Lent, Yard Sales and Contentment
There are times in our life when we are forced to confront our stuff. By stuff I mean our material possessions, all the things we use and all of the things we no longer use, need nor want. We live with all our stuff every day but we may only REALLY think about it occasionally when preparing for a yard sale or move. At those times we notice how much there is and how it effects our lives. How our possessions “possess us” by cluttering our lives and requiring our effort and time to clean, repair, replace, store, search through. When dealing with our external stuff we find we also have to deal with our internal stuff, the attachments, anxieties, hungers, calculations of our mind and heart. “Do I need this or do I want it?” “Am I afraid I will need it some day so I hold on to it?” “Does the stuff have symbolic meaning for me or remind me of times past that I still feel the need to avoid?”
Traditionally the observance of Lent is the Christian season to deal with our stuff. The spiritual practices of prayer, reading scripture, meditation, fasting, journaling are the activities of paying attention to God’s presence in our lives and hopefully helping us become aware of the great spiritual reality that God is enough. These practices have a way of stripping away all that is unessential, all that stands in the way of our relationship with God. Aware of God’s presence and love there is complete contentment and all things are possible. In the absence of that awareness we are anxious, shaky and life feels overwhelming and sometimes impossible. You will not find the ideas of spiritual vs. nonspiritual nor the idea of separation between inner attitudes vs. outer actions in the scriptures. Everything is spiritual and all action flows out of the attitudes of the heart. Our material stuff reveals our contentment or its lack, and our contentment will be reflected in our attitude toward our stuff.
For contentment in all circumstances consider these words from the scriptures.
From Jesus words on the sermon on the mount – Matthew 5
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?
From Paul’s words in Philippians 4
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Contentment comes with the awareness of God’s loving presence. From that contentment we know ourselves to be wealthy beyond measure right here and right now. So we are then freed to look at our life and possessions through God’s eyes and not through the lens of our anxiety and attachments.
There are many tips to reducing all the stuff in our lives. When seasons change I go through my clothes and donate anything I did not wear. Do not add anything to your possessions without getting rid of something or maybe two or three somethings. If you are not sure you need something but them in a box. If you need it take it out of the box. After a month dispose of everything that is left. On March 17 Hempfield United Methodist Church is having a giant indoor Yard Sale fundraiser for missions. If you have not considered donating things to a yard sale as part of your spiritual practice this might be the year to start.
Advent Devotions – Day 16
Reshaping our existence
By Pastor Keith Braucher
Are we on the brink of disaster? Are these the end times? Look at the headlines. All my life I have heard this message from the media, from the people I encounter in work, school or church, from my family and from many religious folk. Everywhere I hear despairing complaints about the economy, the direction of our nation, how terrible our government is, the demise of decency, the destruction of the environment, natural disasters, the decline of Christianity, marriage and family. And there also seems to be no end of politicians, religious leaders and various celebrities claiming to have the answers to all of our ills. In my teens I went through a period of severe depression as the weight of these messages bore down on my spirit. Why plan for a future beyond high school when everyone was telling me that it was guaranteed to be worse than life is now?
Now I have a new perspective. The gospel changes everything. Jesus’ words in Matthew 24 are as true now as when first spoken. There will be terrible things but rather than the end of all that is good they are birth pains as God’s creative and redemptive work is reshaping all of existence into a new creation. God spoke all creation into existence and God’s word spread throughout creation will make it new.
The cross and resurrection is God’s power taking the destructive intention of those who killed Jesus and transforming it into the salvation of the world. The false messiah’s proclaim quick fixes when what we are witnessing through the eyes of faith is nothing less than the transformation of all creation. The chaos and pain of childbirth and parenting (especially now with our teenager!) is nothing less than the emergence of a new human being coming into his or her own power.
