02/24/2019 "Drowning out the noise"

Scripture is never ever a bad thing. But this is again as I mentioned with the kids a fun one because it's one we've known all of us from our earliest earliest experiences again with Sunday school and bible school in church this Sunday our scripture comes from Luke chapter 6 verses 27 through 38. But I say to you that listen love your enemies do good to those who hate you bless those who curse you pray for those who abuse you if anyone strikes you on the cheek offer the other also and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt give to everyone who begs from you and if anyone takes away your goods do not ask for them again do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you what credit is that to you for even Sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you. What credit is that to you for even Sinners do the same? If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive what credit is that to you even Sinners lend to Sinners to receive as much again. But love your enemies do good and lend expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great and you will be Children of the most high for he is kind to The Ungrateful and the wicked be merciful just as your father is merciful. Do not judge and you will not be judged do not condemn and you will not be condemned forgive and you will be forgiven give and it will be given to you A good measure pressed down shaken together running over will be put into your lap for the measure. You give will be the measure you get back the word of God for the people of God.

Thank you, sir.

Good morning. Let's try it again. Good morning. There we go. You likewise Pastor Rob getting a chair. All right, so

we don't need silence for this exercise. Okay, we're going to get a little comfortable Okay, so

Everybody get really comfortable in your seat kind of workout any Jitters. You might want to put your feet down like this. We're going to do a short little bit on a guided meditation. Okay, and there's a reason for it. The reason is we live in a world full of noise. As soon as we get in our cars are Bluetooth connect our Spotify turns on we're always inundated with noise and this in this space. It's not going to be perfectly quiet. And that's okay. If you get a perfect quiet 5 minutes in your day consider yourself blessed the whole reality of the world in which we live means that we have to choose to do things that connect us to God. So I just want to share this with you. It'll take 3 minutes you'll hopefully be blessed by it. There's a couple options you can do with your hands. You can put them here you can put up here. Don't put them there gay one of these, okay. So you can just kind of what you're going to do with your eyes you got options. You can close your eyes. You're in a safe space. You can also just pick a spot on the ceiling or in the sanctuary and just focusing on that. Okay, and then once you do that. First thing we're going to do is we're going to roll or shoulders forward is slowly rolling forward.

And then we're going to slowly rolling back.

And then you going to take your your head you going to try to put your left ear going to stretch to see if he can touch your left shoulder. And then you're going to bring it back. up to Center going to go to the right shoulder.

You going to bring it back up to Center? You're going to breathe slowly in through your nose. You're going to feel your lungs expand. You don't hold it for a second. In a slowly exhale out of your mouth.

And breathe in again through your nose.

And out through your mouth.

Goofy, feel free to wiggle your toes.

You're free to feel your shoulders relaxed.

You may have many thoughts of the day come in. That's okay. Just quietly push them aside.

Continue to feel yourself breathe in through your nose.

And out through your mouth.

slowly open up your eyes

That is a simple. Simple way that you can take time to pay attention to begin to listen to God in the world around us. There's so much noise, but taking time to just be with yourself and pay attention to the simple blessing of breath. and the simple feeling their fingers it really causes us to pause and and find our place in the world around us. You know, we have to really be intentional when we choose to to listen to scripture this morning starts with what I say to you that listen. Now hearing and listening are not the same thing right to hear something into listen to it are very different. I can't say how many times. Over the years I've had to holler will you just listen?

when The small child is just playing or just not paying attention or how many times has have. We really desired for someone else to hear us? But they already think that they know what we're going to say. So they've already begun to form the opposite opinion and they're just waiting for their time to share it. That's the world in which we live. The world where there are now isolation Chambers where you can pay money you can go to to Effingham float, right? You can pay money and they have this a saltwater that got extra salt in it. It'll even let Pastor Rob float like you just get in there and your float and it's a complete isolation chamber. There's nothing going on so you can just be by yourself.

It's weird. I've done it. I'm like, what am I looking at? What right right. Now what we have so many things just pressing on us from all sides so much noise in the world around us that any possible Escape. Looks hopeful.

Matt Noyes that noise did that that tries to enter into our mind that wants our attention all of the time. It's like competing opinions and then The Clash right? Like we we we pay attention to things that make a lot of noise. Last night I made a questionable parenting decision. I took my daughter to see semi professional wrestling in Mattoon.

