Believe 20- sharing our faith RUMC March 19, 2017

Believe 20- sharing our faith

RUMC March 19, 2017

Most people know the story of Jonah being swallowed by a fish… but do you know why? Even if you know the Biblical story, which is sandwiched between the books of Obadiah and Micah, there more to it than that… let me tell you how it really went.

Jonah was a faithful man. He was a prophet in Israel from a little town north of Nazareth.

He was active during the mid 700’s B.C. during the reign of the second King named Jereboam. He liked being a prophet in Israel. Almost all the people believed in God, even if they didn’t always live their lives the way God would want. He may have worked as a royal prophet because II Kings tells us that he prophesied that Jeroboam would reclaim some of the land Israel had lost in war.

If he lived in the kings courts, and probably even if he didn’t, Jonah was quite comfortable and happy.

One day, God turned everything upside down. He said, “Jonah, Go to the capital of Assyria, called Nineveh and tell them about me. Their behavior is not Godly and they need to be lead to know me and follow me in all my ways.”

Now, we need to know that Assyria was a mortal enemy of Israel. They were a wicked nation, filled with terrible sinners who would think nothing of slaughtering Israelites. And Nineveh… Nineveh was the heart of this great wickedness and it was a huge city. It took 3 days just to walk across the city.

 This was more than Jonah could stand, so he started making excuses.

•             “God, Nineveh is a long way away and I’m not so familiar with it. Maybe someone else should GO.” And God replied, “Jonah, I said GO.”

•             “But God,” Jonah replied, “they aren’t my kind of people. I am a lot more comfortable working among the faithful, maybe even teaching the Children in Sabbath school, or singing in the choir, or I’ll even be on the synagogue board, if I don’t have to go to Nineveh.” God said, “Those are all good things, but GO!”

•             “But God, they aren’t like us. I don’t know if I want them to be among your people. They talk funny, the dress funny, their skin is even a different color, and they are foreigners. They won’t fit in well and they probably wouldn’t be comfortable here anyway.” God said, “I know… GO.”

•             “But God, I don’t know what to say. What if they ask a question I can’t answer?” God said,” GO!”

•             “But God, it is hard to bring up the subject of faith. I don’t know if I can.” God said, “GO.”

•             “But God, I have never been comfortable sharing my faith.” God said, “Go.”

•             “But God, what if they are offended. People don’t like others getting in their business.” God said, “GO.”

•             Jonah continued to protest, “But God, shouldn’t that be the preacher’s job. I’m just a prophet.” God said, “GO.”

•             “But God, polite people don’t’ talk about politics or religion. I can’t do this.” God said, “GO.”

•             “But God, What if they reject me. I will look like a fool and I’ll feel even more foolish” God said, “GO.”

•             “But God” Jonah kept making excuses, “I’ve never done that before and it is scary.” God said, “I know. GO.”

•             “But God, I do evangelism by the way I live. I don’t need to use words. They can see you in my behavior and they’ll know what to do.” God said, “GO.”

… Oh man.. that one hit close to home didn’t it?

•             “But God, they are religious. They worship. And since you are the only God don’t all religious path’s lead to you?” God said, “Good try…but GO.”

I know I’ve gone from preaching to meddling.

•             “But God, people will laugh at me and they’ll think I am some kind of God freak.” God said, “SO? GO!”

•             “But God, they’ll be OK even if they don’t repent. Won’t they? You are so loving and gracious, in the end, everyone will be saved.” God said, “No they won’t. GO”

•             “But God. I don’t know them. They are strangers. You don’t expect me to talk to strangers do you? God said, “Yes I do. GO!”

•             “God, you know I have not always been perfect and I am afraid they will think I am a hypocrite.” God said, “GO.”

•             “OK bottom line here God. I just don’t like them and as far as I am concerned they deserve to be destroyed.” God said, “Oh, that’s different…no it’s not…GO.”

Does any of that sound familiar?

God says to each of us, “GO.”

