Nov 2009

Nov 22, 2009 PUMC Phil 4:11ff

I picked out the reading from Philippians

just for this morning..
It seems to be a thanksgiving lesson


Paul is wring this letter

from a Roman prison....

.we need to know that background..
a prison...
or a jail.....maybe in chains..

Nothing good or comfortable about that.
I cant imagine what those conditions were like

. and yet
yet..
this is one of his most joyful
and positive letters

over and over it talks about gratitude and thanksgiving

and concentrating on the good..

He talks about being content or satisfied

whether he has a little or a lot...

. he says I’ve been been full and I’ve been hungry


Paul seems to have a spirit of gratitude that is unconditional.

.something that is not is not based on circumstance..

He seems to have a steadiness or a center

he seem to have grateful spirit or a grateful heart.

he calls it the secret..The answer
or the wisdom
that is there

through all the ups and downs of life.

.and it seems to me that’s what spiritual gratitude is really about ..


I’m thinking there area t least two kind s of gratitude

the firs t one is Conditional Gratitude ...when things are good.
.I m grateful
and I say thanks.

I think just about everybody knows about this kind of gratitude

thats what the thanksging holiday is..I suppose,, for most of us in the country

This is not a bad thing
its being thankful

when we have something good In our life
when we have the abundance

and something goes well

we should see it..and celebrate it..

. Maybe this is gratitude for your family..
And for your health
and whatever wealth you might have

that’s the gratitude
of counting your blessings.....name them one by one..see what you have

And even though we have this recession going on

and I know that people have lost their jobs
and theirs homes.
.and things are not want they used to be
for a lot of people

this circumstantial gratitude
still
invites you to look at what you have ....
and give thanks..
don’t ignore whatever good things you still have..
look for the good..
Don’t deny what is still good in your life

(thanksgiving invites you to do that.)


but then
there is this other kind of gratitude

I don’t know what to call it
,maybe just spiritual gratitude..



This is the kind of gratitude
Paul is taking about here..a different kind of contentment.

This is Paul’s secret strength.
.inner strength

And maybe

it come s down to just being thankful for God.. (Period)

a spirit of god in your life..
the gratitude of faith .

.Paul talks about this strength from God...(not strength from good circumstances)

but This inner joy or trust

Again, Paul
is still thankful
in

all the ups and downs of life
Paul says that he has learned this..
“I have learned to be content”
learning is a process

Im still working on that..I think we all are..
.it’s a learning curve..
But I want to learn this..
With prayer..and spiritual practices...

by following Jesus..
I want to learn ..the grateful spirit that Paul points to,



Paul.
.and the rest of the bible says it also

Circumstances change

And that’s a fact of life

but Gods presence

Gods love God holds on your life.



Whats that bible verse

the grass withers,
,the flower fades. but the word of the lord stands forever


God does not fail..

there is the greater
core goodness.

.that Paul ...knows about..
Paul believes in that

he lives in that.

And it keeps him thankful

lin fact in this same letter

Paul says rejoice in God always
(Rejoice inthe lord always, again I say rejoice)

then he says live with gentleness..
Don’t be anxious
pray with thanksgiving

he talks about peacefulness.
A steadiness.

I think that is the spirit of thanksgiving that the church is talking about.

. The thankful spirit
of faith in God..
No matter what the circumstance e might be..


I don’t know if we can ever get that I n our heads. (Intellectually)

But I believe I you can get it ..in your heart...in that deeper level..


.
let me say it a better way

with a story.. (Spiritual lesson are always better in a story. that’s why Jesus told stories

this is another story from the Hasidic Jewish tradition

a story from the bel shem tov.

.he was a famous teacher..a rabbi

form the early 1700s in eastern Europe
and of course th stories have become legends with a lesson

this one is called THE HOLY SABBATH BEANS



Once, the Baal Shem Tov
called his closest disciples,

his closest students

and he s aid to them

"My friends,
I'd like to show you something

this is something
that you've never seen before

. Just be sure
that you stay close to me next Sabbath."


