"When EGO Gets the Best of You"

         

          Jesus said:  “My Kingdom is not of this world.” What do you think he meant?

Nov 25, 2018       2 Samuel 23: 1-7   John 18: 33-37

As you heard the words of King David written in 2 Samuel this morning what picture of David comes to mind?  Is it of a humble fearless shepherd boy who is eager to slay the lion who would do harm to his flock, the shepherd boy who is eager and ready to face the giant Goliath?   A humble boy who puts his trust, wisdom and strength in the hands of the almighty, a boy who listens to God’s messenger the prophet and obeys his command, or do we hear something else coming from David’s words.     What did you hear?    A little egocentricity maybe.

In today society the word EGO has been portrayed as negative entity within humankind by many a writer, psychologists, and psychiatrists especially when “I” in me gets to big, giving a distorted understanding of oneself or the building up of a false self as some writers describe it.   Any world leaders come to mine?? 

  

Eckhart Tolle in his book the “The Power of Now” describes ego as an entity within humans and in order to survive it needs to be feed.  It doesn’t care what it feeds on, a positive or a negative feed is all the same to ego.  Your Ego has one goal, to survival and that requires feeding it.  Some of our World leaders today give us examples of Ego at its worst.   

What Kind David is telling us here in the first reading is not a lie and at first glance you may not see the ego feeding but if you look closer and read on to see his full story, you will see how David’s ego plays havoc in his later life. This is a common problem in much of our lives as well.  We sometimes like to build ourselves up or on the other hand often like to build up someone else.  Often thought of as a good thing to do now and again.  But the question is, when we do this, does it really build confidence and self-esteem or does it give us a false sense of who we or others really are.    

I’m not sure how familiar you are with the story of Moses, another great man from the bible.  In fact he is the most important prophet spoken of in Judaism.  Moses was to free the Jews from slavery in Egypt and take them to the Promised Land.  Yet even he falls prey to ego at the very end of his journey and is not to be the one who accompany the Jewish people into the Promised Land, it would be His brother Aaron.  Moses makes a very poor choice in the desert during the very last leg of the journey.  The people are dying of thrust.  Moses prays for deliverance.   After receiving instruction from God, Moses taps a might rock with his staff and water comes pouring out.  But his ego gets the best of him as he boasts “here is the water “I” give you.”  We too run great risks when we steal away God thunder.  We often do not see or know the circumstances ego is building around our own lives.   Especially when we take credit for our generosity or for the things we seemingly have achieved on our own, but let this illusion be exposed folks for no one every completely does anything on their own.  What’s the old saying “It takes two to -----------.

The fact that you have life, that you exist, is a gift from the one who creates life.   Your ability to do well for yourself or to do acts of goodness are blessings given to you by God.  Arrogance, and ego are full of their own punishment and can bring with them circumstances that create kayos in your or someone else’s life.  God in His infinite Grace has given us tools to combat such kayos: repentance and forgiveness.  These two things become precious gems l in the tool box of righteousness, meaning: when we learn from our mistakes, we will turn away from those things that create pain and suffering in our lives.  Repentance sets us free from our bondage to sin and forgiveness allows us another change to begin the work of doing what is right good and holy.  These two tools, repentance and forgiveness of self, become our pathway back to wholeness a place where we can start all over again.  Now Isn’t that GREAT!

    

Jesus is the master of wholeness, humbleness and obedient to His Father’s will, Jesus never misses the mark.   He illustrates this for us in the passages we read from John today.   Pilate speaks:  “I am a Roman not a Jew and it wasn’t the Romans who handed you over to me.   What have you done?   Here you can see he is trying to get Jesus’ goat.   Trying to anger him, to get to boast about himself or to show His so called hand of power or authority.   Jesus’ response confuses Pilate.  He doesn’t boast about his “Kingship” but carefully chooses His words saying:  “My Kingdom is not of this world”.   Meaning it is not a Kingdom that bows down to worldly power, wealth, greed, injustice, discrimination, or violence.  It is a not a kingdom of affliction, suffering and condemnation.   Because if that were true Jesus says, “my servants would fight to the death for me”.   In other words Jesus is describing a Kingdom free from waring violence, greed, material wealth, and controlled force over peoples for personal gain.  Jesus’ kingdom is a kingdom ruled by a humble servant King who is forgiving, loving, compassionate, with mind of God.  It is a Kingdom rooted in love, justice, mercy, and grace. Confirmation here can be found in Micha 6:8.  “What does the Lord require of You”
Two separate Kingdoms within the same world.  He also makes it clear in his statement that those who seek to serve Him would also be free from violence and oppression, that which is not found in Pilate’s worldly kingdom or the present Kingdoms of our modern world.         

Then Pilate finally gives in saying “You are a king then!    Jesus replies:  “You are right in saying I am a King Pilate.  In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to that truth.  Everyone who hears the truth, and accepts it listens to me.  The lyric of this song tell it all!    “There’s something about that name” 

I guess the question we are left to ponder with for the coming week might be this.  Have you surrendered your life to Jesus?  Have you taken Him into your heart so as to be a reflection of His ways in your family, your church, your community?  If you have, you have entered into His Kingdom and you to will be ruled to by the mind of God.  Your work then, is to help spread the Good News of the Gospel wherever you may be.  

"Are All Man Made Structures At Risk?"

                                               

Nov 18, 2018 Readings:  Hebrews 10: 11-14, 19-25, Psalm 150 VU p 874, Mark 13: 1-8

As the disciples walked out of the Temple in Jerusalem Jesus paused, looked back at the Temple and predicted, "Do you see all these great buildings. Not one stone will be left on another." To the disciples this was bedrock. Jerusalem was the foundation of everything they believed in.   Nothing could bring down these walls. "Look, teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!" they said to Jesus. 

We know today from history that the smallest stones in that structure weighed 2 to 3 tons. Many of them weighed 50 tons.  In fact the largest existing stone, is still part of the Wailing Wall, and you can see it today.  It is 12 meters in length or 360 feet and 3 meters high, or 36 feet and it weighs hundreds of tons! The stones were so immense that neither mortar nor any other binding material was used between the stones. Their stability was attained by the great weight of the stones. The walls towered over Jerusalem, well over 200 feet in one area history tells us. 

Do you think this passage is about the end times, a time when the world as they and we know it will come to its end, perhaps, but please do not stop there, for I believe that this was not Jesus’ only intent here.   I believe Jesus’ illustration was also challenging the very foundations of humankind, meaning the things they and we put our hopes, dreams and security in will not last, could they possibly be all for not. The things that we think are important for our future and are sometimes thought to be indestructible, as the old saying goes, solid as the rock or Gibraltar.   How many of you remember that saying, I believe it was the slogan for “Prudential life” in its hay day.  Well everything man made has its hay day folks, doesn’t it, but then change forces it to transform or come to its end. 

If we are honest with ourselves we know from experience that nothing resists the forces of change, that everything mankind has ever made no matter how well designed or built it was in the beginning, eventually crumbles under the weight of change. The earth is an organism birthed from the Universe, and it is programmed to evolve.  Even the very building we are sitting in this morning is being affected by the changes that our religion will have to face tomorrow.  We will either accept the change and be transformed or we die.  Yet our faith teaches there is one thing that never changes, and we can trust it to guide us through change.   It is the same yesterday, today and will be there for all our tomorrows.  What is it!  God’s unfailing unconditional love!  It does not change and it is there for all His children, not just a few, nor for a chosen race, but for all God’s children.  This is where our belief and trust belongs, with God’s unfailing love, I will never forget or leave you for I have carved your name on the palm of my hand, Isaiah 49.  "I will never Forget You" 

Church buildings are closing their doors all around us as I speak and the status quo does not seem to know where these changes will take us.  But there are some who are facing this truth today and are beginning to take steps towards rebuilding their future.   “Is the Christian religion and its churches as we now know and understand them at risk?   Of course they are if we take Jesus seriously when he tells his disciples that the stones that hold their and our lives together will all eventually crumble.   We are mortal and eventually under the weight of stress or age we too will be torn down.  We don’t know when but our bodies will return to the dust from whence they came.  May I suggest that Jesus was indicating that all man made structures and systems are doomed to fail the final test.  The stones in what we think the foundations of our lives are secure will be the dust of tomorrow.  You know this might be a good time for us to stop and contemplate our own mortality or the mortality of our church congregations. To start, we need to ask ourselves these questions:  What can we consider as stones in our foundation and how does our connection to these stones affect our relationship with God?   We have a stone of wealth.  How much emphasis is put on wealth today?   How much of our time is dedicated to securing buildings and the wealth to maintain them.  Take a look around at the homes that are being built today or the churches that had been built in the past and the cost of maintain them.  We have a stone often referred to as church doctrine and worship.   A stone of possessions, all that we have.  A stone of accomplishment, all we have done.  A stone of seeking to be loved by our families and friends.   A stone of personal importance in your life or the life of your church.    

Imagine them as the stones in the building Jesus and the disciples were looking at.  A building containing thousands of stones, stones which represent those things that we seek out, those things we turn to for a sense of permanence, stability, for comfort, for peace of mind, all built into a building that, when there is trouble in our lives we make our place of refuge, and when there is joy we make the place for our thanks offering. "Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down." A hard image to get hold of is it not?   We, just like disciples, want to reject these thoughts.  For some - the question is - how could this happen?  For others the image is a challenge - something to work with not to resist.   Here we must learn to work together not as individuals.  God has not abandoned us, God has not removed our ability to bounce back by taking risks.  In fact when we have come to the edge of all that we know and are about to step off into the darkness once again, we can trust that one of two things will happen.  On the other side of our darkness we will find the light, something solid for us to stand on, or we will be taught to fly but we will not be forsaken or abandoned.  That we can trust in thanks be to God   

"Give until it Hurts"

What does the old saying “give until it hurts” mean to you? 

We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.

When you learn, teach. When you get, give.

What is true generosity?  Could be summed up like this “You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing.”

Never get tired of doing little things for others, sometimes those little things occupy the biggest parts of their hearts.

Nov 11, 2018 Readings:  Psalm 127   Mark 12: 38-44

I would like to share two observations from the reading found in Mark today: 

At first reading, today's gospel passage from Mark appears to have a lot to do with money.  Jesus is watching people put their offerings into the money box.  There were several boxes in the temple where money could be placed.  Some were for collecting the temple tax from Jewish males, others were for freewill offerings.  It was the freewill offering box that catches Jesus attention.  He notes that there is one who gives more than all the rest.  May I suggest here that what Jesus is trying to point out to his disciples and to us is that in giving it is not about the amount, for there are others who give much more than this widow gave.  The value of a gift is not determined by its amount, but by the spirit in which it is given.  A gift given grudgingly or for recognition loses its value for you.  This teaching is very difficult for many to achieve not only those within the church but for many outside the church as well. 

I think most of us would agree that it is good to give and we give generously.   Giving of our time, our talent or our money is good thing to do.  Not only for others but also for ourselves.  Giving offers hope to the recipient and it also helps to builds within us faith and trust in the promises of God.  The teaching is We shall receive proportionately, according to our giving, how we love and forgive.   Give generously is the call of the scriptures.  Blessed are those who can give without remembering, for it is in the remembering that the gift can lose its value for you.   And if we take what Jesus says to his disciples about the widow seriously, we might even agree that giving till it hurts is good, in fact, giving till it has gone way past hurting may even be better.   Strange concepts not only for the rich of Jesus’ day but for us also.  We must admit though, to give all, we would have to give until it hurts.  Not many and I must include myself here, are willing to trust God that far, at least not yet, but we are working on it, aren’t we.  

However, I believe that there is more to today's gospel than just the amount of money given in this situation.  Jesus isn’t condemning those who are making their offering from their abundance but, because Jesus is identifying himself with this poor widow and noting that she is giving of her poverty, this makes that status quo uncomfortable.  The poor giving more than we?   This financially poor women has given all that she had.   She held back nothing for herself.  Now, no one I know, gives their all without some understanding or reassurance, that somehow they will be taken care of, that they will be replenished.   As I studied this piece of scripture the thought that came to me here was; can I trust God enough to give myself back to that which created me?  Can I give all of myself.?   May I suggest here that this women is not only generous but that she has riches greater than any amount of money, time or talent, what she has is, a faith rich in trust.   You think about this folks, no one could give their all without blind trust.  She must truly believe that she will continue to be provided for even after she has given her last penny.   Now that’s Faith!!  

