“Doers of the Word”
Brimfield Faith UMC / March 25, 2012
2 Kings 5:9-16
THE JOURNEY OF LENT
This is the fifth Sunday of Lent. Easter is almost upon us. Next week is Palm Sunday when we will celebrate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Then Easter and my son will both be here. So I don’t know about you but the next two weeks are going to fly by.
With that said, we have been on a journey this Lent from darkness to the light of Christ. We have been focusing on how the voice of God guides us through that journey. Michelle started the series with a discussion about how we can at times be fearful of the voice of God. We talked about how we can tune our ear to heaven and then open ourselves to the wide varieties of how God can speak to us. Finally last week, we talked about the importance of having humility as we learn to hear from the Lord. The goal of learning to hear God’s voice is to follow God more closely.
Following God and learning to trust God’s guidance is the toughest part of Christianity. At least for me. There are many times I know the right action to take, the right word to speak and yet I struggle to follow through. It can be as simple as eagerly taking the opportunity to serve and love my family after a tiring day of work. It can be more difficult like praying for someone that seems to be my enemy or taking a risk that potential sets me up to fail. Regardless of the maturity of our walk with Christ, there will be times when following God’s promptings and voice will be hard to do. There will always be hindrances to overcome in hearing and following God’s voice.
NAAMAN
In 2 Kings 5, we encounter a story that reveals the difficulties and hindrances that each of us experience in our walk with God. The story begins as we met Naaman who is a great warrior and commander of the Arameans. While Naaman is a great warrior and leader, he has been struck with a case of leprosy. Leprosy in ancient times was of great concern and generally led to a person becoming an outcast from society. In the midst of this great worry, a young Israelites slave girl offers a solution. “There is a prophet in Samaria who can cure Naaman’s leprosy.” Naaman takes steps to act on this girl’s word.
Why in the world would Naaman listen to this girl? Women were thought of as property in ancient times. This young girl was indeed property; she isn’t even given a name in the story. She had been stolen in a raid of the Israelites. She was made a servant to Naaman’s wife. She was from the enemy’s camp, from the other side. It was probably unwise for the girl even making the suggestion. Just for speaking risked her life. If she is wrong, she’s definitely in trouble. Nonetheless, the nameless Israelite servant girl takes the risk and Naaman actually listens.
The hindrance of risk-taking is part of achieve dreams. Can you imagine if Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg hadn’t taken the risks they did? None of them finished college. Gates and Zuckerberg both dropped out of Harvard to pursue their dreams of Microsoft and Facebook. I don’t know if they directly heard from God, but they took great risks that resulted in amazing results. We cannot expect our dreams to come true if we are unwilling to take risks, especially when God speaks to us.
Naaman takes his own risks by listening to the girl. He petitions the king to initiate contact with the enemy, Israel. The King could have laughed at him, instantly dismissed him, or even had him killed. Naaman is desperate and apparently has some level of trust in the girl’s word. He takes the risk of petitioning the king. Both Naaman and the slave girl take personal risks and break social stigmas to listen and follow the voice of God.
OBEDIENCE
The next action in the story unfolds as Naaman and his servants seek out and then approach Elisha’s dwelling place. Naaman enters foreign territory with no sense of what the outcome might be. The last time he had entered Israelite territory he had raided a city and stole their children and women. He wasn’t exactly a folk hero. It is kind of like when Lebron James announced he was taking his talents to South Beach his first trip back to Cleveland. It was by no means a warm welcome. Naaman’s entrance into Israelite territory involved significant risks. There were plenty of Israelites that surely sought revenge on the great commander of the Arameans for their recent raids. It was a dangerous and humbling journey to Samaria.
I started to sense a call to ministry when I was a junior in college. My senior year, I became an intern on the staff of a church plant. Every week I came in early and stayed late to setup and tear down chairs. It was a tiresome and humbling job. There was nothing glorious about it. The humility that I learned in those early tasks helped to prepare me for ministry later down the road. The hindrance of pride can prevent us from godly futures. Humility then prepares us for that future.
Safely, Naaman arrives at the entrance of the prophet and waits outside of the house as a sign of respect. As a great warrior he was accustomed to forcefully entering people’s homes and taking what he wanted. This entire encounter was humbling for Naaman. Elisha doesn’t even leave his house. Instead he sends out one of his servants to deliver a message. It was a blatant slap in the face. I imagine a young boy with a squeaky voice delivering the message.
Not only was the messenger embarrassing, but the instructions were humbling: bathe in the Jordan River seven times. Verse 12, Naaman is repulsed by the idea. “Are not Abana and Parpar, the rivers of Damascus, better and all the waters of Israel?” The Jordan River was actually an inferior river than the rivers that Naaman lists. The Jordan was a shallow, muddy river, but it was Israel’s river, it was God’s river. Naaman hesitantly listens and does the word of the prophet.
THE HEALING
Verse 14 reads, “So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy and he was clean.” Naaman listens and follows the voice of God and is restored as a result. As a result of the healing, Naaman tries to pay Elisha. When Elisha refuses, Naaman vows to only offer sacrifices to the Lord God of Israel. Naaman essentially converts.
Naaman cannot ignore the transformation that has occurred as he listened and followed the voice of God. He realizes that his only faithful response to this miracle in his life was to worship the Lord God Almighty. The word of God has transformed this great warrior that was once an enemy of the Israelites.
I wonder what the King of Aram would have thought about all of this. He couldn’t have been happy with it. This could have been a barrier to Naaman’s response. In fact, he tries to pay for the healing. This would have appeased his King and avoided a more awkward situation. Elisha’s refusal forces his hand. When the Lord speaks and you follow you will be compelled to change. Therefore, Naaman is compelled, even wooed by the powerful actions and voice of God. Healing and conversion occur when Naaman listens and follows God’s voice.
