November 20th 2016 Reflections
Joy to the World
Reflection – In this life, some days are more filled
with joy than others. The ancient world was a political world, so it was a big
deal when a king was crowned. Today it is a big deal when a mayor is elected,
or a governor, or a president. Our elected officials can bring us joy and they
can bring us sorrow.
Every day the news is showing that politicians are
bringing joy and some are bringing sorrow.
I met with a group of Methodist preachers in our
Conference this week. We discussed the election. Some were silent. Some cried.
Some expressed great sadness and some left the room too angry to speak. They
talked about members of their church who were afraid of what has been happening
in the last few weeks. There have been over 400 acts of racial hostility in the
last few weeks. One incident occurred in our Methodist college Albright College
in Reading and another in a Methodist youth group in North Carolina.
We preachers understood that in order to be able to
sing Joy to the World, we must do what verse 2 tells us to do. No more let sins
and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground, he comes to make his blessings
flow far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found.
God is always speaking to us of ways to resist evil,
to alleviate the curse of evil in our lives, to quench sin wherever we can and
to be a part of making God’s blessings flow! Scripture tells us in the book of
Nehemiah verse 8 that that the joy of the Lord is our strength. [ slide #1 The
joy…strength]
Whether our government makes us feel sad or makes us want to
celebrate, it is the joy of flowing blessings that keeps us strong.
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
This song calls us to do what Habakkuk 2.20 says The
Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth keep silent before him or the
Psalmist, quoting God as saying be still and know that I am God. Or in
Ecclesiastes 3.7 There is a time to be silent and a time to speak.
I will never forget the day I was getting ready for
the day, standing at the sink, thinking about how ridiculous a certain person
was. I began to chuckle. I do not remember who or what I was thinking about,
but I do remember a sense of the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart, saying,
“Stop laughing.” I was jolted into a
serious mode and realized that all of us are God’s children and no parent – not
even God - is going to sit still while anyone laughs at their child. Laughing
with them is one thing. Laughing at them is another. [slide # 2 stop laughing ]
In God’s presence and in the presence of all God’s
children, there are moments that we best keep quiet. That brings to mind Isaiah
30.15 which says in quietness and confidence is our strength!
Angels We Have Heard on High
It seems to me that every human being hears from
Heaven. In one way or another, it has been my experience that everyone has had
an experience with angels, or a dream that gave Godly direction, or some divine
intervention or an encounter with the mysterious. Even those who are atheists
or practice no religion have heard from Heaven. [slide # 3 angel on bridge]
It also seems apparent that the more we listen, the
more we hear. The less we listen, the less we hear. If we seek, we shall find.
If we knock the door will be opened to us. That does not mean that we will
understand everything we hear. Sometimes we may even misunderstand or may need
an explanation or a repetition of what we hear. Sometime we will not appreciate
what we hear or even wish we did not hear.
We are most blessed when we are hungry to hear from
Heaven, and I do mean hungry!
What Child Is This
It is hard to think of Jesus as a child, as human.
We have painted him and sculpted him. We have symbolized him and we have known
him as bigger than life and we have worshipped him as our God. So it is not a
simple thing to see Jesus as a humble human being, a vulnerable baby with needs
and wants. [slide
# 4 Jesus with angel]
The best way to understand the humanity and weakness
of Jesus is to see Jesus in everyone we meet. Every breath every human being
takes is a breath from Heaven. Every move they make is by the grace and mercy
of God. So if we see Jesus in everyone we meet, we understand what Jesus needs
and wants. If we behold each person as precious and divinely inspired, if we
humble ourselves in their presence and in that instant worship the God who create
all of us, we will have little time and energy for rejecting and arguing and
oppressing. If we look into the eyes of our neighbors, our friends, our family
and see Jesus and praise the Lord, we will see a light that leads to unity,
harmony, diversity, forgiveness, reconciliation, liberty and justice for all. [slide # 5 liberty and
justice] Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment