Flipping Tables Sunday
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
For March 7, 2021:
Flipping Tables Sunday
by Katy Stenta
John 2:13-22
In John, one of the first things he does, which garners official attention is that in chapter 2 he physically flips the table over in the temples. It is this action of righteous anger, where Jesus fashions a whip and drives out the greedy and directly tells them that they are not to make his father’s house a marketplace, that Jesus begins his ministry. He begins by stopping the predatory lending and selling of sacrifices that was taking place within the very temple. From then on he is given questions about purification and worthiness. Jesus answers those questions. His actions, however, speak louder than just his words, for he continues to shake the economic tables. Preaching abundance to the poor, giving away healings and food, and welcoming the “least of these,” i.e. those who do not contribute to the economy of the times.
In the News
When the news story broke about the glee that Texas ERCOT displayed after the horrible tragedy of no-heat-water-pipes-busted-non-insulated-housing polar vortex disaster in Texas, I quoted the article in a tweet and said “Jesus walks in, flips table, walks out.”
In the United States there are a lot of tables that need to be flipped. The news is full of anguish of those who do not have enough reliable resources to live on. The first of such issues right now is childcare, as no one can work an in-person job without childcare, yet we are one of the few rich countries that does not nationally support childcare. This is hitting communities of color the most. Marco Rubio proposed a child tax credit for working people as a solution, but of course, the reality is that everyone who is raising a child is working to raise that child.
If we are to feed the hungry, expanding SNAP may be a good way to do this. Additionally and amazingly almost all schools are now providing free meals. Time and time again we see that giving everyone food is the fastest way to increase attendance and test scores. Thus the question is, can we make this a more permanent expansion of feeding our nation’s children?
The next economic reality that needs to change is healthcare. Jesus healed everyone regardless of economic status. Yet mysteriously, churches and pastors have yet to come together to demand universal healthcare. Biden reopened the federal healthcare marketplace, but not everyone qualifies for or can afford it in this time of the pandemic.
In a country that guarantees life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, there is question of our ability to pay people a fair enough wage to on which to live. The fight to raise the minimum wage to meet living costs and inflation has been a long one — and one that still needs to be addressed. Flipping the tables on tipping needs to happen as soon as possible, with most tipped workers earning about two dollars an hour and subject to much verbal and sexual harassment. The racist past of tipping also forces us to look deeper into the practice. Restaurants may be helped by this raise as well.
Additionally the limits of Social Security, and especially those who are disabled, need to be given a hard look. They are limited to living on about $600 a month, and for those who say $1400 or even $2000 is not enough to live on, it’s something to look at. Right now disabled people only earn cents on the dollar when compared to non-physically challenged workers. In addition to work equality, disabled people have a lot of legal issues with getting married because of the limits on income.
Another economic quandary is bail bonds — which favor the rich, and keep people imprisoned. Of course Christ tells us to free the imprisoned, getting rid of cash bail, like Illinois, would be a good step. The cost of education is an economic decision that affects your entire life. It affects individuals of color a lot more than white people, and plays into the inherited wealth model that continues to plague United States policy: making it nearly impossible to climb the economic ladder, despite the current bootstrap mythos that permeates American culture. Currently the cost of student debt is crushing the middle class.
Finally, there are the extra costs of the pandemic that bear looking at. Ana Mardoll calls it the pandemic tax and tries to name all of the extra things people have had to pay for in the current crisis.
In the Scriptures
Fantasy author E. K. Johnston, who is a Christian, said that she was jealous of some of the more unusual Jewish holidays. She noted that the mainstream aspects of Christianity make it hard to celebrate silly and more revolutionary actions. What might it mean to have a Flipping Tables holiday regularly celebrated in the church? If we were to celebrate flipping tables Sunday, it would be today! How might we flip the tables? The Bible suggests imagining what the kingdom of heaven is. This is something I just wrote about in light of all that is happening right now.
In the book of Matthew, Jesus’ care for children is made clear. Though children did not contribute to the economy, Jesus welcomed them in Matthew 19:13-15. They did not have to be important, influential or even understand everything that Jesus said. They are God’s beloved. He also notes that their gifts are heavenly in Matthew 18:1-5, and children are the greatest in heaven — something to think about when we debate childcare, SNAP, free lunches, and the costs of education.
Jesus tells us what is expected of us in heaven. We will be asked if we have fed, watered, clothed and shared our household with Christ. Telling us that whenever we do this for the least of these — i.e. those who do not contribute to the economy — we are doing it on behalf of Jesus Christ. It is an economically revolutionary command in Matthew 25:31-40.
Additionally, in Luke 4:16-29, Jesus first ministry act after being in the desert is to alert his hometown to his ministry. He preaches that he has come to bring good news to the powerless, release the prisoners, heal the blind, and free the oppressed. This news is taken pretty well until Jesus notes that he is going to do this for everyone — not just Nazareth, not just for the Hebrews, not just for those who he knows. This flipping of tables on status and power in addition to his economic proclamations lead his hometown to try to throw him off of a cliff.
Jesus spends a lot of time upending things. His most common response to a question is to ask a question in return. His grace is unlimited and freely given, which is hard for us humans to comprehend. And yet, how wonderful would it be if a part of our mission was to upend the tables of economic injustice in real actionable ways. The power of interruption can be great. It bears considering.
Finally, there was a quote going around attributed to Steven Price and it bears further thinking: “Father forgive me for the times I desired a seat at a table you would’ve flipped.” What tables are we being called to flip today?
SECOND THOUGHTS
The Swiss Cheese of Commandments
by Mary Austin
Exodus 20:1-17
A year ago, who imagined that we would still be wearing masks twelve months later? I never thought that I would own as many masks as I do, and that I would even have favorite masks, like I have favorite clothes. Masks are like pants now. Come to think of it, on any given day, more people may be wearing masks than pants, now that many of us work at home.
Along with masks, we have been introduced to the swiss cheese theory of disease prevention. “The metaphor is easy enough to grasp: Multiple layers of protection, imagined as cheese slices, block the spread of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. No one layer is perfect; each has holes, and when the holes align, the risk of infection increases. But several layers combined — social distancing, plus masks, plus hand-washing, plus testing and tracing, plus ventilation, plus government messaging — significantly reduce the overall risk. Vaccination will add one more protective layer.” Each layer has a job to do, and more layers of intervention are better. Lately, we have been advised to double mask, adding another physical layer of protection.
The Ten Commandments offer us the swiss cheese approach to faithful living.
In theory, the first words God speaks should be enough. “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.” If we turn our whole lives toward God, everything else falls into place, and we don’t need any more words of instruction.
And yet, we fail so spectacularly that God gives us more boundaries. Having no other gods means not building your own gods, or observing the forms of worship with them. Knowing our human tendency to look for exceptions, God is very specific about how to honor God. There’s even a specific day for rest and a reason for observing it.
Loving God with all that we are and have should make the treatment of other people fall into place, and here again God gives us particular instructions for living in harmony with each other. We are to cultivate respect and home, and observe boundaries with the people around us. The instructions move from large crimes to smaller ones, to visible outrages to smaller affronts, down even to the quality of our thoughts.
Living with each other in harmony is hard, as Bill Donahue has been learning in his small New Hampshire town. Promoting a Black Lives Matter rally in town stirred up a level of incivility that surprised him. “I was allying with the decentralized racial justice movement, which decries violence against Black people, because I wanted to suggest that, even in a tradition-bound small town, change is possible. My neighbors have long baked pies for one another and run errands for the sick; I hoped that conscientious racial inclusion could come to be regarded as just another form of caring. But I knew that I was taking a controversial stance. In Gilmanton, as of 2019, 96.5% of the residents were, like me, White. In November, 57% of the voters here chose to reelect Donald Trump.” It’s easy to be judgmental in online posts, so Donahue decided to talk to his neighbors in person. He says, “in the days after the election, I embarked on an experiment. I began approaching the myriad locals who, in writing, have attacked me and my political allies. I wanted to know whether liberals and conservatives can still even talk to each other in rural America, and I wondered: What if we took the dialogue offline?” His neighbors declined to meet with him, perhaps, he supposed, because he’s a relative newcomer to the town, in spite of spending many summers there.
He issued 13 invitations and only two people would talk to him. After each meeting, he wasn't sure if he said anything convincing to his neighbors, and yet they have become more nuanced, more human to him.
Perhaps living together is simpler than we realize, and can be built one bubbly, hot pan of lasagna at a time. A Chicago non-profit bypasses dialogue in favor of making and delivering lasagna to anyone who would enjoy it. Volunteers make and deliver the pans, and have brought a taste of homemade food to over 2,000 homes.
Living in harmony with God and each other requires our many layers of commandments, telling us how to honor God and live with each other. The commandments frame the big issues for us, giving boundaries for our behavior. That’s part of the Swiss cheese, many layered approach to faithful living. In addition, we need lasagnas and conversations and the intent to do better by each other, reflecting our love for God in our care for one another.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Tom Willadsen:
Exodus 20:1-17
When the Ten Commandments were in the news
It’s hard to find something new to say about the Ten Commandments. It’s a text that is revered and regarded as something of a talisman by many Americans. Twenty years ago there was a huge controversy in Alabama when the Chief Justice of the state’s Supreme Court, the Honorable Roy Moore, arranged to have a monument featuring the Ten Commandments placed in the rotunda of the Heflin-Torbert Judicial Building where he presided. This was no mere bulletin board display.
His final design involved a 5,280-pound granite block, three feet wide by three feet deep by four feet tall, covered with quotes from the Declaration of Independence, the national anthem, and several founding fathers. The crowning element would be two large carved tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. High-grade granite from Vermont was ordered and shipped, and Moore found benefactors and a sculptor to complete the job. Moore's actions were made without the consent or knowledge of the eight associate justices.
On the evening of July 31, 2001, Moore had the completed monument transported to the building and installed in the rotunda.
The next morning, Moore held a press conference in the rotunda to publicly unveil the monument. In a speech following the unveiling, Moore declared, "Today a cry has gone out across our land for the acknowledgment of that God upon whom this nation and our laws were founded ... May this day mark the restoration of the moral foundation of law to our people and the return to the knowledge of God in our land.”
It came as no surprise that the display raised the hackles of many in the State of Alabama and the judge was sued by the ACLU of Alabama, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
If all Chief Justice Moore had done were to emphasize the Ten Commandments' historical and educational importance ... or their importance as a model code for good citizenship ... this court would have a much different case before it. But the Chief Justice did not limit himself to this; he went far, far beyond. He installed a two-and-a-half ton monument in the most prominent place in a government building, managed with dollars from all state taxpayers, with the specific purpose and effect of establishing a permanent recognition of the 'sovereignty of God,' the Judeo-Christian God, over all citizens in this country, regardless of each taxpaying citizen's individual personal beliefs or lack thereof. To this, the Establishment Clause says no. (Ibid.)
In the end it amounted a publicity stunt. The judge had clearly violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution, but his effort received enormous publicity and won him the support of many like-minded citizens.
* * *
Exodus 20:1-17
The Ten Commandments — more (potential) controversy
Say you’re in a discussion about whether it is constitutionally permitted to display the 10 Commandments in the entry way to a government building. One can make a reasoned argument that the 10 Commandments have been one of the foundations on which the American understanding of the Law is based. As an historic, cultural document, concede that it’s all right to display the 10 Commandments. Now engage the other person is a discussion of which version of the 10 Commandments should be displayed. Judge Moore used an abbreviated version of the commandments found in Exodus 20 in the King James Version. What about those who prefer the version found in Deuteronomy 5? And which translation of the Bible should be used? Certainly the King James Version does not reflect the way Americans speak today. Perhaps a more contemporary version should be used. One could use the Jerusalem Bible, but wouldn’t that show a preference to the Roman Catholic tradition, thus violating the Establishment Clause? The same could be argued about the Jewish Publication Society’s translation. Clearly, the best solution is to find a translation — after selecting Exodus or Deuteronomy — that everyone can agree on. This will never happen!! Perhaps a bulletin board for public notices would be a better, less controversial object to hang on the wall of the entry to the courthouse.
* * *
Psalm 19
Do you feel whiplash?
The first six verses of Psalm 19 look up at the ever changing wonders one finds in the sky.
The next five verses are words of high praise for the Lord’s laws, decrees, precepts and commandments.
This stark contrast echoes that found in “I Sing the Mighty Power of God:”
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed,
Wher’er I turn my eyes;
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the skies!
* * *
John 2:13-22
Jesus cleanses the temple — a different spin
John puts this episode very, very early in Jesus’ career. In the synoptic gospels Jesus’ tantrum in the temple was either at the end of his Palm Sunday ride (Matthew and Luke) or on Palm Monday (Mark). The synoptics present the event as precipitating the plan to have Jesus executed. In John’s gospel Jesus gives his life up freely, so the story does not require an event to bring the authorities’ ire. While each gospel’s account has its variations, John is unique in saying that Jesus made a whip out of cords, which may indicate that this was a spontaneous act. Luke includes Jesus weeping over Jerusalem between His arrival at the temple and entering, an odd placement, given our understanding that Jesus was distant from and had a wide perspective on Jerusalem when he wept over it.
* * *
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
The world turned upside down
Paul writes of the contrast between human wisdom and God’s foolishness. Jesus makes a similar inversion in Matthew’s account of the cleansing of the temple. The chief priests and scribes asked Jesus if he heard the children shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David!” He replied, “Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself,” citing Psalm 8:2.
* * *
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
The irony of the cross
For Christians the cross is such a familiar symbol that we often forget its irony. Crucifixion is a form of capital punishment. For Christians, wearing a cross is like wearing a gallows or a hypodermic needle used to inject a lethal drug into a condemned criminal. My tradition emphasizes that we use an empty cross, which points to the resurrection, I get that. But there’s no resurrection without death and the cross is undeniably a tool of death.
It raises a question: how should Christians who affirm the substitutionary atonement regard capital punishment? How would the Christian story have unfolded if Jesus had not been publically executed?
* * * * * *
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
Good Trouble (Flipping Tables)
Rep. John Lewis (1940-2020) was no stranger to the phenomenon of flipping tables.
In 1963 Lewis played a key role in the historic March on Washington and, though still in his early 20s, became such a prominent figure that he was considered one of the civil rights movement’s “Big Six” leaders, along with King, James Farmer, A. Phillip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and Whitney Young.
Lewis is, perhaps, best remembered for the pivotal role he played in one the most important events in the history of the American civil rights movement when he and King lieutenant Hosea Williams led some 600 peaceful demonstrators on a march in support of voting rights that departed from Selma, with the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, as its destination. At the beginning of the march, while still in Selma, as they attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge over the Alabama River, the protestors were confronted by a large force of sheriff’s deputies, state troopers, and deputized “possemen” (some on horseback) who had been authorized by Alabama’s segregationist governor George Wallace to “take whatever means necessary” to prevent the march. Given two minutes to disperse, the marchers were almost immediately set upon. They were quickly doused with tear gas, overrun by horses, and attacked with bullwhips and billy clubs. As a result of the brutal assault, more than 50 marchers were hospitalized, including Lewis, whose skull was fractured but who spoke to television reporters before going to the hospital, and called on Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson to take action in Alabama. Millions of American television viewers witnessed the event, which became known as “Bloody Sunday,” and within 48 hours demonstrations in support of the marchers had taken place in some 80 American cities. The resulting heightened awareness would contribute mightily to the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act, which was signed into law by Johnson on August 6, 1965.
On March 1, 2020, having been diagnosed with stage-4 pancreatic cancer, Lewis made a surprise appearance at the 55th annual "Bloody Sunday" commemorative march in Selma, Alabama, and delivered an impassioned plea to voters to use the ballot box as "a nonviolent instrument or tool to redeem the soul of America." "To each and every one of you, especially you young people ... Go out there, speak up, speak out. Get in the way. Get in good trouble. Necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.”
* * *
Henry David Thoreau and “Civil Disobedience” (Flipping Tables)
Most who have even a brush acquaintance with the life and writings of Henry David Thoreau, know that he lived in a cabin on Walden Pond for two years from 1844 to 1846.
It was during that solitary sojourn, in July of 1845, that Thoreau was arrested and jailed for nonpayment of the poll tax, which he had refused to pay since 1842 in protest against government complicity in slavery and the Mexican War. Although Thoreau's debt was paid by an anonymous benefactor, and he therefore spent only one night behind bars, the event was significant because it led directly to the preparation of one of his most influential writings. In 1848, Thoreau first lectured before the Concord Lyceum on "The Rights and Duties of the Individual in Relation to Government." In 1849, he submitted "Resistance to Civil Government" to Elizabeth Palmer Peabody for publication in the May 1849 issue Aesthetic Papers. The piece was later published under the title Civil Disobedience.
One, probably apocryphal, story of Thoreau’s overnight stay in jail is that his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson came to pay his taxes and get him out of jail. Upon arriving at the jail and seeing Thoreau sitting in the cell, Emerson exclaimed, “Thoreau, what are you doing in there?”
To which Thoreau answered, “Emerson, what are you doing out there?”
* * *
Economic Justice for All (Economic Justice)
In 1986 the National Conference of Catholic Bishops published a paper called “Economic Justice for All: Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy.” In it, the bishops identified six specific principles which should guide American economic thinking. These six principles have been approved by many religious thinkers and ethicists:
Killed by Its Own Prosperity (Idolatry)
The first church owned parsonage we lived in was a former hired man’s cottage with two bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room and an eat-in kitchen. The entire place was probably no more than 800 square feet in size.
In the small yard, a previous tenant had planed six apple trees, each a different variety but the trees had not been cared for and had gone nearly wild. So I went to the library and picked out a couple of books about orchards and apple trees and how to take care of them.
I spent a year fertilizing, pruning, and caring for those trees and in the following summer, we had a crop of beautiful apples — Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Jonathan, Winesap, and one we couldn’t identify.
The apples on that tree were wonderful. Tart, crisp, and as large as grapefruit. And they came on like gangbusters. The tree was full of them to the point that the limbs, weighted down by the fruit, nearly touched the ground.
Then one autumn morning, as we lay abed, we heard a horrible cracking and ripping sound in the yard just outside our bedroom window. I jumped from the bed and rushed outside to see that the tree with the big, unidentified apples, had come apart, the trunk split in half all the way to the ground, torn in two from the weight of its fruit. We managed to salvage some of the apples but not the tree, itself.
The tree died, a victim of its own prosperity.
* * *
Three Great Idols (Idolatry)
Theologians tend to define idols as those things which are not ultimate but which we treat as though they are. In other words, the non-divine things to which we give divine authority and power over our lives. Paul Tillich said that anything that we treat as an ultimate reality is God for us.
In his essay, “The Church as Social Pioneer,” theologian H. Richard Niebuhr identifies the three most dangerous and seductive idols of the 20th Century as: Racism, Nationalism, and Economic Imperialism.
Racism measures a person’s worth by the color of their skin. Nationalism measures\ a person’s worth by the geographic location where they live. Imperialism measures a person’s worthy by the amount of wealth they can generate for themselves or others.
It was these three, he says, that gave rise to world-wide fascism, National Socialism (Nazis) in Germany, and the Fascist part in Italy when they failed to realize that it is God which gives us our value and that value is given by grace alone.
* * * * * *
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship:
One: The heavens are telling the glory of God.
All: The firmament proclaims God’s handiwork.
One: The law of God is perfect, reviving the soul.
All: The decrees of God are sure, making wise the simple;
One: Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts
All: be acceptable to you, O God, our rock and our redeemer.
OR
One: God calls us to be God’s children and God’s likeness.
All: We answer God’s call and offer ourselves.
One: God needs us to be who we were created to be.
All: We will be God’s children and God’s likeness.
One: God desires to live among the world through us.
All: We will make ourselves open to God living through us.
Hymns and Songs:
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty
UMH: 64/65
H82: 362
PH: 128
AAHH: 329
NNBH: 1
NCH: 277
CH: 4
LBW: 165
ELW: 413
W&P: 136
AMEC: 25
STLT: 26
Renew: 204
All People That on Earth Do Dwell
UMH: 75
H82: 377/378
PH: 220/221
NNBH: 36
NCH: 7
CH: 18
LBW: 245
ELW: 883
W&P: 661
AMEC: 73
STLT 370
Hope of the World
UMH: 178
H82: 472
PH: 360
NCH: 46
CH: 538
LBW: 493
W&P: 404
Fairest Lord Jesus
UMH: 189
H82: 383/384
PH: 306
NNBH: 75
NCH: 44
CH: 97
W&P: 123
AMEC: 95
Renew: 166
O Love, How Deep
UMH: 267
H82: 448/449
PH: 83
NCH: 209
LBW: 88
ELW: 322
W&P: 244
Love, Divine, All Loves Excelling
UMH: 384
H82: 657
PH: 376
AAHH: 440
NNBH: 65
NCH: 43
CH: 517
LBW: 315
ELW: 631
W&P: 358
AMEC: 455
Renew: 196
Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies
UMH: 173
H82: 6/7
PH: 462/463
LBW: 265
ELW: 553
W&P: 91
Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive
UMH: 390
H82: 674
PH: 347
LBW: 307
ELW: 605
W&P: 382
Renew: 184
Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life
UMH: 427
H82: 609
PH: 408
NCH: 543
CH: 665
LBW: 429
ELW: 719
W&P: 591
AMEC: 561
Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service
UMH: 581
H82: 610
PH: 427
CH: 461
LBW: 423
ELW: 712
W&P: 575
Renew: 286
One Bread, One Body
UMH: 620
CH: 393
ELW: 496
W&P: 689
Shalom to You
CCB: 98
Walk with Me
CCB: 88
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
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 created us to live in community with one another:
Grant us the wisdom to follow your laws
so that we may live in harmony and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you created us to live in community with one another. You made us one people in all the earth. Help us to be wise enough to follow your laws and to live in harmony and peace with all you children. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the division, hatred, and violence we bring to one another.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have been created in your image as the three in one and yet we insist on being individuals without connection to our siblings in Christ. We bully and push our way to the front of the line and insist that we are better than the rest although we were all created in the wondrous image of God. Forgive us and renew your image in us as we seek to unite with all your children. Amen.
One: God claims us as God’s own people even when we fail utterly to act like we belong to God. Receive God’s grace and share it with all God’s children.
Prayers of the People
We praise you, O God, because you have created all of us in your likeness and image. We are all you children.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have been created in your image as the three in one and yet we insist on being individuals without connection to our siblings in Christ. We bully and push our way to the front of the line and insist that we are better than the rest although we were all created in the wondrous image of God. Forgive us and renew your image in us as we seek to unite with all your children.
We give you thanks for all you blessings and for all your children which you give to be our siblings and our blessings. We thank you for the bounty of your love which is expressed in the bounty of creation. We thank you for those who have shared your love with us and taught us what it means to be in community.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We offer our prayers for all your children who are in need. We pray for those who feel excluded from the community of the beloved. We pray for those who struggle to know what it means to be loved and accepted.
(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 Our Father 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
Sometimes it is hard to fit in. Sometimes we are in groups choosing sides for a game where we do not fit in with the most able. We are in a place where they are choosing sides for the fastest and we are among the slowest. Or they are looking for the strongest when we are the weakest. Or they are looking for the smartest and we are not among that group.
God is looking for those who look most like God and we are all able to be part of that group. We were made in the image and likeness of God. We can all fill that category. No matter who we are or what we look like, we can be the image of God and be God’s loving presence to those around us.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN'S SERMON
God’s Top Ten Words
by Chris Keating
Exodus 20:1-17
Leader preparation:
Research the rules of a familiar game like checkers, “Uno,” or “Sorry.”
Review commentaries on Exodus 20:1-17.
Materials to gather ahead of time:
Ten 3x5 or 4x6 index cards, numbered with kid friendly version of the Ten Commandments.
A poster outline of Moses’ tablets (without the commandments).
An industrious worship leader might consider introducing the children’s time by playing a portion of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Ten Duel Commandments” from “Hamilton.” On the other hand, there aren’t many pastors who can successfully pull off singing hip-hop, so skipping the “Hamilton” reference might be just fine!
This Sunday offers an opportunity to reflect on one of the church’s most beloved, yet often overlooked scriptures. Gone are the days Sunday school children learned the commandments by rote. That loss offers the church the challenge of helping children understand the theological and liturgical significance of God’s “top ten list.”
As the children gather, ask them if they can tell you the rules of a simple game like “Uno,” or “Sorry,” or checkers. Ask them, “I wonder what it would be like to play games without any rules?” While it may seem as though playing without rules would be fun at first, eventually the game would be unpleasant and not fair. Rules are the ways we show respect for all people.
The commandments are truly the words God speaks to Israel. They are to be inscribed not on monuments but on the hearts of God’s people, for they offer us the rules for maintaining a healthy, thriving, and honest relationship with God. Help the children to remember that just as God made promises (or covenants) with Noah and Abraham, now God makes another special promise to Israel.
Invite the children to help you fill the chart with the paraphrased version of the commandments. Read the commandment and discuss why this rule might be important. Have the children tape the cards to the poster when finished. (You may also choose to use a contemporary translation like The Message or a version of the commandments from a children’s Bible.)
Here’s one attempt at a paraphrase:
1. Always put God first.
2. Don’t treat objects or things as God.
3. Don’t misuse God’s name.
4. Take a day off.
5. Respect your parents.
6. Do not kill people.
7. Marriage is something special.
8. Do not take things that are not yours.
9. Do not tell lies.
10. Do not become jealous.
Help the children see that commandments are rules that help us live faithfully. They are the rules God offers us, and are intended for our benefit. But even more important than the rules is the reminder that these words of God are gifts of grace, and that God is always more willing to forgive than we are to confess.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, March 7, 2021 issue.
Copyright 2021 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.
- Flipping Tables Sunday by Katy Stenta — Jesus officially begins his ministry in John with the cleansing of the temple as he walks in and flips the tables of the economy.
- Second Thoughts: The Swiss Cheese of Commandments by Mary Austin — Loving God with all that we are and have should make the treatment of other people fall into place.
- Sermon illustrations by Tom Willadsen and Dean Feldmeyer.
- Worship resources by George Reed.
- Children's sermon: God's Top Ten Words by Chris Keating — Even more important than these rules is the reminder that God is always more willing to forgive than we are to confess.
Flipping Tables Sundayby Katy Stenta
John 2:13-22
In John, one of the first things he does, which garners official attention is that in chapter 2 he physically flips the table over in the temples. It is this action of righteous anger, where Jesus fashions a whip and drives out the greedy and directly tells them that they are not to make his father’s house a marketplace, that Jesus begins his ministry. He begins by stopping the predatory lending and selling of sacrifices that was taking place within the very temple. From then on he is given questions about purification and worthiness. Jesus answers those questions. His actions, however, speak louder than just his words, for he continues to shake the economic tables. Preaching abundance to the poor, giving away healings and food, and welcoming the “least of these,” i.e. those who do not contribute to the economy of the times.
In the News
When the news story broke about the glee that Texas ERCOT displayed after the horrible tragedy of no-heat-water-pipes-busted-non-insulated-housing polar vortex disaster in Texas, I quoted the article in a tweet and said “Jesus walks in, flips table, walks out.”
In the United States there are a lot of tables that need to be flipped. The news is full of anguish of those who do not have enough reliable resources to live on. The first of such issues right now is childcare, as no one can work an in-person job without childcare, yet we are one of the few rich countries that does not nationally support childcare. This is hitting communities of color the most. Marco Rubio proposed a child tax credit for working people as a solution, but of course, the reality is that everyone who is raising a child is working to raise that child.
If we are to feed the hungry, expanding SNAP may be a good way to do this. Additionally and amazingly almost all schools are now providing free meals. Time and time again we see that giving everyone food is the fastest way to increase attendance and test scores. Thus the question is, can we make this a more permanent expansion of feeding our nation’s children?
The next economic reality that needs to change is healthcare. Jesus healed everyone regardless of economic status. Yet mysteriously, churches and pastors have yet to come together to demand universal healthcare. Biden reopened the federal healthcare marketplace, but not everyone qualifies for or can afford it in this time of the pandemic.
In a country that guarantees life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, there is question of our ability to pay people a fair enough wage to on which to live. The fight to raise the minimum wage to meet living costs and inflation has been a long one — and one that still needs to be addressed. Flipping the tables on tipping needs to happen as soon as possible, with most tipped workers earning about two dollars an hour and subject to much verbal and sexual harassment. The racist past of tipping also forces us to look deeper into the practice. Restaurants may be helped by this raise as well.
Additionally the limits of Social Security, and especially those who are disabled, need to be given a hard look. They are limited to living on about $600 a month, and for those who say $1400 or even $2000 is not enough to live on, it’s something to look at. Right now disabled people only earn cents on the dollar when compared to non-physically challenged workers. In addition to work equality, disabled people have a lot of legal issues with getting married because of the limits on income.
Another economic quandary is bail bonds — which favor the rich, and keep people imprisoned. Of course Christ tells us to free the imprisoned, getting rid of cash bail, like Illinois, would be a good step. The cost of education is an economic decision that affects your entire life. It affects individuals of color a lot more than white people, and plays into the inherited wealth model that continues to plague United States policy: making it nearly impossible to climb the economic ladder, despite the current bootstrap mythos that permeates American culture. Currently the cost of student debt is crushing the middle class.
Finally, there are the extra costs of the pandemic that bear looking at. Ana Mardoll calls it the pandemic tax and tries to name all of the extra things people have had to pay for in the current crisis.
In the Scriptures
Fantasy author E. K. Johnston, who is a Christian, said that she was jealous of some of the more unusual Jewish holidays. She noted that the mainstream aspects of Christianity make it hard to celebrate silly and more revolutionary actions. What might it mean to have a Flipping Tables holiday regularly celebrated in the church? If we were to celebrate flipping tables Sunday, it would be today! How might we flip the tables? The Bible suggests imagining what the kingdom of heaven is. This is something I just wrote about in light of all that is happening right now.
In the book of Matthew, Jesus’ care for children is made clear. Though children did not contribute to the economy, Jesus welcomed them in Matthew 19:13-15. They did not have to be important, influential or even understand everything that Jesus said. They are God’s beloved. He also notes that their gifts are heavenly in Matthew 18:1-5, and children are the greatest in heaven — something to think about when we debate childcare, SNAP, free lunches, and the costs of education.
Jesus tells us what is expected of us in heaven. We will be asked if we have fed, watered, clothed and shared our household with Christ. Telling us that whenever we do this for the least of these — i.e. those who do not contribute to the economy — we are doing it on behalf of Jesus Christ. It is an economically revolutionary command in Matthew 25:31-40.
Additionally, in Luke 4:16-29, Jesus first ministry act after being in the desert is to alert his hometown to his ministry. He preaches that he has come to bring good news to the powerless, release the prisoners, heal the blind, and free the oppressed. This news is taken pretty well until Jesus notes that he is going to do this for everyone — not just Nazareth, not just for the Hebrews, not just for those who he knows. This flipping of tables on status and power in addition to his economic proclamations lead his hometown to try to throw him off of a cliff.
Jesus spends a lot of time upending things. His most common response to a question is to ask a question in return. His grace is unlimited and freely given, which is hard for us humans to comprehend. And yet, how wonderful would it be if a part of our mission was to upend the tables of economic injustice in real actionable ways. The power of interruption can be great. It bears considering.
Finally, there was a quote going around attributed to Steven Price and it bears further thinking: “Father forgive me for the times I desired a seat at a table you would’ve flipped.” What tables are we being called to flip today?
SECOND THOUGHTSThe Swiss Cheese of Commandments
by Mary Austin
Exodus 20:1-17
A year ago, who imagined that we would still be wearing masks twelve months later? I never thought that I would own as many masks as I do, and that I would even have favorite masks, like I have favorite clothes. Masks are like pants now. Come to think of it, on any given day, more people may be wearing masks than pants, now that many of us work at home.
Along with masks, we have been introduced to the swiss cheese theory of disease prevention. “The metaphor is easy enough to grasp: Multiple layers of protection, imagined as cheese slices, block the spread of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. No one layer is perfect; each has holes, and when the holes align, the risk of infection increases. But several layers combined — social distancing, plus masks, plus hand-washing, plus testing and tracing, plus ventilation, plus government messaging — significantly reduce the overall risk. Vaccination will add one more protective layer.” Each layer has a job to do, and more layers of intervention are better. Lately, we have been advised to double mask, adding another physical layer of protection.
The Ten Commandments offer us the swiss cheese approach to faithful living.
In theory, the first words God speaks should be enough. “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.” If we turn our whole lives toward God, everything else falls into place, and we don’t need any more words of instruction.
And yet, we fail so spectacularly that God gives us more boundaries. Having no other gods means not building your own gods, or observing the forms of worship with them. Knowing our human tendency to look for exceptions, God is very specific about how to honor God. There’s even a specific day for rest and a reason for observing it.
Loving God with all that we are and have should make the treatment of other people fall into place, and here again God gives us particular instructions for living in harmony with each other. We are to cultivate respect and home, and observe boundaries with the people around us. The instructions move from large crimes to smaller ones, to visible outrages to smaller affronts, down even to the quality of our thoughts.
Living with each other in harmony is hard, as Bill Donahue has been learning in his small New Hampshire town. Promoting a Black Lives Matter rally in town stirred up a level of incivility that surprised him. “I was allying with the decentralized racial justice movement, which decries violence against Black people, because I wanted to suggest that, even in a tradition-bound small town, change is possible. My neighbors have long baked pies for one another and run errands for the sick; I hoped that conscientious racial inclusion could come to be regarded as just another form of caring. But I knew that I was taking a controversial stance. In Gilmanton, as of 2019, 96.5% of the residents were, like me, White. In November, 57% of the voters here chose to reelect Donald Trump.” It’s easy to be judgmental in online posts, so Donahue decided to talk to his neighbors in person. He says, “in the days after the election, I embarked on an experiment. I began approaching the myriad locals who, in writing, have attacked me and my political allies. I wanted to know whether liberals and conservatives can still even talk to each other in rural America, and I wondered: What if we took the dialogue offline?” His neighbors declined to meet with him, perhaps, he supposed, because he’s a relative newcomer to the town, in spite of spending many summers there.
He issued 13 invitations and only two people would talk to him. After each meeting, he wasn't sure if he said anything convincing to his neighbors, and yet they have become more nuanced, more human to him.
Perhaps living together is simpler than we realize, and can be built one bubbly, hot pan of lasagna at a time. A Chicago non-profit bypasses dialogue in favor of making and delivering lasagna to anyone who would enjoy it. Volunteers make and deliver the pans, and have brought a taste of homemade food to over 2,000 homes.
Living in harmony with God and each other requires our many layers of commandments, telling us how to honor God and live with each other. The commandments frame the big issues for us, giving boundaries for our behavior. That’s part of the Swiss cheese, many layered approach to faithful living. In addition, we need lasagnas and conversations and the intent to do better by each other, reflecting our love for God in our care for one another.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Tom Willadsen:Exodus 20:1-17
When the Ten Commandments were in the news
It’s hard to find something new to say about the Ten Commandments. It’s a text that is revered and regarded as something of a talisman by many Americans. Twenty years ago there was a huge controversy in Alabama when the Chief Justice of the state’s Supreme Court, the Honorable Roy Moore, arranged to have a monument featuring the Ten Commandments placed in the rotunda of the Heflin-Torbert Judicial Building where he presided. This was no mere bulletin board display.
His final design involved a 5,280-pound granite block, three feet wide by three feet deep by four feet tall, covered with quotes from the Declaration of Independence, the national anthem, and several founding fathers. The crowning element would be two large carved tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. High-grade granite from Vermont was ordered and shipped, and Moore found benefactors and a sculptor to complete the job. Moore's actions were made without the consent or knowledge of the eight associate justices.
On the evening of July 31, 2001, Moore had the completed monument transported to the building and installed in the rotunda.
The next morning, Moore held a press conference in the rotunda to publicly unveil the monument. In a speech following the unveiling, Moore declared, "Today a cry has gone out across our land for the acknowledgment of that God upon whom this nation and our laws were founded ... May this day mark the restoration of the moral foundation of law to our people and the return to the knowledge of God in our land.”
It came as no surprise that the display raised the hackles of many in the State of Alabama and the judge was sued by the ACLU of Alabama, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
If all Chief Justice Moore had done were to emphasize the Ten Commandments' historical and educational importance ... or their importance as a model code for good citizenship ... this court would have a much different case before it. But the Chief Justice did not limit himself to this; he went far, far beyond. He installed a two-and-a-half ton monument in the most prominent place in a government building, managed with dollars from all state taxpayers, with the specific purpose and effect of establishing a permanent recognition of the 'sovereignty of God,' the Judeo-Christian God, over all citizens in this country, regardless of each taxpaying citizen's individual personal beliefs or lack thereof. To this, the Establishment Clause says no. (Ibid.)
In the end it amounted a publicity stunt. The judge had clearly violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution, but his effort received enormous publicity and won him the support of many like-minded citizens.
* * *
Exodus 20:1-17
The Ten Commandments — more (potential) controversy
Say you’re in a discussion about whether it is constitutionally permitted to display the 10 Commandments in the entry way to a government building. One can make a reasoned argument that the 10 Commandments have been one of the foundations on which the American understanding of the Law is based. As an historic, cultural document, concede that it’s all right to display the 10 Commandments. Now engage the other person is a discussion of which version of the 10 Commandments should be displayed. Judge Moore used an abbreviated version of the commandments found in Exodus 20 in the King James Version. What about those who prefer the version found in Deuteronomy 5? And which translation of the Bible should be used? Certainly the King James Version does not reflect the way Americans speak today. Perhaps a more contemporary version should be used. One could use the Jerusalem Bible, but wouldn’t that show a preference to the Roman Catholic tradition, thus violating the Establishment Clause? The same could be argued about the Jewish Publication Society’s translation. Clearly, the best solution is to find a translation — after selecting Exodus or Deuteronomy — that everyone can agree on. This will never happen!! Perhaps a bulletin board for public notices would be a better, less controversial object to hang on the wall of the entry to the courthouse.
* * *
Psalm 19
Do you feel whiplash?
The first six verses of Psalm 19 look up at the ever changing wonders one finds in the sky.
The next five verses are words of high praise for the Lord’s laws, decrees, precepts and commandments.
This stark contrast echoes that found in “I Sing the Mighty Power of God:”
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed,
Wher’er I turn my eyes;
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the skies!
* * *
John 2:13-22
Jesus cleanses the temple — a different spin
John puts this episode very, very early in Jesus’ career. In the synoptic gospels Jesus’ tantrum in the temple was either at the end of his Palm Sunday ride (Matthew and Luke) or on Palm Monday (Mark). The synoptics present the event as precipitating the plan to have Jesus executed. In John’s gospel Jesus gives his life up freely, so the story does not require an event to bring the authorities’ ire. While each gospel’s account has its variations, John is unique in saying that Jesus made a whip out of cords, which may indicate that this was a spontaneous act. Luke includes Jesus weeping over Jerusalem between His arrival at the temple and entering, an odd placement, given our understanding that Jesus was distant from and had a wide perspective on Jerusalem when he wept over it.
* * *
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
The world turned upside down
Paul writes of the contrast between human wisdom and God’s foolishness. Jesus makes a similar inversion in Matthew’s account of the cleansing of the temple. The chief priests and scribes asked Jesus if he heard the children shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David!” He replied, “Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself,” citing Psalm 8:2.
* * *
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
The irony of the cross
For Christians the cross is such a familiar symbol that we often forget its irony. Crucifixion is a form of capital punishment. For Christians, wearing a cross is like wearing a gallows or a hypodermic needle used to inject a lethal drug into a condemned criminal. My tradition emphasizes that we use an empty cross, which points to the resurrection, I get that. But there’s no resurrection without death and the cross is undeniably a tool of death.
It raises a question: how should Christians who affirm the substitutionary atonement regard capital punishment? How would the Christian story have unfolded if Jesus had not been publically executed?
* * * * * *
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:Good Trouble (Flipping Tables)
Rep. John Lewis (1940-2020) was no stranger to the phenomenon of flipping tables.
In 1963 Lewis played a key role in the historic March on Washington and, though still in his early 20s, became such a prominent figure that he was considered one of the civil rights movement’s “Big Six” leaders, along with King, James Farmer, A. Phillip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and Whitney Young.
Lewis is, perhaps, best remembered for the pivotal role he played in one the most important events in the history of the American civil rights movement when he and King lieutenant Hosea Williams led some 600 peaceful demonstrators on a march in support of voting rights that departed from Selma, with the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, as its destination. At the beginning of the march, while still in Selma, as they attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge over the Alabama River, the protestors were confronted by a large force of sheriff’s deputies, state troopers, and deputized “possemen” (some on horseback) who had been authorized by Alabama’s segregationist governor George Wallace to “take whatever means necessary” to prevent the march. Given two minutes to disperse, the marchers were almost immediately set upon. They were quickly doused with tear gas, overrun by horses, and attacked with bullwhips and billy clubs. As a result of the brutal assault, more than 50 marchers were hospitalized, including Lewis, whose skull was fractured but who spoke to television reporters before going to the hospital, and called on Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson to take action in Alabama. Millions of American television viewers witnessed the event, which became known as “Bloody Sunday,” and within 48 hours demonstrations in support of the marchers had taken place in some 80 American cities. The resulting heightened awareness would contribute mightily to the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act, which was signed into law by Johnson on August 6, 1965.
On March 1, 2020, having been diagnosed with stage-4 pancreatic cancer, Lewis made a surprise appearance at the 55th annual "Bloody Sunday" commemorative march in Selma, Alabama, and delivered an impassioned plea to voters to use the ballot box as "a nonviolent instrument or tool to redeem the soul of America." "To each and every one of you, especially you young people ... Go out there, speak up, speak out. Get in the way. Get in good trouble. Necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.”
* * *
Henry David Thoreau and “Civil Disobedience” (Flipping Tables)
Most who have even a brush acquaintance with the life and writings of Henry David Thoreau, know that he lived in a cabin on Walden Pond for two years from 1844 to 1846.
It was during that solitary sojourn, in July of 1845, that Thoreau was arrested and jailed for nonpayment of the poll tax, which he had refused to pay since 1842 in protest against government complicity in slavery and the Mexican War. Although Thoreau's debt was paid by an anonymous benefactor, and he therefore spent only one night behind bars, the event was significant because it led directly to the preparation of one of his most influential writings. In 1848, Thoreau first lectured before the Concord Lyceum on "The Rights and Duties of the Individual in Relation to Government." In 1849, he submitted "Resistance to Civil Government" to Elizabeth Palmer Peabody for publication in the May 1849 issue Aesthetic Papers. The piece was later published under the title Civil Disobedience.
One, probably apocryphal, story of Thoreau’s overnight stay in jail is that his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson came to pay his taxes and get him out of jail. Upon arriving at the jail and seeing Thoreau sitting in the cell, Emerson exclaimed, “Thoreau, what are you doing in there?”
To which Thoreau answered, “Emerson, what are you doing out there?”
* * *
Economic Justice for All (Economic Justice)
In 1986 the National Conference of Catholic Bishops published a paper called “Economic Justice for All: Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy.” In it, the bishops identified six specific principles which should guide American economic thinking. These six principles have been approved by many religious thinkers and ethicists:
- Every economic decision and institution must be judged in light of whether it protects or undermines the dignity of the human person. The pastoral letter begins with the human person.
- Human dignity can be realized and protected only in community.
- All people have a right to participate in the economic life of society.
- All members of society have a special obligation to the poor and vulnerable.
- Human rights are the minimum conditions for life in community.
- Society as a whole, acting through public and private institutions, has the moral responsibility to enhance human dignity and protect human rights.
Killed by Its Own Prosperity (Idolatry)
The first church owned parsonage we lived in was a former hired man’s cottage with two bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room and an eat-in kitchen. The entire place was probably no more than 800 square feet in size.
In the small yard, a previous tenant had planed six apple trees, each a different variety but the trees had not been cared for and had gone nearly wild. So I went to the library and picked out a couple of books about orchards and apple trees and how to take care of them.
I spent a year fertilizing, pruning, and caring for those trees and in the following summer, we had a crop of beautiful apples — Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Jonathan, Winesap, and one we couldn’t identify.
The apples on that tree were wonderful. Tart, crisp, and as large as grapefruit. And they came on like gangbusters. The tree was full of them to the point that the limbs, weighted down by the fruit, nearly touched the ground.
Then one autumn morning, as we lay abed, we heard a horrible cracking and ripping sound in the yard just outside our bedroom window. I jumped from the bed and rushed outside to see that the tree with the big, unidentified apples, had come apart, the trunk split in half all the way to the ground, torn in two from the weight of its fruit. We managed to salvage some of the apples but not the tree, itself.
The tree died, a victim of its own prosperity.
* * *
Three Great Idols (Idolatry)
Theologians tend to define idols as those things which are not ultimate but which we treat as though they are. In other words, the non-divine things to which we give divine authority and power over our lives. Paul Tillich said that anything that we treat as an ultimate reality is God for us.
In his essay, “The Church as Social Pioneer,” theologian H. Richard Niebuhr identifies the three most dangerous and seductive idols of the 20th Century as: Racism, Nationalism, and Economic Imperialism.
Racism measures a person’s worth by the color of their skin. Nationalism measures\ a person’s worth by the geographic location where they live. Imperialism measures a person’s worthy by the amount of wealth they can generate for themselves or others.
It was these three, he says, that gave rise to world-wide fascism, National Socialism (Nazis) in Germany, and the Fascist part in Italy when they failed to realize that it is God which gives us our value and that value is given by grace alone.
* * * * * *
WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship:
One: The heavens are telling the glory of God.
All: The firmament proclaims God’s handiwork.
One: The law of God is perfect, reviving the soul.
All: The decrees of God are sure, making wise the simple;
One: Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts
All: be acceptable to you, O God, our rock and our redeemer.
OR
One: God calls us to be God’s children and God’s likeness.
All: We answer God’s call and offer ourselves.
One: God needs us to be who we were created to be.
All: We will be God’s children and God’s likeness.
One: God desires to live among the world through us.
All: We will make ourselves open to God living through us.
Hymns and Songs:
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty
UMH: 64/65
H82: 362
PH: 128
AAHH: 329
NNBH: 1
NCH: 277
CH: 4
LBW: 165
ELW: 413
W&P: 136
AMEC: 25
STLT: 26
Renew: 204
All People That on Earth Do Dwell
UMH: 75
H82: 377/378
PH: 220/221
NNBH: 36
NCH: 7
CH: 18
LBW: 245
ELW: 883
W&P: 661
AMEC: 73
STLT 370
Hope of the World
UMH: 178
H82: 472
PH: 360
NCH: 46
CH: 538
LBW: 493
W&P: 404
Fairest Lord Jesus
UMH: 189
H82: 383/384
PH: 306
NNBH: 75
NCH: 44
CH: 97
W&P: 123
AMEC: 95
Renew: 166
O Love, How Deep
UMH: 267
H82: 448/449
PH: 83
NCH: 209
LBW: 88
ELW: 322
W&P: 244
Love, Divine, All Loves Excelling
UMH: 384
H82: 657
PH: 376
AAHH: 440
NNBH: 65
NCH: 43
CH: 517
LBW: 315
ELW: 631
W&P: 358
AMEC: 455
Renew: 196
Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies
UMH: 173
H82: 6/7
PH: 462/463
LBW: 265
ELW: 553
W&P: 91
Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive
UMH: 390
H82: 674
PH: 347
LBW: 307
ELW: 605
W&P: 382
Renew: 184
Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life
UMH: 427
H82: 609
PH: 408
NCH: 543
CH: 665
LBW: 429
ELW: 719
W&P: 591
AMEC: 561
Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service
UMH: 581
H82: 610
PH: 427
CH: 461
LBW: 423
ELW: 712
W&P: 575
Renew: 286
One Bread, One Body
UMH: 620
CH: 393
ELW: 496
W&P: 689
Shalom to You
CCB: 98
Walk with Me
CCB: 88
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
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 created us to live in community with one another:
Grant us the wisdom to follow your laws
so that we may live in harmony and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you created us to live in community with one another. You made us one people in all the earth. Help us to be wise enough to follow your laws and to live in harmony and peace with all you children. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the division, hatred, and violence we bring to one another.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have been created in your image as the three in one and yet we insist on being individuals without connection to our siblings in Christ. We bully and push our way to the front of the line and insist that we are better than the rest although we were all created in the wondrous image of God. Forgive us and renew your image in us as we seek to unite with all your children. Amen.
One: God claims us as God’s own people even when we fail utterly to act like we belong to God. Receive God’s grace and share it with all God’s children.
Prayers of the People
We praise you, O God, because you have created all of us in your likeness and image. We are all you children.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have been created in your image as the three in one and yet we insist on being individuals without connection to our siblings in Christ. We bully and push our way to the front of the line and insist that we are better than the rest although we were all created in the wondrous image of God. Forgive us and renew your image in us as we seek to unite with all your children.
We give you thanks for all you blessings and for all your children which you give to be our siblings and our blessings. We thank you for the bounty of your love which is expressed in the bounty of creation. We thank you for those who have shared your love with us and taught us what it means to be in community.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We offer our prayers for all your children who are in need. We pray for those who feel excluded from the community of the beloved. We pray for those who struggle to know what it means to be loved and accepted.
(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 Our Father 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
Sometimes it is hard to fit in. Sometimes we are in groups choosing sides for a game where we do not fit in with the most able. We are in a place where they are choosing sides for the fastest and we are among the slowest. Or they are looking for the strongest when we are the weakest. Or they are looking for the smartest and we are not among that group.
God is looking for those who look most like God and we are all able to be part of that group. We were made in the image and likeness of God. We can all fill that category. No matter who we are or what we look like, we can be the image of God and be God’s loving presence to those around us.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN'S SERMONGod’s Top Ten Words
by Chris Keating
Exodus 20:1-17
Leader preparation:
Research the rules of a familiar game like checkers, “Uno,” or “Sorry.”
Review commentaries on Exodus 20:1-17.
Materials to gather ahead of time:
Ten 3x5 or 4x6 index cards, numbered with kid friendly version of the Ten Commandments.
A poster outline of Moses’ tablets (without the commandments).
An industrious worship leader might consider introducing the children’s time by playing a portion of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Ten Duel Commandments” from “Hamilton.” On the other hand, there aren’t many pastors who can successfully pull off singing hip-hop, so skipping the “Hamilton” reference might be just fine!
This Sunday offers an opportunity to reflect on one of the church’s most beloved, yet often overlooked scriptures. Gone are the days Sunday school children learned the commandments by rote. That loss offers the church the challenge of helping children understand the theological and liturgical significance of God’s “top ten list.”
As the children gather, ask them if they can tell you the rules of a simple game like “Uno,” or “Sorry,” or checkers. Ask them, “I wonder what it would be like to play games without any rules?” While it may seem as though playing without rules would be fun at first, eventually the game would be unpleasant and not fair. Rules are the ways we show respect for all people.
The commandments are truly the words God speaks to Israel. They are to be inscribed not on monuments but on the hearts of God’s people, for they offer us the rules for maintaining a healthy, thriving, and honest relationship with God. Help the children to remember that just as God made promises (or covenants) with Noah and Abraham, now God makes another special promise to Israel.
Invite the children to help you fill the chart with the paraphrased version of the commandments. Read the commandment and discuss why this rule might be important. Have the children tape the cards to the poster when finished. (You may also choose to use a contemporary translation like The Message or a version of the commandments from a children’s Bible.)
Here’s one attempt at a paraphrase:
1. Always put God first.
2. Don’t treat objects or things as God.
3. Don’t misuse God’s name.
4. Take a day off.
5. Respect your parents.
6. Do not kill people.
7. Marriage is something special.
8. Do not take things that are not yours.
9. Do not tell lies.
10. Do not become jealous.
Help the children see that commandments are rules that help us live faithfully. They are the rules God offers us, and are intended for our benefit. But even more important than the rules is the reminder that these words of God are gifts of grace, and that God is always more willing to forgive than we are to confess.
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The Immediate Word, March 7, 2021 issue.
Copyright 2021 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.
