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Welcome to worship at First Presbyterian Church in Bend, Oregon. My name is Steven, the lead pastor here at first Pres.
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And I am so grateful that you've joined us this morning. You know, we at First Presbyterian, try our best to practice what we call a spacious Christianity.
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You'll find people here in very different places spiritually, theologically, politically. And we actually love it that way. We believe that, that diversity is a strength. We believe questions, questions and doubts are gifts, that invite us into deeper and more authentic conversations. Every person story matters. Your story matters. And we journey together with holy curiosity, about God's story and our place in it. So please know that your presence today is a gift. This is the second Sunday of the season of Lent. Our theme for Lent is good enough, based on a book by Kate bowler and Jessica Ritchie. Now, this book, which we encourage you to read throughout the season, this book gives us, you know, gives us the permission to be unapologetically human. In recognizing there's really no such thing as perfect. There is only life, this messy, imperfect, fragile, beautiful life. And during Lent, we're searching for meaning and beauty and, and hope. When life doesn't turn out the way we planned. And today's theme for our worship.
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How then shall we live? When there is so, so much of our life that is beyond our control? You know, we think we will find peace by tightening our grip and trying to control more. Could it be that strength and peace are found when we loosen our grip and surrender? When we let go of trying to to be God insisting life be the way we think it should be. We just might find God right where we are with us in the midst of life as it is and when we are present present to the love that is always present to us. We are changed.
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So welcome. And let's worship God together.
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This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine This little light of mine. I'm gonna let it shine This little light of mine shine Let it shine we're lighting the Christ candle today to remind us that Christ is always present wherever two or three are gathered in His name. That Stalley and I Neverland. God bless you.
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The season of Lent marks the 40 days leading to Easter. Nearing the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness. Lent invites us to make the long long walk with Jesus toward the cross. Blend is a season when we all get a minute to face and tell the truth about our lives. Life is so very beautiful. And so very very hard and painful for everyone. Many practice lent by giving something up we invite you to join us this Lent in giving up the idea of perfect there is no such thing as perfect there is only life this life this messy and perfect impossibly hard fragile and beautiful life and even now even today God is here walking with us in our imperfect lives needing us in our places of sorrow and despair desperation and grief slowly lifting our chins toward hope not promising to eliminate the struggle or erase the pain but to carry it with us and somehow that is good enough[music] How have you been taking care of your heart lately? In the Bible in the book of Proverbs, there's a verse that says, Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it.
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I wonder what does that mean? To guard our hearts. I like to think of it as taking care of the very core of ourselves. And right now while things are still so uncertain, and we might feel scared or worried or sad, it seems more important than ever to be taking care of our hearts.
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That way what flows out of our hearts, the things that we do our Things of love, not things that we do just because we're upset or afraid or just trying to be in control in some way.
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And while it might be nice if we just had a button, we could push and suddenly make everything go the way that we wanted it to.
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That isn't real life is it?
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Sometimes the best we can do is stop and pay attention to what it is that we really need. So what does it look like for you to take care of your heart, maybe it's doing something you love doing. Maybe it's spending time with a loved one or doing something for someone in need, like donating food or showing kindness. Maybe it's as simple as noticing the beauty around you and saying a prayer of thanks, how none of this will just make the hard things go away. But I think it can help make our hearts feel a little bit bigger, help us worry less about what we can't control and focus instead on what we can change ourselves. It reminds us that we are part of something bigger that we can be a part of God's great work of love in the world. And sometimes that means showing love even to ourselves.
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So I hope this week you'll stop and ask yourself how can I take care of my hearts? Or how can I take care of someone else's heart what beauty can I find or offer to bring light and hope to the world[music] The practice of compassion isn't just about acknowledging the ways we inevitably come up short as human beings where, where we live lives less than what God intends for us. Confession is also a reminder of who we are, and who we can be that we are God's masterpiece, God's artwork, and that God is continuing to create mold, shaped us into the best expressions of ourselves. What do we have to confess today? We confess that we are made of the same stuff as stars, and that we are interconnected. With every single thing that exists. We confess that we are created by the God who is love, and that our essence, our truest self, is love. And we confess we are called to be a living expression of God's love, forgiveness, and compassion in the world. And we confess that we don't always do that very well. Sometimes we don't do it at all. We can say or do things that hurt ourselves, other people or the Earth, we can fail to do what we know that we should do, that we can do to make the world a better place, a place where all God's children and God's holy earth might flourish. And we confess that God never gives up on us that God forgives, forgive and forgives. And that every moment of every day is a fresh start to be who we are created to be. And we confess that there are moments when we show up in beautiful and meaningful ways for one another. There are moments when we shine showing our capacity to be healers and peacemakers showing our capacity to forgive and be generous in our best moments, and on our best days. We overcome the evil in this world with our unshakeable goodness and we confess that it is only possible with God's amazing grace.
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Friends here believe and trust the good news that you are loved with a love from which you can never be separated. You are forgiven. You are freed. Step into the gift of this new day this new moment and be the beautiful creation. God has created you to be Amen[music] again, God we pray for peace. We pray for peace for parents huddled in corners clinging tightly to the children listening to the sounds of war.
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We pray for peace for those with nowhere to go. But to go in search of a bomb shelter that will hold their tattered hopes for peace. We pray for peace for the elderly, sick and vulnerable. God wrap your arms around the terrified we pray for peace for all of those in harm's way. We pray for peace for those with the courage to go headlong into harm's way to offer aid and medical care. God we pray for peace for the people of Ukraine we pray for the people of Russia.
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We pray for the people of Europe. We pray For the people of the world, we pray we pray for peace soften the hearts of powerful leaders with a thirst for war we pray for a peace that is more resilient than those who wish to shatter peace we pray for a peace that is as courageous and as organized as those who believe in violence in war we pray for peace Jesus wept saying if only they knew the things that make for peace draw near to us Oh God and our feelings of helplessness and show us how we can be your instruments of peace in this world again, oh God, we pray for peace again, oh God we pray for peace my favorite item in the house, is the remote control for the TV. The remote in my hands gives me that feeling like, like I'm in charge, I can determine what's going to happen. You know, if I don't like what I've watching, I turn the channel, I need a bathroom break, I press pause, and the action stops just for me. Don't want to listen to that commercial. I press mute.
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Wouldn't that be nice in life if you could, if you could just change the channel. If you didn't like what's happening or, or you could press mute around around certain people. The remote gives you that wonderful illusion that you are in control. That is until the cable goes out. Life reminds us every single day that the idea that we are in control is an illusion.
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The doctor shares the test results. And our life changes in an instant. a loved one dies.
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Our child is struggling and we want to protect them from pain but but we know we can't. People behave in ways that we don't understand and we can't control.
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We find ourselves in the midst of the unimaginable, like a global pandemic. Or Russia invading Ukraine leaving us sitting precariously on the edge of world war three. This Lenten season we're reading the book Good enough. by Kate bowler and Jessica Ritchie. exploring how we might find find beauty and meaning and hope in the midst of our imperfect lives that don't go as planned or don't turn out the way we think it should last week Kelly asked, How then shall we live? When faced with our own mortality? Today's question How then shall we live? When there's so much of life? That is out of our control? K polars favorite word it seems, is precarity precarity which simply means constant uncertainty. How then shall we live with precarity?
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You know, there's no such thing.
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There's no such thing as perfect. There is only life.
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This precarious life. I was having coffee last week with someone who, who apologized because because she was really struggling. She was telling me that life was just just too much right now. I said there was no need to apologize for being human. Life is too much right now. You know, I don't think the the human heart and spirit were developed to be able to hold our own trauma, and the 24 hours a day news cycle of the world's trauma. At the same time, it's understandable, your emotional circuit predicates breakers or overloading. Mine are to imagine if I asked you to just make a list of the ongoing collective and individual stressors you are carrying. Right now. My guess if you made such a list, and if you looked at that list, you'd say to yourself, no wonder I feel this way. This is so much to carry. We are all carrying so much, too much. You know, and even if we can't take it away or change much of it. We can acknowledge what we are carrying. Validating why, why we why we feel so tired and overwhelmed. You know, Jesus acknowledges the load we're trying to carry. You know when he said come to me, all of you who are carrying heavy burdens.
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Yeah, that would, that would be all of us. There are two things, two things I want to suggest today. Two things to help us live. Live in the midst of life's precarity First, give up trying to control life.
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And second, focus on what you can contribute to life. You know our instinct when there is just so much so much beyond our control, our instinct is to tighten our grip and try to control more, which only increases our anxiety. Wisdom is loosening our grip, surrendering, recognizing, being in control is an illusion in the first place. Jesus said those trying their best to save their lives to control their lives will destroy their lives. But those willing to lose their lives surrender their control, lose their lives, for my sake will find life I swim like a rock. My brothers tried to teach me to swim when I was little by throwing me in the deep end so I could learn to save myself. I nearly drowned and had been afraid of water. I've been just really afraid of water ever since. Several years ago, I was vacationing at a friend's Lake cabin with some with some peer pressure. I agreed against my better judgment to go tubing.
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You know I convinced myself that I be okay because because I had a life jacket. My friend loved to maneuver the boat to create these dramatic wipeouts and he succeeded by tube flipped out in the air and I hit the water with such impact that my life jacket fell off When I panicked, I began flailing my arms and I was panicking so much that I began to hyperventilate, screaming for help. And you wouldn't be surprised, but the more I struggled, the more difficulty I had treading water, and I went under a couple times taking mouthfuls of lake water. Another friend immediately drove in. She swam to right where I was struggling. She was wise enough to know that if she tried to rescue me at the moment, when I was struggling so hard, I'd probably pull us both under. She was alongside me. And she yelled, stop struggling. Stop fighting. Stephen. Relax, breathe. What breed? Have you noticed I'm drowning here. She yelled. Trust me, trust me. I got you. Stop struggling. She waited until I gave up struggling and fighting trying to save myself. And once I stopped fighting, and surrendered, she placed her arms on her mind and gently led me safely back to the boat. What an important spiritual truth to carry with us in this journey of Lent. You can't save a drowning person. As long as they're trying to save themselves as long as they're grasping for control. I mean, people in recovery. Understand this truth more than most of us. And honestly, if we're honest, we are all addicted to something addicted to being in control, addicted to our own way of thinking addicted to being right. Addicted to security, addicted to avoiding life's pain, addicted to food, addicted to seeking people's approval, addicted to our possessions, addicted to our ego. The spiritual journey for all of us is letting go. When we've reached the end of ourselves, the end of our strength when we've let go and we're willing to die to all of our desires to insist life be the way we think it should be.
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To be in control. It's there we just might find a strength and peace that wasn't there before.
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Psalm 4610 says, Be still and know that I am God. Now the Hebrew word that we translate that we typically translate as B still is it's the Hebrew word is Rafa. Rafa actually means let go. Stop struggling. Release, surrender. So in other words, Psalm 4610 Let go of the need to be in control and know that, that I am God. Let go of trying to be God. And you might just discover God is right there.
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When you're drowning and life's precarity holding you up whispering I got you. So first, we can't control life. And second, we can only contribute to life. I mean, life rarely goes the way we planned or the way we think it should. We control how we choose to respond to everything we can't control when life is spinning out of control. We can still choose to love. I mean Ukraine's President Solinsky has inspired us all with, with his amazing courage and resolve. You know, as a reminder to me of how precarious life is. I am hoping he's still alive. When this recorded worship service is aired next weekend. President Zelensky was asked by a reporter about his, his living conditions given his life is under constant threat.