OVERCOMING BARRIERS
Naaman overcomes significant obstacles to hearing the voice of God. He overcomes significant risks to his life, to his reputation, and to his pride. As a result, he is forever changed. He provides a model for each of us to follow. Listening and following God requires commitment and risk. It is never glorious or easy but it is always worth it. It leads us closer to the heart of God. As we conclude let’s be reminded of the lessons we learn from Naaman’s journey to Elisha.
Listen for small tasks to build your faith. Naaman started with the low risk choice to allow the Israelite slave girl to speak. There is little risk to allowing her to speak. While it certainly breaks social stigmas, there would have been little fall out for such a great warrior to simply listen. In Luke 16:10 Jesus says, “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.” The Lord wants to build our faith by giving us small tasks at first. This might mean faithful serving in a behind-the-scenes role when you really desire to be upfront.
Acting on God’s voice always involves risk. We will never feel fully equipped or safe in what God is calling us to. If it is too easy, there is a good chance it is not from the Lord. God loves to stretch us. In that risk taking we are drawn closer to him in relationship. We learn to trust him more. While we act with wisdom, we always have to take a leap of faith with God.
When I enrolled in seminary, my parents were supportive of the decision. My Dad’s exact words were “You need to pursue what you are passionate about, but I am not paying for it.” Even without his financial support, I applied for seminary, was accepted and made preparations to start in the fall. I had absolutely no idea how I was going to pay for a three year program with tuition over $10,000 a year. I knew God was calling me to follow his voice and I took a huge risk in following Him. As it turned out, once I had started down the path, I received a full-tuition scholarship to cover my expenses.
Hearing and following the voice of God is not a glorious idea. And yet, it is essential to growing in the image of Christ and to bringing heaven down to earth. If we desire to partner with God in his work in this world, then we need to learn to hear and follow God’s voice. It requires us to listen to many ways God speaks. It requires humility. It requires action.
What have you heard? What do you need to act on? God is calling, beaconing, waiting. All he needs is you to follow. Be a person who listens, follows and does. Be a church that listens, follows, and does. When you do God will move and your world will be transformed.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Hearing with Humility
“Hearing with Humility”
Brimfield Faith UMC / March 18, 2012
Genesis 37:5-11
SPIRITUAL PRIDE
In college I started attending a church that focused on certain spiritual gifts. I remember when I first started attending the young adult group I was pretty intimidated by this. I held these people on a spiritual pedestal. There were even a few people in the group that gave off an air of arrogance that they were superior to other Christians because could hear from. What I came to realize was that these young adult were no different than me and all had their own personal struggles. They were not perfect Christians. Their gifts didn’t make them better than others. They were gifts from God not things to boast about.
I have to admit that sometimes I think of myself I fall into this kind of thinking. I am a fairly competitive person. I like to win. I like to think I’m better than other people than things. Anyone who has ever played sports with me knows that I am a bit competitive. (OK more than a little bit.) Outside of sports there are even times when I find myself falling into this thought pattern as well. I want to be the best pastor and leader that I can be. Not only do I wanted to be the best that I can be, I want to be better than other pastors. This idea that I’m better than other is a sin issue called pride.
If we are honest pride is an issue we struggle with. We like to know we are better than somebody else. When we were kids there was nothing worse than being picked last in kickball. At work we don’t want to be the least productive person in the office. Some of us want to be the best, others just wanted to be better than at least a couple of people. Pride is part of our cultural identity.
PRIDE
In the Bible, pride is a two sides of a coin. There are positive uses of pride in the Bible. When pride is a reasonable or justifiable, there is nothing wrong with it. Paul talks about how proud of the Christians in Corinth. There is a darker side to pride though. Negative pride is defined as an excessive self-esteem or arrogance. The Proverbs make numerous warnings against pride. Proverbs 21:6 states it plainly: “Haughty eyes and a proud heart— the lamp of the wicked—are sin.”
Pride is attributed in several Old Testament as one of the downfalls of Israel at different times. (Isaiah 3:16, Ezekiel 16:50, Hosea 13:6, Zephaniah 3:11). It calls to mind to events of 2001, when we suffered the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Without diminishing the great tragedy that occurred that day, I remember President Bush coming out and vowing justice, even vengeance, would be served. He then proclaimed three countries in the world as the Axis of Evil: Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. The American public ate this rhetoric up. It demonstrated to the world that was superior to the rest of the world. That would crush anyone that tried to supplant our status in the world. Prideful is often exulted as a virtue in our culture.
Joseph is another instance of spiritual pride being his down fall. As a teenager of 17, he is baby of 11 brothers. As a kid, he surely got picked on and mistreated by his brothers. Nevertheless, his father Joseph favors Joseph. This pride leads to resentment by the other brothers. When Joseph receives two dreams from the Lord, he arrogantly shares these dreams with his brothers to claim a place of superiority over them. In his eyes, he is not only favored by his earthly father but now by his Heavenly Father as well. This pride pushes his older brothers over the edge to the point they fake his death and sell him into slavery into Egypt. Pride was at the heart Joseph’s downfall.
Pride begins in the heart but always overflows into your actions. If you watch the reality show Survivor, one of the players this season exudes pride. His name is Colton and he grew up in the “Country Club” environment. He has an attitude of entitlement and frequently looks down on other people. Proverbs 21:24 describes his behavior well: “The proud, haughty person, named “Scoffer,” acts with arrogant pride.” It is that snotty person who peers down on you with looks of judgmental disgust. My guess is that his pride is going to catch up with him on the show eventually. Pride is the downfall of many great people and nations.
