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“The Lord is my light and my salvation Whom Shall I Fear?”
Well there could be plenty to fear out there… where we become distracted making
it difficult to move forward with our daily tasks as Jesus’ disciples. Jesus is not only calling upon us daily to
incorporate spiritual room in our lives for Him but He is also seeking for us
to mature without the coercion of the world taking us away from our true
priorities.
In reflecting upon the Psalmist’s spiritual introspective
questioning—I do want to believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in
this time and place in a land that is still living.... am I lacking motivation
or am I not feeling confident enough that I can make the effort? It's very hard
for all of us to think about being accountable and think about what priorities truly
are and mean. What are the Gospel’s priorities?
We are all coming to “fruition” on each of our own spiritual formation
journeys of faith.
Just the other day there was a woman who was lamenting
possibly losing another interview and not getting the advancement that she was
hoping for to grow in Ministry... I said something very encouraging and someone
else replied in an almost angry lament how they've completely given up hope. They
completely feel no need to make an effort any longer. I grieved for this man
because it is frustrating and disparaging that it has come down to this.... In
this day and age people are fighting and wrestling over any opportunity there
is out there to serve for a “salary.”
But regardless of all circumstances and where things are;
wouldn't it have served a better purpose to help this woman see the glass “half-full,
think positive?” In helping her to see her priorities are in keeping her
spirits up. Wouldn't it have been better to help her stay encouraged, to be
enlightened and know that people are praying and care for her? I think so. This
takes making room however, and truly listening to God for direction.
By the time we hear today's snippet of St. Paul basically
detailing in a creative fashion who and what is the Christ.... isn't this
something we should have already had affirmed or are we too laden with human
doubt? I thought it was funny the other day when I had posted something from an
Evangelical handbook on “Church purpose and planning.” I made the nonchalant
comment of thinking about "what would Jesus do" and I had another individual
go berserk over me using that term saying that it was in essence bad
theology... borderline heresy (!)
What they failed to notice or understand is that I wasn't
coming from a coercive place of "pre-packaging" the idea of
"what would Jesus do" as it has in essence become a “church-world”
slogan... but more or less I was thinking about what would Christ Jesus want me
to do? (Have I been faithfully listening to Him?) Perhaps this person’s
observation was coming from where we have naturally made the Spiritual
priorities of the Gospel—being and doing as the Body, a divisive tool to
control others into what we think they should be doing together as “church.”
If you look at so many of Paul's letters which you could
lose count in looking up the examples of where he is encouraging us to put on
Christ, to live with Christ in our hearts, to be or remain focused and centered
in Christ.... It is not coming from a literal sense but from a spiritual sense.
The Biblical language of not only the
Gospel text but of St. Paul’s Letters illumines that whole heart knowledge
formation being our spiritual priority to grow in maturity. In many ways this
man did not understand the need for the spiritual and our calling to be
transformed by The Living Word to action and serve with their own gifts through
our discipleship. The slogan and its
coercive use in the world of the church blinded the true purpose of those
simple words: What Would Jesus (want us) to Do?
Putting on the imagination for a moment but what if right
now the entire world being all humans everywhere were to spiritually Focus on
everything that Christ Jesus taught us to do and be for the kingdom of God?
What if we all prioritized like Mary and took the time to listen and grow with
the Lord? How radically different would the world be, become? I don't think we
would recognize it at all. Everything would be so radically different if
everyone literally and truly loved God and neighbor and had an inner peace as
well as expressed this as a spiritual fruit of peace and love!
What has been so disturbing to see in this time of
testing it seems in the world is that people are growing restless. They're
becoming angry, they are becoming indeed, violent.... Just this past week,
there’s been really horrific acts taking place… Another terrorist attack in
France and now a semi-failed “coup” in Turkey that some in the media are teasing
the allusion to the beginning of another great world war! I truly pray not! Turkey, Syria, and that
whole region ironically and sadly was the Genesis of the Christian Church. Now
it is becoming a place possibly burgeoning the start of another world crisis! It
is sad to see almost every other news cast as someone's been murdered, someone
was shot, and someone was killed in some other fashion. The carnage and purposeless destruction is truly
to the point of absurdity—insanity!
Instead of prioritizing peace we have become a culture
prioritizing politics through a coercive gracelessness and indifference to one
another over and above the Gospel's commands.
There's many things going on this week with the message that the Living
Word is trying to relate to us, to reveal to us. It is my weekly and truthfully
said, daily task to bring this message to be HEARD—to believe in, receiving it
fully, incorporate as a personal calling from God and extrapolate—LIVE into as
Christ is calling us to DO. This Revelation goes far beyond the calling to be
transformed by God's Living Word and the life and Ministry of Jesus; it also
talks about hospitality—making spiritual room for His Word, it also talks about
peace it also talks about priorities....
Disciplining our hearts to that inner peace takes Trust.
