Los Alamos Church of Christ
Drawing Closer
to God
The Altar of the
Ordinary
Living in the
Moment
Some churches,
not us, but some churches have a liturgical calendar. They divide the year into seasons; such
as Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter.
The rest of the year, which is not in one of those seasons, is called
“Ordinary Time”. Ordinary Time is
not directly associated with a big holiday. That’s what I’m talking about. For the last several weeks we have been
exploring how we live in ordinary
time. I have been advocating
that we worship God in ordinary time in ordinary
ways.
-We attempt to be like kids in wonder of the world as the take
their shoes off in reverence.
-We talked about the balance of being a cow or an Abraham; this
paradox between safety and wonder.
We find wonder when we get off the 8 inch
path.
-We have seen ordinary
people as being made in the image of God.
We have learned to bless them.
-We have seen the importance of connecting, koinonia with us as ordinary
people.
This morning, as
we come to the end of our stay at the Altar of the Ordinary, I want to bookend our study. This morning I want to go back to being
kids, sort of. I want to look at
living in the moment. In order to
worship at the Altar of the Ordinary, we must learn to live in each moment. There is lots of ordinary time, even on
a liturgical calendar. The trick is
drawing closer to God in each ordinary
moment.
This morning I
want to first look at what living in the moment is not and then what it is and then give a shot at how do we do it.
=======
Living in the
moment means…NOT
Living in the moment is…NOT living
in a bad
past.
All the things
that have happened to us and all the
ways we have responded to what has happened, make us who we are today. We are who we have lived to be… up to this point. In all of our lives there are things from
our past, if we could, we would change. There are two ways we can deal with those
things we would change; Learn from them and move. Or we can continue to go over and over
in our heads. Living in a bad past
is to replay those events over and over…again. On my TV remote there is a back
button. I press it and it jumps
back 5 seconds. I can push that
button again and again, but it doesn’t change what happens. We can’t change the past. We need to learn what we need to learn
and then give that past to God. God can heal. God can forgive.
I love Psalm 51
– David moving on from his terrible mistakes…
Psalm 51:3-10
For I know my
transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I
sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when
you speak and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived
me. (moves on) Surely you desire
truth in the inner parts; you teach
me wisdom in the inmost place.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be
whiter than snow. Let me hear joy
and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my
sins and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within
me.
This was on
Lyn’s Facebook page last week, “View your life with Kindsight. Stop beating yourself up about things
from your past. Instead of slapping
your forehead and asking, ‘What was I thinking?’ Breathe and ask yourself the
kinder question, ‘What was I learning?’”
Living in the
moment is not living in a bad past.
It is bringing that past to God to
heal.
Living in the moment is…NOT living
in a good
past.
“That was the
time of my life.” “It will never be
any better than it was when…” It is
tempting to recapture a favorite time and want to stay there. Maybe it was high school when you
were... cool. Maybe you wish you
could go to college again and be in that time of freedom and discovery. Perhaps, you want to be a newly wed again
or when the kids were young.
“Remember when… “ and we
keep pushing that replay button on the remote going over and over the good ol’
days.
Irene Houser, an
old woman I knew many years ago, at the time was 87 told me, “You know you are
old when you think more about the past than the future.”
Living in the
moment is not living in a good past.
We often worry
about what is going to happen. We
tend to believe in the worst case
scenarios. Murphy's Law says,
“Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong”. That is a terrible philosophy of
life. “Where are we going and why
are we in this hand basket?” is not the way Jesus advocates we live. It takes the same amount of energy to
pray as it does to worry.
Matthew
6:25-26, 33
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat
or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and
the body more important than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in
barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than
they? But seek first his kingdom
and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as
well.”
Jesus says don’t
live in a bad future.
Living in the moment is…NOT living
in a good future.
Many of us are
planners. We are futurists. We set targets and goals and
objectives.
-“When we get
this problem solved… everything will be swell.”
-“When we get
that set up… things will be smooth.”
-“If we can
tweak that… then I will be happy.”
-“When I
purchase that… Life will be good.”
Our personal
theme song is..."Tomorrow, Tomorrow, we’ll have more tomorrow, It’s only a day
away!" Without realizing it what we
are doing is spending all our energy hoping for something better to happen
tomorrow. We miss out on the
ordinary time of today. Sadly, we
let tomorrow rob us of precious today
moments.
Living in the
moment is not living in a good future.
Living in the moment is…NOT living
for the
moment.
Living for the moment means we disregard the
consequences of our actions. We
want what we want, and we want it now. Living for the moment is microwave living; instant everything.
Not later; now. Not tomorrow,
today.
There was a song
on the TV show Sing off. The chorus was… “Give me everything
tonight, for all we know we might not get tomorrow”. The rest of the lyrics I don’t want to
repeat. You can guess the subject
matter. Give me everything
tonight. We might not be here in
the morning. But the problem is,
what happens if you do have tomorrow?
