"Good Morals Verses A Good Heart"

                                         

When you have a good heart

You help too much

You trust too much

You love too much 

And it always seems you hurt the most

August 30 2009 Readings:  Matthew 15: 1-20

Which of the two would you say is the most important the brain or the heart?  Why?

Medical science will tells us without your heart the body ceases to exist, death is certain when the heart ceases to function.  Not so with the brain, it is possible for you to be physically still alive, but completely brain dead.   I’m sure we all know or at least think we know somebody with this condition.  

A little girl asked her mother, "Where did people come from?"

Her mother answered, "God made the first man Adam and his wife Eve and they had children and we are all part of their family.      

A couple of days later she asked her father the same question.

The father answered, "Men of Science tell us that we all started out as monkeys, from there we evolved into humans."

The confused little girl returned to her mother and said, "Mommy, how is it possible that you told me that we were created by God, and Daddy said we came from monkeys?"

The mother answered, "Well, dear, it is very simple. I told you about my side of the family and your father told you about his."  

The heart of a church can be found in its mission, and its mission is, to love and serve others.  The heartbeat of any family, society or church can be found in its respond to care for one another.     Matthew 5:8   “tells us Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

Rev. David Chadwell posed a rather interesting question:  Which would you prefer for a next-door neighbor: a person of excellent habits {morals} or a person with a good heart? Which would you prefer for a good friend, for a husband, wife or child: a person of excellent habits {morals} or a person with a good heart?

It is wonderful to have a neighbor who conscientiously cares for his property while respecting your property. It is wonderful to have a friend who always treats you with consideration. It is wonderful to be married to a husband who always is thoughtful and courteous, or to a wife who always is gracious in her comments and deeds.   It is wonderful to have a son or daughter who shows respect for others and uses good manners.  As wonderful as these situations are, none of these behaviors can compare to having a good heart.   When you discuss good behavior, you are discussing the quality of a person's self-control, their moral or ethical performance, their manners etc.  May I suggest that when you discuss a good heart, you are discussing the quality of the person.  A person of good heart is authentic and holds the ability to love and treat others in the same way they treat themselves.  If we only look at how others keep up personal appearances, follows the rules and traditions of family, society, community or church, we can be misled.   Jesus wants us to look deeper into our own heart, and take note of how we love and care for self and our neighbor.   

This is the focus of today’s Scripture.   Pharisees and teachers have come down from Jerusalem and they are gathered around Jesus but have been eying his disciples. The disciples, it seems, are eating lunch.  It appears that they are too hungry to care about religious ritual, or it may be that they have not been schooled in observing the Jewish ritual of washing before eating, they immediately sit down to eat with unwashed hands. 

The Pharisees cease upon this ceremonial oversight and question Jesus:  Why don’t your disciples live according to the traditions of the elders and clean their hands before they eat?  This is all that Jesus needs to hear in order to make his point as he turns to these lawmakers and teachers saying in essence, "Why do you not live according to the traditions of God and cleanse your hearts?"  Here Jesus is very pointed in his reply suggesting that good manners and following religious rituals that have been created by man will not produce a cleansed heart.  This poses a question for us today doesn’t it.  We all know someone who has a generous and loving heart, but is not interested in the ritual of Sunday morning worship, does this make them spiritually unclean, or somehow unworthy of God’s amazing grace?     In Matthew 15:  7 Jesus calls the religious leaders hypocrites because of their observance of man made rules and standards, while ignoring the great commandment.  Can you recite it with me?    “LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

May I suggest that there is no standard for Sin, a mistake is a mistake and no one escapes making mistakes.  Yet there are those who feel because of who they are, their present circumstances, their past, or some rules, traditions or regulations of their Christian denomination, they are not worthy.  It may be because of an unspoken dress code, the acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior, or because they smoke, drink, curse swear, gamble a little on the lotto, or have covered their body in tattoos, my question here is:  who has set the standards for worthiness here?  Jesus is pushing his listeners to the limits, here folks, especially when we in the church profess to know that God accepts all, and loves all unconditionally, we need to be that visible example.   Jesus accepted persons from all walks of life, those with different religious backgrounds, people off the streets, tax collectors, thieves, prostitutes, the poor, and especially the rejected minority and yes just regular middle class folk, those in the trades or business, fisherman, farmers and yes the rich man too.   No one was or is excluded from his camp of unconditional love and forgiveness.        

The question we must consider is; have we fallen into the same trap as the Pharisees, judging others by society standards or the observance of religious rule and ritual.   Is this message from the Gospel for us in the church today?   It can be just as easy for us to fall into a good habit and leave behind a good heart.  Jesus warns the Pharisees, not to prefer creeds, deeds or rituals over God’s way of unconditional love and acceptance.   James 4:8 we read “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, and purify your hearts,”   How a person appears on the outside, in dress, with good deeds, attending worship regularly isn't necessarily what lies within the heart.   Our society has been trained to look for the polished, the shiny, that shows quality.   True quality cannot be seen by looking at the exterior only.  We can make the mistake of judging others by physical condition, their way of life, their dress, and their morals displays which can distract us from seeing the qualities which lies within a good heart.  God is not just looking for good Creeds and Deeds, but for clean hands and a clean Heart.   Jesus gives us the one great commandment which will cleanse the heart of anyone who follows it.  Luke 10: 27 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”  Let us Pray.

