The Rest of Contentment
1. Good
morning: Let’s pray. O Lord, may the words of my mouth and the
meditations of our hearts be pleasing to You O Lord, our Rock and our
Redeemer. Amen.
2. Opening
Comments: I’ve missed being in the
Pulpit what with Dns Dave and Jimmy and Fr. Eric you have all sorts of options
every Sunday! Anyway I’m sure that
you’ll be glad to know that it’s me from now until the end of the year with one
or two exceptions.
Our Scripture readings for today are rich fare from
which to select a sermon. Did anyone
pick up on a theme in these readings?
Yes, there was the obvious theme of God’s judgment over
self-interested religious leaders. Did
anyone pick up on that?
In our First reading from the prophet Malachi we hear
God saying:
For I am a great king,” says the LORD Almighty, “and my name is to be
feared among the nations.
Mal. 2:1
“And now this admonition is for you, O priests.
Mal.
2:2 If you do not listen, and if you do
not set your heart to honor my name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a
curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed
them, because you have not set your heart to honor me.
We also see Christ’s indictment of the scribes and Pharisees in
these words from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 23. In these verses we hear Jesus warning his
listeners to follow the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees but don’t do what
they do. They were hypocrites
Matt. 23:3 But be careful about following them.
They talk a good line, but they don’t live it. They don’t take it into their
hearts and live it out in their behavior. It’s all spit-and-polish veneer.
Matt. 23:4 ¶ “Instead of giving you God’s Law as
food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of
rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in
watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn’t think of lifting a finger
to help. 5 Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer
shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. 6 They love to sit at the
head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions,
Matt. 23:7 preening in the radiance of public
flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called ‘Doctor’ and
‘Reverend.’ 8 ¶ “Don’t let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal
like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. 9
Don’t set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to
do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else
should carry the title of ‘Father’; you have only one Father, and he’s in
heaven. 10 And don’t let people maneuver you into taking charge of them.
There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ. 11 ¶ “Do you want
to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant.
Matt.
23:12 If you puff yourself up, you’ll get
the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your
life will count for plenty.
The New International Version of the Bible puts it this
way in the closing verse:
“The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but
whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Obviously Christ is
reminding his listeners that leaders in His Kingdom are to be servant to the
people they lead. Pope John Paul
understood this when he referred to himself as “Servant to the Servants.”
But Jesus didn’t hold back
in indicting the religious people who abused their calling. He even went on to challenge his listeners to “call no man father.” Now I don’t want to get sidetracked defending
why I am called “Father” in apparent defiance of this prohibition so I have
prepared a 5 page “White Paper” addressing this concern and if you’re interested in
knowing why we, together with Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Anglicans,
call our pastors “Father” this paper if available for you in the Narthex after
our Worship Service.
While initially I
was tempted to focus in on this clear indictment of abusive religious leaders I
soon found myself drawn to the second focus on our readings.
Did anyone pick
up on it?
Let’s see who picks up on
it first as I read from our Psalm reading – Psalm
131 and our Second Reading from the New Testament
Book of 1Thessalonians chapter 2.
Please turn to Psalm 131.
Psa. 131:1
¶ My heart is not proud, O LORD, my
eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too
wonderful for me. 2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a
weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3
O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.
I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its
mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.
I want us to reflect on these words this morning for they can bring each and every one of us to a new place of peace.
(Ask Kevin to show shots of mothers holding their babies)
These image
are very unlike the image of the fretful pompous, censorious religious leaders
elbowing their way into the best public places, sitting at the table of the
most important people, being given public accolades from their pious lives.
This same
theme occurs in our Second Reading from 1Thessalonians chapter 2 beginning at
verse 7:
1Th. 2:7 but we were gentle among you, like a
mother caring for her little children.
This is the
picture of the godly leader – like a mother caring from her little
children. The Message paraphrase puts it
this way:
1Th.
2:7 We weren’t aloof with you. We took you
just as you were. We were never patronizing, never condescending, but we cared
for you the way a mother cares for her children. 8 We loved you dearly.
Not content to just pass on the Message, we wanted to give you our hearts. And
we did.
This
is the image of the mature Christian.
Jesus referred to such a person – such a leader - as a “Good Shepherd.”
– the good shepherd who willing gives his or her life for the flock – not the
hireling who runs at the first attack!
Listen
to the words of the true leader:
"Lord, my
heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great
matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted
myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother. My soul is even as a weaned
child." Psalm 131:1-2.
Let’s explore what we’re
seeing here.
We clearly
see here the picture of contentment and humble trust – perfect rest.
King David said
these words but what was it, which so humbled his heart, and took him off from
doting upon the world's grandeur, and from delighting himself in present
enjoyments?
David said
these words after a terrible humbling time when God showed him the vanity and
emptiness of the world’s seductions so that he was wholly weaned from them. So
he says:
Psa. 131:1 ¶ GOD, I’m not trying to rule the roost, I don’t want to be king of
the mountain. I haven’t meddled where I
have no business or fantasized grandiose plans. 2 I’ve kept my feet on
the ground, I’ve cultivated a quiet heart. Like a baby content in its mother’s
arms, my soul is a baby content.
"I have
behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is
even as a weaned child."
God had made David’s heart as a weaned
child to all worldly things."
Do
you have a weaned heart to the seductions of the world?
What is “a
weaned heart?"
Let me tell you what it’s not
first . . .
It’s not to be without the comforts
and contentments of the world. It’s possible to have much of the world—and yet
be weaned from the world—as David did here. He had riches in abundance, honor
in abundance, he was the greatest man in the kingdom—and yet his soul was
as a weaned child.
Many may have little
of the world—and yet their hearts are not weaned. And many may have much
of the world—and yet be weaned from the world.
It’s not to slight and undervalue our
enjoyments;
for they’re a real mercy from God. They’re gifts from above, the noble effects
of the bounty of providence.
To be as a weaned
child is to be utterly content, supremely humble and
ultimately teachable.
Contentment: To be as a weaned child, is to be content in every
condition of life.
Humble: To be as a weaned child, is to
be HUMBLE. None are so humble as
little children, they don’t aim at great things.
And finally a
weaned child is TEACHABLE. None so responsive, none so teachable as
children.
This morning
you and I are being reminded that God’s goal for our lives is for us to become
as weaned children in His protective arms – weaned from all of the seductions
of the world and content to rest in the arms of our God.
Application: As I reflected upon all of this I was struck
by the fact that that image spoke to David and his listeners but I fear that it
doesn’t resonate with us.
The feeling of
contentment is about as far from the modern mindset as you can get. It seems to me that the average modern person
doesn’t want contentment – he or she wants more stimulation, more things, more
or everything.
But I’m
convinced that this image is foundational to our souls. St. Augustine recognized this when he wrote,
“God, we are restless until we rest in you.”
Is your soul
restless within you or can you relate to those images of weaned children resting
in the arms of their mothers?
“O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, . . . how often I have longed to gather your children
together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not
willing. Matt. 23:37
We resist the
call to become weaned from our restlessness – to become content in the
sovereign care of our God.
Today God is
saying something that may – just may – resonate with some of us. To us He is calling us back into his arms but
first he must wean us from the milk – the pabulum – of our obscene consumer
driven culture.
Please close
your eyes and imagine yourself as a weaned child in the safe and secure embrace
of Jesus. He says to us ‘I will never
leave you nor forsake you – no matter what you say or do I will always be here
with open arms.
Come to me –
come to me and Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls. Matt.
11:29
Let us pray . . .