•             “GO ye into all the world and preach the gospel, baptizing in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

•             “GO be my ambassadors.”

•             “GO be by body.”

•             GO tell your friends about me.

•             GO share my love with your neighbors.

•             GO be my witnesses.

•             GO and bring people into faith and into the church.

•             Just GO.

And we have every excuse in the book. Those 18 excuses I put in Jonah’s mouth don’t even begin to scratch the surface of the excuses we have for not sharing our faith today. But whatever you excuse is, God’s answer is the same. “GO.”

Now, probably God is not calling you to go to Nineveh which today is called Mousul… does that name sound familiar?… It has been the center of some of the worst of the recent battles with Isis.

God may not even be calling you to go to Waterloo.

But I guarantee that God is calling you to share your faith. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says that we are ambassadors for Christ. Carrying God’s message of salvation to anyone we see.

Jesus himself said, “Go ye into all the world and share the good news.” Go to your neighbors, Go to your friends, Go to your co-workers. GO to your family. Go to anyone and everyone because God loves them all and they all need God. After all, how will they find out if you don’t tell them?

If you have not noticed, the church is not a magnet or a vacuum. People are not sucked through the doors of the church. They are not flocking to worship.

If you have not noticed, just living your life and hooping people will read the message between lines is not working.

If you have not noticed, waiting for someone to ask, “Can I come to your church?” or waiting for them to show up on Sunday morning is not working.

Whatever we are doing is not working,

 In 2015, (the latest available statistics) The United Methodist Church alone lost so many members it would have been like losing the Reinbeck UMC 328 times.

 The attendance decline at united Methodist churches alone was so great that it was like losing our Sunday worship attendance 800 times.

Lest you think it is someone else’s problem, our jurisdiction (the North Central Jurisdiction) led the way with almost a 4% decline.

An economist, speaking to United Methodist church leaders says his analysis is that we have 13 years to find a way to reverse the decline, or it will be too late to prevent the collapse of the denomination.

I know, you will say part of that is the culture. And you are right. This is a different world than it was 10 years ago or 20 years ago. But I am also right that we have played the part of Jonah for far too long making up excuse after excuse, and maybe even worse… not making excuses and just saying, “No thank you, someone else can share their faith if they want, but I am just fine right here, preacher, don’t even ask me to go to Nineveh.” But each person who takes that attitude is not part of the solution. They are part of the problem.

Believe me. I know. I have heard every single one of those 18 excuses, and I’ve probably forgotten that many more. I know. I’ll admit, I have used at least half of those excuses myself at one time or another.

 When Jonah ran out of excuses, he ended up in the belly of the fish.

And today we as a church are in the belly of the fish. We have to decide which way this is going to go. We can stubbornly sit right where we are, set up camp in this stinking fish belly, and we will end up lying at the bottom of the ocean in a pile of fish poop… or we can decide today… right here and right now… that things are going to be different from here on out… at least for us, and for our congregation.

Does it require us to change the as individuals? YES.

Will it require us changing the way we as a congregation invite, welcome, and assimilate new folks. ABSOLUTELY. But the choice is clear and it is up to you.

 I know this is uncomfortable. These 10 chapters of the Believe book were kind of fun when we were talking about worship, and scripture, and prayer. But these last three weeks when we got down to giving time, sharing resources, and sharing our faith… the three sermons most United Methodists dread the most. But that’s OK. It should be uncomfortable, because we are being stretched and pushed. The spiritual practices are like strength training or endurance training. At first, we ask why would I want to put myself through that?… But if we keep our eyes on the prize… we can do it.

Do you want your friends and neighbors to know Jesus? Do you want more people in the pews on Sunday? Do you want more youth? Do you want more children? Do you want more leaders? Do you want more giving unit? There is only one way and it is not doing what we have always done.

We have to do two things.

 1. Build relationships with unchurched people. If we count our friends, most of us probably have to admit that most of our friends come from this church or another church in town. That’s natural. People who have something in common are drawn to each other.

