4 ‘Lord, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. 5 You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight. Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. Selah
We know we only have a limited days on this earth. When we are young, we feel like the days are so long and we have so much time. The end feels like so far away. Even when we are middle aged, we still tend to “waste” time. I don’t mean waste in the sense of not being serious. I mean waste in the way of not appreciating the days we are given. We do not always pay attention to the gift that is today. We don’t spend time savoring the days or treasuring the moments. Those thoughts almost sound cliché.
The reason they sound like that is because we have work to do, meetings to attend, children to take care of, phone calls to make, and meals to prepare. We have a full agenda and we can barely keep up. Who has the time to think about savoring the day or treasuring a moment. But, that’s exactly the problem. We get so caught up in the “to-do” list of the day we forget how incredibly good today really is. We can get so wrapped up in our day-to-day lives we don’t really see how beautiful life is around us. We miss it. And we don’t realize it until it’s the end. Then, we wish we had paid more attention.
What if we did what the Psalmist mentions in Psalm 39? What if we asked God to give us a measure of our days and realize we have just a few breaths to appreciate? If we take a moment to realize just how fleeting it all is, would we wake up and take notice? Would we stop from our list and look up at the goodness all around? Would we realize just what a gift we actually have been given?
Maybe today is the day we begin to stop- if even for just a moment. Maybe we look around, breathe deep, and give thanks. Maybe we turn our busyness into gratitude. We just don’t have many of these days, so please do not miss a one. Today is the day to start.
In today’s scripture, Jesus has been teaching a group of eager listeners what it means to follow him. And following him is quite different than they had experienced before. Following Jesus did not mean following the Pharisees or the law givers. It also didn’t mean giving up following the law. Instead, Jesus is taking the people, and in essence, you and me, back to the original and core meaning. Jesus is taking us back to the meaning of it all when God first gave the commandments and what this looked like. And it doesn’t look that much like what it had become. Jesus is essentially wiping it all clean and starting again. And in the verses preceding this, he challenges what it means to be blessed and what God’s blessings actually may look like. Given these teachings, he challenges those before him with these words.
Matthew 5:13-20
This is a challenge for those listening. This is a challenge for us hearing and reading these words today. For me, I think these teachings begin by asking a question – where are we going? Where are we heading?
Many of you already know I am directionally challenged. It just isn’t part of the gifts in which I was given. I am not good with words such as north, south, east or west. I am much better with turn left, turn right, stay straight. And even those words must be very specific. So that means if I am traveling, I am usually either following someone else or I am using my GPS to guide me. I do not try to go rogue and figure it out on my own. I don’t have the time, gas, or money to do crazy things like that.
If I am following, I am following close. I do not want someone to get in between me and the person I am following. I do not want to lose my place or get to a point where I can’t see the person I am following. That leads to me getting lost, every single time. So I want to always keep them in my view. I trust the person who is leading to know where they are going. And if I am using my GPS, I am usually just fine until it begins to take me through areas which do not look right or it begins to cut out because there are not satellites around. Then, we have an issue.
Jesus is challenging those who are listening to lead. He is asking them to be salt and light. He is asking them to stand out and be seen, in a good way. He is asking them, as a community of believers, to be a city set upon a hill. They are to be seen. They are to be followed. But they are not to go their own way. And the light is not so they are seen in themselves. The light, the city is to be so that the way for others becomes clear and they see God! They are to give glory to God because of the light – not glory to the people who were shining the light.
So the light has to be God’s light you are shining. And if you are shining a light, if you are salt, if we are a city, what do people see? Where are they going if they follow us? What are they experiencing if they see our light? Where are we even going? What are we even doing? Do we know where we are heading? If we are leading others, are we leading them to Jesus? Or are we leading them down a path of destruction? Where are we leading?
