CHPC Blog

“I have called you by name, from the very beginning. You are mine and I am yours. You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests. I have molded you in the depths of the earth and knitted you together in your mother’s womb. I have carved you in the palms of my hands and hidden you in the shadow of my embrace. I look at you with the infinite tenderness and care for you with a care more intimate than that of a mother for her child. I have counted every hair on your head and guided you at every step. Wherever you go, I go with you, and wherever you rest, I keep watch. I will give you food that will satisfy all your hunger and drink that will quench all your thirst. I will not hide my face from you. You know me as your own as I know you as my own. You belong to me. Nothing will ever separate us.”

From “Life of the Beloved” by Henri Nouwen quoted yesterday as we considered that being clothed in Jesus we receive the same blessings from the Father.

Simeon and Anna are some of my Biblical heroes. They personify patience, waiting, hoping and preparing. Check out Luke 2:21-32. Both of them were so in tune with God that they new God the minute they saw him. Even though he was in the form of a helpless infant.

Their lives had been formed by worship, prayer, fasting, and the Torah (Jewish Bible). The ears and eyes of their soul had been trained to hear the master’s voice and see the master’s work.

I’m always amazed at the flexibility of Olympic gymnasts. I’m also thankful at how flexible young children are. One time I accidentally shut a car door on my child’s arm. It was bad but he just had a bad bruise and some pain - no broken bone. The pediatrician said that even the bones of children can be flexible.

I figure it’s a good thing that Mary the mother of Jesus was young. Talk about the need to be flexible. Read about her in Luke 1:26 - 38. Her plans were changed drastically, with no notice, and no body else initially informed. She had to be flexible in order to follow God’s plans and she was.

A question for the second week of Advent - how flexible, malleable, teachable, open are you to the plans of God in your life? Are you willing like Mary to be God’s servant on such short notice?

Our passage this Sunday - Luke 1:8-28 - the story of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptizer. The main point from this story - Spiritual Calluses. A thickness to our soul that hardens are heart to God’s presence and work in our midst.

Read the story. Zech was a priest called into the highest service. God shows up but Zech isn’t prepared. He’s been callused by the rituals or lack of spiritual preparation on his part. God gives him a gift of 9 months of silence. He can hear, see, reflect, think and explore but he can’t talk.

The temple is not suppossed to be a “thick” place but it is supposed to be a “thin” place between us and God.  The thick places have developed a cynicism or a familiarity that breads inactivity - even boredom.  The thin places provide a closeness, heightened awareness, and increased excitement from the proximity of the spiritual in our current situation.

Where are you thick - calloused? Where are you thin and ready to hear God?

Twice Jesus quotes the prophet Hosea “I desire mercy and not sacrifice” - check out Matthew 9:9-12 and 12:1-8. Jesus tells the religious leaders of the day, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” He says if they had understood what that meant then they would understand why Jesus hung out with prostitutes, tax collectors and sinners; and why he could heal and eat on the Sabbath. What do you hear when you read Jesus words in those passages?  What does it mean that God desires mercy over the religious rules?

This is my current phrase for repentance.  I hate that for me it usually works this way.  I wish that I would look up to God naturally, because I want to, because I love to.  However, I find that my attention gets focused on the things of this world - which is another way of saying idolatry. (But that’s a different sermon and blog)

What’s on God’s wish list - Read Psalm 51 - one of the passages for this Sunday - to find that God loves a broken and contrite heart - a broken spirit.  For me having a broken spirit means to hit bottom - come to the end of my resources - and then look up to him crying out for him to rescue me and lead me into the fullness of life with him as a pastor, father, husband, friend and citizen.

How do you experience and define repentance?

This weeks look at God’s Wish List - Justice. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)   How do you define justice that blesses God?

If you cheat in practice, you’ll cheat in the game. If you cheat in your head, you’ll cheat on the test. You’ll cheat on the girl. You’ll cheat in business. You’ll cheat on your mate. Sow a thought, reap an act. Sow an act, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny.

George Munzing, “Living a Life of Integrity”Preaching Today sermon #32

“One who is faithful in little is faithful in much; One who is dishonest with little is dishonest with much.”  Jesus

We are going to try to present the passages for the upcoming Sunday sermon on the blog for discussion before and after.

This Sunday is the second Sunday of the God’s Wish List series. Because we love God we want to love the things that God loves. Just like I love my wife so I want to learn what she loves and then give that to her. I want to give to God what God loves too.

These passages today don’t tell us what God loves but tell us what God hates - a false tongue. So, God’s wish list - the truth - honesty.

Read the passages and then interact - Why do you think God’s hates lies? Why do we lie? When do you lie? When is telling the truth hard? What is the gray area when saying something that isn’t true may indeed be the right thing to do?

Proverbs 6:16 - 19: There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that hurry to run to evil, a lying witness who testifies falsely, and one who sows discord in a family.

Zechariah 8:16 “These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this, ” declares the Lord.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time.

Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace: Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.

Trusting that you will make all things right if I surrender to your will; so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with you int he next.

Rev. Reinhold Niebuhr