Jesus is quoting from Psalm 27 - the goal of life is to dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. Our dwelling in the house of the Lord forever begins
with listening to Jesus and the Holy Spirit in this lifetime. We listen to
Jesus when we read the Bible, pray and give thanks. In the Readings Mary has
chosen the better part because she has chosen to not be distracted from
listening to Jesus by the many other things that needed to be done. Listening
is very much on my mind as I have been paying through some challenges in my Interim
ministry and have received helpful direction from the Holy Spirit.
-
Morton Kelsey – “busyness
is not of the devil busyness is the devil’
- Most people use the word “busy”
to describe ‘how they are’
- At work we listen to colleagues,
supervisors and secular culture
- Fear of failure drives us
into ourselves – escape into busyness
- Voices of shame and guilt
drive many people away from God
We get distracted and fail to focus on the one thing we need - help from
the one who can really help us. The question for all of us is “What distracts
me from listening to Jesus and the Holy Spirit every day?”
The times were good, Israel was expanding and not under attack. The rulers had gotten complacent.
- Hebrew Religion had been
reduced to rituals.
- Intermarriage with the
Canaanites had led to toleration of Canaanite worship practices– in violation
of the Moses Covenant
- Justice and truth were
suffering as people focused on becoming wealthy.
- Like ripe fruit they were
in danger of becoming overripe
Amos was trying to warn the people and the leaders that God was not
pleased and that there would be serious consequences. Many of us are concerned
that we live in a similar time. At the 2004 Anglican General Synod there was a
similar prophecy that “God will no longer listen to the prayers of this
church”. Our Anglican Church seems to be distracted by political issues. We
seem to have forgotten the spiritual battle and instead be listening to the
secular gods of Education and Psychology. Amos reminds us that there is a final
judge and that we are accountable for our actions.
3. Paul proclaims the mystery of life in Christ
He reminds us that at some point in the past we were all enemies of God in our minds. Our behaviour towards other people was not acceptable to God. Amos and our Psalm Reading (Psalm 52) emphasize the sinfulness of deceit, lying and exploitation of the poor. But the great mystery is that we can be forgiven through the sacrificial death of Jesus.
-
Some people have trouble believing
this - is against the logic and reason of our physical worldview
- Bible assumes a metaphysical
– greater than physical worldview
- Metaphysical worldview
adds the spiritual dimension to the physical
- Spiritual dimension can
be understood through Bible Study and personal experience – such as the
Charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit
- Things that happen in the
physical dimension – like sins, affect what happens in the spiritual
dimension
- Jesus uses simple
analogies to explain this - “I am the door”
- Sacraments are examples of
this interaction – an outward visible sign of an inner spiritual effect
- Mystery of faith is that
through baptism we are spiritually joined to Jesus.
- Jesus lives in us because
we believe in him and love him
- ‘Lives in’ is like the
story of Romeo and Juliette lives inside us
- Our faith and experience
connect us to Jesus
- In the New Covenant of
Jesus we are joined to His death for our sins by our repentance and faith
in asking for forgiveness
- Our guilt is spiritually
taken back in time to the Cross and paid for
- Mystery of Faith is that the
shed blood of Jesus covers our guilt, creates a clean environment for the
Holy Spirit to live in us and makes it possible for us to stand in the
presence of a Holy God in heaven when we die – this is the Good News!
The
one thing that is necessary is to focus on Jesus and the Holy Spirit so we can live
an eternal life of joy
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