Week Ten (Simplicity) - Sunday

Simplicity

“Money can’t buy happiness.”  I’m sure that you heard that old adage or one like it before.  Usually though, when you hear someone utter these words, someone else will follow it up with a quip like, “But it sure can rent it for a while.”  Now, lets think, what can money buy?  It can buy things that we truly need like food, shelter, and clothing.  It can buy things that we may not really need, but makes living much easier like transportation and utilities.  Then, it can also buy things of simple pleasure.  None of these things are wrong in and of themselves, but as it is with everything, there needs to be moderation.

I’ll admit, I like to buy nice stuff.  I like to buy things that bring moments of enjoyment.  But sometimes I forget that all these things aren’t the source of true happiness and I need to be reminded what is the source.  The source is the basis of our faith – the love of God, expressed through Jesus.

Of course that seems rather primary and most would probably agree with that assumption.  But, a good majority of them do not know how to put into practice their faith that will allow Jesus to be the source of their happiness.  To them, this notion seems too idealistic and maybe eve too naïve.

That is exactly the reason that simplicity needs to become a holy habit.  Simplicity is the frame of mind that allows us to see the real value of things – if they are genuine or superficial.  Take for an example, a husband and wife going out for a dinner at a really nice restaurant.  Simplicity would have us examine what is superficial and what is beneficial.  It suggests that the outing at the nice restaurant is not what is important.  What is the crux of the dinner is the time spent with one another.  Relationships are always important.

It is almost always a certainty that if it costs money, simplicity would say it is not the essential.  My wife, Karen, and I discovered this for ourselves one summer as we took our daughters on an excursion through two provinces of Canada.  This was the first vacation that was not focused on going to some place like Disney World or the beach where we had to pay to be entertained.  Most of this trip consisted of our own serendipitous discovery.  The day before we returned home, we did take Katie and Emily to Hershey Park, a theme park in Pennsylvania.  We thought that they would need some experience like that to appease them for going on such a “long and boring” trip.  Yet, when we asked them after we returned home of their favorite parts of the trip, Hershey Park wasn’t even mentioned.  What they quickly recalled were our stays at Niagara Falls and Quebec City, places where money that was spent was minimal.  They, like us, were captivated most by God’s creations, both in nature and in culture.

Simplicity leads us to seek out what truly makes us happy.  Without a doubt, quality time spent loved ones always wins out.  In my years working as a paramedic, firefighter, and pastor, I have had many occasions when I have been with people as they passed from this world into the next.  Likewise, I have heard many dying confessions.  I have heard many people say that their biggest regret was not spending more time with their family.  Never have I heard someone say that they wish they had spent more time at their job or spending more time with their stuff.

Earning a decent living is an admirable goal, but not at the expense of losing family.  If we work hard to buy more stuff, all we are doing is becoming slaves to these things that, when you really get truthful about it, aren’t that important.  If you want to be a slave, be a slave of God – believe it or not, you will be happy doing so.


JOURNAL QUESTIONS

1. Reflect on your sermon notes and journal reading from today.


GROUP EXERCISE

10 minutes - Community Building (informal time of gathering)
10 minutes - Sharing of Concerns and Praises
  5 minutes - Prayer for One Another
30 minutes - Discussion of Topic
                     - What journal entry would you like to share?
                     - If you ever had a big "pay raise," how long did the happiness last?
                     - When have you foregone a luxury and were glad you did?
                     - When have been you most cherished family moments?
                     - How can we make our lives more simple?
  5 minutes - Wrap Up/Closing Prayer 

Week Nine (Sabbath) - Saturday

Luke 4:16

6 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.



^Reflect:
How did Jesus normally observe the Sabbath?

Week Nine (Sabbath) - Friday

Isaiah 58:13-14

13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken.



^Reflect:
What are the benefits of keeping the Sabbath?

Week Nine (Sabbath) - Wednesday

John 9

1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 7 "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, "No, he only looks like him." But he himself insisted, "I am the man." 10 "How then were your eyes opened?" they demanded. 11 He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see." 12 "Where is this man?" they asked him. "I don't know," he said. 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man's eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. "He put mud on my eyes," the man replied, "and I washed, and now I see." 16 Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But others asked, "How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?" So they were divided. 17 Finally they turned again to the blind man, "What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened." The man replied, "He is a prophet." 18 The Jews still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man's parents. 19 "Is this your son?" they asked. "Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?" 20 "We know he is our son," the parents answered, "and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don't know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself." 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." 24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. "Give glory to God, " they said. "We know this man is a sinner." 25 He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" 26 Then they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" 27 He answered, "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?" 28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, "You are this fellow's disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from." 30 The man answered, "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." 34 To this they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!" And they threw him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" 36 "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him." 37 Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you." 38 Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." 40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind too?" 41 Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.




^Reflect:
 Did Jesus break the Law or not? Explain.

Week Nine (Sabbath) - Tuesday

Exodus 31:12-18

12 Then the LORD said to Moses, 13 "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. 14 " 'Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. 15 For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. 16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.' " 18 When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.



^Reflect:
Why was the penalty so harsh? Were there any exceptions?

Week Nine (Sabbath) - Monday

Exodus 20:8-11

8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.


^Reflect:
How do you keep the Sabbath holy?