St Timothy Presbyterian Church in Toronto: Sermons

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Job 1:1, 2:1-10

Why Do We Suffer?

Suffering is a reality of life. That is the truth of life that Buddhists recognize.

People either live with suffering, or they live in fear of suffering. That is the truth that Satan in today's passage recognized.

He saw this truth about people: All that people have they will give to save their lives. (Job 2:4) In other words, people live in fear of suffering and will do anything they can to avoid it. Religious and upright people like Job appear faithful because deep down they fear the suffering that can come upon their lives.

He takes that further when he says this: But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face. (Job 2:5)

He is exposing how fragile and weak our faith is. He is wagering with God that once suffering hits us, we will turn away from God.

The issue posed by this passage is: how do we respond to suffering? How should we respond?

The question of why people suffer has always been with us. When we suffer, or we see others suffer, the first question is always why ? Why must I suffer? Why must others suffer? Why did little children have to be taken from their homes and sent far away to schools where they would be taught that they were inferior, where they were abused, and even died and placed in unmarked graves? Why?

One response to the question of suffering has been that suffering is punishment for sins. This is something I've never been down with. When we consider the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation we just had, I cannot accept the idea that all of those innocent children suffered for their sins, or because of their parents' sins. Most people today cannot accept that. That makes for a very cruel God.

The more common response is that God cannot exist because of all the suffering we see in the world. This has become the general operating belief for most people today. We live as though God doesn't really exist. Even if we say with our lips that we believe in God.

A World Full of Suffering 

When suffering and difficulties arise, people try to overcome it by using everything in their power and ability to save themselves from it. The Korean show The Squid Game has taken this world by storm. I haven't seen all of it, but the premise has touched a core nerve in people. The show illustrates the extent to which people will go to survive when they are pushed to the furthest edges. People will indeed give all that they have to save their lives.

The show depicts a world that is full of cruelty, unfairness and suffering. It depicts a world absent of God. And because God is absent, people are on their own. In a world without God, people have to use their every wit, skill and trickery at their disposal to survive.

The great paradox of faith is this: how can a God who loves and cares for us coexist with a world full of suffering and evil? The conclusion many people make is that this paradox cannot hold. A loving and caring God cannot coexist with a world full of suffering and evil.

The biblical writers struggled and grappled with this paradox. All throughout the book of Job, he asks the question that lies at the core of our souls: why must innocent people suffer? Why does God allow that? In the end, he concludes that he cannot understand why such suffering and evil exist.

In the Bible

Biblical writers do not provide a clear answer for why suffering exists.

When Jesus was on the cross, he himself asked the question at the heart of suffering: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46)

When we suffer, when evil is inflicted upon the innocent, we feel alone and as if God has abandoned us. Many of the psalms lament the seeming absence of God in the face of suffering.

Biblical writers do not answer clearly why there is suffering.

What the Bible does witness to, though, is that God responds to human suffering. God responds compassionately and does not leave people alone.

Yes, many of the psalms ask why they feel alone in their suffering. But many psalms also declare with joy of how God brought them through out of their suffering.

Biblical writers do not avoid the paradox of the presence of suffering and evil coexisting with a loving God. But rather, they declare that God does care about people, and that God does come to comfort and deliver people from their suffering.

The Central Point of the Paradox

Real faith does not avoid this paradox. But faith focuses primarily on what God does in the face of evil and suffering. We experience difficulties and hardships. We see the great suffering in the world. Yet we also see how God has comforted us.

When Jesus was crucified on the cross, all the hopes and dreams of his followers were shattered. They scattered and ran away in fear. That's what the cross represented. Defeat. Humiliation. Death.

But somehow, his followers eventually came to see the cross not only as that, but more powerfully, the place where new hope arises and new life begins. It became the place where darkness does not win, evil does not prevail, and death is not final. The cross became the path to new life.

This was an amazing transformation that they experienced. We're studying this in Acts for our Friday Bible Study. The Holy Spirit coming down was not about the phenomenon of speaking in tongues. Focusing on that takes away from the essence of what the Spirit actually did.

What the Spirit did was give the disciples a new understanding of Jesus' death and resurrection. With the Spirit, they reinterpreted the cross.

What was a symbol of defeat and death, was transformed into the symbol of God's power and new life. The cross became their strength. This is why St. Paul said, when I am weak, I am strong.

The cross became the central point of the paradox, but the point at which God's love overcomes the pain and suffering we experience in the world.

The cross was God's solidarity with the suffering of the world. On the cross, God took on the suffering and evil of the world. He bore the sins of the world but overcame it with the resurrection.

This is why when we die with Christ, our suffering is overcome with new life too. The cross became the main symbol through which they interpreted all of life.

In Our World

When things happen to you, when you go through things, we always interpret what is happening. We usually don't think about how we are interpreting what happens to us, but don't be mistaken, we are always interpreting our life through the stories we have adopted. What voices are shaping how you interpret our life? What stories shape how you view your circumstances?

When I look around me, I see us living in a world utterly driven by power and money. We are all soaked in this mindset. In the Squid Game, the narrative is that without money, life is full of suffering, difficulty and shame. Obtaining that money is the only solution to overcome suffering.

At the Cross

My friends, followers of Jesus interpret every challenge that comes our way through the lens of the cross. Yes, we may face great difficulty in the moment. The difficulty can be unbearable. There seems no hope. No way out. This is our initial experience of the cross.

This is the experience of Jesus crying out to God and asking why God has forsaken him. So yes, our entry into the cross begins with deep cries of lament.

But the cross is more than that. It is the place where God suffers with us. It is where Jesus himself bore the pain and sins of this world. At the cross, Jesus joins us in our lament and anguish.

At the cross, we experience God's power. We experience the power of God turning death to life. From turning hopeless anguish into hopeful joy. We experience God's comforting presence that keeps us going.

And at the cross, we find a new calling.

When Jesus ascended into heaven after the resurrection, the disciples didn't know what to do. They were confused and bewildered. But the Spirit came upon them and gave them a new mission to spread the good news to the ends of the earth.

The foot of the cross begins with pain and suffering. But on the other side of the cross is new life and a new calling.

The cross is the symbol of life for us. We experience all of our pain and anguish there. We experience our darkness. But we also experience God's power of resurrection. And we experience God's new calling for us to also bear the burdens and pain of those around us, just as Jesus did on the cross.

