“God’s Spirit Poured Out on All: And, Oh LORD, It’s Hard to be Humble”

Krista’s Reflection October 23, 2022

Churchill Gilford United Churches

Minister: Krista Moore

Website: www.churchillgilforducc.ca

WELCOME to CHURCHILL GILFORD UCC!

We hope you will join us next week for Krista’s Covenanting service on October 30, 2022, at 10am at Churchill United Church – a joint service. All are welcome.

SCRIPTURES for Oct 23:

Psalm 65 (Call to Worship)

Joel 2:23-32 (God’s Spirit will be Poured Out on All Flesh)

Luke 18:9‒14 (The Pharisee and the Tax Collector Pray)

SCRIPTURE SUMMARY:

The psalm celebrates the harvest and the goodness of God. The Prophet Joel also celebrates God’s goodness after a calamity, prophecies that God will send the Holy Spirit to all people, young and old, male, and female, slave or free. In the Gospel, Jesus teaches us to be humble and not compare ourselves to others. All are worthy of God

KRISTA’S REFLECTION:

TODAY’S MESSAGE reminds me of a popular song by Willie Nelson:

“Oh LORD, it’s hard to be humble, when you’re perfect in every way. I can’t wait to look in the mirror, ‘cause I get better looking every day!”

This week’s message is about being humble and receiving God’s spiritual blessings.

Do you remember when you were a child or a teenager and there were the good kids and bad kids – or popular or geeky ones, or wealthy or poor ones?

– It’s natural for kids to compare themselves to others.

– We want to fit in.

– We want to be liked and appreciated.

– Kids compare themselves to others to learn how to be like them, or how to avoid being like them

– Adults do this too.

– Who has the nicer car? the bigger house, the better job, who can send their kids to university?

– We may want to do well or be approved of.

– It’s natural to want others to see us as better off than we are.

We might even put others down just to feel better about ourselves – like bullies who pick on the quiet kids at school.

Scriptures:

In today’s Scriptures the prophet Joel challenges this idea of better or worse groups of people – like young and old, women and children, those who are free and those who are enslaved (as slavery was also normal then).

God is about to do something AMAZING.

God says in the future, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh – that means EVERYONE – young and old, slave or free, men and women, girls, and boys, even babies!

– This is a wonderful promise – like the promise of the New Covenant we talked about last week from Jeremiah –

– God is going to do a NEW thing.

– ***This doesn’t mean God is going to get rid of these different

distinctions between groups or make everyone get along – history shows us that did not happen –

– BUT God is going to give us a gift we don’t have to earn. We don’t have to compete for. Or study for. We don’t have to be born into the right family or society or socioeconomic class system.

– We just have to be HUMBLE enough to receive it!

– Everyone is going to get this gift if they are willing to receive it –like

a GIANT Birthday present or Christmas Gift – God’s Ultimate GIFT

for ALL

– God is giving us the gift of Himself through the Holy Spirit – which

gives us NEW LIFE – as in baptism

Today – Baptism

Today at Churchill we get to experience 2 baptisms – a double blessing!

– in Baptism the child is blessed through water and the Spirit

– Jesus was baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptist, and when he came up out of the water, John saw the Spirit of God descend on him like a dove

– That Same Spirit descends on us through this spiritual blessing Joel talks about, and Jesus offers in baptism

– Baptism gives us new life, eternal life, and makes all equal in Christ – it doesn’t matter if your rich or poor, all are equal in Christ

– CAN YOU IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE everyone ACCEPTS GOD’S GIFT OF THE SPIRIT AND THE TRUTH THAT WE ARE ALL ONE UNDER GOD?

– IF EVERYONE FELT TOTALLY ACCEPTED AND LOVED BY GOD, AND CHERISHED ALL PEOPLE AND CHILDREN? AND ALL WERE RESPECTED, CARED FOR, PROTECTED?

– As the Hymns say….

“JESUS LOVES ALL THE LITTLE CHILDREN, ALL THE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD!… YES, JESUS LOVES ME, BUT JESUS LOVES ME AND YOU.”

– This is the promise God is offering everyone.

– GOD LOVES ALL PEOPLE.

– WE ARE ALL GOD’S CHILDREN.

God’s blessing of the Spirit, and Jesus’s gift of baptism doesn’t mean life will be easy, and we will no longer struggle for our survival. Let’s face it we do!

We still see others as different, separate.

We still feel alone sometimes.

We still hunger and thirst.

We still have needs that must be fulfilled.

We still need clothes and shelter

We also buy cars or bigger houses or work out at the gym so we can feel better.

We want to improve our marks at school.

We want our little brother or big sister to stop bugging us! And to be the favourite of our teacher at school.

WE WANT A LOT OF THINGS!

– It’s hard to be humble and not to compare ourselves to others or feel different or more special, or even less than.

– It’s hard TO BE HUMBLE like JESUS and love all people unconditionally, including ourselves. To see ourselves as equal under God.

– But that is exactly what Jesus is asking us to do….

Scriptures: The Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus uses the parable of the pharisee (who is a religious leader) and the tax collector who go to pray.

