Well the carnage of Black Friday has past and the dawn of Advent’s first Sunday has past. Of course it is easy to become jaded this time of year—to bemoan the missing Christmas greeting replaced by a generic Happy Yuletide or Happy Holidays. Just about the time you think it is time to throw in the towel some random act of cultural kindness comes your way and it occurs that God is not lost.
There is a such an random act that has had well over four million hits on Youtube. It takes place in the heart of a great cathedral of consumer worship—Macy’s. In the center of Macy’s is a huge organ that is played during the shopping days. Suddenly the early musical strains of the organ break into Handel’s Messiah chorus and a great combined choir begins to sing. Shoppers stop what they are doing and begin to sing as well.
The whole scene is transformed, and for a moment the child of Bethlehem’s Spirit pervades the whole scene. Take a few minutes and watch it. I think you’ll be moved to the same tears of joy and thanksgiving that has moved so many of us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp_RHnQ-jgU
Prayer
Almighty God who does appear in unlikely places and in ways we would not expect, surprise us this day with the joy of this advent season that we might follow you more faithfully as disciples of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
In God's World
The year’s at the spring
And day’s at the morn;
Morning’s at seven;
The hillside’s dew-pealed;
The lark’s on the wing;
The snail’s on the thorn;
God’s in his heaven—
All’s right with the world.
—Robert Browning
The verse above reveals the sort of unbridled optimism for which Browning was sometimes chastised in his lifetime. Browning speaks of a majestic awe and perfection in the universe as if he is saying to us, Take a look around you. Everything is just as it should be. But we know better. We are well into fall and the leaves have fallen from the trees, we’ve raked the leaves as though they cluttered the view of the dead grass, the first frost has come and gone, and the lark’s song has disappeared. This morning we may not feel awe as much as may feel awful.
Rather than seeing ourselves as connected to this world, we often feel we are in it to push it around and make it conform to us and our view of perfection. Rather than accepting it, we twist it to feed our ego, creating havoc, imbalance, and what we than call imperfection. Then the ultimate iron, we blame God for the very conditions we create out of the real perfection that is our gift from God. The fall has its beauty along with the frost and the leaves that cover our grass.
Jesus was particularly good at accepting the world for what it is and the people who inhabit it. He spoke to people of the importance of loving God, one another and ourselves as a means of making the crooked paths straight, bringing low the powerful and exalting the impoverished (Luke 1:46ff). He chastised those who kept trying to perfect the world by loading rule after rule which neither they nor anyone else could keep (Matthew 23:1ff).
Okay. Life is not perfect today or any day for that matter, at least by our estimates. God is still in his heaven. There are things around you in which you may be in awe (you have life, you have opportunity, you have support if you reach for it). Give yourself five minutes to contemplate them. Focus only on perfecting your faith to live in an imperfect world. And when the world goes haywire remember that God is the One who will help you perfect the kind of faith you need to deal with it.
Prayer
Gracious God I thank you for your perfect love. Grant that I may take a few moments to contemplate the wonder of your love for me, and the others who care about me. For this day and for the bounty of your love and grace I give thanks in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
And day’s at the morn;
Morning’s at seven;
The hillside’s dew-pealed;
The lark’s on the wing;
The snail’s on the thorn;
God’s in his heaven—
All’s right with the world.
—Robert Browning
The verse above reveals the sort of unbridled optimism for which Browning was sometimes chastised in his lifetime. Browning speaks of a majestic awe and perfection in the universe as if he is saying to us, Take a look around you. Everything is just as it should be. But we know better. We are well into fall and the leaves have fallen from the trees, we’ve raked the leaves as though they cluttered the view of the dead grass, the first frost has come and gone, and the lark’s song has disappeared. This morning we may not feel awe as much as may feel awful.
Rather than seeing ourselves as connected to this world, we often feel we are in it to push it around and make it conform to us and our view of perfection. Rather than accepting it, we twist it to feed our ego, creating havoc, imbalance, and what we than call imperfection. Then the ultimate iron, we blame God for the very conditions we create out of the real perfection that is our gift from God. The fall has its beauty along with the frost and the leaves that cover our grass.
Jesus was particularly good at accepting the world for what it is and the people who inhabit it. He spoke to people of the importance of loving God, one another and ourselves as a means of making the crooked paths straight, bringing low the powerful and exalting the impoverished (Luke 1:46ff). He chastised those who kept trying to perfect the world by loading rule after rule which neither they nor anyone else could keep (Matthew 23:1ff).