That is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

The Journey of Faith

The cross is the lens through which we interpret all of life. St. Paul said it like this: For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Yes, to a world soaked in power, reliance solely on the self, and money, the message about the cross is foolishness. It makes no sense. But for us it is the power of God!

You know, I think a lot about how we are shaped in this world. I mean, at most one day a week, maybe two if we do Bible study, we listen to the Word of God and what it has to say about life. But the rest of the week, we are immersed in the world. We absorb what the world says about how to live and where we get our power from.

I always struggle and wonder with how we can cultivate the lens of faith to interpret life. The Bible is seen as an old book that doesn't have any relevance for life today.

How can faith flourish in such a world? ...

James 5:13-20

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

There is my favourite song. It is called Bridge Over Troubled Waters. The words are so beautiful.

When you’re weary

Feeling small

When tears are in your eyes

I’ll dry them all

I’m on your side

Oh, when times get rough

And friends just can’t be found

Like a bridge over troubled water

I will lay me down

When you’re down and out

When you’re on the street

When evening falls so hard

I will comfort you

I’ll take your part

Oh, when darkness comes

And pain is all around

Like a bridge over troubled water

I will lay me down

Originally there were two verses and they added another verse because it was too short and also because they wanted to tone it down the religious sentiment.

It was written by Paul Simon and sung by Art Garfunkel. Paul Simon was inspired by the gospel songs he was listening at that time. New Orleans musician Allen Toussaint said,

That song had two writers: Paul Simon and God.

Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down. That is what God will do when we pray.

Jesus said,

No one takes it (life) from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. (John 10:18)

God will give us a place where we can hide. He will carry us, he will comfort us.

James said this today.

Is any one of you in trouble? He/she should pray. (James 5:13)

I hear stories of suffering. Many times I feel helpless. I don't know what to do for them. In many cases actually, there is nothing that I can do. But I can pray for them. They have become so weak and vulnerable because of their suffering that they cannot even pray. So, we can pray for them.

James said,

The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)

Righteousness and Prayer

You may hesitate because you feel that you are not righteous enough. Don't think about your spiritual and moral qualification too much. You can never pray. No one is righteous, St. Paul said. No one feels confident enough to say that I am righteous. But praying for others itself is a righteous behaviour. How beautiful it is to pray for other people! Who will care about other people? This world defines itself by envy and competition. We don't agree with that when we pray. We define ourselves by love and care. Not competition but compassion. This world tries to divide and conquer, to isolate and eliminate. We don't agree with that when we pray. We seek to unite and serve, to include and be a friend. As the song says, when friends just can't be found, we become friends by praying for them. We may not be friends whom we play with but we will be friends who will support them through our prayers.

Praying for somebody is the most beautiful thing we human beings can do. God sees that. God appreciates that. God puts smile on his face, when he sees us praying for each other. God wants us to live our lives praying for each other. God will answer our prayer just to teach us how much he wants that from us. That's why our Lord Jesus gave us this wonderful promise.

Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7, 8)

When we pray, we will be able to find peace that comes from confidence. Whenever I face troubles and uncertainties of life, I have learned to pray. I have two choices. One – I can worry and build up anxiety within me. Two – I can try to solve the situation with my own effort. In both cases, I found this. If I build up anxiety within me, it will take me to a darker place. If I try to deal with the situation with my own effort, I will become manipulative. I have chosen to pray. God gives me calm confidence. God will either take care of the situation or let me know what to do.

Prayer has to be built in in our life. From the smallest thing to the most serious thing, we need to do everything in prayer. Don't think that you have to be so religious to pray. That will dispirit you. Don't think that you have to be so good to pray. That will demoralize you. Just think that prayer is very much a human thing to do.

We human beings are so weak and vulnerable. Often, what we have to deal with is beyond our ability. Then we have no choice but to fall into helplessness and hopelessness. But God is gracious and therefore he gave us the gift of prayer. So instead of falling into helplessness and hopelessness, we can pray. God will show us a way out.

When we pray, we don't control the outcome. If we already have the outcome we want, that is not prayer. Of course, we can express our desires and our wishes. But leaving everything in God's hands – that is what prayer is. That was Jesus' prayer.

Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done. (Luke 22:42)

Jesus expressed his desire and his wish. But he didn't demand the outcome he wanted. He said, not my will but yours be done. He left it in God's hands. He left his life in God's hands.

That is very important in prayer. If you try to control the outcome, then you lose the whole purpose of your prayer. You won't experience the power of prayer. Prayer is leaving everything in God's hands. But unfortunately, I don't see that kind of prayer often. Jesus didn't get the result he wanted. But his prayer was the most beautiful prayer. He didn't get what he wanted but his prayer made God's will be done.

When we leave everything in God's hands, we experience peace and we see bigger things. What we see is very limited because we are small. When we pray, God takes us into a bigger world and allows us to see bigger things in life. Through prayer, our life opens up.

Suffering and Prayer

Last Friday, in our study on Acts 1, we examined how the early Christians waited and prayed. When they waited praying, they received the Holy Spirit and saw the bigger world. They were able to do things beyond their ability. Our waiting is not mere waiting. It is not waste. Our waiting is our prayer. It is time for new life to be created.

When suffering strikes us, it hurts us. It gives us pain. It takes away our confidence. It makes us feel helpless and hopeless. But do you know what is the most difficult? More than anything else, it takes God's presence away from us. It makes us FEEL that God is not with us anymore. It makes us feel that God does not care about us. It makes us feel that God is nowhere around us. That's what suffering does. It takes away the sense of God's presence. That is what Job felt when suffering him him.

If I go forward, he is not there;

   or backward, I cannot perceive him;

on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him;

   I turn to the right, but I cannot see him. (Job 23:8, 9)

That's what suffering does to us. But God never leaves us alone in our suffering and in our darkness. God is right there. We just don't feel that God is there because suffering blocks our view.

So, this tells us something about prayer. We cannot pray just with our feeling. Don't depend on your feeling when you pray. Sometimes we don't feel God. Even though Job could not feel God anywhere, he didn't give up. Right after he said that he couldn't see God anywhere, this was what he said.

But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I shall come out like gold. (Job 23:10)

Job did not depend on how he felt. He depended on what God would do. Prayer is not about how we feel. Prayer is about what God does. Job had the confidence that God knew his way better than he himself knew. God would make Job come out like gold. Job had confidence not in himself, not even in his prayer. But he had confidence in God and God alone. That is what prayer is Having confidence in God and God alone.

God knows our way better than we know our own way. God knows what is the best for us. That's why we pray.

So, pray and leave everything in God's hands. Not only you will experience peace and calmness, you will see God's wonderful way of working in your life. That's when you are amazed at God. That's when your faith is formed. That's when God becomes real to you.

The post When We Pray appeared first on St Timothy Presbyterian Church.

The post Acts 1 appeared first on St Timothy Presbyterian Church.

James 3:13-4:3

Defining Wisdom

Wisdom is important in our lives. We make important decisions during our life and we need wisdom to know what is the best for us. We need wisdom to be able to assess our situations with clear and deeper understanding. When we relate to people, we need wisdom. When we take care of our family, we need wisdom. To live a good life, we need wisdom.

Wisdom that I am talking about is different from academic knowledge. It is not something that you can learn from school. It is not about how much you know or how much education you have received. It is not just book knowledge.

Wisdom that I am talking about is not just being street smart either. Some people may not have much education but they know how to read their environments and how to deal with people and situations. They are socially smart and know what to do. I am not talking about that.

Wisdom that I am talking about is the wisdom that makes us happy and makes others happy. Last week, I said being happy is our ethical responsibility because if we are not happy, we make others unhappy. Wisdom that I am talking about is the wisdom that makes US happy and OTHERS happy. I will call it spiritual wisdom or life wisdom.

That is the kind of wisdom we all need to pursue. This kind of wisdom is WISDOM FROM ABOVE, James said in today's Scripture passage. The WISDOM FROM ABOVE! – What did he mean by that? He meant it was the wisdom that comes from God. It is a gift of God. It is not something we can acquire with our own effort. It doesn't necessarily come from our experiences. It is not about our intelligence. It is a gift of God. It is a gift of God to those who need it and who desire it.

This kind of wisdom may not make you successful but it will make you happy and others happy. I don't know about you but I will choose any time the wisdom that makes me and others happy over the wisdom that makes me successful.

Culprit of Happiness

So, the wisdom from above is the wisdom that makes life happy. Why people cannot have this kind of wisdom? Why?

SELFISHNESS – Yes, that is the main culprit. I can never be happy when I am selfish. When I am selfish, I become unhappy. I don't know why but that is the truth. Happiness is never JUST ABOUT MYSELF. I am happy when you are happy. Happiness is communal. Happy people make happiness and unhappy people make unhappiness. We are happy along with other people. Selfishness is pursuing only your own happiness and doesn't care about others. That's why through selfishness, we can never achieve happiness in a real sense.

James was right when he said,

But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. (James 3:14-15)

So, with the selfish ambition, we cannot have the wisdom from above. Selfishness brings disorder, chaos, struggle and fight.

For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. (James 3:16)

Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? (James 4:1)

Spiritual Wisdom

When there is no spiritual wisdom, there will be only conflicts and disputes. That was what happened at the church James was ministering to. The same thing happened at the church in Corinth.

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, I belong to Paul', or I belong to Apollos', or I belong to Cephas', or I belong to Christ.' Has Christ been divided? (1 Corinthians 1:10-13)

Of course, conflicts are unavoidable. As we live our lives, we always experience conflicts. At home. At work. At church. Trying to avoid conflict at all costs is not healthy. We don't need to be scared of conflicts.

But when we have spiritual wisdom, we will find a way where our conflicts turn into reconciliation, peace and harmony.

Spiritual people have conflicts too. Paul and Barnabas were coworkers but they had a big fight.

Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work. The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. (Acts 15:37-39)

But their conflicts had nothing to do with their selfish ambition. They had the spiritual wisdom and ultimately, they came to reconciliation and Paul worked with Mark.

Purity

The wisdom from above comes from purity. Purity is the absence of selfish ambition.

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace. (James 3:17-18)

It is hard to know our own selfish ambition. It is well hidden. We cover it up well too. So, we don't even know that we have it. Once in a while when we see ugly results, we catch our own selfish ambition. We all need to cultivate purity. That is our spiritual discipline. Jesus told us if you want to follow me, deny yourself and follow me. Denying yourself is letting go of selfish ambition. Letting go of selfish ambition is the very basic spiritual discipline. That is to cultivate purity.

How can we serve others, letting go of our selfish ambition. That is the question we have to ask ourselves every day. Then slowly we become pure and from the purity, true happiness comes.

From our desire to serve others, true wisdom will come. The most profound wisdom comes from love.

Profound Wisdom

We reflected on the discipline of tongue last week. Now one week passed. How was it? Have you failed? I did. But we will not give up. We will continue. It does not depend on us alone. God will show us mercy and help us.

In the same way, the discipline of having a pure heart will be more difficult. Sometimes we will catch ourselves acting out of selfishness. That's all right. Let us not be disappointed and give up. We will continuously work. That is the attitude of spiritual people who have spiritual wisdom.

This was what St. Paul said.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14)

Once we have the wisdom from above, our relationship with others will change. The war that exists within us will not be there anymore. We will have peace with ourselves. We will experience calmness, gentleness, and we will be full of mercy. No more partiality or hypocrisy. We will truly find who we are.

This makes us happy and makes others happy. To those who want to serve others, God gives the spiritual wisdom. It is a blessing to have these people around us because they will make those around them happy. Let us be a blessing not only to ourselves but also to others.

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James 3:1-12

The Beauty of Words

Words are beautiful. Without words, our life would have been very limited and confusing. Because we have words, we can communicate what's in our minds. That itself is a blessing. Communicating how we feel, and what we desire – that is a blessing. Because we have words, we can understand what is called the truth.

Our civilization would not have been possible without words. Because we have words, our civilization could have advanced and progressed. We could share our thoughts with each other and build a better life together.

Because we have words, we can understand God. God is God of words. God communicated to us through the words. Jesus is the Word Incarnate. In that sense, words are God's gift for us so that we may be able to interact with God and have more meaningful and fuller life.

Right words spoken at the right time can help people tremendously. Right words can even save them. Words of encouragement, words of challenge, words of truth can awaken people, give them hope and inspire them to persevere through hardships.

I am so honoured to be a minister of the Word. I communicate the word of God and God gives me the Word to communicate. That is very special for me. I have seen many people change, experience transformation, and start a new life through words. Just the other day, I received a text of thank you from a person that I have been helping for about two years. I am so glad that I could be of help to him when he went through difficult times. Words can be powerful when they are used in the right way.

Power of Words

James expressed the power of words in this way,

Look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. (James 3:4, 5)

Words can set a new direction of our lives. That was what happened to John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist. He confessed his change in this way.

