No New Things!
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For April 7, 2019:
No New Things!
by Mary Austin
John 12:1-8
Perhaps the people listening to the prophet Isaiah are so tired of the old that they feel a pulse of excitement when they hear him announce, on God’s behalf, that God is doing a new thing. Perhaps they are the rare people of faith who recognize that the old way isn’t working for them anymore, and are excited to hear God share that a new thing is coming. Or maybe they’re listening politely, and they plan to smother the new idea in policies, binders, committees and meetings, until God gives up and goes away to bother someone else. Even as Isaiah speaks to people who have been battered by war and exile, he has to reckon with the comfortable lives they’ve settled into away from home.
Every human institution, including the church, struggles to balance old and new. We balance the comfort of the familiar with the need to change to keep up, and the new always feels more frightening than the old.
As Boeing tries to catch up after disastrous crashes in the 737 Max, we’re learning more about their reluctance to make a fix that they had available. Congress is caught between the now-familiar politics of division, and taking the risk of trying something new. God’s new thing always sounds great for other people, but as Jesus draws near to the cross, he invites us into this dicey territory, too.
In the News
Airplane manufacturer Boeing has been under scrutiny for a design flaw which seems to have contributed to two fatal airplane crashes. “Investigators scouring black-box data believe that an automatic anti-stalling feature was engaged before a Boeing 737 Max jet crashed and killed 157 people in Ethiopia…The feature, known as MCAS, also was a factor in the October crash of the same type of aircraft in Indonesia, according to investigators. The investigators said inaccurate information from an outside sensor led MCAS to force the nose of the plane down over and over again… the plane's anti-stall technology is, as experts had predicted, implicated in the crash. But the ongoing investigation is also expected to offer insights into the role the pilots themselves played.” Trouble was suspected long before this crash. “Nine days after the [fall, 2018] Indonesia accident, on Nov. 7, the Federal Aviation Administration issued an international emergency order warning that Boeing had discovered an "unsafe condition" that is "likely to exist or develop" in other planes.”
Still, the planes weren’t grounded until the second fatal crash, and the loss of more lives.
Vox reports that even “pilots of planes that didn’t crash kept noticing the same basic pattern of behavior that is suspected to have been behind the two crashes, according to a Dallas Morning News review of voluntary aircraft incident reports to a NASA database: The disclosures found by the News reference problems with an autopilot system, and they all occurred during the ascent after takeoff. Many mentioned the plane suddenly nosing down. While records show these flights occurred in October and November, the airlines the pilots were flying for is redacted from the database. These pilots all safely disabled the MCAS and kept their planes in the air. But one of the pilots reported to the database that it was ‘unconscionable that a manufacturer, the FAA, and the airlines would have pilots flying an airplane without adequately training, or even providing available resources and sufficient documentation to understand the highly complex systems that differentiate this aircraft from prior models’.”
More information is still coming out, but it seems that the combination of market pressure and regulatory slowness contributed to production of the plane, even with the design flaw, which led to the two fatal crashes. The United States was not the first country to ground the planes, and only decided to stop flights after China and other countries did. Both Boeing and the United States government were slow to understand the depth of the danger, and take action. They were reluctant to embrace a new way of thinking about the planes.
In the Scriptures
A psychologist told me once that we are shaped as much by the future as by the past. We all understand how the past influences who we are — we avoid our past mistakes (hopefully…) and react to the negative or positive experiences we have. But the future forms us, too, in what we imagine, work toward and dream about. We move toward those things, and form our character in response to an idea of the future we want. Seeing with spiritual eyes allows us to look, not just back, but forward.
God always has a vision for the future, and we can share in that, instead of just reacting to the past. Isaiah speaks for God, telling the people to forget about the past. It’s an impossible task, and yet God has a more compelling vision. Speaking for God, Isaiah says, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” God adds a practical dimension. In addition to sharing the idea, God is going to get us there. “I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Paul, too, is pulling away from focusing on the past. “If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more,” he writes to the people in Galatia. He has every reason to be proud of his heritage, but the future in Christ now looks much more compelling than the accomplishments of the past. His pull toward the future comes from this hope. “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” His past status pales in comparison to that look ahead. He’s more than ready for God’s new thing.
As Jesus comes near the end of his life, he’s not taking a retrospective tour of greatest hits. Instead, he’s taking a break with beloved friends, and Mary takes this moment to look to his future. With this over-the-top anointing, and her personal (and shocking) touch, she anticipates his death, but the abundance of it also anticipates the resurrection. Her abundant gift looks ahead to God’s even more abundant gift on Easter morning. She’s not looking back, but ahead, and she takes action before it’s necessary. She is an image of God’s words, in doing her own new thing for her friend Jesus.
In the Sermon
The apostle Paul grades himself as a work in progress. “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own,” he says. The sermon might look at where we are in the middle of spiritual work, not quite where we aim to be. A gentleman who had been in a recovery program once spoke at my church, and he said, “I’m not where I should be, but I’m a long way from where I used to be.” His statement has stayed with me because we’re all in that position about something — our prayer life, our parenting skills, our ability to deal with distraction, our relationship with our screens or our finances. Where we are still learning about the new people God calls us to be?
Or the sermon might look at where we’re moved to take extraordinary action. If Mary’s action is a model for our faith, Mary takes a common action — washing the feet of a guest — to a whole new level. She does this herself, instead of having a servant do it. She gives Jesus the benefit of her consoling touch, when typically, a woman wouldn’t touch a man other than her husband. She gives us a model for living our faith way beyond the requirements, but with extraordinary devotion. The sermon might look at where we are inspired to act in the same way.
Or, the sermon might look at Mary’s act of anticipating Jesus’ death without shrinking from it. She is clear about his approaching death, and her acknowledgment of it allows him to face it with someone else. Our Lenten journey is also a journey toward death, but we don’t like to think about it that way. Far fewer people come to worship on Good Friday than on Easter Sunday, but neither is possible without the other. The church, as a community built around resurrection, can be a place where we talk about death without shrinking from the difficulty. We need people who will acknowledge our death, and accompany us to it, as Mary does for Jesus. We can prepare to be like Mary, knowing that death is coming, and helping each other face it.
God’s new thing shows up in many ways, and people who are attentive to the holy are attentive to the future. We all take action when we have to, or when events force us to do something. God’s visionary people show us the power of acting before it’s necessary. We can look to the future and change before we’re forced to; as we follow God’s leading. Love it or hate it, God is doing a new thing, and we’re invited to join in.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Jesus’ Money Management Plan
by Bethany Peerbolte
John 12:1-8
There are multiple stories in the Bible that refer to Jesus being anointed. The details vary and seem to melt into one another over time. The woman doing the anointing shifts from impulsive nameless prostitute to Mary, the devoted friend. In some accounts Jesus’ feet are anointed, in others his head. The liquid used to anoint goes from priceless tears to expensive oil. Each author uses these variants to focus in on a different message for the reader to take away.
For our rendering this week we have Mary, the devoted friend, pouring an absurd amount of costly perfume of Jesus’ feet. This action is observed by Judas and interpreted by him to be wasteful. Judas demands that the money could have been spent in a better way, to help the poor. Jesus knows this isn’t Judas’ main concern. He knows Judas wants to use generosity as leverage to convince the masses to revolt. Once the revolt begins Judas knows they will need supplies, and so he has been frugal with the money. Not as an act of generosity but to spend the money selfishly on a cause in which he believes.
Jesus’ response to Judas is possibly the most misused verse of all time, “you will always have the poor, you will not always have me.” This verse has been used to justify all kinds of extravagant selfish spending. It is easy to buy another summer home for ourselves when Jesus says “there will always be poor people, ain’t nothing you can do about it.” The actual second half of Jesus’ statement is the important piece to remember. There will always be those who are poor, and Jesus will not always be here to do the heavy lifting. It will be much harder to spread the gospel after he is gone.
Jesus points to Mary as someone who has spent appropriately. The perfume smelled amazing! One can only imagine the smell filling the house corner to corner. Houses of this time had no glass to cover the windows so the smell must have wafted into the streets. Surely people passing by stopped to ask what the smell was and to inquire why such expensive oil was used in excess. Possibly a few of those who stopped learned about this man named Jesus for the first time. Maybe they came inside and listened to him teach, then headed off to tell their families about their strange walk home.
Jesus tells Judas to shift his spending plan to put Jesus at the center. Spending money on the poor will always be an option, and there will be times when that is exactly what is needed. However, there will be times when money needs to be spent to spread the message of Jesus. If Jesus is at the center of the budget the spending will reap good work. Judas must put aside his self-serving plan for revolution even though it may feed thousands because its intent is not Jesus focused. It does not bring people into the sweet smell of Jesus’ forgiveness and love.
If one were to do a Google search for frivolous spending, they would have plenty of reading material for the rest of the year. Most recently a search would return stories about wealthy parents spending money to cheat college systems and ensure their children get into prestigious schools. Budget cuts taking money from Special Olympics and health benefits while asking for more money to build a southern border wall. These stories are the extreme examples of the average bad spending habits to which we all fall victim. Like the habit of wanting something so badly we would rather find the easy way to pay for it than to earn it. Like the habit of pulling resources from needs to fund our wants.
Helping their children get into a good school is the job of a parent. For wealthy parents, the appeal of buying an acceptance letter is hard to resist. Jesus says “your kids will be fine” and asks parents to consider spending the bribes on things that will encourage people to know him better. Students have been known to get into a highly sought-after college simply for their philanthropy work, or for exhibiting their passion for making the world a better place. Encouraging students to be generous is a better use of funds than paying for a spot at a college they will fail out of after the first quarter.
Budget time is stressful from a single home up to the highest governments. Our dreams for improvement can distract us from the necessary and often dull line items. Jesus says “you will be fine” and asks us to budget in a way that will invite others to get to know Jesus. As the internet meme says “if you are more fortunate than others, build a larger table, not a taller fence.” A wall may keep us safer, but so will better immigration workers, better laws, better infrastructure, better access to resources.
If you are planning to buy another summer home, this should be good news. Jesus didn’t say don’t spend your money. Go ahead and buy the other summer home and think of ways to make it useful to the message of the gospel. Host Bible studies or movie nights where believers can encourage each other in faith. Open the rooms to visiting missionaries and traveling theologians. Let your pastor take a retreat to recharge and fortify themselves for the coming year. The income we earn is a blessing from God and we aren’t asked to bury it in the ground. We are asked to put Jesus at the center and make our blessings a blessing to the world.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
John 12:1-8
How Much Convenience Costs (What we do with our money)
Financial advisor Suze Orman says that one of the biggest ways we waste our money is by paying for convenience.
Americans spend about $478 billion per year on groceries and 11% of that is convenience spending, paying extra for pre-sliced, pre-portioned, pre-cooked, individually wrapped, things that save us time and energy. That’s about $52,580,000,000 per year on stuff that doesn’t make our food healthier or better tasting; it just makes it easier and/or faster for us to prepare.
Broken down into how much we, as individuals, are paying for these conveniences and it looks like this: The average American family spends about $3,300 per year on groceries. About $363 of that is for convenience. That money could be saved, Orman reminds us, and spent on vacations or new furniture, or Christmas gifts for our loved ones if we were willing to walk past the salad bar or peel the oranges, slice the bologna ourselves, or divide up the ground beef into 1 lb. packages, or look up a recipe and cook it from scratch.
The biggest convenience spending, however, is dedicated to eating out.
Americans (individuals, not families) spend about $2,700 per year eating out and about $1,200 of that is spend on fast food. That’s about $52 per week eating out — every man, woman, and child in the country.
Orman doesn’t suggest that we give up eating out altogether. The shock would probably kill us. But if we set aside about $20 per week of our dining out budget and saved it, we would have just over $1,000 at the end of the year to put toward reducing our debt or paying for our kids’ college educations.
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John 12:1-8
Top Ways We Waste Money And How Not To (What we do with our money)
According to the website smartasset.com here are the top ten ways we waste money and some things we can do to correct the problem.
Interest Waste
The Federal Reserve estimates that the average person has about $7,000 in credit card debt. That means if you pay a modest interest rate of 15% and make the minimum payment each month you will be paying $93.75 a month in interest and it will take you 25 years to pay it off.
The Solution: If you can’t pay for it with cash you don’t need it. Make a plan to pay down your outstanding balance as quickly as possible and only use your credit cards if you can pay the bills off at the end of the month.
Bank Fee Waste
ATMs are such a profitable business that even gas stations got into them. Every time you use an ATM that is not part of your bank’s free network it can cost you $2 or more. Account maintenance fees and overdraft charges can add up to hundreds of dollars a year.
The Solution: Stop using ATMs that are not in your bank’s network, there is no reason to do that. Your debit card is as good as cash and it’s accepted just about everywhere. If you’re paying excessive fees, tell your bank you’re taking your money elsewhere and shop for a free checking account.
Lottery Waste
The average lottery player wastes $500 per year on this extreme longshot sucker bet.
The Solution: Don’t play the lottery. Instead, take the $500 and put it in a sound investment.
Cable TV Waste
The average cost of cable every month is $100-$200 per month, having doubled and in some cases tripled in the past few years. This is a waste when you likely don’t watch more than a handful of the thousands of channels.
The Solution: Cut the cord. Dump cable and keep the cash. Use an antenna for local channels and purchase cheap streaming plans like Netflix or Amazon Prime instead.
Bottled Water Waste
The average bottled water drinker consumes 167 bottles a year at an average cost of $1.45 each for a total of $242 a year, not to mention the cost to the environment in packaging waste.
The Solution: Buy a couple of refillable bottles and if you’re not happy with your tap water, get a filter and fill your own. The cost savings will more than cover the cost of the filter and the earth will say thank you.
Lunch Waste
Let’s do lunch! The cost of workday lunches both social and solo is staggering. The cost of eating out even twice a week at the low end of $7.50 per meal amounts to more than $750 per year. For some perspective that rubber chicken sandwich and soft drink you have twice a week cost more than a 7-day Caribbean Cruise in a room with a balcony!
The Solution: Pack your own lunch.
Caffeine Waste
Buying designer cups of coffee at your local coffee establishment will probably cost you about $1,000 per year.
The Solution: Buy a good quality travel mug and take your coffee with you from home.
Designer Anything Waste
Our fascination with labels has blinded us to the fact that more often than not the designer whatever you are buying was made in the exact same factory, using the same materials, put together by the same worker as the identical looking knock-off.
The Solution: Ditch the brand name and go native. Going with the generic can save you up to 75 percent or more and easily add up to thousands of dollars a year.
Health Waste
The single biggest way to waste money is through preventable poor health. Poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking and other bad habits and neglectful behaviors lead to increased spending on not only healthcare but lost income.
The Solution: Take better care of yourself. Stop eating lunch out, pack something healthy from home. Cut back on the caffeine and stop stressing over having to have the latest designer whatever. Fill a bottle with tap water and walk to the bank and close your overpriced account and then turn off the TV and go to the gym.
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John 12:1-8
The Real Cost Of College (What we do with our money)
The headlines a few weeks ago told us of wealthy people who were willing to lie, cheat, and bribe officials to get their kids into top rated colleges. In one case, a parent paid an estimated $4.5 million dollars toward that end. But how much does college really cost?
The web site www.savingforcollege.com provides a college cost calculator into which you can feed your family’s data, goals, and expectations to see how much your child’s college education including tuition, room and board, books, fees and all other expenses, will cost.
Here are a couple of examples:
A child born in 2018 and entering a state university in the state where they live in 2036 can expect to pay a total of $162,819 for a 4-year degree.
The same child would pay roughly $239,044 for the same 4-year degree from a public, out-of-state university.
Same child, same degree from a private university: $303,503.
Same child, same degree from a community college: $50,781
So what does it all mean other than the fact that college is expensive and getting more so?
Well, it means that those parents who spent $4.5 million dollars in bribes could have used that money to pay for their child’s education at a private school and had enough left over to provide full-ride scholarships to that same school for fourteen kids who could not afford to go there.
Or, they could have sent their kid to a private school and paid for 83 kids to go to a community college.
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Philippians 3:4-14
When Should I Give Up? (Straining toward what lies ahead)
Stephen King is one of the most successful writers in the history of American literature, but he wasn’t always so successful. He wrote his first novel, Carrie, while teaching high school English and it was rejected so many times by so many publishers that he nearly gave up writing.
Years ago I was at a writer’s conference where he was one of the keynote speakers and in the Q and A after his talk someone said that they had written a book but it kept getting rejected by publishers. How, the audience member wanted to know, will I know when to give up and stop sending my book out to publishers?
King’s answer was that the young lady should drive a 16 penny nail about an inch into the wall next to her writing desk. Every time she got a rejection slip, he said, she should push it onto that nail. When the nail had collected enough rejection slips that it became so heavy that it fell from the wall, that would be the sign that she should give up.
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Philippians 3:4-14
Too Late (Straining toward what lies ahead)
Comedian and actor, George Burns used to speak of his singing voice as part of his comedy. Though he constantly talked about how wonderful it was, it was, in reality, pretty bad.
When he was on late night talk shows he would insist on singing and he was so famous the hosts would often allow him to but when he sang the singing was really more of a spoken comedic patter than a melody.
He was a master of self-deprecating humor, and one day decided it would make a great joke to have his singing voice insured for a million dollars.
He tells the story this way: "I was so excited. I couldn't wait to rush down to the insurance company. I took a cassette and a tape recorder with me so the insurance man could hear my voice. It was one of my best numbers -- a syncopated version of Yankee Doodle Blues with a yodeling finish. The insurance man listened patiently to the whole thing, then he just looked at me and said, 'Mr. Burns, you should have come to us before you had the accident.'"
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From team member Ron Love:
Isaiah 43:19 “new thing”
Bill Murray had completed school and was doing very well for himself. He was vice-president of an airlines and owner of a printing plant. Bill had been away from his family for about twelve years when his mother, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, asked her son to come home and salvage her failing organization. Dutifully, Bill returned to Austin and assumed leadership of the American Atheist Organization (AAC). An astute businessman, Bill quickly increased the gross income of the organization from $3,000 to $30,000 a month.
During his eighteen months in Austin, unfortunate changes came upon Bill Murray. He needed a quart of coffee to get going in the morning, through the day he smoked four packs of cigarettes, and at night he consumed a fifth of liquor in order to sleep. His behavior continued to deteriorate until one night he struck his wife and fired a rifle at the approaching policemen.
Bill also had a troubled conscience that questioned the ethics of the organization he represented. Why, he wondered, were the proceeds always used to buy luxuries such as a new Cadillac, instead of necessities such as an x-ray machine for a hospital? Why did the organization have to sue an astronaut to keep him from praying on a space mission? Bill realized the answer to these questions: his mother was basically a negative and destructive person.
Unable to live with himself any longer, Bill walked out on the AAC. He spent six months living in the Arizona desert. After leaving the desolate land, he joined Alcoholics Anonymous, about which he said, “I saw some miraculous things people were able to accomplish with faith, and I couldn’t help comparing all that with atheism.” Bill Murray surrendered his life to Jesus, and is now a Christian evangelist.
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Philippians 3:12 “but I press on to make it my own”
In filming the movie “Jesus of Nazareth,” Ernest Borgnine played the role of the centurion who stood at the foot of the cross, looking up into the face of the crucified Jesus of Nazareth. Since this was a movie, actors only came on the set when needed; so instead of having the actor portraying Jesus before him, Borgnine stared at an “X” chalk mark. In such a sterile setting, Borgnine had a difficult time capturing the emotions that the Roman soldier must have experienced at that tragic moment. In order to feel the part, Borgnine asked someone to read Luke’s account of the crucifixion. As the words were being read, Borgnine felt more and more uncomfortable, ashamed that like the first centurion he failed to acknowledge the Son of God in his own life. Then something miraculous happened — the chalk mark suddenly was transformed into the face of Jesus, lifelike and clear. Captivated by the revelation, Borgnine realized how the centurion who first stood at the foot of the cross must have been affected; in all sincerity he repeated the soldier’s words: “Certainly this man was innocent!”
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John 12:7 “leave her alone”
David Livingston was placed gently on his bed. Ill, few believed he could live until morning. A young boy was told to sit on the steps of the good physician’s hut. If anything should be needed for the care and comfort of the man beloved by all, the youth should run and get the elders of the village. Hours into the night the lad heard a stirring from within. As instructed, he immediately went for help. When the elders arrived at the hut they found Livingston dead, kneeling in prayer beside his bed.
This missionary devoted his life to the African people, and had gained their esteem and respect. They knew his body should be returned to his London home, where it would be entombed in Westminster Abbey. But his heart they removed and buried in the African soil, for it was with them that Livingston had shard his life.
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From team member Chris Keating:
Isaiah 43:16-21
Something new...
Isaiah declares that God is about to do something new; but is there really anything new under the sun?
There is, according to one promoter of Earth Hour 2019, and that act of innovation could be as simple as turning out the lights. Earth Hour, an annual environmental awareness event promoted worldwide, was held last Saturday March 30. The action calls participants to be aware of global environmental issues by inviting them to turn their lights off for one hour.
The event is organized by the World Wildlife Fund. WWF senior Vice President Lou Leonard says it’s an essential way of calling attention to global climate change. “By going dark for Earth Hour, we can show steadfast commitment to protecting our families, our communities and our planet from the dangerous effects of a warming world,” Leonard. “The rising demand for energy, food and water means this problem is only going to worsen, unless we act now.”
Sid Das suggests that each of the worldwide participants are innovators who are demonstrating a commitment to a new vision emerging in the world:
Not because switching off a light takes much innovation, but because they share the vision that together, we can show the world we care about climate change and nature loss. These two threats are our planet’s biggest environmental challenge yet. It is easy to put your hands up and say the stakes are stacked against us, or they are too high to try. But each of the individuals who participate in Earth Hour has decided their ambition is higher, and I believe this changes the game entirely. Together, they are participating in creating a new future that will change the world we live in, not just for our generation but for our children, their children and so on.
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John 12:1-8
Always with you?
Liz Theoharis, director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice, and author of Always With Us? What Jesus Really Said about the Poor, notes that these words of Jesus are perhaps among the most misunderstood verses in scripture. “It seems that since I was a child, I have heard every week or so that ‘the poor you will always have with you,’ (Matthew 26:11, Mark 14:7, and John 12:8) means that poverty is inevitable.” At times, Theoharis suggests, this has resulted in poverty-shaming by prosperity gospel preachers who see poverty as the inevitable result of sinful choices. Generally speaking, she writes (p. 26) the claims share similar themes: heaven is better than earth; Jesus counts more than the poor; individual charity is the best solution; or a moralistic view that suggests we must help the poor because they cannot help themselves.
Theoharis proposes an “intertextual” reading of this verse by pairing it with a verse from Deuteronomy 15 which was likely the source Jesus was using for the statement. “Since there were never cease to be some in need on the earth,” Deuteronomy advises, “I therefore command you ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.” (Deut.15:11)
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John 12:1-8
A changed imagination
Toward the conclusion of her work, Liz Theoharis highlights a passage from Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved. She sees a connection between Morrison’s book about the ending of slavery and reuniting of a community with the challenge demonstrated by the anointing of Jesus. Theoharis quotes Morrison:
She did not tell them to clean up their lives or to go and sin no more. She did not tell them they were the blessed of the earth, its inheriting meek or its glory-bound pure. She told them that the only grace they could have was the grace they could imagine. That if they could not see it, they would not have it. As Mary pours the costly perfume, she calls attention to the grace Jesus has offered, challenging the disciples to change the way they imagined God’s presence at work in the world. For Theoharis, this is a call to serve the poor by believing that poverty can be eradicated, and that faithfully witnessing to Jesus means proclaiming God’s loving concern for the poor, marginalized, and oppressed. (See “Always With Us?” pp. 152-53.)
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Philippians 3:4-14
Gotta Get in
The recent college admissions scandals have illustrated the price many parents are willing to pay in order to get their child into an elite college or university. But what if the assumption that getting into a top-tier school will insure your success is wrong? After all, as Paul points out in Philippians 3:4-14, he had a top-drawer resume, and all the reasons to boast. “Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.”
While somewhat dated, a 2004 Brookings Institute report noted that gaining a degree from an elite college did not necessarily equate into higher lifetime incomes. It’s the student, not the school, which seems to make the ultimate difference. The report continues, “[Students] have been led to believe that if you go to X school, then Y will result, and this just isn’t true,” says Judith Shapiro, the president of Barnard. “It’s good to attend a good college, but there are many good colleges. Getting into Princeton or Barnard just isn’t a life-or-death matter.”
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Philippians 3:4-14
The dark side of admissions
As college-bound high school seniors begin preparing for the spring season of “acceptance anxiety,” wise pastors might wish to pay attention to the correlation between Paul’s exhortation to seek the gains offered by Christ instead of focusing on worldly definitions of success. There’s a “dark side” to our hyper-focus on success, Lauren S. Rikleen says:
But there is a growing dark side to the health and well-being of a generation of kids hyper-focused on success. Mental health issues and stress disorders are a growing concern. In a study reported by the American Psychological Association, nearly half of the teenagers surveyed said they were more worried than they were the year before, yet only 28 percent of the parents similarly observed an increase in their teens’ stress. The study identified a similar disconnect with respect to academic pressure as a source of stress, with 44 percent of the children surveyed reporting that they worry about doing well in school, while only approximately a third of the parents saw this as a source of stress in their children. Another study of teenagers reported feelings of extreme or moderate stress during the school year. Even more alarming, suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people between the ages of 15 to 24. And as the CDC reports, many more teenagers attempt suicide unsuccessfully.
She concludes: The pressure of this reality is daunting and requires schools and parents to become partners in providing teenagers with a healthier adolescence. The frenzied schedules that have become the prerequisites to college acceptance leave teens physically exhausted, even as a growing body of research reveals the importance of rest to a young person’s development. For example, the CDC reports that sleep deficiency is a public health epidemic. Other data shows a link between lack of sleep in teenagers and depression and suicide.
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: When God restored us, we were like those who dream.
People: Then our mouth was filled with laughter.
Leader: Our tongue were filled with shouts of joy.
People: Then it was said, "God has done great things for them."
Leader: God has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.
People: Restore our fortunes, O God, like the watercourses in the Negeb.
Leader: May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.
People: Those who go out weeping shall come home with shouts of joy.
OR
Leader: Come and see the new thing God is doing among us!
People: We come in expectation of God’s new and wondrous work.
Leader: God comes and blesses us so we can bless others.
People: We are indeed blessed by our God and we are glad.
Leader: Share those blessings with others so that they grow.
People: With thanksgiving we will freely give as God has given.
Hymns and Songs:
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
ELA: 733
W&P: 72
AMEC: 84
Renew: 249
Morning Has Broken
UMH: 145
H82: 8
PH: 469
CH: 53
ELA: 556
W&P: 35
STLT: 38
What Gift Can We Bring
UMH: 87
NCH: 370
ELA: 685
STLT: 404
Hope of the World
UMH: 178
H82: 472
PH: 360
NCH: 46
CH: 538
LBW: 493
W&P: 404
This Is a Day of New Beginnings
UMH: 383
NCH: 417
CH: 518
W&P: 355
More Love to Thee, O Christ
UMH: 453
PH: 359
AAHH: 375
NNBH: 214
NCH: 456
CH: 527
AMEC: 460
Holy Spirit, Truth Divine
UMH: 465
PH: 321
NCH: 63
CH: 241
LBW: 257
ELA: 398
Come Down, O Love Divine
UMH: 475
H82: 516
PH: 313
NCH: 289
CH: 582
LBW: 508
ELA: 804
W&P: 330
More Precious than Silver
CCB: 25
We Are His Hands
CCB: 85
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
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 ever creating anew:
Grant us the wisdom to see you at work
and give us the courage to act alongside you;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are ever at work creating new things. We pray that we may have the vision to see what you are doing and the courage to join you in your work. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our misuse of the resources you provide us as well as our blindness to your new works.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have blessed us with many resources which we have hoarded and squandered on ourselves instead of using to share your love. We have been so intent on grasping for ourselves that we have failed to noticed what you are doing among us. Forgive us and renew us with your Spirit that we may be faithful children of the Most High. Amen.
Leader: God is good and gracious abounding in generosity that is to be shared. Receive God’s grace and blessings and share them with your sisters and brothers.
Prayers of the People
Blessings and honor and glory to you, O God, because you are the Creator who never ceases to create. You are constantly doing new things.
(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 blessed us with many resources which we have hoarded and squandered on ourselves instead of using to share your love. We have been so intent on grasping for ourselves that we have failed to noticed what you are doing among us. Forgive us and renew us with your Spirit that we may be faithful children of the Most High.
We give you thanks for the new blessings we receive every day. You have blessed us in so many ways.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all your children. We pray for those who have not received as many blessings because others have grabbed them away. We pray that all of us might be more aware of your constantly creating new things among us.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Mary in today’s Gospel story is blessed. She has a nice house and has a fine jar containing a very expensive and wonderful perfume. But she doesn’t keep it for herself. She uses it to anoint Jesus. God has blessed her and she is blessing Jesus with her gift.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Anosmic
by Tom Willadsen
John 12:1-8
Get as many different things with distinct smells that you can find.
A person who cannot see is blind.
A person who cannot hear is deaf.
A person with no sense of smell is anosmic. That’s a word that very few adults will know — but they will likely remember it.
Ask the kids if they can smell anything when they’re up in front. There may be communion elements up there, probably flowers, but chances are there are no strong smells. Ask them if they can think of any times that the sense of smell has been an important part of worship. (The kids at my last congregation may remember the time I burned some frankincense. That was a catastrophe. I didn’t just run out of the sanctuary with it; I took it outdoors. Even then I feared that a low-flying bird might be killed by flying through the fumes. As a shower gift, frankincense just doesn’t make sense.)
Really, the only times my congregation was aware of a smell were when something was being cooked while worship was going on. On Easter, after the lilies have been in the sanctuary, with the doors shut, since 1:00 Friday afternoon there was a pleasant smell, but by the time the choir and brass were done rehearsing, the smell had dissipated.
Have them smell the things you have gathered beforehand. Lotions are good choices, also hand soap, dish soap and laundry detergent. You might want to have some unpleasant smells too. Ammonia, or decaying leaves would be good choices.
Ask the kids to vote on the smell they like best. Depending on the ages of the kids, you might let them vote more than once. I went to seminary in Chicago, so multiple voting never bothered me much.
When they’ve picked their favorite smell, ask what the smell made them think of — what’s associated with it.
Let all the kinds get another whiff of the winning scent, maybe pass it to the choir or through the congregation. Ask the kids what it would be like if the favorite scent filled the whole sanctuary. Would that be memorable? (Yes! The sense of smell is our most primitive sense, linked to our “reptile brain,” memories connected to smells are very evocative.)
Would it take a lot of, say hand lotion, to fill the sanctuary with that smell?
Would it be expensive?
Why would someone spend a lot of money on a smell?
Mary was being extravagant — in a good way. She broke out the best nard, because when the guy who brought her brother back to life came to visit you really wanted to be lavish.
Mainline Protestants just don’t get “lavish” or “extravagant.” But they might be able to imagine what they do to get the house ready for company. Mary was going to extremes, because she quite simply could not thank Jesus enough for bringing Lazarus back.
Tie her gratitude to her extravagance. Tie her extravagance to making sure there was a pleasant smell, filling the house.
(Bonus funny story about smells in church: One evening I was squeezing lemons to make my friend Magdalena’s chicken recipe. When I was done, I smelled my fingers and said, “Ooh, they smell like Pledge.” What does it mean when our first association with a smell is with a manmade product rather than the thing itself? Maybe that Americans are so surrounded by consumerism that we’re estranged from the real thing. )
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The Immediate Word, April 7, 2019 issue.
Copyright 2019 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.
- No New Things! by Mary Austin — Do we have to be yanked, kicking and screaming, into doing something new? Or can we anticipate what Jesus needs, and act before it’s necessary?
- Second Thoughts: Jesus’ Money Management Plan by Bethany Peerbolte — Jesus tells Judas to shift his spending plan to put Jesus at the center.
- Sermon illustrations from Dean Feldmeyer, Ron Love and Chris Keating.
- Worship resources by George Reed that focus on using resources for good or ill; new things; acting before its required.
- Children’s sermon: Anosmic by Tom Willadsen — Extravagance can be a good thing — if done in the right way for the right reasons.
No New Things!by Mary Austin
John 12:1-8
Perhaps the people listening to the prophet Isaiah are so tired of the old that they feel a pulse of excitement when they hear him announce, on God’s behalf, that God is doing a new thing. Perhaps they are the rare people of faith who recognize that the old way isn’t working for them anymore, and are excited to hear God share that a new thing is coming. Or maybe they’re listening politely, and they plan to smother the new idea in policies, binders, committees and meetings, until God gives up and goes away to bother someone else. Even as Isaiah speaks to people who have been battered by war and exile, he has to reckon with the comfortable lives they’ve settled into away from home.
Every human institution, including the church, struggles to balance old and new. We balance the comfort of the familiar with the need to change to keep up, and the new always feels more frightening than the old.
As Boeing tries to catch up after disastrous crashes in the 737 Max, we’re learning more about their reluctance to make a fix that they had available. Congress is caught between the now-familiar politics of division, and taking the risk of trying something new. God’s new thing always sounds great for other people, but as Jesus draws near to the cross, he invites us into this dicey territory, too.
