Sermon title: "Worship Fully!"
Deuteronomy 11:4-5: "Hear, O Longs Peak United Methodist Church, the Lord our God is the only God. Love God with all your mind and all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might."
Endeavoring to prepare us to celebrate Advent as the coming of Christ into our lives, Pastor Steve has been using as a sermon guide The Advent Conspiracy. This week he described the figures in a manger scene and how they responded to God's call:
Mary totally receptive, not considering her future or her reputation, only confused about the mechanics of what was being asked of her;
Joseph obedient after some resistance and careful counting of the cost;
the shepherds, blown away by their close encounter with glory, leaving their busy-ness behind and putting their livelihoods on the line;
and the Magi, searching for the awaited Christ despite political opposition and long weary travel, following the signs of the time, bringing their treasure to lay before the New King in worship.
"Who are you in the nativity scene?" Pastor Steve asked. "What would you be willing to sacrifice to be there?" For him, the scripture would read, "Steve was willing to turn off his Blackberry to kneel before the manger."
In my working days, I would have been one of the shepherds, and I would have had to sacrifice my Franklin planner. My children will tell you I was always busy trying to save the world, trying to transform it. Now my days are more simple. I have time to consider transforming my heart and mind and soul.
Pastor Steve asked us this Advent to shift our focus to the manger scene and to keep other activities and festivities on the periphery. My interpretation: a paradigm shift. To engage with this, he asked us to make a structural change in our days during Advent, to pray not just in the morning or before bed or at mealtimes. He said try scheduling a few minutes' "appointment with God" every four hours throughout the day. He recommended a study guide we could sign up for to help us. The practice of structured prayer during Advent might transform us as individuals, he said, and as a church. I signed up to get the book.