These are pretty challenging thoughts and Jesus meant them to be. The community Jesus is speaking to has lost its way. They know the law and they think they are following it to the letter. But they have focused so much on the law, they have forgotten who gave the law and what it meant to follow God. They are following the law so intense they have forgotten the law was given so they would see God. They weren’t seeing God, but instead seeing their own works. And that was a problem. They weren’t leading people closer to God, but closer to their definition of perfection.
Jesus is calling them out. Jesus is calling us out. We have to reorient ourselves. He doesn’t say to throw the commandments and the law out the door. He says to follow them and to live into them. But in following them, two things should happen. They should become more like Jesus and they should lead people closer to him. If that isn’t happening, there is a problem. Being a light is a responsibility to bring people closer to Christ. We should be leading others to him.
That doesn’t mean we are perfect – not by any means. We will make mistakes. We will mess up. We will make bad decisions and wrong turns. But we do not lose our focus on where we are headed. We do not forget where we are going and who we are going for. We keep our eyes on Jesus, he is our ultimate guide. In other words, our light shows people Jesus, not us. It isn’t our light anyway, but his.
And I just don’t think we shine our light best by beating people down or telling them all the things they are doing wrong, or judging who we think they are. I think we shine a light by doing what Jesus taught as the greatest commandments – loving the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and loving our neighbor. That’s where the difference begins to take place. That’s where we begin to see real change. That’s when our light is most bright – when we love.
Being salt and light for Jesus means we follow him, no matter the cost. We love like him, no matter who it is we are loving. We give like him, live like him, and show people who it is we are following. And because we are flawed, people will see it is not us that are the light, but the one who forgives us and loves us any who is the light. We point others to Jesus.
Where are we going? If others see our light, what or who do they see? How are we showing people the love of Christ?
21 Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, do not be far from me; 22 make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.
In Psalm 38, the Psalmist is crying out to God. He realizes where he went wrong. He understands the punishment for his mistakes. He doesn’t want this to be his ruin. He doesn’t want this to be the end. And in the middle of the Psalm, he writes, “But it is for you, O Lord, that I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.”
While the pain and suffering can feel unbearable sometimes, he will wait because he knows God will answer. God will come through. He knows because God always has. He knows because God always will. God is faithful. He is trustworthy. And he hears the cries of his children.
But it can feel like he is so far away, especially when we have pushed him away by doing things our own way or doing what we wanted to do rather than following him. It can feel as though he does not hear or answer us, admittedly our own fault for this happening. Yet, God is still with us. He doesn’t forsake us, abandon us, or give up on us. He may seem absent because of what we have chosen. But he is always ready to hear. There is a prayer which reminds us he is more ready to hear than we are to pray. God is not the problem, we are.
When we cry out to him, truly come before him with all of us, he hears us and answers. He does help us. He is our salvation. So if you are feeling a little distant, maybe it’s time to spend a little time waiting, praying and listening. He is ready to hear.
Almighty and eternal God, you are always more ready to hear than we are to pray, and to give more than we ask or deserve. Pour down on us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Source: Gelasian Sacramentary, 8th Century, Historic Collect for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
7 Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices.
8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret—it leads only to evil. 9 For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
We can spend way too much time and energy on comparing ourselves to other people. It happens so easily, without even taking notice. Social media provides us with endless opportunities to scroll through the highlights of other people. We see what others are doing or wearing or how they are living. We wonder why our lives aren’t like that. We wonder what we are doing wrong and why we can’t succeed like them. It’s an endless spiral which really takes us nowhere except down a deep, dark pit.
Today’s Psalm is about learning patience. But in this particular set of verses, I hear God redirecting us when we are comparing ourselves to other people. He has a plan and a purpose for us. When we stop comparing and instead begin evaluating the goodness right before us, our perspective changes. We see we have food on the table. We begin to see we have a family and friends who support us. Our vision becomes clearer on what we have. It doesn’t matter what someone else has. We don’t know their struggle or what they did to obtain those things. And it doesn’t matter.
I think the point is to do the right thing with what we have been given. What are we doing with the resources God has put in our lap? What are we doing with the skills and gifts God has given us? If we stop worrying about anyone else, how might we see the bounty in our own home? When we focus on ourselves, our relationship with God, doing the right thing and being who God has made us to be, our view completely changes.
Today, may we stop looking around at others and instead find ways to be grateful for what we have. May we use the resources and gifts God has given us for his glory today. May we find joy in what we have been given.
5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. 6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgements are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.
7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 8 They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
As I read this portion of Psalm 36, I am drawn to these two words – steadfast love. God’s steadfast love is described throughout all the Bible and our language is really insufficient for the enormity. But in some attempt, the Psalmist writes the words captured here. God’s steadfast love extends to the heavens. It is so big and vast, this world cannot even hold it. It is so wide and abundant, we cannot escape it. It is also precious, valuable and treasured. It allows for protection and care. God’s love is beyond any treasure we may have on this earth.
Those are big statements. Those are huge declarations. And yet, the more we know God, the more this becomes true. The more we grow closer to him, the more we begin to see his enduring love. The more we begin to feel his love envelope us. The more we spend time with him, the more we find our true delight in life. His light becomes our light. And his love becomes our source of strength and our hope.
God’s love is steadfast – continual, ever-flowing, and abundant. When we think of abundant, we often think of earthly treasures. But God’s treasures are so much more important and amazing. His abundant love means it doesn’t run out or reduce. This love should be how we survive. And this love should be the source for which we love others. His light should shine through us and it should show up as love. Maybe we go back to the source of it all and allow him to immerse us in his steadfast love. We just might find we are changed.
This weather has taught me many things. But the primary one is control – or lack thereof. We have not had a winter storm quite like this and it doesn’t seem to be giving up any time soon. Things melt just in time for the next round. For those who live in areas where this is normal, this would be nothing. But for us in Eastern NC, this is a lot – like a whole lot. It is challenging to know what to do and when.
I spent 30 minutes getting out of my driveway yesterday so that I could slide down the road to my business. All I could think was – I am not built for this. After much frustration and anger which did not help anything, I made it. Only to have the same discussion day after day, when do we open, how safe are the roads and when do we close? What’s safe? What’s the best for our employees? What’s good for our business?
The questions can drive us insane if we let them (and I may have let them). But I finally realized this is all outside of my control. I cannot make the weather change – it would be sunny and 75 if I could. I cannot do anything about the conditions of the roads – though I am so very grateful for those who work tirelessly to make them better. I cannot do anything about most of the things which cause me stress. What I can control is my reaction and my attitude.
So I am trying diligently to let go of the things which I cannot control. All I can do is my best and to remember God is still with me through all the mess. I can pray for safety and make the best decisions I can with the information given. But most of all, I can learn to turn to the one who is in control – and that isn’t me. God may not tell me when to open, but he can give me a peace about the decisions we have to make. He may not clear the path, but he can give me wisdom to know when to push through and when to rest.
Ultimately God is in control, not me. My trust has to be in him. Anything else is futile. I’m not saying I’ll stop stressing. But I will say I will stop and evaluate if this is something I can control. If not, why do I worry so much? Control my attitude and my reactions – that’s the goal for today.
Many of us function by living according to a schedule. There is a time to get up, a time to be at work, a time to eat meals, a time to show up for a meeting. There is a time for everything. Now some do not worry so much about time. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a schedule. There are slots in our day we reserve for most everything.
I think what we miss is to schedule time for the most important parts of our lives. We have demands on our time. We have places we need to be. There are appointments to make and keep up with. But what about making time for those most important to us? What about scheduling in time for those we care deeply for and deserve more of our time than anything else?
Most of us believe we will just naturally be with those we care about. It will just happen organically. The problem is, everything else in our schedule eats up the slots we could have reserved for those most important. We allow our schedules to be full without managing it to ensure we don’t miss the important things.
Maybe we start by reevaluating this. What or who is most important in our lives? Do we schedule time for our spouse and children? Do we schedule time to take care of ourselves so we are a better person for those around? Do we schedule time with God, our Creator and Redeemer?
