February 15, 2024 — Service as a Spiritual Discipline

What do you think of when you hear the word “service”? Do you think of going to church? Does the word service mean “the time in the worship space when you worship your G-d”? Or perhaps, you think about doing a good deed for someone else. For the purpose of this devotion, let me share this story. I once read about a pastor who was traveling in the Philippines, when he passed a farmer on his way to the market. The farmer was running along carrying an enormous load of vegetables and produce hanging from a wooden yoke that he carried across his shoulders. The pastor stopped the car he was driving so he could take a picture of the farmer. The farmer then dropped his load to visit. When the pastor asked if the load was heavy to carry any long distance, the farmer replied, “No, it isn’t, because it’s balanced.” “Doesn’t that yoke hurt?” the pastor asked. “At first it did, but I carved and sanded it with a rough stone, and now it fits and is comfortable.” The pastor also noticed that the man had placed a small cloth across his neck to help cushion the shock.

Remember the text from Matthew 11:28-30:

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

It is not uncommon to hear this text used to decry the uneven burden that a few in the congregation carry for the many – or for the burdens that any in the congregation may carry, burdens like sadness, grief, loss, and sickness.

It is true that many congregations operate under the 80/20 rule, where twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work. There is a heavy and unmanageable burden that is being carried by too few faithful people, and not enough burden being carried by the rest. This unevenness can cause a lot of strain and stress within the body of Christ. The remedy to this uneven burden is to find a way to balance the load, and delegate the responsibilities of ministries and committees so that all can carry the burdens of ministry together. When the work of service in the church is delegated and carried evenly across the members, then the yoke becomes comfortable and easy, as the Lord said it would.

Pastor Dave

February 14, 2024 — Personal Reflection as a Spiritual Discipline

Personal reflection – I think our society today is geared for keeping us from doing more personal reflection. When people spend so much time on social media, they are spending an inordinate amount of time looking for the approval of others or looking for the advice of others. Sometimes we need to spend more time on personal reflection, or looking inward and listening to our thoughts, and listening to G-d speaking to us.

Personal reflection can be defined as paying attention to the inner self. The purposes of personal reflection can be myriad. We should do personal reflection to grow in our relationship with G-d, not necessarily to beat ourselves up. Personal reflection forces us to put aside the distractions in our lives and spend valuable time with G-d. We can use this time in prayer, in reading and reflection, or just listening.

We should do personal reflection to spend time praying for and reflecting on the needs of others. As I said, the world we live in gives us many ways to increase our narcissism. Using things like Facebook and other social media allows us to put ourselves out for the world to reflect on our actions, our family and our world. This then also allows us to grown in a dependence upon what others think of us. Instead, when we do personal reflection, we can think of others, pray for others, and speak to G-d about the others in our lives.

Finally, we can do personal reflection for ourselves – but in this case it will be different than the social outlets we use today. When we do personal reflection on ourselves, we listen to only two voices – that is the voice of G-d and our own voice. This type of personal reflection forces us into that difficult conversation that happens when we open ourselves up to G-d. But this conversation can also be very cathartic – because there is nowhere to hide – and this allows us to be honest with G-d in ways we will not be with others.

During this Lenten season, find ways to do more personal reflection – reflecting on your relationship with G-d – reflecting on the needs of others – and reflecting on honesty and repentance.

Pastor Dave