Economically, Politically, Or Faithfully?
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This Sunday falls on Labor Day weekend, which seems to be as much an unofficial "last fling" of summer as a celebration of the efforts of working men and women. Nevertheless, it's an opportune time to re-examine the whole debate over immigration -- especially in light of the emphasis in this week's Hebrews passage on showing hospitality. Though we benefit from the labor of immigrants in the form of lower prices for goods and services, there is often a great deal of hostility toward those who enter the country illegally. For a country populated almost entirely by immigrants and their descendants (with the sole exception of Native Americans), it's rather ironic that we are increasingly suspicious of outsiders. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Thom Shuman wonders about our true motivations on this highly contentious issue, and suggests a different approach based on the viewpoint of faith. Team member Scott Suskovic offers a contrasting perspective, noting that much of the anger toward immigrants is a result of those who skirt the law. Even so, our xenophobia is really symptomatic of something else: a fear of anything strange in ourselves and others. But as Scott points out, it is Jesus -- the true outsider and stranger -- who gives us the ultimate sense of belonging.
Economically, Politically, or Faithfully?
by Thom M. Shuman
THE WORLD
First World/Developed nations are all facing the same issue of how to handle the massive influx of immigrants into their countries. While there may be legitimate concerns about possible terrorists slipping into a nation, by and large folks are immigrating for the age-old and very legitimate reason of wanting to provide a better life for their families.
For some, immigration has become an issue of numbers -- there are simply too many "illegal" immigrants moving into our nation, our community, our neighborhood. For others, it is more an issue of economics. Immigrants make up 15% of the work force here in the United States, which (so the thinking goes) means that some Americans cannot find jobs. And, of course, for a certain group of people (those running for office), it is simply a political issue with very simple solutions -- more border patrols, greater vigilance, a big fence/wall along the border.
But as every number-cruncher, every economist, every politician will admit in unguarded, unrecorded moments, the issue is far more complex than sound-bites make it seem. And as with every issue, people of faith struggle to understand the issues, the concerns, the questions -- but especially the human beings involved.
THE WORD
Open your Bible to just about any page and you will bump up against an immigrant. Of course, Scripture calls them by different names: aliens, strangers, sojourners, Samaritans, slaves, women, children, Ruth, Hagar, the Holy Family, Zacchaeus, a centurion. But whatever the name (or pejorative term) they go by, the biblical witness is very clear -- individually and collectively, they are to be welcomed and affirmed, valued and honored, fed, clothed, and sheltered. And the biblical witness is equally clear about how often -- and how easily -- the faithful of God fail in this responsibility.
That is why God wonders, through the prophet Jeremiah (2:4-10), why the Chosen have moved so "far away" from God's gracious and generous heart. They seem to have forgotten the stories -- told at bedtime and in worship -- of God's deliverance of their ancestors from slavery. They spend so much time buying and selling worthless items on that era's Ebay that they risk being turned into a pile of junk themselves. And the "plentiful" land God brought them into from Egypt? It's being sold off to the developers who would carve up Jerusalem into housing tracts.
That's why the psalmist (81:10-16) cannot understand why God's people are acting as they do. The slaves in Egypt had broken God's heart with their plaintive cries for help while baking bricks for the Pharaoh's latest improvements, yet their descendents have become so stubborn-hearted that they dig their heels into the ground, refusing to walk in God's gracious and generous way.
That sermon we call the Letter to the Hebrews (similar to Deuteronomy) has now come to an end. But before the final hymn is sung and the blessing pronounced, the preacher has to make a few announcements (13:1-8, 15-16): "The jail ministry will be going downtown to lead a Bible study each Tuesday. Amnesty International is seeking signatures on a petition to stop the atrocities in Darfur. The monthly potluck is next Sunday evening -- be sure to bring that new family that moved into your apartment complex." And why does she remind her parishioners of these obvious acts of hospitality and service? Because she knows that compassion (though we would never admit it) is not second nature to most people, but it is part of what we are called to do as we seek to imitate Christ.
How does she know this? She knows, because she is tempted, how easy it is to want to sit at the head table at the luncheon honoring the Bishop. She knows, because she does it all the time, that it is easier to invite your best friend to lunch, rather than the woman from Ghana who has just moved in next door. She knows, because she has tried to follow Jesus and failed, but makes that silent promise to try again while she reads the Gospel for the day from Luke (14:1, 7-14).
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Ironically, providentially, uncomfortably, these passages fall on the Sunday of Labor Day here in the States. On that weekend, many of us will be going to fireworks with friends, attending a Monday afternoon ballgame, taking one more long weekend at our favorite hotel in the nearby big city, inviting friends over for the final barbecue of the summer. All those things we have done for years.
And, as we have done for years, we probably will not notice the people who make our beds and clean our bathrooms while we are out sightseeing. We will probably not take note of the ones who are out in the fields picking the last corn, the last blueberries, the last summer tomatoes for the farmers' market where we are buying ingredients for our barbecue. We won't notice the teenagers behind the counter at the fast-food place, or those whose command of the English language is so limited that we worry about missing our tee time with our buddies.
We probably won't notice, but we should -- for these are all the people our Scripture readings for this week are talking about. They are the strangers, they are the ones we are supposed to show hospitality to, they are the ones we are to offer our places of honor at the table, they are the ones we have become stubborn-hearted towards.
Whether we call them undocumented workers, illegals, or some names far worse, they have come to our country in search of a better life, in hopes of having their dreams come true, in the desire to have their children grow up in a free and democratic environment. We may be troubled by the numbers that are tossed about. But really, 12 million "illegals" come to about 4% of the total population of our nation. Yes, the undocumented workers may take 5% of the jobs, but really, how many of us would be willing to work for wages below the minimum, putting in 12-hour shifts with no benefits, no chance of advancement -- and think we are living out the American dream?
We may insist on knowing the facts about the number of people who are coming into our country without following the right steps, but we also must recognize the fact of how those steps, how those rules, how the laws have changed. For years, when Irish, Scots, English, Dutch, Germans, and so on were coming to America, there was one way, one process, one system. But when Southern Europeans (Italians, Sicilians, etc.) began to immigrate, people whose skin was a little darker, people who did not know or speak English, people who dressed, cooked, and worshiped differently, then the rules of immigration changed.