“In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

He heard the words and they changed him. He found a new direction of life.

God can use his words and our words to uplift each other and bring about changes.

BUT AT THE SAME TIME, words can be quite dangerous. They can be powerful in a negative way.

Psalmist said,

The tongue of the wicked is like the bite of a poisonous snake. (Ps. 140:3)

The bite of a poisonous snake! What an accurate image!

Words can have detrimental effect on people. They can destroy people.

James also warns us in this way,

How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. (James 3:5, 6)

Our words of accusation, judgment, and condemnation can hurt deeply people who are vulnerable. We can destroy the spirits of other people. Our words can be hurtful, harmful, and poisonous. Verbal abuse is as serious as physical abuse. It can leave emotional damage and scar as deeply as the physical abuse if not more. Our words that come from our prejudice, our own darkness and our unhappiness can poison the souls of other people.

Cultivating Our Tongue

We have our own darkness and inner struggle within us. When they are expressed in a raw form, what we say can be poisonous.

So we have to be extremely careful what we say and how we say what we say and when we say it. Right words are not always right words. Depending on when you say them and to whom you say them, they can be wrong words.

So cultivating our tongue is important but it is not as easy as you think. Cultivating our tongue is like cultivating our whole existence. When our minds are distorted, our tongue will be crooked. When our minds are manipulative, our tongue will be deceiving.

When our minds are pure, our tongue will be sweet. When our minds are holy, our tongue will be inspiring.

From dark minds, dark words will come out. From corrupted minds, filthy words will come out. From divisive minds, divisive words will come out. So it is hard to cultivate our tongue. That's why James said,

For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. (James 3:2)

but no one can tame the tongue a restless evil, full of deadly poison. (James 3:8)

If your tongue makes no mistake, you are perfect. But we are not perfect. So, we realize that we all make mistakes. Sometimes with words, we hurt each other. We disappoint each other. We damage each other. At one moment, we are so uplifting and encouraging. But next moment, we forget all that. We are so insensitive and ignorant.

James said,

From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh. (James 3:10-12)

Our double mindedness can be seen in our being double-tongued. That is our reality but not the reality just to accept but the reality to overcome.

We need to cultivate our mind, our heart, and our tongue. Cultivating our tongue is not just to COVER UP. We often use our words to cover up who we really are and what we are thinking. That is not cultivating our tongue. That is to masquerade and practice our deceitfulness.

Let us not use words to manipulate others, either to make them like us, or take advantage of them. In front of them, we say nice words and turn around we gossip and say critical words. Learn to speak from the heart. Say things you really mean. Say things from who you are.

Cultivating our tongue is to cultivate purity. Pure hearts of serving others and loving others. We have to make it as our goal and practice it every day. Our minds manifest themselves in our tongue but also our tongue governs our minds. You have to teach your children how to use good words. Memorize the good words. Let them be in your consciousness. And teach your children. (Baptism)

Disciplining Our Speech

As you practice this, the words you use will change. God will help us. Disciplining our speech is God's gift. God will give us the words. I have developed a skill to listen with a prayerful heart. Then God gives me the words to speak. I don't say much while counseling. But God gives me the word. Sometimes I don't speak at all because I don't need to. St. Francis said,

Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.

Discipline of tongue is sometimes the discipline of listening.

When people say negative things, I know that they need to deposit their darkness, their struggles somewhere. I just become a sponge so that their darkness can be contained temporarily within me so that they can have some relief. That's hard sometimes. Very exhausting. Listen with empathy. Don't say words with judgment. Pray and find words God gives.

Especially when you are emotionally charged up, be careful. Don't say out of anger. Always try to speak from love. You will find good words to speak. Let us cultivate our minds, our hearts, and our tongue.

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Mark 7:31-37

Hiking

We had our College Camping Trip this past week. It was a wonderful time away. It was the first time in such a long time that we were together as a college group.

One moment that stands out is the long hike we went on. We made the first half of it a silent walk, and there was no talking. We walked by ourselves, spaced out in a single file. I led from the front. I was looking forward to a nice, quiet, leisurely hike to the lookout spot.

To my dismay, however, a family was ahead of us and going quite slowly. They had small kids and a dog, they would stop often and talk loudly. I had to stop the whole group quite often in order to keep our distance and not run into them.

I was a bit annoyed at first, because my attention was distracted by the obstacle in front of us and the human voices disturbing the quiet of the forest.

I realized I was getting bothered, and decided to adjust. I accepted that this was the situation, and decided not to let that detract from the experience of the hike. I accepted the stops I would have to make to keep distance from them, and I tuned out noise coming from them.

Once I did so, I was able to appreciate the immediate surroundings of the forest. I tuned out the human noise and began to hear the sounds of the gentle breeze rustling through the trees. It was such a beautiful, soothing, peaceful sound. The sounds of the trees connected with my soul and I felt restored. I would not have heard those beautiful sounds if I had remained distracted by the people ahead of us.

There is a lot of noise around us, but we are unable to hear.

Hear Your Life

Today's story is about a deaf man who had a speech impediment. Deaf people cannot speak clearly because they cannot hear their own voices. In an oral culture, being deaf and lacking speech cut him off from life around him. It resulted in a closed existence.

There are many sounds and noises around us, but we suffer from deafness: a deafness to our hearts. The heart in Greek is kardia. Kardia is not just our feelings. The kardia is the seat of our thoughts and emotions. It is the very center of who we are.

To hear your heart is to hear your life.

When you cannot hear your life, you cannot articulate what is actually going on in your life. When we cannot hear, we cannot speak. Without hearing our hearts, without articulating our lives, we we can never really connect with ourselves and others. This is a closed existence.

Life is very busy nowadays. Life is tiring. But when life is in tune with your heart, it doesn't really matter how busy you are. All we need is physical and mental rest.

When life is disconnected from our hearts, all the busy-ness burns us out. Everything you do becomes a chore and a drain on your energy. It makes you check out on life and become like a zombie. Instead of merely recharging, we seek an escape from this busy life that is disconnected from the center of one's being. There is no purpose, because how we live our lives does not flow from the center of our being.

This is not the kind of life that God intended for us.

Jesus says to the deaf man with a speech impediment: Be opened. (Mark 7:34) This is what happened as soon as he said that: And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. (Mark 7:35)

This is at the core of our spiritual journey:  To hear our life and what is going on in it; To speak plainly about what is going on in our lives.