The challenge for those of us who claim to be faithful followers of Jesus, especially when it comes to our giving’s is this:  It’s not about the amount of the time, talent or moneys we give, the most important thing is, do we have the faith to believe that we too will be taken care of even if we were to give all we have, even our lives.  Many will be remembered today for giving the ultimate sacrifice.  But not only the soldier for we must remember the police officer, the firefighter, the rescue worker, volunteers, doctors, nurses, pastors, priests and everyday folk who have also offer their lives for the sake of others.  We must never forget. 

Here is the other interesting observation I would like to add to the story today.  May I suggest here that by identifying with the poor, Jesus becomes very unpopular with the rich and the middles class of his day.  Why is this?   Because he is consistently bringing to the attention of the status quo the social gospel, which include racism, injustice, the conditions of the poor, the sick and marbleized outcast folk of his day.   This may sound ironic but whenever people today begin to identify with the social gospel and the poor of the world, it brings light our responsibilities concerning same.  At first they are lifted to hero status like Jesus was, but it doesn’t last long before all that changes.   Once the changes or giving begins to interfere with the status quo comfort zones, monies power or lifestyles you may get labelled as did the apostles Paul, Peter, Thomas, or in our modern day a Martin Luther King, Gundi, a Nelson Mandela, Desman Tutu and what happens to them- they are gotten rid of, jailed crucified or assassinated or excommunicated.   This is the fate of those who give until it really hurts.  Jesus knew this first hand.   You or I may not be called upon to go to war and offer ourselves for the injustices of our world.   You might not be called upon to march in Tiananmen Square, or to go to India and fight for rights of young women to get an education, but there is lots of opportunity for all of us to give and offer ourselves right in our own church, school, our town, village or city. Yes it is risky business folks but someone has to have the courage to offer.  Remembering that true giving has nothing to do with the size or the amount of the gift, but by the spirit in which it is given.

 We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.

May God bless you in your giving’s.   

"LOVE"

“Love”  by Richard Rohr

The Most Essential Thing
Sunday, October 28, 2018

The most powerful, most needed, and most essential teaching is always Love. Love is our foundation and our destiny. It is where we come from and where we’re headed. As St. Paul famously says, “So faith, hope, and love remain, but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).

My hope, whenever I speak or write, is to help clear away the impediments to receiving, allowing, trusting, and participating in a foundational Love. God’s love is planted inside each of us as the Holy Spirit who, according to Jesus, “will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you” (John 14:26).

Love is who you are. When you don’t live according to love, you are outside of being. You’re basically not real or true to yourself. When you love, you are acting according to your deepest being, your deepest truth. You are operating according to your dignity. For a simple description of the kind of love I am talking about, let’s just use the word outflowing. This will become clearer as we proceed.

All I can do is remind you of what you already know deep within your True Self and invite you to live connected to this Source. John the Evangelist writes, “God is love, and whoever remains in love, remains in God and God in them” (1 John 4:16). The Judeo-Christian creation story says that we were created in the very “image and likeness” of God—who sets the highest bar for this kind of outflowing love (Genesis 1:26-27). Out of the Trinity’s generative and infinitely flowing relationship, all of creation takes form, mirroring its Creator in its deepest identity.

We have heard this phrase so often that we don’t get the existential shock of what “created in the image and likeness of God” is saying about us. If this is true, then our family of origin is divine. It is saying that we were created by a loving God to also be love in the world. Our core is original blessing, not original sin. Our starting point is “very good” (Genesis 1:31). If the beginning is right, the rest is made considerably easier, because we know and can trust the clear direction of our life’s tangent.

We must all overcome the illusion of separateness. It is the primary task of religion to communicate not worthiness but union, to reconnect people to their original identity “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). The Bible calls the state of separateness “sin.” God’s job description is to draw us back into primal and intimate relationship. “My dear people, we are already children of God; what we will be in the future has not yet been fully revealed, and all I do know is that we shall be like God” (1 John 3:2).

Henceforth, all our moral behavior is simply “the imitation of God.” First observe what God is doing all the time and everywhere, and then do the same thing (Ephesians 5:1). And what does God do? God does what God is: Love. God does not love you if and when you change. God loves you so that you can change!