Reflections on Contentment

            On Sunday, Pastor Dave preached about simplifying our lives..  He emphasized simplifying especially in the area of finances and our felt need to accrue comforts.  The first verse in the passage he used is “But godliness with contentment is great gain” (I Timothy 6:6).  God has graced me with opportunities to spend a lot of time in Haiti over the past several years.  It never fails, every team I have had in the poorest country in the western hemisphere has had people make a remark that goes something like; “These people have so much joy, even though they are poor and have nothing, they are so joyful”.  This statement and others like it reveal darkness in our hearts. These statements reveal how much of our joy is connected to our stuff.  Instead our joy needs to be dependent on who God is, not on what we have.

       Scripture points to God as being our portion (Ps 16:5, 73:26, Lam. 3:24).  Materialism complicates, stresses, and brings harm to our lives because it says that God himself is not enough.  Our hearts need to recognize the truth of Psalm 73:26

“My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

When God is our portion we are free from ‘keeping up with the Jones’ and free to worship and serve God.

           I am so thankful for our Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ who serve as an amazing example of having their joy in the Lord.  Pastor Dave bracketed his sermon with Hebrews 13:5,  “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  With out a speck of material possession or wealth, God has answered our greatest need with Christ.  God is faithful and will keep his promises to us.

While speaking about worry in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”(Matthew 6:31-33)  Thank you Dave, for bringing the word.  And thank you, Haitian believers for giving such a powerful example of joy and on making the Lord our Portion.  

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Chuck Mullikin

About the Author:
Chuck serves on staff at Westchester as Associate Pastor of Adult Discipleship

The Pursuit of Quietness

I enjoy walking.  Probably that’s because I never acquired a taste for running.  I do not understand those who enjoy running, and probably never will.  But a good walk, a lengthy stroll, an untimed wander—I’m all in.  Walks with Linda, my wife, are the best.  But next best are walks by myself.  Yes there’s exercise in walking, but I enjoy the solitude, the time with my thoughts, the minutes alone to contemplate. 

At Westchester we have been going through a sermon series on “Dealing with the MESS of STRESS.”  We have been trying to be honest with the everyday stress of life that everyone feels but also hopeful with the life and grace that God has for us in Jesus.  As I have been preparing and preaching some of the sermons of this series God has been challenging me with the pursuit of quietness and more time alone with Him.   

In Lamentations 3 we often turn to verses 22-24, and they encourage us.

   The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
"therefore I will hope in him."

But God has been working on me with the next two verses, 25-26:

  The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good  that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.

There’s an old Latin phrase which goes, ambulando solvitur.  This phrase translates: it will be solved by walking.  I’m sure there’s an array of ways this phrase has been used and applied over the years.  For me, in response to His prompting during this sermon series, I have been asking God to help me be more quiet.  To seek Him and His ways with more heart and determination.  So, more than ever before, I have intentionally combined my walking with my communion with God.  And certainly, the walking itself doesn’t solve anything and I still get distracted by the happenings around me— the inconsiderate biker, the occasional deer, the pressing issue in my mind— but there have been times when meeting with God, alone, on a walking path, have been precious and spiritually encouraging.

So I extend this challenge to you as well.  Whether while walking or sitting or I suppose even while running, let’s seek more quietness and time in God’s presence.  Then together let’s face the stresses of everyday life.

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Dave MacKinnon

About the Author:
Dave serves on staff at Westchester as Senior Pastor

Sabbath Reflections

I remember being about eleven-years-old and having a stuck dresser drawer.  I needed to pry it loose, so I went to my dad’s toolbox in search of any tool that would work.  I found a long skinny file that was just the right size.  The problem was, that it was the wrong tool.  The file, of course, broke, and I had to explain to my dad what had happened.  My dad gave me a lesson on using tools only for their designed purpose, and then helped me with my dresser.  That day, I learned a valuable lesson regarding the relationship between design and use.  God designed us to live and function in a certain way, and going outside of that design can be a major inlet for stress.  Last week I preached on slowing down, our need to choose the good portion (Luke 10:38-42), and to reclaim the Sabbath. (Listen here)

God created you; he made your limits, abilities, and full potential, all with the need for Sabbath rest.  While I was preparing to preach about slowing down I ran across a story from the Oregon Trail.  There was a caravan of wagons on the trail that had decided to honor the Sabbath by not traveling at all on Sundays.  A faction of people within the caravan grew restless about the time of year.  They worried that if they continued to only travel six days a week that they would not arrive before it snowed again.  The Caravan decided to split into two groups; one that would travel six days a week with a day of rest, and one that would travel seven days a week.  The group that travelled six days a week actually reached the end of the trail first.  With the weekly day of rest, both the travelers and the animals were able to do more each of the six days than the other group could do all seven.

