Do we listen?

We have a dog.  She is a beagle, and her name is Molly.  She is quite possibly the sweetest animal I have ever known. We met her when she was about two weeks old; she joined our family at six weeks old, and has been here ever since.  She is beloved.

Molly is not without flaws, and one of them is that she pretends, when it suits her, that she does not understand English.  She can't fool me; I know she understands me when I speak.  I say, "Back," and she turns around and walks the other way.  I say, "Let's go downstairs," and she runs full speed down the stairs.  If I say, "Treat," well, you can imagine her reaction.  But when it's time for bed, and I say, "Let's go upstairs," she just stares at me as if I am speaking Portuguese or Cat.

She knows my voice, she understands the words, but she doesn't like them.  So she ignores me.

This Sunday is Christ the King Sunday. Like any seeker of knowledge, I googled it this evening. The Feast of Christ the King was established in 1925 by Pope Pious XI.  He wrote in December of that year that even though World War I was over, there was still no true peace. He believed that true peace could only be found in the recognition of the Christ as King.

John 18:37, from this Sunday's lectionary, says, "Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

"Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

Do we listen to Christ's voice?  Or are we as stubborn as our family's beagle, ignoring words we understand but choose not to obey?  When Christ says to feed the poor, do we?  When he says, "Forgive that person so many times that you can't keep count," do we? When he says that the most important action we can do with our lives is to love God and love each other, do we?

Or do we stare at our savior as if we don't understand him at all because it's not the words we want to hear?

Fear of God

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.   (Proverbs 9:10)

The devotional in our office meeting this week was based on a passage from Proverbs.  Sally talked about fear - what does it mean to fear God?

I think when we hear the word fear, certain connotations come to mind.  A God we are afraid of is hard to imagine as a loving God, as a God who desires a relationship with us.  A feared God would be a difficult God to approach in prayer, and yet we are called to bring everything to God in prayer.  So what does it mean to fear God?

Sally's definition from the devotion she was reading was that fear of God is awesome reverence.  A God we revere, we will obey.  I don't think that obedience is out of fear, but instead springs forth from humble respect - from a knowledge of who we are and who God is.  In that obedience, we will come closer to God.  We will begin to see the world from a "changed perspective," as Sally put it.  We will begin to see the world as God sees the world.  From that changed perspective, comes wisdom.

Knowing God better, obeying God more, will result in insight.

Manna

Yesterday I was reading Exodus 16.  In this passage, the Israelites, traveling through the wilderness, are fed by God by collecting manna.  They were told to only collect what they could eat in that one day.  When they collected too much, the leftovers, on the next day, would be spoiled by worms.  On the day before the Sabbath, they were told to collect enough for two days so that they could rest on the seventh day.

My study Bible says that manna is a pun.  When the Israelites say it, they said, "What is it?" -- Man (What) hu (is it)?  Man hu  This can also be translated as It is manna -- and thus it became the name of the food.

How often do we look at God's providence - God's manna -- and say, "What is it?"  I think there are times we don't even recognize it.  I would propose another level to the pun -- Man says huh?

Manna was to teach the Israelites to rely on God -- God was providing what they needed.  God would provide manna -- everything they needed -- every day.  They didn't have to worry about tomorrow.  God would provide for today and for tomorrow.  Don't collect extra.  Don't worry about tomorrow.

And when God says, "rest" on the Sabbath, he provides to them on that day as well.  To rest on the Sabbath is another way to trust God.  It is a way to give up control for a day and do nothing. 

God will provide.  Manna will come.  Let us not say "Huh?" but instead, trust and obey.

(The image is of a bluebird in our backyard sitting next to our backyard bluebird.  The real bird sat there for a very long time.  I think they became friends.)

Free us for Joyful Obedience

I have had to make lots of phone calls this month, asking people if they would be willing to do this or that.  I really don’t like to make those kind of phone calls, but I have found myself doing it a lot lately.  I’m the lay director of the next Emmaus women’s walk, so many of the phone calls have been to ask community members to serve on the team.

It has been a joy to speak to everyone I’ve called, and even though not everyone can say “yes,” everyone is resting in the middle of God’s will, and we are all finding grace in the process. 

Even though I don’t like to call people to ask them to serve, I am finding joy in obedience.

There is a line in the Prayer of Confession that is part of the United Methodist Communion Liturgy that says, “Free of for joyful obedience.”  It’s one of my favorite parts of communion.

Free us for joyful obedience.

It seems like it would be a paradox – to be made free so that we can obey.  We shouldn’t be surprised, though.  We are Christians – people who have received forgiveness we do not deserve, through grace of unlimited value that we did not earn.  We follow a Lord who has died but is alive, a God who created the universe but loves us each in a personal way, and we walk with a Holy Spirit we cannot see, hear or touch, but who surrounds us with love.  We know our God in three parts, and yet our God is one.  We are mortal beings who will live forever.  Nothing should sound like a paradox – everything is beyond our imagination.  We are made free so that we can obey, and in that obedience we find joy.

We are asked to serve – in our communities, in our churches, in our families, at our places of work, and in our Emmaus Community.  We pray about service, and we try to listen to God’s call on our lives, and yet, if you are like me, there are times when I am held back from answering the way God is leading me.  What is it that prevents you from being free for obedience? 

Is it fear?  Selfishness? Worry? A lack of confidence? Unwillingness?  Unhappiness?  What is it that is keeping you from saying “yes” or “no” in obedience to God?  What does God need to free you from so that you can find the joy in obeying him? 

Perhaps we all need to make that line part of our prayers each day.  Free me for joyful obedience.