In Christianity (and other religions as well), there is this idea of offices. These are times throughout the day when people stop, worship and pray. These are built into the day. I most noticed this rhythm when I spent time at a monastery. Regardless of the work that had to be done or the appointment which needed to be scheduled, the offices were set first. They were a given in the day. These were built in so all could make sure to spend time with the most important – God.
Most of us won’t follow the idea of offices in our day. But what if we started with just a slot, just an appointment to spend time with God? What if we made God a priority in our lives? We just might see everything else change. Maybe time is valuable, especially when it is spent with God.
It’s just a little over a month into this new year. For us in Eastern NC, this has been an interesting start for February. We are not accustomed to snow and below freezing temps. This is unusual and can be a bit disorienting. For business owners, we are having to decide when to open and when to stay at home for safety purposes. For those who began a new routine for the beginning of the year – maybe going to the gym, running, eating healthy, or moving more – this likely throws everything off. February is already a challenging time without this new obstacle.
It can be easy to give up our goals now. We likely haven’t been able to keep up our routines. Our habits have been interrupted. Our healthier eating went missing when the snacks entered our home. And who can get out to exercise or go to the gym? So we could just give up. We could just call it quits.
Some of you are thinking – “this is why I didn’t start anyway…I knew this would happen.” But if we don’t ever start, how will anything ever change? It’s the wrong attitude to never start just because you don’t know what will happen. It’s defeating to never take the first step because the following steps might be difficult.
This doesn’t just go for our physical health either. This goes for our spiritual health as well. We start by doing a daily devotional and then our world goes crazy. We begin reading the Psalms and then we miss a week somewhere along the way. We start praying on a regular basis only to find we have missed more days than we prayed. And we begin to think everything is conspiring to make sure we don’t do it. So we give up. It’s too hard.
We can live defeated and just go back to our old routines. Those were easier anyway. We didn’t have to worry about what we eat because we can pick up drive thru. We didn’t have to worry about where we will fit in a work out if we just don’t. We didn’t have to worry about opening our Bibles or praying if we don’t ever try. And we don’t have to worry about ever growing or becoming better or becoming more like Christ.
Nothing is accomplished by giving up. We don’t become better followers of Christ by quitting. We don’t have healthier bodies by eating whatever we want and not moving. We don’t become better mentally by telling ourselves what a failure we are. We change by getting back up and trying again. Just start now. It isn’t too late. And today is a perfect day to begin.
You may not be able to get out and go to the gym or outside to exercise, but you can pick up your Bible and pray. You can choose what you put into your body and into your mind. You DO have control over that. And tomorrow, you can make your way to the moving more. You get to decide what this day looks like. I get to decide what I do today that is good for me – body, mind, and spirit. The choice is yours – the choice is mine – maybe we just start. It just might be the change we need.
As Christians, if we are doing deep study and really seeking God, we can wonder if we are doing what God wants us to do. Many people are looking for their purpose and trying to find what God has created them to do. As followers of Christ, we should be seeking out how we as a community of believers, can become more like him. We should find ourselves constantly reevaluating our actions and intentions. It is really easy to take our focus off of following God and instead, seek what we want. It happens so easily and without us even noticing, if we aren’t paying close intention. All of a sudden, the church becomes what we want it to be and does what we want it to do, rather than what God wants. And we don’t notice if we aren’t paying attention, seeking God in everything, and listening to him as he leads and guides us. We cannot get complacent in our walk with God. It is a continual work of seeking and hearing.
The Israelites in today’s scripture had gotten complacent. They know the practices of what makes them religious. They understand to show up for worship, to go through the motions, and to feel good about what they have done. They do it in the name of God, but it’s really for them. They want to be able to know they are doing all of the right things. But they have lost focus. They aren’t doing these things for God any longer. They are doing it for themselves. Their motives and intentions are tainted. They have turned inward and it is showing. God noticed and he is hurt, disappointed, and re-directive.