They were all excited with anticipation,

they could barely wait for the next Sabbath to arrive.

When Sabbath finally came

they eagerly surrounded the BaalShem Tov during his prayers

. Suddenly,

they saw the Baal Shem Tov glance over to the side of the Synagogue.


They looked over

and they saw a pauper
this poor man

and he was praying intensely
and with great joy.

But
they didn't notice anything that seemed very special about the man.

After the prayers,

the Baal Shem Tov called for his disciples to join him.

They walked together,

quietly

they came to the pauper's house,

(it really wasn’t much of a place

and they stood outside the front door,

and they listened to the conversation

between the poor man and
his wife.
he greeted her with a joyful voice

"Good Sabbath, my sweet wife,"
.
She answered back to him

"And a restful
and holy Sabbath to you
my dearest husband,"



Then the husband


sang Shalom Aleichem (Peace to you),

and some other ancient spiritual greetings .

Then he said to his wife,

"Please
bring out the wine for Kiddush ..for the Sabbath blessing

but The man and the woman were so poor

they didn’t have any money for wine.


So instead
she
put two little rolls of bread
in front of him and said,

"My dear husband,
we don't have any wine ...

so make Kiddush ..say the blessing
over these two rolls of bread."

"Okay then," the poor man answered,

"We will make Kiddush over the two loaves of bread

and they will taste just as good as the best wine.. could ever be
After they finished the SABBAT blessing
over the two rolls of bread,

the poor man said


now "My dearest wife,

please serve the fish

and let us experience (the joy of Sabbath).

His wife came out with a plate of cooked beans


and she placed a spoonful pf beans

on each of their plates.

Then she said

"May it be God's will that these beans
have the taste of a wonderful fish delicacy."

Then They ate the beans

and their faces were bright .. with delight and inner joy.


Then the poor man began to sing Sabbath songs.

"Thank God we lack nothing to celebrate the holy Sabbath,"

we have everything that is needed

"Let us have the soup now."

Well there was no soup

as They both took
another spoonful of beans.

"Oh, this Sabbath we really have a wonderful soup,"

they said to each other.

Then they had a third spoonful of beans
for the meat dish

and a fourth spoonful as a dessert.

"Come, sweet wife,
the poor man said

now let us dance to celebrate the Sabbath,"



So they both got up from the table

and began to dance.

"Our dancing,"
commented the man,

"fulfills the saying of our Rabbis,

'He who properly sanctifies the Sabbath will earn a great
reward.' "

As they danced around their Sabbath table,

they laughed to each other, ..

.as they enjoyed the reward of the moment

"How fortunate we are!

how good is our lot."

The students that were watching this scene,
started to feel a warm glow well up in themselves.

The Baal Shem Tov said in a whisper.

"I see that all of you
are experiencing the gift of enjoying the Sabbath

just as much as this poor man and his wife

have been enjoying their Sabbath.

You should know

that it is not the earthly food that they tasted,
but the Sabbath itself."

And so it was.


I want you to hold on to that phrase..

It is not the earthly food that they tasted
but the Sabbath itself..



Well I would love once again to sit down in small group

or with each other
and ask you

what do you hear in that story

I think this is a wonderful thanksgiving story

Even though its not about a thanksgiving dinner

it is certainly about another dinner
the Sabbath meal

but as you heard
or I hope you heard in the story

it is not so much about the food at all
is it..?

but the gratitude. the giftness
the spirit of it all

the bel shem tov said..

It is not the earthly food that they tasted.

.but the Sabbath itself


That the real thanksgiving part of the story for me

now

I hope your thanksgiving dinner isn’t getting down
to just a plate of beans


go ahead and enjoy
whatever abundance can come to your table..


But what will you really be tasting?

will you taste just some turkey or potatoes or pie..