Those relationships are key to our growth in discipleship and actually fulfill the spiritual practice of being part of a community of faith. But we have to remember: if the church was a business, WE ARE NOT THE CUSTOMERS. Jesus calls us servants. We are the employees working for the master. The customers are those who do not yet attend our church. We can’t stay in business without them.

So our job is to build relationships with potential customers. Make friends with folks who have no church. Not with the secret motive of dragging them into the church, but with the loving motive of loving them enough to share with them the one thing that has made more difference in your life than anything else… Jesus. If you don’t know any unchurched folks, get out more. If you know a bunch, you can check off step one.

 2. The second step is love them enough to share the best thing that has ever happened to you. Show them what Jesus had done in your life and invite them to have the same joy. Am I talking about strangers?… NO. Am I talking about standing on the street corners? NO. Am I talking about going into the highways and byways and setting up a tent and leading a tent revival to gather in the sinners? NO. I’m talking about being a good friend. If you find a good mechanic, are you afraid to tell your friends? If you find a way to save $100 a month, or to make an extra $1000 a month, wouldn’t you tell your friends? If you found an infinite supply of vitamins that warded off all kinds of disease and pain and suffering, wouldn’t you tell your friends? Since I consider myself one of your friends… let me say … you better say YES!!!

Of course, you would. And Jesus is more valuable than any of those things. Forgiveness is more valuable than any of those things. Being part of a loving supportive praying, growing, community of faith is worth more than all of those things put together. So why are we too selfish to share our faith with our friends?

Jonah sat in the belly of the fish for three days grumbling and grumping around. Finally had enough and prayed, “I’m worshiping you, GOD, calling out in thanksgiving! And I’ll do what I promised I would do! Salvation belongs to GOD!” In other words OK, UNCLE. I will go to Nineveh. I’ll share my faith. I will do as you have told me to do. I will GO.

It only took Jonah 3 days. The United Methodist Church and our predecessor denominations have been happily sitting in decline in the belly of this stinking fish since 1956. We have been doing all the other spiritual practices; like worship, Bible reading, prayer, Sabbath, community, and the rest, and you know what? I think we kind of like it here. It is comfortable. However, no one is going to join us as long as we sit in the belly of this rotten fish. We might as well say, “UNCLE. OK God. I’ll share my faith.” The good news is we don’t have to go to Nineveh. Just next door.

You do not have to like it. In fact, Jonah hated it. He grumbled an griped his way through Nineveh and when he found out that sharing his faith actually worked, and the people of Nineveh were saved, he sat down under a plant and wanted to die.

I don’t care if you like it or not. God doesn’t care if you like it or not. His command is still the same because it is what disciples do. GO. Go from your pew and make some unchurched friends. Go in love and share with them the best thing that has ever happened to you. Go and love them enough to tell the story of what God has done in your life. Go and be the ambassadors for Christ that you are called to be. Go share God’s love. Go share your faith. GO.

AMEN

Week 19 Stewardship RUMC 3/12/2016

Week 19 Stewardship

RUMC 3/12/2016

Joe had a problem, so he took it to his pastor. “Pastor, I am having trouble tithing these days, “he confessed. “ What seems to be the hang-up? His pastor asked.

“Well, back when I made $50/week, I tithed $5, which was easy. And when I made $500/week, I tithed $50… sometimes. But now that I make $5,000/week, I’m having a hard time. A $500 tithe is a lot of money! Will you pray for me pastor?” “Sure.” said the pastor, “Let’s pray. Father, please reduce Joe’s income back down to $50/week so that he can honor you with the tithe.”

Well, I guess that’s one way to do it. …not my first choice, and probably not yours either. The question is, “Why is it that giving gifts at Christmas or a birthday is easy… in fact it is fun… but giving our resources to God seems so hard?”

Now, I know that some of you get really uncomfortable when a preacher starts talking about money. It really doesn’t bother me because I respect your privacy and I am not trying to get in your business. At least not your financial business.