Historically, not just today, immigrants have always taken the lowest-paying jobs, the jobs that the immigrant group that arrived before them thought were now "beneath" them. Immigrants have always moved into, and lived and worshiped and raised families in, the worst parts of our cities, because they were considered to be worthless and not deserving of better.
And yet, immigrants are the ones who, by purchasing starter homes, may rescue a failing housing market. Hispanics are opening businesses at a much higher rate than the national average. And the odds are pretty good that if undocumented workers are sent home -- all those people who keep our produce prices down, all those people who keep our hotel rates from rising, all those people who work the graveyard shifts at terrible jobs (after an evening shift at a still more terrible job), all those people who look after our parishioners in nursing homes -- a ripple effect of price increases would sweep through the country.
So why aren't we people of faith talking about being more compassionate towards these folks? Why aren't we discussing how we can be more hospitable towards them? Why aren't we remembering our ancestors (from Germany, England, and Holland, in my case) who came here as immigrants? Why aren't we reaching out to these people who live in our midst, in terrible, oppressive settings? Why aren't we recognizing them as the angels God has sent to us, rather than the demons we think are out to destroy our way of life?
ANOTHER VIEW
by Scott Suskovic
In his piece above Thom rightly points out the biblical mandate to reach out and welcome the stranger, the alien, and the sojourner because we were once the same in Egypt. God has a special place in his heart for those who search for a place to belong. The language Jesus uses about heaven is a place of belonging -- it is a home where there is a place especially prepared for you. We speak of communion as a place at the table for those who are weary and in need of community, mercy, grace, and forgiveness. Each of us has this deep yearning to belong, and whether we are talking about heaven or our walk on earth, the Gospel is a life-changing message of welcoming those who are lost, abandoned, or forgotten.
I certainly applaud Thom's emphasis on opening our eyes to those whom society often neglects -- the housekeeper, the landscaper, the migrant worker. I echo the point of inviting the new stranger to worship and remembering those in oppressed nations whom we must not forget with our gifts and actions. No one is arguing with the fact that many of the illegal aliens living in the United States provide valuable resources to the workforce by taking jobs that would otherwise be left vacant. No one is complaining that they are actually keeping prices down because they will generally work for less pay and take the less desirable shifts at work.
But where his article would fall on deaf ears within my politically conservative congregation is in the assumption that our objection to immigrants being here has to do with stealing jobs or wanting to deny them a better standard of living than they had in Latin America. This is not an issue of too many or too little aliens. Neither is this an issue of our prejudice against those of darker skin than our European ancestors. This is an issue of law and order.
Many of us are only two or three generations removed from an ancestor taking that bold and adventurous journey by a boat to America. They went through Ellis Island, said the Pledge of Allegiance, got a job, and came here to be Americans. They took low-paying jobs and jump-started the economy. They quickly learned the language and tried to become a part of the culture. Some of us grew up hearing the stories of those first-generation immigrants.
They didn't come here illegally at night across an unprotected border. They didn't force our schools, legal documents, menus, and health care to learn a foreign language. They didn't clog up the emergency rooms at hospitals where 70% of the patients pay nothing for medical services. They didn't have car accidents without proper insurance (my car was totaled in one on May 20, 2007). They didn't send their money back to their homeland.
There was a process for becoming an American. The process no doubt has changed in recent years because of many reasons, but the answer cannot simply be opening up our borders and allow anyone who is willing to work construction or clean hotel rooms to enter. September 11 changed the world. A large part of the world wants to see America suffer through terrorist acts. The solution is not opening the floodgates.
I point this out for two reasons. The first is that there are committed Christians who would strongly disagree and take offense at the assumptions in Thom's article. The reasons for their objections to the abundance of illegal aliens is not because they don't like the color of their skin and want to deny them the better life that our European ancestors came here to find. They would all be in agreement with Thom in treating immigrants with respect, thanking them for their work, inviting them to worship, and reaching out to them as a friend. They would stop short, however, of lawlessness as the solution to this problem.
The second reason I point this out, however, is more important. At its heart, this conversation is not about the illegal alien situation in America. While we can quickly become sidetracked on surrounding political issues, the true issue runs far deeper. It's xenophobia -- fear of the stranger.
There are only two kind of people in America -- Americans and Foreigners. There are only two kinds of people in Judaism -- Jews and Gentiles. There are only two kinds of people in ancient Rome -- Romans and Barbarians. There are only two kinds of people in Christianity -- Christians and Pagans. See the point?
We like boxes. We like categories. We like to pigeonhole people to figure out if they are like us or not. And so when Jesus was in the boat with his disciples during a storm and he raised his hands to calm the wind and the rain, it was then that they were terribly afraid. These fishermen were plenty scared during the storm, but the Gospels tell us that when Jesus calmed the storm, their fear was even greater. Why? The answer can be found in the question that they asked after the storm: "What kind of man is this that even the winds obey him?" What kind of man is this? The answer is, no kind of man. Jesus doesn't fit in any category. If the truth be known, there is only One whom the winds obey -- and if Jesus is that One, if Jesus is that God, then there is reason to be afraid.
Jesus is not one of us. He is different. He is the ultimate stranger. He fits no category. He is God. And this mortal heart that has an innate fear of the stranger can find no one more strange, more different than God. He is holy, I am not. He is perfect, I am not. He is infinite, I am not. He is pure, I am not. There is plenty reason to be afraid of this stranger, because he reveals a part of me that I would just as soon keep hidden.
When you come face to face with the holiness of this stranger, you either have to ignore him because he is too much to bear or you must drop to your knees because he brings the heart to repentance. Or you must beat him silly, dress him up like a mock king, and nail him to the cross because he is not like us -- he demands more than we can give, he makes us uncomfortable, he is the ultimate stranger in our midst.
I completely agree with Thom that our call is to reach out to the stranger and welcome the outsider. Where I part from him is the motivation for why we don't. It is not because of some petty prejudice or irrational political fervor. It has to do with my xenophobia, the sinful rebel who lives deep within my heart that put Jesus on the cross. For that fallenness, I need a savior who thankfully did not take my rejection of him as the final answer. Instead, he made me his very own so that I, the true outsider and stranger, can have a place of belonging with him.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Many of our congregants are familiar with the story of Anne Frank, the young Dutch girl who, along with most of her family, perished at the hands of the Nazis. A New York Times article from February 15, 2007 ("In Old Files, Fading Hopes of Anne Frank's Family," by Patricia Cohen) reveals some new insights from the final days before the Frank family went into hiding in their secret room.