Or will you be able to taste thanksgiving itself
the real essence of the holiday


taste the gratitude
and the giftedness of life

taste a deeper kind of goodness

taste the other spices of life
taste the fruit of the spirit

which is love joy peace;;kindness,,gentleness
savor the riches of life

that goes far beyond anything you could put on a table

taste the holiness
..hidden behind it all..or deep inside of it all.

That’s we are really

we are hungry for grateful hearts

hungering for..

a sacred and essential goodness...
that maybe defies reason


a something of the soul



thanksgiving ultimately/ spiritually

Comes down to the mystery
that everything...everything.
is a gift from God.
.beyond imagination ..we live in a generosity ....
Of eternity..

the good ness of god..that does not fail
in the end..
All will be well..
Wholeness..redemption.. shalom

Thanks giving

is not what is on the table

its what is on your heart...from God

it is that
richness of love and grace

that we see in Jesus Christ
.Taste that.....for thanksgiving

now that a feast.


.............


..
‘;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

As we baptize little Thaddeus today..

We are also saying that
He is mysterious. secretly
faithfully
joined to that essential goodness s of life

..he too
is going to be raised to hear that story of Gods love in jesus Christ


he too
really is what his name means

Thaddeus means Gods gift

his name itself ...is a name that points to giftedness and gratitude.


Thats how we see him....
and we are saying thanks to God

but in this baptism we are also s giving him back to god...
we are saying God...
shape him and grow him..
Raise him
With faith and hope and love

make him one of your disciple to do good. In this world


May that be the divine sprit that washes him

and renews him all the days of his life\
let god be his strength
so baptism too is an act of thanksgiving

Baptism is thanks and giving.


Sabbath Beans story is © 2004 Baal Shem Tov Foundation – a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization.
“Dedicated to spreading the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov” –www.baalshemtov.com


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Nov 15 2009 hannah and Prayer

what if This picture of Hanna in I Samuel this morning is a picture of prayer..

Did you get the image, or at least the feeling, of deep intense prayer.?

.prayer from the center of the heart..
and nothing is holding her back


prayer out of some deep pain ....b ut perhaps also
from a place of some deep hope

deep faith / deep love and desire

I see this as follow up to the lesson last week , about longing for God (Ps 42)

I see that same kind of desire with Hanna
and the yearning to be a blessing for God

she has felt that she was barren and worthless to God
and to the world.
.
The story is about moving from barrenness to blessing

spiritual barrenness to spiritual blessing

As she pours out her heart...............

it says she was praying silently... her lips were moving...



it says in some translations she was pouring our her soul

just hold on to that phrase for this image of prayer..


Now let me bring that out with a story from India
.I think it will help us see something in the story of Hanna as well


Its about an emperor, and a peasant women and prayer

Once upon a time

there was an emperor named Akiba


he was good leader and just and fair

..but every once in a while

the burdens of being a good ruler Would get to him


and he would need to go out hunting for the day


just to get away from it all..


Of course being an emperor

he would bring along his servants and a few guards for the hunt as well.

But in this day they had not gotten anything.

. Not even the sight of a deer.

And the emperor was frustrated and annoyed.

This was not turning out to be the kind of relaxing and joyful day that he needed

and so

he began to take out his feelings on the servants and members of the court who traveled along.

Then it came time for the prayers....

So...faithful to there tradition

they got off their horses and gathered together for the ritual.

They knelt down facing to the east

With their heads touching to the ground.

But akaba.


.even though he was saying the prayers

and following all the practices...


Still had a lot of things on his mind...

The worries of the kingdom/
his desire to go home with a good deer from the hunt,
he wanted

to have some sense of contentment.


.some good feeling/ before he would have to go back and face all those decisions

..all that work and responsibility

so many people depending on him..


He was thinking how he never really got to get away from his work


And now here it was and god..the compassionate one. Was not even letting him enjoy the simple satisfaction of a good hunt.

He blessed God in his prayers..