As your pastor, however, it is my job to help with your spiritual business, and this week’s spiritual practice from BELIEVE chapter 19 is GIVING OUR RESOURCES TO GOD. We have talked about offering our spiritual gifts to God. We have talked about offering out time to God. This week it is time to take a hard look at the relationship between our stuff and our discipleship.

 Jesus spent a good deal of time talking about the relationship between our faith, and our stuff, like material possessions and money.

•           Of the 38 parables of Jesus in the Bible, 16 of them deal with money and possessions. That’s 48%.

•           288 verses in the four Gospels refer to money. That’s 10%.

•           In fact, Jesus talked more about money and possessions than hell.

•           He talked more about money and possessions than heaven.

•           He talked more about money and possessions than forgiveness.

Why? Not because money is so important to God, but because money and possessions are so important to people. Jesus knew that, for most of us, the biggest barrier to living fully as his disciples would be our love of money, our love of material stuff, and our love of creature comforts. Fundamentally, Jesus knew that what we do with our stuff is an important spiritual issue. Generosity is an important spiritual practice.

 Did you hear what I heard in today’s scripture. Listen again. “And they received from Moses all the freewill offerings that the Israelites had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, so that all the artisans who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task being performed, and said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” The people were restrained from bringing ay offering; for what they had already brought was more than enough to do all the work.”

What a problem to have! Moses had to tell the people no more! No more! Please don’t bring any more offerings! We can’t use any more! To be honest, I have never seen that happen in a local church.

So why… why did they have such a bountiful offering? Let’s see if we can figure out.

 The passage begins “The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me”

Let’s be perfectly clear. God didn’t need their gold, or yarn, or wood, or any of that other stuff. God doesn’t need our money either! The God who created everything, is not limited by the money or other resource we do or do not give back to Him. God doesn’t need our money or our resources, which begs the question, "Why give to God? “ To answer that question, let me pose another.

•           If you have to chose between your money and your God, which would you chose?

Ouch!

Matthew says, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”  Or we can turn that around to say wherever you heart is, that is where you will want to put your treasure.

We say that our hearts belong to God. Giving God our resources is a way of putting our money where our mouth is (so to speak).

We say that we believe that everything we have is a gift from God. Giving God our resources is a way of putting our money where our mouth is.

Worship is an act of confessing and praising that, which is most important in our lives. Giving generously to God is fundamentally an act of worship because it speaks loud and clear what is most important to us.

  In the book, The Day America Told the Truth,  there are some shocking statistics on what Americans believe is most important. They asked people, “What would you be willing to do for $10 million?”

(25%) Would abandon their entire family

 (23%) Would become prostitutes for a week or more

(16%) Would give up their American citizenship

(16%) Would leave their spouses

(10%) Would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free

(7%) Would kill a stranger

(3%) Would put their children up for adoption

Really? What does this say about what where our hearts are as a culture? What does that say about what our culture worships?

 And what does your giving to God say about your priorities? There is nothing wrong with having a well-funded retirement account, or having a dream car, or having that really big house, or the perfect vacation, as long as those things are not your number one priority. Remember, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” 

We need to take a good hard look at how we use our resources. Where are our priorities? Where is our heart?

 The first reason the Israelites had such a bountiful offering in that they knew that giving their resources to God was an act of worship.

 The passage from Exodus goes on to say, “The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. 

In the story, Moses put no pressure on the Israelites.

•           There was no requirement.

•           There were no suggested amounts.

•           There was no guilt.

•           There was no shame.

•           No one got a bill.

They gave because their hearts prompted them to give. God wanted people to give out of joy and thanksgiving. And they did.

Giving our resources to God should come from joy and bring us joy!

In Acts they talk about the early church giving with “Glad and generous hearts.” 

God’s desire is that the people give because their “hearts prompt them to give.” God’s desire is that the people give because they want to not because they have to.

 There are too many grumpy givers in the church. People who give because they feel pressured, are often grumpy givers. People who give because they have to, are often grumpy givers. People, who give out of guilt, are often grumpy givers. People who think the offering is a necessary evil or an interruption in the worship service, are often grumpy givers. But God doesn’t want us to be grumpy givers. He wants to give not because we have to, but out of joy and thanksgiving.

 In 2 Corinthians Paul writes, “God loves a cheerful giver.”

The book of Acts says, “There is more happiness in giving than in receiving” 

The other side of giving joyfully, of course, is that giving joyfully releases happy endorphins in our brains and makes us even more joyful. Generosity breeds generosity.

Is there anything better than seeing the kids’ face when they open a gift they didn’t expect to receive? Is there anything better than seeing the beaming glow on your spouse’s face when he or she opens that special gift? Giving generously to God brings that same joy.

The second reason the Israelites had such a bountiful offering is that they gave joyfully, and giving made them even more joyful.

  Finally, the Israelites were having so much fun giving, that they had to “restrain” people from giving. Have you ever seen that happen? I haven’t either. Why not?

First, I think it has to do with giving as an act of worship and giving joyfully, but beyond that, I think the church often focuses on giving to the wrong things.

The Israelites were not asked to meet budget, but to join in God’s extravagant vision for a beautiful tabernacle that would reflect the glory of God.

I know as well as anyone that the church has to do things like pay the insurance, clear the snow, and buy candles. Those are necessary budget items. When I give, I know those things have to be done, but that is not why I give. Like the Israelites, I want to give to be part of God’s extravagant vision.

•           I give because Jesus said let the little children come unto me and I want to be part of God’s extravagant vision of sharing the love of Jesus with all the children in Reinbeck.

•           I give because we live in a world that says there will never be “enough,” but I want to be part of God’s extravagant vision of loving our neighbors by feeding the hungry, and clothing the naked, and housing the homeless in our community.

•           Our world is a big place but I give to be part of God’s extravagant vision of being in ministry in disaster areas no matter how far away they might be.

•           I give to be part of God’s extravagant vision of building churches in places I will never visit.

•           I give to be part of God’s extravagant vision of training young people to be the leaders of tomorrow’s church even though I will probably never meet them.

•           I give to be part of God’s extravagant vision of proclaiming good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and setting free those who are oppressed.

•           I give to be part of God’s extravagant vision of the new heaven and the new earth where there will be no more tears, nor more death, no more mourning, no more crying, and no more pain.

As disciples of Jesus chartist we need to move past a survival mentality… we have to move past the “meeting budget” mentality… we have to move past the taking care of number one mentality… and invite people to come along side us as we work side by side on God’s extravagant vision for his kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

I don’t know if we will ever have to tell people to stop giving, but I know we will never find out, if we don’t invite people to see God’s extravagant vision and be part of it.

 So...

Disciples of Jesus Christ practice generosity to worship and give glory to God.

Disciples of Jesus Christ practice generosity out of thanksgiving and joy.

Disciples of Jesus Christ practice generosity to be part of the great vision of our great God.

Why do you give?

BELIEVE – Chapter 18 – OFFERING MY TIME RUMC March 5, 2017

BELIEVE – Chapter 18 – OFFERING MY TIME

RUMC March 5, 2017

On evening, a young lady got ready for a date. She put on her best dress, makeup and even put her hair up in a special way. Then she sat down to wait for her date to arrive. And she waited. And she waited. And she waited for more than an hour and a half for her date. Disappointed, the she decided she had been stood up.

She changed from her dinner dress into pajamas and slippers, fixed some popcorn, and resigned herself to an evening of TV.

No sooner had she flopped down in front of the TV than her doorbell rang. There stood her date. He took one look at her and gasped, “I’m two hours late... and you’re still not ready?”

•           Time: we all struggle with time, don’t we? I am not alone am I?

•           How many of you struggle with being late at times?

•           How many struggle with procrastination?

•           How many wish you had more time or a better handle on your time?

One more question... How many feel that what we do with our time is a spiritual issue? I believe it is.