Until recently it has not been generally known that in 1940-41 Anne's father, Otto, was frantically engaged in correspondence with American immigration officials, trying to get permission for the family to enter the United States. Otto had a college friend named Nathan Straus Jr., who was part of the family who co-owned the Macy's department store chain. Straus directed the Federal Housing Authority, and was a friend of Eleanor Roosevelt's.
Otto wrote to him in 1941, asking him to intervene with federal officials and to consider giving him a $5,000 loan to pay the deposit then required for a visa. "I would not ask if conditions here would not force me to do all I can in time to be able to avoid worse," he wrote. "Perhaps you remember that we have two girls. It is for the sake of the children mainly that we have to care for. Our own fate is of less importance."
As the months dragged on and Otto became increasingly desperate, he even considered a plan to obtain a Cuban visa by fraudulent means -- anything to get his family out ahead of the holocaust he could see was coming, but which few in America were aware was even a possibility.
Back then, American fears of German espionage ran high. As the article explains: "After France fell to the Germans in June 1940, fears grew in the United States of a potential fifth column of spies and saboteurs peopled by European refugees. By June of 1941, no one with close relatives still in Germany was allowed into the United States because of suspicions that the Nazis could use them to blackmail refugees into clandestine cooperation. This development closed off the possibility of getting the Frank girls out through a children's rescue agency or having Otto Frank depart first in the hopes that the rest of his family would quickly follow. By July, Germany shut down American consulates throughout its territories, retaliating for a similar action on the Americans' part. As the exchange of letters show, Otto Frank would have had to get an exit permit out of the Netherlands, and transit visas for a series of Nazi-occupied countries to one of the four neutral areas where America still had consular offices. By the summer, an escape to the United States appeared hopeless."
One question we Americans may want to ask ourselves, in the midst of the contemporary immigration debate, is how much our intricate bureaucratic web of immigration regulations is motivated by fear -- just as it was in Anne Frank's day.
Immigrants are people with hopes and dreams, just as our own ancestors were. Many of them are caught in oppressive systems beyond their control. Like our ancestors and ourselves, they are looking for a better life.
***
In one of his last interviews before he died, noted preacher and activist William Sloane Coffin told the story of a life-changing event that occurred to him during his college years. Two friends had been killed in a tragic car accident, and he attended the memorial service.
Coffin came from a family with strong roots in the church, although he did not at the time consider himself particularly religious. Something he heard in the memorial service, though, made him sit up and take notice. The priest intoned, "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away."
Coffin found himself reflecting on that word "giveth." As he explained to the interviewer, it's a word that changed his life. "I just thought, 'You know, Coffin, you're only a guest here... a guest, at best.' "
So are we all. And so, too, are the sojourners among us.
-- from an interview with Alexa Smith of the Presbyterian News Service, April 7, 2004
***
It is no use saying that we are born two thousand years too late to give room to Christ. Nor will those who live at the end of the world have been born too late. Christ is always with us, always asking for room in our hearts.
But now it is with the voice of our contemporaries that He speaks, with the eyes of store clerks, factory workers, and children that he gazes; with the hands of office workers, slum dwellers, and suburban housewives that He gives. It is with the feet of soldiers and tramps that He walks, and with the heart of anyone in need that He longs for shelter. And giving shelter or food to anyone who asks for it, or needs it, is giving it to Christ...
If we hadn't got Christ's own words for it, it would seem raving lunacy to believe that if I offer a bed and food and hospitality to some man or woman or child, my guest is Christ. There is nothing to show it, perhaps. There are no halos already glowing round their heads -- at least none that human eyes can see.
So we are not born too late. We can serve Christ by seeing him and serving him in friends and strangers, in everyone we come in contact with.
-- Dorothy Day, quoted in Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas (Plough Publishing House, 2001)
***
Josiah Royce reminds us that any person, from anywhere around the world, if they are a human being, is like us. Their life is as important to them as ours is to us. They are struggling with as many difficult problems and tough decisions as we are. They feel pain in exactly the same way that we do. They have family problems and health problems and job problems. We need to remember that, just as life is for us, so it is for them.
-- Josiah Royce, quoted in Gerald Kennedy, A Reader's Notebook, p. 27
***
E. Stanley Jones reminds us that "One is our Master and we all are brothers and sisters. That God has made of one blood all nations to dwell on the face of the earth. That all of us are people for whom Christ died."
He suggests that, in order to begin freeing ourselves from prejudice against other groups, we consider doing the following: "I will deliberately identify myself with the dispossessed and discriminated against and make their disabilities my own, until everything is thrown open to everybody on the basis of equal opportunity for all. Their cross shall be my cross; and their resurrection, my resurrection."
-- E. Stanley Jones, Abundant Living, p. 115
***
When we dropped my little four-year-old grandson off at his pre-school, I watched him run over and greet a little boy of a different race; then they both welcomed a little girl of a third race.
And I got to wondering: later that morning, when playtime was over, would the children of one of the three races insist that the children of one of the other races had to pick up all the toys for them?
And when it came time for cookies and milk, would the children of the third race insist that they themselves should have more cookies than anyone else?
-- Barbara Jurgensen
***
A major concern voiced by many people is that immigrants to our country will use up all of our resources. They view the world from what Walter Bruggeman calls a perspective of scarcity rather than a perspective of abundance. Ask any Christian whether he or she would feed the hungry if they knew that there was plenty to go around. From that perspective, think of the story of the feeding of the 5,000 as told in Matthew 14:13-21. Here is this vast crowd surrounding Jesus. Give the disciples credit for being concerned about the crowd's well-being. Like our immigrant neighbors who come looking for food, the disciples want Jesus to send the crowd back where they came from to secure food for themselves there. Instead, Jesus tells the disciples to feed the crowd. The disciples immediately respond that they don't have enough food to do that -- they only have five loaves and two fish. Yet when they are willing to give what they have to Jesus, Jesus blesses it and then asks them to risk giving what they have to the crowd. When the disciples are willing to risk, in the name of Jesus, giving what they have, than the miracle of the feeding takes place. Is it possible that our response to those who come to this country in need is preventing us from witnessing a miracle?
