Counting The Cost
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
The news that barring unforeseen developments all United States troops will withdraw from Iraq by December 31st brings to a close for America an important chapter of our recent history. While more than anything else many will feel a sense of relief that a war that has dragged on is finally winding down, others are indignant about the possibility that while our country has invested so much in both treasure and human lives, in the larger picture not much in the region may have really changed. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Dean Feldmeyer offers some provocative thoughts on how to approach the question that is surely on everyone's minds as we attempt to put the entire war into context -- was it all really worth it? And how can we possibly even begin to go about answering that question when some in our society bore an unusually large part of the burden, while others seemingly had no stake in it whatsoever. For the leaders who bore the weight of the decision to go to war, the cost may have been calculated in terms of realpolitik on a geopolitical chessboard... where sacrificing pieces may have been an intelligent move -- but for the families of military personnel, the cost has been very personal. Dean notes that this week's assigned lectionary texts suggest some fruitful angles for thinking about the question of whether our adventure in Iraq was a worthwhile endeavor... namely Joshua's address to his people about the overriding importance of choosing the gods we will serve, and Jesus' parable about being prepared for God's kingdom (and his judgment). Dean points out that the perspective of these scripture texts leads us to the best way to frame this question: not in the past tense ("Was it worth it?"), but rather -- as we contemplate conflicts to come -- in the future tense ("Will it be worth it?").
Team member Mary Austin shares some additional thoughts about the gospel text and how difficult it is for us to wait. In a world where modern technology has made instant communication the norm, impatience has replaced a sense of waiting and expectation -- and the whole idea of waiting for God's time seems more anachronistic than ever. Yet, as Mary notes, slowing down from our frenetic pace and relearning how to wait allows us to put aside the passions of the moment and get a broader perspective... and gives us time to see through the illusions of our own "expertise." In the end, Mary reminds us, slowing down lets us prepare and be ready for God so that we are aware of his presence and call.
Counting the Cost
by Dean Feldmeyer
Joshua 24:1-3a, 15-25; Amos 5:18-24; Matthew 25:1-13
Last week President Obama announced his intention to keep the promise he made to remove all American troops from Iraq by the end of this year.
The response has been what you would expect. Some disagree and are concerned that our absence will create a vacuum that will attract radical Islamists from Iran. Others argue that the pullout has come far too late when we should never have been fighting that war in the first place.
Most, however, are breathing a sigh of relief to see their loved ones coming home.
There is one question, however, that is on the lips of everyone: Was it worth it?
It is a question that must be asked but answering it is another matter. How do we look into the eyes of a war widow and say that it was all a big mistake? On the other hand, how dare we say that it was a good idea? How can we count the cost when the cost was not our own?
It is tempting to say nothing and let history be the judge, but we owe it to those who are coming home -- and those who aren't -- to at least try to answer the question... even if answering it turns out to be impossible.
THE WORLD
Before we can even attempt to answer the question "Was it worth it?" we need to have a sense of the cost that it has imposed upon us.
The Iraq War (or War in Iraq) began on March 20, 2003, with the invasion of Iraq by the United States (under the administration of President George W. Bush) and the United Kingdom (under the leadership of Prime Minister Tony Blair). The war is also referred to as the Occupation of Iraq, the Second Gulf War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom by the U.S. military.
It lasted from that date until December 31, 2011, at which time all U.S. troops are scheduled to be removed -- about nine years and nine months (almost twice as long as the U.S. involvement in World War I and World War II combined).
Total U.S. and coalition deaths to date: 4,797
Total U.S. military deaths to date: 4,479
Total U.S. military wounded to date: 33,169
Total U.S. civilian deaths: 1,487
Total Iraqi military deaths: 10,000*
Total Iraqi civilian deaths: 600,000*
Cost in dollars: $900 billion (about $5,000 per second)
Amount of that reported stolen: $6.5 billion
Cost of treating wounded/disabled veterans: $2.1 trillion
Ruthless dictators deposed: 1
Weapons of mass destruction found: 0
* Iraqi deaths have not been officially counted. These numbers are best-guess estimates by the U.S. Department of Defense.
Since the war has been funded through borrowing, the national debt increased from $6.4 billion in 2003, when the war began, to $10 trillion in 2008, before the financial crisis (It is $15 trillion today.)
These are some of the issues we must weigh and the facts that must inform any answer to that question which we might attempt. But as Christians, our answer must be informed by our faith as it comes to us in scripture as well.
THE WORD
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Joshua had led the Children of Israel into the Promised Land and in their conquest of it. He divided the land among the twelve tribes. Now there is just one more question to ask and answer: Who will be their God?
There were many gods to choose from. Baal was probably the most popular God in Canaan at that time. Lots of people worshiped him and his family. If you wanted to go along with the crowd and not make waves, you couldn't do better than to take up Baalism. The Amorites that are mentioned in this passage probably worshiped the god Marduk and his son Nabu, two gods that would eventually be picked up by the Babylonians. Some of the Hebrews still clung to Amon Rah and the sixty other gods and goddesses of the Egyptian pantheon. They didn't necessarily want to live in Egypt, but the powerful sun god still held sway in some Hebrew households. And there were other local folk religions: fertility gods, animal gods, agricultural gods.
Joshua, in his farewell address, tells the people that choosing the right god is the most important decision they can make as they take up residence in this new land, because this god will influence their values and their morals. It will determine the direction of every decision they make.
The question of "Was it worth it?" is a question of morality and values. The god we worship and how we worship that god will determine our answer. If our religion is that form of nationalism wherein we worship a country or a piece of geography, then that will influence our answer. If we worship a god who is distant and unattached from us, then that will influence our answer. And if we worship a god who values justice and righteousness and love and reconciliation, those are the values that will shape us.
Amos 5:18-24 (alternate text)
Amos reminds us that when we ask for God to judge us, the judgment isn't always going to be the one we expect to hear. YWHW is a God who desires not festivals and songs but justice and righteousness.
He reminds us that when we ask the question "Was it worth it?" God's answer is going to come not just in terms of good intentions and political posturing. God is going to be looking for justice and righteousness -- and if we have not produced those two things we had better not be surprised if God is not pleased with our work.
Matthew 25:1-13
The parable of the foolish bridesmaids has to do with preparedness for the inbreaking of God's kingdom -- which includes God's judgment.
Every time we fight a war we ask "Was it worth it?" -- and every time we act as though we are surprised to be asked. We are not prepared to answer. Indeed, we are not sure we know how to answer. Perhaps we would be more prepared to answer this question if we asked it before the first sword is drawn and the first shot fired.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
What shall be considered "acceptable losses"? Shall 4,000 be acceptable? Write their names. Shall 1,000? Write their names. Shall 500, or 100, or 50, or a dozen? Write their names.
The point of this sermon is not to answer the question correctly. There is no correct answer. Whose son shall we send? Whose father shall die? Whose daughter? Whose mother? Whose husband or wife shall we sacrifice upon the altar of war?
To the widowed young mother who cries into her pillow at night so her children will not hear, there is no such thing as "light casualties." To the orphaned child who traces with her finger the lines of a face in a picture because that is all she has left of her mother, there are no "acceptable losses." To the father who stands at the side of the grave, the tightly folded flag he clutches to his chest is a small and unsatisfactory substitute for the child he once held in his arms and the little hand he once grasped in his own.
If we wait until that moment to calculate the cost of war, we have waited too long. The past tense is the wrong tense.
The question of worth can only rightly be asked in the future tense. "Will it be worth it?"
Our answer must be given in the full awareness that this is a kingdom moment that the Day of the Lord is fully upon us and God's demand for justice and righteousness must be discernible in our answer.
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Mary Austin
Matthew 25:1-13
How long until the 2012 election? As I write this 375 days -- a little less by the time you read this. How long until Christmas? 57 days. How long waiting for a loved one to come home from Iraq? No longer than those 57 days, as the president announced recently. For these and other similar calculations, you can count on your fingers, look at a calendar, or download an app for your phone that will calculate the days from now to anything in the future.
Matthew is asking a similar question but one that neither the calendar nor an app can address. When is the end of the world coming? How shall we prepare? Matthew and his first-century community were concerned with the questions of when Jesus would be coming back and when the final rule of God would begin. Chapters 24 and 25 of Matthew's gospel take up these questions. As we look ahead to Advent's rich diet of apocalyptic texts, these chapters explore similar questions.
In Matthew 24, Jesus offers a series of teachings about the coming of God's time and the end of the world. "Keep awake," Jesus says in Matthew 24, promising that no one knows the day or the hour of God's final coming into the world. The parable of the fig tree reminds us of the certainty and the mystery of God's coming. Following all of that, we have this week's parable about watching for God's coming. Following this story Matthew has set the well-known parable of the servants and the talents and then the sorting of the faithful and the forgetful at the end. The connecting theme in Matthew 25 is about the servants of God -- those who do what they're supposed to do and those who fail at the task.
This parable offers a number of puzzles. All of the bridesmaids fall asleep, contradicting the advice Jesus has just given his followers. Their nap as they await the bridegroom foreshadows the disciples who sleep while Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane. The division here is not between the sleepers and those who stay awake to watch for Jesus' return -- the separation is between those who are faithful to their task and those who aren't. In this story, the task is waiting.
God's timing is mysterious, as we know. As David Elwart comments on this passage: "The bridesmaids who did not bring extra oil were being presumptuous and in some sense insulting the bridegroom. By not bringing extra oil, it is they who were determining the time frame in which the bridegroom could be honorably welcomed back to his home.... This is not a story about 'stay alert.' Nor is this a story about 'delay.' Rather this is a story about honoring the bridegroom who has gone away to fetch his bride by being prepared for his return -- at the time of his own choosing, whenever that might be." Elwart concludes by asking: "How shall we here today await the Bridegroom with honor?"
Waiting is an alien practice for most of us. Our media wants to decide right now who the Republican nominee for president will be and each week they name a new front-runner. We wait for movies to come out as extensive chunks are released ahead of time, and we can buy a bootleg DVD as soon as the movie hits the theater. No more waiting for a television show -- it can be watched online, at your convenience, as soon as it airs. "Appointment TV" is a slogan of the past. New books can be downloaded right away. New friends await on Facebook, and Twitter offers instant reactions to everything. No need to wait for a thought to develop.
Yet, much as we hate it, some things are better with waiting. Time seasons our perceptions and develops our capacity to see the world differently. In a recent New York Times magazine piece adapted from his new book, David Kahneman, a Nobel prize-winner in economics, examines the question of intuition and what we think we know, and he notes: "In general... you should not take assertive and confident people at their own evaluation unless you have independent reason to believe that they know what they are talking about. Unfortunately, this advice is difficult to follow: overconfident professionals sincerely believe they have expertise, act as experts, and look like experts. You will have to struggle to remind yourself that they may be in the grip of an illusion." What we first see may not be the truth.
It takes time to separate our feelings from the deeper truth. Writing about the work of Kahneman and his long-time collaborator Amos Tversky, columnist David Brooks adds that Kahneman and Tversky reveal that "we are dual process thinkers. We have two interrelated systems running in our heads. One is slow, deliberate, and arduous (our conscious reasoning). The other is fast, associative, automatic, and supple (our unconscious pattern recognition). There is now a complex debate over the relative strengths and weaknesses of these two systems. In popular terms, think of it as the debate between Moneyball (look at the data) and Blink (go with your intuition).... We are players in a game we don't understand. Most of our own thinking is below awareness. Fifty years ago, people may have assumed we are captains of our own ships, but in fact our behavior is often aroused by context in ways we can't see. Our biases frequently cause us to want the wrong things. Our perceptions and memories are slippery, especially about our own mental states. Our free will is bounded. We have much less control over ourselves than we thought."
Slowing down to think about what we think we know sharpens our understanding. Brooks adds, "Kahneman champions the idea of 'adversarial collaboration' -- when studying something, work with people you disagree with." In other words, if the prepared maidens had shared with their unprepared sisters, they would all have been better off.
In my work as a hospice chaplain, I work with people who are waiting for the end of this life. In them, I see that waiting is also formation. Slowing down creates character. The same is true for us, much as we hate to wait. Waiting gets us out of our automatic reactions and biases and demands that we delve deeper into each other and ourselves. Waiting gets us back to God's timing.
The life of the spirit is unique in our world in demanding that we learn the life skill of waiting -- and unique in teaching us how to do it. Waiting forms us as people of faith. Waiting affirms that there are some things we can't count down toward, can't measure, and can't calculate. Like the maidens in the parable, our work is to wait for signs of God's presence and to slow down enough to be ready when they come.
ANOTHER VIEW
All Saints Sunday
by Mary Austin
Revelation 7:9-17; Matthew 5:1-12; 1 John 3:1-7
Inevitably, All Saints Day is deeply meaningful to some members of the congregation and deeply puzzling to others. In most Protestant traditions, everyone who has died is called a saint. In observing All Saints Day, we honor the saints known to us and we also make a wider connection, trusting that all the names of the dead are known to God. We also honor the continuity between heaven and earth and the enduring connections with those who aren't physically present. We celebrate the gifts of the past and look to God's future when all of us will join in heaven's feast.
November 1 is All Saints Day on the church calendar and can be observed on either the last Sunday in October or the first one in November. (The Eastern Church celebrates it on the Sunday after Pentecost.) Some churches celebrate in October so they're not adding to an already full service on the first Sunday of the month and other churches like the symbolism of celebrating communion with those who are already at the heavenly table and celebrate on the first Sunday in November.
Many churches celebrate by reading the names of those who have died in the previous year. Some churches include only members and others invite the names of anyone connected with the congregation. Some churches invite families to bring photographs or make PowerPoint presentations of pictures collected ahead of time. Some churches light a candle for each person and others ring a bell. While poignant for many, it can be alienating for those who don't know the names on the list. For people who have lost loved ones outside the congregation, or whose losses are unknown to the church, this may evoke painful feelings also.
We feel losses at different times and All Saints Day offers another chance to reflect on people who have been valued members of a congregation. Family members who attend other churches may return for the day and be supported by the congregation. It affirms the faith of the church in a life beyond this one and reassures people of faith that we are not forgotten by God or the people who travel with us in faith.
The text from Revelation gives us a vision of God's inclusive and triumphant realm. The great multitude, more people than can be counted, comes to worship. People who have been through turmoil and been bloodied and battered now come in clean robes, the blood washed out. Hunger and thirst are over, heat and the scorching sun are no longer a threat, for the Lamb is their shelter now. God's mercy isn't limited to the famous 144,000 -- the whole multitude appears to worship.
Interestingly, this passage suggests that this great host shares in the creation of heaven's glory. They have washed their own robes -- done part of the work themselves. A sermon for this day might recall how the saints who are named today contributed to the realm of God in this community.
The words of the familiar Beatitudes sound different on a Sunday like this one. Instead of individual virtues, these are now qualities of spirit building up the whole community. None of us can manage all of them but as a community we have them all in our common life. Each different gift enhances the whole gathering. Echoing Paul, a sermon for today might recall how the body of Christ needs peacemakers and mercy-bringers, the meek and the hungry. Even those who grieve are blessed in the realm of God. All of those people named as blessed stand before the throne of Revelation in bright clean robes, meek and hungry and tearful no more.
First John 3 recalls us to our vocation as children of God. The future is unknown but we are children of God right now. The future grows from the present and we can be sure that we will continue to be children of God, even in the unknowable future. Our hope for the future comes from this identity.
This Sunday and these texts point us both back and forward. We look back to remember the gift of loved ones gone, and forward to the time when God's glory is revealed to us too. We look backward to time together, and forward to time together. This is a Sunday for everyone, whether we know the people who died in the past year by name or not. All of us are people who share in the work of creating God's realm. All of us are welcome there, for we are all God's children, now and always.
ILLUSTRATIONS
At one point during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln called for a national "Day of Prayer and Fasting," rather like Joshua called the people together at Shechem to recommit themselves to God. Like Joshua, Lincoln first recounted God's goodness to the nation. Then he challenged Americans to live with a renewed faith. This is what Lincoln wrote: "We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in number, wealth, and power as no other nation ever has grown. But," Lincoln continued, "we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand that preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these things were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace." Lincoln concluded, "Those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord."
Those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord. Americans might remember, on this Sunday before Veteran's Day, that every time we say the Pledge of Allegiance we renew our commitment to live as "one nation, under God." We don't say "God is on our side," but rather, "We will strive to be on God's side," until that great day comes when there is "liberty and justice for all."