Even the way I asked the question betrays a problem. I said “our” time. The first thing we have to acknowledge is that like every other good gift, time belongs to God. Time is a sacred gift of creation. Therefore, how we use it is a spiritual issue.

This week’s spiritual practice in Chapter 17 of BELIEVE is called “offering my time.”

 In Greek, the language of the New Testament, there are two words used for time. One was chronos. It is what we think of first when we think of time. It is sequential time, or chronological time. It is time in minutes and seconds. It is measurable with clocks and calendars.

God created chronos time, but we are the ones who have enslaved ourselves to it. Time for a moment of honesty. Am I the only one that sneaks a look at their watch as the sermon starts? Probably not. Why? Because we are obsessed with time

How many of you feel like you live by your calendar? How many of you get nervous or upset if someone shows up late, or something starts late? Even if you are immune, as a culture, we are enslaved to time: Schedules, and alarms, and calendars, and tardy bells, and election cycles, sleep deprivation, unused vacation, overtime, thousands of time saving devices, volumes on time management, and deadlines… think about that, “DEADlines”… what does that say about us?

There is nothing wrong with tools like alarms and calendars and todo lists and all of that. (At least I hope there isn’t!) Unless… unless or until… the tools become our masters. Time is a gift to us… not something meant to oppress us or rule over us.

 The fourth commandment, about the Sabbath, is not a restrictive commandment, but a permissive one. It does not say, “Thou shalt not.” It says, “Remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy.” It goes on to say you don’t have to work that day because, “in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” 

Jesus reiterated this freedom giving, and permission giving nature of the Sabbath when he said, “The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath.”  Time and Sabbath are gifts, not burdens. Jesus Says “My yoke is easy and my burden light.”

Therefore, I want to give you a gift today. I am not going to ask for more of your time. I am not going to ask you to do anything extra. The last thing we need is to try to fit one more thing in our chronos time calendars. The gift I want to give you today is a different kind of time.

Think about the story we read today.

There is an interesting juxtaposition between the gift and the command. The Lord says, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and instructions? See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath, therefore on the sixth day he gives you food for two days; each of you stay where you are; do not leave your place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the seventh day.” 

This is actually the first use of the word “Sabbath” in the Bible. The idea was established at creation, but this is the first place the word appears.

•           Obviously, the Manna was a gift of the bread of life. However, the Sabbath was a gift of a richer life.

•           The bread was a gift to sustain the body. The Sabbath a gift to satisfy the heart.

•           Manna was permission to enjoy having enough daily bread. The Sabbath gift was given that we might be satisfied by living bread, God himself.

•           The Sabbath was a different kind of gift, because it was the gift of a different kind of time.

 That different kind of time requires a different word in Greek. Not Chronos, but Kairos. Kairos time is a period of opportunity, a season of significance. When God breaks into our chronos time, the days and hours of your life and makes them holy… that is Kairos time. When the wonder of the eternal sneaks up on a routine moments of life to transform it into something remarkable, that is Kairos time. … You know what I mean?

There are two parts to the discipline of practicing Kairos time.

 The first we might call “the Sabbath pause.”

As you move through your day, there are times when God breaks into your day with a Kairos moment. We can ignore it like a bad TV commercial, or we can pause. And that moment becomes a Sabbath pause.

Maybe you pause at the sunset, or pause for the deer in the field, or pause and notice the joy of the children as you watch them cross in front of your car, or the moment when you hand brushes up against the hand of the person you love and you pause to give their hand a squeeze. Those are all Sabbath pauses. Maybe you pause as someone unexpectedly smiles and greets you, or maybe you pause in compassion when you see the mother and her child standing on the side of the road with a sign, maybe you pause in prayer as you hear the ambulance pull out of town. Those are all Sabbath pauses. Maybe you pause when you consider your own mortality at the funeral of a friend. Maybe you notice a way to serve someone, and you pause to share God’s love. Those are all Sabbath pauses.