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Amazingly, he said, Life is as it is. My life today is wonderful. As I believe that I am needed. That's the most important sense of life that you are needed. He said that you are not just an emptiness that breathes and walks and eat something. Wow. We can't control life. But we can always contribute to life. You know, this weekend marks mazing I can't believe it. It marks the third anniversary of taking my wife Laurie to urgent care because of the flu. With her then being airlifted to OHSU in Portland, where she spent five weeks in the ICU on a ventilator precariously teetering on the edge of life and death. That experience shattered any illusion, any illusion that I had that I was ever in control.
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You know, there's one day sitting in the corner of the hospital room, and Lori's ICU room. You know, wearing where, no doubt wearing fear and anxiety on my face. When Lori's nurse said to me, Stephen, you're gonna drive yourself crazy. Trying to predict what will happen tomorrow. I know you feel helpless. Here in the ICU.
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She said we live in six hour installments. I mean, sometimes six minutes, sometimes six seconds. But we never think past six hours she said. And then she said, Here's my best wisdom for you. Live in six hour installments. And focus on bringing as much love and heart and soul to those six hours as you possibly can.
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You won't find the power of your love wishing things were different or hoping things might be better tomorrow. The presence and energy and power of Your love is right here with you in this room right now. And then she said something that changed everything for me. She said something that changed that hospital room from from a place of threat to a place of purpose.
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She looked at me and said Steven, you are helpless. But you are not powerless. When fear takes over, put some lotion in your hands and rub your wife's feet. And as you were rubbing her feet. Imagine that you're bringing you're bringing your love and the healing energy of God's love. She knew I was a pastor. Imagine bringing your love and the healing energy of God's love. She said to to every cell of Lori's being honestly that nurse saved my life that day. I was helpless. But I wasn't powerless. We can't control life. But we can contribute to life. We can control how we choose to respond to everything we can't control.
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In six hour installments we can choose love Here's a picture.
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This picture amazes me. I just really so moved by this picture.
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It's a picture of strollers.
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This is the line of strollers that that Polish mothers brought to the border for the Ukrainian mothers, that that fled the violence of their cities, carrying their children. Those strollers are a picture of beauty and hope and love in the midst of life's precarity one polish mother who went to the border with a stroller, a thermos of hot chocolate, and flowers to greet Ukrainian mothers. She said when interviewed in the face of such horrific suffering, I didn't know what to do. So I did the only thing I could think of I open my heart it extended my hand I don't know what tomorrow will bring. But today I choose love friends we can't control or fix the world. But we do change the world. We do men the torn fabric of our humanity every time we contribute to life doing the work of love that is ours to do and somehow by the grace of God that is good enough[music] John Wesley once said, do all the good you can by all the means you can and all the ways you can and all the places you can add all the times you can to all the people you can pass as long as you can. In a world where there's so much suffering and and pain and need we are called to be good news. Your generosity makes it possible for us to do all the good weekend in all the ways we can for all the people we can your financial gifts help us make the good news of Christ's love visible in people's lives lives are changed people are given hope because of your generosity. So please help us if you can to give generously especially in the summer months when giving slows down help us help us do all the good weekend for all the people thank you you are making a difference.
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Do you remember what that Polish mother who brought a stroller and flowers to greet Ukrainian mother said. She said I didn't know what to do with so much suffering. So I did the only thing I could think of I opened my heart and extended my hand.
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She said I don't know what tomorrow will bring. But today, I choose love. We can't control life. We can only control how we choose to respond to those things we can't control. We can contribute to life. Today we can choose love and trust that somehow by the grace of God, that's good enough. And Now may the God who loves all of creation who weeps with those who weep. And Jesus our companion along the crooked path called life and the Holy Spirit who loves to improvise in surprising ways. Go with you and give you courage and joy and peace. And may you live in six hour installments. And may Your love bring peace to others. May it be so
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Welcome to worship at First Presbyterian Church in Bend, Oregon. My name is Steven, the lead pastor here at first Pres.
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And I am so grateful that you've joined us this morning. You know, we at First Presbyterian, try our best to practice what we call a spacious Christianity.