I also read this
last week, “You are free to choose, but you are not free from the consequence of
your choice”.
Living for the moment is living without
discipline. It is living without
self-control. Living for the moment
is a short-term perspective. It
rarely looks beyond today; it seldom sees more than its own self. It has a small world view with self is at
the center.
We are called
upon to live in the moment but not for the moment.
Living in the
moment is not…
Living in a bad
past
Or living in a
good past
Or living in a
bad future
Or living in a
good future
Or living for
the moment
That is what
living in the moment is not.
Now…
=======
Let’s explore
what it does mean to live in the
moment.
Living in the moment recognizes the
value of each moment.
Each moment of
our lives is full of magic. The
passage from one second… to the next is a miracle. It is worthy of being savored. I am not advocating that we go through life
all fluffy. I am not advocating we
ignore the reality of our lives.
But I am saying
we experience the appropriate emotion for each moment.
-We realize joy.
-We experience
the sorrow.
-We thrill with
the excitement,
We are
seriousness with the serious moment.
Each moment is
precious. We can only live right
now. Each moment is
magical.
Living in the moment means paying
attention.
Living in the
moment means that your awareness is here. The present now moment is where we are.
This moment, this very moment,
right now, is where we are in. It
is being here fully in the moment.
Whatever we are in… we pay attention. We are engaged. We are here. The people with us have our
attention. The activities we are
engaged in… have our responsiveness.
Tanya and I went
out to eat recently and there were three guys at a table. They were all obviously geeky. All there were sitting at a small table.
All were looking at their cell
phones. There was no conversation at all.
Living in the moment means being where you
are.
Living in the moment means living in
proper balance.
We learn from
the past and that helps us to make the right choices for the moment. We live preparing for the future, without
it consuming our now. There is a
balance in knowing how to use the past and moving toward the future without
giving up the right now. That is living in the moment.
Notice the past,
present and future of Ephesians 2.
Ephesians
2:1-7
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and
sins, in which you used to live
when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the
air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying
the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects
of wrath. But because of his great
love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we
were dead in transgressions-- it is
by grace you have been saved. And
God raised us up with Christ and seated
us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the
incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ
Jesus.
Remember your
past, so you can appreciate God’s grace. But live now as you are… raised with
Christ in the present in heavenly realms.
Live in Christ, now. And at
the same time know that there is going to be incomparable riches forever. That is the balance.
Living in the
moment is valuing every moment enough
to pay attention to what is going
on.
Living in the
moment knows that each moment sits in front of the past, knowing there is a
future coming, but staying in that moment.
=======
That leaves us
with… how do we do it? Here is some
advice.
Don’t sweat the "small
stuff”.
Here's a
definition for "small stuff:" Anything that won’t matter in 24 hours is "small
stuff. Small stuff can keep you
from living in the moment. We get
irritated over insignificant things which won’t even matter in 24 hours. We get wound up. We respond to those around us with
intolerance. We ruin the moment
when our response to “small stuff” is irratation. Here is the advice; as you find yourself
being irritated, stop and ask, “Is this small stuff?” Will it matter in 24 hours? If not, let it go. Get back then to the
moment.
Don’t sweat the "big stuff”.
I can hear some
of you thinking, "Well, if I were just dealing with small stuff, that would be
one thing, but my life is full of big problems. My stuff is not going away in 24 hours,
or 36 or 48 or for a long time”.
Let go of the small stuff, sure. But what about the big
stuff?”
This is
hard. This is where our faith comes
to play. Because of who our God is,
we can give him the big stuff. If
we can in faith turn over the big stuff we can still participate in the
moment. “The big things that are
coming down the track, like a train in the distance, we turn over to God. That
frees us to go ahead and live the moment.
Philippians
4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness (in the small stuff) be
evident to all. The Lord is
near. Do not be anxious about
anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present
your requests to God. And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus.
We can hand the
big stuff over to God and trust him.
That frees us to live in the moment.
Learn to live with the “I
AM.”
“I AM” by Helen
Mallicent
I was regretting
the past and fearing the future. Suddenly my Lord was speaking. My name is– I AM. He paused, I waited–He continued. When you live in the past with its
mistakes and regrets it is hard. I
AM not there. My name is not I was.
When you live in the future with
its problems and fears, it is hard. I AM not there. My name is not I will be. When you live in this moment it is not
hard. I AM here. My name is– I
AM.
Romans
8:38-39
For I am
convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height
nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nothing in all
creation can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. What else really matters? What else do you need? We can live in the moment because we are
filled with the promise of God.
-The past is
past. It no longer exists. Through God’s healing we can live free
from the control of the past.
-The future is
in the future. It doesn’t exist,
yet. We have promises to guard our
future.
-So, we can live
each in the moment. We give it our
full attention. We are being used
by God to be where we are… right now.
We live with the I Am.
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