Moses

Too often, we speak nonsense and gibberish when it comes to our lives. We say things that don't mean anything. That's because we can't hear what is going on in our lives.

Instead of hearing what is going on inside of us, we simply react to what's in our hearts. If there is anger, we react with anger. If there is fear, we react in fear.

Moses was born when the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt.  They had become such a threat that all Hebrew boys had to be thrown into the Nile River. His life, however, was saved when Pharaoh's daughter found him. He was brought up in the palace of the very power that was killing and oppressing his own people.

I've often wondered how conflicted he must have been growing up. He was raised in privilege in the Egyptian court, but he saw firsthand how they were oppressing his own people.

I believe there was a lot of anger and conflict in his heart. But as a young man he was not connected to it. He could not hear his heart. He merely reacted to it. When he saw an Egyptian beating up a Hebrew, he killed the Egyptian.

He ran away from Egypt and spent the next 40 years blocking out the sounds of his heart in the pastures of Midian.

He lived a peaceful and comfortable life there, but he could not completely block out what was in his heart. He got married, and afterward: She bore a son, and he named him Gershom; for he said I have been an alien residing in a foreign land. (Exodus 2:22) The pains of the past in his heart had not left him.

We may try to ignore the sounds of our heart, but God does not leave us alone. When we are ready to hear, we will hear God speak to our hearts.

This is what happened to Moses:

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up. (Exodus 3:1-3)

It was just a regular day when God reached out to Moses through the burning bush. Instead of ignoring this great sight, he stopped and turned aside. This began an intense conversation with God, where God revealed Moses' calling to rescue his people from bondage.

Importance of Reflection

God is always speaking to us. The question is whether we can hear.

When we listen closely to our hearts, God meets us there. When you hear a faint tremor in your heart, do you turn aside to see what that might be? Or do you ignore it and continue on your way? We may run away from our hearts because there is too much pain and we fear the implications of listening to it. But that is where we meet God.

When we can hear God in our hearts, God opens up our life. God took all of Moses' pain and conflict and opened up his calling to liberate the Hebrew people from Egypt. Our calling is deeply connected with listening to our hearts.

God's will is to open up our lives. We just need to open our ears to hear God's voice. This is why daily reflection is important.

As you reflect on what happened each day, ask yourself: what was I thinking? What was I feeling? Why was I feeling or thinking the way I did?  Through this kind of reflection, you can hear your heart, and there you will hear God's voice too. We need to cultivate this spiritual discipline of listening to our hearts.

The spiritual journey is about hearing our hearts, but it begins with recognizing how deaf we are to it. The people around the deaf man begged Jesus to lay his hands on him. They recognized that it was a matter of life or death for the deaf man.

We need to recognize that it is a matter of life or death for us too. Will we continue to stumble along living a life that is closed off? Or will we live a life that is opened up by God?

God wants to open up your life. The things in your heart are unique to you, and God has a unique calling for your life.

Like the townspeople, let us come begging on our knees for God to open up our ears and loosen our tongues.

Opened by God

When God opens our ears to our hearts and loosens our tongues, the words that flow out of our mouths are words of praise. The townspeople could not be stopped from praising God. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak. (Mark 7:37) Words of praise are the first things that come out of our mouths when we live a life opened up by God.

Isn't that a good life? To live life astounded beyond measure at what God has done in our lives? To be in awe and utter gratitude? That is a good life. I really grasped this more during covid, when everything else seemed to be stripped away. I got the sense of how precious life is, and how great God is.

God will open up your life. To our students heading back to school, you will have a lot of schoolwork and face many experiences and challenges. But make time to listen to your heart and be in tune with it. God will speak to you there. To the parents having their children baptized, baptism is a symbol of possibility, a sign of an opened existence. Be connected with your own heart, and nurture your children to as well, so that both you and your children can live a life that is opened up by God's grace.

We are all baptized into this grace. Let us give thanks to God for this.

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James 1:22-27

Conflicting Desires 

We struggle with double mindedness. We have two sides: one positive and the other negative. Sometimes our positive side can be also our negative side. We have a bright side and a dark side.

Within us, we have these TWO CONFLICTING DESIRES. We want to be good for others and live more wholesome life. We want to be pleasant, kind and loving. We want to stand up for what is good and right. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, we see ourselves being easily angry, negative, lazy, timid, and not care. We are sometimes dark, cynical, and critical.

Jesus asked the disciples to stay with him when he was praying in Gethsemane, probably the most difficult time in his life. The disciples could not be with Jesus. Jesus said,

the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matthew 26:41)

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak! This description is so true. Yes, we have a conflict between the spirit and the flesh. Here the flesh does not mean just a physical body. It is more than that. This is what St. Paul said about the flesh.

For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. (Romans 7:14)

The flesh is self that is controlled by our human weakness, and also by our sins. We have the spirit that is willing to do what is good. But we also have the flesh that desires the opposite.

Our task is not to deny that we have these two sides but to let our bright side take over the dark side. That is what spiritual journey is all about.

See Our Raw Self

Being spiritual does not mean to DENY that there is this double mindedness within us. When we are spiritual, we SEE MORE CLEARLY that this DISCONNECTEDNESS EXISTS within us. We see our struggle more clearly. Spirituality helps us to get to our RAW SELF before it reshapes us.

In our spiritual journey, we will see the disconnectedness between faith and doubt, hearing the word and living out the word, good desire and evil desire, thinking and action, knowing and living out what we know, fantasy and reality.

So our spiritual journey is not necessarily pleasant to go through but we have to do that to grow and also to find who we really are and to be more truthful to our self.

It is much easier to divide the PUBLIC SELF that you show to the world and the PRIVATE SELF that is disclosed only to yourself. But living like that does not give us chance to grow and to be real. The more we do that, the more we will deceive ourselves.

We should not play blind eyes to this disconnectedness. We should not use our faith as a way to ignore and conceal this tension and make us feel better. We may feel better but that is not who we are. Good faith doesn't do that. Good religion doesn't do that.

This is what James said,

If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. (James 1:26)

If you think you are religious and yet you do not even know that you hurt others by what you say, then it is not a good religion. He said, that kind of religion is worthless. You think you are religious but you don't even know that you are hurting others. You live in your own world.

Good faith does not do that. It does not blind us. It does not paint us with a false image. When we have good faith, we have a pretty good idea of who we are. Bad faith does the very opposite. It misguides us and blinds us. This is what James said.