I struggle with this because I let myself become a slave to my chronos calendar. Part of my spiritual practice in the last couple of months has been to try very hard to slow down, and pause… to notice those Kairos moments. The Pause to kneel down to listen to the Parkview resident who just needed someone to care. The Pause to see God in the faith struggles of the confirmation class. The pause when I was rushing to the hospital this week, but took time to notice 5 majestic bald eagles sitting in a field not far from the road which reminded me of Isaiah’s words, “they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles.”  I am getting better. I have had many Sabbath pauses. But I am sure I am also missing many more.

 Eugene Peterson describes, “Sabbath as that uncluttered time and space in which we can distance ourselves from our own activities enough to see what God is doing”   I say that on one level that only needs to be moment… a pause… that that is Sabbath.

 The other part to the discipline of discipline of practicing Kairos time is leaving a Sabbath margin.

Our lives get so crowded with things and we keep adding more and more and when the boxes on the calendar are full we start writing notes in the margins and fill those up and before long there is no room for God on the page.

Leave a margin in your life. Leave some white space that is just time for you to be in God’s presence as a child of God. Maybe it becomes prayer time… maybe it becomes Bible study time… maybe it becomes time when you are serving others… but maybe it becomes time to just sit in a favorite chair and watch the squirrels while you feel God’s love wrap around you. Maybe it becomes time to take a walk and let the freshness of God’s spirit fill your lungs. Maybe it becomes time to take a nap… yes… that is a spiritual practice too. I call it the practice of “holy rest,” others call it the practice of “holy leisure.” We all need it. That is why God gave us the gift of Sabbath: Holy time.

Let me tell you a secret. None of us is so important to the operation of this world that we can’t take a nap after lunch. None of us is so essential to the people around us that anyone is going to die if we take 15 minutes to sit on the deck and enjoy the love of God.

Let me tell you another secret. If you leave room in the margins of your life, God will find a way to wiggle out of those margins into every other part of your life.

Yes, this too is Sabbath. Time… any time… an hour, a day, maybe even a weekend, when we stop doing and focus on just being a child of the almighty loving creator of all that is.

Yes, I know that God says take the 7th day, but I am trying to be realistic. If I tell you that you have to do a whole day, you would laugh me right out of here. If I tell you to take an hour… maybe you can do that. If I tell you to take an afternoon, maybe you can do that. The important thing to me is that you know it is not only OK, but it is essential that we leave Sabbath margins in our lives where we can just be a child of God.

Yesterday, I was feeling pressured and stressed and I just stopped and built an hour of margin tossing a baseball around in the back yard with Noah. Was I accomplishing anything? Nothing on my todo list, but I was loving God and loving Noah while he marveled at my lack of eye hand coordination. That is Sabbath margin.

Treat yourself to something that really renews your spirit. Something you haven’t done in a long time. Something that clears the margins so God can bore deep into the heart of your life. You will be happier. You will be healthier, and you will be closer to God.

See, I didn’t ask you to add one more thing to your life, did I? I am just suggesting that the practice of giving our time to God… what God calls practicing Sabbath… living in Kairos time…is as simple as being ready to pause to notice when God shows up, and leave some margins in your life so God is not squeezed out.

 Will that solve the world’s problems? No, but you know what? Sabbath will not solve the world’s problems. It will, however, satisfy some of your deepest longings.

God has given us a gift. God thought and thought, and worked, and worked, and worked, and worked, and worked, and worked for 6 days until it was just perfect. Then he said the gift is ready. The 7th day is all yours.

Generations later, God wrapped himself up in the prettiest wrapping paper he could find: human skin and became Jesus Christ. God said I am living water. He who drinks of me will never thirst. I am the bread of life. I am the resurrection and the life. People not only left the package unopened, the crushed it on the cross.

But fear not. The gift is still here. It is inside you. Unwrap it. Take the time to bask in the love that God has placed in you. Take time to relish in the saving power God has offered you. Take time to delight in the joy God has given you. Take time to… take time. It is God’s gift to you.

 “The time that God gives to us is God’s gift to us. What we do with it is our gift to God.”