I told you it was remarkably human.  How much does it resemble some of our actions with God?  God has given us Himself in the presence of His Spirit, promised He would guide us so that we would not venture out of the way He has for us (neither to the right nor to the left) without prompting us otherwise, and sometimes we instinctually go our own way.  Then we find ourselves bumping into the very thing He hoped to help us avoid.  Ever wonder why we do that?  I think it a simple assessment but hard to solve reality.  We simply trust ourselves more than we trust God, right up and until the time we find ourselves up against something.  Then we reach for the neck of God, hoping God won’t spurn us as we express our sorrow and ask for help once again.  Trust takes risk or we might even say, faith.

Thanks for the good and gracious responses to the current sermon series.  I hope I will see you this week in the place where God calls to us, shoulders us, nudges us and takes us back in our sorrow.

Blessings,
Pastor Mark

Lee Eclov, pastor of Village Church of Lincolnshire (Ill.), tells a story of over-hearing a father in his congregation speaking to his son Max.

Father:  “Max did you hear me calling you?”
Max:  “No, dad I didn’t hear you.”
Father:  “Maaaax, surely you must have heard me, most everyone in the church heard me calling you.”
Max:  “No, dad, I didn’t hear you call me at all.”
Father: “Well Max, let me ask you, how many times do you think you didn’t hear me calling you?”
Max:  “Hard to say dad, but not more than 3 or 4.”

Oops.  As cute as the story is, we can find ourselves in it too.  No matter our age, we can remember those times when a family member or especially a spouse called to us and our “selective hearing” let the call go in one ear and out the other.  Bill Cosby, in one of his comedy routines, spoke about teaching his sons about the “weapon” of selective hearing.  We can exhibit it when we believe an acknowledgment will bring responsibility to us, when we believe an answer would bring a hardship to us, when we believe an answer would cause us to change or even cause us to stop something we really like doing.  Selective hearing can drown out or help us ignore all of the calls we don’t want to answer and tune us to hearing all of the things we really want to hear.  We long to hear affirmation and we hate hearing words of challenge.

If we have a problem hearing from God, this too may be our issue.  We may, like Max, find a way to ignore God time and time again through our selective hearing, since we want avoid responsibility, avoid a hardship that might come to bear on us, avoid a challenge or an encouragement to change or stop doing something.  I heard a story this week from someone who said God had challenged a behavior exhibited on the heels of a learning experience in which the learning experience was intended to help everyone become more Christ-like in dealing with others.  After the learning, this person got into traffic, was offended by some crazy driver, said some things and gestured in such a way to let the other driver know the displeasure experienced, only to hear in that moment, “Well, that was really Christ-like.”  We can say lol, but the truth is, we’ve been there too and we are guilty.

What is it about us that makes us resist listening for God if it is not that?  Do we not want the pain of growth?  Do we not want the pain of humility?  Do we not want the challenge or responsibility?  What is it?  I am not sure there is an easy answer, and there is a good chance there is some of all that in every instance, depending on the circumstances under which we hear God.  Remember from last week, I said hearing from God means that we give God a place, the time and the pledge of obedience for hearing.  After that, God comes with a whisper, quiet and innocent, ready to cut through whatever we toss in front of God to prevent hearing something we didn’t like, even if it is good to hear it.

See you all soon, in the place where God “whispers to us in our pleasures and shouts to us in our pain.” (C.S. Lewis)
Pastor Mark

Next time you’re trying to exit the mall parking lot on a busy shopping day and some driver lets you in line in front of him, give thanks to God because, according to some new research, there’s a good chance that driver is a religious person.  But maybe, if the research is right, it’s that person’s fellow worshipers you should be thanking instead.

The study, conducted by Harvard professor Robert Putnam and Notre Dame Scholar David Campbell, will be published this year in their new book American Grace: How Religion Is Reshaping Our Civic and Political Lives. But they already unveiled some of their conclusions at a 2009 conference in Florida.  According to their studies, religious people are three to four times more likely to be involved in their community than nonreligious people. They’re more apt to work on community projects, belong to voluntary associations, vote in local elections, attend public meetings, and donate both time and money to public causes, including secular ones.

The studies also show that religious people are, in general, just “nicer.” They do good deeds, help both neighbors and strangers, give money to panhandlers and let others cut in front of them in line.  But here’s why you might want to thank the driver’s fellow worshipers instead of God: Putnam and Campbell say the reason religious people are nicer and are better citizens isn’t because of religious teaching, per se. They’re behaving well not because they’re trying to secure a place in heaven or because they’re afraid of divine judgment; rather, they’re that way because of the relationships they have in their places of worship.

As I write this, I wanted to thank you for the way you all continue to be a blessing to Western Hills UMC and to me.  Your responses to the Trustees in the replacement of our air conditioning chiller has been extraordinary.  We have gifts and pledges from 45 givers and the total now stands at nearly $20,000.  If we do the math, it means that a number of us have gone over and above the asked for amount, which will ensure we meet the goal to finish that project without debt.  The bid has been accepted and a contractor has been selected, with work to begin as soon as a new chiller arrives.

You have continued to be faithful in your attendance and giving of your time this summer as you have been in town, but have not forgotten us when you weren’t.  Several of you have spoken to me about missing Western Hills UMC when you are away.  You have blessed the Sidewalk Sunday school volunteers and the children at Westway with start-up monies through the 5^th Sunday offering.  You have also blessed the Houchen Community Center day care with a plethora of requested items.  Your gifts contained everything screwdrivers to diapers, all of which will be needed as they care for working wage family’s children in Segundo Barrio.

In all of this, you have hopefully been nicer and better people.  Hopefully, you have been invitational in nature for those who are not involved with a church home.  Just yesterday, I had the chance to talk a great deal about the history of Methodism and our church to a young lady who was wonderfully interested.  We were at a meeting of common interest, and she talked about her continuing and underlying need to find a church.  I gave her my “get into church free card” (business card) and expressed my hope that she would come.  I can also follow-up with her if she doesn’t.  As friendly as we are, I hope we run across Amber in worship this weekend.

Now, my one request is for us to all put to prayer and listen for God about one more need.  For each of my 7 falls here, there has been one constant among a few others.  That one constant is the constant struggle we have for finding volunteers to teach God’s smallest disciples in Sunday school.  Colleen McGuire has made no fewer than 30 personal calls of invitation to ask persons to help teach children at 9:30.  Each response has been a no.  I fail to understand why this need is so hard to fill year after year, especially when the rewards of touching a child for eternity are so profound.  I have had colleagues tell me recently that they have gone to paid teachers for Sunday school in order to have teachers, and they have even cancelled it for the lack of them.  I hate both of those options, since I am sure God is calling some of us to teach.  Male or female, young or old, skilled or just learning how, God is calling us to disciple and discipleship.  Please listen for God about this need and your involvement in meeting it.

See you soon in the place where His call to us comes in an unstoppable whisper,
Pastor Mark