Okay. Life is not perfect today or any day for that matter, at least by our estimates. God is still in his heaven. There are things around you in which you may be in awe (you have life, you have opportunity, you have support if you reach for it). Give yourself five minutes to contemplate them. Focus only on perfecting your faith to live in an imperfect world. And when the world goes haywire remember that God is the One who will help you perfect the kind of faith you need to deal with it.
Prayer
Gracious God I thank you for your perfect love. Grant that I may take a few moments to contemplate the wonder of your love for me, and the others who care about me. For this day and for the bounty of your love and grace I give thanks in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Special Recognition
When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him,
'Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; I want to stay
at your house today.' -Luke 19:5
The red plate is coming out at the Hamon house today. We are celebrating a birthday. We've had the red plate for years. The red plate has an inscription around the brim that says, You are special. I must confess as hokey as it may sound to you, it is something that has become quite a tradition for us.
Everyone likes to be recognized. We like to hear our name and have others notice something we have contributed if it is only another year of life. I believe that is why anniversaries of all sorts are important to us. Anniversaries help us recognize, not only milestones, but who we are and what we do.
Not all recognition is welcomed. Zacchaeus was a tax collector for the occupying Roman government. So, it goes without saying that he was unpopular. I would imagine that the recognition Zacchaeus usually received was negative. He was probably shunned by about everyone except his fellow tax collectors.
Along comes Jesus who gives him some hope that in spite of what he does, God recognizes him as a person of worth. This positive recognition made Zacchaeus happy. In fact it changed his whole life and the way he did business. He did not give up tax collecting, instead continued his career in a way that was fair and just.
I'm not claiming that the red plate will turn my life around. I do know this-it will remind me that I am loved and that alone will help me, at least for this day, to be more loving of others.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for the reminders each day that you care for me. Help me to look for them in the small ways they often appear that I may accept your invitation to be fair and just in my treatment of others. Amen.
P.S. While you're waiting for that recognition from someone else, perhaps there is someone waiting to receive recognition from you.
Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
'Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; I want to stay
at your house today.' -Luke 19:5
The red plate is coming out at the Hamon house today. We are celebrating a birthday. We've had the red plate for years. The red plate has an inscription around the brim that says, You are special. I must confess as hokey as it may sound to you, it is something that has become quite a tradition for us.
Everyone likes to be recognized. We like to hear our name and have others notice something we have contributed if it is only another year of life. I believe that is why anniversaries of all sorts are important to us. Anniversaries help us recognize, not only milestones, but who we are and what we do.
Not all recognition is welcomed. Zacchaeus was a tax collector for the occupying Roman government. So, it goes without saying that he was unpopular. I would imagine that the recognition Zacchaeus usually received was negative. He was probably shunned by about everyone except his fellow tax collectors.
Along comes Jesus who gives him some hope that in spite of what he does, God recognizes him as a person of worth. This positive recognition made Zacchaeus happy. In fact it changed his whole life and the way he did business. He did not give up tax collecting, instead continued his career in a way that was fair and just.
I'm not claiming that the red plate will turn my life around. I do know this-it will remind me that I am loved and that alone will help me, at least for this day, to be more loving of others.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for the reminders each day that you care for me. Help me to look for them in the small ways they often appear that I may accept your invitation to be fair and just in my treatment of others. Amen.
P.S. While you're waiting for that recognition from someone else, perhaps there is someone waiting to receive recognition from you.
Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
Monday, November 8, 2010
It's What's Inside
Neither do I condemn you. Go your way and do
not sin again. -John 8:11
I heard an old religious man
But yesterday declare
That he found a text to prove
That only God, my dear,
Could love you for yourself alone
And not your yellow hair?
-William Butler Yeats
The first quote is from scripture where Jesus forgave the woman caught in adultery. It was an act of unconditional love-soul love. The poet Yeats speaks of the same thing-looking beyond the exterior to the interior person.
There is a part of psychology that deals with becoming a self-actualized person. Such a person is so comfortable with themselves that they do notice appearances but see only the unfolding of God in each person they encounter. I must confess that I have known very few such people over the years. Most of us will notice the yellow hair-whether it is styled or not. We'll notice the earrings and their placement or whether they are dressed properly for the occasion.
