Hearing and listening

I finished with my sermon on choices and the paths that we choose and the ability God has of opening new possibilities in our lives. I discussed like Paul what would be the blinding light that one would have to experience to open ourselves to God's grace. I also talked about Ananias who could have chosen a path of vengeance and hatred for an enemy and instead traveled that least traveled path of forgiveness, love, and mercy.

This week the lectionary continues with the gospel of John. It focuses on chapter 10:22-30. The entire chapter deals with Jesus as the shepherd and the one who the sheep know. He is the true shepherd as compared to Ezekiel 34 which focuses on the evil shepherd. The image of the good shepherd had messiah overtones. This pericope begins to focus on the confusion about Jesus as to whether or not he is the Messiah. The concern is are the people able to hear the voice of the Master.

I began to reflect on the idea of the hearing versus to listening and to whether or not there is a difference between the two. Tomorrow I will be presenting the Greek for this but I would like to suggest that maybe there is a difference even though we use both words in English to mean the same.

I decided to look up both words at Dictionary.com. For listen as a verb it means to pay attention in order to hear. To hear means not only to listen but to perceive. Maybe what we can discern from the scripture is that the sheep don't just hear the words but they perceive the messenger for who he is.

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Choices Choices Choices 3

I want to continue to talk about the choices that we make. Tomorrow I will be taking about different paths that we can take based on Paul's conversion and the poem by Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken." We are presented in life options of what is possible. Sometimes we seem to find ourselves caught up in a situation and wonder what we did to find ourselves in such circumstances. I know that I often had people tell me that they did not do anything or make any decisions that led them to their predicament. They would claim that they had no other choice. While I would agree about certain natural disasters or genetic conditions, but for most there has been choices recognized or not that have led them to their situation.

When I was counseling, I came across this poem that I would use as an allegory that might help people recognize that very little in life is done without decisions on our part. The problem is that one may not realize or recognize that they are making those decisions. I had lost who had written the poem but found this on the internet.
“There’s a Hole in my Sidewalk“, by Portia Nelson

Chapter 1.

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost…
I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter 2.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I cant believe I am in this same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in… its a habit.
But, my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter 4.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter 5.

I walk down another street.

What strikes me about this and the lection for Sunday is that Paul was walking down a path that had a huge hole in it. When Jesus confronted him, he began the process of realizing the decisions that he was making. He then walked down another path and thank God for that. So when I am tempted to say that what is happening is not my fault, I need to recognize the decisions that I make that have contributed to the problem as well as the decisions that I can make to remedy the problem. Too often we are quick to be critical and offer not anything as a means of resolution. Even in times when what is happening may have nothing to do with our choices, such as natural disasters, how we respond is our choice. Let us choose that way Christ would want us to choose with love, grace, mercy, and charity.

Choices Choices Choices 2

Last night at our Wednesday service, I reflected on the scripture in John 21. As I contemplate the choices that I am making in my life the question arises as to how do I make the best choice that I can. This chapter in the Gospel of John whether written or not by the original author is immaterial to what was being said. Following the two appearances of Jesus with the disciples, Peter decided to go fishing. Whether it was a means of trying to deal with the emotional turmoil of the past week and taking a breath or he and the rest of the disciples returned to their normal work, we don't know. We just know they went fishing.

I know that in my life I have experienced the roller coaster of feelings maybe not to the same extent as the disciples. When I am caught up in exuberant joy, grief, fear, uncertainty, anxiety, and even depression, there comes a time that I need a break. For me it is not fishing. For me it is a quiet place somewhere outdoors away from as much noise and busyness that I can find. It is at that time I feel most renewed and am able to go forward. I reflect on the beginning of Jesus' ministry where he spent 40 days in the wilderness. There are times that I can empathize with the need to reflect on what we are called to do.

So regardless of why the disciples went fishing, they were unable to catch any fish until Jesus appeared on the shore and told them to let down their nets. The story reminds of the synoptic gospels story of the call of the disciples in a similar fashion. Then and only then were the disciples able to catch not just some fish but an abudance of fish.

We too need Christ in our lives and in our choices for us to live abundantly with what God calls us to do. No church, committee, or person will be as successful and effective if we do not take time to listen to what Christ is calling us to do. No advertising campaign, no marketing will take the place of Jesus. Rather than being concerned of what is in it for me, I need to remember that I do what I do for the glory of my Creator. That is true for not just as a pastor, but even when I go out fishing.

Choices choices choices 1

I have been away from sharing my thoughts that it feels strange to sit here and write about what is happening. Lent and Easter tend to be busy times for churches that once again proclaim the Good News that Christ is alive and active in our world today. It is also a time that many faithful make sure to attend worship services. Easter is the most important Christian holy day for it is the foundation of our beliefs. Often after the Easter services are done there is often a let down of attendance in worship services. We forget that Easter is every day not just one day out of the year and that the season of Easter lasts 50 days. What I would pray is that we remember Christ in all of our choices that we make knowing that he is with us and empowers us in the Holy Spirit.

Last Sunday I attended a good friends church and they had Holy Humor Sunday. This is a movement that was based on some of the writings of the ancient patriarchs that talked about the great joke that God did on Satan by raising Jesus from the dead. My friend based her sermon from the verse in Nehemiah 8:10. I would encourage the reader to read Nehemiah to get an idea of what the concerns that the exiles had when they returned home. Actually one should also read Ezra as well. The exiles returned to Jerusalem to a city that had been sacked and the temple destroyed. In their return they came across the book of law by Moses and the people wept and mourned as they had not been living by the law. Nehemiah proclaimed that rather than just mourn the people needed to remember that God had remembered them and rejoice.

How often we tend to bring to God our tears and petitions but find it difficult to bring our joy and laughter. In most of the services that I do and ask for joys and concerns the number of concerns are probably 3 times as many as joys. I know that when I did counseling as a psychotherapist and would ask people to list characteristics that they liked about themselves and also what they would like to change, most people could list several areas of change but had difficulty stating what they like about themselves or that they were gifted.

God created us as a whole person and declared us good. As we live and make choices, we tend to either affirm our Creator or we drift away. We need to remember that God gave us tears to mourn, a community to affirm, and laughter to heal.

This coming Sunday I will be talking about choices and Paul's conversion story. I will also be using the poem by Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken. Every day we make choices and for the rest of the week I will be discussing the choices that we make.

Wednesday musings

I am sitting in the Dentist office right now waiting for Nancy. I wanted to briefly talk about a conversation I had following my sermon last Sunday. A person came up to me and even though I did not preach on the prodigal son I briefly mentioned the story. In the story this person felt I was being too harsh on the older son because of his unwillingness to forgive his brother. He agreed that the unforgiveness was wrong but felt that the brother had been dutiful all of his life and needed to be cut a break.

What I did not say at the time was the context of this story was when Jesus was talking to the Pharisees when they criticized him for eating with sinners. The Pharisees stated that they were dutiful and followed the law of Moses. In the story, there is no doubt that the older brother was to be an example of the Pharisee attitude. the lesson is that we all have at different times been a Pharisee in our lives.

The journey of Lent

We have been studying the bible study by Adam Hamilton, "24 Hours that Changed the world." There have been some interesting insights as least for me from the study. Last Monday we discussed the trial, so to speak, before Pilate. Jesus was arrested and tried in secret by the Sanhedrin and brought to Pilate as they could not kill Jesus. One insight was that Jesus was not condemned by the sinners but by the righteous. Another insight and I dramatized it as we began was Pilate's unwillingness to do what was right and just. Instead he washed his hands of the blood that he condemned to torture and a cruel death of a man who was innocent of any crimes before the state or before God.
Adam, in his video, walks through Jerusalem to give us the feel of what the actual experience of Jesus might have been like. He stated that along the Via Del Rosa or the way of suffering that Jesus walked from Pilate to his crucifixion has the stations of the cross. Many of those stations come from scripture though there are some that come from tradition and are not found in scripture. He mentioned that there is a scriptural stations of the cross. Actually Pope John had taken the traditional stations of the cross and tied all of them to various scriptural basis from the old and new testaments. The more Protestant stations take the 14 stations and ties them to the gospel accounts.
I have come across those both in our Book of Worship and on line and plan to use those for our Good Friday services. I have found paintings, sculptures, and phots that I will be using for the visual as well as a video.
I believe that we need to continue to remember this time and where do we fit in this journey and the people that were present.