Hinges

Notes from today's sermon ... because it was noteworthy.  It is an enormous relief to me to sit in the church I am most accustomed to ... and hear a good word.


His Outline on the sermon titled "Ask Me If I Care"  - Scripture from the first chapter of  Nehemiah


  I. Care enough to ask.
 II. Care enough to weep
III. Care enough to pray
IV. Care enough to act.


The sermon title was provocative and he began by saying something interesting.  He said that a life may be changed ... entirely even ... on a  day which begins itself and has every appearance of being like most every other day .  Something almost so small as to go unnoticed in the grand scheme of things can change the whole world for someone.  Gosh I love that statement, and honestly ... it burned my eyes to hear it because I live the truth of it.  Someone cared enough to ask and I was safe enough with them to answer ... and in the simple exchange I was "freed" from a significant (only to me) burden.

“Like large doors, great life‐changing events can swing on very small hinges.” ~Warren Wiersbe


Cool ... A large door in my life swung open on a very small hinge ... because some one asked in a way I could answer ... and sunlight and fresh air filled the room.  Yeah ... super cool.
Seems like God employs us as hinges sometimes.


"Pay attention to what you weep over."  That was what the preacher suggested and he shared a couple of things and the whys of his response of tears.  What moistens our eyes and tightens our throats ... little private matters which are so sweet when they can be shared.  I thought of something recently read where a manly sort of man was touched to the point of tears by a little thank you note.  Was he glad to be appreciated for an act of kindness, did he relish the opportunity to render aide, or was he maybe thinking about how vulnerable we all may find ourselves to be, needing help from even a stranger ... maybe something else, he didn't say, but tears shimmered a tender spot.  That is what the preacher was talking about ... He said we may learn something about God's mercy where we are tender enough to weep.  I was looking away from the pulpit at the stained-glass and thinking about that song ... I Know Whom I Have Believed ... the line about walking the vale with Him or meeting Him in the air ... I was thinking about how I prefer to fly, but walking has turned out to be pretty good too ... it slowed me down enough to come through an open door and realized that He was right there with me while I was inside, scared and sad ... I just couldn't see Him for the dark.  How cool ...  now I see that He was holding me safe in his hand, holding me together as he holds all things together.  
I like the word serendipity ...  sometimes we think serendipity because we can't see all things working together  ...  hard to believe that faith stuff from a place too dark to see anything.

Romans 8:28

The Message (MSG)

 ^26-28Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

... it may be the best thing about getting older ... the perspective of being able to see serendipity as God's hand in the matter ... and that we matter.  He, the preacher, encouraged us to pray ... and I think prayer does matter quite a bit. What (who) do I care about enough to pray ... .  

  
He also challenged us to care enough to act.  Yeah ... that's the hard part.  Showing we care by our actions (and our actions are a pretty good indicator of what we care about, though it is true that I can think of a place where inactivity is the most caring action).  Preacher talked about Gladys Alyward, whose story I do not know, but will learn what I can about her very soon.  Here's why ... 


"I wasn't God's first choice for what I've done for China, I don't know who it was.  It must have been a man, well-educated man.  I don't know what happened.  Perhaps he died.  Perhaps he wasn't willing, and God looked down and saw Gladys Aylward and God said - "Well, she's willing."
  
It's the part about God's first choice ... those words made me seep (just a bit of weep ... cause I like to keep the leaking to a minimum when I'm out there feeling vulnerable ... )  First choice.


It's planted very deep in me ... Momma always said Daddy wanted a daughter who was ... fill in the blank, not like me. I think she was mostly just trying to get me to act right, but it made me feeling like I wouldn't have been first choice ... little seeds which plant a minefield in one's soul ... not good enough ... just not quite ... you are like ice cream when chocolate cake and nothing else is all that will satisfy.  


I think Gladys Alyward must have been wrong about not being God's first choice. The part about being willing ... willing to care enough to act ... everything hinges on that.