Fit For The Kingdom
Children's sermon
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Preaching
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Object:
At first glance, Jesus’ actions in this week’s lectionary gospel passage hardly seem like those we usually hold up as good pastoral work -- he appears callous and insensitive as he tells one follower to let others bury his father and another not to bother bidding farewell to his family before hitting the road. Yet in this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Chris Keating tells us that rather than being heartless Jesus is actually making an important point about the urgency of proclaiming the kingdom of God -- particularly when we might find action delayed by engaging in the usual rituals of life. As the nation still struggles to come to grips with the events in Orlando, Chris suggests that Jesus’ attitude has much to say for our current situation. While we all offer prayers and laments for what happened, those alone aren’t nearly enough -- we are also urgently called to take some sort of meaningful action... a paradigm that also should be at the forefront of our daily lives as well.
Team member Dean Feldmeyer shares some additional thoughts on this week’s alternate Psalm selection (Psalm 16) and the questions it raises about what it means to be protected by God. Dean notes that we often hear survivors of a calamity claim that they were protected by God. But those offering such facile theologizing rarely address the unspoken companion question: What about those who didn’t survive? Were they denied God’s protection? What about, for example, the victims of the Orlando shooting? Were they somehow unworthy of God’s protection? Dean suggests that the most appropriate image to envision God’s protection is that of body armor -- which, while it can be a powerful shield, is not impermeable and can be pierced by the weapons of the world. But even then, God’s protection can extend to healing... and more importantly, to being with us and helping us learn to cope with the inevitable suffering that will surely come our way.
Fit for the Kingdom
by Chris Keating
Luke 9:51-62; Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Grief was the one visitor Orlando would have gladly turned away last week.
Sucker-punched by a series of unrelated events, the world’s theme park capital set about the task of burying its own dead. Shock and grief mingled with tourists and travelers. The deaths of a rising pop singer, 49 persons at a crowded gay nightclub, and a little boy grabbed by an alligator at a Disney World resort tore at the city’s pulse.
Responses to the tragedies plunged Orlando into more twists than a rocket-propelled roller coaster. For a while the city became the number one destination for the world’s thoughts and prayers. And while prayers and thoughts for those near Disney’s Magic Kingdom are important, Jesus’ words in Luke are not words of comfort but challenge for those seeking the kingdom of God.
As news about the mass shooting circulated, congregations prayed and politicians tweeted. While some preachers used the tragedy to condemn homosexuality, others prayed for the victims and stood in solidarity with the LGBT community. Prayers convey strength and comfort, which was part of President Obama’s message to families of those who had been killed and injured. He reminded them “our hearts are broken too.”
Yet as he has done countless times before, he told the nation that prayerful intentions may not be enough. “Today, once again, as has been true too many times before, I held and hugged grieving family members and parents, and they asked, why does this keep happening?” Obama said. “And they pleaded that we do more to stop the carnage.”
As Jesus heads to Jerusalem, his message takes on that same sort of urgency. He sees those oppressed by evil and beset by disease. He looks into the faces of the grieving. But he doesn’t say “Go and pray” or “Take a moment of silence” or even “Hmm... let’s think about this.”
He says, “Come and follow me.”
There are plenty of excuses, of course: one guy needs to arrange his father’s funeral, and another needs to say goodbye to the folks at home. But like many of our responses to the increasing numbers of mass murders, while they may sound reasonable enough, they lack the urgency Jesus demands. Or, as he says, “no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
There’s an urgency about the kingdom, and Jesus reminds us that it’s time we heed the message.
In the News
As headlines about the nightclub shooting began crawling across newsfeeds, reaction was swift and emotional -- but perhaps also somewhat predictable. It’s a litany of responses that unfortunately is well-rehearsed and tragically familiar.
Soon after the shooting ended, messages of shock, horror, and comfort emerged from across the world. Artistic memes were created. Social media continued the refrain with #OrlandoStrong and #LoveWins. Pope Francis expressed dismay over the “homicidal folly and senseless hatred” expressed by the attacks. Yet the pontiff did not specifically mention who the violence was aimed at -- an omission LGBT persons found hurtful.
Religious leaders offered prayers and condolences -- including the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, who noted that “this attack against gay Americans in Orlando is an attack on each of us.” Leaders of American Muslim communities were quick to decry the shooting, saying that such acts of violence contradict Islamic teachings. Muslims were also quick to move into action, taking time during the holy moments of Ramadan to roll up their sleeves and donate blood.
A photograph of Mahmoud El-Awadi, a Muslim American donating blood, went viral, along with his Facebook message that “I’m angry for what happened last night and all the innocent lives that were lost.”
Most predictable, however, were the very visible political fissures revealed as both parties retreated to familiar positions and responses to gun violence. Donald Trump sent out a self-congratulatory tweet for having “named” the problem of terrorist attacks, and then repeated his call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, called upon the United States to increase its commitment to homeland security and to double down on gun laws. She also noted the concerns of those in the LGBT community.
The debate over gun laws seems particularly intractable. The thick division between Republicans and Democrats regarding gun control laws stifled legislation in the Senate on Monday. Four different proposals were defeated when bipartisan support could not be achieved -- despite impassioned cries from families of victims, and the changing tide of public support for federal bans on assault weapons.
While both parties want to eliminate loopholes that allow persons on national terror watch lists the ability to buy guns, neither side could agree how to make that happen.
New York Times columnist Carl Hulse called the Senate’s inability to compromise “the latest instance in which lawmakers agreed that something needed to be done on an issue of national importance, but were unable to find a way to do it in Washington’s hyperpolitical atmosphere.”
The litany of excuses, stalling techniques, and posturing -- even in the face of tragedy -- is well-rehearsed, if overplayed. Less predictable, however, might have been the determined action of Congressman Jim Himes to decry actions that are largely symbolic but ineffectual.
Not long after the shooting in Orlando, Himes, a Democrat from Connecticut, reasoned that Congress would do what it normally does following such tragedies. He knew that eventually Congress would hold a moment of silence in honor of the victims, taking time from its regular agenda to offer reflection, prayer, and solidarity with those who had died.
For Himes, however, this was no time to remain silent. His home district is not far from the Sandy Hook Elementary School. On Sunday evening, Himes watched a documentary about the Sandy Hook shooting. Sickened by the film, Himes immediately realized what Congress would do the next day. It seemed so predictable.
“Silence,” Himes said, “that is what we offer in America that supports many of the things we could do to slow the bloodbath -- silence -- not me, not anymore.”
Himes said he no longer had the stomach to stand and watch as Congress marked tragedy by ceremonial moments of silence. The gavel would sound, the chamber would be silent, and then it would be over. Himes wrote in the Washington Post that “I thought about how Congress would respond to the latest atrocity. There would be, for the umpteenth time, a moment of silence. To ‘honor’ the victims. We did it five times last year: Stop talking about sports and dinner and Donald Trump for about 10 seconds, put on our most serious faces, wonder if we’d turned off our phones. For 10 seconds.”
Without denigrating the role of prayer, Himes did wonder how many of his evangelical friends could participate in a ritual so devoid of meaning. “God will ask,” he tweeted, “why you did not defer to the will of the people as children poured out their blood. And we will answer with silence.”
It was nothing more than an abomination, Himes said, a ritual disconnected from meaning -- perhaps like Jesus’ suggestion to let the dead bury their own dead.
Himes believed that the unfathomable suffering experienced by the 49 victims and their families demanded more from Congress. An elder in the Presbyterian Church, Himes tweeted, “The Moments of Silence in the House have become an abomination. God will ask you, ‘How did you keep my children safe?’ Silence.”
He decided he could not remain silent -- that the urgency of yet another mass shooting had stripped away political formalities and was calling him to take action. “Not me,” he wrote, “not anymore.”
Instead, he walked out.
Himes left the House chamber as Speaker Paul Ryan called the body to a moment of silence. Himes said his decision to leave was not a rejection of prayer, but rather an indictment of Congress’ inability to bolster ceremonial reflection with legislation that could prevent future mass slayings. He was adamant that Congress’ failure to take action on gun laws betrayed a certain shallowness among legislators. He explained his position in the Washington Post:
If the House of Representatives had a solitary moral fiber, even a wisp of human empathy, we would spend moments not in silence, but screaming at painful volume the names of the 49 whose bodies were ripped apart in Orlando, and the previous victims and the ones before them. We’d invite parents and partners and siblings up from Orlando, and ask them to speak, openly, rawly, honestly about their pain. We’d listen. And maybe, just maybe, we’d hear.
In town squares, houses of worship, and stadiums, moments of silence are fine emblems of our concern. But Congress houses the 535 people who could come together to pass measures that would reduce the bloody mayhem now so prominently featured in daily American life.
But, like the would-be followers of Jesus, Congress held to the status quo. What had seemed urgent seemed to butt against the predictable. As flowers surrounding memorials to the 49 persons who died began to fade, the only thing that seemed to have changed since the tragedies in Orlando were new fences along beaches at Walt Disney World and warnings about alligators. By Monday, excuses for not restricting terrorists on FBI watch lists from legally purchasing weapons sounded as familiar as the would-be disciples of Jesus who were eager to follow him, though only on their terms.
But Jesus indicates that being fit for the kingdom requires a less than predictable response. Such responses, urges Paul, reflect a life guided by the Spirit.
