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Redford Aldersgate
United Methodist Church
Sermon
Delight in the Word
March 26, 2006
Psalm 1:1-3
The Olympics have been wonderful so
far, but they are drawing close to the end. Have you been inspired? I
hope so! Now if you are new today, you may think that you’ve entered a
bit of a time warp because the Olympics ended last month. But I’m not
talking about the Olympic Olympics, I’m talking about the Spiritual
Olympics that began here at Redford Aldersgate the day the Olympic
Olympics ended. Our worship setting reminds us of the Olympic Rings
turned upside down to point upward to God and the colorful material
going through the hoops remind us of the ways God works through
Spiritual Disciplines to bring beauty to our lives. So the five hoops
remind us of five of the many Spiritual Disciplines that there are. So
far, we have explored
the wonders of Celebration, Slowing Down and
Prayer with Confession. I am hopeful that you actually have been putting
these Spiritual Disciplines to work in your life. I’m hopeful that you
have had many “De-Dah-Days” and been able to celebrate ALL times. I’m
hopeful that you have slowed down enough to be aware of a few Holy
Moments in the interruptions of your lives. I’m hopeful that you
actually tried talking to God for 5 minutes each day this week. I know
we have probably had mixed results at all our efforts, but we must
remember that we are in TRAINING. We aren’t expected to be an expert at
any of these practices. That isn’t even the goal. The goal is to draw
closer to God. So hopefully, even if you haven’t been able to do all
these disciplines all the time, you have used them enough to make
progress toward the goal of growing closer to God!
Today, we are looking at the fourth discipline of Scripture Meditation.
John Ortberg, the author of our Lenten study book: The Life You’ve
Always Wanted, says on the video that he doesn’t know anyone who has a
close relationship with God who hasn’t immersed himself in Scripture.
Reading Scripture just seems to be a given in drawing closer to God.
It’s like the instruction book that God has given us to have a
meaningful, productive, joyful life. However, like many instructions
books, we often don’t pay much attention to it. I suspect that many of
you are like I am with the instruction books that come with computers
and projectors and any other kind of new fangled gadget. I usually take
the book out of the package, not always, but usually. I might even leaf
through the pages and look at a few pictures... but it looks too
complicated. I think I can’t understand it, so I toss it on the shelf,
thinking: Someday I’ll have time to read this, but right now, I’m just
going to experiment and figure it out myself. Have any of you ever done
that with those instruction books? I see lots of nods. How about with
the Bible? You don’t have to nod, but I suspect that’s what many of us
have done at one time or the other. It looks complicated. It’s so big.
It uses words I can’t understand. Maybe someday I’ll have time to figure
it out. But right now, we’ll figure out life on our own terms.
Well, wait no longer. The time is now. You are part of the Olympic Team.
This is one of the hoops you need to go through. The Gold Medal is in
sight. You can do it. And I think you’ll be amazed at how great it’s
going to be. I know there are lots of other forces vying for your
attention. I know you have lots of other things to do. I know it seems
like your life is sometimes going in circles... but hear these words
from Psalm number one: Happy are those who do not follow the advice of
the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of
scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law
they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of
water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not
wither. In all that they do, they prosper.
Doesn’t that sound great. Wouldn’t you like to prosper in all that you
do? Doesn’t it sound good to be compared to a tree that is planted by a
stream that bears fruit when it’s supposed to and whose leaves never
wither? Sounds good to me. Look at this lovely stream in the
Pocono
Mountains. Those trees and vegetation are lush and green, early in the
spring. They have lots of nourishing water. The scripture says that we
can be compared to the healthy plants by a stream when we do what?...
Happy are those who ... first it mentions what we aren’t supposed to do
- follow the advice of the wicked or take the path that sinners tread or
sit in the seat of the scoffers... but then it goes on to tell about who
the really happy ones are... those who delight in the law of the Lord
and who meditate on the law day and night. Look carefully at those
words. Notice the word: DELIGHT. The happy ones are the ones who delight
in the law of the Lord. It doesn’t say it is people who understand the
law of the Lord, or who know all about the law of the Lord, or even who
study the law of the Lord. The word there is DELIGHT... enjoy, find
pleasure, have fun... delight in God’s Word! But how do you do that if
it’s so complicated and full of big words? Well, another important word
in this scripture is meditate. We don’t just read it once. We don’t read
it quickly. There’s no speed meditating course. We meditate. We read it
over and over and think about it and mull it over in our minds. We
internalize it and take it with us where ever we go. We meditate on it
day and night. Now, John Ortberg recommends that we memorize scripture.
I prefer to say that we learn it “by heart” or better yet, “in heart.”
When Ortberg thinks of memorizing scripture, he thinks of Bible verses.
He remembers when he was a kid and there was a contest to see who could
learn the most verses. He excelled and the race came down to him and a
little freckled faced girl with big glasses named Louise. Louise won the
Bible, and he wasn’t happy about it. He realizes that he distorted the
good that came from learning all those verses. He may not have won the
Bible, but the verses have been helpful to him over the years. For many
of us, learning verses seems like work ... even impossible work. It
doesn’t seem like a delight. But it can be really fun.
When I think of someone knowing Bible verses and getting great pleasure
from those verses, I think of Betty Owen. As a child, she learned a
verse for every letter of the alphabet. She has kept those verses and
they have reached deep into her heart. You give her a letter of the
alphabet and she can give you the verse, just like that. It’s amazing to
me. I went over to take a video of her to show today, but she wanted to
come in person, so here she is. Last week I showed you a picture of her
and her prayer blanket, but here she is in person today. Betty, we are
so glad you are here. Tell me, do you enjoy reciting the scriptures you
learned? What do you do every night before you go to bed? (Say her
scripture alphabet.) She’s 93 and her mind is still sharp ... do you
wonder why? She can no longer see well enough to read. But she has it
all up here in her head. So, put her to the test. Some one call out a
letter of the alphabet, and she’ll say a verse that begins with that
letter. .... Isn’t that amazing! Thank you Betty. As you can see, she
delights in the word. I applaud that Sunday School teacher who thought
of the idea. It’s like a game. Games are fun. We delight in the fun. It
becomes part of us. Betty doesn’t just know those verses. They are in
her heart.
I suspect some of you are thinking: Well, that’s great if you learn it
as a kid, but it’s too late for me now. My answer is: It’s never too
late ... but maybe you don’t want to do it in the same way. I never
learned Bible verses much. The progressive Methodist church I grew up in
didn’t do things like have contests to see who could learn the most
verses. They went more for getting the content than memorizing the
words. I agree with getting the content, but the way they did it seemed
rather boring and I didn’t get too much content or words. It wasn’t
until I was an adult and got involved with Biblical Storytelling that
the scripture really came alive to me. So, instead of learning verses,
I’ve learned stories. But to do that, I don’t just read the words, I put
myself into the story and try to experience what is happening. The word
in the psalm is DELIGHT. Like I said, delight means to enjoy, find
pleasure, have fun... delight in God’s Word! Here’s a new thought for
some of you: Try playing with the Word. Now, don’t misunderstand me. I’m
not saying that you don’t need to take it seriously. Certainly, our life
depends on taking it seriously. But I think a little fun and playful
reading can help us really get to the heart of what God wants us to
hear. Often in the Family Worship Service, we act out the scripture.
It’s one way of getting people to identify with the characters. It’s
fun. It’s sorta like playing with the scripture. When we are reading the
scripture at home, we probably don’t want to get up and act it out, but
we can do it in our minds eye. Put yourself in the part of each of the
characters. Try to feel what they might have felt. Then think about when
you have had similar experiences and listen to what God might be saying
to you in your situation through the story.
To give you a little taste of the fun you can have playing with the
scripture and how it can speak to you, I want us to play a little with
one of my favorite stories. It’s a blind man story in Mark 8 beginning
in the 22nd verse. I love all the blind men stories because I have an
eye problem and I can identify with those blind men. Now unfortunately,
there aren’t any blind woman stories, but this one literally says they
brought a blind “one” to Jesus, so often when I tell it to myself, I say
blind woman. Besides, when you are playing with the scripture, don’t be
afraid to change the sexes, most of what happens is equally true for men
or for women. So do I have a volunteer to be a blind one today. Maybe
someone who will admit that they have some trouble reading scripture and
sometimes feel like they are blind when it comes to reading scripture.
Good, come right on up here. Now I am going to ask you to keep your eyes
closed until I say he looked... when you hear the word looked, you can
open your eyes, but not until then. Feel free to react in anyway you
think the blind one might have reacted, but don’t open your eyes until I
say he looked. Got it? Now while, I’m recruiting the others, I want you
just to imagine you are blind. Think what it would be like. Remember a
time when you haven’t been able to understand something and you felt
mentally blind. Try to get into the role.
Now I need a couple other people to go up behind the organ. Bob will
give you instructions. You will have a role later in the story. And I
need a person to play Jesus. Great. Now, back to you blind one. Are you
feeling blind yet? Do you like being blind? No. It’s not a fun thing to
be is it? Well, you have just heard Jesus is coming to town and he’s
healed other blind people. So what would you like to do? (Go see him.)
But where is he? (I don’t know, I can’t see.) What would be helpful...
some friends maybe? (Yea) O.K. I need some friends to come up and help
this blind one to find Jesus. Now Jesus has just come from a boat trip
and he’s going to the town of Bethsadia. Here is a picture of the Via
Maris not far from there.
So let’s imagine being there. Hear now the
Word of God as contained in the Gospel of Mark 8:22-26. They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to
touch him. O.K. now friends beg! Is that how you would really beg? You
are good friends with this blind one. You’d love it if he could see.
