Many congregations will celebrate the first Sunday in November as All Saints Sunday, using those lectionary texts rather than the ones assigned for Proper 26 -- so in this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Dean Feldmeyer addresses the lectionary gospel passage for All Saints Sunday, which features Luke’s version of the Beatitudes. Jesus makes a point here of contrasting the unlimited blessings that await those who are poor and hungry and reviled in this world with the tangible but ultimately temporary blessings of those who have earthly riches. It’s a stunning reversal of the usual way we typically value human achievement, as secular society in both Jesus’ time and our own tends to worship riches and heap great admiration on the “go-getters” who have amassed them. Yet Jesus tells his disciples (and us) that in the greater scheme of things none of that is important -- and furthermore he instructs us to turn away from its lures, exhorting us to “give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again” (Luke 6:30).
In other words, Dean points out, Jesus is suggesting that living modestly ought to be an intentional lifestyle choice. And that teaching is one Pope Francis is taking very seriously not merely with his words, but in his actions as well. The pontiff’s relatively spartan living habits have attracted attention, and this past week Francis gave teeth to his disapproval of ostentatious displays of wealth by suspending a German bishop (nicknamed “the bishop of bling”) who spent over $40 million in lavish renovations on a palatial residence. Dean also explores the recent saga of the Grambling University football team and its deprivations (which led to a brief player revolt) -- particularly in contrast with the excessively lavish facilities of prominent big-time college football programs -- as another example in the news of the vast gulf between the haves and the have-nots in our world... and wonders if, like the suspended bishop, those football factories need a reality check about which blessings are the truly lasting ones. Dean notes that while the modest values espoused by Pope Francis may run counter to the aspirations of many, Jesus is telling us that if we give in to our desire for earthly rewards we are actually to be pitied, because in the end we are only shortchanging ourselves.
Team member Mary Austin shares some additional thoughts on the gospel text for Proper 26, the story of Jesus inviting himself to dinner at Zacchaeus’ house. Jesus takes quite a bit of flack for associating with a tax collector, but what is notable about their encounter is that both Jesus and Zacchaeus are willing to ignore that criticism and open themselves to making a deep connection with each other. Mary suggests that this invites us to think about how we interact with the “strangers” in our lives who we might be wary of or who might make us uncomfortable. To whom do we open our doors? Who do we invite into our homes and our lives? How do we balance our understandable concern for safety and security in a dangerous world with openness to unexpected people and moments? Mary notes that it’s an important theme to consider as communities throughout the country engage this week in the annual Halloween trick-or-treat ritual. Despite evidence suggesting that stories of children being exposed to poisoned treats are merely overblown media fearmongering, the fact these urban legends persist probably reflects our underlying fear of strangers and random violence. But Mary asks us: If we worry too much about safety, do we run the risk of closing ourselves off from a potentially life-changing encounter? If Jesus came to us in the form of a tax collector (or perhaps its modern guise, as a sex offender), would we be open enough to invite him in?
As Good As It Gets
by Dean Feldmeyer
Luke 6:20-31
Frank Sinatra once joked that he felt sorry for people who don’t drink because “when they wake up in the morning they know that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day.”
Luke’s version of the Beatitudes takes a more serious but similar tack when it comes to being rich, popular, well-fed, and happy. He feels sorry for those people because if those are the goals they choose to pursue, if those are the things they spend their lives trying to get, they may get them -- but that’s all they’re going to get.
As an alternative, Jesus suggests that we choose a life of voluntary poverty and deprivation. A life that is “stricken and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53) is an authentic life that opens us up to the full depth and breadth that life has to offer when we are not distracted or encumbered by a desire for the “blessings of bling.”
In the News
Last week, Pope Francis extolled that same alternative to the German bishop of Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst. The “Bishop of Bling” (as the international press has dubbed him) has been suspended (at least temporarily) while the Vatican investigates his lifestyle, which has caused no small amount of consternation among the German faithful.
About 4,000 people -- in a diocese of 650,000 -- signed a letter complaining about the bishop’s extravagant tastes, and others have gathered daily in front of his home to protest the $42 million remodeling job that has now ballooned to something like $55 million. A few of the costlier items the bishop has installed are a $20,000 bathtub, a $34,000 conference table, and a $4 million chapel.
Bishop van Elst has defended the costs, pointing out that they actually cover ten different projects that include guest quarters, living areas for nuns, offices, and a museum. The complex of buildings also is protected as a historical structure, which requires any remodeling project to be approved by the government and meet demanding and expensive standards.
However it turns out, it’s going to be a test for Pope Francis, who has called on other bishops to not “live like princes.” The pontiff has gained notoriety by challenging Roman Catholics to be a “poor church for poor people,” and for his own refusal to take on the expensive trappings of his office. He does not wear the red slippers, he lives in a simple apartment instead of the traditional and expansive papal quarters, and he drives a beatup old car in lieu of the popemobile.
***
In the United States, Grambling State University -- a historically black college located in northern Louisiana -- was thrown into a tailspin a couple of weeks ago when the entire football team went on strike, refusing to practice and board buses to travel to a game at Jackson State, causing the game to be forfeited.
The strike was meant to protest the deplorable conditions under which the players were expected to prepare for their weekly contests. The walls and ceilings of the locker rooms and showers are covered with mold. The floor of the weight room is coming up in chunks. The laundry facilities are so badly maintained that staph infections among the players have been traced back to their uniforms.
When this once proud and championship-winning team traveled from Louisiana to Indianapolis to play a game, they traveled by bus -- while their opponents traveled by plane. Ditto when they went to Kansas City.
Is it any wonder their record sits at 0-7?
In a poignant and powerful column, Yahoo’s Pat Forde compares the plight of the Grambling Tigers to other, more affluent college football programs -- like the Oregon Ducks, where the players work out in the “145,000-square foot Oregon Football Performance Center,” which features Nepalese rugs, Brazilian hardwood floors in the weight room, and Italian leather couches in the players’ lounge. They fly to their away games in privately chartered jets, and they have worn seven different uniforms in seven different games.
Other universities who have to compete for elite players rise to the bar that has been set so ridiculously high by Oregon. As Forde notes: “Tennessee’s plans for a $45 million football facility were altered midstream by then-coach Derek Dooley to include $9 million in adjustments from another consultant. The reason, according to Dooley: ‘If (recruits) don’t go wow, then we hadn’t done our job.’ ”
Meanwhile, state funding to Grambling has fallen from $31.6 million to $13.8 million since 2009, and the university has had to lay off 127 staff members. Efforts to offset the loss of revenue with higher tuition have failed, and the football program has lost money for the last two years.
***
And finally, this week most people who receive food stamps will receive a reduction of about 5% in their assistance. The 2009 Recovery Act’s temporary boost to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will end on November 1. Assistance will now average less than $1.40 per meal, a level that will keep you alive but hardly healthy. Meanwhile, Head Start has had to cut 57,000 children from their rolls this fall and lay off about 18,000 employees due to a $400 million cut that came with the sequester in August.
We have not slowed down on our defense spending, however. Every hour of 2014 we will spend $60.71 million on the Department of Defense. At the same time we will spend about $8 million per hour on education, $3 million per hour on the environment, and $13 million on food and nutrition assistance.
In the Scriptures
The Beatitudes appear only in Matthew and Luke, and scholars are hard put to know which came first. Is Matthew an expanded, poetic version of the one that appears in Luke? Or is Luke the Beatitudes of Matthew stripped down to their gritty essence?
However we decide, Luke’s version has more raw, visceral impact that that of Matthew. It hits us where we live, with no poetry to cushion the blow. Luke’s Beatitudes are demanding and immediate. They do not allow for a casual reading -- they require a reaction.
Luke offers four blessings, where Matthew offers nine. And Luke adds four woes.
Luke’s blessings can’t be read without the woes -- and when we read them together we hear Jesus offering us an alternative lifestyle. Choose that which you will seek in life, he seems to say, because what you seek will determine what you get.
- Too bad for you if you have chosen to spend your life getting rich, because that’s the only kind of wealth you’re ever going to get.
- Too bad for you if you have chosen to spend your life seeking happiness, because that’s the only kind of happiness you’re ever going to find.
- Too bad for you if you spend your life seeking to fill your belly, because that’s the only kind of fullness you’re ever going to know.
- And too bad for you if you spend your life seeking the approval of your peers, because that’s the only kind of approval you’re ever going to get.
- But good for you if you can turn your back on the blessings of bling, for you will know a more profound and better kind of wealth.
- And good for you if you understand that there’s a more important kind of nutrition than the kind you put in your belly, because you will know a more important kind of health.
- And good for you if you have a capacity for empathy; you will know what true pain and comfort are.
- And good for you if you are a differentiated self who can live without the approval of every person you meet. You will be able to do the right thing even when it is unpopular.
Then, just in case we have missed his point, Luke then goes on in a series of axioms to make explicit the demands that the Beatitudes place upon us.
We are to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, pray for those who mistreat us.
If anyone strikes us on the cheek, we are to offer the other cheek also. If someone takes our coat, we are to give them our shirt as well. Give to those who beg. If anyone steals from us or takes away our goods, let them.
He then concludes with the Golden Rule -- a general code of ethical behavior.
In the Sermon
It is popular these days to take this text and manipulate it into a set of instructions for subtle, ethical one-upsmanship, a kind of mental judo that we can use to resist by appearing not to resist.
But I think that sells short the demand that this passage makes on our lives as Christians.
We are, in fact, called to an alternative lifestyle.
We are called to be a peaceful, loving, unassuming people in world that prizes and rewards aggression, violence, and machismo.
We are called to pursue treasures that are not affected by inflation or the vicissitudes of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. We are called to seek those things which provide nutrition not just for the body but for the soul as well. We are called to seek the joy which surpasses happiness and work for the approval of God before that of our neighbors.
On All Saints Sunday, we celebrate those saints of the church who have gone before us and shown us “The Way.”
Many of those saints we remember not because they sought to be rich or happy or well-fed or popular, but because they made sacrifices, often without knowing the names of those for whom they were sacrificing.
They worked for us before they knew who we were.
They gave on our behalf before we could ourselves give.
They sacrificed their happiness for that greater joy which comes in service. They sacrificed their own fulfillment so that others could be filled. They sacrificed their more-than-enough so others might have enough. They sacrificed their own popularity in their fight for the well-being of others.
May God grant us the vision and the courage to live fully by this alternative lifestyle called the Beatitudes so that others will remember our names when they celebrate the Feast of All Saints.
ANOTHER VIEW
by Mary Austin
Luke 19:1-10
As Jesus moves closer to Jerusalem, his actions take on an added weight. Like someone’s last words, these final enacted sermons have added meaning. Here he spends time with someone even more despised than his usual companions -- not just a tax collector, but the chief tax collector for the region. He spots this man in a tree, and decides to go home for dinner with him. Being Jesus, he doesn’t seem to have the wariness about strangers that we have.
For us, Halloween kicks our usual concerns about stranger danger up a few notches.
Psychotherapist Andrew Extein suggested recently on The Huffington Post that a collectively feared “bogeyman” is an essential part of Halloween. As a society, we project our fears onto a bogeyman, and use that figure to scare children into behaving. Extein notes that “The bogeyman is central to Halloween. The holiday is rooted in Christian tradition and folklore, and dates back for centuries in Europe. Halloween in the United States began in the 19th century with the Irish and Scottish migration. Jack-o-lanterns frighten evil spirits, trick-or-treating uses threats to get sweets, and costumes mock satanic figures. Halloween has evolved into a cathartic holiday that celebrates fear, indulges in horror, and helps us exercise our imagination. The personification of this fear takes many forms -- witches, killers, vampires -- but the central concept remains the same. Some fears are too scary to take such specific forms, and the result is the vaguely terrifying bogeyman.” Fear of the stranger is an essential part of the ambiance of Halloween.
Poisoned candy, razor blades hidden in apples, and strangers lurking in the dark are among the things that pop into our minds at Halloween time. They’re part of our Halloween mythology, but there is very little evidence of real danger. As Smithsonian magazine reports, “Although there have been reports of razor blades and other foreign objects embedded in Halloween candy (or apples -- although anyone giving out an apple on Halloween is already suspect), these dangers are almost always obvious with the most cursory glance. What about poison, which, being invisible and generally hard to detect, is the more nefarious way to taint candy? You have little reason to be concerned there either.” A 30-year study of Halloween stories couldn’t find any report of a stranger murdering a child this way. The one confirmed report was a man who murdered his son for a large life insurance payout.
Psychotherapist Extein argues that sex offenders are our new bogeyman figure. Many cities have specific rules about what sex offenders are and are not allowed to do on Halloween, even for those whose convictions have nothing to do with children. Despite the low incidence of abuse by strangers, and the fact that most abuse of children comes from a family member or trusted friend, we persist in fearing the menacing stranger.
Whether the evidence bears it out or not, fear of people we don’t know has a hold on our spirits. And yet this is completely absent in Jesus. Many of his significant encounters are with people we would greet with some wariness, or go out of our way to avoid: the woman of dubious reputation and precarious circumstances who comes to the well when no one else will be there; the wild, demon-ridden man who lives in the unclean tombs; and now the chief tax collector.
Zacchaeus seems to want to hide from the crowd for a private glimpse of Jesus. As Kenneth Bailey observes in Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels (InterVarsity Press, 2008): “Middle Eastern adults do not run in public if they wish to avoid public shame. Furthermore, powerful, rich men do not climb trees at public parades anywhere in the world. Zacchaeus knew this only too well. So he ran ahead of the crowd and, trying to hide, climbed into a tree with dense foliage hoping no one would see him. Why is a sycamore fig mentioned?... Sycamore fig trees have large leaves and low branches. One can climb into them easily and just as easily hide.... Additionally, such trees were only allowed some distance from town. Zacchaeus chose to climb a tree growing outside Jericho, assuming the crowd would have dispersed by the time Jesus reached Jericho” (pg. 177). There’s no hiding from Jesus. Jesus’ discerning eye sees both Zacchaeus himself and his need for restoration, and calls him down from the tree.
The crowd’s enthusiasm for Jesus changes when he decides to eat with the despised Zacchaeus. As David Ewart notes on his blog Holy Textures, “The response of the crowd, shifting from approval to disapproval of Jesus, foreshadows what lies ahead for Jesus in the week to come: ‘Hosanna!’ during his triumphant entry to Jerusalem, and then ‘Crucify him!’ during his trial.” It makes one wonder if contrary old Jesus picks the person designed to gather the most reaction from the crowd.
In fact, all along Jesus has been going to extremes to reach out to people. Not just someone with a demon, but seven demons. Or the man whose demons announce “My name is legion.” Not just one leper, but ten. Not just healing, but doing it again and again on the sabbath.
We have a place in our minds for the dangerous stranger, and we like to hold people there, safely out of reach. And yet our most significant moments of grace may come in our encounters with people who are unknown to us -- until we begin to see them as they really are. Jesus sees Zacchaeus, sees all of his longing to do better, his faith, the life he’s been living and the life he wants to embrace in the future.
Even as we enjoy our Halloween fun, Jesus invites us to see behind the mask to the stranger before us, and to take up his holy work of welcome.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Chris Keating:
Luke 6:20-31
Avoiding Scary Memories
Football gave Brett Favre many reasons to rejoice throughout his career. Recently, however, the legendary quarterback has discovered a lingering negative impact which may change his life in years to come. Favre acknowledged last week that he suffers from memory loss, most likely as the result of being hit repeatedly in the head on the gridiron. Favre, 44, says he faces “scary” memory issues, including not being able to remember his daughter’s soccer games. He joins a growing list of athletes who have learned that career success often leads to a litany of woes in retirement. Sports Illustrated columnist Steve Rushin wrote last week that “invisible injuries are finally getting attention the visible ones can’t help but attract.”
Players’ injuries are lifelong reminders of how fleeting success can be. “Woe to you who are full now,” says Jesus, “for you will be hungry.” Favre is a wealthy man -- but there will be hunger in the years ahead that his money will not be able to satisfy.
*****
Luke 6:20-31
Deep Happiness
When it comes to happiness, Jesus doesn’t pull any punches. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount directs our attention to hear and see the poor among us. His words contradict the conventional wisdom of Hellenistic society that wealth translates into happiness. The sermon conveys an identity upon God’s people that fills the hungry with good things.
The Servants Anonymous Society in Calgary, Canada, is an organization dedicated to serving women who have been exploited in the sex trade. SAS promotes healing and hope, embodying Jesus’ words: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.... Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” One client of SAS describes her journey toward wholeness:
For me it was a feeling of aloneness in the world.... I grew up feeling out of place, an outsider, and I always struggled to find a place where I belonged. I always maintained that one of my best traits was to be able to assimilate into a great variety of people. However... I came to realize that I didn’t have a true identity because I was looking to “fit in,” anywhere that anyone would “have me.” It took me quite a lot of time to accept having someone to believe in me, and tell me that I have a place here even though they weren’t taking something from me in return (Heidi Grogan, “Cry of the Streets,” Weavings, November/December/January 2013-2014, p. 6).
*****
Luke 6:20-31
Seeing the Poor
Luke consistently turns our attention to the real needs of poor, hungry and marginalized persons. Jesus’ message of “blessed are you who are poor” is a call to focus our mission on those in need, something that can sometimes be a challenge to congregations. Robert Benson reflects on his experience of assisting a homeless man in his neighborhood. His muse is especially timely for churches which may be engaged in fall stewardship campaigns:
Sometimes, when I think about us church folks, I wonder a bit about our collective and general way of being with the poor.... I wonder about the way we do not open the door to [homeless persons] of the world while we head to committee meetings to plan our mission trips to a small village in Latin America. I wonder sometimes about our clothing drives where we drop off clothes at the church and never visit the place where the people who need them come to pick them up. I wonder sometimes about the way we drop off food in bags in the narthex and never look into the eyes of those who are hungry. I wonder sometimes about the way we drive past the poor on the way to give our money to people whose job it is to take care of the poor (“Opening the Door to Billy,” Weavings, November/December/January 2013-2014, p. 12).
*****
Ephesians 1:11-23
Sharing a Glorious Inheritance
The classic 1984 film Places in the Heart concludes with an epic scene worthy of reflection on All Saints Sunday. Set in the Depression in rural Texas, the film traces the experience of young widow Edna Spaulding (portrayed by Sally Field), who struggles to maintain her family’s cotton farm following her husband’s death. Her husband, the local sheriff, was accidentally shot by a young African-American boy. With all odds stacked against her, Spaulding struggles to prevail. At the end of the movie, the characters gather again for worship and a celebration of the Lord’s Supper. As the choir sings “Blessed Assurance,” the camera slowly pans around the congregation. As communion is shared, the audience sees every character -- living and dead -- gathered for worship. All the saints are present -- including the young boy who killed Spaulding’s husband. In a touching conclusion, they share in communion and the boy says, “Peace of God.”
***************
From team member Ron Love:
Luke 19:1-10
Evagrius Ponticus (also known as Evagrius the Solitary) was a Christian monk and ascetic who resided in a monastery in the Egyptian desert. Concerned with the temptations that besought people the most, in the year 375 he compiled a list of eight terrible thoughts, also referred to as the eight evil temptations. The eight patterns of evil thought he identified were gluttony, greed, sloth, sorrow, lust, anger, vainglory, and pride. The list was not intended to be one of condemnation; instead Evagrius wanted to raise awareness of our most compelling temptations so that we would be self-disciplined enough to avert our attention from them. Almost two centuries later, in the year 590 Pope Gregory I (also known as Pope Gregory the Great) revisited the list and refined it to seven by combining two and adding two more of his own. Gregory’s list is more commonly known as the Seven Deadly Sins, which are: pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust.
Application: Zacchaeus discovered the joy of servitude as opposed to a life motivated by greed.
*****
Luke 19:1-10
The new temptation today would be “fame.” In 2009 Alessandra Stanley wrote in the New York Times about how “Fame has a spellbinding power in American society, the one thing that can trump wealth, talent, breeding, and even elected office. Reality shows and social websites like Facebook long ago knocked down barriers that kept ordinary people trapped in obscurity.” For this reason, Stanley wrote, “some people take huge risks for the freedom to be someone else -- a celebrity.” She lifted up as examples the Salahis, a couple who notoriously crashed a White House state dinner; the Heenes, who pretended that their child was trapped in a runaway balloon; and the Gosselins, who showcased their eight children -- all desiring to share the limelight of a reality television show.
Application: Before Zacchaeus climbed the tree of humility, he paraded around town displaying his self-importance.
*****
Luke 19:1-10
The oldest established religion in the world (and the third largest in number of adherents) Hinduism understands the entrapment of living a self-centered life. At the end of the first century C.E., the Laws of Manu were established. These laws report the four basic goals that motivate humanity; thus they have also come to be called the “Four Ends of Human Life.” Hindus believe that young people should transcend from one level to the next, until they discover the true meaning of life. The journey begins with kama or pleasure -- discovering purpose by gratifying the senses. It is here, at kama, as a hedonist, that one begins the journey of life. Unfulfilled, the next level one moves to is artha, which means financial success or wealth. This is the first attempt to set some real goals, but it reflects a misplaced ambition. One continues to sense an inner disquiet, because as well as being successful a person equally desires to be respected. Therefore one strives for dharma, which is righteous living. As a viable contributor to the community, a person knows that they are doing good for others, but yet there still remains an emptiness. The goal now becomes moksha, which means liberation or spiritual freedom, and it is here that the real purpose of life is realized. Moksha is attained by disidentification -- breaking free of the body and mind, which becomes the realization of our true identity.
Application: Though as Christians we do not profess to be Hindus, we can learn from their theological perspective -- one of which is what Zacchaeus came to understand: the liberation that comes with self-denial.
*****
Luke 19:1-10
In the 1970s, Harvard-educated psychiatrist Karl Menninger wrote a book that was widely read, studied, and discussed. Menninger, who established a sanitarium in 1925 in Topeka, Kansas, believed that mental health is dependent upon physical, social, cultural, and moral (spiritual) health. In his view, a significant aspect of spiritual health is dependent on being unencumbered by the ramifications of sin. Therefore his book was titled Whatever Became of Sin? The following paragraph is the one that is most often quoted:
The very word “sin,” which seems to have disappeared, was a proud word. It was once a strong word, an ominous and serious word. It described a central point in every civilized human being’s lifeplan and lifestyle. But the word went away. It has almost disappeared -- the word, along with the notion. Why? Doesn’t anyone sin anymore? Doesn’t anyone believe in sin?
Application: Like Zacchaeus, we need to be reintroduced to the word sin.
*****
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland, 68, just retired from the dugout following his team’s loss in the American League championship Series. Leyland began his major league managerial career with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1986, and secured one World Series title with the Florida Marlins in 1992 before finishing his career with the Tigers. Leyland is known for his ability to rebuild failing and faltering teams. This may not have been a glorious assignment, but it was one that he was certainly adept at. In speaking about his taking on the Detroit job, Leyland said, “I came here to change talent to team...”
Application: When Paul saw how the church was growing in love and spirit, he realized that the transformation from talent to a team was occurring.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Leah Lonsbury
Words for Reflection
Yet through me flashes
this vision of a magnetic field of the soul,
created in a timeless present by unknown multitudes,
living in holy obedience,
whose words and actions are a timeless prayer --
“The Communion of Saints”
-- and -- within it -- an eternal life.
-- Dag Hammarskjold
OR
Zacchaeus’ offer of half of his possessions to the poor and a generous restitution to anyone he may have cheated can be seen as itself evidence of the radicality of grace and the power of Jesus’ good news to him. After all, Luke’s gospel of grace is joined to repentance, and repentance is not solely a transaction of the heart. Repentance bears fruit.
-- Fred Craddock
Call to Worship
(based on Psalm 149 -- All Saints)
One: Praise God! Sing to God a new song of praise wherever the faithful gather.
All: Let us rejoice in our Creator. Let our music and dancing be our praise.
One: For God takes pleasure in you, the beloved. God seeks your good and brings you joy.
All: So let our mouths speak God’s glory and our hands create God’s justice.
One: These are the gifts and the glory of God’s people of all times.
All: Let us worship God who makes us one in faithfulness and calling.
OR
(based on Luke 19:1-10 -- Proper 26)
One: Zacchaeus was small in stature and short on friends, so he scrambled up the tree that day, trying to see who Jesus was.
All: We’re here for the same reasons. Show us who you are, Jesus.
One: Jesus sought out Zacchaeus and invited himself over for dinner.
All: Jesus seeks us out and wants to share life’s feast with us. Will we accept his invitation?
One: Zacchaeus tuned out the grumblings and the criticism swirling around him. He chose a life of generous love -- the life Jesus had shown to him.
All: God, we want to let that saving love in as well. Come, be at home in us. Show us how to make our lives a grateful and generous response to your invitation.
Gathering Prayer
God of invitation, you have opened the door to us, each one of us, despite our shortcomings, our doubts, and our reputations. You know us, love us, and invite us anyway. Be in this time and our experience here. Teach us to open our hearts and our lives like you do time and time again. Show us how to risk love and so bless those we are called to invite in return. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
If I have been the source of pain, O God;
If to the weak I have refused my strength;
If, in rebellion, I have strayed away;
Forgive me, God.
If I have spoken words of cruelty;
If I have left some suffering unrelieved;
Condemn not my insensitivity.
Forgive me, God.
If I’ve insisted on a peaceful life,
Far from the struggles that the gospel brings,
When you prefer to guide me to the strife,
Forgive me, God.
Receive, O God, this ardent word of prayer,
And free me from temptation’s subtle snare,
With tender patience, lead me to your care.
Amen, Amen.
-- Sara M. de Hall, based on a text by C.M. Battersby, translated by Janet M. May (Imagining the Word, Vol. 2, pg. 65)
Assurance
Hear this assurance from Psalm 119...
Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.
Ideas for Time with Children
(All Saints)
Luke 6:20-31 -- Ask the children what they heard and remember about the gospel reading. Ask them why in the world it would be a blessing to be poor, hungry, hated, or excluded. Ask them why there would be woe involved with being rich, full, happy (laughing), or in having people say nice things about you. Explain that the Beatitudes are about how we choose to live and what we communicate is important to us by the choices we make. Give some examples of “saints” who have chosen poverty, sacrifice, tears, hardship, or exclusion because of what they believed and what they were trying to achieve or change. Consider the following with the children: Why did they do those things? Why are choices like theirs important? Why are they considered “saints”? How will we choose to live?
Ephesians 1:11-23 -- Invite the children to consider vv. 17-19 with you. Ask them what it means to be called to hope. What might that look like in our lives and in our world? How does hope change our lives, our actions, our feelings, and our interactions? How does God’s power make hope possible? How does it show up in our lives? What does it enable us to do, and how does it enable us to be? Consider talking with the children about some “saints” in your congregation or the larger world who have followed the call to hope and lived and acted through God’s power.
(Proper 26)
Luke 19:1-10 -- Re-read v. 3. Invite the children to think about ways they are “trying to see Jesus.” How are they doing this together? As individuals? How are you doing it as a congregation? What keeps us from seeing Jesus? How can we help others see Jesus?
OR
Ask the children why they think it might have been unusual for Jesus to invite himself over to Zacchaeus’ house and why it might have been considered strange for Zacchaeus to let Jesus come. Ask them what they think the people in the crowd are grumbling about (v. 7) and why. Think together about why it matters who we invite into our homes and our lives and who we don’t. What does that say about us and to our community? (Note the necessary reasons for cautious inviting as children -- safety, etc. -- but do challenge them to take risks in friendly situations and by inviting others “home” in other ways through sharing, living, and being the church in inclusive ways, etc.)
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12 -- Talk with the children about how many of Paul’s letters are to church communities in conflict and deal with lots of different problems that happen between people when they try to live as a community. Ask the children what kinds of problems come up at home, school, and in other places where they live, work, and play with others. Explain that this passage from Thessalonians is different. Instead of troubleshooting, Paul is celebrating. Read v. 3. Ask why Paul is celebrating. Ask how the children see faith growing and love increasing in their lives and in the congregation. Give some examples of your own. Talk with the children about why these things are important and worth celebrating.
Prayers of the People
Loving One, you claim us, you love us, you make us one over years and spaces, agreements and disagreements, differences and similarities. As your Body, we offer you the prayers of our hearts in this silence.
(Silence)
Because you have made us one in love...
We pray for your people who are seeking to live your way in the world, and we lift prayers of gratitude for the faithful who have formed, inspired, supported, and sent us on that way.
We pray for a larger vision of the common humanity and shared well-being that nations, communities, and individuals hold.
We pray for true security created not with fences, walls, and fear-based policies but instead with the dignity, freedom, and resources that offer each person a safe home and what they need to live well.
We pray for a renewal of your creation as we learn to live in balance and care for this holy ground.
We pray for those who grieve, those who live with heartache or loss, those who are isolated or estranged from those they love.
We pray for those who celebrate new life -- in birth, in relationship, in opportunities, in vocation, in nature, in creative adventures, in hope and promise.
Loving One, move with us throughout our lives as we take this sacred journey. Connect us to one another, to those who have gone before in faith, and to those who will make a way we cannot even imagine in the future. Help us all to dwell with you, to let you be for us what you already are -- a stronghold, a refuge, a path to a life of peace and rich blessings.
We hold in your light the prayers of this community...
(Offer the prayers of the community)
We trust these prayers to you as we join our voices with Jesus...
(All join in the Lord’s Prayer)
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Hear these words from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians...
I pray that God, the God of our Savior Jesus Christ, the God of glory, will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, to bring you to a rich knowledge of the Creator. I pray that God will enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see the hope this call holds for you -- the promised glories that God’s holy ones will inherit, and the infinitely great power that is exercised for us who believe.
May our prayer echo Paul’s...
God, give us your wisdom, and reveal to us how to share your love through the abundant blessings we know in you. Enlighten our hearts. Help us to see how you are calling us to act in hope through the power you give us in faith. Amen.
Hymn Suggestions
“My Hope Is Built”
“We Are God’s People”
“When Love Is Stamped on Every Coin”
“Hope of the World”
“Life-Giving Bread”
“Come, Share the Lord”
“For the Bread Which You Have Broken”
“How Lovely, Lord, How Lovely”
“For All the Saints”
“We, Your People, God, Confessing”
“Gather Us In”
“Help Us Accept Each Other”
“Many Are the Lightbeams”
All Saints Litanies
Chalice Hymnal, 488
“Invocation of the Saints” in The Covenant of Peace -- A Liberation Prayer Book (also found in Imaging the Word, Vol. 2, pg. 61)
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Welcoming People into Our Homes and Hearts
Luke 19:1-10
Object: a welcome mat
I brought something today that I’m sure many of you have seen before. (display the mat) How many of you know what this is? (let the children answer) That’s right, it’s a welcome mat. It’s the first thing people see as they enter our house, and it should make them feel welcome.
How many of you like to invite other children over to your house to play? (let them answer) Do your parents invite their friends over to your house for dinner or just to talk? (let them answer) When people come to our house, we want them to feel welcome so that they’ll want to come back another time.
There is a great Bible story about a man named Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus worked as a tax collector and became very rich. People didn’t like him because he was a tax collector and they considered him a sinner. Anyone who was a friend of Zacchaeus was also not liked and considered a sinner.
Zacchaeus was a short man. He had to climb a big sycamore tree to see Jesus. Jesus asked Zacchaeus to come down from the tree and take him to his house for dinner. This made Zacchaeus very happy, but the people who heard it began to question Jesus and accuse him of also being a sinner. Jesus and Zacchaeus walked over to the house and visited. Zacchaeus probably had done some of the bad things the people said he did. After he talked with Jesus, he said that he would give half of everything he owned to the poor people. If he cheated anyone, he would pay them back much more that he had taken from them. Do you think Jesus was welcome in Zacchaeus’ house? (let them answer) Do you think Jesus made a big difference in Zacchaeus’ life? (let them answer) I think so.
This Bible story tells us so much about Jesus and what he can do for all of us. First, he never gives up on anyone. According to Jesus, even a bad guy can change. Second, he shows us that we can make a big difference in people’s lives if we welcome them into our hearts. This week, try to be kind to someone who isn’t your friend. Help them and show them the love of Jesus and see if that person changes.
Take a look at your welcome mat, and try your best to make your house a place where Jesus will come and share his life with you. He will be the best friend you ever make.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, November 3, 2013, issue.
Copyright 2013 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.
