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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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