***
A few years ago it was popular for many people to wear bracelets with the letters WWJD that stood for "What Would Jesus Do?" A major concern expressed by some about immigration is the word "illegal." These people would be willing to help, they say, but immigrants should enter this country legally. As you think about what Jesus would do if he were faced with helping immigrants who ignored humanly-created boarders in search of a way to support their families, consider what Peter told the authorities when he was informed that he had violated a legally-issued order: "Whether it is right in God's sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard." What if Christians insisted on doing what Jesus would do in the face of such human need? In the words of James 2:14: "If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,' and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?"
***
Many immigrants from Mexico cross the border in the southwestern U.S. -- Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. In light of the fact that a good portion of these states were once legally a part of Mexico and were taken from them in the Mexican-American War, imagine God saying to us what God said through the prophet Isaiah (3:14-15): "The Lord enters into judgment with the elders and princes of his people: It is you who have devoured the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor? says the Lord God of hosts."
***
A pair of immigration-related articles that may be useful appeared in the Washington Post on August 25. One piece reports on a protest over poor working conditions organized by bicycle deliverymen for a Manhattan restaurant chain, and on the wider phenomenon of the emerging immigrant labor movement. The other piece details how the immigration issue is further politicizing a sensitive murder case in Newark, New Jersey.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Thom M. Shuman
Call to Worship
Leader: We come to worship our God,
to listen to the one who calls us here.
People: We come trusting God to lead us in the coming days,
as surely as were our grandparents in the faith.
Leader: We come to worship our God,
to shout with joy to the God of all people.
People: We come to the Creator of all things,
to be bathed in the waters of life.
Leader: We come to the Feast of God's faithful,
to be fed by the One who never forsakes us.
People: We come to worship our God,
to sing aloud to the One who saves us.
Prayer of the Day (and Our Lord's Prayer)
Yesterday, God of our days,
when our hunger for hope had so weakened us we could barely speak,
you fed us with the Bread of life,
spread with the sweet honey of your grace.
Today, Host to the poor,
when we look for you in the powerful and the rich, among the superstar and celebrity,
we will find you seated with the children,
your knees squeezed painfully under the table,
entertaining them with your stories.
Tomorrow, Spirit of Service,
when we will be scrambling for the seats of honor,
you will be in the kitchen,
cooking dinner for the prisoners,
making up the guest room for the immigrants,
singing lullabies of love to the lost children of our world.
God in Community, Holy in One:
yesterday, today, tomorrow, always,
we will pray as Jesus has taught us, saying,
Our Father . . .
Call to Reconciliation
Despite all the ways we speak of sin -- failures, mistakes, intended acts --
Scripture tells us that we are stubborn-hearted, wanting only our way.
But if we pause to listen to God,
if we open our mouths (and our hearts) to confess our sin,
God will fill us our emptiness with forgiveness and hope.
Let us pray together, as we say . . .
(Unison) Prayer of Confession
We are always uncomfortable, Watching God,
when you notice how we want to sit in the seats of honor.
We can be so proper, so good, so well-off,
that it is easy to imagine we are superior to the poor.
We are so busy completing our "to do" list each day,
that we forget to do good when we have the chance.
Forgive us, Welcoming God.
Fill our emptiness with your grace and humility,
that we would spend our lives alongside Jesus, our Lord and Savior,
throwing a party for the poor, the damaged, the prisoner, the lost, the oppressed.
(silence is kept)
Assurance of Pardon
Leader: This is the good news:
after what God has done for us, what can anyone or anything do to us?
We are new people, graced by our loving God.
People: Forgiven, embraced, welcomed by our God,
we will offer open hearts and serving hands to everyone we meet.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
Leader: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: People of God, lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them to the God who welcomes us at this Table.
Leader: Let us sing aloud to God.
People: We will offer glad songs of thanksgiving to the One who delivers us.
We would sing aloud our songs of joy to you, Master of the Universe.
Out of the emptiness of chaos, you brought forth creation,
plentiful with all we need, graced with gifts beyond imagination.
Offered the place of honor in your good Garden,
we filled our souls with worthless lies,
moving out of glory's neighborhood into the junkyard of the world.
Prophets brought your word of judgment, and your gracious invitation to come home,
but we would not listen to the advice they offered to us.
Then you sent Jesus, who humbled himself that we might be exalted.
Therefore, we come to your Table singing,
our voices joining with those in every time and in every place,
lifting our glad songs to you:
(Sanctus)
Holy are you, Mothering God,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Life.
Glorified as your True Child,
he came to show hospitality to all the strangers of the world.
Deserving of the seat of honor,
he humbles himself to serve the guests.
Refusing to let us be left in the ruthless hands of sin and death,
he entered that prison we call the grave to set us free to life with you.
As we remember his life and death,
as we come to the Table of the resurrection,
we speak of that mystery we call death:
(Memorial Acclamation)
Send your Holy Spirit upon the Bread and the Cup,
simple gifts from creation which grace us with your life,
and upon those who gather around your Table.
Fed with the finest wheat,
may we go forth to fill the lives of all whose emptiness imprisons them.
Having tasted the cup of joy,
may we bring the sweet honey of hope to those parched by despair.
Welcomed without question at your Table of grace,
may we open our hearts to throw a party for all
who have been forsaken by the world.
And when we gather around the Wedding Feast in glory,
with all the poor, the broken, the prisoners, the oppressed --
we will open our mouths to receive your joy,
and sing aloud to you our praise for all eternity:
God in Community, Holy in One.
Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Share With All
Luke 14:12-14
Object: a bag of Hershey's kisses -- enough for all the children
For today's lesson I need some help. I need two volunteers to come up here and help me show how today's lesson works. (select two children) I have with me today a bag of Hershey's kisses. I am going to give myself two kisses, and I am going to give only one of you two kisses. (do this)
Okay. Listen to a part of today's scripture reading. (read Luke 14:12-14) Did you hear what it said? Don't just do something nice for somebody who can repay you. Instead, do nice things for people who may not ever be able to repay you.
Let's look at this lesson and use our kisses as an example. I gave Mary two kisses. I have two kisses. Tommy doesn't have any kisses at all. Let's pretend that I want to share my kisses with Mary. I don't mind doing this, because Mary has some that she can share with me too. I'll give Mary one of mine, and Mary will give me one of hers. (do this) What happened? Nothing really, because Mary and I each have the same number we started with. So I shared with Mary. Big deal. It didn't really cost me anything, did it?
What if I share with Tommy? He doesn't have anything to give me in return, but it's the right thing to do. He doesn't have any chocolate at all! Here, Tommy. (give him one of your kisses) Now we each have one. That seems fair. You know what would be better, though? What if I gave him BOTH my kisses? (do this) Now I don't have any, but he and Mary have the same amount. I did something nice for Tommy. The most important thing I could do was share with him. It doesn't matter that I don't get anything in return.
That's the kind of love that Jesus wants us to have. He wants us to love others more than ourselves. Don't just share with people who will share with you. Think about sharing with those who cannot give you anything in return. It's the right thing to do.
Who wants a kiss? (hand out a kiss to each child)
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us love others the way you do. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, September 2, 2007, issue.
Copyright 2007 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 permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
Economically, Politically, or Faithfully?
by Thom M. Shuman
THE WORLD
First World/Developed nations are all facing the same issue of how to handle the massive influx of immigrants into their countries. While there may be legitimate concerns about possible terrorists slipping into a nation, by and large folks are immigrating for the age-old and very legitimate reason of wanting to provide a better life for their families.
For some, immigration has become an issue of numbers -- there are simply too many "illegal" immigrants moving into our nation, our community, our neighborhood. For others, it is more an issue of economics. Immigrants make up 15% of the work force here in the United States, which (so the thinking goes) means that some Americans cannot find jobs. And, of course, for a certain group of people (those running for office), it is simply a political issue with very simple solutions -- more border patrols, greater vigilance, a big fence/wall along the border.
But as every number-cruncher, every economist, every politician will admit in unguarded, unrecorded moments, the issue is far more complex than sound-bites make it seem. And as with every issue, people of faith struggle to understand the issues, the concerns, the questions -- but especially the human beings involved.
THE WORD
Open your Bible to just about any page and you will bump up against an immigrant. Of course, Scripture calls them by different names: aliens, strangers, sojourners, Samaritans, slaves, women, children, Ruth, Hagar, the Holy Family, Zacchaeus, a centurion. But whatever the name (or pejorative term) they go by, the biblical witness is very clear -- individually and collectively, they are to be welcomed and affirmed, valued and honored, fed, clothed, and sheltered. And the biblical witness is equally clear about how often -- and how easily -- the faithful of God fail in this responsibility.
That is why God wonders, through the prophet Jeremiah (2:4-10), why the Chosen have moved so "far away" from God's gracious and generous heart. They seem to have forgotten the stories -- told at bedtime and in worship -- of God's deliverance of their ancestors from slavery. They spend so much time buying and selling worthless items on that era's Ebay that they risk being turned into a pile of junk themselves. And the "plentiful" land God brought them into from Egypt? It's being sold off to the developers who would carve up Jerusalem into housing tracts.
That's why the psalmist (81:10-16) cannot understand why God's people are acting as they do. The slaves in Egypt had broken God's heart with their plaintive cries for help while baking bricks for the Pharaoh's latest improvements, yet their descendents have become so stubborn-hearted that they dig their heels into the ground, refusing to walk in God's gracious and generous way.
That sermon we call the Letter to the Hebrews (similar to Deuteronomy) has now come to an end. But before the final hymn is sung and the blessing pronounced, the preacher has to make a few announcements (13:1-8, 15-16): "The jail ministry will be going downtown to lead a Bible study each Tuesday. Amnesty International is seeking signatures on a petition to stop the atrocities in Darfur. The monthly potluck is next Sunday evening -- be sure to bring that new family that moved into your apartment complex." And why does she remind her parishioners of these obvious acts of hospitality and service? Because she knows that compassion (though we would never admit it) is not second nature to most people, but it is part of what we are called to do as we seek to imitate Christ.
How does she know this? She knows, because she is tempted, how easy it is to want to sit at the head table at the luncheon honoring the Bishop. She knows, because she does it all the time, that it is easier to invite your best friend to lunch, rather than the woman from Ghana who has just moved in next door. She knows, because she has tried to follow Jesus and failed, but makes that silent promise to try again while she reads the Gospel for the day from Luke (14:1, 7-14).
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Ironically, providentially, uncomfortably, these passages fall on the Sunday of Labor Day here in the States. On that weekend, many of us will be going to fireworks with friends, attending a Monday afternoon ballgame, taking one more long weekend at our favorite hotel in the nearby big city, inviting friends over for the final barbecue of the summer. All those things we have done for years.
And, as we have done for years, we probably will not notice the people who make our beds and clean our bathrooms while we are out sightseeing. We will probably not take note of the ones who are out in the fields picking the last corn, the last blueberries, the last summer tomatoes for the farmers' market where we are buying ingredients for our barbecue. We won't notice the teenagers behind the counter at the fast-food place, or those whose command of the English language is so limited that we worry about missing our tee time with our buddies.
We probably won't notice, but we should -- for these are all the people our Scripture readings for this week are talking about. They are the strangers, they are the ones we are supposed to show hospitality to, they are the ones we are to offer our places of honor at the table, they are the ones we have become stubborn-hearted towards.
Whether we call them undocumented workers, illegals, or some names far worse, they have come to our country in search of a better life, in hopes of having their dreams come true, in the desire to have their children grow up in a free and democratic environment. We may be troubled by the numbers that are tossed about. But really, 12 million "illegals" come to about 4% of the total population of our nation. Yes, the undocumented workers may take 5% of the jobs, but really, how many of us would be willing to work for wages below the minimum, putting in 12-hour shifts with no benefits, no chance of advancement -- and think we are living out the American dream?
We may insist on knowing the facts about the number of people who are coming into our country without following the right steps, but we also must recognize the fact of how those steps, how those rules, how the laws have changed. For years, when Irish, Scots, English, Dutch, Germans, and so on were coming to America, there was one way, one process, one system. But when Southern Europeans (Italians, Sicilians, etc.) began to immigrate, people whose skin was a little darker, people who did not know or speak English, people who dressed, cooked, and worshiped differently, then the rules of immigration changed.
Historically, not just today, immigrants have always taken the lowest-paying jobs, the jobs that the immigrant group that arrived before them thought were now "beneath" them. Immigrants have always moved into, and lived and worshiped and raised families in, the worst parts of our cities, because they were considered to be worthless and not deserving of better.
And yet, immigrants are the ones who, by purchasing starter homes, may rescue a failing housing market. Hispanics are opening businesses at a much higher rate than the national average. And the odds are pretty good that if undocumented workers are sent home -- all those people who keep our produce prices down, all those people who keep our hotel rates from rising, all those people who work the graveyard shifts at terrible jobs (after an evening shift at a still more terrible job), all those people who look after our parishioners in nursing homes -- a ripple effect of price increases would sweep through the country.
