Jesus Gives the Job Description
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For November 1/5, 2023:
Jesus Gives the Job Description
by Mary Austin
Matthew 5:1-12
For 22 uncertain days this fall, the US House of Representatives struggled to agree on a leader. Various candidates would line up to be the Speaker of the House, and then be defeated or withdraw. The candidates were bullies, didn’t have enough support or were unpalatable to certain members of the party. The atmosphere was more frat house than people’s house. “Let’s get our poop in a group, people. We’ve got to figure this out,” Rep. Bill Huizenga (Mich.) admonished his GOP colleagues in a closed-door caucus meeting on Tuesday. (The remarks, naturally, were immediately leaked to reporters.) “I don’t want us to go out there and, in front of the entire world, puke on our shoes again. That’s what we’ve been doing.”
Now that Rep. Mike Johnson has been elected to the job, we’re learning that he’s an attorney, a religious conservative, and opposed to LGBTQ+ rights. “As a loyal supporter of former President Donald J. Trump, he has continued to use a podcast he hosts with his wife, a licensed pastoral counselor, to rail against the prosecution of Mr. Trump for his efforts to interfere in the 2020 election.”
The Speaker’s job, in theory, is to move legislation through the House. In practice, the main requirement was to appease enough people — or wear them out — to get elected. But what if we held people to a different standard? What if the Beatitudes were the job description, a colleague mused the other day? What if the litmus test for the job was being pure in heart, or being a peacemaker, or being merciful?
As we celebrate All Saints Day, the Beatitudes ask us again how we want to be remembered. On one hand, we have the current dysfunction in politics. On the other hand, Jesus commends relationships full of care and humility. He reminds us that success in politics, business, or sports have their own job descriptions. Following Jesus, and caring for each other, get a different job description from Jesus.
In the News
The new Speaker of the House has a non-traditional resume for his new job. We’re discovering that his faith drives his politics, although perhaps not in the way Jesus had in mind. The new Speaker is an election denier who worked to help President Trump stay in office in 2020. Johnson disputed the election results in four battleground states and “recruited 125 House Republicans to join him in signing a US Supreme Court brief saying as much, and on Jan. 6, 2021, an even larger group of lawmakers, including Johnson, voted against certifying the electoral college vote for Biden in two key battlegrounds. Johnson has never repudiated his part in any of it.”
The stakes for the new Speaker are high, with another possible government shutdown ahead. “The last House speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), lost the top job after he negotiated with Democrats just to pass a temporary spending bill that kept the government open through mid-November. Johnson picks it up from here.” The Speaker reportedly has a plan to avoid a shutdown.
Speaker Johnson is relatively inexperienced in politics, having served only six years in the House. He has never chaired a committee, and “will face a significant learning curve when it comes to member management. That's not to mention the relationships he'll be forced to build from scratch with both the Senate and the White House: Most senators could not pick Johnson out of a lineup, Politico reports, and his votes against the debt ceiling bill and short-term government funding have not earned him a reputation for bipartisan deal-making.”
As crises come in the US and around the world, Johnson’s political skills and his personal skills will face complex challenges. It will be interesting to see how many of the Beatitudes he needs to call up within himself to navigate this new role.
In the Scriptures
Jesus is near the start of his ministry, and the Beatitudes are, in a way, his calling card. He’s announcing what kind of teacher he is. And he begins by proclaiming that the people, in their humility and hunger and need, are blessed by God. He announces God’s presence with them.
Matthew sets Jesus’ lesson on a mountain, evoking Moses and the Ten Commandments. Jesus’ proclamation gives his listeners a way of life, setting their everyday lives in the frame of God’s care. In contrast to the Ten Commandments, which are about the choices we make, the Beatitudes are about who we are.
I wonder, though, if the people listening to Jesus heard these words as good news. The Beatitudes are so familiar now that we lose their oddness. If the people listening to Jesus were weary of Roman occupation, weary of grinding taxes, weary of being hungry, did they go home disappointed? Were they hoping for more concrete good news? Food, safety, peace, the arrival of a powerful messiah: If they wanted those things, they went away still hungry. Or did they go away uplifted and encouraged?
Jesus is taking a long view here, declining to fix the world, as he still does with us. Instead, he gives a job description for people who want to serve the world, and to mend it bit by bit. This is slow work.
In the Sermon
What if the Beatitudes were our measure for politicians, business leaders, and people in the public eye? Instead of TikTok followers or social media likes, what if we measured people by how well they fit what Jesus calls “blessed?” The sermon could explore how we assess people, and what it would be like if we sought out people who match what Jesus describes.
The sermon might also reflect on how the Beatitudes are a job description for us, in contrast to the drumbeat of the culture around us. Columnist David Brooks has famously written about “résumé virtues” vs. “eulogy virtues.” The résumé virtues may reward us with money and success, and the eulogy virtues are the ones people speak about at our memorial service. Brooks notes, “We all know that the eulogy virtues are more important than the résumé ones. But our culture and our educational systems spend more time teaching the skills and strategies you need for career success than the qualities you need to radiate that sort of inner light. Many of us are clearer on how to build an external career than on how to build inner character.” The Beatitudes call us back to the eulogy virtues, especially as we hold All Saints Day in mind.
The sermon could also ponder where we find ourselves in this list of people who are blessed. We work not to be on this list, not to be hungry, or meek, or in need. And yet, each of us can find ourselves somewhere in Jesus blessed people, even when we hate to admit it. The sermon could talk about how we feel about being some of these things. Are we longing to be full, when we’re poor in spirit? Would we rather not be mourning? Do we feel like we’re too meek?
Or the sermon might delve into what our modern Beatitudes might be. Blessed are…the lonely? The survivors of trauma? The people who have been wounded by abusive religion? The unhoused person on the street corner with a sign? Who would Jesus call blessed in our time?
Or, the sermon might see All Saints Day through the lens of the Beatitudes, as a calling not for individuals but for the whole church community. How did the merciful saints build up the church? How did people hungering and thirsting for righteousness shape the congregation’s ministry? Who were the poor in spirit, or the meek?
Are these words of comfort for the crowd on the mountain, or do they have more challenge than we see at first? As always, Jesus’ message isn’t as simple as it first seems. There’s much to live up to here, for public figures, politicians and all of us.
SECOND THOUGHTS
The Problem with Prophets and Pharisees
by Dean Feldmeyer
Micah 3:5-12, Matthew 23:1-12
“Okay, everyone just calm down.”
Did you ever notice that no one ever calms down because someone in authority tells them to?
Her husband has been shot and she’s trying to tell the police officer what happened but she’s nearly hysterical and the cop stops writing in her pad and says, “Ma’am, I’m going to need for you to calm down.” A child screams into the phone to the 911 operator, something about a fire, and the operator says, softly and slowly, “Okay, calm down and tell me what happened.” An angry crowd has gathered to protest the shooting of an unarmed teenager and the police officer in charge shouts above the din, “Okay, everyone just calm down.”
Yeah, like that’s gonna happen.
“It’s easy to say, ‘peace,’” says the prophet, Micah, “when you aren’t the one being hurt.” “It’s easy to make rules for others,” says Jesus. “When you know that they aren’t going to apply to you.”
In the News
Well, the Republicans have finally gotten their act together and chosen a person who is so innominate, so obscure, that everyone had to run and look him up in a book before they could vote on him. And they’re absolutely sure he’s the perfect man for the position even though he came in 4th. He didn’t even finish in the money when nominations were being put forth.
Come to find out, he is (shockingly) of the extreme right, an anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ, election denier, and Trump-ist; a self-described “evangelical Christian” who has said that his meteoric rise from obscurity to the third highest political office in the country was ordained by God.
It looks like the House of Representatives has got the engine of government running just in time to shut it down again on November 17th if everyone doesn’t get what they want in the 2024 budget.
What do they want? Everyone agrees that they want to address the federal deficit. And that’s a good thing. The largest line item in the current budget is the 2.9% interest on the current debt which amounted to 10% of the total budget or about $663 billion in 2023.
How will they propose to reduce this deficit? Upon what items will they propose to reduce spending? Will anyone on either side of the aisle suggest that we cut the defense budget, which is already higher than the next ten countries combined? Probably not. Will they reduce the pay of elected officials? Definitely not. Will they increase revenue by taxing the wealthiest 1% of the population who already pay taxes at a rate that is lower than the average school teacher? Not if they want to get re-elected.
No, if the past is any indicator, they will blame the poor. They will talk about “work-fare” instead of welfare. They will dig up old myths and feign indignation about “welfare queens” and people who “would rather live off of a government handout that work for a living.” They will attack the 2% of the federal budget that actually helps poor children, old people, single mothers, and people with illnesses and disabilities, people who really need help, and try to reduce it even further.
And they will make these plans, plans that they know will have no real impact on the deficit but will make good sound bites at election time and in restaurants that serve dishes that most of us can’t pronounce and charge $20 for a cup of coffee and $120 for a steak.
Sound familiar? Seems as if we’ve heard about that kind of behavior somewhere in the Bible.
In the Scripture
In today’s alternative lesson from the Hebrew scriptures, the prophet, Micah, takes on the prophets who profit from their prophesies, who tell the people what they want to hear and then blame the people when it doesn’t turn out the way the prophets said it would.
“You didn’t have enough faith,” they say. Or, “You must have done something to make God angry.” “You have to be patient,” they say. “God works on God’s time, not ours.”
And all the while, they fill their own plates, piling them high with rich and fattening food, fancy dishes and sweet confections, while the poor look on, hungry.
“It’s their own fault,” the prophets say. “They don’t work hard enough. They didn’t finish high school. They spent all their money on cigarettes and tattoos. And now they want us to bail them out of the consequences for their own poor decisions and bad choices.”
Micah calls down curses upon these faithless prophets for profit.
Then he takes off on the rulers, the politicians and the developers, the clergy and the educators who are more interested in their own checking accounts than the good of the people. The leaders who lie when it is easier to tell the truth, who steal from the poor box and press down upon those who do hard labor.
The result of all this corruption? Death and darkness. The country will, he warns, go to ruin and what was once a beautiful and fertile place will become a brown and dusty wasteland.
700 years later, Jesus has much the same to say about the religious leaders of his time.
The scribes and Pharisees are wealthy and, because they are rich, they have the time to become educated. They know the scriptures inside out. They make long, intricate, and delicately nuanced arguments. They sit in Starbucks and discuss theology all day long with their colleagues and friends.
They make a show of how religious they are, saying prayers that are long and loud when the waitress brings them their food. Their Bibles are big, with lots of ribbons marking the applicable passages, and they like to carry them in front of their chest as they walk down the street. They come a little late to church and make a big entrance, all the way to the front pew. They make their offering with large bills that they lay, unfolded, on top of the plate. They like to attach titles to their names — titles like “Reverend,” “Pastor,” “Deacon,” “Elder,” chairperson and president.
And they love rules. There isn’t a passage of scripture that they can’t somehow twist into a rule that other people should obey but from which they are, themselves, exempt. Rules about purity and piety, and who and how people should love. Rules about which people we should admire and which ones are worthy only of our contempt.
They are full of confidence that, at the heavenly banquet, their piety will have earned them a seat at the head of the table. But Jesus puts the lie to that notion. There is no head of the table, he says. There’s no first and no last in God’s kingdom. No high class and no low class. In fact, there are no class distinctions at all.
So, as long as there’s none of that nonsense in the Kingdom to come, why not start living without it in the Kingdom as it comes to us here and now? Why not stop blaming the poor for all of our problems and start treating them as beloved children of God — our sisters and brothers?
In the Sermon
Okay, I’m as guilty as anyone. Every once in a while, I find myself looking at what the person in front of me at the grocery store is buying and wonder about the soundness of their judgement.
Seriously? You’re really going to buy that expensive, sugar-coated cereal? Little sugar coated, sugar filled, sugar charged bits of sugar? I mean, you’re obviously poor. Think, man. Go with the cornflakes. Or better yet, the eggs. They’re cheap and they’re full of protein. And what’s with all those soft drinks? You’re already 50 pounds overweight and your poor little daughter isn’t far behind you on that score. Prepared, frozen dinners? Frozen pizzas? Oh, and a carton of cigarettes and a 24 pack of beer. Great. Just great.
Then I remember that when Jean and I were young and we would go grocery shopping the day before payday because the refrigerator was just about empty and we knew it would take the store 24 hours to get the check we wrote to the bank. With luck, we’d get paid and get our paycheck to the bank before the grocery store could deposit the check we wrote.
Then, on payday, the first place we went after depositing the check? Pizza Hut. Large pan pizza with everything. Healthy? No. Frugal? Hardly. Smart? Absolutely not. But it was one of the few pleasures we could almost afford and so we did it. Worry about tomorrow’s bills tomorrow.
Somehow, we managed to make it through those early days. We completed our educations, got good jobs, earned enough money so we didn’t have to worry about every cent. Raised two kids and retired to a life of relative comfort and fun.
How’d we make it in those lean and hungry times? Well, our parents helped us a lot.
They’d invite us to come over for a cookout or we knew that, if we showed up in the late afternoon, they’d always invite us to stay and have dinner and send us home with a cooler full of leftovers. Jean’s dad was a capable backyard mechanic who fixed our broken-down cars more than a few times and my dad was always good for a few bucks when the gas tank was getting low and payday was still several days off.
All those times they helped us, they never once said or even suggested that our problems were our own fault and we should rethink how we budgeted our money. Never did they accuse us of being fiscally irresponsible because we went to a movie or bought a new pair of blue jeans that we didn’t really need.
They reached out to us and helped us not because we deserved their help but because they loved us. They took pleasure in helping us and seeing us learn and grow. They wanted to help.
Go figure, right?
So, when it comes to how we treat the poor, upon whom do we model our response?
Do we choose to be like the prophets of Micah’s time and the Pharisees who dogged Jesus? Do we lord our money, our comfort, our easy lives over them and blame them for not just their problems but all the problems of the country? Do we make a show of our wealth and piety as we swallow our contempt and disdain and toss a few coins their way?
Or do we reach out in love and compassion, not necessarily because they deserve it, not because of who they are, but because of who we are — followers of Jesus, disciples of the one who lived a life of love and compassion.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Tom Willadsen:
All Saints’ Day
The whole concept of All Saints’ Day makes a lot of Protestants nervous. It shouldn’t. Hebrews 13:24 makes it pretty clear that every member of the church is a saint, as do Philippians 1:1, 4:22 and other verses. There is no special screening process to attain sainthood. A modern equivalent could be “church membership,” or “the desire to follow Christ.”
Also, “saints” is a collective noun in the New Testament. It always appears in the plural, except in Philippians 4:21, which reads, “Greet every saint…” Clearly sainthood is something all Christians share in common. Setting a day aside each year to remember and mourn the saints who have died in the past year is a helpful way for communities to recognize the gifts of all God’s children, that is, all the saints.
* * *
Revelation 7:9-17
The exchange in vv. 13-14 between the elders and the author of Revelation is an echo of Zechariah 4:5 (NRSVUE)
Then the angel who spoke with me answered me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.”
The difference is this time, the reader receives an answer; they are Gentiles who have become followers of Christ. Their white robes symbolize their purity.
* * *
1 John 3:1-3
See what love God has…
1 John 3:1: “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are….” is a verse often added to baptism liturgy. When I baptize an infant, after the baptism, before returning the child to her parents, I present the child to the congregation. The words are so powerful and beautiful, such a profound reminder of God’s love, that they often reduce me to tears.
* * *
Matthew 5:1-12
Jesus is like Moses
Like Moses, Jesus escaped death, entered Egypt, passed through water, went into the wilderness and ascended a mountain. It’s very likely that the first audience for what we know as The Sermon on the Mount made those connections. I had to find them in a reference book.
* * *
Matthew 5:1-12
Beatitudes = Blessed attitudes
Today’s gospel lesson is the first 12 verses of the Sermon on the Mount. These verses are commonly called The Beatitudes, from the Latin “beatus,” which can be rendered into English as “blessed,” “fortunate,” or even “lucky.” Beatus can also have a more technical meaning, one who has been beatified, that is begun the journey to formal designation as a saint.
* * *
Matthew 5:1-12
Beat-itude
Ric Ocasek, former front man of the new wave group The Cars, released a solo album in 1982 called “Beatitude.” He insisted the album be pronounced beat-itude, an homage to the 1950s poetry magazine of the same name. Allen Ginsberg and other beat poets had their work featured in that magazine.
* * *
Matthew 23:1-12
Phylacteries and fringe
Perhaps you’re wondering what Jesus is talking about. A phylactery is a small box that contains passages from the Torah. Phylacteries are mentioned in Deuteronomy 6:8 and 11:18. The significance of an emblem on the worshiper’s forehead appears in Exodus 13:9 and 16.
Some Jewish men wear fringed shawls when they worship. They’re called “tzitzit” in English. It is a reminder of the Lord’s commandments.