But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act they will be blessed in their doing. (James 1:22-25)

The Book of James

The book of James has been MISUNDERSTOOD for a long time. People like Martin Luther, the reformer, even considered taking it out of the cannon at first. He emphasized that faith alone can save us. Not our good works. But James said faith without good works is dead faith. That's why many people misunderstood James, thinking that he was DOWNPLAYING the importance of faith. They think James is saying that faith alone is not enough. You have to do the good works.

That is not what James is saying. James also believes that faith is the most important thing. Faith alone can save us. But he is saying that your faith has to be good faith, real faith. Not fake faith. Not bad faith that blinds you and deceives you.

James saw his community losing real faith, the good faith. He saw that they were struggling with their faith. The external pressure was too much. Their life was hard. Some of them were losing their faith and left the community. Even those who remained in the church, they did not have living faith. Their faith existed merely in their brain. It was just agreement to the doctrine. Oh ya, I believe. Oh ya, I know that Jesus died for me and God loves me. They knew intellectually what faith was but they didn't live out their faith. Faith did not do any good to them. It didn't give them the POWER TO PERSEVERE their difficult situations. Their understanding of faith was merely a CONSENT TO THE DOCTRINE they were taught. THEY SAID THEY HAD FAITH BUT IN ACTUALITY, THEY WERE FALLING INTO THE SECULAR WORLD SURROUNDING THEM LITTLE BY LITTLE. James was saying that it was bad faith. It was dead faith. Bad faith doesn't give you the power. But good faith has the power to transform us. That is what he was trying to say.

Creating Movement

Good faith makes us see our dilemma and our paradox, and our disconnectedness. But that's not everything. Good faith also lets us see God, who does not give up on us because we are weak. God still works in us. Good faith not only makes you see your faults and shortcomings but at the same time, it makes you see God's grace. Good faith CREATES A MOVEMENT within us that moves us from selfishness and self-centredness to sacrifice, from hatred to love, from greed to service, from arrogance to humility, from laziness to devotion.

When we have good faith, we do not trust in our own power. We do not depend on our own power. Good faith makes us see God. It makes us look to God. It makes us depend on God. Good faith constantly cultivates heart that moves towards God. The more conflict we see in ourselves, the more we trust in God and ask God's help. See, this conflict within us does not destroy us by creating a false self within us. It only creates more desire to change. We not only have humility but we also have this strong desire to seek after God.

We want to hear the words, not just as nice words. We want to hear the words, because we believe that the words have power to change us. We don't just hear the words and turn around and forget about them. We meditate on them. We bring the words to our heart.

Good faith creates tremendous desire to want to change. This desire is what faith gives us. You can see this very clearly in Psalm. You see both CONFLICT and DESIRE.

Why are you cast down, O my soul,

   and why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

   my help and my God. (Psalm 42:5)

As a deer longs for flowing streams,

   so my soul longs for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God,

   for the living God. (Psalm 42:1-2)

Good faith, genuine faith will NOT necessarily GET RID OF our conflicts. That is not how faith works. But good faith will save us from guilt and despair in spite of the deep disconnectedness within us. We will not be lost. We will be able to find a way out.

Seek God

When you are discouraged, when you feel weak, when you feel you are worthless, don't give up. Hope in God. And praise God. And seek God. God is your help. God will help you. God will save you from your dilemma. God will give you strength.

When you see your own contradiction, don't be alarmed. Don't try to hide it. Don't sweep it under the rug. Don't run away. Who doesn't have baggage? Who doesn't struggle with it? Embrace yourself. Be gentle to yourself. Seek God. Find strength in God's words. God will help you. This is where COURAGE AND HUMILITY go together. You become creative without losing yourself. Good faith is faith seeking to understand who we are and who God is.

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Ephesians 6:10-20

Strength

We have to be strong to survive. We have to be strong to deal with challenges of life. We have to be strong to live a good life. We have to be strong to live out our calling. We have to be strong to be happy.

St. Paul said in today's passage,

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. (Ephesians 6:10)

Be strong in the Lord What does it mean to be strong in the Lord? Be strong in the Lord means NOT TO BE SHAKEN. No matter what situation we may encounter, we have to be solid like a rock. That is what it means to be strong. We need to have a solid existence. We cannot be like chaff that the wind drives away. We should be like a tree planted and deeply rooted by streams of water. To live a fruitful life, we should be strong.

To be strong means to be CONSTANTLY positive, thankful, joyful, and hopeful. The key word is constantly. We have to be consistent. It is easy to be positive once in a while, thankful once in a while, joyful once in a while and hopeful once in a while. But it is hard to be constantly that way. To be constantly that way, we need to be strong.

To make these positive qualities constant and consistent, we need to have spiritual discipline. You practice it so much that it becomes a part of you. Just thinking about it is not enough. Just knowing that it is important is not enough. We need to prepare ourselves spiritually so that we are constantly positive, thankful, joyful, and hopeful.

St. Paul said,

Therefore take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6:13)

Unpredictable Times

Life is unpredictable. We don't know what situation may come to us. Uncertainty is a part of what life is. We all have learned that very clearly through this Covid crisis.

This crisis is not over. We are now in the fourth wave. Nobody knew that we would be affected for this long. This crisis affected all of us in a very profound way. It changed our life style. No one ever imagined its devastating effect. It is something we saw only in movies. Now September is not even two weeks away. School is going to start soon and the daily rate of delta variant Covid cases are doubled in two weeks in US. On Friday, we had 650 new cases in Ontario. And 689 on Saturday. And the kids are not vaccinated. No one can predict what will come in September.

We are living in a very unpredictable time. This creates anxiety, anger, and fear. It makes us shaky. It makes us weak. We can easily allow darkness to enter into our soul and let it control our life. It will weaken us.

You know what. It is not just corona virus that throws our life into chaos. Life is always full of challenges and it will always be that way. That won't change. We cannot live our lives wishing that there is no problem. Wishing that there is no problem is a very passive attitude. Wishing that there is no problem in life is a sign of weakness. Instead of wishing that no problem may come your way, pray that you may have strength to take these challenges and face them. Pray that you may not fear these challenges. We cannot run away from our problems. We have to be bold to take on challenges of life. That is what it means to be strong. Instead of running away from the flaming arrows of our problems, we need a shield, the shield of faith. Our faith becomes the shield to protect us from the attack.

Yes, we all get attacked sometimes. Negative thoughts fill our heart. We are so fearful that we become paralyzed. We get tired and get easily temperamental. Sometimes even meaninglessness of life attacks us. We say to ourselves, What is the point?