So why aren't we people of faith talking about being more compassionate towards these folks? Why aren't we discussing how we can be more hospitable towards them? Why aren't we remembering our ancestors (from Germany, England, and Holland, in my case) who came here as immigrants? Why aren't we reaching out to these people who live in our midst, in terrible, oppressive settings? Why aren't we recognizing them as the angels God has sent to us, rather than the demons we think are out to destroy our way of life?
ANOTHER VIEW
by Scott Suskovic
In his piece above Thom rightly points out the biblical mandate to reach out and welcome the stranger, the alien, and the sojourner because we were once the same in Egypt. God has a special place in his heart for those who search for a place to belong. The language Jesus uses about heaven is a place of belonging -- it is a home where there is a place especially prepared for you. We speak of communion as a place at the table for those who are weary and in need of community, mercy, grace, and forgiveness. Each of us has this deep yearning to belong, and whether we are talking about heaven or our walk on earth, the Gospel is a life-changing message of welcoming those who are lost, abandoned, or forgotten.
I certainly applaud Thom's emphasis on opening our eyes to those whom society often neglects -- the housekeeper, the landscaper, the migrant worker. I echo the point of inviting the new stranger to worship and remembering those in oppressed nations whom we must not forget with our gifts and actions. No one is arguing with the fact that many of the illegal aliens living in the United States provide valuable resources to the workforce by taking jobs that would otherwise be left vacant. No one is complaining that they are actually keeping prices down because they will generally work for less pay and take the less desirable shifts at work.
But where his article would fall on deaf ears within my politically conservative congregation is in the assumption that our objection to immigrants being here has to do with stealing jobs or wanting to deny them a better standard of living than they had in Latin America. This is not an issue of too many or too little aliens. Neither is this an issue of our prejudice against those of darker skin than our European ancestors. This is an issue of law and order.
Many of us are only two or three generations removed from an ancestor taking that bold and adventurous journey by a boat to America. They went through Ellis Island, said the Pledge of Allegiance, got a job, and came here to be Americans. They took low-paying jobs and jump-started the economy. They quickly learned the language and tried to become a part of the culture. Some of us grew up hearing the stories of those first-generation immigrants.
They didn't come here illegally at night across an unprotected border. They didn't force our schools, legal documents, menus, and health care to learn a foreign language. They didn't clog up the emergency rooms at hospitals where 70% of the patients pay nothing for medical services. They didn't have car accidents without proper insurance (my car was totaled in one on May 20, 2007). They didn't send their money back to their homeland.
There was a process for becoming an American. The process no doubt has changed in recent years because of many reasons, but the answer cannot simply be opening up our borders and allow anyone who is willing to work construction or clean hotel rooms to enter. September 11 changed the world. A large part of the world wants to see America suffer through terrorist acts. The solution is not opening the floodgates.
I point this out for two reasons. The first is that there are committed Christians who would strongly disagree and take offense at the assumptions in Thom's article. The reasons for their objections to the abundance of illegal aliens is not because they don't like the color of their skin and want to deny them the better life that our European ancestors came here to find. They would all be in agreement with Thom in treating immigrants with respect, thanking them for their work, inviting them to worship, and reaching out to them as a friend. They would stop short, however, of lawlessness as the solution to this problem.
The second reason I point this out, however, is more important. At its heart, this conversation is not about the illegal alien situation in America. While we can quickly become sidetracked on surrounding political issues, the true issue runs far deeper. It's xenophobia -- fear of the stranger.
There are only two kind of people in America -- Americans and Foreigners. There are only two kinds of people in Judaism -- Jews and Gentiles. There are only two kinds of people in ancient Rome -- Romans and Barbarians. There are only two kinds of people in Christianity -- Christians and Pagans. See the point?
We like boxes. We like categories. We like to pigeonhole people to figure out if they are like us or not. And so when Jesus was in the boat with his disciples during a storm and he raised his hands to calm the wind and the rain, it was then that they were terribly afraid. These fishermen were plenty scared during the storm, but the Gospels tell us that when Jesus calmed the storm, their fear was even greater. Why? The answer can be found in the question that they asked after the storm: "What kind of man is this that even the winds obey him?" What kind of man is this? The answer is, no kind of man. Jesus doesn't fit in any category. If the truth be known, there is only One whom the winds obey -- and if Jesus is that One, if Jesus is that God, then there is reason to be afraid.
Jesus is not one of us. He is different. He is the ultimate stranger. He fits no category. He is God. And this mortal heart that has an innate fear of the stranger can find no one more strange, more different than God. He is holy, I am not. He is perfect, I am not. He is infinite, I am not. He is pure, I am not. There is plenty reason to be afraid of this stranger, because he reveals a part of me that I would just as soon keep hidden.
When you come face to face with the holiness of this stranger, you either have to ignore him because he is too much to bear or you must drop to your knees because he brings the heart to repentance. Or you must beat him silly, dress him up like a mock king, and nail him to the cross because he is not like us -- he demands more than we can give, he makes us uncomfortable, he is the ultimate stranger in our midst.
I completely agree with Thom that our call is to reach out to the stranger and welcome the outsider. Where I part from him is the motivation for why we don't. It is not because of some petty prejudice or irrational political fervor. It has to do with my xenophobia, the sinful rebel who lives deep within my heart that put Jesus on the cross. For that fallenness, I need a savior who thankfully did not take my rejection of him as the final answer. Instead, he made me his very own so that I, the true outsider and stranger, can have a place of belonging with him.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Many of our congregants are familiar with the story of Anne Frank, the young Dutch girl who, along with most of her family, perished at the hands of the Nazis. A New York Times article from February 15, 2007 ("In Old Files, Fading Hopes of Anne Frank's Family," by Patricia Cohen) reveals some new insights from the final days before the Frank family went into hiding in their secret room.
Until recently it has not been generally known that in 1940-41 Anne's father, Otto, was frantically engaged in correspondence with American immigration officials, trying to get permission for the family to enter the United States. Otto had a college friend named Nathan Straus Jr., who was part of the family who co-owned the Macy's department store chain. Straus directed the Federal Housing Authority, and was a friend of Eleanor Roosevelt's.