Jesus asks us to look beyond that. He looks into the soul of the woman and sees something that is lovely in spite of her unlovely circumstances. It is so with each of us-even when our souls are not what we would wish, God looks into each of us and as St. Augustine wrote, loves us as though we were the only one to be loved.
Each one of us desperately wants to reach a point of being our actual self, at least before God, that we can experience what being loved for our self alone is like. I would imagine when we truly experience that it will be less of a challenge loving others for themselves alone and perhaps less difficult tackling whatever the challenge before us may be.
Prayer
God of grace so let me set before you my soul with all of its light and dark hues that I may experience this day your love for me, meet the challenge that is before me, and so seek to love others in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
not sin again. -John 8:11
I heard an old religious man
But yesterday declare
That he found a text to prove
That only God, my dear,
Could love you for yourself alone
And not your yellow hair?
-William Butler Yeats
The first quote is from scripture where Jesus forgave the woman caught in adultery. It was an act of unconditional love-soul love. The poet Yeats speaks of the same thing-looking beyond the exterior to the interior person.
There is a part of psychology that deals with becoming a self-actualized person. Such a person is so comfortable with themselves that they do notice appearances but see only the unfolding of God in each person they encounter. I must confess that I have known very few such people over the years. Most of us will notice the yellow hair-whether it is styled or not. We'll notice the earrings and their placement or whether they are dressed properly for the occasion.
Jesus asks us to look beyond that. He looks into the soul of the woman and sees something that is lovely in spite of her unlovely circumstances. It is so with each of us-even when our souls are not what we would wish, God looks into each of us and as St. Augustine wrote, loves us as though we were the only one to be loved.
Each one of us desperately wants to reach a point of being our actual self, at least before God, that we can experience what being loved for our self alone is like. I would imagine when we truly experience that it will be less of a challenge loving others for themselves alone and perhaps less difficult tackling whatever the challenge before us may be.
Prayer
God of grace so let me set before you my soul with all of its light and dark hues that I may experience this day your love for me, meet the challenge that is before me, and so seek to love others in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
What Does Your Heart Think?
As a person thinks in their heart, so they are. -Proverbs 23:7
It is interesting to see how many times Jesus uses the word think in the gospels.
Think not that I have come to destroy . . . .
What are you thinking in your hearts?
You think in these you have eternal life?
Jesus says a lot about what we think in our hearts. Where our hearts/minds are there will be our treasure. Where our hearts/minds are will determine what comes out of our mouths. Where our hearts/minds are will say a great deal about who is our real God. Jesus knew to be true about us what the poet wrote, My mind to me a kingdom is.
What we think and how we think determines our response to both opportunities and challenges. If we have decided that we shall think in terms of compassion, when we feel compassion fatigue, our thinking will enable us to be compassionate. If we have decided in a thoughtful way to be forgiving, then when we set out on its path forgiveness will be our eventual destination. If we have decided to follow Christ, then when the challenges of life assail us, we will keep Christ as our companion even though we may stray.
So how are you thinking today? What decisions in the midst of opportunities and challenges will reveal where your mind/heart ultimately rests?
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what
is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. -Romans 12:2
Prayer
Gracious God be in my mind and in my understanding. Instill in me this day a right way of thinking that in the midst of the challenges of the day, I may serve you with all heart, soul, and mind to the glory of Christ. Amen.
Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
It is interesting to see how many times Jesus uses the word think in the gospels.
Think not that I have come to destroy . . . .
What are you thinking in your hearts?
You think in these you have eternal life?
Jesus says a lot about what we think in our hearts. Where our hearts/minds are there will be our treasure. Where our hearts/minds are will determine what comes out of our mouths. Where our hearts/minds are will say a great deal about who is our real God. Jesus knew to be true about us what the poet wrote, My mind to me a kingdom is.
What we think and how we think determines our response to both opportunities and challenges. If we have decided that we shall think in terms of compassion, when we feel compassion fatigue, our thinking will enable us to be compassionate. If we have decided in a thoughtful way to be forgiving, then when we set out on its path forgiveness will be our eventual destination. If we have decided to follow Christ, then when the challenges of life assail us, we will keep Christ as our companion even though we may stray.
So how are you thinking today? What decisions in the midst of opportunities and challenges will reveal where your mind/heart ultimately rests?
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what
is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. -Romans 12:2
Prayer
Gracious God be in my mind and in my understanding. Instill in me this day a right way of thinking that in the midst of the challenges of the day, I may serve you with all heart, soul, and mind to the glory of Christ. Amen.
Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
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