00:00:53.579 --> 00:02:38.819
You'll find people here in very different places spiritually, theologically, politically. And we actually love it that way. We believe that, that diversity is a strength. We believe questions, questions and doubts are gifts, that invite us into deeper and more authentic conversations. Every person story matters. Your story matters. And we journey together with holy curiosity, about God's story and our place in it. So please know that your presence today is a gift. This is the second Sunday of the season of Lent. Our theme for Lent is good enough, based on a book by Kate bowler and Jessica Ritchie. Now, this book, which we encourage you to read throughout the season, this book gives us, you know, gives us the permission to be unapologetically human. In recognizing there's really no such thing as perfect. There is only life, this messy, imperfect, fragile, beautiful life. And during Lent, we're searching for meaning and beauty and, and hope. When life doesn't turn out the way we planned. And today's theme for our worship.
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How then shall we live? When there is so, so much of our life that is beyond our control? You know, we think we will find peace by tightening our grip and trying to control more. Could it be that strength and peace are found when we loosen our grip and surrender? When we let go of trying to to be God insisting life be the way we think it should be. We just might find God right where we are with us in the midst of life as it is and when we are present present to the love that is always present to us. We are changed.
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So welcome. And let's worship God together.
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This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine This little light of mine. I'm gonna let it shine This little light of mine shine Let it shine we're lighting the Christ candle today to remind us that Christ is always present wherever two or three are gathered in His name. That Stalley and I Neverland. God bless you.
00:04:27.509 --> 00:09:33.509
The season of Lent marks the 40 days leading to Easter. Nearing the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness. Lent invites us to make the long long walk with Jesus toward the cross. Blend is a season when we all get a minute to face and tell the truth about our lives. Life is so very beautiful. And so very very hard and painful for everyone. Many practice lent by giving something up we invite you to join us this Lent in giving up the idea of perfect there is no such thing as perfect there is only life this life this messy and perfect impossibly hard fragile and beautiful life and even now even today God is here walking with us in our imperfect lives needing us in our places of sorrow and despair desperation and grief slowly lifting our chins toward hope not promising to eliminate the struggle or erase the pain but to carry it with us and somehow that is good enough[music] How have you been taking care of your heart lately? In the Bible in the book of Proverbs, there's a verse that says, Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it.
00:09:34.289 --> 00:09:57.059
I wonder what does that mean? To guard our hearts. I like to think of it as taking care of the very core of ourselves. And right now while things are still so uncertain, and we might feel scared or worried or sad, it seems more important than ever to be taking care of our hearts.
00:09:52.409 --> 00:10:09.929
That way what flows out of our hearts, the things that we do our Things of love, not things that we do just because we're upset or afraid or just trying to be in control in some way.
00:10:06.179 --> 00:10:17.490
And while it might be nice if we just had a button, we could push and suddenly make everything go the way that we wanted it to.
00:10:13.230 --> 00:10:17.490
That isn't real life is it?
00:10:18.029 --> 00:11:13.740
Sometimes the best we can do is stop and pay attention to what it is that we really need. So what does it look like for you to take care of your heart, maybe it's doing something you love doing. Maybe it's spending time with a loved one or doing something for someone in need, like donating food or showing kindness. Maybe it's as simple as noticing the beauty around you and saying a prayer of thanks, how none of this will just make the hard things go away. But I think it can help make our hearts feel a little bit bigger, help us worry less about what we can't control and focus instead on what we can change ourselves. It reminds us that we are part of something bigger that we can be a part of God's great work of love in the world. And sometimes that means showing love even to ourselves.
00:11:14.129 --> 00:19:05.230
So I hope this week you'll stop and ask yourself how can I take care of my hearts? Or how can I take care of someone else's heart what beauty can I find or offer to bring light and hope to the world[music] The practice of compassion isn't just about acknowledging the ways we inevitably come up short as human beings where, where we live lives less than what God intends for us. Confession is also a reminder of who we are, and who we can be that we are God's masterpiece, God's artwork, and that God is continuing to create mold, shaped us into the best expressions of ourselves. What do we have to confess today? We confess that we are made of the same stuff as stars, and that we are interconnected. With every single thing that exists. We confess that we are created by the God who is love, and that our essence, our truest self, is love. And we confess we are called to be a living expression of God's love, forgiveness, and compassion in the world. And we confess that we don't always do that very well. Sometimes we don't do it at all. We can say or do things that hurt ourselves, other people or the Earth, we can fail to do what we know that we should do, that we can do to make the world a better place, a place where all God's children and God's holy earth might flourish. And we confess that God never gives up on us that God forgives, forgive and forgives. And that every moment of every day is a fresh start to be who we are created to be. And we confess that there are moments when we show up in beautiful and meaningful ways for one another. There are moments when we shine showing our capacity to be healers and peacemakers showing our capacity to forgive and be generous in our best moments, and on our best days. We overcome the evil in this world with our unshakeable goodness and we confess that it is only possible with God's amazing grace.
00:18:57.643 --> 00:23:46.319
Friends here believe and trust the good news that you are loved with a love from which you can never be separated. You are forgiven. You are freed. Step into the gift of this new day this new moment and be the beautiful creation. God has created you to be Amen[music] again, God we pray for peace. We pray for peace for parents huddled in corners clinging tightly to the children listening to the sounds of war.
00:23:41.160 --> 00:24:49.319
We pray for peace for those with nowhere to go. But to go in search of a bomb shelter that will hold their tattered hopes for peace. We pray for peace for the elderly, sick and vulnerable. God wrap your arms around the terrified we pray for peace for all of those in harm's way. We pray for peace for those with the courage to go headlong into harm's way to offer aid and medical care. God we pray for peace for the people of Ukraine we pray for the people of Russia.
00:24:49.470 --> 00:28:27.630
We pray for the people of Europe. We pray For the people of the world, we pray we pray for peace soften the hearts of powerful leaders with a thirst for war we pray for a peace that is more resilient than those who wish to shatter peace we pray for a peace that is as courageous and as organized as those who believe in violence in war we pray for peace Jesus wept saying if only they knew the things that make for peace draw near to us Oh God and our feelings of helplessness and show us how we can be your instruments of peace in this world again, oh God, we pray for peace again, oh God we pray for peace my favorite item in the house, is the remote control for the TV. The remote in my hands gives me that feeling like, like I'm in charge, I can determine what's going to happen. You know, if I don't like what I've watching, I turn the channel, I need a bathroom break, I press pause, and the action stops just for me. Don't want to listen to that commercial. I press mute.
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Wouldn't that be nice in life if you could, if you could just change the channel. If you didn't like what's happening or, or you could press mute around around certain people. The remote gives you that wonderful illusion that you are in control. That is until the cable goes out. Life reminds us every single day that the idea that we are in control is an illusion.
00:29:00.210 --> 00:29:10.799
The doctor shares the test results. And our life changes in an instant. a loved one dies.
00:29:04.470 --> 00:29:20.369
Our child is struggling and we want to protect them from pain but but we know we can't. People behave in ways that we don't understand and we can't control.
00:29:21.599 --> 00:30:38.309
We find ourselves in the midst of the unimaginable, like a global pandemic. Or Russia invading Ukraine leaving us sitting precariously on the edge of world war three. This Lenten season we're reading the book Good enough. by Kate bowler and Jessica Ritchie. exploring how we might find find beauty and meaning and hope in the midst of our imperfect lives that don't go as planned or don't turn out the way we think it should last week Kelly asked, How then shall we live? When faced with our own mortality? Today's question How then shall we live? When there's so much of life? That is out of our control? K polars favorite word it seems, is precarity precarity which simply means constant uncertainty. How then shall we live with precarity?
00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:42.569
You know, there's no such thing.
00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:51.150
There's no such thing as perfect. There is only life.
00:30:42.569 --> 00:32:47.309
This precarious life. I was having coffee last week with someone who, who apologized because because she was really struggling. She was telling me that life was just just too much right now. I said there was no need to apologize for being human. Life is too much right now. You know, I don't think the the human heart and spirit were developed to be able to hold our own trauma, and the 24 hours a day news cycle of the world's trauma. At the same time, it's understandable, your emotional circuit predicates breakers or overloading. Mine are to imagine if I asked you to just make a list of the ongoing collective and individual stressors you are carrying. Right now. My guess if you made such a list, and if you looked at that list, you'd say to yourself, no wonder I feel this way. This is so much to carry. We are all carrying so much, too much. You know, and even if we can't take it away or change much of it. We can acknowledge what we are carrying. Validating why, why we why we feel so tired and overwhelmed. You know, Jesus acknowledges the load we're trying to carry. You know when he said come to me, all of you who are carrying heavy burdens.
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Yeah, that would, that would be all of us. There are two things, two things I want to suggest today. Two things to help us live. Live in the midst of life's precarity First, give up trying to control life.
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And second, focus on what you can contribute to life. You know our instinct when there is just so much so much beyond our control, our instinct is to tighten our grip and try to control more, which only increases our anxiety. Wisdom is loosening our grip, surrendering, recognizing, being in control is an illusion in the first place. Jesus said those trying their best to save their lives to control their lives will destroy their lives. But those willing to lose their lives surrender their control, lose their lives, for my sake will find life I swim like a rock. My brothers tried to teach me to swim when I was little by throwing me in the deep end so I could learn to save myself. I nearly drowned and had been afraid of water. I've been just really afraid of water ever since. Several years ago, I was vacationing at a friend's Lake cabin with some with some peer pressure. I agreed against my better judgment to go tubing.
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You know I convinced myself that I be okay because because I had a life jacket. My friend loved to maneuver the boat to create these dramatic wipeouts and he succeeded by tube flipped out in the air and I hit the water with such impact that my life jacket fell off When I panicked, I began flailing my arms and I was panicking so much that I began to hyperventilate, screaming for help. And you wouldn't be surprised, but the more I struggled, the more difficulty I had treading water, and I went under a couple times taking mouthfuls of lake water. Another friend immediately drove in. She swam to right where I was struggling. She was wise enough to know that if she tried to rescue me at the moment, when I was struggling so hard, I'd probably pull us both under. She was alongside me. And she yelled, stop struggling. Stop fighting. Stephen. Relax, breathe. What breed? Have you noticed I'm drowning here. She yelled. Trust me, trust me. I got you. Stop struggling. She waited until I gave up struggling and fighting trying to save myself. And once I stopped fighting, and surrendered, she placed her arms on her mind and gently led me safely back to the boat. What an important spiritual truth to carry with us in this journey of Lent. You can't save a drowning person. As long as they're trying to save themselves as long as they're grasping for control. I mean, people in recovery. Understand this truth more than most of us. And honestly, if we're honest, we are all addicted to something addicted to being in control, addicted to our own way of thinking addicted to being right. Addicted to security, addicted to avoiding life's pain, addicted to food, addicted to seeking people's approval, addicted to our possessions, addicted to our ego. The spiritual journey for all of us is letting go. When we've reached the end of ourselves, the end of our strength when we've let go and we're willing to die to all of our desires to insist life be the way we think it should be.
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To be in control. It's there we just might find a strength and peace that wasn't there before.
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Psalm 4610 says, Be still and know that I am God. Now the Hebrew word that we translate that we typically translate as B still is it's the Hebrew word is Rafa. Rafa actually means let go. Stop struggling. Release, surrender. So in other words, Psalm 4610 Let go of the need to be in control and know that, that I am God. Let go of trying to be God. And you might just discover God is right there.
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When you're drowning and life's precarity holding you up whispering I got you. So first, we can't control life. And second, we can only contribute to life. I mean, life rarely goes the way we planned or the way we think it should. We control how we choose to respond to everything we can't control when life is spinning out of control. We can still choose to love. I mean Ukraine's President Solinsky has inspired us all with, with his amazing courage and resolve. You know, as a reminder to me of how precarious life is. I am hoping he's still alive. When this recorded worship service is aired next weekend. President Zelensky was asked by a reporter about his, his living conditions given his life is under constant threat.
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Amazingly, he said, Life is as it is. My life today is wonderful. As I believe that I am needed. That's the most important sense of life that you are needed. He said that you are not just an emptiness that breathes and walks and eat something. Wow. We can't control life. But we can always contribute to life. You know, this weekend marks mazing I can't believe it. It marks the third anniversary of taking my wife Laurie to urgent care because of the flu. With her then being airlifted to OHSU in Portland, where she spent five weeks in the ICU on a ventilator precariously teetering on the edge of life and death. That experience shattered any illusion, any illusion that I had that I was ever in control.
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You know, there's one day sitting in the corner of the hospital room, and Lori's ICU room. You know, wearing where, no doubt wearing fear and anxiety on my face. When Lori's nurse said to me, Stephen, you're gonna drive yourself crazy. Trying to predict what will happen tomorrow. I know you feel helpless. Here in the ICU.
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She said we live in six hour installments. I mean, sometimes six minutes, sometimes six seconds. But we never think past six hours she said. And then she said, Here's my best wisdom for you. Live in six hour installments. And focus on bringing as much love and heart and soul to those six hours as you possibly can.
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You won't find the power of your love wishing things were different or hoping things might be better tomorrow. The presence and energy and power of Your love is right here with you in this room right now. And then she said something that changed everything for me. She said something that changed that hospital room from from a place of threat to a place of purpose.
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She looked at me and said Steven, you are helpless. But you are not powerless. When fear takes over, put some lotion in your hands and rub your wife's feet. And as you were rubbing her feet. Imagine that you're bringing you're bringing your love and the healing energy of God's love. She knew I was a pastor. Imagine bringing your love and the healing energy of God's love. She said to to every cell of Lori's being honestly that nurse saved my life that day. I was helpless. But I wasn't powerless. We can't control life. But we can contribute to life. We can control how we choose to respond to everything we can't control.
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In six hour installments we can choose love Here's a picture.
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This picture amazes me. I just really so moved by this picture.
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It's a picture of strollers.
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This is the line of strollers that that Polish mothers brought to the border for the Ukrainian mothers, that that fled the violence of their cities, carrying their children. Those strollers are a picture of beauty and hope and love in the midst of life's precarity one polish mother who went to the border with a stroller, a thermos of hot chocolate, and flowers to greet Ukrainian mothers. She said when interviewed in the face of such horrific suffering, I didn't know what to do. So I did the only thing I could think of I open my heart it extended my hand I don't know what tomorrow will bring. But today I choose love friends we can't control or fix the world. But we do change the world. We do men the torn fabric of our humanity every time we contribute to life doing the work of love that is ours to do and somehow by the grace of God that is good enough[music] John Wesley once said, do all the good you can by all the means you can and all the ways you can and all the places you can add all the times you can to all the people you can pass as long as you can. In a world where there's so much suffering and and pain and need we are called to be good news. Your generosity makes it possible for us to do all the good weekend in all the ways we can for all the people we can your financial gifts help us make the good news of Christ's love visible in people's lives lives are changed people are given hope because of your generosity. So please help us if you can to give generously especially in the summer months when giving slows down help us help us do all the good weekend for all the people thank you you are making a difference.
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Do you remember what that Polish mother who brought a stroller and flowers to greet Ukrainian mother said. She said I didn't know what to do with so much suffering. So I did the only thing I could think of I opened my heart and extended my hand.
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She said I don't know what tomorrow will bring. But today, I choose love. We can't control life. We can only control how we choose to respond to those things we can't control. We can contribute to life. Today we can choose love and trust that somehow by the grace of God, that's good enough. And Now may the God who loves all of creation who weeps with those who weep. And Jesus our companion along the crooked path called life and the Holy Spirit who loves to improvise in surprising ways. Go with you and give you courage and joy and peace. And may you live in six hour installments. And may Your love bring peace to others. May it be so