HUMILITY
Those who are prideful may not see it as a problem, but there are dire consequences to a prideful attitude. Proverbs 16:18-19 provide a transition away from pride towards its opposite virtue of humility. “18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 19It is better to be of a lowly spirit among the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.” The Biblical alternative to pride is the virtue of humility.
In worldly standards, humility is defined as a condition of lowliness or affliction where a person experiences a loss of power or prestige (Tyndale Bible Dictionary). By this definition, humility is a weakness and stands in stark contrast to pride. Recently President Obama apologized for the handling of a foreign policy issue with another country. Critics chastised because they felt this show of humility was weakness. Their stance was that America should never apologize for our actions because a posture of humility is a posture of weakness.
While some people confuse humility with weakness, others confuse it with low self-esteem. Some people cover their low self-image under the guise of humility. This is not humility. Saying your gifts and talents are solely from God is dishonest and I believe insults God. It is okay to have a sense of pride in your hard work and accomplishments while acknowledging that God has given you certain gifts. Musicians will try to avoid pride by deflecting attention. It is okay to have a justified sense of self-respect and pride. It is not bragging or taking the glory from God to accept a compliment as a compliment.
In Biblical terms, humility acknowledges an utter reliance on God. Humility leads to an honest assessment of your current condition. Humility realizes that we might not have all the answer and others might have something to teach us. Humility is a desire to serve others before serving your own interests. Humility is to treat all people as equals and to treat everyone with dignity and respect. In Luke 14:7-14, Jesus teaches about the importance of humility and hospitality. In verse 11 he teaches that “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Humility is a virtue that can be transformed into a strength. The term servant-leader has become popular in both secular and sacred circles recently. The model focuses on leader who is willing to serve others, not just be served by others. In the church this might mean the pastor runs the vacuum once in awhile. It means the boss might help run copies. Nothing is above or below the servant-leader.
Jesus was the ultimate servant-leader. At the Last Supper in John 13, the disciples are gathered around the table preparing for dinner. There is no servant present and therefore no one to wash the dirty, dusty feet of those gathered. This job was reserved for the lowliest person in the group. The pride of the disciples prevents any of them from taking up the task. It would present them in a place of weakness. Instead, Jesus disrobes and assumes the task of washing the disciples feet. He demonstrates the position and how a servant leader acts and leads. He or she is willing to get dirty and serve when the situation calls for it. Jesus transforms humility from weakness to strength.
MOVING TOWARDS HUMILITY
It is the Lord that ultimately brings humility. The Scriptures teach that God through the circumstances of the world can humble a person or a person can willingly submit to the Lord and assume a posture of humility. I want to suggest a couple of soul training exercises to move us closer to a place of humility in the Lord.
#1. Acknowledge your need for others and for God.
Joseph is an example of how the world brings him to a place of humility. After his spiritual pride flaunts his favor with his father and with God, his brothers sell him into slavery. Several times Joseph rises to places of prominence only to find himself humbled. Potiphar’s wife, dreams interpreted from jail, and several other events break his pride. Finally, Joseph is released from prison and he again rises to a place of prominence in the Egyptian courts. This time he doesn’t assume a posture of arrogance. In fact, when his family comes to Egypt looking for food, Joseph is a changed man, a humbled man. He says to his brothers, “Do not be distressed or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.” In the end Joseph acknowledges that God has granted him favor and there is no pride in that.
You also need to let go of your self-reliance and haughtiness. This past Thursday would have been Jude’s one-year birthday. The journey of grief from losing my son has humbled me in so many ways. It broke me, humbled me and taught me to rely on God and others. I’m not yet where Joseph is with his brothers in Genesis 45 but I’m trusting God to move me closer to that place with every passing day. It takes true strength to admit there are times when you simply need help. You can’t do everything on your own and it’s time to start realizing it. I would encourage you to take some time to consider how you can allow God to massage humility into your spirit.
#2. Look for places to serve and love others.
In Matthew 19:30 Jesus reminds us that “But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” God values the person who is humble and choose to serve rather than fight for a place of honor and prestige. Jesus loves flipping the world upside down and that is exactly what he does when it comes to pride and humility. Therefore, I would encourage you to serving at Open M in June or consider going on the on the Henderson Mission Trip. These experiences will humble you in many different ways. I served at Open M twice last year. The service experiences were humbling in many different ways. I learned to think less of myself and more of others. I had to put others needs above my own. This is at the heart of learning humility in your own life.
Hearing God’s voice, it can cause spiritual pride. Joseph fell into that trap and we see where that god him. Instead of pride, hearing God’s voice gives us a unique opportunity to serve, to minister and to love others. Hearing with humility is the only way for the Christian. Look and listen for places to serve and love others. When you listen to your Lord, and seek to serve you will humility will sneak into your soul. Joseph found humility the hard way, you don’t have to.
Let’s pray.
Monday, March 12, 2012
The Vehicles
“The Vehicles”
Brimfield Faith UMC / March 11, 2012
Numbers 22:27-31
GIBBERISH
Having a two and a half year old in the house you learn to speak new languages. Caleb is starting to talk quite a bit but if you don’t know his language it can be difficult to understand. As he babbles along, there are many times that I have to turn to Michelle to see if she knows what he is saying. Even when you can’t understand him, he has a way of communicating what he wants. In fact, before he had many words at all, he would grunt, point, and pull you around. He knew exactly what he wanted and he would make sure you knew as well.