Otto wrote to him in 1941, asking him to intervene with federal officials and to consider giving him a $5,000 loan to pay the deposit then required for a visa. "I would not ask if conditions here would not force me to do all I can in time to be able to avoid worse," he wrote. "Perhaps you remember that we have two girls. It is for the sake of the children mainly that we have to care for. Our own fate is of less importance."
As the months dragged on and Otto became increasingly desperate, he even considered a plan to obtain a Cuban visa by fraudulent means -- anything to get his family out ahead of the holocaust he could see was coming, but which few in America were aware was even a possibility.
Back then, American fears of German espionage ran high. As the article explains: "After France fell to the Germans in June 1940, fears grew in the United States of a potential fifth column of spies and saboteurs peopled by European refugees. By June of 1941, no one with close relatives still in Germany was allowed into the United States because of suspicions that the Nazis could use them to blackmail refugees into clandestine cooperation. This development closed off the possibility of getting the Frank girls out through a children's rescue agency or having Otto Frank depart first in the hopes that the rest of his family would quickly follow. By July, Germany shut down American consulates throughout its territories, retaliating for a similar action on the Americans' part. As the exchange of letters show, Otto Frank would have had to get an exit permit out of the Netherlands, and transit visas for a series of Nazi-occupied countries to one of the four neutral areas where America still had consular offices. By the summer, an escape to the United States appeared hopeless."
One question we Americans may want to ask ourselves, in the midst of the contemporary immigration debate, is how much our intricate bureaucratic web of immigration regulations is motivated by fear -- just as it was in Anne Frank's day.
Immigrants are people with hopes and dreams, just as our own ancestors were. Many of them are caught in oppressive systems beyond their control. Like our ancestors and ourselves, they are looking for a better life.
***
In one of his last interviews before he died, noted preacher and activist William Sloane Coffin told the story of a life-changing event that occurred to him during his college years. Two friends had been killed in a tragic car accident, and he attended the memorial service.
Coffin came from a family with strong roots in the church, although he did not at the time consider himself particularly religious. Something he heard in the memorial service, though, made him sit up and take notice. The priest intoned, "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away."
Coffin found himself reflecting on that word "giveth." As he explained to the interviewer, it's a word that changed his life. "I just thought, 'You know, Coffin, you're only a guest here... a guest, at best.' "
So are we all. And so, too, are the sojourners among us.
-- from an interview with Alexa Smith of the Presbyterian News Service, April 7, 2004
***
It is no use saying that we are born two thousand years too late to give room to Christ. Nor will those who live at the end of the world have been born too late. Christ is always with us, always asking for room in our hearts.
But now it is with the voice of our contemporaries that He speaks, with the eyes of store clerks, factory workers, and children that he gazes; with the hands of office workers, slum dwellers, and suburban housewives that He gives. It is with the feet of soldiers and tramps that He walks, and with the heart of anyone in need that He longs for shelter. And giving shelter or food to anyone who asks for it, or needs it, is giving it to Christ...
If we hadn't got Christ's own words for it, it would seem raving lunacy to believe that if I offer a bed and food and hospitality to some man or woman or child, my guest is Christ. There is nothing to show it, perhaps. There are no halos already glowing round their heads -- at least none that human eyes can see.
So we are not born too late. We can serve Christ by seeing him and serving him in friends and strangers, in everyone we come in contact with.
-- Dorothy Day, quoted in Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas (Plough Publishing House, 2001)
***
Josiah Royce reminds us that any person, from anywhere around the world, if they are a human being, is like us. Their life is as important to them as ours is to us. They are struggling with as many difficult problems and tough decisions as we are. They feel pain in exactly the same way that we do. They have family problems and health problems and job problems. We need to remember that, just as life is for us, so it is for them.
-- Josiah Royce, quoted in Gerald Kennedy, A Reader's Notebook, p. 27
***
E. Stanley Jones reminds us that "One is our Master and we all are brothers and sisters. That God has made of one blood all nations to dwell on the face of the earth. That all of us are people for whom Christ died."
He suggests that, in order to begin freeing ourselves from prejudice against other groups, we consider doing the following: "I will deliberately identify myself with the dispossessed and discriminated against and make their disabilities my own, until everything is thrown open to everybody on the basis of equal opportunity for all. Their cross shall be my cross; and their resurrection, my resurrection."
-- E. Stanley Jones, Abundant Living, p. 115
***
When we dropped my little four-year-old grandson off at his pre-school, I watched him run over and greet a little boy of a different race; then they both welcomed a little girl of a third race.
And I got to wondering: later that morning, when playtime was over, would the children of one of the three races insist that the children of one of the other races had to pick up all the toys for them?
And when it came time for cookies and milk, would the children of the third race insist that they themselves should have more cookies than anyone else?
-- Barbara Jurgensen
***
A major concern voiced by many people is that immigrants to our country will use up all of our resources. They view the world from what Walter Bruggeman calls a perspective of scarcity rather than a perspective of abundance. Ask any Christian whether he or she would feed the hungry if they knew that there was plenty to go around. From that perspective, think of the story of the feeding of the 5,000 as told in Matthew 14:13-21. Here is this vast crowd surrounding Jesus. Give the disciples credit for being concerned about the crowd's well-being. Like our immigrant neighbors who come looking for food, the disciples want Jesus to send the crowd back where they came from to secure food for themselves there. Instead, Jesus tells the disciples to feed the crowd. The disciples immediately respond that they don't have enough food to do that -- they only have five loaves and two fish. Yet when they are willing to give what they have to Jesus, Jesus blesses it and then asks them to risk giving what they have to the crowd. When the disciples are willing to risk, in the name of Jesus, giving what they have, than the miracle of the feeding takes place. Is it possible that our response to those who come to this country in need is preventing us from witnessing a miracle?
***
A few years ago it was popular for many people to wear bracelets with the letters WWJD that stood for "What Would Jesus Do?" A major concern expressed by some about immigration is the word "illegal." These people would be willing to help, they say, but immigrants should enter this country legally. As you think about what Jesus would do if he were faced with helping immigrants who ignored humanly-created boarders in search of a way to support their families, consider what Peter told the authorities when he was informed that he had violated a legally-issued order: "Whether it is right in God's sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard." What if Christians insisted on doing what Jesus would do in the face of such human need? In the words of James 2:14: "If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,' and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?"
***
Many immigrants from Mexico cross the border in the southwestern U.S. -- Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. In light of the fact that a good portion of these states were once legally a part of Mexico and were taken from them in the Mexican-American War, imagine God saying to us what God said through the prophet Isaiah (3:14-15): "The Lord enters into judgment with the elders and princes of his people: It is you who have devoured the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor? says the Lord God of hosts."