We cannot let these things enter into our soul and poison us. We need to protect ourselves from the attack. We cannot just sit around, hoping that these feelings will go away. They won't just go away. Even if they go away temporarily, they will come back. We need the shield that protects us from these attacks. That is faith. When these attacks come, we believe that we will be all right. We believe that God will give us strength. God will not let these things destroy us. We are precious children of God. Believe that with God, these attacks will only make us stronger. That is what faith is. When we have faith, our problems will make us stronger, not weaker.

Comfort and Luxury

We are called to live a fruitful life. We are called to love. We are called to be truthful. We are called to serve. We are called to resist the evil. We are called to fight the injustice.

God gave us comfort and luxury as a gift and we are very thankful. Comfort and luxury – They are just God's gift. But they are not our calling for us to seek after. If you live your lives, seeking comfort and luxury, if they become your goal, you become weak. When God gives you comfort and luxury, be thankful but remember that our calling is bigger than seeking comfort and luxury. We are called to love, to be truthful, and to serve. We are called to resist the evil and fight the injustice. To live out what we are called to do, we need to be strong. That was what St. Paul asked for.

Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak. (Ephesians 6:19-20)

You can see he was in prison. And yet he didn't get discouraged. He was strong. He asked to pray for him so that he could live out his calling of delivering the message of the mystery of the gospel.

Enjoying life is good. You don't need to feely guilty of enjoying your life. Once at Wednesday Bible study, they shared how they feel guilty to have a luxurious vacation. I told them not to. We ought to enjoy life. But don't let that be temptation to lure you away from your calling. Then you will become weak. All kinds of temptations will come into your soul and poison you. You will become weak. Don't let the sweetness of life ruin your existence. Don't let it rob you of the true joy of living out your calling.

Look around. There are people who need your help. There are issues we have to deal with. There are injustices that we need to address.

Let us cultivate prayer life. That is the best way to be strong. When we live a prayerful life, God will guide you. You don't know exactly how God will shape you but he will shape you so that you become strong.

Make time for yourself. Just 30 minutes. Enter into prayer. Be there with God. Sense God. Listen to God. Listen to yourself. You will find focus in your life. This focus will give you strength. Prayer is not just for very religious people. We all need time to be alone with God. Let God guide you and strengthen you. It's like listening to your life, listening to yourself, and listening to God. Especially when life is hard and difficult, you need this time to be equipped with the armour of God.

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Mark 4:1-20

Introduction

Back in April, I decided to reseed my front lawn .not the entire front lawn, but the stretch of lawn that lies between the street and the sidewalk. That narrow section has always been an eye-sore. It looks like a worn down soccer field with lots of divots and bare patches. When I mow the lawn, a huge cloud of dust gets kicked up and covers me because there are so many areas that are just bare dirt. In the past, I've tried reseeding it, and the grass has grown – for awhile – but it never seems to last and before the end of the summer the lawn looks the same as before .like a worn down soccer field.

And I've spent a lot of time over the years pondering why the grass doesn't want to grow and I've come up with a few possible reasons: It might be that the grass doesn't get enough sun on account of the large maple tree that stands in the centre of the lawn. It also might be that the soil is contaminated from all of the road salt that's used during the winter months. I think the most likely reason are the high school students, it's always convenient to blame teenagers, those groups of soon-to-be adults who travel in packs and walk not on the sidewalk but on my lawn on their way to the high school just around the corner.

So back in the spring, with the high school closed due to the pandemic, I decided it was the perfect time to grow grass. The conditions felt perfect.

There would be no students walking on my lawn. It was early in the season, the garden centres were just opening up, I would buy lots of top soil – 40 bags in total, and invest in some high-quality grass seed. And I made a vow to myself that this time I was going to water the lawn every day. This was going to be the year when I would finally transform my patchy lawn into a lush blanket of Kentucky blue grass once and for all.

The parable that we read today isn't a guide on how to grow grass for that we don't need Jesus, we just need to watch some YouTube videos. But when it comes to growing ou faith, we DO need Jesus, and Jesus often taught about faith by using parables.

Move 1: Parable

A parable is a story that's used to illustrate a lesson, and a parable is most effective when the story is about things the listener can relate to. That's why Jesus often uses illustrations that relate to farming in his parables because many people back then relied on the land for their livelihood.

In our story today, we're told that a very large crowd gathered around Jesus, it was so large that he needed to get some distance between himself and the crowd in order to address them, so he got into a boat and spoke to the crowd while on the sea.

Keep in mind these were still the early days of Jesus' ministry the 12 disciples had just been called and already Jesus was attracting great numbers. From the first chapter, Mark writes that Jesus' fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee. Jesus first gets noticed when he visits a synagogue and commands an unclean spirit to come out of a man and people are amazed. From then on, Jesus can't go anywhere without attracting a crowd.

Even when Jesus is not out in public, crowds come seeking him. Like the time when he was visiting Simon's home, Mark writes: the whole city was gathered outside the door.

Just imagine how exciting it must have been for the disciples. They had a front row seat to all of these people who come seeking Jesus. Up until this point, not much was asked of the disciples they just sat back and watched.

But to be a person of faith, let alone a disciple of Jesus, requires something more than being a spectator. You can't just stand on the sidelines and passively watch and expect your faith to grow without getting into the game yourself.

For something to grow and keep growing  requires participation.

Move 2: Sow

Today's parable begins: A sower went out to sow.

The only participant in the parable seems to be the sower . he's the one with the seed, and he's key to the story because without him the seed doesn't get sown.

One of the things that caught my attention is that the sower doesn't seem to be very careful with the seed. It doesn't say the seed was planted, but it says some seed fell. Some seed fell on the path, other seed fell on rocky ground, other seed fell among thorns, other seed fell into good soil. Maybe there was an abundance of seed so the sower let some fall here and some fall there there's no concern for saving the seed or holding some back. The sower's sole purpose seems to be spreading it wherever he goes.

It's not until Jesus explains the parable do we see that the sower is not the only participant in the story.

Jesus says: the sower sows the word. The word can mean Jesus' teachings or instructions or actions or even Jesus himself. The word is wherever Jesus reveals God's love through word or deed.

Just like the seed that falls wherever the sower goes, the word is spread wherever Jesus goes. Jesus doesn't turn anybody away or hold anything back what he offers is given freely and to everyone.