But he was hoping that after the prayers.
His luck would change

and he would get a chance to catch something

Now..
at the same time..while this was going on..



deep in the heart of the forest.

There was an older women

she was married..

And early that same morning..

Her husband had gone off into the woods

she was getting very worried

because he had been gone for a long time/ longer than it should have taken him.

And she loved him deeply

and was afraid that something had happened to him.



now just at the same time that akaba the Emperor and all his servants were kneeling down on the ground....to pray


she decided to go off looking for her husband..


Pretty soon she was just frantic..


. Running in every direction.

.up and down the trails

backtracking where she had been before.

More and more worried about her husband.



and in the intensify of her search..

She wasn’t watching where she was going..


And somehow..

She managed to actually trip over the emperor himself..

Because he was down there
bowed down in prayer..

.and she wasn’t looking down on the ground.


Well she got up..

Didn’t even pay attention to the emperor..

And ran off once again...deeper into the forest.


Looking so intently for her husband

The emperor was very annoyed..

But he finished his prayers along with everyone else..

And them.

Since eye was th emperor after all.

He sent some of his soldiers to go and find that women who had tripped over him,

and bring her back .


In the meantime

the women found her husband

. And she was filled with joy.


He was old..and not feeling well..


And he need her help

he had fallen

and she was helping him to get back to the house.

But the soldiers found her and dragged her back to the emperor.



he was giving her quite a scolding..


She needed to know what she had done!

.didn’t you notice

that you had tripped over somebody ?

and not only that..but he was the emperor..

Didn’t she even notice that.


She simply said..

What were you doing down there on the ground in the first place.

He said I was saying my prayers

and she said to the emperor


you were saying your prayers..

kneeling..face down to the ground

facing east.. With your head touching the earth



supposedly praying to the great Lord of the universe..

And still you noticed
that some one tripped over you.?!


What kind of concentration is that


she went on to say

While here I am

simply chasing after my husband..whom I love dearly


and so I did not notice you


You see
I was paying attention to my search
and my devotion


but you.


.if you
if you said your prayers better


you would have been paying more attention to the lord of the universe

and your search and your devotion


and then if you had been doing that..
you would not have even noticed
when someone fell over you.


The emperor listened to these worlds


and he was embarrassed.


Its true.. He had been distracted..in his attention...he had been self centered in his attention
while she..had not..

So in fact he gave the women some gifts..to honor her..

and sent her back to her home ..to her beloved husband..

And later

whenever
the emperor prayed.

He was not concerned about anything else

but God..
The compassionate One

and how he kept his attention on his prayer


and whenever somebody asked him

how he learned to pray that way..

He told them about a simple peasant women


who loved her husband..
And concentrated on the devotion.

And taught him to love the lord of the universe

and what prayer really was..




I m sure we could hear that story at several different levels.
It raises all kinds of questions

maybe we could see that the women is a picture of prayer

because she is passionate...
In her search

are you passionate in your prayer...

Or maybe she is picture of prayer

because what she is doing
an example of caring.

.she is up and moving ,
,taking action in her search for her husband

could determined..caring action be a picture of prayer? ..I think so



prayer as compassion
Passionate prayer that comes from deep within us.
prayer...as devotion..prayer as focus.
.prayer as the concentration of heart...

All of that fits in ..


But it reminded me of a definition of prayer from Simone Weil a french philosopher

she said
absolutely unmixed attention was prayer..

Prayer as absolutely unmixed attention





it seems to me
that the way the woman in the story was whole heartedly searching for her Husband

.. That was unmixed attention


in fact

many spiritual traditions
including some voices in Judaism and Christianity..

Would say that learning to pay attention

is a basic spiritual practice for prayer..
..........
When I was on renewal leave this summer

we spent a day on a spiritual retreat

and we learned about some Buddhist traditions

and for the meal time
we were told to eat without talking..eat in silence
...
Just pay attention to the experience of the food and the eating,
chew each bite
maybe 20 times or more

..slowly...deliberate taste it.
. And pay attention to it..

