Pleasant Grove UMC

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

Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/12/10 – Day 21
Listening to The Teachings of Jesus: Part 10
Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 27He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” 29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ 36Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise. – Luke 10:25-37

The first question that we ever asked God was the evasive, “Am I my brothers keeper?”. Since then we have continued to respond to God in similar ways. Knowing that we are to love our neighbors we always then try to offer a narrow and constrictive definition of neighbor. We always seek to exclude others to justify our prejudice and lack of compassion.

In this story Jesus uses as the hero someone that the lawyer would never consider to be a neighbor (and never a brother) to illustrate the radical and barrier breaking power of the gospel. It seems that situations and not preference make people our neighbors and birth into our human family makes us all brothers and sisters. Regardless of the excuses that we make; business, fear, mistrust, culture, or religion… the responsibility remains.

Today we are provoked and prodded by the teachings of Jesus into a radical rethinking of neighbor and kin. As Christians we are bond by love to all those who are beloved by God, everyone. As Jesus received all who came to him, so we are challenged to go into the world and do likewise. – Rev. John Mattox

Let us pray,
Lord,
Sometimes it is difficult to see our neighbors
as people you love.
Help us not to seek for the easy way,
but show your extravagant love
to everyone.
Amen.
-Rev. Katie Mattox

Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/11/10 – Day 20
Listening to The Teachings of Jesus: Part 9
“See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
- Luke 10:19-20

Welcome to the halfway point of our journey! By now you should be well established in your Lenten disciplines and starting to feel more in control of your life, perhaps more so than you have in a long time. Others may have had some trouble and experienced some false starts and stumbles. Either way rejoice, for it is in the effort that we gain great reward! Even set backs provide valuable lessons. The things we do in Lent are not important in themselves, but a valuable in that they help us become closer to God!

Today we take time for prayers and self-examination. Where have you done well over these past twenty days? Where have you become most aware of God’s abiding presence? It could be in these areas that you could shift more of your focus to in the coming days. Likewise, where have you struggled and fallen short? Where have you seemed to come up empty? You may wish to explore why these areas have not been as fruitful. It could be that these are areas where you need more help or commitment, or it could be that this is an area that does not work well for you. Remember, Lent is not about punishing ourselves, but drawing nearer to God! Spend some time assessing you progress and asking God where you should focus over the next 19 days. All of us need to start moving out of introverted responses into more communal and extroverted celebrations of God’s presence and blessings as we begin to accelerate toward Good Friday. You are not alone. God is with you and we are also your companions along the way. The best is surely yet to come! – Rev. John Mattox

Let us pray,
Loving Lord,
It is part of our sinful nature
to seek power and glory.
Forgive us for the times
we have done this.
Help us to remember our task
and rejoice in your glory alone.
Amen.
-Rev. Katie Mattox

Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/10/10 – Day 19
Listening to The Teachings of Jesus: Part 8
“Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” – Luke 10:16

If we were to take a poll among ourselves regarding reasons we don’t share our faith with others, I suppose that fear of rejection would top the list. The fear of rejection is deep and primal. It is part of our hardwiring that reminds us that we are created to live in community with other people. For our ancestors to be rejected was to be alone was to die. This has stayed with us even to the present, some fear speaking in public or sharing personal information is as strong as the fear of snakes or heights are for others.

This we understand, but if we stop to think about it what we are offering when we talk about God to others is community and survival. We are not a people defined by exclusion. We do not seek to make ourselves stronger or more holy by keeping people out. Instead we are a people of embrace. We seek strength and holiness by welcoming others into our lives. We seek others to surround them with love and forgiveness. We go out of our way to invite others into a community of faith where they can be nurtured into an abundance of life that can only be found in Christ.

Ultimately this is not about us, it is about Christ and the Church as the body of Christ in and for the world. Any unwelcome response is not directed toward us but is a conversation between that individual and God. We cannot become discouraged or assume that this is the end of the dialogue. For years when I worked for the State of Florida I kept a Q-tip taped to the monitor of my computer. The message I was leaving for myself was “Quit Taking It Personally”. In the course of my work I had to deal with unhappy people in unhappy situations, but I was not the one they were unhappy with I was just the person there trying to help them through it! The same lesson might serve us well during Lent. “Quit Taking It Personally”, this is about God.

Today we will try to invite 5 people to go to church with us on Sunday. Why? We have learned from several polls and studies that 25% of unchuruched people say that they would attend religious services if invited. That is one out of every four persons that don’t attend church that are just waiting on us to ask them. Almost 50% more said that they would at least consider it. So statistically speaking of out 5 we will get three maybes and likely 1 yes. That is not something to fear! However if you are hesitant to invite people because you are not comfortable with your church, you have some different work to do, don’t you? – Rev. John Mattox

Let us pray,

Gracious Lord,
Rejection hurts!
It is difficult for us to understand
how anyone would want to reject
your loveor our efforts.
Help us to remember to
pray for those who reject us,
and to remember that
it is not us that saves people, but you.
Amen.
-Rev. Katie Mattox

Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/9/10 – Day 18
Listening to The Teachings of Jesus: Part 7
Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” – Luke 9:62

I know someone who drives wherever she looks. You quickly learn not to point out anything interesting while riding with her because you will quickly get a closer look than you really wanted. I learned this lesson as we did a blind u-turn across four lanes of traffic. This is dangerous and terrifying to everyone but her, she never seems to notice.