                               "WE ARE ALL WORTHY"  take a moment and watch. 

All We Need Is "LOVE"

Religion does not have a patent on LOVE 
Nor can Religious Law or Church Doctrine contain it 
Sim Rushton 

Questions:   We often used the word training when it comes to animals but what about people.  Do we train people?  

Can you think of some positive ways you personally have been trained?  What about some negative Ways?    Have you ever personally felt restricted and confined or inadequate because of your training?   

Aug 23 2015 Hebrews 12: 18-29  Psalm 7  Luke 13: 10-17

Healing in Jesus time was consider part of the professional work of a Doctor and practising ones profession on the Sabbath was prohibited by religious law.  Therefore the great physician Jesus was breaking the law and was looked upon with scorn.   When Jesus confronts the leaders of the church with the truth about their abuse of the law, they are humiliated.  Every time Jesus shows up and begins to preform acts of compassionate love or speaks the truth it causes discomfort and division.  Isn't it ironic that every time truth shows up, instead of embracing it, most people, especially the religious both then and now want to shut it up.  Do you suppose, that there is something to this old saying “the truth hurts”.   Or is it a myth, because the scriptures tell us that the truth was not meant for hurt, the truth was meant to set you free.    

Listen to this story:    

A young man had found a baby eagle in the forest which had fallen out of its nest.  The man took the eagle home and placed it among the fowl, ducks and turkeys on his farm and gave it chicken food to eat.    Five years had passed when a naturalist had heard stories of an extraordinary chicken and so came to see it for himself.   The bird had grown into a magnificent creature with a wing span of over 12 feet.  “That is not a chicken” said the naturalist, “this is an eagle.”   No said the man, “I’ve trained it to be a chicken and it will never fly.”   “That’s ridiculous” said the naturalist  “Once an eagle always an eagle,  besides  it has the heart of an eagle and I can prove it to you.”       So he picked up the bird perched it on his arm and said, “You are an eagle, you belong to the sky not the earth, stretch your wings and fly.   But the birds head remained looking down, its saw the chickens eating and so, jumped to the ground and began plucking and eating.   “See” said the man “it’s a chicken and it will never fly”.   That naturalist would not give in and asked to take the bird up to the roof top and try again.  But the bird head looking down saw the chickens eating and jumped to the roof, then the ground and went back to plucking and eating.   “See I told you so” said the man “It is a chicken and it will never fly.”  The naturalist stunned, but not ready to give up, ask if he could try one more time.  So, the next morning he took the bird and went into the wilderness to a mountain top.  The sun was just beginning to rise above the peek.   He placed the magnificent bird on his arm and said “you are an eagle; you belong to the sky not the ground, spread your wings and fly”.  The bird trembling with its head still looking down, back and forth, but no one was there.   The naturalist gently lifted its head skyward so it could see and feel the brilliance of the morning sun, then all of a suddenly, with the screech of an eagle, the bird took to flight, higher and higher until it went out of sight. 

Although it had been tamed as a chicken, it really was and always will be an eagle. Now comes the question folks, and this might seem strange to you at first, but can anyone here relate to the eagle in the story.   How many of us have felt restricted, confined or held back by our training?  Never really feeling that we able to spread our wings and take to flight, never really experiencing our real full potential.  You may think this an odd question because when we think of training we usually think of an animal or pet, not humans.  But think about it folks, how many of the women here today can claim to have trained your husbands?  Right!!! or vice versa.      We all have been and do train ourselves and in many ways don’t we?    We train kids to ride a bike, play hockey, and compete athletically.  We train doctors, lawyers, teachers etc.   We can also train ourselves in the forming of habits, some good some bad.  TV and magazine advertisers love the fact that we can be trained. Trained to buy their technological wonders, clothing like Nike, Puma, Roots, Polo products like Mary K, auto-mobiles like Ford, Chrysler, Chev, Toyota you name it, we have been trained.  Now I will go one step further to say that most of us have had religious training of some sort, some bad, some good.   

A lady described  for me a therapy session where she was asked this question: “have you ever consider this, that everything your mother, father or your religion taught you might not be right or true?  Now for those who cannot get beyond their earthly parents as their true parent or claim that their religious doctrine is the way, this might be a hard pill to swallow.  But folks may I suggest to you that there is only one true parent, your heavenly parent, creator of us all and there is only one true way, and "the way" is love, shown to us through the divine light of the Christ.   

