Ordinary Time, Summer 07

Ordinary Time, Summer 07

Cycle C, Proper 10

July 15, 2007

Title: In your mouth and in your heart

Speaker: Linda

Song leader: Ernie

Worship leader: Linda

Texts: Deuteronomy 30:9-14; Psalm 25:1-10; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37

Deuteronomy 30:9 and the LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors, 30:10 when you obey the LORD your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 30:11 Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. 30:12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, "Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?" 30:13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?" 30:14 No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.

Psalm 25:1-10, CEV

I offer you my heart, Lord God, and I trust you.

Don’t make me ashamed or let enemies defeat me.

Don’t disappoint any of your worshippers,

but disappoint all deceitful liars.

Show me your paths and teach me to follow;

guide me by your truth and instruct me.

You keep me safe, and I always trust you.

Please, Lord, remember,

you have always been patient and kind.

Forget each wrong I did when I was young.

Show how truly kind you are and remember me.

You are honest and merciful,

and you teach sinners how to follow your path.

You lead humble people to do what is right

and to stay on your path.

In everything you do, you are kind and faithful

to everyone who keeps our agreement with you.

Colossians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 1:2 To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 1:3 In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1:4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 1:5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel 1:6 that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God.

1:7 This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant(,)…. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 1:8 and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 1:9 For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 1:11 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 1:13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 1:14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Luke 10:25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 10:26 He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" 10:27 He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." 10:28 And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live." 10:29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 10:30 Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 10:31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 10:32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 10:33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 10:34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 10:35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' 10:36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" 10:37 He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Contemporary quote:

In a full heart there is room for everything, and in an empty heart there is room for nothing. -- Antonio Porchia, Voices

Introduction: Caught ya being bad

There are many ways to slice and dice the way people are different from each other. Those of us who are fascinated by people-watching could easily come up with a multitude of categories…

Here are some I’ve noticed recently (I won’t clue you in as to what I’ve noticed in myself!):

There are those who sit at red lights

and impatiently rev and rock their cars

And those who sit in other gas-burning vehicles,

watching and judging

the rev-and-rockers wasting gas;

And then there are those on the sidewalk on foot or on bikes

who pound and punch the WALK buttons over and over…

There are those who carefully stuff plastic bags in their pockets

before walking their dogs and use them to clean up after them.

It’s been a while since I’ve noticed this happening.

But then there are those folks who stare off into space,

apparently not noticing that the animal

at the other end of their leash

is leaving a present on someone else’s lawn…

I’ve seen several of these recently.

I’ve also noticed those who are rude to the wait staff but sweet to their dates

and those who are rude to their dinner partners but sweet to the wait staff.

Interesting.

Notice how easy it is

to especially notice negative behavior?

Caught ya being good:

Paul, in his letter to the Colossians piggy backs on what his fellow disciple, Epaphras, has noticed about the Colossian Christians…

but he notices

the good stuff.

Paul starts his letter with his favorite greeting:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

Grace: undeserved good will.

Peace: the Jewish understanding of shalom, peace that includes all that contributes to a joyful, healed and abundant life in a gracious community.

And Paul, after sending them these huge concepts,

grace and peace

goes on to express his gratitude for them

and warmly affirm them:

In our prayers for you we always thank God,

the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus

and of the love that you have for all the saints,

because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.

You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth,

the [good news] that has come to you.

Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world,

so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves

from the day you heard it

and truly comprehended the grace of God.

So, Paul had heard this from Epaphras

who had observed the Colossians

and their growing faith and love and hope

and the fruit that it was bearing in the ways

that they lived their daily lives,

and, Paul goes on to say,

he [Epaphras] is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,

and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

The Boise Elementary Schools have a neat little tradition

with their Caught-ya’s:

when a school kid is “caught being good,”

they get a little slip of paper—a Caught-ya—

which is put in that day’s drawing for a reward.

It’s a nice way to affirm kids for thoughtful good citizenship.

Paul is doing a Caught-ya here;

he’s caught the Colossians living out of their faith, their love, their hope—

and the reward is in his ongoing blessing prayers for them.

Listen to his pastoral heart in this prayer:

For this reason, since the day we heard [of your fruitful lives],

we have not ceased praying for you

and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will

in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord,

fully pleasing to him,

as you bear fruit in every good work

and as you grow in the knowledge of God.

So here’s another way to categorize people:

there are those who catch you in negative behavior

and judge you for it—

and those who, like Paul,

catch you doing good and bless you for it,

who hold you in their prayers,

who offer care.

In your mouth and in your heart:

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator has been a helpful tool for me over the years and it offers a very practical template for categorizing people based on Jungian psychology. One of the four spectra that they use to help understand why people respond and act as we do is the extroversion/introversion spectrum.

It explains how people recharge, where different types get energy;

extraverts are the highly social folks

who gain energy in interactions with others;

introverts may also be social people but eventually they need solitude

in order to recharge.

Brain scans show that the actual neural pathways in the brain

are very different for each type;

extraverts respond to stimuli with a shorter,

more direct pattern of brain activity

allowing them to respond very quickly,

where introverts respond to the same stimulus

with a much longer neural pathway,

allowing them to produce a more nuanced, thought-through response—

but much more slowly.

Extraverts often discover what they think about something

as they talk about it

so talking it over, discussions are critically important to their process.

Introverts have to reach down deep inside--often when they’re alone--

to best figure out what they really think about a given subject.

Obviously, humanity needs both kinds of people,

the quick and the slow,

the first-responders and the long-term strategists.

It seems to me that the last verse in our Deuteronomy passage catches all of us, offers all of us

whatever type we are,

a “caught-ya.”

The gist of the passage is an affirmation of the Jewish conviction

that God’s word, God’s laws and commandments

are set up to ensure that we make the choices that lead to life…

that we experience abundant life and prosperity—shalom peace—

in all our undertakings…

and this is what gives God delight.

God’s gracious laws are not burdens;

In fact, God’s laws are given to us to prevent us

from struggling with the heavy burdens

and the loss of shalom, of abundant life

that sin inevitably lays upon us.

In fact, that is what defines sin;

in Jewish thought,

sin is what separates us from abundant life,

keeps us from experiencing the genuine wholeness of life and being

that shalom peace represents.

And, the writer of Deuteronomy points out, it’s not difficult to access this grace-filled word of God—you don’t have to go to heaven to find it, or cross the sea to search in distant lands for esoteric literature—

No, God’s word is very near to you:

It is in your mouth

and in your heart

for you to observe.

So, you extraverts:

when you find yourself speaking words of grace and peace

God’s word is very near to you;

It is in your mouth.

And you introverts:

When a grace-filled, peaceful response rises up from deep within,

God’s word is very near to you;

It is in your heart.

Mark Twain catches the simplicity of this; he said, “Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

Conclusion:

In your people-watching,

look for the opportunities to catch people doing good—

and silently pause to bless them, pray for them,

if you can, offer care.

But don’t stop there:

when you notice people doing scary or rude or hurtful things,

realize that they, too,

need to be blessed,

need loving nonjudgmental prayer,

need care.

Perhaps God put you in their path today to notice them

and silently respond with nonjudgmental, grace-filled compassion.

This is living out of the word,

living out of the gospel,

literally,

the good news of the grace of God.

This is a simple step to changing your life,

to become more fruitful, closer to the likeness of God in our psalm…

Patient, kind, forgiving, honest, merciful, faithful…

Let’s reread Psalm 25 in your bulletins together again: