In this week’s lectionary reading from First Corinthians, Paul continues his discourse on how God’s wisdom -- which appears as mere foolishness to the spiritually uninitiated -- is more powerful than worldly “wisdom.” He tells us that God’s wisdom is “secret and hidden,” and that no one comprehends it except through being taught by the Holy Spirit. As Paul puts it: “For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Dean Feldmeyer points out that the gist of Paul’s message is summarized in the final words of verse 16, when he concludes that our challenge is to see the world through the “mind of Christ.” Dean notes that the way we process our experience of the world is through the lens of our background and preconceptions -- which can often be at odds with how others perceive the same events. Moreover, Dean suggests, we see the same agenda-driven paradigm at work in the information we receive from the media -- whether it’s spin doctors and pundits deconstructing the words of politicians, sports analysts delving into who will win the big game and why, catty commentators passing judgment on the fashion choices of celebrities, or advertisers trying to appeal to what they think is in our minds in order to motivate us to buy their products. But as Dean points out, Paul is telling us that “the mind of Christ” is the primary lens through which we ought to interpret every event in our lives. That’s not as easy as it sounds -- Paul reminds us that it takes a great deal of spiritual discernment and the leading of the Holy Spirit to have even a tenuous grasp on what that means... and to gain that discernment involves a lifetime of discipline and work.
Team member Chris Keating shares some additional thoughts on the First Corinthians text, focusing on the third verse: “I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.” That’s a sentiment that will certainly be felt by many (if not most) of the athletes coming together in Sochi, Russia, for the Winter Olympics. In addition to the inherent pressure of competing in the most important competition of their lives -- one that they have spent years of sacrifice preparing for, and for almost all of them the only one at which the general public will likely be paying attention -- serious security concerns in Sochi have resulted in warnings from U.S. Olympic authorities that the families and friends of athletes might want to consider staying away. As if that’s not enough to put the athletes on edge, they may likely experience trembling of a different sort at the opening ceremonies -- many previous participants have talked about how deeply moving it is to march into the stadium in the parade of nations and feel everyone come together in unity and temporarily set aside the world’s problems in a spirit of fierce but friendly competition. All of this leads us to ask: When we take our faith out into the world, do we approach others as Paul did, in a humble spirit of weakness with fear and trembling, or instead do we come with a confident, judgmental attitude which communicates that we think our faith gives us all the answers?
With the Mind of Christ
by Dean Feldmeyer
1 Corinthians 2:1-16
The Christian theological mind lends a perspective to life’s experiences that the world does not know or understand. In the second chapter of First Corinthians, Paul admonishes the church to be mindful of that perspective -- and to adopt it, constantly, as our own.
He calls it “the mind of Christ.”
In the News
Last week many of us watched President Obama’s State of the Union address.
Some of us watched it as Democrats and filtered everything we heard and saw through that lens. Some of us watched it as Republicans or Libertarians or Tea Party members and filtered everything we heard and saw through that lens.
Some people viewed the State of the Union address through the lens of an African-American voter. Some viewed it through the lens of a female voter.
Some didn’t pay attention to it at all, because they were convinced in advance that it would be “all lies” or “all form and no substance” or “camera prancing.”
We all bring our special lenses, our special filters, to our life experiences. We watch and listen through those filters, and what we get as a result is often an incomplete or imperfect version of what really happened.
And it isn’t just to the important things that we bring those predispositions.
I view the Super Bowl as a former high school football player and a lifelong football fan; my wife views it, when she views it at all, for the commercials.
I watch television cooking shows as a person who likes to cook; my buddy watches as a person who likes to eat.
I will watch the Winter Olympics as an American who has never been on a ski slope, can’t stand up on the ice, and rarely ventures outdoors in the winter; my brother-in-law will watch as an American skier and skiboarding enthusiast who loves the snow.
Since we all come to every event, important or mundane, with plenteous preconceptions, ideas, notions, opinions, and experiences through which to filter our impressions, it’s no wonder that the media tries to provide us with commentators to tell us what we need to take away from the experience -- what is important and what is not.
Lately, however, we have become more and more aware that even those experts, pundits, and commentators bring their own conceptions and agendas to the experience.
No one expects Fox News and MSNBC to provide an identical, unbiased interpretation of the State of the Union address. Conservative columnist George Will and liberal columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. are going to hear and explain it differently.
Former quarterback Terry Bradshaw and former linebacker, special teams player, and coach Bill Cowher are going to have different perspectives on what happened on the Super Bowl gridiron.
Bob Costas and Al Michaels will no doubt do an admirable job covering the Sochi Olympics, but it’s the color commentators -- Scott Hamilton, Nancy Kerrigan, Dan Jansen, Apolo Anton Ohno, and other former Olympic medalists -- who will bring an insider’s perspective to our experience of the games.
The apostle Paul invites us to add one more voice, one additional lens, one more filter to and above all the others that we use to interpret and understand our life experiences.
In the Scriptures
In this week’s lectionary epistle passage, Paul speaks to the Christians at Corinth about that special kind of discernment which, he says, comes from living life in the Spirit which God gives to us as a gift.
To live in God’s Spirit is like putting on a new pair of glasses. They change nothing, but transform everything. Suddenly we see everything differently, clearly, spiritually. We see what we saw before, but we see it in a new way.
Our neighbor is transformed from a “them” to a “thou.”
Possibilities that were hidden become visible. Truths that were indecipherable become clear. Words that we didn’t understand are now understandable, often for the first time.
And sometimes we see that which we could not see before. The gifts of God’s spirit are there for everyone to have and enjoy -- but only those who perceive through the spiritual perspective can see them and take advantage of them.
We are aware of beauty that we never knew was there. We are aware of truths to which we were blind. We find ourselves linked to people from whom we thought we were estranged and separated.
And finally, those who discern through God’s Spirit stand outside the judgment of those who do not. We are judged by God only, because our decisions are based not on our understanding of the world’s desires but of God’s.
To live thus, says Paul, is to “have the mind of Christ.”
In the Pulpit
Our culture prizes highly the independent mind. We encourage people to “make up your own mind” about this or that choice, to “know your own mind” on this or that subject.
For Christians, however, it is about more than knowing or making up our mind only. It is about knowing the mind of Christ as well, and acting not on our mind but upon his.
While this admonition of Paul complicates our lives and often makes them more difficult, it also makes them more authentic. It lends a depth and a well of meaning that we might otherwise never have known.
Many years ago, I went with some friends to see the film An Officer and a Gentleman. Starring Debra Winger, Richard Gere, and Louis Gossett Jr., it was a romantic love story with a well-deserved “R” rating, mostly due to a steamy love scene between Winger and Gere.
Following the movie we went out for pie and coffee to talk about what we had just seen, and as our discussion progressed it occurred to me that this group was discussing different things than I had heard others, including critics, talk about.
When at length I asked my companions what they thought was the most powerful scene in the film, not one of them pointed to the final romantic scene where Gere swoops Winger into his arms and carries her out of the factory where her character works -- the scene that almost everyone else spoke of, often wistfully, with hand over chest and with eyes closed.
They chose instead the scene where Sgt. Foley (Gossett) tries to hound Zack Mayo (Gere) out of the naval flight school. It is a difficult scene to watch, as the sergeant bullies and insults the struggling sailor in an attempt to make him quit. Finally, Sgt. Foley gives up and says, “You’re out! You’re out!” Mayo responds by leaping to his feet and, at first, demanding that the sergeant not wash him out of the program. Then his demanding turns to pleading as he weeps, “I got nowhere else to go! I got nowhere else to go.” Then simply, “I got nothing else.” The camera turns back to Sgt. Foley’s face as we see the sad truth of the statement etch itself on his consciousness.
My friends had come to the film not with their romantic fantasies but with their Christian faith as their primary viewing filter -- and because of that, they had experienced the film at a depth that others, even professional film viewers, could not.
Paul invites us to experience not just movies but all of life at that deeper level. He invites us to live our lives with “the mind of Christ.”
When we listen to the State of the Union speech, we are to listen with “the mind of Christ.”
When we watch the Super Bowl, we are to watch with “the mind of Christ.”
When we root for Olympic athletes, we are to do so with “the mind of Christ.”
Indeed, there is no experience so pointless or mundane that it escapes this perspective. From tying our shoes, to choosing a flavor of ice cream, to buying a car, to voting in an election -- we are called, as Christians, to do them all with “the mind of Christ.”
It is a tall order -- but one, says Paul, that should come naturally to those of us who dare to call ourselves Christians.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Fear and Trembling in Sochi
by Chris Keating
1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16)
When it comes to the Olympics, it seems fear and trembling are everywhere you don’t want to be.
Challenges for the games abound: on the one hand, the Russian resort town on the Black Sea is in the midst of a mild winter, with nary a snowflake in sight. As the opening ceremonies approach, meteorologists are predicting that temperatures will comfortably be in the range of 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Not quite spring, but hardly the center of the polar vortex either. Perhaps you’ll leave your short-sleeves at home -- though you might want to pack a flak jacket instead. Weather and lack of snow aren’t the only things worrying organizers. Security fears are also at the top of the list of challenges facing the upcoming games.
Indeed, from the awe-inspiring parade of nations to the omnipresent security screenings, the Sochi Winter Olympics seem to embody many dimensions of Paul’s words to the Corinthians: “I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.” It’s a feeling that may resonate with many in the upcoming competitions. But the Olympics may also prompt reflection on what it means for the church to seek the mind of Christ during times of international tension and conflict.
Last month, the United States State Department issued a security advisory for Americans attending the games. In December, a pair of terrorist-related attacks in the city of Volgograd rocked the world. An extremist group, the Caucasus Emirate, is seen as a primary threat. The group has said its clear intent was to disrupt the games and embarrass Russian president Vladimir Putin. And while Russia has beefed up its security, many families of athletes are choosing to watch the games from their living rooms.
American officials have also issued safety advisories for gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals, particularly because a Russian law that bans “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” applies to foreigners. The State Department noted that the law is often vaguely defined, and convictions could result in imprisonment or deportation.
Massive security concerns have enveloped the region, symbolized by the so-called “ring of steel” which now surrounds the city of Sochi. To outsiders, the buildup of troops, surveillance cameras, and high-tech sweeping devices may seem reminiscent of Soviet-era security measures. Yet as Sochi prepares to open its doors to the world, keeping athletes and spectators safe has become a herculean effort.
As one Russian expert opined to NPR, “I think it’s a very dangerous situation and I think the Russian Secret Services now face a very difficult challenge.”
Part of the challenge facing the Olympics is that, despite a budget-busting $51 billion effort, preparations are still somewhat in process. Time is short and there are still plenty of loose ends requiring attention. The final to-do list also includes unfinished hotel rooms for reporters, determining how to handle potentially lengthy security screenings for visitors, and culling menacing packs of stray dogs from the city’s streets. Officials must also solve the curious “twin toilet” dilemma in a restroom at the main media complex. Reporters discovered a pair of unisex privies in one bathroom -- side-by-side commodes that require the sharing of a common roll of toilet tissue. After all, the Olympics are all about unity.
Ah, the spectacle of it all.
NBC’s Saturday Night Live took jibes at the fear and trembling surrounding the Olympics in a recent “Weekend Update” segment that spoofed an interview with a woman from a fictional Russian village. Asked by host Seth Meyers if she was surprised that the Olympics were coming to Russia, the woman replied, “I’m surprised anyone is coming to Russia.” Meyers retorted, “Isn’t it a resort town?” “Last resort!” the woman quipped.
Despite all of this, the truth is that the Olympic Games have often included elements of fearful, terrifying, and even deadly tension. These have included social protests as well as deliberate acts of vengeance. Jesse Owens took gold medals in Berlin as Hitler fumed. African-American medalists stood in silent protest in Mexico City, signaling their solidarity with those denied basic civil rights. Later, terrorists held the world captive at the 1972 Munich games. Even the United States couldn’t stop a domestic terror attack in Atlanta.
Truly, we gather in fear and trembling.
The flame of the Olympic cauldron calls to us, inviting our recollection of the details of the ancient games. The ancient games were anything but civil, though warring nations managed to cease hostilities during the events. In many ways, the current games mirror the ancient competitions -- including doping scandals. Back in the day, prostitution at the games was rampant. Competitors squared off naked, and potions were commonly used to enhance one’s athletic ability. Beastly athletes would scare away more timid opponents.
Tony Perrotet, author of The Naked Olympics: The True Story of the Ancient Games, provides enlightening details about what he calls the “total pagan entertainment package.” According to Perrotet, competitors stood before a terrifying statue of Zeus, taking solemn vows to ward off fears of breaking rules and bones. Sacrifices and rituals enthralled the masses in between competitions. The games were, Perrortet says, “the Woodstock of antiquity.” In an interview with National Geographic, Perrotet described the ancient games as clearly a spectacle beyond belief:
It was the sheer spectacle of it. Sports [were] one part of a grand, all-consuming extravaganza. It was first and foremost a religious event, held on the most sacred spot in the ancient world. It had this incredible aura of tradition and sanctity.
Sanctity and tradition seem to be on Paul’s mind as well. In the epistle text for this week, Paul reminds the Corinthians of how timid he was in his initial encounter with them -- a bold statement indeed. Eschewing the tradition of Greek rhetorical wisdom, Paul calls the Corinthians to seek instead the mind of Christ. Instead of barging into town on a brightly festooned bandwagon, Paul humbly enters the arena of their world filled with fear and trembling.
He comes not with a megaphone, but with a wisdom which evokes Christ’s gifts.
Perhaps not unlike an athlete entering the arena of competition, Paul knows that boasting can only go so far. And while Paul has certainly earned bragging rights (as he sets forth in Philippians, Chapter 3), he believes that his message is more compelling than the traditions of society’s wisdom, power, or achievement. Embodying a somewhat contrite tone, Paul notes that he came before the Corinthians proclaiming a power more compelling than human wisdom.
His message is aimed directly at the conflicted, yet highly urbanized and sophisticated Corinthians. Like Olympic organizers, they were proud participants in the venues of human achievement and imagination. Enticed by the gods of “higher, faster, stronger,” the Corinthians were satisfied with wisdom that attempted to satisfy their ever-increasing braggadocio. Such overconfidence runs antithetical to the cross, however -- for God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. Paul reminds the Corinthians that the rulers of this age are doomed to perish.
They have failed to understand the wisdom of God.
So he comes to them not with boasting, or great wisdom, or displays of brilliance. Ironically, however, he does come with knowledge that far surpasses the urbane mindsets of the Corinthians. Paul entreats them not “with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power,” and guides them to embrace the foolishness of the cross. Like a small child igniting the Olympic flame, Paul’s humility points toward something larger -- the mind of Christ.
It is a reminder of what the church ought to do when called to enter the arenas of the world. We come not with arrogant boasting, but with the same humility and self-emptying love that Jesus offered on the cross. We come with the true wisdom which offers healing to those filled with fear and trembling.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Leah Lonsbury:
1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16); Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12)
On Monday, February 3, Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman reported on the State Department’s recent release of a report which found that blocking the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would “do little to slow the expansion of Canada’s vast oil sands and that it would not significantly exacerbate the problem of greenhouse gas emissions.”
Some groups working to fight climate change have taken issue with the report, as is evident in Goodman’s interview with Eric Pica, president of Friends of the Earth. He says of the report and the contractor that produced it for the State Department:
We’ve been doing a significant amount of study on the contractor Environmental Resource Management, who failed to disclose many of the relationships with organizations and companies, such as TransCanada and American Petroleum Institute, that want this pipeline constructed. So, it’s really no wonder that the State Department EIS [Environmental Impact Statement] comes out saying that there’s minimal environmental impact. And that can be -- that’s going to be contested, because the contractor that wrote this actually was -- is a pipeline advocate.
Goodman’s other guest during this broadcast was Cindy Schild, senior manager of the American Petroleum Institute’s refining and oil sands program. As is to be expected, she had a very different view of the report. She responded to Pica by saying:
If I am going to have an assessment conducted, a proper evaluation of something so significant, I want someone involved that has experience, that has knowledge of the industry, its operations, and the concerns to look for. I don’t want somebody that builds bridges to assess a pipeline project. They’re going to have experience. If you look on our website, it’s fully disclosed as far as who -- the fact that they have some experience with us. So, anyone that is going to assess a project is going to have a relationship or a history working with the industry.
Pica and Schild go on to disagree on a number of subjects surrounding the pipeline project. Schild touts it as a project that creates jobs, contributes to the national economy, and provides energy security. Pica then discounts Schild’s job numbers surrounding the pipeline and proposes that the government’s efforts and dollars should be going to finding alternative sources for energy, working on energy efficiency, and supporting transportation alternatives.
Pica and Schild can’t agree on anything -- not even on what the pipeline would be carrying across the nation. Pica calls it “the dirtiest of the oils. This stuff is -- you know, it’s kind of -- it’s worse than tar. It’s like this really kind of abrasive sludge that requires special handling, requires to be heated. It needs to be mixed with other chemicals.”
And Schild answers Pica by saying: “quite simply, we’re producing oil and oil and gas products. We are not -- there’s no tar being produced here, so that’s just a terminology depending what side of the fence you sit on.”
Depending on what side of the fence you sit on, the filter you view things through, the politics you bring to the conversation, the stake you have in the game, or the mind you put on (as Paul would say), things are going to look different for different people.
So what would someone who has “the mind of Christ” say to Amy Goodman on this topic? What would the Spirit reveal to them -- the Spirit that “searches everything, even the depths of God” (2 Corinthians 2:10)?
What would those who understand the movement of God through spiritual discernment (vv. 14-15) advise on the pipeline or any of our big burning questions? What “fast” or sacrificial way of living would they choose (Isaiah 58:6)? What way will “repairer(s) of the breach” and “restorer(s) of the streets to live in” choose (v. 12)?
*****
1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16); Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12)
Another example of how we see each other (with the mind of Christ or some other mind) -- and the path or “fast” we choose as a result -- comes from defrocked United Methodist minister Frank Schaefer’s February 2 speech at Tabernacle UMC in Binghamton, New York. From Pastor Schaefer: “ ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name, I will be among them’ means that when you look at those in the pew next to you, you should see Jesus in them -- regardless of who or what YOU think they are.”
*****
1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16); Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12)
With what mind do we view each other and our own selves? What does that mind do to our self-image, our self-worth, and the whole of our lives? What does it do to our relationships and our society? The website “Upworthy” looks at how our lives are shaped as men and women because of the communal ideas or “mind” our culture has about masculinity and beauty. What fast does this mind require of us? Does it repair or destroy? Does it restore life or take it?
***************
From team member Mary Austin:
1 Corinthians 2:1-12
Finding Beauty in Weakness
Paul asserts that he comes to the Corinthian church in weakness, but our weaknesses can become strengths. The well-known story of the cracked pot brings that to life. It goes like this:
Once upon a time there was a water-bearer in India who had two large pots, one hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it -- and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
This went on for two years as the water-bearer carried the pots. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water-bearer one day by the stream: “I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.”
“Why?” asked the bearer. “What are you ashamed of?”
“I have been able for these past two years to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work and you don’t get full value from your efforts,” the pot said.
The water-bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.”
Indeed, as they went up the hill the old cracked pot saw the stunning, colorful flowers on the side of the path and felt a little better. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream you’ve watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house.”
*****
Isaiah 58:1-12
Worship with the Heart
In her current best-selling book Pastrix (Jericho Books, 2013), a memoir about her life as an unconventional Lutheran pastor, the Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber tells about growing up in a conservative church. In that denomination, there was no role in leadership for women. Her path to the ministry, and to her role as the founding pastor of the House for All Saints and Sinners in Denver, took her through addiction, life as a standup comic, and recovery. Along the way she was called into ministry, but dreaded telling her conservative parents. The Orange County Register’s Cathleen Falsani relates what Bolz-Weber says happened:
Suffice to say, when her course of study at Denver’s Iliff School of Theology took a turn from an academic degree to a divinity degree, i.e., she was heading for ordination, no one was more surprised than she.
No one, perhaps, except her parents, who had raised her in a conservative (some might say fundamentalist) church tradition that definitely didn’t endorse the ordination of women. One of my favorite passages in Pastrix recounts the moment she told her parents about her call to ordained ministry:
“My father silently stood up, walked to the bookshelf, and took down his worn, leather-bound Bible,” she writes. “Here we go, I thought, he’s going to beat me with the scripture stick. He opened it up and read. I could tell from where he was turning that it wasn’t one of Paul’s letters at the end of the book, but something closer to the middle.
“My father did not read the 1st Timothy passage about women being silent in church. He read from Esther. From my father I heard only these words: ‘But you were born for such a day as this.’ He closed the book and my mother joined him in embracing me. They prayed over me and gave me a blessing,” she continues.
By grace, sometimes we come to understand that worship is more about the heart, and less about church, or rules, or what someone else has taught us.
*****
Isaiah 58:1-12
Worship, Again
In a recent piece in Time magazine, Gabriel Reyes talks about stepping into a church for the first time in years, and what he found there.
As he says, “I am one of those lapsed Catholics you’ve heard so much about. There are millions of us around the world who have long felt alienated and unwelcome by the church’s regressive policies. We became weary of a church that claimed to be loving and forgiving but was the exact opposite.”
At the church for a funeral, he found that “the service was as formal as I remembered, but everything else was different. I’d expected judgment or condemnation. Instead, I was beckoned to forgive and be forgiven.” The beauty of the church and the service, and his own journey, combined to make it a place of light and beauty for him once again. He prayed for the woman who died, whose funeral brought him there, and “I also prayed to be forgiven by all those I have judged not worthy of my love. I prayed for the strength to forgive those who have wronged me and to let go of my anger and resentment against them. It was truly a religious experience and a spiritual homecoming.”
*****
Matthew 5:13-20
Light
Jesus urges us to be salt and light -- and to understand what he means, we recall the power of light in our lives. Some years ago Mark Bent began to think about the problem of bringing light to places in the developing world. As he said: “I find it hard sometimes to explain the scope of the problems in these camps with no light. If you’re an environmentalist you think about it in terms of discarded batteries and coal and wood burning and kerosene smoke; if you’re a feminist you think of it in terms of security for women and preventing sexual abuse and violence; if you’re an educator you think about it in terms of helping children and adults study at night.”
The New York Times reported in May 2007: “Since August 2005, when visits to an Eritrean village prompted him to research global access to artificial light, Mr. Bent, a former foreign service officer and Houston oilman, has spent $250,000 to develop and manufacture a solar-powered flashlight. His invention gives up to seven hours of light on a daily solar recharge and can last nearly three years between replacements of three AA batteries costing 80 cents.”
The lights cost about $20 each, and ExxonMobil and others have donated thousands of them to villages and refugee camps. According to the Times: “The Awty International School, a large prep school in Houston, has sent hundreds of the flashlights to schools it sponsors in Haiti, Cameroon, and Ethiopia, said Chantal Duke, executive assistant to the head of school. ‘In places where there is absolutely no electricity or running water, having light at night is a luxury many families don’t have and never did and which we take for granted in developed countries,’ Ms. Duke said by e-mail.” The lights scare off thieves and animals alike, and they reduce the need to burn fuel, which contributes to respiratory problems in the developing world.
A little light can shine a long way.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Praise God! Happy are we who fear God.
People: Happy are we when we greatly delight in God’s commandments.
Leader: Then we shall rise in the darkness as a light for the upright.
People: Then we shall be gracious, merciful, and righteous.
Leader: It is well with us when we conduct our affairs with justice.
People: Then we will never be moved; we will be remembered forever.
OR
Leader: Come and worship the God of wisdom and truth.
People: We come in awe of God’s deep wisdom.
Leader: Come and receive the outpouring of God’s Spirit.
People: We open our lives and minds to God's presence.
Leader: Go into the world, seeing as God sees.
People: We will look on others and the world as God’s people.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”
found in:
UMH: 89
H82: 376
PH: 464
AAHH: 120
NNBH: 40
NCH: 4
CH: 2
LBW: 551
ELA: 836
W&P: 59
AMEC: 75
STLT: 29
“Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”
found in:
UMH: 103
H82: 423
PH: 263
NCH: 1
CH: 66
LBW: 526
ELA: 834
W&P: 48
AMEC: 71
STLT: 273
Renew: 46
“Of the Father’s Love Begotten”
found in:
UMH: 184
PH: 309
NCH: 18
CH: 104
LBW: 42
ELA: 295
W&P: 181
Renew: 252
“Lord, Speak to Me”
found in:
UMH: 463
PH: 426
NCH: 531
ELA: 676
W&P: 593
“O Come and Dwell in Me”
found in:
UMH: 388
“Take Time to Be Holy”
found in:
UMH: 395
NNBH: 306
CH: 575
W&P: 483
AMEC: 286
“Be Thou My Vision”
found in:
UMH: 451
H82: 488
PH: 339
NCH: 451
CH: 595
ELA: 793
W&P: 502
AMEC: 281
STLT: 20
Renew: 151
“Open My Eyes, That I May See”
found in:
UMH: 454
PH: 324
NNBH: 218
CH: 586
W&P: 480
AMEC: 285
“More Precious Than Silver”
found in:
CCB: 25
“As We Gather”
found in:
CCB: 12
Renew: 6
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who knows our secret thoughts and desires: Grant us the mind of Christ that we may perceive the truth, and knowing the truth we may walk in its ways; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We have come to offer you our worship, our God and our Guide. As we sing your praises, help us to open our minds that they may be transformed in the mind of Christ. Grant us the wisdom and the courage to live as those who know your truth. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially the ways we lean on our own understanding.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have given us your own Spirit and made us into the body of Christ. You have given us the ability to perceive the world with the mind of the Christ, and yet we choose to see through our own lenses. You have given us a heavenly vision, and we persist in having a worldly one. Forgive us our foolishness and help us to open ourselves to the mind of the Christ, that we may truly be your children. Amen.
Leader: God is gracious and kind, and rejoices that we desire to become what we were created to be: children of the Most High. Receive God’s love and forgiveness, and live into the mind of Christ.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise and adore you, O God of Wisdom and Truth. You are the touchstone by which all truth is judged.
(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 have given us your own Spirit and made us into the body of Christ. You have given us the ability to perceive the world with the mind of the Christ, and yet we choose to see through our own lenses. You have given us a heavenly vision, and we persist in having a worldly one. Forgive us our foolishness and help us to open ourselves to the mind of the Christ, that we may truly be your children.
We give you thanks that you have blessed us with your own Spirit and have claimed us as your own children. We thank you for all the blessings of this life, and especially for offering us the mind of Christ that we may perceive the world in truth.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We offer to your love the hurts and needs of this world. We are aware that part of the suffering around us is caused by our own blindness. We pray that as you care for this world, we may see with your eyes the ways in which we can be part of your loving care.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Talk to the children about how much you like a hot fudge sundae (or your favorite treat). When you see it your mouth waters and you really want it... usually. But if you have already eaten, especially something sweet, it doesn’t look very good. And if you are sick, it really doesn’t look good. It is the same sundae, but you see it differently. St. Paul calls us to see with the mind of Christ. We look at someone who isn’t nice to us and see an enemy -- but with the mind of Christ we see someone God loves and someone who God has made our brother or sister in Christ. It is the same person, but we see that person differently when we look at him or her with the mind of Christ.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Simple Words
1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16)
Have you ever tried to describe God or Jesus to someone? (Wait for a show of hands from the children.) I’ve heard many people try to describe God. Sometimes they use big words that I don’t understand. Has that ever happened to you? (Let them answer.) I know sometimes when people talk about God and Jesus, they may use big words that even they don’t understand. Here’s an example -- I read it in a book of famous quotations like the one I’m holding. Quotations are things that people say. Some of these statements become famous... and some of the statements have big words. This book is full of big words; it also has short words too. (Show the book.) Someone used these words to describe God: “The presence of a superior reasoning power... revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God.” I didn’t understand that -- did you? There were too many big words for me. Paul calls those “lofty words.” Here’s an easy way to describe God: “God is love.” That’s a simple and easy way to describe God, isn’t it?
Paul says in today’s lesson that when you talk about God and Jesus you don’t need to use big, “lofty” words. Use words that everyone understands. Here’s a way I like to think of Jesus. It is easy to understand, and most of you know this already: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” If I repeat that, will you say it with me? Let’s say it so that everyone in church can hear it: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” That was great! Those weren’t big, lofty words were they? Those were short and easy words. They were simple words. Paul says that you don't need big, “lofty” words to describe God or Jesus. Just remember that God is love, and Jesus loves me. Simple words -- that’s what today’s lesson is about.
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The Immediate Word, February 9, 2014, issue.
Copyright 2014 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.