* * *
Elie Wiesel tells the story of a teacher, a just man, who came to Sodom on a mission to save the people from sin. Day after day he walked the streets railing against greed and theft, falsehood and indifference. At first some of the people listened to his message but as time progressed he no longer amused them with his strange counsel. It seemed that there were no righteous people in the city.
One day a boy approached the hapless teacher and asked him why he carried on when no one would listen to him. The teacher replied: "In the beginning I thought I could change them; today I know that I cannot. If I still shout today, if I still scream, and I scream louder and louder, stronger and stronger, it is to prevent them from ultimately changing me."
We may or may not be summoned by God to change others. One thing we can do is to choose God, to remain loyal to the divine call. The choice is up to us.
* * *
The parable of the Ten Maidens instructs us to always be prepared for the chiming of the dinner hour, for we know not when the final meal will be prepared. Ten ladies waited, five with sufficient oil for their lamps, five lax in preparation. Five attended, five were unable to find their way to the great hall. The bride must always be rehearsed and ready to walk to the altar, ever attired in the white gown of servitude.
It is an honor to be the bride of Christ -- selected to walk the aisle at his side, embraced in his arm, solemnly approaching the altar, receiving the vow of the covenant, then the celebration of salvation as all family and friends gather about the table of our Lord. Calling himself the bridegroom and acknowledging us as his bride, could Jesus have in any better way indicated that we are a part of his heavenly family?
Betrothed. Acceptance. Friendship.
Frederick Douglass approached the front door of the White House, seeking admission into the Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Ball. Just as Douglass was about to knock on the door, two policemen seized him as an uninvited guest, barred by the color of his skin. A large and powerful man, Douglass brushed aside the constables and stepped through the doors into the great and majestic foyer of the most publicized house in the world. Shouting racial maledictions, officers within grabbed the abolitionist and dragged him across the polished floor to the street beneath. He hollered in dismay, "Just say to Mr. Lincoln that Fred Douglass is at the door." Confusion ensued that did not go unnoticed by the celebrant of the hour. Intervening, the president announced in a distinguishable voice audible to all in the Great Hall, "Here comes my friend Douglass."
Invited as a friend, accepted as a bride, could Jesus do any more to make us feel welcomed in his heavenly home?
* * *
To really understand the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids, we need to immerse ourselves in the wedding customs of first-century Israel. The climax of the lengthy betrothal period was a torchlight procession of the groom's family and friends, who accompanied him to the home of his bride's father as he arrived to claim his beloved and take her back to his home. ("Torches" is probably a better term than "lamps," as a clay oil lamp would never have provided enough light in an outdoor setting.) The wedding celebration, which began in the home of the bride's clan, continued in the home of the groom's people. Everything depended upon the wedding party being ready to get up and move the instant the bridegroom arrived. While from our point of view it may seem a bit unfair to castigate the foolish bridesmaids for an innocent oversight -- forgetting to stock enough oil -- their offense actually goes much deeper. They have failed in their most important duty: to be ready to accompany the bride on the joyous procession to her new home.
Matthew is retelling this story to a church grown weary with waiting for the Lord's return. "Stay alert," he is telling them, "be ready." When the Lord does come, he will arrive unexpectedly. So while waiting may test our patience, the posture of the Christian in the meantime should be sitting up, staying alert, and being watchful... not reclining in indolent ease.
* * *
"Be prepared" is the well-known motto of the Boy Scouts. Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the scouting movement, was once asked, "Prepared for what?" Baden-Powell's response was, "For any old thing."
The American Scouting Service Project website sums up Baden-Powell's intention best. It explains, "But Baden-Powell wasn't thinking just of being ready for emergencies. His idea was that all scouts should prepare themselves to become productive citizens and to give happiness to other people. He wanted each scout to be ready in mind and body for any struggles and to meet with a strong heart whatever challenges might lay ahead. Be prepared for life -- to live happily and without regret, knowing that you have done your best. That's what the scout motto means."
The foolish maidens might well have benefited from the scouting program!
* * *
"Watch therefore," Jesus says at the end of the parable, "for you know neither the day nor the hour." When all is said and done -- when we have scared ourselves silly with the now-or-never urgency of faith and the once-and-always finality of judgment -- we need to take a deep breath and let it out with a laugh. Because what we are watching for is a party. And that party is not just down the street making up its mind when to come to us. It is already hiding in our basement, banging on our steam pipes, and laughing its way up our cellar stairs. The unknown day and hour of its finally bursting into the kitchen and roistering its way through the whole house is not dreadful; it is all part of the divine lark of grace. God is not our mother-in-law coming to see whether her wedding-present china has been chipped. He is a funny old uncle with salami under one arm and a bottle of wine under the other. We do indeed need to watch for him; but only because it would be such a pity to miss all the fun.
-- Robert Farrar Capon, commenting on Matthew 25:1-13 in The Parables of Judgment (Eerdmans, 1993)
* * *
The importance ascribed to teaching is outlined in the Constitutions of the Holy Fathers, Book VII, written in the fourth century, which states: "That it is our duty to esteem our Christian teachers above our parents -- the former being the means of our well-being, the other only of our being."
This Christian teaching recognizes the importance of all prophets and teachers. The prominent position of Joshua is contained in this decree. Following the death of Moses who had received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, Joshua was now the new leader and teacher of the Hebrews. This is why he is held in such high esteem and his words are taken so seriously. This is reflected in his command not to worship the false gods they would encounter as they crossed onto the far side of the Jordan River. This is why in the coming generations, when this instruction was ignored and idols made of human hands reappeared, the Hebrews suffered the judgment of YAHWEH.
* * *
Two ways there are, one of life and one of death, but there is a great difference between the two ways. The way of life is indeed this: First, you will love the God who made you; secondly, "you will love your neighbor as yourself." Now, all the things that you do not want to have happen to you, you too do not do these to one another. Now, the teaching of these sayings is this: "Praise those who curse you," and pray for your enemies; now fast for those who are persecuting you. For what favor is it if you love those who love you? Don't the Gentiles do the same? But you love those who hate you, and you will have no enemies....
Now the way of death is this: First of all, it is evil and full of curses: murders, adulteries, strong desires, unlawful sex acts, thefts, idolatries, magic acts, sorceries, robberies, false testimonies, hypocrisies, two-heartedness, deceit, arrogance, badness, assumptions, greed, shameful speech, jealousy, an overbearing nature, loftiness, pride; persecutors of good; hating truth, loving falsehood; not knowing the reward of what is right, not clinging to good, nor to just judgment, watching not for good but for evil. Far from these people are meekness and endurance. They love worthless things, perusing revenge, not showing mercy to a poor person, not laboring for those who are weary, not knowing the one who made them, murderers of children, corrupters of molded image of God, turning away those who are in need, oppressing the afflicted; comforters of the wealthy, lawless judges of the poor; universal sinners. Children, may you be rescued from all of these.
See to it that no one lead you astray from this way of the teaching, since it does not teach you without God. For if indeed you are able to bear the whole of the Lord's yoke, you will be complete. But if you are not able, do what you are able.
These are the opening verses of "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles," also known as the Didache, which in Greek means "teaching." It was compiled at the First Apostolic Council convened in Jerusalem in 51 CE. The proceedings of the council are recorded in chapter 15 of the Book of Acts in the New Testament. The gathering was called to give direction to the church. The Didache was the first book of formal instruction for new converts. It is most prominently known for establishing the theological doctrine of "The Two Ways." Divided into three sections, the Didache contains Christian lessons, rituals for baptism and the Eucharist, and church organization.
Wisdom 6:17 reads: "The beginning of wisdom is the most sincere desire for instruction." Twenty years after the resurrection of Jesus and while the gospels were still being composed, the church began a program of formal education for new converts. The early church fathers realized that it was not enough to just believe, but you also had to understand.
This is still a truism for today. It is why we must continually promote the education program of the church.
[Note: In sharing this teaching from the Didache the pastor should summarize it and then only quote a few lines that he/she thinks are most significant to their congregational setting. The entire text is reproduced here, realizing each pastor may desire a different section to quote.]
ALL SAINTS ILLUSTRATIONS
All followers of Jesus are saints in the New Testament sense of this word. We have been set apart and called to live a life of holiness and devotion to Christ. Evangelicals, with all Protestants generally, have emphasized the priesthood of all believers to show that we are all redeemed by God's grace and that none of us can claim any special favors on the basis of ordination or office. But doesn't this same theology compel us to declare "the sainthood of all believers"? We are called to live lives that reflect the character of Christ in a world that knows all too little of God's love and grace. Evangelical spirituality is "for all the saints," that is, for all who know Jesus Christ and wish to make him known to others, even if we acknowledge with Martin Luther that we are saints and sinners at the same time (simul justus et peccator) and thus ever in need of God's mercy and forgiveness.
-- Timothy George, For All the Saints: Evangelical Theology and Christian Spirituality (Westminster John Knox, 2004), p. 7
* * *
One of my favorite stories is of Saint Teresa of Avila. She's sitting in the kitchen with a roasted chicken. She has it with both hands and she's gnawing on it, just devouring this chicken. One of the nuns comes in shocked that she's doing this, behaving this way. She said, "When I eat chicken, I eat chicken; when I pray, I pray."
If you read the saints, they're pretty ordinary people. There are moments of rapture and ecstasy, but once every ten years. And even then it's a surprise to them. They didn't do anything. We've got to disabuse people of these illusions of what the Christian life is. It's a wonderful life but it's not wonderful in the way a lot of people want it to be.
-- Eugene Peterson, interviewed in Christianity Today, March 2005
* * *
A man does not have to be an angel in order to be a saint.
-- Albert Schweitzer
* * *
The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.
-- Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Give ear to the teaching that our ancestors have told us.
People: We will not hide them from their children;
Leader: let us tell them to the coming generation;
People: the glorious deeds and the wonders that God has done.
Leader: Let us teach them to our children;
People: so that they should set their hope in God.
OR
Leader: Come and prepare for the Christ who is coming!
People: When will the Christ appear?
Leader: No one knows. We just know we must be ready.
People: How do we get ready?
Leader: Love God and take care of each other.
People: Simple but difficult. With God's help we will love God and take care of all God's people.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us"
found in:
UMH: 381
H82: 708
PH: 387
AAHH: 424
NNBH: 54
NCH: 252
CH: 558
LBW: 481
ELW: 789
"Seek the Lord"
found in:
UMH: 124
"He Leadeth Me, O Blessed Thought"
found in:
UMH: 128
AAHH: 142
NNBH: 235
CH: 545
LBW: 501
"Jesus Shall Reign"
found in:
UMH: 157
H82: 544
PH: 423
NNBH: 10
NCH: 300
CH: 95
LBW: 530
ELW: 434
Renew: 296
"Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies"
found in:
UMH: 173
H82: 6/7
PH: 462/463
LBW: 265
ELW: 553
"I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light"
found in:
UMH: 206
H82: 490
ELW: 815
Renew: 152
"Lord, I Want to Be a Christian"
found in:
UMH: 402
PH: 372
AAHH: 463
NNBH: 156
NCH: 454
CH: 589
Renew: 145
"Open My Eyes, That I May See"
found in:
UMH: 454
PH: 324
NNBH: 218
CH: 586
"Walk with Me"
found in:
CCB: 88
"Refiner's Fire"
found in:
CCB: 79
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who comes among us in unexpected ways and at unexpected times: Help us to keep ourselves always ready so that we may give honor to the Bridegroom whenever he may appear; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come to give honor and glory to you, O God, and to hear you call us to faithfulness. Help us to always be prepared for the coming of Jesus so that we may bring him glory. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways in which we fail to live in the expectation that Jesus shall come in glory at any moment.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We gladly take the name of Jesus and call ourselves Christians. We gladly tell people that we are involved in a congregation. Yet we live our lives much as everyone else. We measure our lives by our possessions and by the opinions of our neighbors, friends, and enemies. We do not live so that we can step seamlessly into the full reign of God when Jesus comes again. Forgive us and redirect our hearts to the values and principles of your reign that we may truly give glory to you and to your Christ. Amen.
Leader: God is willing to reign wherever we allow it. When we are penitent and turn our lives back to God, God enters gladly. May the power of God's Spirit enable us to live as we pray.
Prayer for Illumination
As the gospel is proclaimed this day, O God, may its power to change lives enable us to become more faithful so that we may honor Christ more fully, now and in the days to come. Amen.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
O God, we praise you, for you are the one who has created us and is ever redeeming us and all your creation.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We gladly take the name of Jesus and call ourselves Christians. We gladly tell people that we are involved in a congregation. Yet we live our lives much as everyone else. We measure our lives by our possessions and by the opinions of our neighbors, friends, and enemies. We do not live so that we can step seamlessly into the full reign of God when Jesus comes again. Forgive us and redirect our hearts to the values and principles of your reign that we may truly give glory to you and to your Christ.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which we see your redeeming work in our lives and in the world. We thank you for those who have heard your call and are serving you faithfully. We thank you for those who help us listen to you and obey you.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for our world, which struggles to find life but looks only in places where death is found. We pray for those caught in relationships and actions that blind them to your loving purpose for us. We pray for ourselves so that we may be faithful and share the good news which we have heard.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
Use a common example of getting ready for something, like dinner. We put away our things, wash our hands, and come to the table. It is not enough to just be hungry, we must act. It is not enough to want Jesus to come and for everything to be as it should be -- we must act so that we are ready for it.
WORSHIP RESOURCES FOR ALL SAINTS SUNDAY
by Mary Austin
Call to Worship
Leader: When we remember, God remembers with us.
People: Today we remember the saints of the church, well-known and unknown, of our time and the ages before.
Leader: When we remember, our loved ones are here with us.
People: Today we remember grandparents and parents, spouses and partners, family and friends.
Leader: When we remember, we live in faith.
People: Today we remember teachers and leaders, the outspoken and the quiet, the wise and the simple.
Leader: When we remember, God is here in our midst. Let us worship God in spirit and in truth.
Opening Prayer / Collect for the Day
O God, we come to you today with gratitude for all who traveled the way of faith before us. Our memories bring praise and pain as we celebrate mothers and fathers in the faith, honor brothers and sisters who were our companions, and call to mind our teachers and examples. Our common faith is deeper for their witness and our shared life richer for their presence. In the name of the resurrection and the life, we give you thanks for the gift of loved ones and praise you that they now find their home in you. In the name of our risen Lord. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
God, giver of life,
forgive us, for we forget.
We forget that love, once given, never ends.
We forget that our grief is a sign of love,
and we try to bury it in busyness.
God, giver of hope,
forgive us, for we despair.
We forget to mix our grief with hope,
and think our tears are ours alone.
God, giver of the life to come,
forgive us, for our faith is limited.
We doubt your surpassing goodness,
and refuse to embrace what we can't see.
Forgive us, and make us your own,
now and forever, we ask. Amen.
Hymn Suggestions
"Abide with Me"
"Breathe on Me, Breath of God"
"Called as Partners in Christ's Service"
"Come, Children Join to Sing"
"Crown Him with Many Crowns"
"For All the Saints"
"Holy, Holy, Holy"
"I Love to Tell the Story"
"Lord of Light, Your Name Outshining"
"Love Divine, All Loves Excelling"
"O for a World"
"Seek Ye First"
"Song of Hope"
"The Church's One Foundation"
"We Are Your People"
"Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones"
Children's Sermon Starter
Bring pictures of people in your church or from your family who have died. Explain who they are and how we still remember them. Explain why we call them saints -- that being a saint is not about perfection but about God's goodness in calling us all God's children. Invite the children to reflect on people in their families who have died but whom they remember (if there are any). Be prepared for surprises and recent losses.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Ever Ready
Matthew 25:1-13
Object: a flashlight with some batteries, and an exit sign
Good morning, boys and girls! Most of us have flashlights at home. We don't use them very much because we usually don't need to. The electricity keeps our lights on and so we don't need a flashlight. But have any of you been at home when the lights went out because the electricity stopped? (let the children answer) If that happens, it's good to have a flashlight around. But flashlights need something to make them work. What do they need? (let them answer) They need fresh batteries. If the batteries are old, the flashlight won't work well and won't work long. Having a flashlight ready with fresh batteries is one way of preparing for something that might not happen for a long time. But we like to prepare -- just in case the lights go out soon.
Now, let me ask you about another kind of preparation. See those signs over the doors of our church? What do they say? (let them answer) They say "Exit." What do they mean? (let them answer) In other words, an "Exit" sign tells us where to go if the building was on fire or if there was another reason we need to leave suddenly. Does the building usually catch fire? (let them answer) It doesn't but we need to have signs up to be prepared should that ever happen. We hope it never happens but the signs are there, just in case.
One time Jesus told a story about being prepared. He told about being prepared for his return. Someday Jesus will return to earth to take us to heaven. Life on earth is a wonderful gift, but we will not live on this earth forever. Someday we shall go to heaven to live with God. Jesus will come and get us and it will be a wonderful day. The problem is that we have no idea when Jesus will return. So we always want to be ready. We want to be prepared. We live every day as if this were the day Jesus was coming to get us to be with him in heaven.
Prayer: Dearest Jesus, help us always be prepared to go with you. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, November 6, 2011, issue.
Copyright 2011 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
Team member Mary Austin shares some additional thoughts about the gospel text and how difficult it is for us to wait. In a world where modern technology has made instant communication the norm, impatience has replaced a sense of waiting and expectation -- and the whole idea of waiting for God's time seems more anachronistic than ever. Yet, as Mary notes, slowing down from our frenetic pace and relearning how to wait allows us to put aside the passions of the moment and get a broader perspective... and gives us time to see through the illusions of our own "expertise." In the end, Mary reminds us, slowing down lets us prepare and be ready for God so that we are aware of his presence and call.
Counting the Cost
by Dean Feldmeyer
Joshua 24:1-3a, 15-25; Amos 5:18-24; Matthew 25:1-13
Last week President Obama announced his intention to keep the promise he made to remove all American troops from Iraq by the end of this year.
The response has been what you would expect. Some disagree and are concerned that our absence will create a vacuum that will attract radical Islamists from Iran. Others argue that the pullout has come far too late when we should never have been fighting that war in the first place.
Most, however, are breathing a sigh of relief to see their loved ones coming home.
There is one question, however, that is on the lips of everyone: Was it worth it?
It is a question that must be asked but answering it is another matter. How do we look into the eyes of a war widow and say that it was all a big mistake? On the other hand, how dare we say that it was a good idea? How can we count the cost when the cost was not our own?
It is tempting to say nothing and let history be the judge, but we owe it to those who are coming home -- and those who aren't -- to at least try to answer the question... even if answering it turns out to be impossible.
THE WORLD
Before we can even attempt to answer the question "Was it worth it?" we need to have a sense of the cost that it has imposed upon us.
The Iraq War (or War in Iraq) began on March 20, 2003, with the invasion of Iraq by the United States (under the administration of President George W. Bush) and the United Kingdom (under the leadership of Prime Minister Tony Blair). The war is also referred to as the Occupation of Iraq, the Second Gulf War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom by the U.S. military.
It lasted from that date until December 31, 2011, at which time all U.S. troops are scheduled to be removed -- about nine years and nine months (almost twice as long as the U.S. involvement in World War I and World War II combined).
Total U.S. and coalition deaths to date: 4,797
Total U.S. military deaths to date: 4,479
Total U.S. military wounded to date: 33,169
Total U.S. civilian deaths: 1,487
Total Iraqi military deaths: 10,000*
Total Iraqi civilian deaths: 600,000*
Cost in dollars: $900 billion (about $5,000 per second)
Amount of that reported stolen: $6.5 billion
Cost of treating wounded/disabled veterans: $2.1 trillion
Ruthless dictators deposed: 1
Weapons of mass destruction found: 0
* Iraqi deaths have not been officially counted. These numbers are best-guess estimates by the U.S. Department of Defense.
Since the war has been funded through borrowing, the national debt increased from $6.4 billion in 2003, when the war began, to $10 trillion in 2008, before the financial crisis (It is $15 trillion today.)
These are some of the issues we must weigh and the facts that must inform any answer to that question which we might attempt. But as Christians, our answer must be informed by our faith as it comes to us in scripture as well.
THE WORD
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Joshua had led the Children of Israel into the Promised Land and in their conquest of it. He divided the land among the twelve tribes. Now there is just one more question to ask and answer: Who will be their God?
There were many gods to choose from. Baal was probably the most popular God in Canaan at that time. Lots of people worshiped him and his family. If you wanted to go along with the crowd and not make waves, you couldn't do better than to take up Baalism. The Amorites that are mentioned in this passage probably worshiped the god Marduk and his son Nabu, two gods that would eventually be picked up by the Babylonians. Some of the Hebrews still clung to Amon Rah and the sixty other gods and goddesses of the Egyptian pantheon. They didn't necessarily want to live in Egypt, but the powerful sun god still held sway in some Hebrew households. And there were other local folk religions: fertility gods, animal gods, agricultural gods.
Joshua, in his farewell address, tells the people that choosing the right god is the most important decision they can make as they take up residence in this new land, because this god will influence their values and their morals. It will determine the direction of every decision they make.
The question of "Was it worth it?" is a question of morality and values. The god we worship and how we worship that god will determine our answer. If our religion is that form of nationalism wherein we worship a country or a piece of geography, then that will influence our answer. If we worship a god who is distant and unattached from us, then that will influence our answer. And if we worship a god who values justice and righteousness and love and reconciliation, those are the values that will shape us.
Amos 5:18-24 (alternate text)
Amos reminds us that when we ask for God to judge us, the judgment isn't always going to be the one we expect to hear. YWHW is a God who desires not festivals and songs but justice and righteousness.
He reminds us that when we ask the question "Was it worth it?" God's answer is going to come not just in terms of good intentions and political posturing. God is going to be looking for justice and righteousness -- and if we have not produced those two things we had better not be surprised if God is not pleased with our work.
Matthew 25:1-13
The parable of the foolish bridesmaids has to do with preparedness for the inbreaking of God's kingdom -- which includes God's judgment.
Every time we fight a war we ask "Was it worth it?" -- and every time we act as though we are surprised to be asked. We are not prepared to answer. Indeed, we are not sure we know how to answer. Perhaps we would be more prepared to answer this question if we asked it before the first sword is drawn and the first shot fired.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
What shall be considered "acceptable losses"? Shall 4,000 be acceptable? Write their names. Shall 1,000? Write their names. Shall 500, or 100, or 50, or a dozen? Write their names.
The point of this sermon is not to answer the question correctly. There is no correct answer. Whose son shall we send? Whose father shall die? Whose daughter? Whose mother? Whose husband or wife shall we sacrifice upon the altar of war?
To the widowed young mother who cries into her pillow at night so her children will not hear, there is no such thing as "light casualties." To the orphaned child who traces with her finger the lines of a face in a picture because that is all she has left of her mother, there are no "acceptable losses." To the father who stands at the side of the grave, the tightly folded flag he clutches to his chest is a small and unsatisfactory substitute for the child he once held in his arms and the little hand he once grasped in his own.
If we wait until that moment to calculate the cost of war, we have waited too long. The past tense is the wrong tense.
The question of worth can only rightly be asked in the future tense. "Will it be worth it?"
Our answer must be given in the full awareness that this is a kingdom moment that the Day of the Lord is fully upon us and God's demand for justice and righteousness must be discernible in our answer.
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Mary Austin
Matthew 25:1-13
How long until the 2012 election? As I write this 375 days -- a little less by the time you read this. How long until Christmas? 57 days. How long waiting for a loved one to come home from Iraq? No longer than those 57 days, as the president announced recently. For these and other similar calculations, you can count on your fingers, look at a calendar, or download an app for your phone that will calculate the days from now to anything in the future.
Matthew is asking a similar question but one that neither the calendar nor an app can address. When is the end of the world coming? How shall we prepare? Matthew and his first-century community were concerned with the questions of when Jesus would be coming back and when the final rule of God would begin. Chapters 24 and 25 of Matthew's gospel take up these questions. As we look ahead to Advent's rich diet of apocalyptic texts, these chapters explore similar questions.
In Matthew 24, Jesus offers a series of teachings about the coming of God's time and the end of the world. "Keep awake," Jesus says in Matthew 24, promising that no one knows the day or the hour of God's final coming into the world. The parable of the fig tree reminds us of the certainty and the mystery of God's coming. Following all of that, we have this week's parable about watching for God's coming. Following this story Matthew has set the well-known parable of the servants and the talents and then the sorting of the faithful and the forgetful at the end. The connecting theme in Matthew 25 is about the servants of God -- those who do what they're supposed to do and those who fail at the task.
This parable offers a number of puzzles. All of the bridesmaids fall asleep, contradicting the advice Jesus has just given his followers. Their nap as they await the bridegroom foreshadows the disciples who sleep while Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane. The division here is not between the sleepers and those who stay awake to watch for Jesus' return -- the separation is between those who are faithful to their task and those who aren't. In this story, the task is waiting.
God's timing is mysterious, as we know. As David Elwart comments on this passage: "The bridesmaids who did not bring extra oil were being presumptuous and in some sense insulting the bridegroom. By not bringing extra oil, it is they who were determining the time frame in which the bridegroom could be honorably welcomed back to his home.... This is not a story about 'stay alert.' Nor is this a story about 'delay.' Rather this is a story about honoring the bridegroom who has gone away to fetch his bride by being prepared for his return -- at the time of his own choosing, whenever that might be." Elwart concludes by asking: "How shall we here today await the Bridegroom with honor?"
Waiting is an alien practice for most of us. Our media wants to decide right now who the Republican nominee for president will be and each week they name a new front-runner. We wait for movies to come out as extensive chunks are released ahead of time, and we can buy a bootleg DVD as soon as the movie hits the theater. No more waiting for a television show -- it can be watched online, at your convenience, as soon as it airs. "Appointment TV" is a slogan of the past. New books can be downloaded right away. New friends await on Facebook, and Twitter offers instant reactions to everything. No need to wait for a thought to develop.
Yet, much as we hate it, some things are better with waiting. Time seasons our perceptions and develops our capacity to see the world differently. In a recent New York Times magazine piece adapted from his new book, David Kahneman, a Nobel prize-winner in economics, examines the question of intuition and what we think we know, and he notes: "In general... you should not take assertive and confident people at their own evaluation unless you have independent reason to believe that they know what they are talking about. Unfortunately, this advice is difficult to follow: overconfident professionals sincerely believe they have expertise, act as experts, and look like experts. You will have to struggle to remind yourself that they may be in the grip of an illusion." What we first see may not be the truth.
It takes time to separate our feelings from the deeper truth. Writing about the work of Kahneman and his long-time collaborator Amos Tversky, columnist David Brooks adds that Kahneman and Tversky reveal that "we are dual process thinkers. We have two interrelated systems running in our heads. One is slow, deliberate, and arduous (our conscious reasoning). The other is fast, associative, automatic, and supple (our unconscious pattern recognition). There is now a complex debate over the relative strengths and weaknesses of these two systems. In popular terms, think of it as the debate between Moneyball (look at the data) and Blink (go with your intuition).... We are players in a game we don't understand. Most of our own thinking is below awareness. Fifty years ago, people may have assumed we are captains of our own ships, but in fact our behavior is often aroused by context in ways we can't see. Our biases frequently cause us to want the wrong things. Our perceptions and memories are slippery, especially about our own mental states. Our free will is bounded. We have much less control over ourselves than we thought."
Slowing down to think about what we think we know sharpens our understanding. Brooks adds, "Kahneman champions the idea of 'adversarial collaboration' -- when studying something, work with people you disagree with." In other words, if the prepared maidens had shared with their unprepared sisters, they would all have been better off.
In my work as a hospice chaplain, I work with people who are waiting for the end of this life. In them, I see that waiting is also formation. Slowing down creates character. The same is true for us, much as we hate to wait. Waiting gets us out of our automatic reactions and biases and demands that we delve deeper into each other and ourselves. Waiting gets us back to God's timing.
The life of the spirit is unique in our world in demanding that we learn the life skill of waiting -- and unique in teaching us how to do it. Waiting forms us as people of faith. Waiting affirms that there are some things we can't count down toward, can't measure, and can't calculate. Like the maidens in the parable, our work is to wait for signs of God's presence and to slow down enough to be ready when they come.
ANOTHER VIEW
All Saints Sunday
by Mary Austin
Revelation 7:9-17; Matthew 5:1-12; 1 John 3:1-7
Inevitably, All Saints Day is deeply meaningful to some members of the congregation and deeply puzzling to others. In most Protestant traditions, everyone who has died is called a saint. In observing All Saints Day, we honor the saints known to us and we also make a wider connection, trusting that all the names of the dead are known to God. We also honor the continuity between heaven and earth and the enduring connections with those who aren't physically present. We celebrate the gifts of the past and look to God's future when all of us will join in heaven's feast.
November 1 is All Saints Day on the church calendar and can be observed on either the last Sunday in October or the first one in November. (The Eastern Church celebrates it on the Sunday after Pentecost.) Some churches celebrate in October so they're not adding to an already full service on the first Sunday of the month and other churches like the symbolism of celebrating communion with those who are already at the heavenly table and celebrate on the first Sunday in November.
Many churches celebrate by reading the names of those who have died in the previous year. Some churches include only members and others invite the names of anyone connected with the congregation. Some churches invite families to bring photographs or make PowerPoint presentations of pictures collected ahead of time. Some churches light a candle for each person and others ring a bell. While poignant for many, it can be alienating for those who don't know the names on the list. For people who have lost loved ones outside the congregation, or whose losses are unknown to the church, this may evoke painful feelings also.
We feel losses at different times and All Saints Day offers another chance to reflect on people who have been valued members of a congregation. Family members who attend other churches may return for the day and be supported by the congregation. It affirms the faith of the church in a life beyond this one and reassures people of faith that we are not forgotten by God or the people who travel with us in faith.
The text from Revelation gives us a vision of God's inclusive and triumphant realm. The great multitude, more people than can be counted, comes to worship. People who have been through turmoil and been bloodied and battered now come in clean robes, the blood washed out. Hunger and thirst are over, heat and the scorching sun are no longer a threat, for the Lamb is their shelter now. God's mercy isn't limited to the famous 144,000 -- the whole multitude appears to worship.
Interestingly, this passage suggests that this great host shares in the creation of heaven's glory. They have washed their own robes -- done part of the work themselves. A sermon for this day might recall how the saints who are named today contributed to the realm of God in this community.
The words of the familiar Beatitudes sound different on a Sunday like this one. Instead of individual virtues, these are now qualities of spirit building up the whole community. None of us can manage all of them but as a community we have them all in our common life. Each different gift enhances the whole gathering. Echoing Paul, a sermon for today might recall how the body of Christ needs peacemakers and mercy-bringers, the meek and the hungry. Even those who grieve are blessed in the realm of God. All of those people named as blessed stand before the throne of Revelation in bright clean robes, meek and hungry and tearful no more.
First John 3 recalls us to our vocation as children of God. The future is unknown but we are children of God right now. The future grows from the present and we can be sure that we will continue to be children of God, even in the unknowable future. Our hope for the future comes from this identity.
This Sunday and these texts point us both back and forward. We look back to remember the gift of loved ones gone, and forward to the time when God's glory is revealed to us too. We look backward to time together, and forward to time together. This is a Sunday for everyone, whether we know the people who died in the past year by name or not. All of us are people who share in the work of creating God's realm. All of us are welcome there, for we are all God's children, now and always.
ILLUSTRATIONS
At one point during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln called for a national "Day of Prayer and Fasting," rather like Joshua called the people together at Shechem to recommit themselves to God. Like Joshua, Lincoln first recounted God's goodness to the nation. Then he challenged Americans to live with a renewed faith. This is what Lincoln wrote: "We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in number, wealth, and power as no other nation ever has grown. But," Lincoln continued, "we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand that preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these things were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace." Lincoln concluded, "Those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord."
Those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord. Americans might remember, on this Sunday before Veteran's Day, that every time we say the Pledge of Allegiance we renew our commitment to live as "one nation, under God." We don't say "God is on our side," but rather, "We will strive to be on God's side," until that great day comes when there is "liberty and justice for all."
* * *
Elie Wiesel tells the story of a teacher, a just man, who came to Sodom on a mission to save the people from sin. Day after day he walked the streets railing against greed and theft, falsehood and indifference. At first some of the people listened to his message but as time progressed he no longer amused them with his strange counsel. It seemed that there were no righteous people in the city.
One day a boy approached the hapless teacher and asked him why he carried on when no one would listen to him. The teacher replied: "In the beginning I thought I could change them; today I know that I cannot. If I still shout today, if I still scream, and I scream louder and louder, stronger and stronger, it is to prevent them from ultimately changing me."
We may or may not be summoned by God to change others. One thing we can do is to choose God, to remain loyal to the divine call. The choice is up to us.
* * *
The parable of the Ten Maidens instructs us to always be prepared for the chiming of the dinner hour, for we know not when the final meal will be prepared. Ten ladies waited, five with sufficient oil for their lamps, five lax in preparation. Five attended, five were unable to find their way to the great hall. The bride must always be rehearsed and ready to walk to the altar, ever attired in the white gown of servitude.
It is an honor to be the bride of Christ -- selected to walk the aisle at his side, embraced in his arm, solemnly approaching the altar, receiving the vow of the covenant, then the celebration of salvation as all family and friends gather about the table of our Lord. Calling himself the bridegroom and acknowledging us as his bride, could Jesus have in any better way indicated that we are a part of his heavenly family?
Betrothed. Acceptance. Friendship.
Frederick Douglass approached the front door of the White House, seeking admission into the Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Ball. Just as Douglass was about to knock on the door, two policemen seized him as an uninvited guest, barred by the color of his skin. A large and powerful man, Douglass brushed aside the constables and stepped through the doors into the great and majestic foyer of the most publicized house in the world. Shouting racial maledictions, officers within grabbed the abolitionist and dragged him across the polished floor to the street beneath. He hollered in dismay, "Just say to Mr. Lincoln that Fred Douglass is at the door." Confusion ensued that did not go unnoticed by the celebrant of the hour. Intervening, the president announced in a distinguishable voice audible to all in the Great Hall, "Here comes my friend Douglass."
Invited as a friend, accepted as a bride, could Jesus do any more to make us feel welcomed in his heavenly home?
* * *
To really understand the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids, we need to immerse ourselves in the wedding customs of first-century Israel. The climax of the lengthy betrothal period was a torchlight procession of the groom's family and friends, who accompanied him to the home of his bride's father as he arrived to claim his beloved and take her back to his home. ("Torches" is probably a better term than "lamps," as a clay oil lamp would never have provided enough light in an outdoor setting.) The wedding celebration, which began in the home of the bride's clan, continued in the home of the groom's people. Everything depended upon the wedding party being ready to get up and move the instant the bridegroom arrived. While from our point of view it may seem a bit unfair to castigate the foolish bridesmaids for an innocent oversight -- forgetting to stock enough oil -- their offense actually goes much deeper. They have failed in their most important duty: to be ready to accompany the bride on the joyous procession to her new home.
Matthew is retelling this story to a church grown weary with waiting for the Lord's return. "Stay alert," he is telling them, "be ready." When the Lord does come, he will arrive unexpectedly. So while waiting may test our patience, the posture of the Christian in the meantime should be sitting up, staying alert, and being watchful... not reclining in indolent ease.
* * *
"Be prepared" is the well-known motto of the Boy Scouts. Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the scouting movement, was once asked, "Prepared for what?" Baden-Powell's response was, "For any old thing."
The American Scouting Service Project website sums up Baden-Powell's intention best. It explains, "But Baden-Powell wasn't thinking just of being ready for emergencies. His idea was that all scouts should prepare themselves to become productive citizens and to give happiness to other people. He wanted each scout to be ready in mind and body for any struggles and to meet with a strong heart whatever challenges might lay ahead. Be prepared for life -- to live happily and without regret, knowing that you have done your best. That's what the scout motto means."
The foolish maidens might well have benefited from the scouting program!
* * *
"Watch therefore," Jesus says at the end of the parable, "for you know neither the day nor the hour." When all is said and done -- when we have scared ourselves silly with the now-or-never urgency of faith and the once-and-always finality of judgment -- we need to take a deep breath and let it out with a laugh. Because what we are watching for is a party. And that party is not just down the street making up its mind when to come to us. It is already hiding in our basement, banging on our steam pipes, and laughing its way up our cellar stairs. The unknown day and hour of its finally bursting into the kitchen and roistering its way through the whole house is not dreadful; it is all part of the divine lark of grace. God is not our mother-in-law coming to see whether her wedding-present china has been chipped. He is a funny old uncle with salami under one arm and a bottle of wine under the other. We do indeed need to watch for him; but only because it would be such a pity to miss all the fun.
-- Robert Farrar Capon, commenting on Matthew 25:1-13 in The Parables of Judgment (Eerdmans, 1993)
* * *
The importance ascribed to teaching is outlined in the Constitutions of the Holy Fathers, Book VII, written in the fourth century, which states: "That it is our duty to esteem our Christian teachers above our parents -- the former being the means of our well-being, the other only of our being."
This Christian teaching recognizes the importance of all prophets and teachers. The prominent position of Joshua is contained in this decree. Following the death of Moses who had received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, Joshua was now the new leader and teacher of the Hebrews. This is why he is held in such high esteem and his words are taken so seriously. This is reflected in his command not to worship the false gods they would encounter as they crossed onto the far side of the Jordan River. This is why in the coming generations, when this instruction was ignored and idols made of human hands reappeared, the Hebrews suffered the judgment of YAHWEH.
* * *
Two ways there are, one of life and one of death, but there is a great difference between the two ways. The way of life is indeed this: First, you will love the God who made you; secondly, "you will love your neighbor as yourself." Now, all the things that you do not want to have happen to you, you too do not do these to one another. Now, the teaching of these sayings is this: "Praise those who curse you," and pray for your enemies; now fast for those who are persecuting you. For what favor is it if you love those who love you? Don't the Gentiles do the same? But you love those who hate you, and you will have no enemies....
Now the way of death is this: First of all, it is evil and full of curses: murders, adulteries, strong desires, unlawful sex acts, thefts, idolatries, magic acts, sorceries, robberies, false testimonies, hypocrisies, two-heartedness, deceit, arrogance, badness, assumptions, greed, shameful speech, jealousy, an overbearing nature, loftiness, pride; persecutors of good; hating truth, loving falsehood; not knowing the reward of what is right, not clinging to good, nor to just judgment, watching not for good but for evil. Far from these people are meekness and endurance. They love worthless things, perusing revenge, not showing mercy to a poor person, not laboring for those who are weary, not knowing the one who made them, murderers of children, corrupters of molded image of God, turning away those who are in need, oppressing the afflicted; comforters of the wealthy, lawless judges of the poor; universal sinners. Children, may you be rescued from all of these.
See to it that no one lead you astray from this way of the teaching, since it does not teach you without God. For if indeed you are able to bear the whole of the Lord's yoke, you will be complete. But if you are not able, do what you are able.
These are the opening verses of "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles," also known as the Didache, which in Greek means "teaching." It was compiled at the First Apostolic Council convened in Jerusalem in 51 CE. The proceedings of the council are recorded in chapter 15 of the Book of Acts in the New Testament. The gathering was called to give direction to the church. The Didache was the first book of formal instruction for new converts. It is most prominently known for establishing the theological doctrine of "The Two Ways." Divided into three sections, the Didache contains Christian lessons, rituals for baptism and the Eucharist, and church organization.
Wisdom 6:17 reads: "The beginning of wisdom is the most sincere desire for instruction." Twenty years after the resurrection of Jesus and while the gospels were still being composed, the church began a program of formal education for new converts. The early church fathers realized that it was not enough to just believe, but you also had to understand.
This is still a truism for today. It is why we must continually promote the education program of the church.
[Note: In sharing this teaching from the Didache the pastor should summarize it and then only quote a few lines that he/she thinks are most significant to their congregational setting. The entire text is reproduced here, realizing each pastor may desire a different section to quote.]
ALL SAINTS ILLUSTRATIONS
All followers of Jesus are saints in the New Testament sense of this word. We have been set apart and called to live a life of holiness and devotion to Christ. Evangelicals, with all Protestants generally, have emphasized the priesthood of all believers to show that we are all redeemed by God's grace and that none of us can claim any special favors on the basis of ordination or office. But doesn't this same theology compel us to declare "the sainthood of all believers"? We are called to live lives that reflect the character of Christ in a world that knows all too little of God's love and grace. Evangelical spirituality is "for all the saints," that is, for all who know Jesus Christ and wish to make him known to others, even if we acknowledge with Martin Luther that we are saints and sinners at the same time (simul justus et peccator) and thus ever in need of God's mercy and forgiveness.