What would you say? (Let them respond) And you blind one, what are you
saying? Are you just standing there? Do you want to see? (Let them
respond) O.K. time out. Now let’s just think a minute what this might be
saying to us about how we pray for our friends or ourselves. Do we pray
with passion like we really believe God will do something? If that is
where you are in life, then spend some more time meditating on that
little part of the story. But let’s go on. Jesus took the bline one by
the hand and led him out of the village: Friends, are you going to stay
there or come along? It doesn’t say, but if you were there, what do you
think you’d do. So here we are outside the city. He hasn’t done anything
yet. But how are you feeling? Excited? Expectant? It looks like he’s
going to do something doesn’t it? Are you ready, blind one? Do you ever
get that kind of feeling after you’ve prayed for something? If that’s
where you are in your life, you might want to stop the story there and
meditate on that for awhile. But, excitement is mounting, let’s go on
with the story. And when he had spit on his eyes (Jesus makes the
spitting sound and Diana sprays water on the blind one’s eyes) Woa... I
didn’t say looked yet, don’t open your eyes. But you can share your
reaction. Was that pleasant? Now, those of you who were reading along in
the pew Bible probably noticed it says “he put saliva on his eyes.”
That’s true, he put saliva on his eyes, but that’s too polite for the
Greek word used here. This is the same word that is used when they are
mocking Jesus after the trial. I don’t think they gently licked their
fingers and gave his eyes a little “Mom’s spit bath.” So, I wanted you
to experience more what that blind one experienced. It was rather
shocking and uncomfortable wasn’t it. I’m here to tell you that there
will be times when reading the scripture will be rather shocking and
uncomfortable. It may feel like a spit in the eye at times. There’ll be
times when you realize yuck, I’m in trouble. That’s why Ortberg says we
have to read the scripture with a repentant spirit. There’ll be times
when it’s as uncomfortable as a spit in the eye. If that’s where you are
in your life right now, you would want to spend a little more time
meditating on that. But, better stuff is coming. Let’s go on with the
story: and laid his hands on him ... That’s more what you expected isn’t
it. There will be times when we get that comfort we expect from
scripture. Let’s go on: Jesus asked him, :Can you see anything?” And the
man looked up Now you can open your eyes and look over there (People
come out from behind the organ carrying trees in from of them.) And the
blind one said, “I see people, but they look like trees walking.” O.K.
let’s stop just a minute. (Goes to talk to the people carrying the
trees.) That blind one down there just called you a walking tree. Are
you a walking tree? Of course not. You were just taking the trees where
Bob told you right? But that person down there misunderstood you. He/she
thought you were a walking tree. Has anyone every misunderstood you? Has
anyone ever called you a name or said bad things about you? What do you
want to do when that happens? Well, maybe I don’t want you to answer
that, but you can think it. But think just a minute. Is it your fault,
that blind one thought you were a walking tree. No, that blind one just
isn’t seeing quite clearly. Things are confused for him. So what does he
need? He needs to be touched again by Jesus. What about people who
misunderstand you or say nasty things about you... what do they need?
They need to be touched again by Jesus. So what would be helpful for you
to do when someone misunderstands you? Pray for them. If that’s where
you are in your life, you will want to meditate more at this point in
the story, but let’s go on. You walking trees, you friends, why don’t
you ask Jesus to do it again. (Let them respond) Then Jesus laid his
hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and he saw everything
clearly. Yea! You can see clearly. How do you feel? How do your friends
feel? You did it, you helped! And you walking trees, now the blind one
is no longer blind. That’s great isn’t i?. Let’s celebrate. But there is
one last sentence: Then Jesus sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not
even go into the village.” Now that sentence has always puzzled me. But
maybe if you are in the position of celebrating God’s work in your life,
maybe you should meditate on that sentence and see what it says to you.
It may be something different than it means to someone else.
Well, thank you cast, and especially you blind one... by the way, that
was clean water from this spray bottle you felt, so don’t sue me. It was
all playing with the scripture. Thanks for being such a good sport.
Let’s give our actors a big hand.
Hopefully, that gave you a little idea of what you can do as you read
the scripture. Put yourself into the story. Let it reach your soul. Read
it slowly and if there is a part that really strikes a chord with you,
stay with it for awhile. Meditate on it... see what kind of wisdom God
can bestow upon you through it. Play with it. Delight in it... even if
it is like a spit in the eye.
When we were in Aruba, the lay speaker at the little church we went to
said something during his sermon that I think might be helpful as you
use the discipline of Scripture Meditation this week. He was encouraging
everyone to read the Bible, but he said, only read 15 minutes. If you
read any longer than that, you’ll get confused. I think he has a point.
Just read a small portion. But really read it. In most modern
translations, the scripture is divided into sections with little
headings. Read one section. Meditate with it. Play with it. Put yourself
in it. Delight in it. Let it wash over you and cleanse you. This is
sometimes called being washed in the Word. But whatever you call it, be
like a tree planted by the stream. Say those verses over and over again
like Betty. There are pens with our new church name and one of my
favorite verses. Take a pen and say that verse over and over. Or read a
story and put yourself into it. I put some New Testaments out by the
pens. If you don’t have a Bible, pick one up and begin reading. I
recommend you start with Mark. But be like a tree by the stream. Be
nourished by the living water in this wonderful instruction book and
bear fruit as you delight in the Word!
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