Most of us are like that in our spiritual journey. Whatever catches our eye is where we go. This is way it is so important for us to become focused and disciplined in our Lenten sojourn. There are many distractions, most of which are not harmful in themselves but potentially deadly in the way they can cause us to swerve and wander off course. Of the greatest concern for us these forty days is the rear view mirror. Sometimes we become so captivated by what we have given up and left behind that we cannot watch where we are going. In a way we never really gave them up but put them in the limelight of our attention.

Today we focus on Jesus and the path at our feet. We keep our head strait and our eyes forward. Today we will plow strait rows for the kingdom. – Rev. John Mattox

Let us pray,

O Lord,
Forgive us for not being fit for your kingdom.
Make us what you will.
Send us where you will.
Let us do your will.
Amen.
- Rev. Katie Mattox

Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/8/10 – Day 17
Listening to The Teachings of Jesus: Part 6
And all were astounded at the greatness of God. While everyone was amazed at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples, 44“Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.” 45But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying. – Luke 9:43-45

After all these years, since the beginning, we have been struggling with the scandal of the Gospel. After so many tellings and retellings we still are offended and confused about the days to come in Jerusalem when all things are accomplished at Golgotha. There is some mighty paradox between the greatness of God and the shame of the cross, try as we might sometimes we just cannot see both at the same time. This contradiction also is buried deep within us. We are astounded and amazed one moment and the next we are coconspirators of betrayal.

This past week I was reading a song that I presume was written for Easter. Like so many things in the current Christian culture, I found it to be theologically lacking in depth and substance. The song begins in Bethlehem only to jump to the trial before Pilate and then to the empty tomb. There was no mention of the public ministry of Jesus or his Passion. Intentionally omitted are they very things that we are called to wrestle with today.

Part of my confusion has been the artificial division between Jesus’ death and his teaching and healing. Sometimes we want to jump from the manger to the cross or even to the ascension as if the bulk of the Gospels were merely filler. As difficult as it may be we will hold fast to these things and shall not let go until we receive a blessing. Today we consider the crucifixion of Jesus as humanity’s final response to the things that Jesus said and did. Further we ponder the resurrection as God’s final response to the same. We said a shout a terminal “NO!” and God whispers an eternal “yes!” Today we boldly ask Jesus about these things, we seek to understand and perceive. We too are astounded and amazed, but we also listen; letting these words sink into our ears. – Rev. John Mattox
Let us pray,

O God, we are astounded at your greatness.
Help us to perceive your direction
in our lives.
Help us to not be afraid to ask you anything.
Amen. – Rev. Katie Mattox

Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/6/10 – Day 16
Listening to The Teachings of Jesus: Part 5
Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. 25What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves? 26Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27But truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.” -Luke 9:23-27

It has been said, “The quickest way to defeat an enemy is to convince them that they have already won”. Our spiritual complacency too often arises out of our sense of victory. We are the collectors of trophies and the hangers of plaques. It is hard to look around most of our churches without seeing reminders and ebenezers of battles long since won. Content that our work is done we fall asleep and become vulnerable to the ongoing struggles that surrounds us and fills us.

We live in a dichotomous world between certain victory and continuing conflict. We place the struggles in the past and the final celebrations in the future. In the process we miss the moments in which we live and move. When did we exchange our hunger and thirst for the kingdom as a present reality for a distant dream of paradise to come? Discipleship is not a one-time commitment that we made so very long ago. Discipleship is a journey we choose to undertake each day. The journey of the cross is not something that we completed at the altar as children, but a pilgrimage we take up each morning. Free will is our constant companion. Each day we can choose the path of Christ or some other road that is placed before us. Sometimes we choose correctly, other times we turn away from God in pursuit of something else. Yesterday is gone from our control and tomorrow is not ours. Today is the day of our salvation! Today is the place where we meet God!