***
A pair of immigration-related articles that may be useful appeared in the Washington Post on August 25. One piece reports on a protest over poor working conditions organized by bicycle deliverymen for a Manhattan restaurant chain, and on the wider phenomenon of the emerging immigrant labor movement. The other piece details how the immigration issue is further politicizing a sensitive murder case in Newark, New Jersey.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Thom M. Shuman
Call to Worship
Leader: We come to worship our God,
to listen to the one who calls us here.
People: We come trusting God to lead us in the coming days,
as surely as were our grandparents in the faith.
Leader: We come to worship our God,
to shout with joy to the God of all people.
People: We come to the Creator of all things,
to be bathed in the waters of life.
Leader: We come to the Feast of God's faithful,
to be fed by the One who never forsakes us.
People: We come to worship our God,
to sing aloud to the One who saves us.
Prayer of the Day (and Our Lord's Prayer)
Yesterday, God of our days,
when our hunger for hope had so weakened us we could barely speak,
you fed us with the Bread of life,
spread with the sweet honey of your grace.
Today, Host to the poor,
when we look for you in the powerful and the rich, among the superstar and celebrity,
we will find you seated with the children,
your knees squeezed painfully under the table,
entertaining them with your stories.
Tomorrow, Spirit of Service,
when we will be scrambling for the seats of honor,
you will be in the kitchen,
cooking dinner for the prisoners,
making up the guest room for the immigrants,
singing lullabies of love to the lost children of our world.
God in Community, Holy in One:
yesterday, today, tomorrow, always,
we will pray as Jesus has taught us, saying,
Our Father . . .
Call to Reconciliation
Despite all the ways we speak of sin -- failures, mistakes, intended acts --
Scripture tells us that we are stubborn-hearted, wanting only our way.
But if we pause to listen to God,
if we open our mouths (and our hearts) to confess our sin,
God will fill us our emptiness with forgiveness and hope.
Let us pray together, as we say . . .
(Unison) Prayer of Confession
We are always uncomfortable, Watching God,
when you notice how we want to sit in the seats of honor.
We can be so proper, so good, so well-off,
that it is easy to imagine we are superior to the poor.
We are so busy completing our "to do" list each day,
that we forget to do good when we have the chance.
Forgive us, Welcoming God.
Fill our emptiness with your grace and humility,
that we would spend our lives alongside Jesus, our Lord and Savior,
throwing a party for the poor, the damaged, the prisoner, the lost, the oppressed.
(silence is kept)
Assurance of Pardon
Leader: This is the good news:
after what God has done for us, what can anyone or anything do to us?
We are new people, graced by our loving God.
People: Forgiven, embraced, welcomed by our God,
we will offer open hearts and serving hands to everyone we meet.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
Leader: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: People of God, lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them to the God who welcomes us at this Table.
Leader: Let us sing aloud to God.
People: We will offer glad songs of thanksgiving to the One who delivers us.
We would sing aloud our songs of joy to you, Master of the Universe.
Out of the emptiness of chaos, you brought forth creation,
plentiful with all we need, graced with gifts beyond imagination.
Offered the place of honor in your good Garden,
we filled our souls with worthless lies,
moving out of glory's neighborhood into the junkyard of the world.
Prophets brought your word of judgment, and your gracious invitation to come home,
but we would not listen to the advice they offered to us.
Then you sent Jesus, who humbled himself that we might be exalted.
Therefore, we come to your Table singing,
our voices joining with those in every time and in every place,
lifting our glad songs to you:
(Sanctus)
Holy are you, Mothering God,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Life.
Glorified as your True Child,
he came to show hospitality to all the strangers of the world.
Deserving of the seat of honor,
he humbles himself to serve the guests.
Refusing to let us be left in the ruthless hands of sin and death,
he entered that prison we call the grave to set us free to life with you.
As we remember his life and death,
as we come to the Table of the resurrection,
we speak of that mystery we call death:
(Memorial Acclamation)
Send your Holy Spirit upon the Bread and the Cup,
simple gifts from creation which grace us with your life,
and upon those who gather around your Table.
Fed with the finest wheat,
may we go forth to fill the lives of all whose emptiness imprisons them.
Having tasted the cup of joy,
may we bring the sweet honey of hope to those parched by despair.
Welcomed without question at your Table of grace,
may we open our hearts to throw a party for all
who have been forsaken by the world.
And when we gather around the Wedding Feast in glory,
with all the poor, the broken, the prisoners, the oppressed --
we will open our mouths to receive your joy,
and sing aloud to you our praise for all eternity:
God in Community, Holy in One.
Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Share With All
Luke 14:12-14
Object: a bag of Hershey's kisses -- enough for all the children
For today's lesson I need some help. I need two volunteers to come up here and help me show how today's lesson works. (select two children) I have with me today a bag of Hershey's kisses. I am going to give myself two kisses, and I am going to give only one of you two kisses. (do this)
Okay. Listen to a part of today's scripture reading. (read Luke 14:12-14) Did you hear what it said? Don't just do something nice for somebody who can repay you. Instead, do nice things for people who may not ever be able to repay you.
Let's look at this lesson and use our kisses as an example. I gave Mary two kisses. I have two kisses. Tommy doesn't have any kisses at all. Let's pretend that I want to share my kisses with Mary. I don't mind doing this, because Mary has some that she can share with me too. I'll give Mary one of mine, and Mary will give me one of hers. (do this) What happened? Nothing really, because Mary and I each have the same number we started with. So I shared with Mary. Big deal. It didn't really cost me anything, did it?
What if I share with Tommy? He doesn't have anything to give me in return, but it's the right thing to do. He doesn't have any chocolate at all! Here, Tommy. (give him one of your kisses) Now we each have one. That seems fair. You know what would be better, though? What if I gave him BOTH my kisses? (do this) Now I don't have any, but he and Mary have the same amount. I did something nice for Tommy. The most important thing I could do was share with him. It doesn't matter that I don't get anything in return.
That's the kind of love that Jesus wants us to have. He wants us to love others more than ourselves. Don't just share with people who will share with you. Think about sharing with those who cannot give you anything in return. It's the right thing to do.
Who wants a kiss? (hand out a kiss to each child)
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us love others the way you do. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, September 2, 2007, issue.
Copyright 2007 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 permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
