skys, in songs, in your word.
What is really amazing is that you
are all around us. Help us to see you.
Amen.
-Rev. Katie Mattox

Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/15/10 – Day 23
Listening to The Teachings of Jesus: Part 12
“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” -Luke 11:9-10

What more can we say about this teaching? Is there some hidden meaning that we can tease out or some unseen message hidden between the lines? Looking at the context in which these words are found quickly rules out any threat of deceit of trickery on the part of God in response to our prayers. So why do we have such difficulty in asking, searching, and knocking in the form of persistent prayers? Speaking from only my own observations I will hazard a few guesses as to why this has become a difficult text to approach and claim in our own prayer lives.

Firstly, we may have lost a clear distinction between needs and wants. If you ever wanted an example of how wealthy and privileged we truly are, this might be it! As I sit here trying to think of my needs I can come up with many things that are not truly necessities. My family will sleep warm and dry tonight with full stomachs. I am not in any immediate peril or distress. I have no worries that are not of my own creating or rousing. It might be that what I need is guidance and instruction on my own needs.

Secondly, we may have become apathetic and lazy with regard to our relationship with God. To be persistent requires energy, passion, and an overwhelming sense of urgency. How often do I actually feel strongly enough about anything to pester, argue, and haggle with God about it? Not very often. It seems I tend more toward a shotgun approach with prayer. I load up laundry list of requests and demands and shoot blindly from the hip hoping that something will hit the target. Hit or miss I am unlikely to notice, as the prayers are usually no more out of my lips than I am distracted and focused on something else. Let’s be honest, I don’t want to have to work for anything. Like an infant, I want God to hear my undefined grunts, squeals, and cries and determine what it is that I want or need and give it to me, immediately!

Lastly, we may have come to see God as being too much like ourselves. What does it say about our integrity and character when we see God’s assertions of goodness and transparency as flashing neon signs warning of danger? Over the years I have learned not to trust non-trusting people, because we too often project our junk on to others and read our motives into their actions. How wonderful it is that God is not like us. God is not weak and insecure. God does not have to lie or trick or manipulate us to gain an advantage. God is pure being and is able to simply be what God is (remember that I AM what I AM stuff?). So whatever God might be there are two things I am sure of: God is not like me; and God is always good.

Today we will unashamedly approach the Throne of Grace with the wisdom of Solomon.
We will pray asking God to teach us what to ask for and we will allow the Holy Spirit to make our prayers complete and good. Today we will ask, search, and knock for God’s wisdom in our lives. – Rev. John Mattox

Let us pray,
Our Lord,
Your extravagant love overwhelms us.
Thank you for knowing just what we need
even though, sometimes we don’t even know what that is.
Help us to seek your will,
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us
for your glory. Amen.
-Rev. Katie Mattox

“Profligate Grace”
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-33

 

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Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/13/10 – Day 22
Listening to The Teachings of Jesus: Part 11
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”- Luke 10:41-42

As leaders and faithful participants in worship it is easy for us to get distracted by the practical and immediate needs of the congregation during Sunday Worship. There are always bulletins to be prepared and handed out, announcements to be made, Sunday School lessons to be studied, people to be greeted and directed… But when are we as the congregational leaders disciplined enough to turn everything over to God and just spend some time at the feet of Jesus listening and simply being in his presence.

There has to be a point in every worship service and class meeting where we have done all that we can and where we need to turn things over to God and let them be what they will be. How wonderful and terrifying this can be!

Today we will prepare ourselves for worship tomorrow. We will allow our Martha- selves to do their thing. We will work and prepare and worry and fret. We will be task and detail oriented so that everything we can do is in order and in place. But tomorrow we will allow our Mary-selves to enjoy communion with God. This Sunday we will choose the better part, which will not be taken from us. – Rev. John Mattox

Let us pray,
Lord,
Help us not to be distracted and worried,
but do what you would have us do.
Help us to gain a balance between
piety and mercy.
Amen.
-Rev. Katie Mattox