Before Christianity, Jesus offered and shows his disciples by example the WAY of God and in the process his followers became known as "People Of The Way"   This way of loving people was and still is so radical, no religion can claim to own the patent and it cannot not be contained by religious laws or church doctrine.  Gods love is not about following a set of rules, belonging to the right religion, doing good or about becoming successful in the eyes of the world.  It is all about being trained to love as we are loved, without conditions, not strings attached, a love full of forgiveness and grace.   This wisdom gave Jesus the insight and ability to love and forgive all.   Jesus understood that and we too must be enlightened by His love and forgiveness so it can free us from the bondage of Christian denominations, religious laws and church doctrine.   Jesus was trained and programmed to bridge religious barriers and to love not matter what.  It was because of his love that He broke the rules, healed the bent women and that same love can heal and restore you, and  His truth can set you free . 
Want to understand the root of this training.  Paul wrote about it in 1 Corinthians 13:  read it, study it, take in its wisdom, it is all about love.  There you shall find the attributes of your heavenly parent which brings real love, real peace and real contentment into your life and it will spill over into your family and your other relationships no matter what, be you poor or rich.  May I suggest that this is the only training we need, to know who’s we are and to love as we have been loved.  
                                                ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE 

"FORGIVE THEM" Are you Kidding Me!!

                                   

The Gift of Forgiveness is for you! 

FORGIVENESS does not excuse behaviour,

Nor can it change what they have done.

FORGIVENESS can prevent your compassionate heart 
from turning to stone. 

Sim Rushton

Aug 16, 2015   Luke 11: 1-5 - 2 Samuel 11 David and Bathsheba,

“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”  Some translations use the word 

trespasses instead of debtors.  We recite that line as part of the Lord’s Prayer most Sunday 

mornings in our church, and yet no matter how familiar it is, that phrase, those words, they 

often stick in my throat, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”    It reminds me 

that God expects me to forgive myself and others just as He has freely forgiven. But I think it’s safe 

to say that for most of us, our track record when it comes to extending grace and 

forgiveness to self and people who have wronged us is probably quite mixed.  Listen to this modern

day parable. 

One very hot day, two companions were walking along a sea shore.  A heated argument broke out during the conversation and one companion slapped the other on the face. The slap brought with it, a deep and painful affliction.  The recipient stopped, bent down and wrote this in the sand, “today my best friend slapped me in the face”.    As they continued their journey, they came upon a quiet cove and decided to cool off in the clam waters.  The one who had been slapped became caught in an unseen strong current, drifted and began to drown.  The other companion swam out to save the afflicted one.  When they got safely to shore, the afflicted one wrote this on a stone, “today my best friend saved my life .”  Perplexed the other said “after I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now you write on stone, why”? When your best friend hurts you, write with regret in sand, where the winds of time can slowly erase it.  When your best friend does you good, write with gratitude on a stone where the winds of regret have little or no effect and it will always be there to carry you through.   

We cannot change our past but we can learn to forgive ourselves and others.   What we can change is our future.   A future drenched in gratitude will last a lifetime, and gratitude will become your companion for eternity.

Often I am asked this question: What if it’s too late to extend forgiveness, because the person who hurt me, is dead or gone? What do I do if the person I hurt  is no longer around to hear my apology or my plea for forgiveness? 
May I make a suggestion here: either way share your burden of guilt with someone 

whom you can trust, someone non judgemental.  Now I know that many of you might 

think that someone would be hard to find but there is always someone we can share 

with.  Be specific and completely candid.   Use Prayer to confess openly the wrong 

and the guilt you have been carrying.    Prayer and the presence of an understanding 

heart, meaning some affirming, a non-judgemental individual can provide the relief 

you so desperately need.    Folks we need each other, we were meant for each other 

and it started with the first couple,  in the very beginning, it was and still is the will of 

God.   We need to learn on each other.  click and listen                           “Lean On Me”

Lets use the example of King David from 2 Samuel chapter 11.  Take some time to read the 

story and refresh your memory.  After David had indirectly caused the death of Bathsheba’s 

husband, Uriah, his guilt was enormous.  Adultery, a child out of wedlock on top of murder was crushing him. 

Finally, he broke his silence and sought God’s forgiveness, but Uriah 

was not there to hear his confession.  He had been dead almost a year. The broken king 

David, called on the prophet Nathan and poured out his guilt, Nathan assures David that his 

sin was forgiven, but reminds David that forgiven sin will not eradicate the consequences of 

his actions.   We too must not make that mistake of thinking that repentance will eradicate 

our past, for the scars of the past will crop up from time to time, and we will still need those 

reminders written in stone to get us through.    

Death or geographical distance can seem to disrupt the critical act of reconciliation between 

two people.   But let us never forget that God’s grace is greater than anything that can 

separate us from each other, even death.   It is never too late to surrender your burden, 

asking for or offering forgiveness.   Remembering that Jesus invites us to come “Come all 

who are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”  You see, sometimes the suffering we 

encounter is not necessarily all for us. GOD sometimes restores us and allows our 

sufferings to become a testament of His Greatness to encourage and lead others to Him.  

Part of loving God means praising Him because he does the work of forgiveness with you.  

The timing must be right, your whole heart must be in it, you must be ready, then your 

surrendered can and will take place and you will fell the the lightness as your burden is 

lifted.  A person who is truly reconciled to God and others will not have to say anything nor 

is there any need to go out of their way to show it, for they will began to speak from the 

heart, and the heart will reveal their truly awakened character.