Your Heavenly Father knows you need rest.  He is our loving creator who designed us.  Part of living within God’s design is having that weekly day of rest.  The Saturday before I preached on slowing down I worked long and hard on a landscaping project at home.  I told my wife that I had to finish it that day because I was about to preach on honoring the Sabbath.  I did finish that wall on Saturday.  On Sunday I enjoyed sitting on the wall while my kids played in the yard, we went to the park as a family, I had a nice long phone call with my parents, and we had some friends over for take and bake pizza (about the most restful meal you can make).  At the end of the day I was ready to reenter the office on Monday, and ready to work. 

Thank you, Lord, for giving us rest. You are a great God and Father who knows what his children need!

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Chuck Mullikin

About the Author:
Chuck serves on staff at Westchester as Associate Pastor of Adult Discipleship

Worship Corner: People Make Terrible 'gods'

I had a mentor in college who used to tell me that I "chase girls like a dog chases a firetruck." I think there was deeper meaning to what he was saying that goes beyond a simple college dating scenario.

I've been reading a book lately called Look and Live by a guy named Matt Papa. He is the writer of a song I love to hear Westchester sing called Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery. Granted I've only read the first chapter but I feel like he has some incredibly profound things to say. This book is about Glory. He explains a couple of different facets of glory. The first he calls glory-within which he describes as the qualities someone or something possesses. The second he calls glory-given which is the response we have when we see glory-within. This is what happens when we worship-- we marvel at the magnificent Glory that is found in God-- his goodness, majesty, holiness, and justice-- and we respond with praise, awe, and obedience.

Our response of giving glory is something innate within us. We were made to see glory and respond to it. The problem that comes with being fallen people is that we take things created by God and expect them to hold the entire weight of glory given to them. Created things will only crumble under the weight that comes with glory given to them. (A recent example would be how University of Kentucky's basketball team eventually crumbled under the weight of being an undefeated team in the NCAA tournament---never mind even the crushed dreams of Iowa State's team)

The author of this book takes common idols we make and explains the letdown of idolatry:
    "Money isn't secure enough. Sex isn't thrilling enough. Entertainment isn't interesting enough. Food isn't satisfying enough. People aren't reliable enough... Only God, the highest and greatest good, the infinite holy One, is finally enough"

What my mentor in college was trying to get me to realize is that I was treating girls in this way. Before even going on a date I built up that girl I had seen from a distance to be someone who could hold all of my baggage, give me a name or a label that I desired, and fulfill all of my hopes and dreams. Like a dog chasing a firetruck, I was disappointed and lonely when what I chased did not meet my expectations. When I finally got into a relationship, there was eventually the disillusionment that this created being could never hold the weight of glory I put on them. They were crushed under that weight, and the false god I gave that glory to would die.

The realization we have to come to with the idols we create is that only our One True God can hold the weight of our baggage: to be acquainted with our sorrow, to be the unchanging stability we can rely on, and to be the one who can show us love in a way that honors who we are created to be, and brings Glory to our magnificent creator.

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Austin Hilmer

About the Author:
Austin serves on staff at Westchester as Associate Pastor of Corporate Worship

Our Grass Wasn’t the Greenest, Our House Wasn’t the Cleanest

      It was a pretty normal summer Sunday afternoon for the us.  As the van (lovingly called the Flash not because of its speed but because of the one red stripe on the side) drove up to our house I could see the neighbors outside working on their yards.  Seemingly every Sunday was yard day in our area with people out cutting grass, planting flowers, or fertilizing.  We pulled into the garage after church and then sat down for lunch. 

     After lunch the work would begin.  Mom would clean the house and do the dishes, and the guys would go out to mow the lawn.  My brother and I would take the two push mowers and get around the house and in amongst the trees, while my dad rode the tractor and got the majority of the yard. 

When I was there it all seemed normal and I didn’t really think any more about it.  But as I look back I realize there are a few things that I am extremely thankful to my parents for modeling. 

First, I see now that my dad was intentional with his priorities.  Church and the fellowship with God we experienced there were number one.  Our grass wasn’t the greenest and our house wasn’t the cleanest because my parents wanted God to come first. 

     Second, being a part of a community is important.  We didn’t have to mow the lawn on Sunday; we could have done it a different day.  But to my dad it must have been important to be out when our neighbors were.  Even though there wasn’t much talking going on there is a bond that forms when you are out working at the same time.

     And third, both my parents took advantage of the time they had while they worked.  During his ride my dad worked on memorizing James.  His ear phones would be as loud as they could so that he could hear.  And while my mom was inside she would be praising God along with a Point of Grace CD blasting in the living room. 

     Chuck’s sermon on Sunday helped me to realize that having the right priorities was modeled to me from a young age.  Learning from Christ came first, and then even when they were doing the good things that needed to be done, my parents were intentional with their focus, and that focus was on God. 

     As I move forward with my life and family it is a great to have parents who tried to teach me Godly values.  However I also realize how hard it is not to get caught up in the “good” things like Martha did.  We have a loving God who wants to teach us and too often I find myself distracted by things of this world instead of having a eternal perspective. 

Stress is a strange thing; at least I have found it to be.  While I am in the midst of a stressful time I find myself complaining, wishing that I could just slow down like we talked about on Sunday.  But soon after things start to slow down I feel the need to throw myself back in to the middle again. 

Dear God please help me to slow down and always make you my first priority. 

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Josh Earhart

About the Author:
Josh serves on staff at Westchester as Associate Pastor of Student Ministries

God is Our Strength and Our Portion-- Psalm 73

In anticipation of our new sermon series on Stress (April 12-May 17) I was reflecting on a phrase that occurs a few times in scripture-- "God is my portion". To investigate this phrase I looked to Psalm 73 to find out more about this idea. I encourage you to read Psalm 73 on your own in conjunction with this post.

The writer of this Psalm puts to words some feelings in the Christian walk that I think we may be hesitant to admit. "For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked...They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind." (v. 3-5) "They set their mouths against the heavens and their tongue struts through the earth... they say 'How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?'" (v. 10-11) The thing that is striking to me about these verses is how the writer says that he was envious of these wicked people. The writer states that the wicked are always at ease, they increase in riches, they are prideful, and above reproach and suspicion for the evil that they do. All of this while not having a care about the existence of God or striving to obey. Meanwhile the writer feels "stricken and rebuked every morning" and even feels that it was "in vain" that he strived for righteousness and holiness and followed the ways of God.

If we are honest, we see people around us who have no fear of God, no striving for righteous or holy living, and they seem to carry on without a care and even increase and prosper where we may decrease and be left wanting. We are even tempted to be envious of this life even to the point of forsaking God's commands with how we should live our life because we think it is all in vain. All of this striving after what the world has that we are jealous of does not lead us to desire God. The psalmist has strong words to describe this saying, "My soul was embittered...I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you." (v. 21-22) This jealousy and discontentment does not sit idly in us. They are not neutral feelings. These sinful longings actually harden us and we become bitter towards the Lord because we want something that He has not given us.

The psalm continues that the writer takes these concerns to God when in his sanctuary. There the writer discerns the end of those who live in such a way. Their life is a slippery place, they fall to ruin, they are destroyed in a moment. All that they worked for, all their prosperity, all they had gained is gone in an instant.

So what is gained in the life lived with God? It might not be material possessions, it might not be a name that is elevated above others, it might even be a hard life. But the writer tells us what is gained saying, "I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory...My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

To say God is my portion is to say that God is our inheritance. What we receive from a life with God is that in the end we get God. The psalmist discerns that a life apart from God may have wealth, possessions, and easy living in this life but all that is inherited for that life is death and destruction. If we trust in God-- in His sovereignty, in His faithfulness-- then what we will receive is God himself, and He will receive us to glory. If we have become embittered toward God because of our sinful desires, we need to follow the psalmist's example and repent of this sin and remember anew that God is faithful and eternally satisfying. Nothing in this world could be that everlasting portion, only God and He alone.

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Austin Hilmer

About the Author:
Austin serves on staff at Westchester as Associate Pastor of Corporate Worship