In the Scriptures
Determined to press ahead toward Jerusalem, Jesus in this passage from Luke begins spelling out the rigorous demands placed upon disciples. The time has come, and now is, when disciples will respond with resolute commitment. Being fit for the kingdom means accepting a no-holds-barred approach to following Jesus -- even if that means ignoring your opponent’s inhospitable reaction. This is simply no time for a tepid response.
Jesus has resolved to go to Jerusalem, and now seeks to prepare those who would follow him for what lies ahead. This is no time for politics as usual; instead, Jesus instructs the disciples on wise stewardship of power (9:55) and the necessity of a single-minded focus on seeking the kingdom.
His rebuke of the disciples is a reminder of how kingdom priorities reshape behaviors. Disciples are called not to retaliate but to seek peace. When the disciples encounter resistance in Samaria, he calls them to remain focused on the matters at hand. It’s a reminder to all who bear Christ’s name that discipleship will bring rejection, persecution, and even hostile public opinion. In spite of this, Jesus calls the disciples to keep moving.
Discipleship is a daunting task. Its demands include relinquishing the security of home and the comforts of possessions (9:58). It is a task that recasts what is urgent, drawing a line between activities of daily living and activities of kingdom living. The single-minded focus of the disciple includes going against the grain of societal norms, as Elaine Heath observes in Feasting on the Word. Aside from practical matters, burying the dead was required by faithful Jews. In response to what seems a reasonable excuse, Jesus instead points those who would follow him toward a realignment of priorities. The call to discipleship means eschewing normal activities.
To be fit for the kingdom means plunging forward -- just as Jesus continues to the cross. There are no excuses for not moving forward with the urgent mission of God (F. Scott Spencer, The Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles [Abingdon Press, 2008], p. 208). Tasks that are important, even critical, to daily life are reshaped by Jesus’ invitation to participate in the unfolding of God’s kingdom. As Spencer observes, the way of Jesus is a tough row to hoe -- there’s no looking back.
In the Sermon
Jesus invites those who would follow him to begin the journey to the cross. It’s a single-minded commitment expressed in terms of urgency and focus. In Galatians, Paul describes life as a disciple as a life under the Spirit’s control -- a life that bears the fruit of discipleship, that is demonstrated by self-control and gentleness, and that is manifest in love for the neighbor. To be led by the Spirit is to be led into a life of rigorous discipleship.
But many will not answer the call to discipleship. Indeed, as evidenced in this week’s lectionary readings, discipleship can be so discomforting that the status quo seems preferable -- especially on a hot, sticky summer Sunday. The question is not just how to preach this text in light of the Orlando shootings, but also how to preach the demands of discipleship on a day when many would rather answer the call to go swimming or play golf.
As our congregations gather for worship, they seek sanctuary from hostilities. In a way, we are not unlike the disciples who entered Samaria. They go, hopeful and empowered to proclaim the joy of the gospel -- and yet their membership campaign fails miserably. Acknowledging that the disciples fall short may yield a bit of comfort to contemporary disciples faced with demands as mundane as recruiting Vacation Bible School volunteers or as complex as speaking out against acts of hatred and violence.
But to hear “let the dead bury their own dead” in the wake of the worst mass shooting in United States history could bring the conversation to an abrupt ending if not interpreted with nimble pastoral imagination. The invitation by Jesus is clear, but so are the realities exposed by one man’s act of terror. Which word can be preached?
The promise Jesus offers is a life guided by the Spirit. Despite roadblocks on the pathways of discipleship, Jesus’ followers move forward with determination. They reject excuses that do not offer life. They do not stick around places of death, and instead proclaim messages of life. They carry out the urgent mission of the gospel, and do not play politics as usual.
The sermon could place the call to discipleship against the larger landscape of the cross. God has come near to the world, and calls the world (in Paul’s words) to lives controlled by the Spirit. Such discipleship means setting down weapons so that we may seek the welfare of our neighbors. And, as one t-shirt proclaims, this means “thy homeless neighbor, thy Muslim neighbor, thy black neighbor, thy gay neighbor, thy immigrant neighbor...”
That is what it means to be fit for the kingdom.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Like Armor
by Dean Feldmeyer
Psalm 16
Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. -- Psalm 16:1
In January 2016, Hunter Hanks and Arika Stovall were driving back to college in Tennessee when Hunter lost control of his truck and it slammed into the pillar of an overpass.
The truck was completely destroyed. A picture of it on Fox News shows a heap of twisted metal that cannot be identified as even a vehicle, much less a truck. In that picture, both Hunter and Arika are standing in front of the destroyed truck, bandaged and bruised but very much alive. The photo was taken just two days after the accident.
Reflecting on the incident, Arika said this on Facebook: “I’m overwhelmed at how little damage was done to Hunter and I in a wreck that should have chopped our bodies in half. I’m in awe of the presence of God in this entire situation. Every part of this experience we went through points directly to Him. The way God helped Hunter to respond exactly the way he did behind the wheel, spinning the truck exactly where it should have to be able to smash into the pillar directly in the middle of me and Hunter so we were both untouched... that doesn’t just happen. God doesn’t throw protection around like that for no reason. He does it because he’s not finished with us.”
Granted, no one expects sophisticated, systematic theological reflection from a 21-year-old college student who is still healing from injuries received in a devastating car crash.
But five months after the fact, the people of God do owe it to ourselves, to our faith, and the world to take her reflections a bit deeper and to ask some important questions. For instance:
In 2014 (the last year for which figures have been compiled) there were 29,989 fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States in which 32,675 people were killed. If we theologize, as Arika does, that she and Hunter were not killed or even seriously injured in their accident because God protected them and that the reason for that protection was because God was not yet finished with them, then does it follow that God refused to protect those other 32,675 people because God was in fact finished with them?
Is that what we can expect from a God whose grace is without end and whose love is from everlasting to everlasting? Are we just pawns on God’s cosmic chessboard -- protected as long as God has a need for us, only to be tossed aside or killed when we are no longer of use?
And how is it that God needs us? If God is God, does God ever really need anyone?
Interestingly and tragically, another story on the ABC news website in close proximity to one on Hunter and Arika is one which brings these questions to the very front and holds them in stark relief.
It’s a story with this headline: Parents “Grieve Loss of Their Son” After Gator Attack. This is the story you have all probably read or heard about of the child killed by an alligator at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Matt and Melissa Graves of Elkhorn, Nebraska, were on the third day of their week-long vacation with their 2-year-old son Lane. He was playing in about 10-12 inches of water around dusk when a 6- to 7-foot alligator snatched him and dragged him into the water. Matt tried desperately to pull his child from the jaws of the alligator, but was unsuccessful. The child’s body was recovered intact about 1:30 p.m. the following day.
Was God “finished” with Lane? If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that we cry aloud with everyone else: “If God is in the protection business, then why did God not protect this innocent child?”
And then there is the lighter side of this discussion.
Alec Ndiwane was at South Africa’s Kruger National Park with some other parishioners from the Pretoria-based Zion Christian Church when he went into a trance and started speaking in tongues. Confident that God would protect him, he leapt from the vehicle he was riding in and charged a pride of lions who were casually dining on an impala carcass.
Understandably irritated at having their dinner interrupted, the lions refused to accept Ndiwane’s dominion over them and charged right back. The evangelical Christian churchman came to his senses and turned to run back to the truck -- but as anyone who has watched Wild Kingdom knows, lions are fast and ferocious.
One of them caught up to him, reached out with those famous claws, and pretty much shredded Mr. Ndiwane’s buttocks, an injury for which the safari had to be cut short so he could be rushed to the hospital. When he finally spoke of his experience, he said: “I don’t know what came over me. I thought the Lord wanted to use me to show his power over animals.”
Really? Is that how God works this protection thing?
What Does the Bible Say?
Scripture is, sadly, not much help in this regard.
There is virtually no end to the biblical assertions that God will protect the faithful, the innocent, the obedient, the humble, the honest, and on and on.
Here are just a few of the scores of passages that make those assertions:
Psalm 121:7-8: “The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.”
Proverbs 1:33: “...but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
Proverbs 19:23: “The fear of the Lord leads to life; one will sleep at night without danger.”
Psalm 91:9-10: “Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.”
Proverbs 12:21: “No harm comes to the godly, but the wicked have their fill of trouble.”
Ecclesiastes 8:5: “Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.”
And lest we think that this is an archaic, Old Testament notion, look carefully at the Lord’s Prayer -- which most of us pray at least weekly, if not more often: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil...”
At the same time, the psalms are painfully honest when they lament that God is not protecting them:
Psalm 22:1: “My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?”
Psalm 27:9: “Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger... Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation!”
Psalm 88:6-7: “You have put me in the lowest pit, in dark places, in the depths. Your wrath has rested upon me, and you have afflicted me with all your waves.”
Psalm 130:1: “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.”
And we dare not leave poor Job out of this discussion: “But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him” (Job 23:8-9).
Psalm 16 begins with the psalmist asking for God’s protection, but David doesn’t theologize much about it. After the initial request, then he justifies his request with precedent. God has protected him in the past, so he expects God to continue doing so. He has worshiped and respected God with his body, his heart, and his mind, and he expects a quid pro quo from YHWH.
What we get from the Bible seems to be that sometimes God protects us and sometimes God doesn’t protect us, and that’s just the way it is. We have to trust God and hope for the best, remember all the times from the past when we were saved or spared through no action of our own, and hope that God will continue to save and spare us like that.
But for many of us, this is an unsatisfactory answer.
We feel like the mouse caught in a maze, whose only knowledge is that sometimes when we ring the bell we get fed and sometimes we get shocked... and let’s hope that this time it will be food.
But this is God we’re talking about. This is the Living Lord, the God of Abraham and Jacob and Ruth and Mary and Jesus and Paul. This is the God from whose love we will, as Paul tells us in Romans, never be separated. There must be something more in our relationship with God than this seemingly on-again/off-again protection.
God As Interventionist
My lifelong study of this theological conundrum has not led me to a fully perfect answer. But I believe that the late Marcus Borg came very close to one that comes from the experiential perspective. I quote him here at length:
But to say that God is everywhere and in everything does not mean that God is the cause, directly or indirectly, of everything that happens. To say the obvious, utterly horrible things happen in the world, and with great frequency. To imagine that these somehow fit into the long-term purposes of God is blasphemous. Rather, we are creatures who are able to act (as we often do) in ways contrary to God’s purpose and dream.
And more: tragedies like the shootings and deaths at Virginia Tech indicate, in my judgment, that thinking of God as an interventionist is impossible as well as unhelpful. If God could have intervened to stop this (or the Holocaust, or 9/11, or the war in Iraq, or the individual tragedies that never make the news), but chose not to, what kind of sense does that make?
We live in a world still under the sway of “the powers” -- powers in individual and collective lives that lead us away from God and God’s passion for life on earth.
But in the midst of all this, there is a source of sustenance that can help us in the darkest night. The most concise expression of this that I have heard comes from the late William Sloane Coffin. He said -- and I am confident of his “gist,” if not his exact words: “God provides maximum support, but minimal protection.”
Does God as an interventionist protect us? No. Does God provide a means of support in the midst of our tragedies? Yes.
God protects us from some of the pain of grief by teaching us how to grieve appropriately through the occasional losses that life hands to us.
God protects us from hate by teaching us how to love.
God protects us from loneliness and abandonment by showing us how to be friends.
But all of these protections, and the myriad others which God lays over us, are like the body armor which police officers and soldiers wear into battle. While it can protect them from some high-impact bullets, a sharp knife pushed slowly can penetrate it like butter. God’s protections can protect us somewhat, but they can’t keep us from being hurt. There are chinks, gaps in the armor though which projectiles can and sometimes do penetrate.
And when they do, then we place our lives in the hands of those whose gifts are the gifts of healing -- and we pray that their gifts will be sufficient for the day. But even if they aren’t, there is a God waiting for us who loves us more than any singing of it.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Ron Love:
Luke 9:51-62
Bethany Hamilton lost her left arm to a shark attack when she was surfing at the age of 13. After her recovery, she continued with her passion for surfing. Now at 26, she is in position to become the best women’s competitive surfer. Hamilton said, “I’ve had a lot of successes in surfing, and I think so much of it is your attitude, and keeping your hope alive to do what you love to do.”
Application: Jesus spoke to be his followers that you need to have the right attitude.
*****
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
The body of 2-year-old Lane Graves was found 16 hours after an alligator dragged him underwater and drowned him. The incident happened when Lane was wading in a foot of water at the Seven Seas Lagoon at Walt Disney World. There were signs that said “no swimming,” but none that cautioned about the presence of alligators -- which the park knew were present.
Application: We cannot deceive ourselves into thinking that if we have Elijah’s mantle we can make alligators and other problems magically disappear, even if we are staying as a guest in the Magic Kingdom.
*****
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
In a Frank & Ernest comic strip, two dinosaurs are standing on the edge of a cliff and looking up into the sky. It is obvious that a large meteor is crashing to earth, which one theory says caused the extinction of dinosaurs. Watching the meteor, one dinosaur says to the other: “Is it just me, or is that the falling star you wished upon getting bigger?”
Application: Elisha knew what was proper to wish for.
*****
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
In this presidential election season, voters seem to be in the position of selecting the least desirable candidate. Donald Trump has been criticized for his for-profit university that emphasized real estate courses, but mainly tried to get students to invest in bogus programs. To counter this, Hillary Clinton is being criticized for the for-profit online university known as Laureate Education. This university lost a lawsuit because it delayed the graduation of students in order to gain more fees. Bill Clinton was honorary chancellor for the university, for which he was paid $16.5 million.
Application: It would seem that there is a lot of “flesh” living among our two presidential candidates.
*****
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
In the classic 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate, Major Bennett Marco (portrayed by Frank Sinatra) said, “Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.” Shaw was not that, as brainwashing had made him an assassin. This is why Dr. Yen Lo (Khigh Dhiegh) could say, “His brain has not only been washed, as they say, it has been dry-cleaned.”
Application: Those who live only for the flesh may have had their brains dry-cleaned.
*****
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
President Obama, after visiting the site of the Orlando shootings, once again promoted sane gun control measures. He ended his remarks by saying, “I do hope senators can rise to the moment and do the right thing.”
Application: To live by the spirit is to be able to rise up and do the right thing.
*****
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
In endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, Barack Obama said, “I don’t think there’s ever been someone so qualified to hold this office.” Political columnist Cal Thomas took issue with this, writing in rebuttal: “Really? She would be equal to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and himself.” Thomas, who is not a Clinton supporter, did caution Obama to be more careful in his choice of words to keep things in perspective.
Application: When we live by the spirit, we understand both our gifts and our limitations.
*****
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
The documentary Crossing the Line is about PFC James Dresnok and three other soldiers, who in a course of 18 months during the 1960s deserted the Army. The four crossed over the DMZ from South Korea into North Korea, expecting a better life. After several months they realized they did not fit into the homogenous Korean culture, so together they went to the Russian embassy to seek asylum in Russia. They thought the Russians would accept them because, in their words, the Russians were “white” like us. They arrived at the embassy, only to be turned over to North Korean officials. Now, 40 years later, they are still in North Korea.
Application: If you are going to stand firm, you better be sure what you are standing firm for.
*****
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
It is disturbing that during this presidential election Jeb Bush would not campaign using his family name. Instead we got “JEB 2016” and “Jeb Can Fix It!” With Hillary Clinton it is the same -- we get “I’m With Hillary” or “I’m With Her!” It is said that they both desired to separate themselves from their family heritage, as if it is something they cannot be proud of.
Application: Standing firm, as stated in our lesson, means just that. It means to stand firm as a Bush, a Clinton, or as who you are with pride and integrity.
*****
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
It has been reported that Florence County, South Carolina had only an 18.5% turnout for the June 14 primary election. Out of nearly 85,000 registered voters, only 15,648 voters cast their ballots. Even given that only Republicans and incumbents win elections in that county, the turnout was still embarrassingly low.
Application: To stand firm means to stand for what we believe -- which means we do vote, even in obvious outcomes, as well as standing firm in other endeavors.
***************
From team member Mary Austin:
Luke 9:51-62
Start Before You’re Ready
Jesus encounters people who want to follow him, but who feel the tug of other obligations -- they’re not quite ready. Business mogul Richard Branson (Virgin Airlines) says that the secret of success is just to get going. After interviewing Branson, author James Clear says that “Branson is an extreme example, but we could all learn something from his approach. If you want to summarize the habits of successful people into one phrase, it’s this: successful people start before they feel ready. If there was ever someone who embodied the idea of starting before they felt ready to do so, it’s Branson. The very name of his business empire, Virgin, was chosen because when Branson and his partners started they were ‘virgins’ when it came to business.”
Clear adds, “Branson has started so many businesses, ventures, charities, and expeditions that it’s simply not possible for him to have felt prepared, qualified, and ready to start all of them. In fact, it’s unlikely that he was qualified or prepared to start any of them. He had never flown a plane and didn’t know anything about the engineering of planes, but he started an airline company anyway. He is a perfect example of why the ‘chosen ones’ choose themselves.”
Inspired by Branson, and looking at the difference between him and other businesspeople, Clear says: “If you’re working on something important, then you’ll never feel ready. A side effect of doing challenging work is that you’re pulled by excitement and pushed by confusion at the same time. You’re bound to feel uncertain, unprepared, and unqualified. But let me assure you of this: what you have right now is enough. You can plan, delay, and revise all you want, but trust me, what you have now is enough to start. It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to start a business, lose weight, write a book, or achieve any number of goals... who you are, what you have, and what you know right now is good enough to get going.” He urges us all to start before we feel ready -- just as Jesus does.
*****
Psalm 16
Letting Go of Protection
Author Brené Brown observes that we have many ways to protect ourselves, but if we want to grow in hope and courage we have to loosen our hold on the things that protect us. She says: “I always ask a very simple question to people. I just say, think of the last time you did something that you thought was really brave or the last time you saw someone do something really brave. And I can tell you as a researcher -- 11,000 pieces of data -- I cannot find a single example of courage, moral courage, spiritual courage, leadership courage, relational courage, I cannot find a single example of courage that was not born completely of vulnerability. We buy into some mythology about vulnerability being weakness and being gullibility and being frailty because it gives us permission not to do it.”
Brown says that we are all fearful, but that too much protection stunts our spiritual growth. Relying on our own protection, instead of God’s care, leaves us diminished: “I have seen fear absolutely run roughshod over our families. And I have seen us go to these crazy lengths to protect ourselves and our children from the uncertainty of the world today. I’ve not only seen that through my lens as a researcher, but certainly experienced it as a parent, and as a college professor. I see students come to us who have never had experiences, real experiences, with adversity. And how that shows up is hopelessness.” Too much protection is not good for the soul.
*****
Psalm 16
Counting on that Alarm System?
Many people count on home alarm systems to protect them and their possessions, but the New York Times says that there may be more gaps in the coverage than people realize: “There are about 36 million security systems in the United States, half of them in homes. Revenue for the industry was $28.2 billion in 2009, according to the Installation Business Report, an annual survey published by Security Sales & Integration Magazine. So a lot of people apparently think their homes are going to be impervious to burglars.” A power outage can knock out the battery. Even a working alarm depends on police response time, which can be slow. Burglaries are a low priority for law enforcement, in part because an estimated 80% of calls are false alarms.
However, there are other benefits to an alarm system: “A study released last year by the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University found that the real value of security systems was that they protected entire neighborhoods. The study, which focused on Newark from 2001 to 2005, found that residential break-ins decreased as the density of alarms in an area increased.” There’s a community aspect to being protected.
*****
Psalm 16
The Protection We Offer Each Other
God is the ultimate source of protection, but there are times when we can use our power and influence to offer protection to each other. Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg remains one of the most intriguing and compelling figures of World War II Europe. According to the Holocaust Museum and Memorial history, Wallenberg used the power of his office as a diplomat to extend protection to Jewish people in Hungary, where he was serving during the war: “After the Hungarian fascist Arrow Cross movement seized power with the help of the Germans on October 15, 1944, the Arrow Cross government resumed the deportation of Hungarian Jews.... Hungarian authorities forced tens of thousands of Budapest Jews to march west to the Hungarian border with Austria. During the autumn of 1944, Wallenberg repeatedly -- and often personally -- intervened to secure the release of those with certificates of protection or forged papers, saving as many people as he could from the marching columns.” To shield the Jews from deportation, “Wallenberg began distributing certificates of protection issued by the Swedish legation to Jews in Budapest.... He used... funds to establish hospitals, nurseries, and a soup kitchen, and to designate more than 30 ‘safe’ houses that together formed the core of the ‘international ghetto’ in Budapest. The international ghetto was reserved for Jews and their families holding certificates of protection from a neutral country.” Under the protection of Sweden, the Jews were not supposed to be taken to concentration camps.
At the end of the war, 100,000 Jews were still alive in Budapest. Sadly, the protection Wallenberg gave to others did not extend to his own life. He is believed to have been taken by the Russian army and is thought to have died in Russia in 1947, although the circumstances remain a mystery.
*****
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Freedom
“For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery,” Paul exhorts the Galatians. Our freedom is for something -- in service of a greater calling. It turns out that giving up some of our freedom may serve us even better. An article in Wired notes that if we need to create something, obstacles actually help: “One of the many paradoxes of human creativity is that it seems to benefit from constraints. Although we imagine the imagination as requiring total freedom, the reality of the creative process is that it’s often entangled with strict conventions and formal requirements.” A study explains: “It turns out that the obstacles of form come with an unexpected psychological perk, allowing people to think in a more all-encompassing fashion... [obstacles] expand our conceptual scope, allowing us to consider a greater range of possibilities and ideas.”
As the article says, the brain “spends a lot of time and energy choosing what not to notice. As a result, creativity is traded away for efficiency.... And this is why constraints are so important: It’s not until we encounter an unexpected hindrance -- a challenge we can’t easily resolve -- that the chains of cognition are loosened, giving us newfound access to the weird connections simmering in the unconscious.”
The same is true in our faith -- we choose to follow Jesus, trading away lots of the choices we could make in order to pursue the choice to serve God more fully. Paradoxically, that constraint takes us deeper into the freedom God offers us.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: In the day of trouble, let us seek our God.
People: Let us call to mind the deeds that God has done.
Leader: Let us meditate on the works of God.
People: Let us muse on God’s mighty deeds.
Leader: Our God is the one who works wonders.
People: God has displayed holy might among all the peoples.
OR
Leader: Protect us, O God, for in you we take refuge.
People: “You are our God; we have no good apart from you.”
Leader: Let us bless God, who gives us counsel.
People: In the night also let our hearts instruct us.
Leader: Let us keep our God always before us.
People: Because God is at our right hand, we shall not be moved.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”
found in:
UMH: 110
H82: 687, 688
PH: 260
AAHH: 124
NNBH: 37
NCH: 439, 440
CH: 65
LBW: 228, 229
ELA: 503, 504, 505
W&P: 588
AMEC: 54
STLT: 200
“O God, Our Help in Ages Past”
found in:
UMH: 117
H82: 680
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
ELA: 632
W&P: 84
AMEC: 61
STLT: 281
“Great Is Thy Faithfulness”
found in:
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
ELA: 733
W&P: 72
AMEC: 84
Renew: 249
“O Zion, Haste”
found in:
UMH: 573
H82: 539
NNBH: 429
LBW: 397
ELA: 668
AMEC: 566
“God of Grace and God of Glory”
found in:
UMH: 577
H82: 594, 595
PH: 420
NCH: 436
CH: 464
LBW: 415
ELA: 705
W&P: 569
AMEC: 62
STLT: 115
Renew: 301
“Sois la Semilla” (“You Are the Seed”)
found in:
UMH: 583
NCH: 528
CH: 478
“Lord, You Give the Great Commission”
found in:
UMH: 584
NCH: 528
CH: 478
Renew: 305
“People Need the Lord”
found in:
CCB: 52
“I Call You Faithful”
found in:
CCB: 70
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
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is ever seeking wholeness and blessing for all creation: Give us the wisdom to take our mission passionately, that we might bring your reign to its fullness; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, for you are always at work wooing your creation to find wholeness and blessing in you. Send your Spirit upon us once again, that we might be filled with the urgency to spread your reign around us. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially the casualness with which we take our mission.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. While you are constantly at work trying to redeem your creation, we go about our daily lives as if the work you left for us is unimportant. We fail to see that our lack of sharing the good news and bringing others more fully into your reign is a betrayal of our discipleship. Send your Spirit upon us to awaken us and motivate us to once again take up the mission of Jesus. Amen.
Leader: God is seeking to redeem the world, and we are a major part of that redemption. Receive God’s forgiveness and power, and share the gospel message with those around you.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise you, O God, for your faithfulness in the work of salvation. You are constantly at work to bring salvation to all of 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. While you are constantly at work trying to redeem your creation, we go about our daily lives as if the work you left for us is unimportant. We fail to see that our lack of sharing the good news and bringing others more fully into your reign is a betrayal of our discipleship. Send your Spirit upon us to awaken us and motivate us to once again take up the mission of Jesus.
We give you thanks for the ways in which you are bringing wholeness to our lives. We thank you for the blessings we have received from your bountiful hand.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for the needs of your world. We lift up those who live in brokenness and pain. We pray for ourselves, that we might be more attuned to the needs of those around us so that we can be part of your healing and blessing.
(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
Talk to the children about the way in which police and fire departments respond to a call. Talk about why they use the lights and sirens -- they know it is important for them to get where they are needed. We are Jesus’ disciples, and we are needed too. We don’t have lights and sirens, but we have the love of God to share with those around us who might be lonely or sad.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Are You Ready?
by Robin Lostetter
Luke 9:51-62
Good morning! How are you today?
Can anyone tell me something new they did this week? (Take some answers, and try to find one that might have involved a little risk or fear -- some level of being unsure they were prepared.)
So, may I ask you... did you feel ready? Like, were you 100% sure you could do this? Were you completely prepared and didn’t feel it was even a tiny bit risky? (Work with their answer, and maybe take another child’s example -- these questions to the first may prompt another!)
We were all babies at one time. We don’t remember taking our first step... but maybe we’ve seen a younger brother or sister, or a friend’s baby take its first step. Do you think it said to itself, “I’m ready, I can walk across the room right now”? No, you’re right. That first step was probably tentative. And then a grownup encouraged the baby to let go of whatever it was clinging to and walk to it, and the baby learned that it could walk without holding on!
How about riding a bike? How did you feel when you first sat on the bike seat and someone was going to let go of the bike? Yes, it was scary at first; you didn’t feel ready.
But both you and the baby learning to walk had all you needed to start that new adventure! You and they were ready, even though you might have been a little worried. You had all that you needed -- to walk, to ride a bike [or to do whatever they mentioned earlier].
It’s a little like what Jesus is saying in Luke. Sometimes we read his words as unfeeling -- that he says to people to just leave other people and your responsibilities behind and follow me. But I think maybe he was saying, “No more excuses! You’re as ready as you’ll ever be to follow me!” You know, the disciples did see their families and their hometowns again -- we know stories about Jesus visiting Peter and Andrew’s house and healing Peter’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31). They didn’t give up their families -- Jesus always taught us to love one another, and that includes our families.
The point was that anyone is ready, any time, to follow Jesus! Right now! You can be ready, I can be ready, and so can all the people sitting in the congregation! All we have to do is say, “Yes, Jesus, I’ll follow you.” Then we try to do the things that Jesus asks disciples to do... to help feed the poor, to pray for our enemies, to love everybody... things like that.
(If you have time, you could talk about how your church feeds the poor or other ministries.)
Let’s pray: Jesus, thank you for calling us. We want to follow you; sometimes it’s easy, but sometimes it seems hard. Help us make good choices. Help us love everyone, and help us when it’s especially hard to pray for our enemies. Amen.
Note: Author James Clear says, “If you’re working on something important, then you’ll never feel ready. A side effect of doing challenging work is that you’re pulled by excitement and pushed by confusion at the same time. You’re bound to feel uncertain, unprepared, and unqualified. But let me assure you of this: what you have right now is enough. You can plan, delay, and revise all you want, but trust me, what you have now is enough to start. It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to start a business, lose weight, write a book, or achieve any number of goals... who you are, what you have, and what you know right now is good enough to get going.” He urges us all to start before we feel ready -- just as Jesus does.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, June 26, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2016 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 Dean Feldmeyer shares some additional thoughts on this week’s alternate Psalm selection (Psalm 16) and the questions it raises about what it means to be protected by God. Dean notes that we often hear survivors of a calamity claim that they were protected by God. But those offering such facile theologizing rarely address the unspoken companion question: What about those who didn’t survive? Were they denied God’s protection? What about, for example, the victims of the Orlando shooting? Were they somehow unworthy of God’s protection? Dean suggests that the most appropriate image to envision God’s protection is that of body armor -- which, while it can be a powerful shield, is not impermeable and can be pierced by the weapons of the world. But even then, God’s protection can extend to healing... and more importantly, to being with us and helping us learn to cope with the inevitable suffering that will surely come our way.
Fit for the Kingdom
by Chris Keating
Luke 9:51-62; Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Grief was the one visitor Orlando would have gladly turned away last week.
Sucker-punched by a series of unrelated events, the world’s theme park capital set about the task of burying its own dead. Shock and grief mingled with tourists and travelers. The deaths of a rising pop singer, 49 persons at a crowded gay nightclub, and a little boy grabbed by an alligator at a Disney World resort tore at the city’s pulse.
Responses to the tragedies plunged Orlando into more twists than a rocket-propelled roller coaster. For a while the city became the number one destination for the world’s thoughts and prayers. And while prayers and thoughts for those near Disney’s Magic Kingdom are important, Jesus’ words in Luke are not words of comfort but challenge for those seeking the kingdom of God.
As news about the mass shooting circulated, congregations prayed and politicians tweeted. While some preachers used the tragedy to condemn homosexuality, others prayed for the victims and stood in solidarity with the LGBT community. Prayers convey strength and comfort, which was part of President Obama’s message to families of those who had been killed and injured. He reminded them “our hearts are broken too.”
Yet as he has done countless times before, he told the nation that prayerful intentions may not be enough. “Today, once again, as has been true too many times before, I held and hugged grieving family members and parents, and they asked, why does this keep happening?” Obama said. “And they pleaded that we do more to stop the carnage.”
As Jesus heads to Jerusalem, his message takes on that same sort of urgency. He sees those oppressed by evil and beset by disease. He looks into the faces of the grieving. But he doesn’t say “Go and pray” or “Take a moment of silence” or even “Hmm... let’s think about this.”
He says, “Come and follow me.”
There are plenty of excuses, of course: one guy needs to arrange his father’s funeral, and another needs to say goodbye to the folks at home. But like many of our responses to the increasing numbers of mass murders, while they may sound reasonable enough, they lack the urgency Jesus demands. Or, as he says, “no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
There’s an urgency about the kingdom, and Jesus reminds us that it’s time we heed the message.
In the News
As headlines about the nightclub shooting began crawling across newsfeeds, reaction was swift and emotional -- but perhaps also somewhat predictable. It’s a litany of responses that unfortunately is well-rehearsed and tragically familiar.
Soon after the shooting ended, messages of shock, horror, and comfort emerged from across the world. Artistic memes were created. Social media continued the refrain with #OrlandoStrong and #LoveWins. Pope Francis expressed dismay over the “homicidal folly and senseless hatred” expressed by the attacks. Yet the pontiff did not specifically mention who the violence was aimed at -- an omission LGBT persons found hurtful.
Religious leaders offered prayers and condolences -- including the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, who noted that “this attack against gay Americans in Orlando is an attack on each of us.” Leaders of American Muslim communities were quick to decry the shooting, saying that such acts of violence contradict Islamic teachings. Muslims were also quick to move into action, taking time during the holy moments of Ramadan to roll up their sleeves and donate blood.
A photograph of Mahmoud El-Awadi, a Muslim American donating blood, went viral, along with his Facebook message that “I’m angry for what happened last night and all the innocent lives that were lost.”
Most predictable, however, were the very visible political fissures revealed as both parties retreated to familiar positions and responses to gun violence. Donald Trump sent out a self-congratulatory tweet for having “named” the problem of terrorist attacks, and then repeated his call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, called upon the United States to increase its commitment to homeland security and to double down on gun laws. She also noted the concerns of those in the LGBT community.
The debate over gun laws seems particularly intractable. The thick division between Republicans and Democrats regarding gun control laws stifled legislation in the Senate on Monday. Four different proposals were defeated when bipartisan support could not be achieved -- despite impassioned cries from families of victims, and the changing tide of public support for federal bans on assault weapons.
While both parties want to eliminate loopholes that allow persons on national terror watch lists the ability to buy guns, neither side could agree how to make that happen.
New York Times columnist Carl Hulse called the Senate’s inability to compromise “the latest instance in which lawmakers agreed that something needed to be done on an issue of national importance, but were unable to find a way to do it in Washington’s hyperpolitical atmosphere.”
The litany of excuses, stalling techniques, and posturing -- even in the face of tragedy -- is well-rehearsed, if overplayed. Less predictable, however, might have been the determined action of Congressman Jim Himes to decry actions that are largely symbolic but ineffectual.
Not long after the shooting in Orlando, Himes, a Democrat from Connecticut, reasoned that Congress would do what it normally does following such tragedies. He knew that eventually Congress would hold a moment of silence in honor of the victims, taking time from its regular agenda to offer reflection, prayer, and solidarity with those who had died.
For Himes, however, this was no time to remain silent. His home district is not far from the Sandy Hook Elementary School. On Sunday evening, Himes watched a documentary about the Sandy Hook shooting. Sickened by the film, Himes immediately realized what Congress would do the next day. It seemed so predictable.
“Silence,” Himes said, “that is what we offer in America that supports many of the things we could do to slow the bloodbath -- silence -- not me, not anymore.”
Himes said he no longer had the stomach to stand and watch as Congress marked tragedy by ceremonial moments of silence. The gavel would sound, the chamber would be silent, and then it would be over. Himes wrote in the Washington Post that “I thought about how Congress would respond to the latest atrocity. There would be, for the umpteenth time, a moment of silence. To ‘honor’ the victims. We did it five times last year: Stop talking about sports and dinner and Donald Trump for about 10 seconds, put on our most serious faces, wonder if we’d turned off our phones. For 10 seconds.”
Without denigrating the role of prayer, Himes did wonder how many of his evangelical friends could participate in a ritual so devoid of meaning. “God will ask,” he tweeted, “why you did not defer to the will of the people as children poured out their blood. And we will answer with silence.”
It was nothing more than an abomination, Himes said, a ritual disconnected from meaning -- perhaps like Jesus’ suggestion to let the dead bury their own dead.
Himes believed that the unfathomable suffering experienced by the 49 victims and their families demanded more from Congress. An elder in the Presbyterian Church, Himes tweeted, “The Moments of Silence in the House have become an abomination. God will ask you, ‘How did you keep my children safe?’ Silence.”
He decided he could not remain silent -- that the urgency of yet another mass shooting had stripped away political formalities and was calling him to take action. “Not me,” he wrote, “not anymore.”
Instead, he walked out.
Himes left the House chamber as Speaker Paul Ryan called the body to a moment of silence. Himes said his decision to leave was not a rejection of prayer, but rather an indictment of Congress’ inability to bolster ceremonial reflection with legislation that could prevent future mass slayings. He was adamant that Congress’ failure to take action on gun laws betrayed a certain shallowness among legislators. He explained his position in the Washington Post:
If the House of Representatives had a solitary moral fiber, even a wisp of human empathy, we would spend moments not in silence, but screaming at painful volume the names of the 49 whose bodies were ripped apart in Orlando, and the previous victims and the ones before them. We’d invite parents and partners and siblings up from Orlando, and ask them to speak, openly, rawly, honestly about their pain. We’d listen. And maybe, just maybe, we’d hear.
In town squares, houses of worship, and stadiums, moments of silence are fine emblems of our concern. But Congress houses the 535 people who could come together to pass measures that would reduce the bloody mayhem now so prominently featured in daily American life.
But, like the would-be followers of Jesus, Congress held to the status quo. What had seemed urgent seemed to butt against the predictable. As flowers surrounding memorials to the 49 persons who died began to fade, the only thing that seemed to have changed since the tragedies in Orlando were new fences along beaches at Walt Disney World and warnings about alligators. By Monday, excuses for not restricting terrorists on FBI watch lists from legally purchasing weapons sounded as familiar as the would-be disciples of Jesus who were eager to follow him, though only on their terms.
But Jesus indicates that being fit for the kingdom requires a less than predictable response. Such responses, urges Paul, reflect a life guided by the Spirit.
In the Scriptures
Determined to press ahead toward Jerusalem, Jesus in this passage from Luke begins spelling out the rigorous demands placed upon disciples. The time has come, and now is, when disciples will respond with resolute commitment. Being fit for the kingdom means accepting a no-holds-barred approach to following Jesus -- even if that means ignoring your opponent’s inhospitable reaction. This is simply no time for a tepid response.
Jesus has resolved to go to Jerusalem, and now seeks to prepare those who would follow him for what lies ahead. This is no time for politics as usual; instead, Jesus instructs the disciples on wise stewardship of power (9:55) and the necessity of a single-minded focus on seeking the kingdom.
His rebuke of the disciples is a reminder of how kingdom priorities reshape behaviors. Disciples are called not to retaliate but to seek peace. When the disciples encounter resistance in Samaria, he calls them to remain focused on the matters at hand. It’s a reminder to all who bear Christ’s name that discipleship will bring rejection, persecution, and even hostile public opinion. In spite of this, Jesus calls the disciples to keep moving.
Discipleship is a daunting task. Its demands include relinquishing the security of home and the comforts of possessions (9:58). It is a task that recasts what is urgent, drawing a line between activities of daily living and activities of kingdom living. The single-minded focus of the disciple includes going against the grain of societal norms, as Elaine Heath observes in Feasting on the Word. Aside from practical matters, burying the dead was required by faithful Jews. In response to what seems a reasonable excuse, Jesus instead points those who would follow him toward a realignment of priorities. The call to discipleship means eschewing normal activities.
To be fit for the kingdom means plunging forward -- just as Jesus continues to the cross. There are no excuses for not moving forward with the urgent mission of God (F. Scott Spencer, The Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles [Abingdon Press, 2008], p. 208). Tasks that are important, even critical, to daily life are reshaped by Jesus’ invitation to participate in the unfolding of God’s kingdom. As Spencer observes, the way of Jesus is a tough row to hoe -- there’s no looking back.
In the Sermon
Jesus invites those who would follow him to begin the journey to the cross. It’s a single-minded commitment expressed in terms of urgency and focus. In Galatians, Paul describes life as a disciple as a life under the Spirit’s control -- a life that bears the fruit of discipleship, that is demonstrated by self-control and gentleness, and that is manifest in love for the neighbor. To be led by the Spirit is to be led into a life of rigorous discipleship.
But many will not answer the call to discipleship. Indeed, as evidenced in this week’s lectionary readings, discipleship can be so discomforting that the status quo seems preferable -- especially on a hot, sticky summer Sunday. The question is not just how to preach this text in light of the Orlando shootings, but also how to preach the demands of discipleship on a day when many would rather answer the call to go swimming or play golf.
As our congregations gather for worship, they seek sanctuary from hostilities. In a way, we are not unlike the disciples who entered Samaria. They go, hopeful and empowered to proclaim the joy of the gospel -- and yet their membership campaign fails miserably. Acknowledging that the disciples fall short may yield a bit of comfort to contemporary disciples faced with demands as mundane as recruiting Vacation Bible School volunteers or as complex as speaking out against acts of hatred and violence.
But to hear “let the dead bury their own dead” in the wake of the worst mass shooting in United States history could bring the conversation to an abrupt ending if not interpreted with nimble pastoral imagination. The invitation by Jesus is clear, but so are the realities exposed by one man’s act of terror. Which word can be preached?
The promise Jesus offers is a life guided by the Spirit. Despite roadblocks on the pathways of discipleship, Jesus’ followers move forward with determination. They reject excuses that do not offer life. They do not stick around places of death, and instead proclaim messages of life. They carry out the urgent mission of the gospel, and do not play politics as usual.
The sermon could place the call to discipleship against the larger landscape of the cross. God has come near to the world, and calls the world (in Paul’s words) to lives controlled by the Spirit. Such discipleship means setting down weapons so that we may seek the welfare of our neighbors. And, as one t-shirt proclaims, this means “thy homeless neighbor, thy Muslim neighbor, thy black neighbor, thy gay neighbor, thy immigrant neighbor...”
That is what it means to be fit for the kingdom.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Like Armor
by Dean Feldmeyer
Psalm 16
Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. -- Psalm 16:1
In January 2016, Hunter Hanks and Arika Stovall were driving back to college in Tennessee when Hunter lost control of his truck and it slammed into the pillar of an overpass.
The truck was completely destroyed. A picture of it on Fox News shows a heap of twisted metal that cannot be identified as even a vehicle, much less a truck. In that picture, both Hunter and Arika are standing in front of the destroyed truck, bandaged and bruised but very much alive. The photo was taken just two days after the accident.
Reflecting on the incident, Arika said this on Facebook: “I’m overwhelmed at how little damage was done to Hunter and I in a wreck that should have chopped our bodies in half. I’m in awe of the presence of God in this entire situation. Every part of this experience we went through points directly to Him. The way God helped Hunter to respond exactly the way he did behind the wheel, spinning the truck exactly where it should have to be able to smash into the pillar directly in the middle of me and Hunter so we were both untouched... that doesn’t just happen. God doesn’t throw protection around like that for no reason. He does it because he’s not finished with us.”
Granted, no one expects sophisticated, systematic theological reflection from a 21-year-old college student who is still healing from injuries received in a devastating car crash.
But five months after the fact, the people of God do owe it to ourselves, to our faith, and the world to take her reflections a bit deeper and to ask some important questions. For instance:
In 2014 (the last year for which figures have been compiled) there were 29,989 fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States in which 32,675 people were killed. If we theologize, as Arika does, that she and Hunter were not killed or even seriously injured in their accident because God protected them and that the reason for that protection was because God was not yet finished with them, then does it follow that God refused to protect those other 32,675 people because God was in fact finished with them?
Is that what we can expect from a God whose grace is without end and whose love is from everlasting to everlasting? Are we just pawns on God’s cosmic chessboard -- protected as long as God has a need for us, only to be tossed aside or killed when we are no longer of use?
And how is it that God needs us? If God is God, does God ever really need anyone?
Interestingly and tragically, another story on the ABC news website in close proximity to one on Hunter and Arika is one which brings these questions to the very front and holds them in stark relief.
It’s a story with this headline: Parents “Grieve Loss of Their Son” After Gator Attack. This is the story you have all probably read or heard about of the child killed by an alligator at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Matt and Melissa Graves of Elkhorn, Nebraska, were on the third day of their week-long vacation with their 2-year-old son Lane. He was playing in about 10-12 inches of water around dusk when a 6- to 7-foot alligator snatched him and dragged him into the water. Matt tried desperately to pull his child from the jaws of the alligator, but was unsuccessful. The child’s body was recovered intact about 1:30 p.m. the following day.
Was God “finished” with Lane? If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that we cry aloud with everyone else: “If God is in the protection business, then why did God not protect this innocent child?”
And then there is the lighter side of this discussion.
Alec Ndiwane was at South Africa’s Kruger National Park with some other parishioners from the Pretoria-based Zion Christian Church when he went into a trance and started speaking in tongues. Confident that God would protect him, he leapt from the vehicle he was riding in and charged a pride of lions who were casually dining on an impala carcass.
Understandably irritated at having their dinner interrupted, the lions refused to accept Ndiwane’s dominion over them and charged right back. The evangelical Christian churchman came to his senses and turned to run back to the truck -- but as anyone who has watched Wild Kingdom knows, lions are fast and ferocious.
One of them caught up to him, reached out with those famous claws, and pretty much shredded Mr. Ndiwane’s buttocks, an injury for which the safari had to be cut short so he could be rushed to the hospital. When he finally spoke of his experience, he said: “I don’t know what came over me. I thought the Lord wanted to use me to show his power over animals.”
Really? Is that how God works this protection thing?
What Does the Bible Say?
Scripture is, sadly, not much help in this regard.
There is virtually no end to the biblical assertions that God will protect the faithful, the innocent, the obedient, the humble, the honest, and on and on.
Here are just a few of the scores of passages that make those assertions:
Psalm 121:7-8: “The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.”
Proverbs 1:33: “...but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
Proverbs 19:23: “The fear of the Lord leads to life; one will sleep at night without danger.”
Psalm 91:9-10: “Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.”
Proverbs 12:21: “No harm comes to the godly, but the wicked have their fill of trouble.”
Ecclesiastes 8:5: “Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.”
And lest we think that this is an archaic, Old Testament notion, look carefully at the Lord’s Prayer -- which most of us pray at least weekly, if not more often: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil...”
At the same time, the psalms are painfully honest when they lament that God is not protecting them:
Psalm 22:1: “My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?”
Psalm 27:9: “Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger... Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation!”
Psalm 88:6-7: “You have put me in the lowest pit, in dark places, in the depths. Your wrath has rested upon me, and you have afflicted me with all your waves.”
Psalm 130:1: “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.”
And we dare not leave poor Job out of this discussion: “But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him” (Job 23:8-9).
Psalm 16 begins with the psalmist asking for God’s protection, but David doesn’t theologize much about it. After the initial request, then he justifies his request with precedent. God has protected him in the past, so he expects God to continue doing so. He has worshiped and respected God with his body, his heart, and his mind, and he expects a quid pro quo from YHWH.
What we get from the Bible seems to be that sometimes God protects us and sometimes God doesn’t protect us, and that’s just the way it is. We have to trust God and hope for the best, remember all the times from the past when we were saved or spared through no action of our own, and hope that God will continue to save and spare us like that.
But for many of us, this is an unsatisfactory answer.
We feel like the mouse caught in a maze, whose only knowledge is that sometimes when we ring the bell we get fed and sometimes we get shocked... and let’s hope that this time it will be food.
But this is God we’re talking about. This is the Living Lord, the God of Abraham and Jacob and Ruth and Mary and Jesus and Paul. This is the God from whose love we will, as Paul tells us in Romans, never be separated. There must be something more in our relationship with God than this seemingly on-again/off-again protection.
God As Interventionist
My lifelong study of this theological conundrum has not led me to a fully perfect answer. But I believe that the late Marcus Borg came very close to one that comes from the experiential perspective. I quote him here at length:
But to say that God is everywhere and in everything does not mean that God is the cause, directly or indirectly, of everything that happens. To say the obvious, utterly horrible things happen in the world, and with great frequency. To imagine that these somehow fit into the long-term purposes of God is blasphemous. Rather, we are creatures who are able to act (as we often do) in ways contrary to God’s purpose and dream.
And more: tragedies like the shootings and deaths at Virginia Tech indicate, in my judgment, that thinking of God as an interventionist is impossible as well as unhelpful. If God could have intervened to stop this (or the Holocaust, or 9/11, or the war in Iraq, or the individual tragedies that never make the news), but chose not to, what kind of sense does that make?
We live in a world still under the sway of “the powers” -- powers in individual and collective lives that lead us away from God and God’s passion for life on earth.
But in the midst of all this, there is a source of sustenance that can help us in the darkest night. The most concise expression of this that I have heard comes from the late William Sloane Coffin. He said -- and I am confident of his “gist,” if not his exact words: “God provides maximum support, but minimal protection.”
Does God as an interventionist protect us? No. Does God provide a means of support in the midst of our tragedies? Yes.
God protects us from some of the pain of grief by teaching us how to grieve appropriately through the occasional losses that life hands to us.
God protects us from hate by teaching us how to love.
God protects us from loneliness and abandonment by showing us how to be friends.
But all of these protections, and the myriad others which God lays over us, are like the body armor which police officers and soldiers wear into battle. While it can protect them from some high-impact bullets, a sharp knife pushed slowly can penetrate it like butter. God’s protections can protect us somewhat, but they can’t keep us from being hurt. There are chinks, gaps in the armor though which projectiles can and sometimes do penetrate.
And when they do, then we place our lives in the hands of those whose gifts are the gifts of healing -- and we pray that their gifts will be sufficient for the day. But even if they aren’t, there is a God waiting for us who loves us more than any singing of it.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Ron Love:
Luke 9:51-62
Bethany Hamilton lost her left arm to a shark attack when she was surfing at the age of 13. After her recovery, she continued with her passion for surfing. Now at 26, she is in position to become the best women’s competitive surfer. Hamilton said, “I’ve had a lot of successes in surfing, and I think so much of it is your attitude, and keeping your hope alive to do what you love to do.”
Application: Jesus spoke to be his followers that you need to have the right attitude.
*****
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
The body of 2-year-old Lane Graves was found 16 hours after an alligator dragged him underwater and drowned him. The incident happened when Lane was wading in a foot of water at the Seven Seas Lagoon at Walt Disney World. There were signs that said “no swimming,” but none that cautioned about the presence of alligators -- which the park knew were present.
Application: We cannot deceive ourselves into thinking that if we have Elijah’s mantle we can make alligators and other problems magically disappear, even if we are staying as a guest in the Magic Kingdom.
*****
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
In a Frank & Ernest comic strip, two dinosaurs are standing on the edge of a cliff and looking up into the sky. It is obvious that a large meteor is crashing to earth, which one theory says caused the extinction of dinosaurs. Watching the meteor, one dinosaur says to the other: “Is it just me, or is that the falling star you wished upon getting bigger?”
Application: Elisha knew what was proper to wish for.
*****
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
In this presidential election season, voters seem to be in the position of selecting the least desirable candidate. Donald Trump has been criticized for his for-profit university that emphasized real estate courses, but mainly tried to get students to invest in bogus programs. To counter this, Hillary Clinton is being criticized for the for-profit online university known as Laureate Education. This university lost a lawsuit because it delayed the graduation of students in order to gain more fees. Bill Clinton was honorary chancellor for the university, for which he was paid $16.5 million.
Application: It would seem that there is a lot of “flesh” living among our two presidential candidates.
*****
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
In the classic 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate, Major Bennett Marco (portrayed by Frank Sinatra) said, “Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.” Shaw was not that, as brainwashing had made him an assassin. This is why Dr. Yen Lo (Khigh Dhiegh) could say, “His brain has not only been washed, as they say, it has been dry-cleaned.”
Application: Those who live only for the flesh may have had their brains dry-cleaned.
*****
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
President Obama, after visiting the site of the Orlando shootings, once again promoted sane gun control measures. He ended his remarks by saying, “I do hope senators can rise to the moment and do the right thing.”
Application: To live by the spirit is to be able to rise up and do the right thing.
*****
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
In endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, Barack Obama said, “I don’t think there’s ever been someone so qualified to hold this office.” Political columnist Cal Thomas took issue with this, writing in rebuttal: “Really? She would be equal to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and himself.” Thomas, who is not a Clinton supporter, did caution Obama to be more careful in his choice of words to keep things in perspective.
Application: When we live by the spirit, we understand both our gifts and our limitations.
*****
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
The documentary Crossing the Line is about PFC James Dresnok and three other soldiers, who in a course of 18 months during the 1960s deserted the Army. The four crossed over the DMZ from South Korea into North Korea, expecting a better life. After several months they realized they did not fit into the homogenous Korean culture, so together they went to the Russian embassy to seek asylum in Russia. They thought the Russians would accept them because, in their words, the Russians were “white” like us. They arrived at the embassy, only to be turned over to North Korean officials. Now, 40 years later, they are still in North Korea.
Application: If you are going to stand firm, you better be sure what you are standing firm for.
*****
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
It is disturbing that during this presidential election Jeb Bush would not campaign using his family name. Instead we got “JEB 2016” and “Jeb Can Fix It!” With Hillary Clinton it is the same -- we get “I’m With Hillary” or “I’m With Her!” It is said that they both desired to separate themselves from their family heritage, as if it is something they cannot be proud of.
Application: Standing firm, as stated in our lesson, means just that. It means to stand firm as a Bush, a Clinton, or as who you are with pride and integrity.
*****
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
It has been reported that Florence County, South Carolina had only an 18.5% turnout for the June 14 primary election. Out of nearly 85,000 registered voters, only 15,648 voters cast their ballots. Even given that only Republicans and incumbents win elections in that county, the turnout was still embarrassingly low.
Application: To stand firm means to stand for what we believe -- which means we do vote, even in obvious outcomes, as well as standing firm in other endeavors.
***************
From team member Mary Austin:
Luke 9:51-62
Start Before You’re Ready
Jesus encounters people who want to follow him, but who feel the tug of other obligations -- they’re not quite ready. Business mogul Richard Branson (Virgin Airlines) says that the secret of success is just to get going. After interviewing Branson, author James Clear says that “Branson is an extreme example, but we could all learn something from his approach. If you want to summarize the habits of successful people into one phrase, it’s this: successful people start before they feel ready. If there was ever someone who embodied the idea of starting before they felt ready to do so, it’s Branson. The very name of his business empire, Virgin, was chosen because when Branson and his partners started they were ‘virgins’ when it came to business.”
Clear adds, “Branson has started so many businesses, ventures, charities, and expeditions that it’s simply not possible for him to have felt prepared, qualified, and ready to start all of them. In fact, it’s unlikely that he was qualified or prepared to start any of them. He had never flown a plane and didn’t know anything about the engineering of planes, but he started an airline company anyway. He is a perfect example of why the ‘chosen ones’ choose themselves.”
Inspired by Branson, and looking at the difference between him and other businesspeople, Clear says: “If you’re working on something important, then you’ll never feel ready. A side effect of doing challenging work is that you’re pulled by excitement and pushed by confusion at the same time. You’re bound to feel uncertain, unprepared, and unqualified. But let me assure you of this: what you have right now is enough. You can plan, delay, and revise all you want, but trust me, what you have now is enough to start. It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to start a business, lose weight, write a book, or achieve any number of goals... who you are, what you have, and what you know right now is good enough to get going.” He urges us all to start before we feel ready -- just as Jesus does.
*****
Psalm 16
Letting Go of Protection
Author Brené Brown observes that we have many ways to protect ourselves, but if we want to grow in hope and courage we have to loosen our hold on the things that protect us. She says: “I always ask a very simple question to people. I just say, think of the last time you did something that you thought was really brave or the last time you saw someone do something really brave. And I can tell you as a researcher -- 11,000 pieces of data -- I cannot find a single example of courage, moral courage, spiritual courage, leadership courage, relational courage, I cannot find a single example of courage that was not born completely of vulnerability. We buy into some mythology about vulnerability being weakness and being gullibility and being frailty because it gives us permission not to do it.”
Brown says that we are all fearful, but that too much protection stunts our spiritual growth. Relying on our own protection, instead of God’s care, leaves us diminished: “I have seen fear absolutely run roughshod over our families. And I have seen us go to these crazy lengths to protect ourselves and our children from the uncertainty of the world today. I’ve not only seen that through my lens as a researcher, but certainly experienced it as a parent, and as a college professor. I see students come to us who have never had experiences, real experiences, with adversity. And how that shows up is hopelessness.” Too much protection is not good for the soul.
*****
Psalm 16
Counting on that Alarm System?
Many people count on home alarm systems to protect them and their possessions, but the New York Times says that there may be more gaps in the coverage than people realize: “There are about 36 million security systems in the United States, half of them in homes. Revenue for the industry was $28.2 billion in 2009, according to the Installation Business Report, an annual survey published by Security Sales & Integration Magazine. So a lot of people apparently think their homes are going to be impervious to burglars.” A power outage can knock out the battery. Even a working alarm depends on police response time, which can be slow. Burglaries are a low priority for law enforcement, in part because an estimated 80% of calls are false alarms.
However, there are other benefits to an alarm system: “A study released last year by the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University found that the real value of security systems was that they protected entire neighborhoods. The study, which focused on Newark from 2001 to 2005, found that residential break-ins decreased as the density of alarms in an area increased.” There’s a community aspect to being protected.
*****
Psalm 16
The Protection We Offer Each Other
God is the ultimate source of protection, but there are times when we can use our power and influence to offer protection to each other. Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg remains one of the most intriguing and compelling figures of World War II Europe. According to the Holocaust Museum and Memorial history, Wallenberg used the power of his office as a diplomat to extend protection to Jewish people in Hungary, where he was serving during the war: “After the Hungarian fascist Arrow Cross movement seized power with the help of the Germans on October 15, 1944, the Arrow Cross government resumed the deportation of Hungarian Jews.... Hungarian authorities forced tens of thousands of Budapest Jews to march west to the Hungarian border with Austria. During the autumn of 1944, Wallenberg repeatedly -- and often personally -- intervened to secure the release of those with certificates of protection or forged papers, saving as many people as he could from the marching columns.” To shield the Jews from deportation, “Wallenberg began distributing certificates of protection issued by the Swedish legation to Jews in Budapest.... He used... funds to establish hospitals, nurseries, and a soup kitchen, and to designate more than 30 ‘safe’ houses that together formed the core of the ‘international ghetto’ in Budapest. The international ghetto was reserved for Jews and their families holding certificates of protection from a neutral country.” Under the protection of Sweden, the Jews were not supposed to be taken to concentration camps.
At the end of the war, 100,000 Jews were still alive in Budapest. Sadly, the protection Wallenberg gave to others did not extend to his own life. He is believed to have been taken by the Russian army and is thought to have died in Russia in 1947, although the circumstances remain a mystery.
*****
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Freedom
“For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery,” Paul exhorts the Galatians. Our freedom is for something -- in service of a greater calling. It turns out that giving up some of our freedom may serve us even better. An article in Wired notes that if we need to create something, obstacles actually help: “One of the many paradoxes of human creativity is that it seems to benefit from constraints. Although we imagine the imagination as requiring total freedom, the reality of the creative process is that it’s often entangled with strict conventions and formal requirements.” A study explains: “It turns out that the obstacles of form come with an unexpected psychological perk, allowing people to think in a more all-encompassing fashion... [obstacles] expand our conceptual scope, allowing us to consider a greater range of possibilities and ideas.”
As the article says, the brain “spends a lot of time and energy choosing what not to notice. As a result, creativity is traded away for efficiency.... And this is why constraints are so important: It’s not until we encounter an unexpected hindrance -- a challenge we can’t easily resolve -- that the chains of cognition are loosened, giving us newfound access to the weird connections simmering in the unconscious.”
The same is true in our faith -- we choose to follow Jesus, trading away lots of the choices we could make in order to pursue the choice to serve God more fully. Paradoxically, that constraint takes us deeper into the freedom God offers us.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: In the day of trouble, let us seek our God.
People: Let us call to mind the deeds that God has done.
Leader: Let us meditate on the works of God.
People: Let us muse on God’s mighty deeds.
Leader: Our God is the one who works wonders.
People: God has displayed holy might among all the peoples.
OR
Leader: Protect us, O God, for in you we take refuge.
People: “You are our God; we have no good apart from you.”
Leader: Let us bless God, who gives us counsel.
People: In the night also let our hearts instruct us.
Leader: Let us keep our God always before us.
People: Because God is at our right hand, we shall not be moved.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”
found in:
UMH: 110
H82: 687, 688
PH: 260
AAHH: 124
NNBH: 37
NCH: 439, 440
CH: 65
LBW: 228, 229
ELA: 503, 504, 505
W&P: 588
AMEC: 54
STLT: 200
“O God, Our Help in Ages Past”
found in:
UMH: 117
H82: 680
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
ELA: 632
W&P: 84
AMEC: 61
STLT: 281
“Great Is Thy Faithfulness”
found in:
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
ELA: 733
W&P: 72
AMEC: 84
Renew: 249
“O Zion, Haste”
found in:
UMH: 573
H82: 539
NNBH: 429
LBW: 397
ELA: 668
AMEC: 566
“God of Grace and God of Glory”
found in:
UMH: 577
H82: 594, 595
PH: 420
NCH: 436
CH: 464
LBW: 415
ELA: 705
W&P: 569
AMEC: 62
STLT: 115
Renew: 301
“Sois la Semilla” (“You Are the Seed”)
found in:
UMH: 583
NCH: 528
CH: 478
“Lord, You Give the Great Commission”
found in:
UMH: 584
NCH: 528
CH: 478
Renew: 305
“People Need the Lord”
found in:
CCB: 52
“I Call You Faithful”
found in:
CCB: 70
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
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is ever seeking wholeness and blessing for all creation: Give us the wisdom to take our mission passionately, that we might bring your reign to its fullness; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, for you are always at work wooing your creation to find wholeness and blessing in you. Send your Spirit upon us once again, that we might be filled with the urgency to spread your reign around us. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially the casualness with which we take our mission.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. While you are constantly at work trying to redeem your creation, we go about our daily lives as if the work you left for us is unimportant. We fail to see that our lack of sharing the good news and bringing others more fully into your reign is a betrayal of our discipleship. Send your Spirit upon us to awaken us and motivate us to once again take up the mission of Jesus. Amen.
Leader: God is seeking to redeem the world, and we are a major part of that redemption. Receive God’s forgiveness and power, and share the gospel message with those around you.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise you, O God, for your faithfulness in the work of salvation. You are constantly at work to bring salvation to all of 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. While you are constantly at work trying to redeem your creation, we go about our daily lives as if the work you left for us is unimportant. We fail to see that our lack of sharing the good news and bringing others more fully into your reign is a betrayal of our discipleship. Send your Spirit upon us to awaken us and motivate us to once again take up the mission of Jesus.
We give you thanks for the ways in which you are bringing wholeness to our lives. We thank you for the blessings we have received from your bountiful hand.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for the needs of your world. We lift up those who live in brokenness and pain. We pray for ourselves, that we might be more attuned to the needs of those around us so that we can be part of your healing and blessing.
(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
Talk to the children about the way in which police and fire departments respond to a call. Talk about why they use the lights and sirens -- they know it is important for them to get where they are needed. We are Jesus’ disciples, and we are needed too. We don’t have lights and sirens, but we have the love of God to share with those around us who might be lonely or sad.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Are You Ready?
by Robin Lostetter
Luke 9:51-62
Good morning! How are you today?
Can anyone tell me something new they did this week? (Take some answers, and try to find one that might have involved a little risk or fear -- some level of being unsure they were prepared.)
So, may I ask you... did you feel ready? Like, were you 100% sure you could do this? Were you completely prepared and didn’t feel it was even a tiny bit risky? (Work with their answer, and maybe take another child’s example -- these questions to the first may prompt another!)
We were all babies at one time. We don’t remember taking our first step... but maybe we’ve seen a younger brother or sister, or a friend’s baby take its first step. Do you think it said to itself, “I’m ready, I can walk across the room right now”? No, you’re right. That first step was probably tentative. And then a grownup encouraged the baby to let go of whatever it was clinging to and walk to it, and the baby learned that it could walk without holding on!
How about riding a bike? How did you feel when you first sat on the bike seat and someone was going to let go of the bike? Yes, it was scary at first; you didn’t feel ready.
But both you and the baby learning to walk had all you needed to start that new adventure! You and they were ready, even though you might have been a little worried. You had all that you needed -- to walk, to ride a bike [or to do whatever they mentioned earlier].
It’s a little like what Jesus is saying in Luke. Sometimes we read his words as unfeeling -- that he says to people to just leave other people and your responsibilities behind and follow me. But I think maybe he was saying, “No more excuses! You’re as ready as you’ll ever be to follow me!” You know, the disciples did see their families and their hometowns again -- we know stories about Jesus visiting Peter and Andrew’s house and healing Peter’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31). They didn’t give up their families -- Jesus always taught us to love one another, and that includes our families.
The point was that anyone is ready, any time, to follow Jesus! Right now! You can be ready, I can be ready, and so can all the people sitting in the congregation! All we have to do is say, “Yes, Jesus, I’ll follow you.” Then we try to do the things that Jesus asks disciples to do... to help feed the poor, to pray for our enemies, to love everybody... things like that.
(If you have time, you could talk about how your church feeds the poor or other ministries.)
Let’s pray: Jesus, thank you for calling us. We want to follow you; sometimes it’s easy, but sometimes it seems hard. Help us make good choices. Help us love everyone, and help us when it’s especially hard to pray for our enemies. Amen.
Note: Author James Clear says, “If you’re working on something important, then you’ll never feel ready. A side effect of doing challenging work is that you’re pulled by excitement and pushed by confusion at the same time. You’re bound to feel uncertain, unprepared, and unqualified. But let me assure you of this: what you have right now is enough. You can plan, delay, and revise all you want, but trust me, what you have now is enough to start. It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to start a business, lose weight, write a book, or achieve any number of goals... who you are, what you have, and what you know right now is good enough to get going.” He urges us all to start before we feel ready -- just as Jesus does.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, June 26, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2016 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.