* * * * * *
From team member Katy Stenta:
Micah 3:5-12
I have been wondering what peace tastes like. In the midst of all of this talk of those who hunger and those who are filled, it’s poignant to me to think about those who are hungry and at war. It is easy to think about peace on a full stomach, but somehow hunger and war go together. Thus, I wonder what it is that peace tastes like on the tongue. Does it melt in your mouth like love? Is it a little bitter? I always think there is a little bitterness to forgiveness before the sweetness settles in. Is it cool so that you have to get used to it after the heat of war? Why is it that peace is hard to swallow? Is it the shape of it? Is there some kind of holiness attached to it that makes it hard for human mouths to consume? Or is it so ephemeral that we have to take it in teeny-tiny peaces, small enough for us to catch?
* * *
Matthew 5:1-12
Blessings
It kind of tickles me that human beings talk about blessings as if they are extra — like a spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine to go down — instead of them being part and parcel of the thing being described. Often I wonder if Jesus is not stating how things are going to be, but instead describing things exactly as they are. I think it is like a text message — we do not have any emphasis or tone to go with this text and I wonder how differently it would read if we think about Jesus stating the blessings as inherent instead of a kind of cause and effect statement. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs (is already, even now) the kingdom of heaven. Or, fact: Blessed are those who mourn, they will (no matter what) be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they are (even now) inheriting the earth. If we are already blessed by God, and blessings are inherent, how does that change what we are experiencing now?
* * *
Matthew 23:1-12
Jesus knows what scientists have discovered many years later; those who are the best teachers are the first people ready to learn. The best leaders are those who listen and are ready to do the work themselves. Jesus is pointing out that those who need to be called teacher or are not ready to labor beside everyone else are not the most important people — they are valuing the wrong things. Namely, it seems like they value their titles over the people and community that they serve. Jesus’ description of servant leaders is one that is founded out of love, and that love shines through in all callings and positions, not just in the church.
* * * * * *
From team member Chris Keating:
Revelation 7:9-17
Listen to the singing
John’s vision is filled with breathtaking images of worship. It is worship as no one has ever imagined or experienced — after all, when was the last time you had a multitude in church that “no one could count?” What emerges from John’s depiction of this holy scene of worship is the reminder of the powerful ways music and worship hold the potential for hope.
It is strikingly similar to the sort of hope Lior Zaltzman writes about in last week’s online Jewish magazine Kveller. “Since the brutal massacre that happened in Israel on October 7 and the war that’s now ensuing,” Zaltzman writes, “I’ve struggled with my usual comforts when I needed a break from the news.” Zaltzman says he’s too distracted to watch TV, unable to focus on reading, and too tired to try usual distractions like LEGO sets. “But the one place I’ve found hope — and perhaps some powerful truths — is music.
Zaltzman’s short essay evokes the sort of hope we hear in the multitudes of those who are worshiping before God.
In particular, Zaltzman is recalling a powerful duet from 2009 that was part of the Eurovision music competition. That year, two Israeli singers — one Jewish, one Arab Christian — took to the Eurovision stage to sing of the pain they saw in each other’s eyes. The singers, Achinoam Nini, better known as Noa, and Mira Awad represented Israel in the competition that year. Their song was filled with hope informed by the pain of war and violence.
As Zaltzman notes, the singers took the stage at a time when war was also raging in Gaza. Like today, political tensions in Israel were being fueled by a right-wing government. Peaceful coexistence seemed improbable — if not impossible.
“Yet these two women, longtime peace activists, chose to take the stage and sing about seeing each other in their grief and suffering. It wasn’t a popular choice in Israel, but for both of them, it felt important in that moment in time, no matter how bleak things felt, to sing about peace.” Zaltzman remembers how the song spoke words built from what he called “a sisterhood of suffering.”
“In Hebrew, English, and Arabic, Noa and Mira sang about how in each other’s eyes, they saw the same kind of pain. ‘And when I cry, I cry for both of us, my pain has no name / and when I cry, I cry to the light in the sky and sing, there must be another way.’”
* * *
1 John 3:1-3
What are we becoming?
All Saints Day offers the church a chance to look forward by looking back. It is a similar sort of assurance that the writer of 1 John offers to the church. John reminds God’s people of the great assurance we have because we are God’s children now. “What we will be has not yet been revealed,” the epistle continues. “What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him.”
John reminds us of the holy connection we have in Christ. It is a similar connection that singer/songwriter Carrie Newcomer evokes in much of her work. She describes the process of feeling a depth of connection that allows her to see what is shimmering beneath the surface. Newcomer observes that:
I write a lot about the holiness and the sacredness of the small moments and the small acts of kindness — that’s something that shimmers below the surface of things all the time. If we’re paying attention there’s something that happens when I’m writing. There’s a focus, there’s a sense of connection to something. It’s not larger or wider than myself. And when I’m creating art, it’s like I’m not alone.
As an example of this, Newcomer offers a song called “The Beautiful Not Yet.” Its springtime inspired lyrics speak of the possibilities of what is emerging within us and within our world. Her confidence echoes John’s promise of what we are becoming. In part, the song says:
Muddy boots, last year's leaves
every spring that came before
All they were and something more
The restlessness
The quickening
The almost but
Not yet
Do you see, do you see, do you see it
Take a breath
Oh, the restlessness
The beautiful not yet
There's a stirring
There's sweetness
At the edge of in between
I feel it nearly trembling…
* * *
Micah 3:5-12
Seeking true faithfulness
Micah denounces the hypocritical religious leaders and politicians who lead the people astray by crying peace when their mouths are filled with food, but the declare war on those who have nothing to eat. In our own day, newly elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson provides an example of this sort of contradiction. Johnson, a Southern Baptist whose supporters campaigned for his election as speaker by distributing images of him bending his knee to pray for God’s guidance, has only served in Congress for eight years and is relatively unknown to many people. He is a reliable conservative whose positions on issues such as abortion, military spending, and transgender care generally fall along party lines. But, much like the prophets Micah attacks, Johnson is also known for his willingness to social programs designed to overcome food insecurity. In 2018, Johnson called for deeper cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, arguing that it is “our nation’s most broken and bloated welfare program.” SNAP is often considered a vital source of support for low-income families.
* * *
Matthew 23:1-12
Do not do as they do
Following the school shooting in Ulvade, TX in May, 2022, psychologist Benjamin Miller decried what he called the “horribly hypocrisy” of using mental health as a scapegoat to address America’s gun violence problem. Over a year later, his words still hold fresh meaning:
Another week has passed in America, which means we must collectively mourn another horrific tragedy of gun violence. And while this moment calls for action, we are already seeing elected officials dig in on what they feel is the root cause of yet another mass casualty shooting in the United States—and just the latest one that has robbed families of their youngest, most innocent members.
Miller noted that, the Lewiston shooter notwithstanding, addiction and mental health care do not cause gun violence.” What is paradoxical, said Miller, is that the very ones describing gun violence as a product of mental illness are the same legislators who have chosen to not do anything to support mental health treatment in the United States.
“Too many elected officials,” writes Miller, “who tend to be conservative and Republican, continue to use an age-old strategy of giving lip service without taking any action to mitigate the impact of mental illness or gun violence. Or even more damning, blaming an issue — in this case mental health — as the cause of our problems without acknowledging that their policy decisions have actually made conditions worse.”
* * * * * *
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship
One: Let us bless our God at all times.
All: God’s praise shall continually be in our mouths.
One: O magnify God with me, and let us exalt God’s name together.
All: O taste and see that our God is good.
One: Happy are those who take refuge in God.
All: None of those who take refuge in God will be condemned.
OR
One: O give thanks to the Lord who is good.
All: God’s steadfast love endures forever.
One: When we cried to God in our trouble we were delivered.
All: God led us by a straight way.
One: God turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground.
All: God turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.
OR
One: Vindicate us, O God, and defend our cause.
All: For you are the God in whom we take refuge.
One: O send out your light and your truth; let them lead us.
All: Let them bring us to your holy hill and to your dwelling.
One: Then we will go to the altar of God, to God our exceeding joy.
All: We will praise you with the harp, O God, our God.
OR
One: God calls us God’s own beloved children.
All: In humility we receive God’s adoption.
One: The Christ comes to us as our Elder Brother.
All: We are blessed to be part of the family of God.
One: God’s own Spirit dwells among and within us.
All: We are, indeed, called to be God’s saints.
Hymns and Songs
For All the Saints
UMH: 711
H82: 287
PH: 526
GTG: 326
AAHH: 339
NNBH: 301
NCH: 299
CH: 637
LBW: 174
ELW: 422
W&P: 529
AMEC: 476
STLT: 103
I Sing a Song of the Saints of God
UMH: 712
H82: 293
PH: 364
GTG: 730
NCH: 295
Rejoice in God’s Saints
UMH: 708
GTG: 732
CH: 476
ELW: 418
W&P: 531
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
UMH: 89
H82: 376
PH: 464
GTG: 611
AAHH: 120
NNBH: 40
NCH: 4
CH: 2
LBW: 551
ELW: 836
W&P: 59
AMEC: 75
STLT: 29
The King of Love My Shepherd Is
UMH: 138
H82: 645/646
PH: 171
GTG: 802
NCH: 248
LBW: 456
ELW: 502
Renew: 106
Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive
UMH: 390
H82: 674
PH: 347
GTG: 444
LBW: 307
ELW: 605
W&P: 382
Renew: 184
Take My Life, and Let It Be
UMH: 399
H82: 707
PH: 391
GTG: 697
NNBH: 213
NCH: 448
CH: 609
LBW: 406
ELW: 583/685
W&P: 466
AMEC: 292
Renew: 150
Lord, I Want to Be a Christian
UMH: 402
PH: 372
GTG: 729
AAHH: 463
NNBH: 156
NCH: 454
CH: 589
W&P: 457
AMEC: 282
Renew: 145
The Gift of Love
UMH: 408
GTG: 693
AAHH: 522
CH: 526
W&P: 397
Renew: 155
Let There Be Peace on Earth
UMH: 431
CH: 677
W&P: 614
Make Me a Servant
CCB: 90
We Are His Hands
CCB: 85
Music Resources Key
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
GTG: Glory to God, The 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 dwells among us and within us:
Grant us the wisdom to see the saints among us
and the humility to allow your Spirit to live through us;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are faithful in dwelling among us and within us. You make your presence known to us in the loving acts of others. Help us to be open to your presence in others and to allow your Spirit to live through us. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our blindness to your presence among us.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You come to us so many ways and yet we fail to see you. You come in the beauty and power of nature; you come in the sounds of music and poetry; you come in the loving acts of others. But we are too busy to notice you in nature and to judgmental to see you in others. Forgive us our blindness and soften our hearts that we may see the saintly ones among us. Amen.
One: God is faithful in coming to us in many ways. Receive God’s loving forgiveness from God’s own Spirit and from God’s faithful ones so that you may share it with others.
Prayers of the People
Praise and glory to you, O God. You creation shows forth your glory and your wondrous presence. You dwell in the hearts of all who share your love.
(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. You come to us so many ways and yet we fail to see you. You come in the beauty and power of nature; you come in the sounds of music and poetry; you come in the loving acts of others. But we are too busy to notice you in nature and to judgmental to see you in others. Forgive us our blindness and soften our hearts that we may see the saintly ones among us.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which your love is poured out upon us and all of your creation. We thank you for the reflections of your Spirit that dwells in all you created. We thank you for those who allowed your love to dwell within them and have let that love flow out to us and to others. We thank you for those who have faithfully lived and died (and we lift up to you these who have entered into the fullness of your glory....)
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for those who are grieving. Our hearts long for those who have dwelt among us and are no not physically present with us. Remind us that as they live in you we are still connected one to another. We pray for those who live in the constant threat of violence and death. We pray for a spirit of peace that we may learn to live with one another in harmony and love.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
Hear us as we pray for others: (Time for silent or spoken prayer.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray 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.
Communion Prayer/Great Thanksgiving
We come into your presence, O God, to offer our praise and our thankfulness for all your blessings. Throughout our journey here on Earth you have been faithful in sharing your presence through prophets, judges, and psalmists. And so we offer to you our praises.
(The congregation may sing or say the Sanctus.)
We celebrate how your Son, Jesus the Christ, came among us and commissioned us to act in your name.
We remember how on the night he was betrayed he was at table with his disciples and he took the bread, gave you thanks, broke it, and gave it to them saying, “Take and eat. This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
After supper he took the cup, gave you thanks, and gave it to them saying, “Take and drink, all of you. This is the cup of the new covenant. Do this as often as you drink of it in remembrance of me.”
In remembrance and celebration of all you were and are doing through Jesus Christ we offer ourselves to you and to your service as we proclaim the mystery of Faith.
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the Body and Blood of Christ that we may be Christ Body in this world.
Unite us with all your children (and especially with....) as we serve you in serving all your children and all your creation. Through your Son with the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory to you, O God, now and forever.
Amen.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The Bee-Attitudes
by Elena Delhagen
Matthew 5:1-12
You will need:
- a large yellow oval construction paper cutout for each child (this will be the bee’s body and will need to be wide enough to hold eight black stripes)
- 8 black construction paper strips for each yellow oval, on which you’ll write each of the following words/phrases (one per strip): HUMBLE, COMFORTING, GENTLE, RIGHTEOUS, KIND, PURE IN HEART, PEACEFUL, FAITHFUL
- glue sticks
Good morning, friends! Today, we’re going to talk about one of Jesus’ lessons from the Gospel of Matthew. This lesson that Jesus taught is called the Beatitudes. Now, beatitude is kind of a big word that really means to be blessed by God and happy! So, in this lesson, Jesus was talking about the different kind of attitudes we should have as Christians, and if we have those attitudes, we are promised that we will live happy lives!
(Hand out yellow ovals to each child.)
One of the ways to remember this teaching of Jesus is to think about that big word. Beatitude. Now, I just gave you a big yellow oval. What does it make you think of? (Allow time for answers.) See, I kind of think that this looks like the body of a bee — just without the stripes! And I think that’s perfect for helping us think about the ATTITUDES Jesus taught us!
(Hand out strip with the word HUMBLE on it to each child.)
The first thing that Jesus said in this lesson is that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are poor in spirit. That means that our attitude should be humble, not arrogant. So let’s glue this stripe onto our bees, shall we?
(Hand out strip with the word COMFORTING to each child.)
The next thing Jesus said is that anyone who is sad or upset will be comforted by God! In fact, we should have an attitude that looks to comfort other people, like our friends or family or classmates, whenever they’re sad, too. So let’s glue the next stripe on.
(Hand out strip with the word GENTLE on it to each child.)
Then, Jesus said we should have a meek attitude. To be meek is to be gentle, to not always try to get our own way but to think about others before ourselves. So let’s glue this stripe on the bee to help us remember that.
(Hand out strip with the word RIGHTEOUS on it to each child.)
The next part of Jesus’ lesson he talked about is being righteous. Having a righteous attitude means wanting to know God and God’s word more than anything else. So let’s glue the next stripe on our bees, okay?
(Hand out strip with the word KIND on it to each child.)
The next thing Jesus talked about in his lesson is being merciful to others, because then we will be shown mercy, too. Merciful or mercy is a way of saying kindness. So when we treat others with kindness and love, we will receive kindness and love, too! Let’s go ahead and glue that stripe on.
(Hand out strip with the words PURE IN HEART on it to each child.)
Next, Jesus said if we are pure in heart, we will see God. Being pure in heart helps us to live our lives for God. Sometimes, it can be easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing, even if we know it’s the wrong thing. But if we’re pure in heart, and we do what is right, Jesus promises that we will see God. How amazing! So this stripe can help us remind us of that attitude; let’s glue it on our bees.
(Hand out strip with the word PEACEFUL on it to each child.)
The next attitude in Jesus’ lesson is being peaceful. When we see people fighting or hurting one another, God wants us to be peacemakers, and we should live at peace with everyone around us, too. So let’s glue that stripe on our bees.
(Hand out strip with the word FAITHFUL on it to each child.)
Wow, the last stripe for our bees! The last thing Jesus talked about in this lesson is the importance of being faithful to him. God wants us to have faithful attitudes. Sometimes, people might not understand why we’re Christians. They might think that it’s silly or, even worse, make fun of us for it. But Jesus says if we stay faithful to him, and we keep doing the right thing and living our lives the way God wants us to, we will be blessed and happy. Let’s go ahead and glue this last stripe onto our bees.
Look at all these beautiful bees with reminders about Jesus’ lesson, the Beatitudes! Every time you look at your BEE, now you can remember the ATTITUDES that Jesus wants us all to have.
Let’s pray, shall we?
(Close in prayer.)
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, November 1/5, 2023 issue.
Copyright 2023 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.
- Jesus Gives the Job Description by Mary Austin based on Matthew 5:1-12.
- Second Thoughts: The Problem with Prophets and Pharisees by Dean Feldmeyer. It’s easy to blame the poor for our problems when our own bellies are full.
