C.W. Metcalf tells the following story: 

 

            Put together a passel of piglets in a muddy corral, then add a dozen farm kids dressed in their raggediest clothes.  Turn the panicked pigs loose to run amok and send the kids in to slip and slide after them.  Shrieking in glee, each child attempts to be the first to capture and pull a porker across the finish line.  Surround this scene of pandemonium with grandstands full of parents, grandparents, and less courageous peers who cheer on the participants and you have a glorious bit of Americana that demonstrates among other things, how desperate for entertainment were those who were born before MTV.

 

            “I was six years old when I participated in my first and only, 4-H greased pig grab.  I came in last.  Thirteen kids and twelve pigs and everyone else caught one.

 

            “That woeful day, I trudged into the bleachers to where my grandmother sat watching the event.  After a few moments she looked me in the eyes and said, “Butchie, you did real well.”

 

            “What do you mean?” I asked.  She patted me on the head.  “Way I see it; you got it about half right that time.”

 

            “But I didn’t even catch a pig,” I moaned.

 

            “You were right to take chasin’ the pig seriously – it’s about as important as most things people chase after.  But you shouldn’t take your self so seriously.”

 

            I like grandma’s words.  Do you ever take yourself too seriously?

 

            Unfortunately I do.  And I know many others do as well.  It is easy to do.  We can get so caught up in living.  We get so caught up in trying to face life’s demands.  That we end up rushing through life being so serious that we end up missing all of the gifts that occur around us.  Does that ever happen to you?

 

            Today we are beginning a new sermon series called Momentum for Life.  It is based on the book by the same name that is for sale this weekend as well, that we are encouraging people to read and talk about in a small group that you would gather together on your own.  Over the course of the next several weeks, we are going to talk about how we can allow our faith to help us develop Momentum for Life.  Today we are taking the first step in building momentum by talking about being devoted to God. 

 

            How do we learn to grow in our devotion to God? Listen to what our scripture says, When they said, ‘Let’s go to the house of God,’ my heart leaped for joy.  And now we’re here, O Jerusalem, inside Jerusalem’s walls!  Jerusalem, well-built city, built as a place for worship! . . . A place to give thanks to the name of God, THIS is what it means to be faithful.”

 

            The first step in growing our devotion for God is to become active in our faith.  In this beautiful Psalm, the author knows that faith is about being active on our part.  It is about taking time to connect with God.  It is about building into our lives those practices that help us see God and connect with God.

 

            John Wesley, the founder of United Methodism said, over two hundred years ago, that if you want to grow in faith, build into your life Works of Piety and Works of Mercy.  They are printed on the back of your prayer card if you would like to find them to follow along.

 

            These disciplines helped us to connect with God in a way that helps make God more real.  These disciplines help us live out our faith in a way that allows us to see God at work in us and through us in this world.  Here are the disciplines:

1. Read the Bible Every day
2. Get involved in some type of bible study or small group.
3. Pray each day.
4. Attend worship at every opportunity you can.
5. Take time to do good to others.
6. Engage in Christian conversation/conferencing.

 

            By actively engaging in these types of activities, we allow ourselves to become more and more open to the presence and guidance of God.  Are you actively engaging in these types of activities? 

 

            Becoming active in our faith development, allows us to connect with God and grow in faith.

 

            The second step in growing our devotion to God is give our best to God. This psalm ends with the author saying what I want to say, God, I’ll do my very best for you. 

 

            When I was in college, I joined a fraternity.  It was a terrific organization for me to be a part of.  It was a fraternity that was committed to not only having fun, but it was committed to helping to train us into becoming the best that we could be.  It was a fraternity that was filled with leaders.  It was filled with men who would go out and become highly successful in their chosen fields.

 

            I remember in one of my first meetings as a new pledge.  The presentation to us was done by a former President of our Fraternity.  He said two things that stuck with me then, and they stay with me today.  He said, “Look, men.  This fraternity is known on campus for having the highest grade point average for any fraternity or sorority.  I want to tell you one secret of that.  The difference between an A and a B is the extra ten hours of study that you put in, to get the A.  Put in the extra hours and get the A.”

 

            Then later he said, “You are only going to get out of this fraternity what you put into it.  My advice is put your best into it.” 

 

            To this very day, twenty years after I have graduated from college, I continue to put those two lessons into practice; to work hard and give my best.   

 

            The psalmist knew many years ago, that giving our best efforts to God made a difference.  Are you doing your best for God?  If you are not, what is stopping you?

 

            My hope, my prayer for each of us as we begin this season of Lent, is that we will work to grow in our devotion to God.  That we will allow this devotion to grow, because we are willing to build into our lives the disciplines that help us live our faith.  And that we will work to give our very best to God, so that we can experience the best that God wants to give to us.

 

            May we learn to take God more seriously in our life, and take ourselves less seriously.

 

            In the hope that Jesus offers us.

 

Amen