Sermon Notes March 11, 2007

Monday Isaiah 55:1-9
Isaiah suggests that our relationship with God is the richest treasure we can have and that God is eager to be in relationship with us. What might you need to change in order to accept God’s abundant pardon?

Pray for those who have trouble loving themselves.

Tuesday Psalm 63:1-8
The Psalmist describes dependence upon God. Do you have a moment in your spiritual journey where praise for God was especially meaningful?

Pray for people planning meaningful worship services.

Wednesday I Corinthians 10:1-13
Paul suggests that there are events brought into our life that we might be tested. One response to these moments is to be stronger in faith. What times in your life strengthened your faith in God?

Pray for those enduring difficult times.

Thursday Luke 13:1-9
Jesus refers to a couple of tragedies that befell the people and then calls upon everyone to repent or to perish. How might you be able to live abundantly in repentance?

Pray for the survivors of tragedy.

Friday
Penance is practice of doing an action in order to better understand God’s forgiveness. Prayerfully consider and act of penance as a means of Grace. What can you do for another as an act of free love this weekend?

Pray for those who need someone to say, “I love you.”




Repent or Die.

When tragedy strikes people are often led to ask, “If God exists how can this have happened?” It is a nice way of ignoring human responsibility in human events. Does God start wars? Does God make buildings unable to stand fierce storms?

In the Gospel of Luke we have this account of people coming to Jesus concerned about an apparent act of Pilate against some Galileans. Jesus responds by reminding them of another tragedy that would have been well known to the people. He then says, unless you repent, you will perish as they did. The obvious implication is that without repentance there is nothing but death.

Some of you may understand repentance to be some act of deep sorrow and regret. I believe that repentance must be more than wallowing in regret. It seems to me that wallowing in regret is close to the death that Jesus wishes for us to avoid.

Perhaps, repentance should also be understood as a moment of great joy! What if to be repentant was to fully live? To live as if each moment held meaning and opportunity.

Isaiah’s word may have seemed scandalous to the original hearers. Here are people in dire straights following the defeat of Israel at the hand of the Babylonians and Isaiah is telling the people to buy wine and milk. He’s telling them to delight in rich food, how dare he! Of course Isaiah isn’t talking only of these things, he is talking of a rich relationship with God.

Isaiah seems to be suggesting to the people that while we may not always have all that we want, we have what we need and that is enough. So take delight in what we have. Delight in your relationship with God, Delight in the simple pleasures of life, Delight in all the gifts that God has given you.