May the words of
my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O
Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
“Be
dressed for action and have your lamps lit.”
God
is calling us to be ready to serve at any time.
God is calling us to be watching at all times for the need. God is calling us at all times to be aware of
his presence.
I
don’t know about you, but I find that everything I do takes some of my
energy. By the time I have done
everything that I need to do I have very little energy left.
Always
watching, always being ready to act, this could take up all of my energy all by
itself. How am I, how are we, supposed
to find the energy to do this and to do everything else we have to do? It’s hard enough to find the energy to plan
some time for God each day, but God is asking us to devote all of our time to
him, or at least to be ready to jump in when needed and be aware enough to
notice the need.
I
just don’t have the energy to do that.
“Do
not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you
the kingdom.”
God
wants us to do this. God wants us to
notice when he is acting in our lives.
God must have given us some way to do this. But how?
I
think we need help. I think we have two
major sources of help. I’ve talked about
both of them before. Does anyone
remember what the word “church” really means?
It comes from the Greek word “kuriakos” which mean “of the Lord.” Now this might seem like a good basis for our
gathering here today, but it has almost nothing to do with this (hold up the
Bible). “Kuriakos” only appears in here
twice; once talking about the Lord’s Supper and once about the Lord’s Day.
That’s
where the word “church” comes from. But
it is not the only word we translate as “church.” There is another Greek word, “ekklesia,”
which has been translated as “church” since the time of the King James version of
the Bible. The earlier translation, by
Tyndale, did not use “church,” it used “congregation.” “Ekklesia” appears in here more than 115
times. In ancient Greece, the ekklesia
was the civil body of elected or “called out” individuals who met to make
decisions on behalf of everyone else, otherwise known as a town or city council.
The
definition I was given at VST was “a group of concerned citizens taking council
for the greater good.”
Now,
what does all of this have to do with finding the energy to keep that flame of
awareness going at all times? How does
the meaning of “church” give us strength to remain vigilant at all times and to
respond to God when we do become aware of God’s presence and mission around us?
“A
group of concerned citizens .” We are
not alone. What we cannot do as
individuals, we can do as a community where we depend on each other. Because we have each other, we don’t have to
respond personally to every need we see.
If it is something that we know someone else would be good at, we can
bring it to their attention. If it is
beyond any one of us, we can bring it to this ekklesia, this gathering of
concerned citizens. Together, we can
remain vigilant. Together we can respond
to God’s call at all times. Depend not
only on yourselves, but also on each other.
We are a community.
As
I said earlier, we also have another source of help. --- God!
When
we need help from God, what do we do?
Yes
– we pray!
I
think I know just the right prayer for to ask God to help us stay
vigilant. It is a song called “Give me
oil in my lamp.” I’m going to sing it a
few times. There are many different
versions of this song, so even if you know it, please listen the first time
through and then join in with me when I repeat it.
Teach:
Give
me oil in my lamp,
Keep
me burnin’
Give
me oil in my lamp I pray – Halelujah
Give
me oil in my lamp,
Keep
me burnin’, burnin’, burnin’,
Keep
me burnin’ ‘til the end of day.
Sing
Hosanna,
Sing
Hosanna,
Sing
Hosanna to the King of kings,
Sing
Hosanna,
Sing
Hosanna,
Sing
Hosanna to the King
Amen.
