"Listen to Him"
February 6, 2008
A Sermon by Sue Oldfather
Today we begin our forty day Lenten journey with Jesus to Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin, Pontius Pilate, and the Cross. During these forty days we have the opportunity to look into the innermost parts of our hearts rooting out those things which draw us away from a deep rich relationship with our Lord.
As we name these things which have kept us from God, we have the opportunity to repent of them, to let them go, and to replace them with things that draw us closer to God.
We have the opportunity to choose to live more simply, sacrificing the unnecessary.
We have the opportunity to choose to make room in our lives for a deeper relationship with God through our prayer.
The readings from Matthew and Isaiah today show us how we are to do these things.
Matthew’s gospel tells us that having the right spirit is most important as we enter into conversations with God and practice our faith.
We are to give alms and care for our brothers and sisters because this is what God desires, not to impress or curry favor with humans.
Our prayer conversations are to come from our hearts turning to our God for guidance, for courage, for forgiveness, for healing, for love, to praise and to bless His Holy Name.
Our prayer practices are not for the sake of winning favor from friends and strangers.
Our prayer practices are not to impress those who hear us praying.
We are to pray in order to engage in a deeply authentic ongoing relationship with one who loves us more than life itself!
Isaiah tells us what sacrifices please God:
v to loose the bonds of injustice,
v to let the oppressed go free,
v to share bread with the hungry,
v to bring the homeless poor into our house,
v to clothe the naked,
v to satisfy the needs of the afflicted.
Echoes of these words resound in Jesus sermon in the 25th chapter of Matthew which undergirds the Lenten devotional booklets from Episcopal Relief and Development that are available in the Narthex.
Millions of Christians in 191 countries around the globe are working together to
v Eradicate extreme Poverty and Hunger
v Achieve universal Primary Education for Children
v Promote gender equality and empower women
v Reduce child mortality
v Improve maternal health
v Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria & other diseases
v Ensure Environmental Sustainability
v Create a global partnership for development
The MDG Inspiration Fund is a way that our church funds concrete solutions such as
v purchasing anti-malaria nets so that moms, dads, & children can sleep safely through the night even though swarms of malaria carrying mosquitoes buzz around their beds.
v teaching villagers how washing food in dirty water or drinking contaminated water can make them sick with fever and diarrhea
v helping villagers build and install clean water supplies and ways to dispose of human waste safely
v teaching men and women how HIV is passed from person to person and ways to keep themselves and those they love from getting the virus
v enabling people to become health care workers so they can help their friends and neighbors who do not have access to health care
v teaching pregnant mothers what they need to eat and do so their babies will be born healthy
v teaching moms how to care for their babies and children so they can live to become adults.
These devotions, based on the Millennium Development Goals, offer us opportunities
v to repent of corporate and individual sins of omission,
v to pray for our brothers and sisters, over 1.2 Billion of them, who subsist on a dollar or less a day,
v to sacrifice some of our wants in order to help provide for their needs.
Last Sunday’s gospel included a coda from God about his dearly beloved son in whom He is well pleased: listen to him.
As we walk with Jesus on this forty day journey, may the Holy Spirit open our hearts so that we make time to sit quietly each day in the presence of God, listening to Him.
As we walk with Jesus during these forty days, may our hearts be attuned to God’s desires.
As we walk with Jesus during these forty days may we unflinchingly identify and remove all things, even seemingly important things, which we have allowed to come before God in our lives.
As we walk with Jesus during these forty days listening to him, may what we hear shape our words, and our actions so that our lives bless God’s Holy Name.
Prepared to the Glory of God
By Postulant Sue Oldfather, M.Div.
Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
February 6, 2008