Thich Nhat Hanh.
.is a Buddhist monk who has written some great material in the Buddhist /Christian dialogue and how we can understand each other

he talks about the mediation practice of mindfulness when you eat

and he says Don't put anything else into your mouth, like your projects, your worries, your fear, just put the carrot in.
And when you chew, chew only the carrot,
not your projects or your ideas.
( The Path of Emancipation: Talks from a 21-Day Mindfulness Retreat)

but you know that not the not the way I normally eat...

even when I say a pray... before I eat (,,and I usually do that)

but then.. I still don’t pay that much attention to the food..
Do you?
Im more distracted when I eat.
I don’t really treat the gift of food like a blessing
..I don’t really turn my meals into act of thankfulness .

.but paying attention to it.
even though I said “Thank you god..in my prayer..bless this food

Wouldn’t it be more..a true prayer or deeper prayer
a meal time prayer
or a table grace

If I I actually continued to to thank God
by paying attention,, and treasured this gift of food as the blessing that it is..
Don’t just say a table prayer.

.but let that time become prayer at the table

I think you can adapt that..so that it also a time to pay loving attention to the people with you the table..
Try it some time.
... some people would call this the prayer of mindfulness..
Being present to the gifts of God


Prayer as unmixed attention.

Where and when do you come close to that ?
maybe your prayer times
Are those moments
when you lose yourself in the satisfaction of some good project.
..or some time
..maybe holding or playing with a child
or a grandchild
or working with the garden
or on some walk .
or maybe in music,
,when it just holds your attention and moves you along

in the moments
when you got caught up in something that touches your heart for good..and for God

That s a moment of prayer.

One of the biggest ways that we misunderstand prayer.

is that we make it too complicated..

or we define it in just very narrow ways
we make it into something that is beyond us. or limited to the church

We seem to have made up a lot of narrow religious definitions of what prayer is.
..
And Im also sure that at least 99 percent of us. Want to learn and grow in our prayer life

Well I am still learning more and more about prayer as well.

.and Im seeing that prayer

is simply being with God

prayer is paying attention.
.trying to be awake
to the presence of God
notice..watching for God
in all the experiences of Life
I think that what Paul pointed to when he said pray without ceasing...

.live prayerfully. Live .intentionally..
prayer is listening
and opening the eyes and ears of the heart

and prayer
is simply opening myself to God
with whatever honesty I have in my life at that time .

..being honest with my ups and downs
being honest and open with my life

paying attention to God in whatever yearnings and worries
and pains and fears I might have.

That what I see in Hanna this morning...
Pouring out her soul
paying attention to her life
she comes with such a passion
..such freedom

as she comes before God..

I would say that she comes to God with all her heart.. soul ,mind and strength

remember when Jesus said that the most important thing of all
was to love God
with all your heart soul mind and strength
and to love your neighbors as yourself

that sounds like a guide for prayer as well

it sound s like mindfulness...heartfulnes
.soul fullness
unmixed attention

Now Here is the homework for the week
(Can I give you homework)
Follow this lesson plan

pay attention to something....in a prayerful way
use it as a lesson to practice on
to grow your prayer life
pay attention to some person..
Some experience..it might be some problem
.something around you or in you
or
in the words about Hanna
Listen for the ways that you might be pouring out your soul.

What do you do..soulfully...?

Maybe we can hear the invitation to do the same
simply pray like that..
Pray from the inside..
Pray with your soul
pray with the honesty and with an open and passionate attention...that comes from the center of your life.
.from the heart
give your prayerful attention
this week in some way of love.
Pray with love.
.maybe that’s also what it means to pray in the name of Jesus Christ
And to pray for Gods will to be done
it means
To pray with love..

I think that’s the prayer life we are a looking for

pray.. in whatever way takes your heart..to God..

Amen


M Mckenna is my source for this story of the women and the emperor
McKenna Parables 98