When I was a small boy, people in the congregation my father was serving would invite us over to dinner. My mother upon seeing their house would sometimes remark what a lovely house it was. On more rare occasions she would remark about how lovely their home was. As I grew older I asked my mother why she used the two words-house and home-at different times. Her response was that not every lovely house is a lovely home. Homes refer to the occupants. A house is simply an abode.

Several years ago I was invited by a family in my congregation to bless their new house. When they invited me they indicated that having a blessing on their house would help establish their house "as a home where God is celebrated." These were not people who you would call overly religious, but they were faithful and an active part of our faith community. It was the only time anyone ever invited me to bless their house (By the way I still do house blessings in case you're interested).

We have discovered during this Great Recession that our houses are not the valuable investments they once were. In fact what may be a lesson from the devaluation of our houses is to look at them as places where we can build faithful families. For too long too many of us have looked for the house that would impress and not been as concerned about the families in them.

In this same vein, my father always used the words church and church building separately. He would refer to his study being in the church building. If he was going to his study he would say he was going to the church building. The church for him was the body of Christ. It was so much more than the building. I have been trying to do the same over the last several years-church building when I go to the facility and my study instead of office-my home versus my house. Language can be a powerful way of helping us change, not only the way we think, but also the way we live.

Prayer

Gracious God bless this day the house where I live and the home within. Let my home be decorated by your love and grace. When there is strife help me to do what I can that your Spirit might bring healing. In the name of Christ. Amen.

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor

Castleton United Methodist Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
-Romans 12:3

In a wonderful new book by David Brooks called The Social Animal, David Brooks observes that research on people has revealed that most of us are mildly delusional status inflators.We wonder about the problem with the other guy and not so much about ourselves.We wonder why others are such bad drivers even as we drive while talking on our cellphone. Do not think of yourself more highly that you ought to think, Paul writes.

Paul's words here are appropriate. If we don't have a proper self-assessment, we can't be a worthy contributor to the body of Christ. And, we certainly cannot contribute to those who live around us in a meaningful and helpful way. I use myself as an example. I don't know how often I have said to myself when someone else's cellphone rings in worship or at some other public event why they didn't silence it at the beginning.Yet a few months ago I was praying at a Church Council meeting and my own cellphone went off in the middle of my prayer. It was a good lesson in humility. Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think.

How many times have we been locked in the throes of verbal battle with our spouse, child, or parent believing that the problem lies with them and not ourselves? We believe if our spouse, child, parent, co-worker, etc. would simply be more of this or of that everything would be fine. Paul is trying to help us with our mildly delusional status inflators, and he does so with grace and love.

Mildly delusional status inflators who ignore the importance of humility can too easily become the radical who listens to no one. They can become the person who believes the problem is not theirs, but the other person's. We must have a proper self-regard, but be cautious not to suffer from delusional status inflation.

Prayer,
Almighty God whose love reaches out to me on this day, grant me the strength of self-regard that will enable me to regard others as your children. Forgive me when I suffer from delusional status inflation and in so doing fail to listen to those who may have something to teach me about life and faith. In the name of Christ. Amen.

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is
easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it.
For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads
to life, and there are few who find it. -Matthew 7:13-14

During the season when squirrels look for food that may be a bit easier to find and will tickle their taste buds in new and wonderful ways, I saw a squirrel tackling one of our bird feeders. The bird feeder was one of those shaped like a long tube. It was hanging from a tree branch in our backyard. The squirrel had crawled out on the limb from which the tube was hanging and began eating the bird seed that was at the top of the filled tube.

I can't really blame him for going after what seemed easy pickins'. However, as the squirrel continued to eat he went further and further down the tube-head first. Suddenly, he realized that he was upside down in a glass tube. How would he get out? Panic set in. He struggled and struggled to try and back out of the tube. What had seemed so easy could very well conclude in his death.

It is a parable of life. It is a fairly human trait which we all possess to one degree or another to take the easy, convenient way. What may appear to be easy in the final analysis may trap us. This was the simple point Jesus was trying to make. Revenge, cheating, hatred, judgment, drunkenness, sloth, envy, etc. may appear attractive at the beginning, but be our undoing at the end.

Prayer
God of love and power I begin another week of life. For sure there will be moments when I am tempted to feed on gossip, envy, revenge, hatred or some other trap that would damage my spirit. Grant me the courage and determination to take the high road with all of its difficulties that I might enjoy life free from the regret and guilt the inevitably follows. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana