Lashbrook, Cameron & Julie 5

Scripture: Matthew 6:1-4 (NRSV) – “But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,….and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Please read the full text in your Bible.

Message: One of the sins we will examine in our sermon series is the sin of envy. Today we confess our envy, and our faith in Jesus to free us from it!

Theologian Frederick Buchner writes that “envy’s trademark is to desire that ‘everyone else be as unsuccessful as you are’”¹ (p 48, Glittering Vices). It is the desire to prove one’s self better than all others in order to be lovable and acceptable. This is often expressed in a desire to make others less than ourselves, or to make ourselves better than all others. This competitive attempt to win love reveals an insecurity of our self-worth and can become a barrier to loving God and others.

How can we be free of envy’s poison? In Matthew 6, Jesus instructs us to practice loving others through acts of “secret service”. When you give to the poor, don’t attract attention to yourself. If you do, then you are doing it in order to win more love and accolades from others. And if you do it for that reason, feeding your ego will be the only benefit you receive from giving. Jesus instructs us not even to think much about it ourselves by “not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing”. Otherwise, we may even do good things for others to puff up our own self‑esteem! If that is why we serve and help others, then God will give us no more approval or reward.

Instead, when we practice “secret service”, God honors that our deepest desire is not to prove we are loveable, but to love others as God has loved us in Jesus, by coming to serve us.²

Prayer and Action: Ask God to show you one secret act of loving service you can do to one person today and every day. When it is done, notice how it makes you feel about yourself and, most importantly, about God Who loves you secretly, even when you have acted in ways that make you hard to love! Amen.

Pastor Cameron Lashbrook (deceased)

1. “Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC” by Frederick Beuchner. 1973 © Copyright; 1993 © Copyright. Harper Collins. Applied on line for permission 8/30/2024. “Envy is the consuming desire to have everybody else be as unsuccessful as you are.” (15 words)

2. Probably by Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung “Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies” 2009 © Copyright. Brazos Press. Likely quoted Frederick’ Buechner’s book Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC and not required. Also published by The Frederick Beuchner Center as “Thought for the Day, March 30, 2018” Applied to The Beuchner Center 9/5/2020

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Scripture: Psalm 32:8 (NIV) – “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”

Message: In my work as a speech-language pathologist, I get to help people of all ages communicate their thoughts, feelings and ideas. It is the most exciting and rewarding work I can imagine! Some of my favorite patients are toddlers going through the “terrible twos.” They are a tough crowd!

Until recently one of my little buddies screamed in frustration and hid under the table nearly every visit. Saying sounds was difficult and he just wanted to play with my Hot Wheels track and monster trucks! Who could blame him? We were just a plain mess those first few sessions. Since meltdowns and growing don’t work out too well, I had to help him decide that he really wanted to play and learn with me. It was a tough sell, but after a few weeks, that little stinker got the hang of it. It’s been weeks since he’s thrown a toy in frustration and he's so proud and confident that he is talking to anyone who will listen – in sentences!

Working with little ones reminds me that, as a child of God, I am pretty similar to a wild toddler. I’m continually having to work on coming to the Lord with a teachable spirit, with humility and a hunger for God’s wisdom and grace. How is it for you? Through the Psalms and wisdom writings, David and others repeatedly remind us that God is eager and trustworthy to teach us and give us wisdom. We only have to ask. Be attentive. Listen. Receive. And God is faithful and the Giver of all good things. I can barely begin to understand how gracious and patient He is. What are you seeking from the Lord God this Lenten season? Be encouraged that He is eager to teach us and draw us closer to Him.

Prayer: Gracious, loving Lord, You are the sovereign, Holy One. You are wisdom and truth. Soften my heart. Bend my will. Give me ears to hear You, Lord, and eyes to see where You are working. Shape me with Your purifying Holy Spirit to make me more like You today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Julie Lashbrook

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Scripture: Psalm 139:23-24 (NSRV) - "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!"

Message: My family and I were walking home from worship. Our Pastor had preached about the good of confessing our sins. As he spoke, I felt a twisting in my stomach that rose and expanded into my head, like a root rapidly growing inside me. I was uncomfortable, and I knew exactly why! I had cheated on a silly volleyball history test. I also promised the teacher I would tell my parents, but I didn't! I couldn't bear to admit that I not only forgot to study for the test, but I also cheated and lied! The guilt and shame stayed with me, and I knew that was the root I felt extending from my stomach to my head. I was sure God was prompting me to "come clean" by confessing to my parents.

If the preacher was right, I would be forgiven and feel relieved not to carry guilt or fear anymore! He said lies are like carrying a load of boulders on our shoulders. I needed my parents to know what I had done so that I could be free, but I was nervous! My load lightened when they happily forgave me and reaffirmed their love for me!

Prayer: Lord, give us grace to bring our darkness into Your saving light. Amen.

Pastor Cameron Lashbrook (deceased)

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Scripture: Psalm 139:23-24 (NSRV) - "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!"

Message: Psalm 139 reveals a stunning truth: God knows everything about us! He even knows when we sit down or stand up. He knows our thoughts and the words we will say before we say them! There is nowhere we can run from God's presence, not even in sheol, the Hebrew word for the place of the dead. God knows every great thing we've done and every sin we've committed or thought about committing.

The season of Lent is a great time for all of us to "come clean" with God. By that I mean to get real with God about our struggles, our failures, the bad thoughts we have, the ways we fail to love well. God knows these things anyway, but we somehow feel that if we don't acknowledge them we can go on pretending we are good enough not to need God's grace. It is freeing for us to remember that, as bad as our behavior has been, Jesus Christ forgives our sins AND frees us to joyfully serve Him each day. We long to be known fully by God, because each of us can only be loved to the extent that we are known. Praise God that He knows us fully AND loves us fully through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Prayer: Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayers. Amen.

Pastor Cameron Lashbrook (deceased)

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Scripture: Matthew 1:24 (NRSV) - "When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife,"

Message: What was Joseph to do? People would talk, assume they had given in to their sexual desires. They might be ostracized and left alone to fend for themselves in the world. So Joseph, upon finding out Mary was pregnant, decided he would divorce her, but quietly, to give her the best chance to have the baby and maybe remarry someday without being shunned. Then God said to Joseph, "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife," and he listened and obeyed.

Many people think the Christian journey ends with a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. He died to forgive humanity of our sins and put us back into the right relationship with God. This is what we are to believe in our hearts and say with our mouths. But too few remember to OBEY Jesus Christ as Lord. A Lord gives orders and commands. The Lord's servants respond with obedience, actually doing the things commanded.

So the story turns. Instead of divorcing Mary and missing out on the joy of raising Jesus as his earthly father, Joseph obeys God's command to take Mary as his wife and raise Jesus. This Advent, take time to read one of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) and commit to doing what the Lord commands. Then watch and see how your life changes because of it!

Prayer: Gracious God, we admit that we are sometimes slow to obey You, for our will is often not Yours. Forgive us for our resistance to follow where You lead, when where You lead is hard for us to accept. Give us grace to trust You by doing Your will. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Pastor Cameron Lashbrook (deceased)

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