and By the end of the night. She was cheering for the bad guys and booing the good guys and I feel like that was a failure on my part. I didn't desire that but but my buddy does it as a hobby and so he asked if we wanted to go and it turns out it's a really family-friendly environment actually, but the thing about the ring is when you look at the wrestling ring, it looks just like a boxing ring. There's no difference. Until they body slam somebody onto the mat. Cuz he really underneath it. It's like a very mild trampoline. And what you hear when they slam somebody on is there's metal plates underneath that go bam. As soon as they hit the ground and the noise is really the distraction. It's the distraction from the reality of them. Just helping somebody else get to the ground right? I do not really hurting the other person but the noise is the distraction. It's what calls us away from that reality to pay attention to something else. And so there's so many things in our world that provide that kind of noise. In what God wants us to do is to pay attention to the whisper. To pay attention to the way that Christ is moving in our lives. It's like this. we

we expect that we can get along with with pretty much anybody. Right? Like we all think we can get along with pretty much anybody even when we can't write and so that the reality is that the way that we view our enemies in this world is changing over time and it used to be you could have your group right and your group might hate another group, but that other group was far away right thing Jesus and the Good Samaritan right like the enemies like far away. Right? And so that the Power of Now is that we're constantly being told that others that are around us are somehow lesser than us or better than us or different from us or somehow our enemy and we can no longer relate to them. And so when we live by the standards of this world around us, then we do things like we only forgive people for whom we still have to be in contact with right or we only lend to people who can pay us back. There's some keys. I've learned to living first. If you let people borrow money they will leave you alone. If you let people borrow money they will leave you alone. In the second that I've that I've learned is you should never lend people money if you can't afford to never get it back. You heard that before see these are these are the things that are just they just make, you know, common common sense. Right? But Jesus into that Common Sense tells us that we should give to whoever asks. to whoever asks us

What you just give to whoever asks, no matter what and that's counter to the way that our world is it's different. It's so much different that there's really no way that we can live and do our Christian faith and not run counter to the world around us. Part of what were called to do. It isn't very difficult, but it's extremely challenging. The actions are always really simple, right like give to whoever asks, but then our brain kicks in and our brains as we you can't give to everybody. There's a bottom of every well, right. You can't give the give the store away, right? But but what Christ is telling us is that it's not about the store in the first place. It's about God's love and how others are impacted by God's love. Think of a time when you has needed to be forgiven.

Take a minute and think of a time when you have needed to be forgiven.

now recall what that forgiveness felt like

if you felt Unworthy of that forgiveness.

That's God's grace. That's God's grace that transcends our understanding.

Think of a time when you have needed to forgive someone else.

Think of a time when you have needed to forgive someone else.

and you haven't yes.

Something just holds onto to that where you don't want to give it up. Because you want the power over it. And I think about a time where you have forgiven someone.

And how's that made you feel?

See, these are all deep and Powerful things that on the surface level we have to make a decision to listen to. We have to decide that we're going to live by what Christ tells us, even though the world tells us something completely different.

You know that like I said that general conference is meeting in St. Louis and they spent all day yesterday in prayer. And when it comes down to the individuals, if everybody spent the entire day praying that God would have their will be done that they everyone would see things their way.

What does that say about who we believe God to be? God wants everything we want all of a sudden we're not in God's image God's in hours. He said what does it mean to to to pray? I don't know what how we're going to get through this. But I pray that we all follow where God leads.

Do we have to make the decision that we're going to listen to what God is sharing with us? And God is speaking to you through this scripture. There is something for you to get out of this. It is either to offer forgiveness.

to accept the forgiveness Do not worry about what others OU. maybe it's about Simply acknowledging that which God has already giving you which none of us have learned we've just received.

And when we we decide to do that when we decide to acknowledge what God has given us and we have a responsibility to do with the rest of our lives.

the song

Have Thine Own Way Lord Have Thine Own Way in order for God to have God's Own Way. We have to be willing to acknowledge and give up our way. We have to be willing to acknowledge that our way and God's ways aren't the same. If it were called to follow God's way. It's on invite you this week as you go from this place. There's going to be tons of noise in the world around you. It's going to be tons of things vying for your attention or for you to believe this or to think that or to support this. What is a port that? But for those who will listen. God is calling us to live a different way. For those who will listen life gets really really messy. forgiveness isn't sheet forgiveness isn't cheap. I worked with with juvenile offenders in a residential facility. And when you have family counseling sessions where there's been a victims and abusers in the same thing, and they're still doing life together. That's messy. That's messy. And you know, maybe sometimes forgiveness means that you can no longer talk to this person or is not a healthy or safe environment, and that's true.

But the power of forgiveness isn't just for the other person. It's also for you. How many of us? No, or are tempted ourselves to think that our life is defined by something that happened so long ago that it's Harden your heart to other people.

How can God call you to offer forgiveness to them? And maybe those people have passed on from this world. And maybe those people are no longer in your life. But acknowledging the act of forgiveness.

Allows us to experience more deeply Christ's love.

And it's empowering.

Because if you have the freedom to give to everyone who asks if you have the freedom to love everyone whether they love you or not. And God has empowered you to love with price love. That's the kind of love that's world-changing. And that's the kind of love. that one will let it will drown out all the noise. Let us pray.

Lord

help us to love our enemies.

Help us to pray for those who persecute us.

help us to see

your vision

but others maybe led to you. That we may live differently. Because we have heard. what you have called us to Amman