Mt. Lebanon United Presbyterian Church     
 
Pastor Tim Janiszewski - "Head, Heart, and Hand"

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This Sunday
August 28, 2016




Sermon Title:
"Good News for the Journey of Life"




Scripture:
Psalm 130
Picture
August 26, 2016
 
Dear MLEPC Members and Friends:
 
Head, Heart, and Hand--these three words provide an alliterative way of thinking about how we engage with the world, with others, and with God. Some of us are "head" people; our first impulse is to think about the people and things we encounter. We're reasonable. We're logical. We're comfortable with receiving rational information and analyzing it. When I was taught educational theory, this all was known as the "cognitive domain." Are you a "head" person?
 
Others of us are "heart" people; our first notion is to feel or to experience the people and things we encounter. We sense things in our gut. We're intuitive. We tend to be drawn to a good story over a good argument. For us, the whole is bigger than and different from the mere sum of each of the parts. Again using educational theory, this is the "affective domain." Are you a "heart" person?
 
Still others among us are "hand" people; our first move is to take action with regard to the people and things in our lives. Our first question is, What do we do about it? We tend not to want to think a thing through or experience the moment; rather, we want to act to create or impact the situation. Once more returning to educational theory, this is known as the "volitional domain." Are you a "hand" person?
 
When it comes to our lives with God, with fellow Christians, and with the world, the truth is that we are created to engage in all three domains. We think like Christians; we feel like Christians; and we take action as Christians. And this means that most all of us will need to learn to live more fully into the area or areas that are not as natural to us. For instance, a head person may need to get in touch with her feelings. A heart person may need to step up and do something about what he is feeling. And a hand person may need to grow in thinking things through, so that she doesn't make a mess of matters. So in which of these three areas are you naturally gifted? In which do you need to stretch, grow, and develop?
 
I mention these three domains of head, heart, and hand because the writer of Psalm 130 begins by writing, "Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ear be attentive to my pleas for mercy!" (vv 1-2). Plainly, the psalm writer is in touch with his emotions and feelings. These emotions and feelings are right at home in his prayer time with God. He testifies to an experience of prayer in the Presence of God that reaches to the depths of who he is. And he models for us the call to go that deep in our prayer life with the Lord.
 
So let me encourage us this week first of all to take time in prayer with God, as does the writer of Psalm 130. Once we do draw near to Him, let us go deep with Him--down into the secret and hidden places in our hearts. In prayer, let us leave the surface behind and take the plunge into a transparent and authentic communion with Christ.
 
Pastor Tim
 
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