- Sermon illustrations by Tom Willadsen, Chris Keating, Katy Stenta.
- Worship resources by George Reed.
- Children's sermon: The Bee-Attitudes by Elena Delhagen based on Matthew 5:1-12.
Jesus Gives the Job Descriptionby Mary Austin
Matthew 5:1-12
For 22 uncertain days this fall, the US House of Representatives struggled to agree on a leader. Various candidates would line up to be the Speaker of the House, and then be defeated or withdraw. The candidates were bullies, didn’t have enough support or were unpalatable to certain members of the party. The atmosphere was more frat house than people’s house. “Let’s get our poop in a group, people. We’ve got to figure this out,” Rep. Bill Huizenga (Mich.) admonished his GOP colleagues in a closed-door caucus meeting on Tuesday. (The remarks, naturally, were immediately leaked to reporters.) “I don’t want us to go out there and, in front of the entire world, puke on our shoes again. That’s what we’ve been doing.”
Now that Rep. Mike Johnson has been elected to the job, we’re learning that he’s an attorney, a religious conservative, and opposed to LGBTQ+ rights. “As a loyal supporter of former President Donald J. Trump, he has continued to use a podcast he hosts with his wife, a licensed pastoral counselor, to rail against the prosecution of Mr. Trump for his efforts to interfere in the 2020 election.”
The Speaker’s job, in theory, is to move legislation through the House. In practice, the main requirement was to appease enough people — or wear them out — to get elected. But what if we held people to a different standard? What if the Beatitudes were the job description, a colleague mused the other day? What if the litmus test for the job was being pure in heart, or being a peacemaker, or being merciful?
As we celebrate All Saints Day, the Beatitudes ask us again how we want to be remembered. On one hand, we have the current dysfunction in politics. On the other hand, Jesus commends relationships full of care and humility. He reminds us that success in politics, business, or sports have their own job descriptions. Following Jesus, and caring for each other, get a different job description from Jesus.
In the News
The new Speaker of the House has a non-traditional resume for his new job. We’re discovering that his faith drives his politics, although perhaps not in the way Jesus had in mind. The new Speaker is an election denier who worked to help President Trump stay in office in 2020. Johnson disputed the election results in four battleground states and “recruited 125 House Republicans to join him in signing a US Supreme Court brief saying as much, and on Jan. 6, 2021, an even larger group of lawmakers, including Johnson, voted against certifying the electoral college vote for Biden in two key battlegrounds. Johnson has never repudiated his part in any of it.”
The stakes for the new Speaker are high, with another possible government shutdown ahead. “The last House speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), lost the top job after he negotiated with Democrats just to pass a temporary spending bill that kept the government open through mid-November. Johnson picks it up from here.” The Speaker reportedly has a plan to avoid a shutdown.
Speaker Johnson is relatively inexperienced in politics, having served only six years in the House. He has never chaired a committee, and “will face a significant learning curve when it comes to member management. That's not to mention the relationships he'll be forced to build from scratch with both the Senate and the White House: Most senators could not pick Johnson out of a lineup, Politico reports, and his votes against the debt ceiling bill and short-term government funding have not earned him a reputation for bipartisan deal-making.”
As crises come in the US and around the world, Johnson’s political skills and his personal skills will face complex challenges. It will be interesting to see how many of the Beatitudes he needs to call up within himself to navigate this new role.
In the Scriptures
Jesus is near the start of his ministry, and the Beatitudes are, in a way, his calling card. He’s announcing what kind of teacher he is. And he begins by proclaiming that the people, in their humility and hunger and need, are blessed by God. He announces God’s presence with them.
Matthew sets Jesus’ lesson on a mountain, evoking Moses and the Ten Commandments. Jesus’ proclamation gives his listeners a way of life, setting their everyday lives in the frame of God’s care. In contrast to the Ten Commandments, which are about the choices we make, the Beatitudes are about who we are.
I wonder, though, if the people listening to Jesus heard these words as good news. The Beatitudes are so familiar now that we lose their oddness. If the people listening to Jesus were weary of Roman occupation, weary of grinding taxes, weary of being hungry, did they go home disappointed? Were they hoping for more concrete good news? Food, safety, peace, the arrival of a powerful messiah: If they wanted those things, they went away still hungry. Or did they go away uplifted and encouraged?
Jesus is taking a long view here, declining to fix the world, as he still does with us. Instead, he gives a job description for people who want to serve the world, and to mend it bit by bit. This is slow work.
In the Sermon
What if the Beatitudes were our measure for politicians, business leaders, and people in the public eye? Instead of TikTok followers or social media likes, what if we measured people by how well they fit what Jesus calls “blessed?” The sermon could explore how we assess people, and what it would be like if we sought out people who match what Jesus describes.
The sermon might also reflect on how the Beatitudes are a job description for us, in contrast to the drumbeat of the culture around us. Columnist David Brooks has famously written about “résumé virtues” vs. “eulogy virtues.” The résumé virtues may reward us with money and success, and the eulogy virtues are the ones people speak about at our memorial service. Brooks notes, “We all know that the eulogy virtues are more important than the résumé ones. But our culture and our educational systems spend more time teaching the skills and strategies you need for career success than the qualities you need to radiate that sort of inner light. Many of us are clearer on how to build an external career than on how to build inner character.” The Beatitudes call us back to the eulogy virtues, especially as we hold All Saints Day in mind.
The sermon could also ponder where we find ourselves in this list of people who are blessed. We work not to be on this list, not to be hungry, or meek, or in need. And yet, each of us can find ourselves somewhere in Jesus blessed people, even when we hate to admit it. The sermon could talk about how we feel about being some of these things. Are we longing to be full, when we’re poor in spirit? Would we rather not be mourning? Do we feel like we’re too meek?
Or the sermon might delve into what our modern Beatitudes might be. Blessed are…the lonely? The survivors of trauma? The people who have been wounded by abusive religion? The unhoused person on the street corner with a sign? Who would Jesus call blessed in our time?
Or, the sermon might see All Saints Day through the lens of the Beatitudes, as a calling not for individuals but for the whole church community. How did the merciful saints build up the church? How did people hungering and thirsting for righteousness shape the congregation’s ministry? Who were the poor in spirit, or the meek?
Are these words of comfort for the crowd on the mountain, or do they have more challenge than we see at first? As always, Jesus’ message isn’t as simple as it first seems. There’s much to live up to here, for public figures, politicians and all of us.
SECOND THOUGHTSThe Problem with Prophets and Pharisees
by Dean Feldmeyer
Micah 3:5-12, Matthew 23:1-12
“Okay, everyone just calm down.”
Did you ever notice that no one ever calms down because someone in authority tells them to?
Her husband has been shot and she’s trying to tell the police officer what happened but she’s nearly hysterical and the cop stops writing in her pad and says, “Ma’am, I’m going to need for you to calm down.” A child screams into the phone to the 911 operator, something about a fire, and the operator says, softly and slowly, “Okay, calm down and tell me what happened.” An angry crowd has gathered to protest the shooting of an unarmed teenager and the police officer in charge shouts above the din, “Okay, everyone just calm down.”
Yeah, like that’s gonna happen.
“It’s easy to say, ‘peace,’” says the prophet, Micah, “when you aren’t the one being hurt.” “It’s easy to make rules for others,” says Jesus. “When you know that they aren’t going to apply to you.”
In the News
Well, the Republicans have finally gotten their act together and chosen a person who is so innominate, so obscure, that everyone had to run and look him up in a book before they could vote on him. And they’re absolutely sure he’s the perfect man for the position even though he came in 4th. He didn’t even finish in the money when nominations were being put forth.
Come to find out, he is (shockingly) of the extreme right, an anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ, election denier, and Trump-ist; a self-described “evangelical Christian” who has said that his meteoric rise from obscurity to the third highest political office in the country was ordained by God.
It looks like the House of Representatives has got the engine of government running just in time to shut it down again on November 17th if everyone doesn’t get what they want in the 2024 budget.
What do they want? Everyone agrees that they want to address the federal deficit. And that’s a good thing. The largest line item in the current budget is the 2.9% interest on the current debt which amounted to 10% of the total budget or about $663 billion in 2023.
How will they propose to reduce this deficit? Upon what items will they propose to reduce spending? Will anyone on either side of the aisle suggest that we cut the defense budget, which is already higher than the next ten countries combined? Probably not. Will they reduce the pay of elected officials? Definitely not. Will they increase revenue by taxing the wealthiest 1% of the population who already pay taxes at a rate that is lower than the average school teacher? Not if they want to get re-elected.
No, if the past is any indicator, they will blame the poor. They will talk about “work-fare” instead of welfare. They will dig up old myths and feign indignation about “welfare queens” and people who “would rather live off of a government handout that work for a living.” They will attack the 2% of the federal budget that actually helps poor children, old people, single mothers, and people with illnesses and disabilities, people who really need help, and try to reduce it even further.
And they will make these plans, plans that they know will have no real impact on the deficit but will make good sound bites at election time and in restaurants that serve dishes that most of us can’t pronounce and charge $20 for a cup of coffee and $120 for a steak.
Sound familiar? Seems as if we’ve heard about that kind of behavior somewhere in the Bible.
In the Scripture
In today’s alternative lesson from the Hebrew scriptures, the prophet, Micah, takes on the prophets who profit from their prophesies, who tell the people what they want to hear and then blame the people when it doesn’t turn out the way the prophets said it would.
“You didn’t have enough faith,” they say. Or, “You must have done something to make God angry.” “You have to be patient,” they say. “God works on God’s time, not ours.”
And all the while, they fill their own plates, piling them high with rich and fattening food, fancy dishes and sweet confections, while the poor look on, hungry.
“It’s their own fault,” the prophets say. “They don’t work hard enough. They didn’t finish high school. They spent all their money on cigarettes and tattoos. And now they want us to bail them out of the consequences for their own poor decisions and bad choices.”
Micah calls down curses upon these faithless prophets for profit.
Then he takes off on the rulers, the politicians and the developers, the clergy and the educators who are more interested in their own checking accounts than the good of the people. The leaders who lie when it is easier to tell the truth, who steal from the poor box and press down upon those who do hard labor.
The result of all this corruption? Death and darkness. The country will, he warns, go to ruin and what was once a beautiful and fertile place will become a brown and dusty wasteland.
700 years later, Jesus has much the same to say about the religious leaders of his time.
The scribes and Pharisees are wealthy and, because they are rich, they have the time to become educated. They know the scriptures inside out. They make long, intricate, and delicately nuanced arguments. They sit in Starbucks and discuss theology all day long with their colleagues and friends.
They make a show of how religious they are, saying prayers that are long and loud when the waitress brings them their food. Their Bibles are big, with lots of ribbons marking the applicable passages, and they like to carry them in front of their chest as they walk down the street. They come a little late to church and make a big entrance, all the way to the front pew. They make their offering with large bills that they lay, unfolded, on top of the plate. They like to attach titles to their names — titles like “Reverend,” “Pastor,” “Deacon,” “Elder,” chairperson and president.
And they love rules. There isn’t a passage of scripture that they can’t somehow twist into a rule that other people should obey but from which they are, themselves, exempt. Rules about purity and piety, and who and how people should love. Rules about which people we should admire and which ones are worthy only of our contempt.
They are full of confidence that, at the heavenly banquet, their piety will have earned them a seat at the head of the table. But Jesus puts the lie to that notion. There is no head of the table, he says. There’s no first and no last in God’s kingdom. No high class and no low class. In fact, there are no class distinctions at all.
So, as long as there’s none of that nonsense in the Kingdom to come, why not start living without it in the Kingdom as it comes to us here and now? Why not stop blaming the poor for all of our problems and start treating them as beloved children of God — our sisters and brothers?
In the Sermon
Okay, I’m as guilty as anyone. Every once in a while, I find myself looking at what the person in front of me at the grocery store is buying and wonder about the soundness of their judgement.
Seriously? You’re really going to buy that expensive, sugar-coated cereal? Little sugar coated, sugar filled, sugar charged bits of sugar? I mean, you’re obviously poor. Think, man. Go with the cornflakes. Or better yet, the eggs. They’re cheap and they’re full of protein. And what’s with all those soft drinks? You’re already 50 pounds overweight and your poor little daughter isn’t far behind you on that score. Prepared, frozen dinners? Frozen pizzas? Oh, and a carton of cigarettes and a 24 pack of beer. Great. Just great.
Then I remember that when Jean and I were young and we would go grocery shopping the day before payday because the refrigerator was just about empty and we knew it would take the store 24 hours to get the check we wrote to the bank. With luck, we’d get paid and get our paycheck to the bank before the grocery store could deposit the check we wrote.
Then, on payday, the first place we went after depositing the check? Pizza Hut. Large pan pizza with everything. Healthy? No. Frugal? Hardly. Smart? Absolutely not. But it was one of the few pleasures we could almost afford and so we did it. Worry about tomorrow’s bills tomorrow.
Somehow, we managed to make it through those early days. We completed our educations, got good jobs, earned enough money so we didn’t have to worry about every cent. Raised two kids and retired to a life of relative comfort and fun.
How’d we make it in those lean and hungry times? Well, our parents helped us a lot.
They’d invite us to come over for a cookout or we knew that, if we showed up in the late afternoon, they’d always invite us to stay and have dinner and send us home with a cooler full of leftovers. Jean’s dad was a capable backyard mechanic who fixed our broken-down cars more than a few times and my dad was always good for a few bucks when the gas tank was getting low and payday was still several days off.
All those times they helped us, they never once said or even suggested that our problems were our own fault and we should rethink how we budgeted our money. Never did they accuse us of being fiscally irresponsible because we went to a movie or bought a new pair of blue jeans that we didn’t really need.
They reached out to us and helped us not because we deserved their help but because they loved us. They took pleasure in helping us and seeing us learn and grow. They wanted to help.
Go figure, right?
So, when it comes to how we treat the poor, upon whom do we model our response?
Do we choose to be like the prophets of Micah’s time and the Pharisees who dogged Jesus? Do we lord our money, our comfort, our easy lives over them and blame them for not just their problems but all the problems of the country? Do we make a show of our wealth and piety as we swallow our contempt and disdain and toss a few coins their way?
Or do we reach out in love and compassion, not necessarily because they deserve it, not because of who they are, but because of who we are — followers of Jesus, disciples of the one who lived a life of love and compassion.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Tom Willadsen:All Saints’ Day
The whole concept of All Saints’ Day makes a lot of Protestants nervous. It shouldn’t. Hebrews 13:24 makes it pretty clear that every member of the church is a saint, as do Philippians 1:1, 4:22 and other verses. There is no special screening process to attain sainthood. A modern equivalent could be “church membership,” or “the desire to follow Christ.”
Also, “saints” is a collective noun in the New Testament. It always appears in the plural, except in Philippians 4:21, which reads, “Greet every saint…” Clearly sainthood is something all Christians share in common. Setting a day aside each year to remember and mourn the saints who have died in the past year is a helpful way for communities to recognize the gifts of all God’s children, that is, all the saints.
* * *
Revelation 7:9-17
The exchange in vv. 13-14 between the elders and the author of Revelation is an echo of Zechariah 4:5 (NRSVUE)
Then the angel who spoke with me answered me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.”
The difference is this time, the reader receives an answer; they are Gentiles who have become followers of Christ. Their white robes symbolize their purity.
* * *
1 John 3:1-3
See what love God has…
1 John 3:1: “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are….” is a verse often added to baptism liturgy. When I baptize an infant, after the baptism, before returning the child to her parents, I present the child to the congregation. The words are so powerful and beautiful, such a profound reminder of God’s love, that they often reduce me to tears.
* * *
Matthew 5:1-12
Jesus is like Moses
Like Moses, Jesus escaped death, entered Egypt, passed through water, went into the wilderness and ascended a mountain. It’s very likely that the first audience for what we know as The Sermon on the Mount made those connections. I had to find them in a reference book.
* * *
Matthew 5:1-12
Beatitudes = Blessed attitudes
Today’s gospel lesson is the first 12 verses of the Sermon on the Mount. These verses are commonly called The Beatitudes, from the Latin “beatus,” which can be rendered into English as “blessed,” “fortunate,” or even “lucky.” Beatus can also have a more technical meaning, one who has been beatified, that is begun the journey to formal designation as a saint.
* * *
Matthew 5:1-12
Beat-itude
Ric Ocasek, former front man of the new wave group The Cars, released a solo album in 1982 called “Beatitude.” He insisted the album be pronounced beat-itude, an homage to the 1950s poetry magazine of the same name. Allen Ginsberg and other beat poets had their work featured in that magazine.
* * *
Matthew 23:1-12
Phylacteries and fringe
Perhaps you’re wondering what Jesus is talking about. A phylactery is a small box that contains passages from the Torah. Phylacteries are mentioned in Deuteronomy 6:8 and 11:18. The significance of an emblem on the worshiper’s forehead appears in Exodus 13:9 and 16.
Some Jewish men wear fringed shawls when they worship. They’re called “tzitzit” in English. It is a reminder of the Lord’s commandments.
* * * * * *
From team member Katy Stenta:Micah 3:5-12
I have been wondering what peace tastes like. In the midst of all of this talk of those who hunger and those who are filled, it’s poignant to me to think about those who are hungry and at war. It is easy to think about peace on a full stomach, but somehow hunger and war go together. Thus, I wonder what it is that peace tastes like on the tongue. Does it melt in your mouth like love? Is it a little bitter? I always think there is a little bitterness to forgiveness before the sweetness settles in. Is it cool so that you have to get used to it after the heat of war? Why is it that peace is hard to swallow? Is it the shape of it? Is there some kind of holiness attached to it that makes it hard for human mouths to consume? Or is it so ephemeral that we have to take it in teeny-tiny peaces, small enough for us to catch?
* * *
Matthew 5:1-12
Blessings
It kind of tickles me that human beings talk about blessings as if they are extra — like a spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine to go down — instead of them being part and parcel of the thing being described. Often I wonder if Jesus is not stating how things are going to be, but instead describing things exactly as they are. I think it is like a text message — we do not have any emphasis or tone to go with this text and I wonder how differently it would read if we think about Jesus stating the blessings as inherent instead of a kind of cause and effect statement. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs (is already, even now) the kingdom of heaven. Or, fact: Blessed are those who mourn, they will (no matter what) be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they are (even now) inheriting the earth. If we are already blessed by God, and blessings are inherent, how does that change what we are experiencing now?
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Matthew 23:1-12
Jesus knows what scientists have discovered many years later; those who are the best teachers are the first people ready to learn. The best leaders are those who listen and are ready to do the work themselves. Jesus is pointing out that those who need to be called teacher or are not ready to labor beside everyone else are not the most important people — they are valuing the wrong things. Namely, it seems like they value their titles over the people and community that they serve. Jesus’ description of servant leaders is one that is founded out of love, and that love shines through in all callings and positions, not just in the church.
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From team member Chris Keating:Revelation 7:9-17
Listen to the singing
John’s vision is filled with breathtaking images of worship. It is worship as no one has ever imagined or experienced — after all, when was the last time you had a multitude in church that “no one could count?” What emerges from John’s depiction of this holy scene of worship is the reminder of the powerful ways music and worship hold the potential for hope.
It is strikingly similar to the sort of hope Lior Zaltzman writes about in last week’s online Jewish magazine Kveller. “Since the brutal massacre that happened in Israel on October 7 and the war that’s now ensuing,” Zaltzman writes, “I’ve struggled with my usual comforts when I needed a break from the news.” Zaltzman says he’s too distracted to watch TV, unable to focus on reading, and too tired to try usual distractions like LEGO sets. “But the one place I’ve found hope — and perhaps some powerful truths — is music.
Zaltzman’s short essay evokes the sort of hope we hear in the multitudes of those who are worshiping before God.
In particular, Zaltzman is recalling a powerful duet from 2009 that was part of the Eurovision music competition. That year, two Israeli singers — one Jewish, one Arab Christian — took to the Eurovision stage to sing of the pain they saw in each other’s eyes. The singers, Achinoam Nini, better known as Noa, and Mira Awad represented Israel in the competition that year. Their song was filled with hope informed by the pain of war and violence.
As Zaltzman notes, the singers took the stage at a time when war was also raging in Gaza. Like today, political tensions in Israel were being fueled by a right-wing government. Peaceful coexistence seemed improbable — if not impossible.
“Yet these two women, longtime peace activists, chose to take the stage and sing about seeing each other in their grief and suffering. It wasn’t a popular choice in Israel, but for both of them, it felt important in that moment in time, no matter how bleak things felt, to sing about peace.” Zaltzman remembers how the song spoke words built from what he called “a sisterhood of suffering.”
“In Hebrew, English, and Arabic, Noa and Mira sang about how in each other’s eyes, they saw the same kind of pain. ‘And when I cry, I cry for both of us, my pain has no name / and when I cry, I cry to the light in the sky and sing, there must be another way.’”
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1 John 3:1-3
What are we becoming?
All Saints Day offers the church a chance to look forward by looking back. It is a similar sort of assurance that the writer of 1 John offers to the church. John reminds God’s people of the great assurance we have because we are God’s children now. “What we will be has not yet been revealed,” the epistle continues. “What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him.”
John reminds us of the holy connection we have in Christ. It is a similar connection that singer/songwriter Carrie Newcomer evokes in much of her work. She describes the process of feeling a depth of connection that allows her to see what is shimmering beneath the surface. Newcomer observes that:
I write a lot about the holiness and the sacredness of the small moments and the small acts of kindness — that’s something that shimmers below the surface of things all the time. If we’re paying attention there’s something that happens when I’m writing. There’s a focus, there’s a sense of connection to something. It’s not larger or wider than myself. And when I’m creating art, it’s like I’m not alone.
As an example of this, Newcomer offers a song called “The Beautiful Not Yet.” Its springtime inspired lyrics speak of the possibilities of what is emerging within us and within our world. Her confidence echoes John’s promise of what we are becoming. In part, the song says:
Muddy boots, last year's leaves
every spring that came before
All they were and something more
The restlessness
The quickening
The almost but
Not yet
Do you see, do you see, do you see it
Take a breath
Oh, the restlessness
The beautiful not yet
There's a stirring
There's sweetness
At the edge of in between
I feel it nearly trembling…
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Micah 3:5-12
Seeking true faithfulness
Micah denounces the hypocritical religious leaders and politicians who lead the people astray by crying peace when their mouths are filled with food, but the declare war on those who have nothing to eat. In our own day, newly elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson provides an example of this sort of contradiction. Johnson, a Southern Baptist whose supporters campaigned for his election as speaker by distributing images of him bending his knee to pray for God’s guidance, has only served in Congress for eight years and is relatively unknown to many people. He is a reliable conservative whose positions on issues such as abortion, military spending, and transgender care generally fall along party lines. But, much like the prophets Micah attacks, Johnson is also known for his willingness to social programs designed to overcome food insecurity. In 2018, Johnson called for deeper cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, arguing that it is “our nation’s most broken and bloated welfare program.” SNAP is often considered a vital source of support for low-income families.
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Matthew 23:1-12
Do not do as they do
Following the school shooting in Ulvade, TX in May, 2022, psychologist Benjamin Miller decried what he called the “horribly hypocrisy” of using mental health as a scapegoat to address America’s gun violence problem. Over a year later, his words still hold fresh meaning:
Another week has passed in America, which means we must collectively mourn another horrific tragedy of gun violence. And while this moment calls for action, we are already seeing elected officials dig in on what they feel is the root cause of yet another mass casualty shooting in the United States—and just the latest one that has robbed families of their youngest, most innocent members.
Miller noted that, the Lewiston shooter notwithstanding, addiction and mental health care do not cause gun violence.” What is paradoxical, said Miller, is that the very ones describing gun violence as a product of mental illness are the same legislators who have chosen to not do anything to support mental health treatment in the United States.
“Too many elected officials,” writes Miller, “who tend to be conservative and Republican, continue to use an age-old strategy of giving lip service without taking any action to mitigate the impact of mental illness or gun violence. Or even more damning, blaming an issue — in this case mental health — as the cause of our problems without acknowledging that their policy decisions have actually made conditions worse.”
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WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship
One: Let us bless our God at all times.
All: God’s praise shall continually be in our mouths.
One: O magnify God with me, and let us exalt God’s name together.
All: O taste and see that our God is good.
One: Happy are those who take refuge in God.
All: None of those who take refuge in God will be condemned.
OR
One: O give thanks to the Lord who is good.
All: God’s steadfast love endures forever.
One: When we cried to God in our trouble we were delivered.
All: God led us by a straight way.
One: God turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground.
All: God turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.
OR
One: Vindicate us, O God, and defend our cause.
All: For you are the God in whom we take refuge.
One: O send out your light and your truth; let them lead us.
All: Let them bring us to your holy hill and to your dwelling.
One: Then we will go to the altar of God, to God our exceeding joy.
All: We will praise you with the harp, O God, our God.
OR
One: God calls us God’s own beloved children.
All: In humility we receive God’s adoption.
One: The Christ comes to us as our Elder Brother.
All: We are blessed to be part of the family of God.
One: God’s own Spirit dwells among and within us.
All: We are, indeed, called to be God’s saints.
Hymns and Songs
For All the Saints
UMH: 711
H82: 287
PH: 526
GTG: 326
AAHH: 339
NNBH: 301
NCH: 299
CH: 637
LBW: 174
ELW: 422
W&P: 529
AMEC: 476
STLT: 103
I Sing a Song of the Saints of God
UMH: 712
H82: 293
PH: 364
GTG: 730
NCH: 295
Rejoice in God’s Saints
UMH: 708
GTG: 732
CH: 476
ELW: 418
W&P: 531
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
UMH: 89
H82: 376
PH: 464
GTG: 611
AAHH: 120
NNBH: 40
NCH: 4
CH: 2
LBW: 551
ELW: 836
W&P: 59
AMEC: 75
STLT: 29
The King of Love My Shepherd Is
UMH: 138
H82: 645/646
PH: 171
GTG: 802
NCH: 248
LBW: 456
ELW: 502
Renew: 106
Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive
UMH: 390
H82: 674
PH: 347
GTG: 444
LBW: 307
ELW: 605
W&P: 382
Renew: 184
Take My Life, and Let It Be
UMH: 399
H82: 707
PH: 391
GTG: 697
NNBH: 213
NCH: 448
CH: 609
LBW: 406
ELW: 583/685
W&P: 466
AMEC: 292
Renew: 150
Lord, I Want to Be a Christian
UMH: 402
PH: 372
GTG: 729
AAHH: 463
NNBH: 156
NCH: 454
CH: 589
W&P: 457
AMEC: 282
Renew: 145
The Gift of Love
UMH: 408
GTG: 693
AAHH: 522
CH: 526
W&P: 397
Renew: 155
Let There Be Peace on Earth
UMH: 431
CH: 677
W&P: 614
Make Me a Servant
CCB: 90
We Are His Hands
CCB: 85
Music Resources Key
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
GTG: Glory to God, The 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 dwells among us and within us:
Grant us the wisdom to see the saints among us
and the humility to allow your Spirit to live through us;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are faithful in dwelling among us and within us. You make your presence known to us in the loving acts of others. Help us to be open to your presence in others and to allow your Spirit to live through us. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our blindness to your presence among us.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You come to us so many ways and yet we fail to see you. You come in the beauty and power of nature; you come in the sounds of music and poetry; you come in the loving acts of others. But we are too busy to notice you in nature and to judgmental to see you in others. Forgive us our blindness and soften our hearts that we may see the saintly ones among us. Amen.
One: God is faithful in coming to us in many ways. Receive God’s loving forgiveness from God’s own Spirit and from God’s faithful ones so that you may share it with others.
Prayers of the People
Praise and glory to you, O God. You creation shows forth your glory and your wondrous presence. You dwell in the hearts of all who share your love.
(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. You come to us so many ways and yet we fail to see you. You come in the beauty and power of nature; you come in the sounds of music and poetry; you come in the loving acts of others. But we are too busy to notice you in nature and to judgmental to see you in others. Forgive us our blindness and soften our hearts that we may see the saintly ones among us.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which your love is poured out upon us and all of your creation. We thank you for the reflections of your Spirit that dwells in all you created. We thank you for those who allowed your love to dwell within them and have let that love flow out to us and to others. We thank you for those who have faithfully lived and died (and we lift up to you these who have entered into the fullness of your glory....)
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for those who are grieving. Our hearts long for those who have dwelt among us and are no not physically present with us. Remind us that as they live in you we are still connected one to another. We pray for those who live in the constant threat of violence and death. We pray for a spirit of peace that we may learn to live with one another in harmony and love.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
Hear us as we pray for others: (Time for silent or spoken prayer.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray 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.
Communion Prayer/Great Thanksgiving
We come into your presence, O God, to offer our praise and our thankfulness for all your blessings. Throughout our journey here on Earth you have been faithful in sharing your presence through prophets, judges, and psalmists. And so we offer to you our praises.
(The congregation may sing or say the Sanctus.)
We celebrate how your Son, Jesus the Christ, came among us and commissioned us to act in your name.
We remember how on the night he was betrayed he was at table with his disciples and he took the bread, gave you thanks, broke it, and gave it to them saying, “Take and eat. This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
After supper he took the cup, gave you thanks, and gave it to them saying, “Take and drink, all of you. This is the cup of the new covenant. Do this as often as you drink of it in remembrance of me.”
In remembrance and celebration of all you were and are doing through Jesus Christ we offer ourselves to you and to your service as we proclaim the mystery of Faith.
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the Body and Blood of Christ that we may be Christ Body in this world.
Unite us with all your children (and especially with....) as we serve you in serving all your children and all your creation. Through your Son with the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory to you, O God, now and forever.
Amen.
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CHILDREN'S SERMONThe Bee-Attitudes
by Elena Delhagen
Matthew 5:1-12
You will need:
- a large yellow oval construction paper cutout for each child (this will be the bee’s body and will need to be wide enough to hold eight black stripes)
- 8 black construction paper strips for each yellow oval, on which you’ll write each of the following words/phrases (one per strip): HUMBLE, COMFORTING, GENTLE, RIGHTEOUS, KIND, PURE IN HEART, PEACEFUL, FAITHFUL
- glue sticks
Good morning, friends! Today, we’re going to talk about one of Jesus’ lessons from the Gospel of Matthew. This lesson that Jesus taught is called the Beatitudes. Now, beatitude is kind of a big word that really means to be blessed by God and happy! So, in this lesson, Jesus was talking about the different kind of attitudes we should have as Christians, and if we have those attitudes, we are promised that we will live happy lives!
(Hand out yellow ovals to each child.)
One of the ways to remember this teaching of Jesus is to think about that big word. Beatitude. Now, I just gave you a big yellow oval. What does it make you think of? (Allow time for answers.) See, I kind of think that this looks like the body of a bee — just without the stripes! And I think that’s perfect for helping us think about the ATTITUDES Jesus taught us!
(Hand out strip with the word HUMBLE on it to each child.)
The first thing that Jesus said in this lesson is that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are poor in spirit. That means that our attitude should be humble, not arrogant. So let’s glue this stripe onto our bees, shall we?
(Hand out strip with the word COMFORTING to each child.)
The next thing Jesus said is that anyone who is sad or upset will be comforted by God! In fact, we should have an attitude that looks to comfort other people, like our friends or family or classmates, whenever they’re sad, too. So let’s glue the next stripe on.
(Hand out strip with the word GENTLE on it to each child.)
Then, Jesus said we should have a meek attitude. To be meek is to be gentle, to not always try to get our own way but to think about others before ourselves. So let’s glue this stripe on the bee to help us remember that.
(Hand out strip with the word RIGHTEOUS on it to each child.)
The next part of Jesus’ lesson he talked about is being righteous. Having a righteous attitude means wanting to know God and God’s word more than anything else. So let’s glue the next stripe on our bees, okay?
(Hand out strip with the word KIND on it to each child.)
The next thing Jesus talked about in his lesson is being merciful to others, because then we will be shown mercy, too. Merciful or mercy is a way of saying kindness. So when we treat others with kindness and love, we will receive kindness and love, too! Let’s go ahead and glue that stripe on.
(Hand out strip with the words PURE IN HEART on it to each child.)
Next, Jesus said if we are pure in heart, we will see God. Being pure in heart helps us to live our lives for God. Sometimes, it can be easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing, even if we know it’s the wrong thing. But if we’re pure in heart, and we do what is right, Jesus promises that we will see God. How amazing! So this stripe can help us remind us of that attitude; let’s glue it on our bees.
(Hand out strip with the word PEACEFUL on it to each child.)
The next attitude in Jesus’ lesson is being peaceful. When we see people fighting or hurting one another, God wants us to be peacemakers, and we should live at peace with everyone around us, too. So let’s glue that stripe on our bees.
(Hand out strip with the word FAITHFUL on it to each child.)
Wow, the last stripe for our bees! The last thing Jesus talked about in this lesson is the importance of being faithful to him. God wants us to have faithful attitudes. Sometimes, people might not understand why we’re Christians. They might think that it’s silly or, even worse, make fun of us for it. But Jesus says if we stay faithful to him, and we keep doing the right thing and living our lives the way God wants us to, we will be blessed and happy. Let’s go ahead and glue this last stripe onto our bees.
Look at all these beautiful bees with reminders about Jesus’ lesson, the Beatitudes! Every time you look at your BEE, now you can remember the ATTITUDES that Jesus wants us all to have.
Let’s pray, shall we?
(Close in prayer.)
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The Immediate Word, November 1/5, 2023 issue.
Copyright 2023 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.