The only way to really understand a toddler or anyone for that matter is to know them well. Michelle knows Caleb speak better than me because she spends all day with him. The depth of a relationship often dictates the effectiveness of communication. Husbands and wives can communicate with a glance or a gesture. (Michelle often tries this while I’m preaching.) In communication theory the goal of communication is always what is called shared meaning. That is having both the speaker and listener on the same page. Relationships improve the ability to have shared meaning with another person. God also longs to have shared meaning when communicating with us. This can be challenging at times. In fact, trying to understand God can be as difficult as trying to understand a toddler.
GOD SPEAK
The journey of Lent this year is to learn how to better recognize, understand, and follow the voice of God. That movement towards shared communication begins as we read and study the Scriptures. The Bible is not a collection of nice sayings or even a handbook for how to live life. Instead, the Bible is the revelation of the character and person of God. The Bible reveals the heart of God and how he longs to interact with his people. Through the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit, we can come into a right relationship with God and begin on the journey of understanding his voice and following his guidance. As United Methodists, we believe in prima scriptura. That means Scripture is the primary we learn about God but is best understood through our reason, tradition, and experience. What that means is Scripture is God’s primary way of speaking to us, it is not only way.
The Bible teaches us that we ought to look beyond it for God’s voice. Jesus loved to teach in parables. Many people thought Jesus spoke gibberish. When Jesus was asked a question, he never answered them directly. Rather he was reply with a question or a story. This was a typical Jewish approach to teaching but it still seemed to confound the disciples. They couldn’t understand why Jesus would give the people a straight answer. Perhaps they thought he didn’t really know the answers and so he was making up stories hoping people would figure it out.
Finally, they decide to ask Jesus about it. In Matthew 13:10 they ask, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” His answer explains that people’s hearts have grown dull and the parables are designed to warm their hearts so that they might be drawn closer to God. God wants to draw us closer as well. God’s voice feels mysterious because he is drawing us in. He speaks in parables, in dreams, in visions, through life because he wants our hearts. God speaks to us so that we will grow in our relationship with him.
#1. Dreams
So often God has trouble getting through to us. Thankfully, he has his ways. One of those ways we cannot avoid. It is while we are sleeping through dreams. Perhaps the most famous dream in the Bible is Joseph. Not only is Joseph good at receiving dreams from the Lord he is also good as interpreting them. In his youthful zeal, his dreams end up getting him into trouble. They make his brothers so mad that he gets sold as a slave and winds up. Through is challenges he learns to have some wisdom with his dreams. Later while in jail in Egypt, Joseph begins to interpret dreams. He provides us important insight. “Interpretation are from the Lord alone.” The people in Egypt relied on the occult and magic to attempt to understand dreams. Joseph knew God was the only one that could reveal the same meaning of dreams.
God still speaks through dreams. Acts 2:17, “17 ‘In the last days, ‘God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.” Not every dream you have is from God. There are pizza dreams, dreams from the enemy and everything in between. It seems like everybody has a theory about dreams and interpretations. Joseph reminds us that interpretations are from the Lord.
Dreams create a sense of intrigue and curiosity. God often speaks through dreams because they need interpreted. My roommate in college use to have dreams all of the time. He didn’t just have pizza dreams but he had God dreams. He began having these even though he wasn’t a practicing Christian in his life. These dreams provoked a curiosity that no person could have created in his heart. He knew that only God could interpret the dreams. We began to have conversation about the dreams and I had the opportunity to share about Christ and God’s love through these dreams. Eventually, he made a commitment to Christ. The journey began when God started dreams in his sleep. Dream interpretations belong to God alone.
#2. Everyday life
God’s voice should always keep you on your toes. In the passage that was read earlier out of Numbers 22, we encounter the Moab prophet Balaam on his way to Balak the King. The Israelites are encroaching on Moabite land and Balak wants Balaam to curse the Israelites. Balaam, a non-Israelite, goes to consult the Lord Almighty (Israel’s God) about whether he should go or not. The Lord says no and so Balaam refuses. After three attempts Balak’s men finally persuade Balaam to come to Balak.
The Lord is angry with this and sends an angel to stop Balaam. The problem is that Balaam doesn’t see the angel but the donkey he is riding on does. A rather humorous scene unfolds as the donkey refuses to go forward. Then, the donkey starts talking to him. Finally, Balaam is able to see the angel and listens to the Lord again. When he finally arrives to Balak, Balak wants him to curse Israel. Instead of cursing them, three times Balaam blesses the Israelites.
The Lord is not limited in how He communicates to us. variety of ways to speak to us. First of all, he uses a non-Israelite prophet to bless Israel. Normally, God condemns foreign prophets. This time the Lord speaks to and inspires his words. Have you ever been blessed or felt the Lord speak to you through a non-Christian. This can be through secular movies, art, books and people. God isn’t limited to just Christian ways of speaking. A woman recently shared a story with me about a time in her life when she was ready to walk away from God. As she was driving, a Beatles song came on the radio, “Hello Goodbye.” The chorus sings, “You say Goodbye and I say “Hello, hello, hello.” God can ever use the Beatles to speak to us.
Then there is the whole issue of the donkey. God uses a talking donkey to speak to Balaam. Now if you are a Shrek fan maybe that’s not odd to you. If you anyone else, probably thinks this is strange. It’s not out of God’s means of speaking. The dogs next door speak to me. “Angel and Buddy.” Angel loves to bark at me. When she does, God reminds me that His angels are watching over me. And then there is Buddy. The black, quiet dog that hangs in the background. When I see Buddy, it is like God is saying, “I may not be making a ruckus but I’m here. I am your friend.” You may think I’m off my rocker… But I believe God wants to speak to us in a variety of ways. When God wants to communicate with us, he will often use a variety of messengers.
The goal of course is to be open to those messages without needing God to shout them at us. I can’t tell you exactly how God is going to speak to you, but I can tell you that he will. It is your job to keep your ears and eyes open for the Lord to speak. It is about drawing closer to God in relationship. God speaks in so many ways because he wants to draw us closer to him. And God speaks through the oddities of life so we desire him.
GROWING UP
Until Caleb grows up and begins to speak clearer there will always be challenges to understanding him. Yet, there are ways to understand him more clearly. He still uses a pacifier and often tries to talk with it in his mouth, which makes it even harder to understand him. When he does this, we have to tell him that he needs to take the binky out and say it again. His words become clearer and we usually start guessing until we get it.
Aren’t we the same way with God? When we start to hear God’s voice it can feels like God is talking with a binky in his mouth. We can’t distinguish it. We make our best guess at it. With God, the problem isn’t him. It’s us. We have binkies that prohibit us from hearing God’s voice. We must allow God to open our eyes and ears to more clearly hear His voice. I don’t know what prohibits you from hearing God’s voice. Understanding how God speaks it a huge part of understanding him. We can be more receptive to dreams, impressions and every day circumstances. There is one final way to facilitate better hearing.
We can help facilitate that hearing but quieting ourselves and our lives. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah the prophet has been overcome with chaos. He has just defeated the priests of Baal, ended a three year drought and then fled from an evil queen threatens to kill him. Finally he ends up in a cave where God tells him to go to the edge of the cliff. Then an earthquake, tornado, and a fire. Sound like your life? Finally, what Elijah has been seeking and what we are seeking… silence. The stillness allows you to hear. When you create space for God to speak, you can hear again. The quietness allows you to be in tune with God. Silence creates space for God to speak more clearly.
God wants to have shared communication with you. The more ways you can open yourself to hearing from God the clearer it will be and the closer you will get. As you begin to understand God’s voice, you are transformed into God’s image. The gibberish becomes clear. You can hear God’s heart and love for you. You can be encouraged. Be guided. Be brought into the Kingdom of God to live with Christ forever.
Lord, gives us ears to listen and warm our hearts to long for you.
Brimfield Faith UMC / March 11, 2012
Numbers 22:27-31
GIBBERISH
Having a two and a half year old in the house you learn to speak new languages. Caleb is starting to talk quite a bit but if you don’t know his language it can be difficult to understand. As he babbles along, there are many times that I have to turn to Michelle to see if she knows what he is saying. Even when you can’t understand him, he has a way of communicating what he wants. In fact, before he had many words at all, he would grunt, point, and pull you around. He knew exactly what he wanted and he would make sure you knew as well.
The only way to really understand a toddler or anyone for that matter is to know them well. Michelle knows Caleb speak better than me because she spends all day with him. The depth of a relationship often dictates the effectiveness of communication. Husbands and wives can communicate with a glance or a gesture. (Michelle often tries this while I’m preaching.) In communication theory the goal of communication is always what is called shared meaning. That is having both the speaker and listener on the same page. Relationships improve the ability to have shared meaning with another person. God also longs to have shared meaning when communicating with us. This can be challenging at times. In fact, trying to understand God can be as difficult as trying to understand a toddler.
GOD SPEAK
The journey of Lent this year is to learn how to better recognize, understand, and follow the voice of God. That movement towards shared communication begins as we read and study the Scriptures. The Bible is not a collection of nice sayings or even a handbook for how to live life. Instead, the Bible is the revelation of the character and person of God. The Bible reveals the heart of God and how he longs to interact with his people. Through the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit, we can come into a right relationship with God and begin on the journey of understanding his voice and following his guidance. As United Methodists, we believe in prima scriptura. That means Scripture is the primary we learn about God but is best understood through our reason, tradition, and experience. What that means is Scripture is God’s primary way of speaking to us, it is not only way.
The Bible teaches us that we ought to look beyond it for God’s voice. Jesus loved to teach in parables. Many people thought Jesus spoke gibberish. When Jesus was asked a question, he never answered them directly. Rather he was reply with a question or a story. This was a typical Jewish approach to teaching but it still seemed to confound the disciples. They couldn’t understand why Jesus would give the people a straight answer. Perhaps they thought he didn’t really know the answers and so he was making up stories hoping people would figure it out.
Finally, they decide to ask Jesus about it. In Matthew 13:10 they ask, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” His answer explains that people’s hearts have grown dull and the parables are designed to warm their hearts so that they might be drawn closer to God. God wants to draw us closer as well. God’s voice feels mysterious because he is drawing us in. He speaks in parables, in dreams, in visions, through life because he wants our hearts. God speaks to us so that we will grow in our relationship with him.
#1. Dreams
So often God has trouble getting through to us. Thankfully, he has his ways. One of those ways we cannot avoid. It is while we are sleeping through dreams. Perhaps the most famous dream in the Bible is Joseph. Not only is Joseph good at receiving dreams from the Lord he is also good as interpreting them. In his youthful zeal, his dreams end up getting him into trouble. They make his brothers so mad that he gets sold as a slave and winds up. Through is challenges he learns to have some wisdom with his dreams. Later while in jail in Egypt, Joseph begins to interpret dreams. He provides us important insight. “Interpretation are from the Lord alone.” The people in Egypt relied on the occult and magic to attempt to understand dreams. Joseph knew God was the only one that could reveal the same meaning of dreams.
God still speaks through dreams. Acts 2:17, “17 ‘In the last days, ‘God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.” Not every dream you have is from God. There are pizza dreams, dreams from the enemy and everything in between. It seems like everybody has a theory about dreams and interpretations. Joseph reminds us that interpretations are from the Lord.