-- Timothy George, For All the Saints: Evangelical Theology and Christian Spirituality (Westminster John Knox, 2004), p. 7
* * *
One of my favorite stories is of Saint Teresa of Avila. She's sitting in the kitchen with a roasted chicken. She has it with both hands and she's gnawing on it, just devouring this chicken. One of the nuns comes in shocked that she's doing this, behaving this way. She said, "When I eat chicken, I eat chicken; when I pray, I pray."
If you read the saints, they're pretty ordinary people. There are moments of rapture and ecstasy, but once every ten years. And even then it's a surprise to them. They didn't do anything. We've got to disabuse people of these illusions of what the Christian life is. It's a wonderful life but it's not wonderful in the way a lot of people want it to be.
-- Eugene Peterson, interviewed in Christianity Today, March 2005
* * *
A man does not have to be an angel in order to be a saint.
-- Albert Schweitzer
* * *
The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.
-- Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Give ear to the teaching that our ancestors have told us.
People: We will not hide them from their children;
Leader: let us tell them to the coming generation;
People: the glorious deeds and the wonders that God has done.
Leader: Let us teach them to our children;
People: so that they should set their hope in God.
OR
Leader: Come and prepare for the Christ who is coming!
People: When will the Christ appear?
Leader: No one knows. We just know we must be ready.
People: How do we get ready?
Leader: Love God and take care of each other.
People: Simple but difficult. With God's help we will love God and take care of all God's people.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us"
found in:
UMH: 381
H82: 708
PH: 387
AAHH: 424
NNBH: 54
NCH: 252
CH: 558
LBW: 481
ELW: 789
"Seek the Lord"
found in:
UMH: 124
"He Leadeth Me, O Blessed Thought"
found in:
UMH: 128
AAHH: 142
NNBH: 235
CH: 545
LBW: 501
"Jesus Shall Reign"
found in:
UMH: 157
H82: 544
PH: 423
NNBH: 10
NCH: 300
CH: 95
LBW: 530
ELW: 434
Renew: 296
"Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies"
found in:
UMH: 173
H82: 6/7
PH: 462/463
LBW: 265
ELW: 553
"I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light"
found in:
UMH: 206
H82: 490
ELW: 815
Renew: 152
"Lord, I Want to Be a Christian"
found in:
UMH: 402
PH: 372
AAHH: 463
NNBH: 156
NCH: 454
CH: 589
Renew: 145
"Open My Eyes, That I May See"
found in:
UMH: 454
PH: 324
NNBH: 218
CH: 586
"Walk with Me"
found in:
CCB: 88
"Refiner's Fire"
found in:
CCB: 79
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who comes among us in unexpected ways and at unexpected times: Help us to keep ourselves always ready so that we may give honor to the Bridegroom whenever he may appear; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come to give honor and glory to you, O God, and to hear you call us to faithfulness. Help us to always be prepared for the coming of Jesus so that we may bring him glory. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways in which we fail to live in the expectation that Jesus shall come in glory at any moment.
Leader: God is willing to reign wherever we allow it. When we are penitent and turn our lives back to God, God enters gladly. May the power of God's Spirit enable us to live as we pray.
Prayer for Illumination
As the gospel is proclaimed this day, O God, may its power to change lives enable us to become more faithful so that we may honor Christ more fully, now and in the days to come. Amen.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
O God, we praise you, for you are the one who has created us and is ever redeeming us and all your creation.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We gladly take the name of Jesus and call ourselves Christians. We gladly tell people that we are involved in a congregation. Yet we live our lives much as everyone else. We measure our lives by our possessions and by the opinions of our neighbors, friends, and enemies. We do not live so that we can step seamlessly into the full reign of God when Jesus comes again. Forgive us and redirect our hearts to the values and principles of your reign that we may truly give glory to you and to your Christ.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which we see your redeeming work in our lives and in the world. We thank you for those who have heard your call and are serving you faithfully. We thank you for those who help us listen to you and obey you.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for our world, which struggles to find life but looks only in places where death is found. We pray for those caught in relationships and actions that blind them to your loving purpose for us. We pray for ourselves so that we may be faithful and share the good news which we have heard.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
Use a common example of getting ready for something, like dinner. We put away our things, wash our hands, and come to the table. It is not enough to just be hungry, we must act. It is not enough to want Jesus to come and for everything to be as it should be -- we must act so that we are ready for it.
WORSHIP RESOURCES FOR ALL SAINTS SUNDAY
by Mary Austin
Call to Worship
Leader: When we remember, God remembers with us.
People: Today we remember the saints of the church, well-known and unknown, of our time and the ages before.
Leader: When we remember, our loved ones are here with us.
People: Today we remember grandparents and parents, spouses and partners, family and friends.
Leader: When we remember, we live in faith.
People: Today we remember teachers and leaders, the outspoken and the quiet, the wise and the simple.
Leader: When we remember, God is here in our midst. Let us worship God in spirit and in truth.
Opening Prayer / Collect for the Day
O God, we come to you today with gratitude for all who traveled the way of faith before us. Our memories bring praise and pain as we celebrate mothers and fathers in the faith, honor brothers and sisters who were our companions, and call to mind our teachers and examples. Our common faith is deeper for their witness and our shared life richer for their presence. In the name of the resurrection and the life, we give you thanks for the gift of loved ones and praise you that they now find their home in you. In the name of our risen Lord. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
God, giver of life,
forgive us, for we forget.
We forget that love, once given, never ends.
We forget that our grief is a sign of love,
and we try to bury it in busyness.
God, giver of hope,
forgive us, for we despair.
We forget to mix our grief with hope,
and think our tears are ours alone.
God, giver of the life to come,
forgive us, for our faith is limited.
We doubt your surpassing goodness,
and refuse to embrace what we can't see.
Forgive us, and make us your own,
now and forever, we ask. Amen.
Hymn Suggestions
"Abide with Me"
"Breathe on Me, Breath of God"
"Called as Partners in Christ's Service"
"Come, Children Join to Sing"
"Crown Him with Many Crowns"
"For All the Saints"
"Holy, Holy, Holy"
"I Love to Tell the Story"
"Lord of Light, Your Name Outshining"
"Love Divine, All Loves Excelling"
"O for a World"
"Seek Ye First"
"Song of Hope"
"The Church's One Foundation"
"We Are Your People"
"Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones"
Children's Sermon Starter
Bring pictures of people in your church or from your family who have died. Explain who they are and how we still remember them. Explain why we call them saints -- that being a saint is not about perfection but about God's goodness in calling us all God's children. Invite the children to reflect on people in their families who have died but whom they remember (if there are any). Be prepared for surprises and recent losses.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Ever Ready
Matthew 25:1-13
Object: a flashlight with some batteries, and an exit sign
Good morning, boys and girls! Most of us have flashlights at home. We don't use them very much because we usually don't need to. The electricity keeps our lights on and so we don't need a flashlight. But have any of you been at home when the lights went out because the electricity stopped? (let the children answer) If that happens, it's good to have a flashlight around. But flashlights need something to make them work. What do they need? (let them answer) They need fresh batteries. If the batteries are old, the flashlight won't work well and won't work long. Having a flashlight ready with fresh batteries is one way of preparing for something that might not happen for a long time. But we like to prepare -- just in case the lights go out soon.
Now, let me ask you about another kind of preparation. See those signs over the doors of our church? What do they say? (let them answer) They say "Exit." What do they mean? (let them answer) In other words, an "Exit" sign tells us where to go if the building was on fire or if there was another reason we need to leave suddenly. Does the building usually catch fire? (let them answer) It doesn't but we need to have signs up to be prepared should that ever happen. We hope it never happens but the signs are there, just in case.
One time Jesus told a story about being prepared. He told about being prepared for his return. Someday Jesus will return to earth to take us to heaven. Life on earth is a wonderful gift, but we will not live on this earth forever. Someday we shall go to heaven to live with God. Jesus will come and get us and it will be a wonderful day. The problem is that we have no idea when Jesus will return. So we always want to be ready. We want to be prepared. We live every day as if this were the day Jesus was coming to get us to be with him in heaven.
Prayer: Dearest Jesus, help us always be prepared to go with you. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, November 6, 2011, issue.
Copyright 2011 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
