March 17 2019 “Quiet
Waters” Psalm 23 Pastor Jacqueline Hines Second Sunday in Lent
For many of us, it
takes a lot to be led by someone other than ourselves. Being led can often feel
like being forced. We often resist being led by someone or something besides
ourselves. Being forced against our will can lead to trauma and violence at worst
and passive resolve and irritation at best. One of our Bethel caregivers was
explaining to me that the person she cares for is in an end stage of disease.
Their muscles resist every move one tries to help them make.
Resistance can be a
good thing when we are in an exercise program. There are bands [slide # 1 exercise bands]
designed to help us increase our resistance. There are isometric exercises
whereby our muscles are strengthened when we repeat the motions of resistance.
However, when we are caring for someone and they resist going in a certain
direction that contributes to their health and well-being, then we have
trouble.
Foundry UMC is located
in Washington, D.C. [
slide # 2 Foundry UMC] At Foundry they teach resistance for social
justice. The pastor is Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli [ slide # 3 Pastor
Ginger] author of Sacred
Resistance [slide # 4 Sacred Resistance] The church has been in existence since 1814
on 14th and G street near the White House. In 1904 Foundry relocated
13 blocks away. Our 19th President Rutherford B. Hayes abolitionist
and lawyer, [slide # 5 President Hayes] attended Foundry in
the 1870’s with his wife Lucy. Lucy was known as Lemonade Lucy because she
refused to allow the service of alcohol in the White House [slide # 6 First Lady Lucy] (she also started the
annual White House Easter Roll as a result of her love for children. She also
loved animals and cared for persons with disabilities and mental health
challenges.) The Hayes family lived a
life resisting evil and making the devil run. That is hard work and we need
regular rest if we are doing hard Christian work.
It is good to partake
of some quiet time on a regular basis. It strengthens us to do what God has
called us to do. There are a number of you who have pools or swim often or
enjoy a home at the shore. Water is known to transform us and make us tranquil.
Dentists have found that if they have an aquarium in the waiting room, patients
become calm when they see the fish swimming with ease in the water. Certain
medical procedures may come with sounds of trickling streams of water. Parks
and camps often highlight their crystal clear streams and lakes and make sure
there are benches and fragrant trees and butterfly bushes to encourage the
public to spend time beside the still waters.
Jesus leads us beside
still waters. We are led because we are loved. We are led because the ways of
peace and stillness and quiet require the power of the Holy Spirit. The work of
the Holy Spirit is not natural, it is supernatural.
We need the Holy Spirit
to work in us and help us to access the quiet we so urgently need. We need it
when we our souls and our lives are restless. It is hard to rest at night when
God is leading us one way and all day we are going another way. [slide # 7 right way…] Sometime
the still waters become still only when we let go and let God, when we confront
our demons and ask God to help us get rid of them. God is so faithful to give
us, day by day, the vision, strength and guidance we need to resist evil in our
hearts, in our families, in our churches, in our communities. God is so
faithful that it only makes sense to follow God. The songwriter claims, “Where
he leads me, I will follow. Where he leads me, I will follow. Where he leads
me, I will follow. I’ll go with him, with him, with him all the way.”
We can trust our savior
to help us, to minister to us, love us, to bless us, to serve us. [slide # 8 Jesus carrying baggage] We are sure to be more comfortable when lying
down in green pastures if we first bring our burdens to the Lord and leave them
there! [slide # 9 large backpack]
Nina Simone a
preacher’s daughter [slide
# 10 Nina Simone] growing up
poor, aspired to be a concert pianist. Systems of poverty or anything we may
lack does not stop God. Nina was an American singer, songwriter, arranger,
pianist and activist. Her range of music included classical, blues, jazz, folk,
R&B, gospel and pop. Nina attended Julliard School of Music in New York
with the help of her supporters. She then applied to Curtis Institute but was
rejected. She thought her talent was overshadowed the politics of the 1960’s.
Curtis gave her an honorary degree after she died in 2003 at the age of 70. In
spite of the odds against her, she was blessed.
When the Lord is our
shepherd we shall not want. God provides. [slide # 11 God
provides] God guides. We can trust God because God is good. What is it
that you need today? Trust God. Talk to God. Nurture a relationship with
God?
We are often in a hurry
to tell God our needs and wants. God is also in a hurry to answer all of us
children. We know this when we not only speak but when we listen to God. God
speaks to us in dreams, visions, through the voices of family and friends. God
speaks to us through circumstances and when we experience God as silent, we can
do what the bible tells us. We can think about who God has already been to us
and what God has already said to us. Sometimes, God’s silence suggests that God
wants us to think about what God has said on a certain subject before.
It is important to be
still and listen to God. [slide
# 12 be still…] If you do not
have a quiet time set aside to listen to God during the day, you may be missing
out on some very important information. The doctors do not know everything.
When we are under medical care, we need to hear from God. The bankers do not
know everything. When we open our wallets, we need to hear from God. God’s word
is a lamp at our feet. God’s word makes our paths brighter no matter how great
the darkness or how hard the journey [slide # 13 on knees in
prayer…yoke]
I have told the story
many times of years ago a woman asked me for a few dollars to get her through
the month. I told her that I had nothing to spare, but I would pray for her and
if the Lord gave it to me, I would give it to her. At the end of the day, the
Lord gave me some money, and I gave it to her, but I discovered that I did not
want to give it to her. I wanted to keep it for myself. God answered her
prayer. She got the money she asked for, but I got a whuppin’ from the Holy
Spirit!
When God reveals great
wisdom to us, our faith is built up, we are learning how God loves us and the
many ways God guides us. In God’s presence, we are filled again and again and
again with the precious Holy Spirit.
No matter how much we
know, we do not know everything. We need to pray about everything and we need
to be still and listen until we hear what God has to say.
Like any conversation,
we mishear, we misunderstand. Like any relationship, we give and we take. We
miss the mark. We negotiate the negotiables and we learn to accept the
non-negotiables.
It is in learning to be
led by the Holy One that we find rest and peace and life everlasting. [slide # 14 God’s way… the
best…]We not only learn that God’s ways are different from our ways. We
learn that God’s way is the best way. Amen. [slide # 15 be
still…God…battles]
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