Dreams create a sense of intrigue and curiosity. God often speaks through dreams because they need interpreted. My roommate in college use to have dreams all of the time. He didn’t just have pizza dreams but he had God dreams. He began having these even though he wasn’t a practicing Christian in his life. These dreams provoked a curiosity that no person could have created in his heart. He knew that only God could interpret the dreams. We began to have conversation about the dreams and I had the opportunity to share about Christ and God’s love through these dreams. Eventually, he made a commitment to Christ. The journey began when God started dreams in his sleep. Dream interpretations belong to God alone.
#2. Everyday life
God’s voice should always keep you on your toes. In the passage that was read earlier out of Numbers 22, we encounter the Moab prophet Balaam on his way to Balak the King. The Israelites are encroaching on Moabite land and Balak wants Balaam to curse the Israelites. Balaam, a non-Israelite, goes to consult the Lord Almighty (Israel’s God) about whether he should go or not. The Lord says no and so Balaam refuses. After three attempts Balak’s men finally persuade Balaam to come to Balak.
The Lord is angry with this and sends an angel to stop Balaam. The problem is that Balaam doesn’t see the angel but the donkey he is riding on does. A rather humorous scene unfolds as the donkey refuses to go forward. Then, the donkey starts talking to him. Finally, Balaam is able to see the angel and listens to the Lord again. When he finally arrives to Balak, Balak wants him to curse Israel. Instead of cursing them, three times Balaam blesses the Israelites.
The Lord is not limited in how He communicates to us. variety of ways to speak to us. First of all, he uses a non-Israelite prophet to bless Israel. Normally, God condemns foreign prophets. This time the Lord speaks to and inspires his words. Have you ever been blessed or felt the Lord speak to you through a non-Christian. This can be through secular movies, art, books and people. God isn’t limited to just Christian ways of speaking. A woman recently shared a story with me about a time in her life when she was ready to walk away from God. As she was driving, a Beatles song came on the radio, “Hello Goodbye.” The chorus sings, “You say Goodbye and I say “Hello, hello, hello.” God can ever use the Beatles to speak to us.
Then there is the whole issue of the donkey. God uses a talking donkey to speak to Balaam. Now if you are a Shrek fan maybe that’s not odd to you. If you anyone else, probably thinks this is strange. It’s not out of God’s means of speaking. The dogs next door speak to me. “Angel and Buddy.” Angel loves to bark at me. When she does, God reminds me that His angels are watching over me. And then there is Buddy. The black, quiet dog that hangs in the background. When I see Buddy, it is like God is saying, “I may not be making a ruckus but I’m here. I am your friend.” You may think I’m off my rocker… But I believe God wants to speak to us in a variety of ways. When God wants to communicate with us, he will often use a variety of messengers.
The goal of course is to be open to those messages without needing God to shout them at us. I can’t tell you exactly how God is going to speak to you, but I can tell you that he will. It is your job to keep your ears and eyes open for the Lord to speak. It is about drawing closer to God in relationship. God speaks in so many ways because he wants to draw us closer to him. And God speaks through the oddities of life so we desire him.
GROWING UP
Until Caleb grows up and begins to speak clearer there will always be challenges to understanding him. Yet, there are ways to understand him more clearly. He still uses a pacifier and often tries to talk with it in his mouth, which makes it even harder to understand him. When he does this, we have to tell him that he needs to take the binky out and say it again. His words become clearer and we usually start guessing until we get it.
Aren’t we the same way with God? When we start to hear God’s voice it can feels like God is talking with a binky in his mouth. We can’t distinguish it. We make our best guess at it. With God, the problem isn’t him. It’s us. We have binkies that prohibit us from hearing God’s voice. We must allow God to open our eyes and ears to more clearly hear His voice. I don’t know what prohibits you from hearing God’s voice. Understanding how God speaks it a huge part of understanding him. We can be more receptive to dreams, impressions and every day circumstances. There is one final way to facilitate better hearing.
We can help facilitate that hearing but quieting ourselves and our lives. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah the prophet has been overcome with chaos. He has just defeated the priests of Baal, ended a three year drought and then fled from an evil queen threatens to kill him. Finally he ends up in a cave where God tells him to go to the edge of the cliff. Then an earthquake, tornado, and a fire. Sound like your life? Finally, what Elijah has been seeking and what we are seeking… silence. The stillness allows you to hear. When you create space for God to speak, you can hear again. The quietness allows you to be in tune with God. Silence creates space for God to speak more clearly.
God wants to have shared communication with you. The more ways you can open yourself to hearing from God the clearer it will be and the closer you will get. As you begin to understand God’s voice, you are transformed into God’s image. The gibberish becomes clear. You can hear God’s heart and love for you. You can be encouraged. Be guided. Be brought into the Kingdom of God to live with Christ forever.
Lord, gives us ears to listen and warm our hearts to long for you.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Listen!
“Listen!”
Brimfield Faith UMC / March 4, 2012
1 Samuel 3:1-11
HEARING FROM GOD
I want to thank Michelle for preaching the first sermon in this series. I planned this series about hearing God’s voice months ago. In the life of a Christian it is one of the most important gifts that we can develop. God’s voice guides us, encourages us, builds us up, comforts us and communicates the heart of God to us. Over the past five years, I have seen this church and many people hear God’s voice. It has been the voice of Heaven that has brought this church out of the pits of despair into a future with hope in God. It has changed lives and touched a community. God is speaking because you are listening.