But it turns out there are others aside from the sower who participate in the parable. The sower participates by giving, but for every giver there needs to be a receiver. Those who receive in the parable are the hearers. The hearers are the other participants in the story.

But there's a catch. While all the people according to Jesus hear the word, and this is something he repeats four times, in only one instance does the word accomplish what it's intended to do.

Move 3: Hearing the Word

Hearing is a verb or action word, but it's often thought of as a passive action requiring little effort. Sometimes when I'm on a call with someone, I can tell they're listening but not really paying attention. They're talking with me, but they're also doing something else. They're multitasking maybe watching the game on t.v. or reading an e-mail. And I can tell because whenever I ask a question there's a pause before they answer.

To give our full attention to something is hard, whether it's to a book or to our children, it's become harder over the years to give our undivided attention . and I think the pandemic has even made it worse.

A few weeks ago there was an article in the Globe and Mail it was on the front page of the Opinion section and it included a large picture of a hand holding a cel phone and a text message on the phone that read

Put me down followed by NOW! (all caps)

The author made the interesting observation that when it comes to alcohol, there are norms or rules that govern our attitudes and behaviours, shaping our understandings of where, when, how & why to drink… but there are no norms for our phone use.

Our phones might be convenient and sometimes necessary, but they also come at a cost. The author of the article argues. The cost of phones can be measured in lost attention. And attention, our capacity to focus, is perhaps our scarcest commodity.

He cites some interesting studies on the effects of phones.

In one study researchers prompted pairs of people with conversation topics, and divided them into two groups. One group, researchers left a phone resting, face-down, on a nearby desk. For the second group, the phone was absent. After their conversations, pairs in the phone present group reported far lower levels of empathy and trust than those in the phone absent group. The researchers concluded the mere presence of mobile phones inhibited the development of interpersonal closeness and trust.

In another study, subjects turned off their phones and placed them either face down on their desk; in their bag or pocket; or in another room. Then they took a series of tests focused on reading, math and pattern recognition. Performance was strongest with phones in the other room; performance diminished with phones in bags or pockets; and performance was worst with phones on desks.

The researcher concluded:

Your conscious mind isn't thinking about your smartphone, but that process the process of requiring yourself to not think about something uses up some of your limited cognitive resources.

The funny thing is that 90% of subjects insisted phone location had no bearing on their performance.

Of course phones are not all bad. When I was a kid, if phones with GPS and Google maps had existed, there would have been a lot less yelling during our family summer vacation road trips as my dad drove and my poor mom had the thankless task of giving directions while looking at a huge fold out map.

But for all the conveniences phones provide by allowing us to stay connected, I'm not sure if they make us better people. In fact, a study found the more deeply caregivers were absorbed in their phones, the more likely they were to respond harshly to their children's attention-seeking behaviour.

In 3 of the 4 examples from the parable,  people hear the word the word gets sown in them, but it doesn't yield anything because their attention can't be held long enough for the word to grow roots. When they hear the word, distractions take the word away. When persecution comes, they're focus turns to troubles when the cares of the world arise, their attention turns to money. They're like chaff that goes blown around by the wind, there's no root grounding them to the eternal.

But Jesus knew in order for seeds of faith to have a chance to take root and grow and one day bear fruit, it had to go beyond just hearing the word it required accepting it.

Move 4: Accepting the Word

In the parable, Jesus says:

And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and hundredfold.

Notice that Jesus doesn't say:

they hear the word and bear fruit but he says

they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit.

To hear the word is passive, to hear and accept is active because it requires our participation and we participate by the intentional act of directing our attention to what or to whom gives life.

God's presence is with us, God's Spirit dwells within us, yet we can spend our days unaware of this presence WHY? Because for much of the day, our attention is directed elsewhere.

Early in the pandemic last year, I found myself spending more and more of my days on my ipad reading updates about covid which left me feeling blue. So I decided to put away my ipad and only check the news 3 times a day. I also made a difficult decision (that I never thought I'd be able to do in my lifetime) I canceled my cable subscription. It wasn't that hard because there was no hockey or basketball to watch due to Covid.

Instead of watching a Leafs or Raptors game in the evenings, I found myself spending more time to just be to read, to pray, to meditate. And what surprised me was that over time, I felt less distracted, less restless.

With no sports to distract me, I grew more comfortable with silence and being still. My attention didn't wander as much but it felt like it could be held for longer periods. I started to look forward to my evenings after dinner as the day winded down and I could just rest in God.

How I used to spend my evenings by staring at a screen was passive. But spending the evening in the quiet of my own heart felt the opposite of passive, it felt like I was a participant, in a way it felt like I was preparing the ground of my own heart to receive God's gift of presence just as the good soil awaits the seed.

And this is what I think Jesus is trying to teach us through this parable like the sower who spreads the seed so generously and extravagently, the word, i.e., God's love and presence, is made available to us this is what Jesus' death on the cross points to that God doesn't withhold anything from us but gives everything away. And the only question is: What are we doing to prepare ourselves to receive it?

After I cut the cable chord and started to be intentional about how I would spend my evenings and where I would direct my limited attention, I remember praying to God, it was a simple prayer. I asked: During this pandemic, I want to use this time to prepare myself to become more gentle gentle with others but also gentle with myself. I prayed this because early in the pandemic I was feeling anything BUT gentle or restful or calm. But this is what my heart desired, and by being intentional about creating space so I could pay attention and become more aware of this divine Spirit that lives within me I trust that in good time, the fruit of my life will reveal the root of my faith.

Conclusion

So getting back to my lawn. This past summer I've had to reseed it 3 more times. I've purchased another 40 bags of soil, more seed, more fertilizer, I even bought burlap to cover the seed so the birds don't eat it put up a poles and hung string around the perimeter so people don't walk on the lawn.

And as the end of the summer approaches and before the students return to school and walk on my lawn, I can see some results lots of new grass has grown but I still see some bare spots where the seed didn't take and there are some divots that were dug up by a squirrel or skunk. In the past, I'd want to give up but I'm not going to let myself get discouraged this time around because I've learned a valuable lesson when it comes to growing grass that I also think applies to faith. There's no such thing as a perfect lawn and there's no such thing as a perfect faith there's always work to be done if we want to see growth. And this is good news especially as it relates to faith because it means it is never too late to participate like those who hear and accept. It's never the wrong season to work the soil of our hearts to make it good. It all begins by giving more and more of our attention to what or to whom gives life by becoming more aware of the word that is being sown and the fruit that is being grown, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold. Amen.

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