Chaos and change is nothing more than the fertile ground for new creation. (Genesis 1) Jesus calls us as he called his disciples. Do not be deceived. Do not be alarmed. Those who stand firm will be saved. This gospel must be preached to the ends of the earth. So rejoice for unto us is born a Savior who is Christ the Lord. The future as is the present is in God’s hands. Scary? Yes. Wonderful? Absolutely!
Today’s Readings – Psalm 30, 32, 42, 43, Haggai 2:1-19, Rev 3:1-6, Matt 24:1-14
Advent Devotions – Day 8
Wonder Trust Expect
By Pastor Keith Braucher
A newborn baby is an everyday miracle. Two becomes three in a moment, a breath, a cry and suddenly the future has changed. People tied to this child’s life are now on a different path. They look beyond themselves to what the future may hold and perhaps realize that the quality of the future depends upon their decisions now. This child, in this world, in this life, is full of all the wonderful possibilities that we can imagine. Only we must not fail to be faithful to protect, provide, nurture and teach so that those possibilities will be fulfilled. If only we had the promise of success before we have begun. And success is precisely what God does promise.
Luke 1:57-68 is the story of the birth and naming of John the Baptizer. In this story of an ordinary family coming to fulfill their normal religious duties we see the hand of God for the salvation of the world. We get excited about the possibility of an extraordinary event tied to the salvation of a nation like the birth of an Abraham, Moses or Jesus when in fact the salvation of a nation or even all creation is tied to ordinary everyday events like births. We are reminded again that God is present here and now in the ordinary moments of life where we can, like Zechariah, be caught up in the Holy Spirit and catch glimpses of God’s great plan and cosmic purpose. In gratitude and wonder he burst out in a song of praise quoting mostly from the ancient Psalms and the prophets and telling how God’s great salvation has come. This newborn life contained all the potential of God’s eternal power to decide the final course of history and the response is trusting in God’s goodness with gratitude and celebration as if that salvation has already taken place.
It is ours as people of faith to be lost in the wonder of God’s greatness seen in the ordinary events of daily life. It is ours to trust in God’s faithfulness and to live fully expecting the peace and fullness of life God has promised but is not yet fulfilled. Finally in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior to give all we are and all we have to make God’s dream come true.
Today’s Readings – Psalm 148-150, 114, 115, Amos 6:1-14, 2 Thess 1:5-12, Luke 1:57-68
Lent Reflections – Empty Myself
By Keith Braucher
Today’s Scripture Readings
Psalm 93, 96, 34
Jere 6:9-15
1 Cor 6:12-20
Mark 5:1-20
“When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.” Mark 5:15-17
We always know people that are going through especially difficult times and all of us at some time in our life may be having difficulty. Tragic death, divorce, substance abuse, criminal activity, addiction, violent accidents, domestic violence, life-threatening illness, job loss, poverty, malnutrition, chronic illness, homelessness – we know victims and perpetrators. Like the community of the demon-possessed man in Mark’s gospel we know of the problems, accept them, and prefer them far far away from us. When the people saw the man dressed and in his right mind they were afraid and begged Jesus to go away. We need to examine our own hearts. If the man walked into church on Sunday morning would we also be afraid? Maybe not afraid but we at least are often anxious. “What is he (or she) doing here?” “I hope I don’t run into them because I would not know what to say.” So we duck away, avoid eye contact, go out a different door. And maybe we also consciously or unconsciously beg Jesus to go away. We cannot be close to Jesus without being close to those he draws to him. How can we be Christ’s hands on earth if we avoid those most in need of God’s healing power? But to do so we need to surrender our fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. God trusts us to lovingly care for one another in Jesus name. Will you deny that trust?
Loving Healer, this day you will put in my path those who need your love. Help me to empty myself of hesitancy, nervousness, and my fear of doing the wrong thing so that you may fill me and use me to do the good works that bring you glory and fulfill my life. Amen.
Are you interested in contributed a Lent Reflection? Entries are still needed for several days during the Lent season. Contact Matt Ralph at mralph@hempfieldumc.com if you would like to contribute.
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