The pharisee thanks God he’s not like the tax collector or other sinners, and congratulates himself that he’s so righteous and prays and fasts and does everything perfectly.

And the tax collector feels so humiliated that he has not lived a good life and doesn’t feel worthy to even look up to pray to God.

Jesus then shocks his followers by saying that the one who exalts himself (in this case the pharisee) will be made humble, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted by God. What does this mean? Another strange reversal in the kingdom of heaven where God is making all things NEW?!

So, the pharisee will be humbled in some way, and the tax collector, because he is humble before God will be given some kind of spiritual blessing in life, or be given new life – just like we’re talking about with baptism.

So why does the “sinner” get special favours?

This is a hard lesson to grasp. The pharisee did everything right, so why isn’t he preferred?

It’s not fair, right?

Who here never compares themselves to others? Or thinks they are better or worse than others? (no one raised their hand!)

I know I do. As a girl feeling insecure is almost inevitable. There is so much peer pressure to be pretty, to look the part, to be respected. To be smarter or to be taken seriously. In our time teenagers are pressured under social media to live up to impossible standards of beauty and popularity, comparing how many likes they get or followers on Instagram.

In society, some may feel they have to work harder than others just to get ahead, or to get the same as someone else – like immigrants and those who struggle for employment.

On a larger scale, we see countries and religions at war saying we’re right and you’re wrong. Even within Christianity there are thousands of branches and sects who fought for hundreds, and thousands of years, because they thought they were the right ones. Bringing fatal consequences.

But in Joel, God promises to give the Spirit to ALL flesh. That means EVERYONE. Christians AND non-Christians, Muslims, Jews, elderly, young, women, men, girls, boys, people of all races, nationalities, and belief systems.

Again, JESUS LOVES ALL THE LITTLE CHILDREN, ALL THE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD (like my stole at Churchill).

This is hard to accept when we want to be the special ones, the chosen ones, unique in all the world. That competitiveness is what the world teaches us.

– It’s hard not to feel superior or self-righteous sometimes.

– BUT Jesus says, be humble. That is all!

Don’ t judge others. We could be either one of the characters in this parable and still be loved by God. God loves all people. We are not better or worse than others. God judges our hearts, our humility towards God and others, not our success or failures, or physical attributes or other human labels.

So the pharisee who was being too proud might experience hardship in order to teach him to be humble and to love others. And the tax collector who is already repentant and humble might be given extra spiritual blessings in his life so that he knows he is already loved by God. Both are taught humility in different ways.

Humility is not such a bad thing. It’s a powerful lesson.

Krista’s Story:

In my youth, I compared myself to others. There were kids who were more popular, smarter, prettier. I tried so hard to fit in. I worked twice as hard to get good grades so I would be accepted and feel special.

This led later to an acting career and comparing myself to others in order to get the part. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t.

I was always left wanting.

Because I was trying to earn my way to being valued. I didn’t see my own spiritual worth.

It took me a long time, and I am still working on it – not to compare myself to others or strive to succeed where others failed. To see myself as worthy already. Beloved by God. Cherished and at the same time equal to others.

Like many children, we are taught to achieve for the world’s sake. But what we need is to see our value from our birth. And from our baptism. We are valuable because we belong to God.

Eventually I got humbled after many successes and failures. This spiritual truth settled on me. Being humbled is not such a bad thing. Amazing things came out of it.

I felt God’s Spirit in my life moving me in new directions. And eventually I entered the ministry.

Jesus taught me to have compassion for those who are struggling. That all my struggles have led me here, to experience this precious moment. And appreciate all people who are different than me.

Now as a minister, I try to remember to be humble and preach the GOSPEL. The good news that Jesus LOVES everyone equally, not just the successful or smart or confident ones!

Today I get to baptize two babies and experience the miracle of God’s Spirit being poured out on all of us, just as Joel prophesied. I was humbled, and now I see differently.

Final Lesson:

Today’s Lesson is a Spiritual blessing open to EVERYONE – a promise that God gives to all people– no matter what the world thinks about them. God loves all people. Jesus loves all the little children. Jesus loves you and me.

Let us see God’s Spirit in everyone – from the highest to the lowest. From people in palaces to people without homes. From those serving in communities, to those being served.

Let us be HUMBLE enough to receive God’s spiritual blessings given from our birth and our baptism. That marks us as LOVED, EQUAL and WORTHY to be children of God.

Let’s remember this spiritual gift is for everyone. And not compare ourselves to others, for better or worse.

Let’s see each person as worthy, no matter what they have done or not done, no matter where they are from.

Remembering Christ’s love and compassion for everyone. The pharisee AND the tax collector.

And in our humility, God will lift us up with many spiritual blessings in our lives: Love, compassion, acceptance, joy, abundance. A new life in Christ that can be shared by all. And if we fall, and if we fail, Jesus will lift us up. In our humility we are strong. In Christ, we are ONE.

Amen.

Krista’s “Three Things” Choose 1 and do it this week. Tell us about it

next week.

1. Be humble. All are equal before God.

2. Notice if you compare yourself to others.

3. Remember, Jesus loves you – and others – equally.