Micah 6 is one of the most familiar scriptures of the Old Testament. This particular chapter is set up like a courtroom case. God will speak his case, with witnesses listening (the mountains and foundations). The people will respond. And there will be a final verdict, so to speak. Follow the sequence as we read Micah 6:1-8.
God presents his case. And he presents it with compassion. He is asking questions of the Israelites to help them hear where they may have gone off track. He asks them how has he wearied them. What have I done to you? He reminds them of their story. It is one of redemption, one of deliverance, one of instruction, and one of salvation. They were brought out of a bad place and into the Promised Land. They were given all they needed and then some. God had rescued them and provided for them. Had they forgotten? And he reminds them with just a few key points that should spark memories and stories. This should help them to know who they belong to and what God has done.
The Israelites respond. They, of course, don’t understand. They show up to worship. They give. They sacrifice. They do all the right things. Their motions are correct. Their actions are following the law. They want to know what more could God possibly want? What was he expecting of them? What more could he possibly ask? And they do this with dialogue which is over the top. They want to know when is it enough for God. They want to know if they give all of this, will it ever be enough.
And God responds. The problem isn’t their actions, it’s their intentions, it’s their heart. They are doing what they are doing without real meaning. They are not really doing all of this for God. They are selfishly going through the motions. And so God responds with words they were not expecting. He didn’t want them to offer more sacrifices. He didn’t want them to show up for worship more or sing more songs. He wanted them to change their heart. He wanted their heart to be reflected in what they did. And this looked like 3 things:
They were to do justice. This looked like caring for the widows, the orphans, and the strangers. It looked like caring for the least of these. It was about not hoarding all of the resources and leaving others out. It was about giving and not receiving. It was about following the commandments God had given them.
They were to love kindness. This word has deep meaning beyond what the English language can contain. It is a merciful, loving kindness which is a characteristic of God. He wants them to love one another as he has loved them. He wants them to be merciful and loving. Their kindness should come from a place of deep love.
They were to walk humbly with God. Walking with God was the key to all of this. They had walked on their own. They had gone through the motions but without the heart of following God. They had not been walking with God through all of this. If they had, they would have done justice and loved mercy. They would have been doing the right things because that’s what God wanted.
To walk humbly with God is the starting place of it all. We all have a story. God has been with us in so many ways. We tend to forget this when all is going well. We can easily get off track. We can take our focus off of God and put it on the wrong things. But coming back to the core – walking with God – is vital. When we walk with God, we begin to do justice because God is a just God. We begin to love others because God is love. We change when we truly walk humbly with God.We could all use some humble walking with God. That probably takes some redirection and some deep seeking. It might take some admitting we are wrong and coming back to where he is. May God find us not simply going through the motions, but seeking him with all that we are and all that we do
This morning, I am really enjoying watching the snow fall. While I was outside, it was as if it was wrapping me up. To me, it is beautiful. No, I am not a cold weather person, but I am enjoying the snow. But it is really beautiful because I have warm clothes to wear when I have to go outside. It is beautiful because I can watch it from my window inside a warm home. It is beautiful because while it covers the yard, I do not have to travel anywhere today.
When I was growing up, my Grandpa (Mitchell) hated snow. We were not allowed to talk about it or get excited about it when we were around him. He absolutely detested snow and any celebration was banned. But there was a reason. Grandpa worked for the State. And when it snowed, he had to spend extra hours out in the snow clearing roads and pathways for people. Snow meant little to no sleep for days and long unbearable hours in equipment he had to work on and with. Snow was not beautiful to him.
It reminded me of how beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. And it also reminded me how God beholds us and calls us his beloved. We are beautiful in his sight. We are loved by our Creator. We may not always act beautiful or do beautiful things, but we are beautiful to him because we are his. How amazing is it to know you are beheld and adored! You are his workmanship. May we see ourselves as God sees us today. And that IS beautiful!
SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY 
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