I would like to address the announcement of my move this coming June. Every September I have to turn in a form called the Clergy Profile – Annual (CPA). In this form I answer questions about the joys and challenges of ministry over the past year. This year’s form was filled with many of both. The journey that God took us on with our son Jude was a difficult and painful one. We saw a church pull together in our time of crisis. You have lovingly and generously supported my family over the past year and a half of grief and healing. You have walked by our side and I thank you for that. This is one of the reasons why the decision we made was a difficult one.
The last question on the CPA asks whether we would request to move, stay, or either. This year I requested that the Bishop and Cabinet consider moving me. I did not check the box without significant prayer, discussion, and counsel. As I seek to live my life with my ear tilted towards Heaven and listening for God’s voice, the decision came down to this: We felt that for the healing process of our family to continue we needed a change of scenery. We need a fresh start.
In sharing this, I hope to make this clear: the conference is not stealing me away. This was first and foremost my decision. A decision that in due time I hope you will come to understand and support us in. We still love this church and this community. I cannot express in words how grateful I am for the ways that you have walked with us.
LEARNING FROM SAMUEL
With that said, I would like to briefly look at 1 Samuel 3:1-11 and place it in the context of our church and your lives. A bit of the back story is that Samuel is the son of Hannah. When Hannah becomes pregnant with Samuel, she resolves to dedicate him to the service of the Lord. In 1 Samuel 3, we see Samuel serving the priest, Eli. Verse 3 says, he is sleeping in the Temple of the Lord, where the Ark of God was. In this place, Samuel hears the voice of God. He is confused by the voice and is unclear where it is coming from. He runs to Eli three times and on the third time Eli realizes that Samuel is hearing the voice of God. He counsels Samuel to listen again for the Lord and if he calls say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” When Samuel goes and lays back down and God calls to Samuel again. There are two things I want us to learn from Samuel’s story this morning.
#1. God’s voice is no longer rare.
Verse 1 explains why Samuel and Eli are both surprised and confused by the voice of God. The voice of God was rare in those days. God breaks this time of silence because He is preparing Israel to come through a difficult time in their nation. God calls Samuel out to be a great prophet in a great time of need. Samuel becomes the prophetic voice of God that Israel needed to be able to come through this time.
There was a time in this church where the prophetic voice of God was missing. This time is no more. God is speaking and people are listening. The Lord’s voice has brought us through some difficult times and has brought renewal into the life of the church. The prophetic voice will lead you into a powerful future. God has not abandoned you. God will not abandon you. The conference is not going to abandoned Brimfield. We have come too far. They will do their best to bring in a pastor that will lead you forward. Tour responsibility is to seek the Lord in prayer and listen for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Even you can hear God’s voice. You also need to hear God’s voice in your own life as well. John 10:3 says “the sheep know the shepherd’s voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” When we hear the voice of God and follow God, we will not be led astray. We will not be abandoned. God’s voice will guide us into a place of abundance, love and generosity.
#2. God speaks to people who serve in His Presence.
It is no coincidence that Samuel is in the Temple and near the Ark when God calls out to him. Samuel has chosen to be a servant to the Lord. He humbly served the Temple and Eli the priest. He embraced a lifestyle of servanthood to the Lord. It is out of this place of service that Samuel continues to hear from the Lord and to live out those words. Samuel learns how to be a great prophet because he is willing to lay down his life and serve the Lord and God’s people.
As a church, we emphasize servant language and not volunteer language because we believe that God calls us to a lifestyle of service. We can never be reminded to often to live as sold out servants of God. A church that serves others and the community is a church that God can use to change lives, impact communities, and transform regions. God is still calling this church to be a catalyst to make Brimfield a place of refuge and peace in Northeast Ohio.
To thrive we must be filled with the Holy Spirit, listen, and boldly follow God’s voice.. This means making God number one in your life. Jesus encourages us to seek first the Kingdom of righteousness and all else will be added unto you. You can do this regardless of your circumstance. You can be stretching to pay the bills and still live in the presence of God. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, God will lift you up and enable you to make a difference in the lives of people around you.
POWER IN COMMUNITY
I will be serving you until the end of June. I will not be coasting and simply riding my time out. I want to give back to you as much as you have given to me. It is my goal to prepare you to listen, lead, and continue to grow in the Lord. Together with Holy Spirit this church is being renewed. Tune your ears to heaven to be guided forward. Listen and follow the voice of God. Move in the power of God. Together, you can fulfill the promises and destiny that God has for this church.
COMMUNION
As we move to communion this morning, let’s make it a time of drawing close to the Lord. Communion is an opportunity to enter into the presence of God and to tangibly receive the grace and love of God. It gives us the chance to hear God’s voice and be guided by it.
Let us remember that night in which Jesus gathered the disciples for the last supper. As they sat around the table, he took the bread, broke it and gave thanks to the Father. Then he said, “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples and said, “Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
He did these so they would experience the power, grace and love of God. To draw them into the presence of God and to draw them together as a community called together by the voice of God.
Let us pray… Come, Holy Spirit, be poured out among us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine and oil. Let us experience your fullness, your power, your love, and your healing. And let us be made whole and empowered as one people to do your work and will in the world. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.
The table is set. All who desire Christ’s love are invited to come forward. As you take the elements, I would invite you to sit in the first couple of rows or to gather around the altar in prayer. Let us experience the fellowship of communion and together hear the voice of God.
Brimfield Faith UMC / March 4, 2012
1 Samuel 3:1-11
HEARING FROM GOD
I want to thank Michelle for preaching the first sermon in this series. I planned this series about hearing God’s voice months ago. In the life of a Christian it is one of the most important gifts that we can develop. God’s voice guides us, encourages us, builds us up, comforts us and communicates the heart of God to us. Over the past five years, I have seen this church and many people hear God’s voice. It has been the voice of Heaven that has brought this church out of the pits of despair into a future with hope in God. It has changed lives and touched a community. God is speaking because you are listening.
