Message from Pastor David February 2006

Last month I was at a half-day spiritual retreat with other pastors from the Spencerport Ecumenical Ministries group.  It was something we planned last year and we decided to have it in January in place of our monthly SEM meeting.  One good reason to have the retreat was that we all felt it was a great idea when one of our colleagues proposed it; we understood that as leaders we can serve better when we are refreshed and renewed; we knew that unless we planned a retreat, we might never get the benefits that we needed.  Having it in January, it came after the busy Christmas season, and it probably allows for a refreshed and clear mind and spirit before starting plans for the coming year.  After the retreat we couldn*t help but think about planning another one in the fall.

*When was the last time you went on a spiritual retreat?  Do you ever feel the need to intentionally go to a place where you can separate yourself from the world and be totally immersed in restoring your soul spiritually?  Do you tend to be a Martha kind of Christian who keeps busy with the business of keeping things running?  Do you dare to be a Mary kind of Christian who is content to sit at Jesus* feet and as the hymn says, be *lost in wonder love and praise.*  It was Mary whom Jesus commended and yet many of us tend to be more like Martha.  We feel that Martha was doing the right things and we even feel sorry for her.

*Mary did the right thing because she was listening intently to Jesus* teaching.  She was rebellious in doing what she did in more ways than one.  She was not being a good sister to Martha who was burdened with the job of a hostess, and, she went and joined what would probably have been a privilege reserved mostly for men in those days.  We can only imagine and wonder what it was like to have the opportunity to sit at Jesus* feet and listen to him teaching.  Mary had that rare opportunity and whether she realized it or not, I think that Jesus commended her for that very reason. 

*Martha was rebuked not because she wasn*t a good hostess perhaps even a great hostess for all we know, but it was because the things that were most important to her kept her busy and even though she was doing her best to serve her Lord and give him her best service, her work came in the way of her receiving from Jesus the things that only he could give.  Sometimes God can*t get through to us because we keep getting in the way.

*The best service to God can only happen if we make the time and opportunity to open ourselves, our lives, our schedules, our comfort zones, and we separate ourselves from the world, and we do nothing else but wait for the Holy Spirit to do it*s work as we listen to what God has to say.

Pastor

David Chhangte