Lose this day loitering—‘twill be the same story
To-morrow—and the next more dilatory;
Each indecision brings its own delays,
And days are lost lamenting o’er lost days.
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute—
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
Only engage, and then the mind grows heated—
Begin it, and then the work will be completed!
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
This is the kind of verse that should be read at the beginning of a new year or on a Monday, or upon returning from time away or upon starting some new venture, or at last facing a difficult challenge. We’ve waited long enough. Our talents as God has given them to us now need to be engaged. We can do it!
In the story of the talents we forget that not everyone had the same number of talents. It is natural that we should pass this little bit of trivia by. The point of Jesus’ story is twofold. First, those who had talents used them, and without delay. The second, one did not. He buried them in order to minimize the risk and escape any wrath resulting from failure.
How many people there are with incredible talents to share that refuse to engage them because of a lack of boldness. How many people fail to confront their reality because of the delays buried beneath indecision. How many people never move toward their potential because they are busy lamenting o’er lost days.
God does not need believers, but people of faith—people willing to boldly take the risk and live a life of difference. The challenge/opportunity is before you only engage . . . begin it, and then the work will be completed!
Prayer
God of grace, God of glory you have called us to this moment in our lives. You have given us gifts to be used for your glory. Grant us the wisdom to discern those gifts, and the boldness to use them for your Kingdom’s sake. Amen.
Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Have Patience
May the God of patience and encouragement grant you to live
in harmony with one another. —Romans 15:5
I love this passage that speaks about God’s patience—God’s steadfast patience. I love it because it makes so much sense about who God is. It is unimaginable that God would create we humans a little lower than the angels, fearfully made, and not seek to work patiently with us as the potter does the lump of clay.
When I reflect over my life it is abundantly clear that God has been steadfastly patient with me. In my slowness to learn the simplest of Jesus teachings and how they might improve my life, God has kept on teaching. In the horrible choices I have made, God has not been there to beat me up, but to apply the balm of grace when I have beaten up on myself.
Patience and encouragement really are the main ingredients of harmony. They certainly pay dividends in our relationships. A marriage is much more harmonious when both spouses are patient and encouraging with each other. A family is much more harmonious when parents are patient and encouraging with their children.
It is never too late for a wandering world to come home to this idea either. Lucille Clifton is one of the great poets of the last century. In one of her poems she writes:
God waits for the wandering world.
he expects us when we enter,
late or soon.
he will not mind my coming after hours.
his patience is his promise.
It is a new day and no matter how it goes, it will not be too late in our wanderings to bring this day to God, even after hours.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, there are challenges ahead for me this day. It may be the challenge of something great or simply the challenge of the routine and the trivial. Whatever they may be let me not forget that as I wander through them I may, whether now or after hours, entrust them to your steadfast care. Amen.
C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
in harmony with one another. —Romans 15:5
I love this passage that speaks about God’s patience—God’s steadfast patience. I love it because it makes so much sense about who God is. It is unimaginable that God would create we humans a little lower than the angels, fearfully made, and not seek to work patiently with us as the potter does the lump of clay.
When I reflect over my life it is abundantly clear that God has been steadfastly patient with me. In my slowness to learn the simplest of Jesus teachings and how they might improve my life, God has kept on teaching. In the horrible choices I have made, God has not been there to beat me up, but to apply the balm of grace when I have beaten up on myself.
Patience and encouragement really are the main ingredients of harmony. They certainly pay dividends in our relationships. A marriage is much more harmonious when both spouses are patient and encouraging with each other. A family is much more harmonious when parents are patient and encouraging with their children.
It is never too late for a wandering world to come home to this idea either. Lucille Clifton is one of the great poets of the last century. In one of her poems she writes:
God waits for the wandering world.
he expects us when we enter,
late or soon.
he will not mind my coming after hours.
his patience is his promise.
It is a new day and no matter how it goes, it will not be too late in our wanderings to bring this day to God, even after hours.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, there are challenges ahead for me this day. It may be the challenge of something great or simply the challenge of the routine and the trivial. Whatever they may be let me not forget that as I wander through them I may, whether now or after hours, entrust them to your steadfast care. Amen.
C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
Monday, January 17, 2011
To Be More Childlike
Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever humbles himself like this child,
he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. —Matthew 18:3-4
It is a statement of Jesus with such clarity that it is difficult to miss his point. Unless we have the simple trust and faith in God that a child has, we’ll never get the central idea of the kingdom of God—unconditional love. Children have been used by other leaders as a means of hearkening us to our more noble selves. In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech from the Lincoln Memorial in August, 1963 he said,
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
President Barack Obama touched on it in his reference to Christina Green, the nine year old girl killed by the carnage in Tucson, in his speech at the service for those victims:
I want us to live up to [Christina Green’s] expectations. I want her democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us—we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children’s expectations.
The same should be said of a church where people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character and that we all want a church that will be as good as our little children imagine it.
Of course none of this is possible unless it begins with you and me. It begins right where Jesus’ words leave off—unless we become as a child. It sounds easy, and perhaps is easier than we imagine, but for an adult it is a challenge. None of us want to be hoodwinked or otherwise taken advantage of, but at some point such risks must be taken. Especially if we believe in what Jesus stood for and the world he, even today, seeks to transform through those of us who seek to be his followers.
Prayer,
Heavenly Father, fill us with the love and light of your kingdom on this new day that we may be those willing to risk lives lived by the simple but profound love and hope of a child in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever humbles himself like this child,
he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. —Matthew 18:3-4
It is a statement of Jesus with such clarity that it is difficult to miss his point. Unless we have the simple trust and faith in God that a child has, we’ll never get the central idea of the kingdom of God—unconditional love. Children have been used by other leaders as a means of hearkening us to our more noble selves. In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech from the Lincoln Memorial in August, 1963 he said,
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
President Barack Obama touched on it in his reference to Christina Green, the nine year old girl killed by the carnage in Tucson, in his speech at the service for those victims:
I want us to live up to [Christina Green’s] expectations. I want her democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us—we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children’s expectations.
The same should be said of a church where people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character and that we all want a church that will be as good as our little children imagine it.
Of course none of this is possible unless it begins with you and me. It begins right where Jesus’ words leave off—unless we become as a child. It sounds easy, and perhaps is easier than we imagine, but for an adult it is a challenge. None of us want to be hoodwinked or otherwise taken advantage of, but at some point such risks must be taken. Especially if we believe in what Jesus stood for and the world he, even today, seeks to transform through those of us who seek to be his followers.
Prayer,
Heavenly Father, fill us with the love and light of your kingdom on this new day that we may be those willing to risk lives lived by the simple but profound love and hope of a child in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
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