This is not only a trust built in and for God but a trust to triumph over our
fears to align our hearts to God's priorities over and above what we feel our
priorities. This was Martha’s problem, she was all uptight with her own agenda
of things she felt she needed to have accomplished. Oftentimes what we feel are
our priorities have been built by fear and despair possibly as well an anxiety
that we can't control but the Evil One controls and indentures us to inaction
and doubt.
To whom do we serve becomes the discipleship question
that our hearts and Minds truly need to ponder. The Colossians from today's
text wrestled with Gnosticism as well as their own system of “intellectualism”
that battled to just believe and live for whom they just confessed to worship,
Jesus Christ. St. Paul with his
beautiful witness, in so many of his letters, begins to teach them as well as
to calm and assure their hearts to find an inner peace that believing in the
sovereignty of Christ brings. It's funny
when you think of being in a traditional worship service and each and every
week you recite one of The ecumenical creeds of the ancient Church. Do you
really spend the time to think about the words that come out of your lips do
they really reassure you each and every week what they are to mean and why we
say what we do? Perhaps listening has been lost to a structure that is no
longer serving fully to its original purpose of faithful mentoring, discipleship-making.
When I was in seminary I wrote a thesis paper actually on
the importance of people paying attention or should I say being spiritually in focus
in worship. I actually have paraphrased two of the ecumenical creeds for people
to hear them differently as well as I have used earlier forms of the Creeds
that are available within the analogs of church history. This has in essence
aided to guide people to hear differently or more completely. It is working within a failing structure in some
senses to enliven it back to its original purpose—function.
In many ways you could say that Jesus attempts to seek
Martha's attention was not only that He wanted to spend time with the both of
them but that he really wanted to teach them, he really wanted and needed them
to LISTEN. When we gather together in fellowship and worship, this is the time
to prayerfully listen, this is a time to prayerfully and spiritually be
enlightened and encouraged to possibly spiritually transform, grow in our faith.
We cannot be neglectful here as well as we should never divisively use our
gathering together as a coercive tool for anything but the TRUTH, genuine
purpose of Christ Jesus’ Gospel imperative!
Each and every week is to be a challenge to grow—this is
what it means to be on the journey and grow your faith. There's so much that
the world can weigh us down with and make us think that gathering together is
nothing but empty ritual and does not really serve enough of a purpose! This is
horribly sad to see this happening yet alone hear about this. How can we fall
away from all the beauty and love and grace that God has given as an example to
us? This beautiful Love and Grace is all around us on this very fragile Earth
that we share but have we made it our spiritual eternal, goal— destiny? We do
however Fall away or should I say that we are in the process of Falling Away...
are we coming to the battle armed with the Gospel or is it our own priorities
to serve only ourselves and defend ourselves foolishly to the enemy's Delight?!
One of the commentaries I read in preparation to prepare
my proclamation today made an interesting comment in looking at Mary and Martha
as the battle between "temperaments." In some senses he says that
Martha just purely didn't understand Jesus in what he was asking her to do.
This may be so, but couldn't it really also be a matter of willingness to do
something beyond our own priorities? There is a lot of misunderstanding in the
world and it is a part of human nature as well as it is something that we daily
feel. Why can't we understand one another? Why can't we come to one another
with an air of peace and love, mercy, kindness, compassion and so forth? Why do
we come with a sense of self- defense, a sense of I know everything and you
don't, a sense of entitlement, a sense of gracelessness because the world
revolves around us and not for the Gospel any longer?!
If I still have fear will the Lord ever become a
stronghold of my life will I never feel stable? What Christ has taught me to
make as my priority in handling that anxious question is to believe that when
the enemy is at my door, I need to not fear I need to not find shelter in my
weaknesses, but I must be strong for a greater priority! I may see the devil's face staring right back
at me in my mind's eye saying he knows my weaknesses and he will exploit it to
his advantage against the truth! But I will not take shelter in my weaknesses
preventing me from coming to the Lord, for I will not give up. I cannot give up
for that destroys the purpose of my true life through Christ as His disciple!
Let us Pray—
Gracious Lord Jesus
Make my heart Good Soil for Your Living Word
Help me to hear Your priorities over and above
Satan’s and the world's
Continue to encourage me to open my heart to listen!
May my whole being be a wonderful open room
For all that You need me to grow and go with as Your
disciple.
May You always be at the center of my life and being.
AMEN
July 17th,
2016; Ninth Sunday after Pentecost; Proper 11; Year C; SOLA Lectionary
Sermon By:
Reverend Nicole A.M. Collins, FODM
Psalm 27:1-14;
Genesis 18:1-14; Colossians 1:21-29;
Luke 10:38-42
The link below is to this sermon's delivery at the Grace Hub's house church service at 8am.
https://youtu.be/LC0I0BVJQiA
https://youtu.be/LC0I0BVJQiA
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