Tag Archives: Joy

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on January 29, 2016
Tags: Joy,   

Where’s The Beef? — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

                                            January 29, 2016 

“all the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel. Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.” (Nehemiah 8:1-3)

The people wanted to hear the word from G-d – so Ezra decided to read — and read, and read, and read. And the people wept – but not for the reasons we 21st century Christians would weep. If I preached for six hours, people would weep, but not for the chance to hear the word. They would weep for obvious reasons – like “He never preaches six hours, why now?”. But the people were so hungry for the word that they stood and listened because they didn’t want just a nugget– they wanted the whole beef. And Ezra gave them the whole beef, and they were filled with so much joy, they wept.

We need to have that same hungering for the Word of G-d. We often look at the process of beginning a bible reading plan as drudgery, as something we “have to get done today”. This is not the attitude to have when reading the bible. We have to hunger to read, hunger to study, and hunger to know more. When Jesus came to his home town of Nazareth (Luke 4) and entered into their Synagogues to read, teach and preach, the people were anxious to hear what he might say about the word of G-d. And when he read from Isaiah, they were sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to hear what he might have to say. And when he said “This scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing today”, they were also weeping – crying out in anger. Reading the word should promote some amount of reaction from us – joy, sadness, hope, anger, trust, and longing for more. As you read G-d’s word, expect to be moved to many different emotions.

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on November 17, 2015
Tags: , Joy   

Find Joy In G-d, Not Stuff — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

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November 17, 2015

“Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”
As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight.
Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips.
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.”
Psalm 16:1 – 5

“The appearance of Psalm 16 in the lectionary is an opportunity both to appreciate its artistic beauty and to open ourselves to the challenge of Israel’s radical monotheism. In our pervasively self-centered context, for instance, what difference might it make if we entertained the conviction that life is not something we achieve, but rather something we receive as a gift from God? What difference might it make if we viewed the life-sustaining resources that most of us enjoy not as something we have earned or deserve, but rather as evidence of God’s goodness? Might a pervasive sense of entitlement begin to be replaced by a posture of humility and gratitude?

My tradition tries to capture the challenge of Israel’s radical monotheism in the first question and answer of the Westminster Shorter Catechism (which I paraphrase as follows): “What is the chief end of humankind? The chief end of humankind is to glorify God and enjoy God forever.” A symptom of our dis-ease is the fact that enjoying God is essentially nonsensical to most of us. But the psalmist knew what it meant to enjoy God! What difference might it make if we began to try to ground our pleasure and joy not in self nor in stuff but in God? It’s worth a try!” (Erhard Gerstenberger, Psalms: Part I(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988), Working Preacher Website)

“What difference might it make if we began to try to ground our pleasure and joy not in self nor in stuff but in God? It’s worth a try!” We live in a society that continually tells us that we need more stuff. This time of year is really challenging to me because the Christmas advertisements come out, especially on the television. If you watch one of the children’s stations, they inundate our children with ad after ad about the toy they just cannot live without. Pleasure and satisfaction are linked with how much stuff we have, how new our stuff is, and how quickly we can get the stuff. At some point in time, each person will come to the realization that joy and purpose do not come from stuff. But for some of those same people, that realization comes too late to make a real difference in their lives.

Begin now, today, to make a change in your life. If you are always thinking about your stuff, may I suggest that you may have a problem. And the problem that you have is not about having stuff – it is about the fact that your stuff has power over you. If we focused on our relationship with G*d and our neighbors who are in need, as much as we focus our time and money on our stuff, this world would be a lot better off. Relationships have much more value than stuff will ever have. Take a stance against stuff – and find joy in a relationship with Christ.

Pastor Dave