I would like to address the announcement of my move this coming June. Every September I have to turn in a form called the Clergy Profile – Annual (CPA). In this form I answer questions about the joys and challenges of ministry over the past year. This year’s form was filled with many of both. The journey that God took us on with our son Jude was a difficult and painful one. We saw a church pull together in our time of crisis. You have lovingly and generously supported my family over the past year and a half of grief and healing. You have walked by our side and I thank you for that. This is one of the reasons why the decision we made was a difficult one.
The last question on the CPA asks whether we would request to move, stay, or either. This year I requested that the Bishop and Cabinet consider moving me. I did not check the box without significant prayer, discussion, and counsel. As I seek to live my life with my ear tilted towards Heaven and listening for God’s voice, the decision came down to this: We felt that for the healing process of our family to continue we needed a change of scenery. We need a fresh start.
In sharing this, I hope to make this clear: the conference is not stealing me away. This was first and foremost my decision. A decision that in due time I hope you will come to understand and support us in. We still love this church and this community. I cannot express in words how grateful I am for the ways that you have walked with us.
LEARNING FROM SAMUEL
With that said, I would like to briefly look at 1 Samuel 3:1-11 and place it in the context of our church and your lives. A bit of the back story is that Samuel is the son of Hannah. When Hannah becomes pregnant with Samuel, she resolves to dedicate him to the service of the Lord. In 1 Samuel 3, we see Samuel serving the priest, Eli. Verse 3 says, he is sleeping in the Temple of the Lord, where the Ark of God was. In this place, Samuel hears the voice of God. He is confused by the voice and is unclear where it is coming from. He runs to Eli three times and on the third time Eli realizes that Samuel is hearing the voice of God. He counsels Samuel to listen again for the Lord and if he calls say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” When Samuel goes and lays back down and God calls to Samuel again. There are two things I want us to learn from Samuel’s story this morning.
#1. God’s voice is no longer rare.
Verse 1 explains why Samuel and Eli are both surprised and confused by the voice of God. The voice of God was rare in those days. God breaks this time of silence because He is preparing Israel to come through a difficult time in their nation. God calls Samuel out to be a great prophet in a great time of need. Samuel becomes the prophetic voice of God that Israel needed to be able to come through this time.
There was a time in this church where the prophetic voice of God was missing. This time is no more. God is speaking and people are listening. The Lord’s voice has brought us through some difficult times and has brought renewal into the life of the church. The prophetic voice will lead you into a powerful future. God has not abandoned you. God will not abandon you. The conference is not going to abandoned Brimfield. We have come too far. They will do their best to bring in a pastor that will lead you forward. Tour responsibility is to seek the Lord in prayer and listen for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Even you can hear God’s voice. You also need to hear God’s voice in your own life as well. John 10:3 says “the sheep know the shepherd’s voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” When we hear the voice of God and follow God, we will not be led astray. We will not be abandoned. God’s voice will guide us into a place of abundance, love and generosity.
#2. God speaks to people who serve in His Presence.
It is no coincidence that Samuel is in the Temple and near the Ark when God calls out to him. Samuel has chosen to be a servant to the Lord. He humbly served the Temple and Eli the priest. He embraced a lifestyle of servanthood to the Lord. It is out of this place of service that Samuel continues to hear from the Lord and to live out those words. Samuel learns how to be a great prophet because he is willing to lay down his life and serve the Lord and God’s people.
As a church, we emphasize servant language and not volunteer language because we believe that God calls us to a lifestyle of service. We can never be reminded to often to live as sold out servants of God. A church that serves others and the community is a church that God can use to change lives, impact communities, and transform regions. God is still calling this church to be a catalyst to make Brimfield a place of refuge and peace in Northeast Ohio.
To thrive we must be filled with the Holy Spirit, listen, and boldly follow God’s voice.. This means making God number one in your life. Jesus encourages us to seek first the Kingdom of righteousness and all else will be added unto you. You can do this regardless of your circumstance. You can be stretching to pay the bills and still live in the presence of God. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, God will lift you up and enable you to make a difference in the lives of people around you.
POWER IN COMMUNITY
I will be serving you until the end of June. I will not be coasting and simply riding my time out. I want to give back to you as much as you have given to me. It is my goal to prepare you to listen, lead, and continue to grow in the Lord. Together with Holy Spirit this church is being renewed. Tune your ears to heaven to be guided forward. Listen and follow the voice of God. Move in the power of God. Together, you can fulfill the promises and destiny that God has for this church.
COMMUNION
As we move to communion this morning, let’s make it a time of drawing close to the Lord. Communion is an opportunity to enter into the presence of God and to tangibly receive the grace and love of God. It gives us the chance to hear God’s voice and be guided by it.
Let us remember that night in which Jesus gathered the disciples for the last supper. As they sat around the table, he took the bread, broke it and gave thanks to the Father. Then he said, “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples and said, “Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
He did these so they would experience the power, grace and love of God. To draw them into the presence of God and to draw them together as a community called together by the voice of God.
Let us pray… Come, Holy Spirit, be poured out among us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine and oil. Let us experience your fullness, your power, your love, and your healing. And let us be made whole and empowered as one people to do your work and will in the world. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.
The table is set. All who desire Christ’s love are invited to come forward. As you take the elements, I would invite you to sit in the first couple of rows or to gather around the altar in prayer. Let us experience the fellowship of communion and together hear the voice of God.
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