Today we trust the past and the future into Gods hands and deal with the opportunities and obstacles of today. Today we must choose to follow Christ again for the first time. Today we experience a little conversion and little turnings that are part of a much larger story. Today is the day! May we use it wisely and live it well to our own betterment and to the glory of God! – Rev. John Mattox

Let us pray,
Lord most Holy,
Let us loose ourselves in you.
We long for your kingdom here, today.
Help us to do your will,
so that we might see your kingdom.
Amen.
– Rev. Katie Mattox

Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/5/10 – Day 15
World Day of Prayer – Our Father
He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3Give us each day our daily bread. 4And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”- Luke 11:1-4

Today we pray as we always do: together. Even in solitude Christians pray in union and solidarity. The words that Jesus taught us remind us of our eternal bonds to dependence on God and all people across the world and throughout time. Today we transcend the divisions that plague the Church and return to the simple words that we have held together throughout the ages. May we feel a connectedness and strength that is stronger than all pain and prejudice. May we feel a peace that defies all circumstances and hardship. Today we are one as we reflect on the words of a new hymn written for World Day of Prayer. – Rev. John Mattox

O God of Light, May Our Light Shine
Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

O God of light, my our light shine in ways that serve and honor you.
May we be loving, just and kind, proclaiming Christ in all we do.

God, where your people are oppressed and where they cry out in despair,
make us your light to heal, to bless, a witness, Lord, that you are there.

Christ, when your way is pushed aside by those who trust in wealth and might,
make us your lamps that we may guide a searching world to your love’s light.

O Spirit, in this world of doubt, we often sin and drift away;
when our faith is flickering out, shine on our path and light our way.

Let us pray,
Lord,
With gratitude, we pray the prayer your taught us…
“Our Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial” (NRSV)
Let it be. Amen. –Rev. Katie Mattox

Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/4/10 – Day 14
Listening to The Teachings of Jesus: Part 4

Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 21But he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” – Luke 8:19-21

We might have been taught that being a part of the family of God is dependent on our belief. I wonder if anyone every talked to Jesus about this position? Apparently, he did not get the memo. Jesus seems to think that there is something more rudimentary and necessary for those who would be members of his family. Once more we are astounded by how low Jesus’ standards really are! It seems it is simpler to be Jesus’ mother and brothers than it is to join the local church. Maybe the family of God is larger than we imagined and perhaps the church is not always as related as we would like.

People who knew and believed many things about God surrounded Jesus during his ministry with us. The Gospels often refer to them collectively as Scribes and Pharisees.
In spite of all they knew and believed, they could not come to grips with what Jesus was doing. Mark Twain once said something like, “everybody is talking about the weather, but no one is doing anything about it.” God talk is pervasive and cheap even in the most heathen segments of our culture. Godly living is rare and precious. Jesus seems to be more concerned with what we do rather than only what we think alone. There is a series of chasms between our head and our hearts and our hands. Sometimes our bodies can teach our hearts and our heads things that cannot be communicated in the opposite direction. To get lost in the world of thought and feelings is to miss the fullness of the incarnate nature of the kingdom that is at “hand”.

Today we remember that we can be a part of God’s family even if we don’t have everything figured out and even while we are struggling to understand what it is we believe. To be a Christian does not mean we have everything worked out and settled, but we are following a Teacher who is showing us a way to live that never stops. Maybe we think too much and act too little. Given time, we can talk ourselves out of anything even wonderful and needful things. Most of God’s instructions for us are verbs: love, forgive, bless, heal, feed… Today do something in Christ’s name for heaven’s sake!
– Rev. John Mattox
Let us pray,
O Lord, our brother,
It is overwhelming to think that you
have made us part of your family.
How wonderful to be called the children of God.
Forgive our shortsightedness
and help us to see everyone as
a brother, or sister.
Amen. – Rev. Katie Mattox

Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/3/10-Day 13
Listening to The Teachings of Jesus: Part 3
16“No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. 17For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light. 18Then pay attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given; and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.”- Luke 8:16-18

I hope we have recognized by now that there is more to listening that just hearing or gaining information. Hearing the Gospel requires a response! We have to do something as a part of listening. As we encounter the teachings of Jesus we have to understand how these words impact our understandings and practices. We have to determine if we will receive the message or reject it. Hearing without acting is hiding a light in a jar.

In my experience the Gospel of Jesus has a gradual and cumulative effect on us. Like a dance each movement invites a response, each step leads to another. When we listen and respond we are in the position to receive more. When we refuse to hear or do nothing with what we have been given we become stuck in a spiritual rut and risk losing the ground we have gained. The life of discipleship is one of continual growth and discovery. As we grow in the love and knowledge of God we become mentors and teachers for others who travel with us.

Today we consider our spiritual stewardship. Are we using the lessons we have learned to benefit others, or are we trying to keep it for our selves? Like manna in the wilderness, the light that comes into our lives will spoil if we try to save it. The love of God is meant to be used up each day, shared and thrown around recklessly. Each day we have to empty our cups so that we can be filled afresh again and again and again. Invite someone to join you in this journey. Take time to talk about these reflections with someone each day. Find a way to invite Christ into all your personal conversations today. You will never run out or cease to be amazed. Thanks be to God! –Rev. John Mattox

Let us pray,

O God our creator,
You know us better than we know ourselves.
You know that we have difficulty listening.
Help us to be careful listeners and
boldly shine your light in our dark world
so that all may see you. Amen. – Rev. Katie Mattox