In the News
Airplane manufacturer Boeing has been under scrutiny for a design flaw which seems to have contributed to two fatal airplane crashes. “Investigators scouring black-box data believe that an automatic anti-stalling feature was engaged before a Boeing 737 Max jet crashed and killed 157 people in Ethiopia…The feature, known as MCAS, also was a factor in the October crash of the same type of aircraft in Indonesia, according to investigators. The investigators said inaccurate information from an outside sensor led MCAS to force the nose of the plane down over and over again… the plane's anti-stall technology is, as experts had predicted, implicated in the crash. But the ongoing investigation is also expected to offer insights into the role the pilots themselves played.” Trouble was suspected long before this crash. “Nine days after the [fall, 2018] Indonesia accident, on Nov. 7, the Federal Aviation Administration issued an international emergency order warning that Boeing had discovered an "unsafe condition" that is "likely to exist or develop" in other planes.”
Still, the planes weren’t grounded until the second fatal crash, and the loss of more lives.
Vox reports that even “pilots of planes that didn’t crash kept noticing the same basic pattern of behavior that is suspected to have been behind the two crashes, according to a Dallas Morning News review of voluntary aircraft incident reports to a NASA database: The disclosures found by the News reference problems with an autopilot system, and they all occurred during the ascent after takeoff. Many mentioned the plane suddenly nosing down. While records show these flights occurred in October and November, the airlines the pilots were flying for is redacted from the database. These pilots all safely disabled the MCAS and kept their planes in the air. But one of the pilots reported to the database that it was ‘unconscionable that a manufacturer, the FAA, and the airlines would have pilots flying an airplane without adequately training, or even providing available resources and sufficient documentation to understand the highly complex systems that differentiate this aircraft from prior models’.”
More information is still coming out, but it seems that the combination of market pressure and regulatory slowness contributed to production of the plane, even with the design flaw, which led to the two fatal crashes. The United States was not the first country to ground the planes, and only decided to stop flights after China and other countries did. Both Boeing and the United States government were slow to understand the depth of the danger, and take action. They were reluctant to embrace a new way of thinking about the planes.
In the Scriptures
A psychologist told me once that we are shaped as much by the future as by the past. We all understand how the past influences who we are — we avoid our past mistakes (hopefully…) and react to the negative or positive experiences we have. But the future forms us, too, in what we imagine, work toward and dream about. We move toward those things, and form our character in response to an idea of the future we want. Seeing with spiritual eyes allows us to look, not just back, but forward.
God always has a vision for the future, and we can share in that, instead of just reacting to the past. Isaiah speaks for God, telling the people to forget about the past. It’s an impossible task, and yet God has a more compelling vision. Speaking for God, Isaiah says, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” God adds a practical dimension. In addition to sharing the idea, God is going to get us there. “I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Paul, too, is pulling away from focusing on the past. “If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more,” he writes to the people in Galatia. He has every reason to be proud of his heritage, but the future in Christ now looks much more compelling than the accomplishments of the past. His pull toward the future comes from this hope. “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” His past status pales in comparison to that look ahead. He’s more than ready for God’s new thing.
As Jesus comes near the end of his life, he’s not taking a retrospective tour of greatest hits. Instead, he’s taking a break with beloved friends, and Mary takes this moment to look to his future. With this over-the-top anointing, and her personal (and shocking) touch, she anticipates his death, but the abundance of it also anticipates the resurrection. Her abundant gift looks ahead to God’s even more abundant gift on Easter morning. She’s not looking back, but ahead, and she takes action before it’s necessary. She is an image of God’s words, in doing her own new thing for her friend Jesus.
In the Sermon
The apostle Paul grades himself as a work in progress. “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own,” he says. The sermon might look at where we are in the middle of spiritual work, not quite where we aim to be. A gentleman who had been in a recovery program once spoke at my church, and he said, “I’m not where I should be, but I’m a long way from where I used to be.” His statement has stayed with me because we’re all in that position about something — our prayer life, our parenting skills, our ability to deal with distraction, our relationship with our screens or our finances. Where we are still learning about the new people God calls us to be?
Or the sermon might look at where we’re moved to take extraordinary action. If Mary’s action is a model for our faith, Mary takes a common action — washing the feet of a guest — to a whole new level. She does this herself, instead of having a servant do it. She gives Jesus the benefit of her consoling touch, when typically, a woman wouldn’t touch a man other than her husband. She gives us a model for living our faith way beyond the requirements, but with extraordinary devotion. The sermon might look at where we are inspired to act in the same way.
Or, the sermon might look at Mary’s act of anticipating Jesus’ death without shrinking from it. She is clear about his approaching death, and her acknowledgment of it allows him to face it with someone else. Our Lenten journey is also a journey toward death, but we don’t like to think about it that way. Far fewer people come to worship on Good Friday than on Easter Sunday, but neither is possible without the other. The church, as a community built around resurrection, can be a place where we talk about death without shrinking from the difficulty. We need people who will acknowledge our death, and accompany us to it, as Mary does for Jesus. We can prepare to be like Mary, knowing that death is coming, and helping each other face it.
God’s new thing shows up in many ways, and people who are attentive to the holy are attentive to the future. We all take action when we have to, or when events force us to do something. God’s visionary people show us the power of acting before it’s necessary. We can look to the future and change before we’re forced to; as we follow God’s leading. Love it or hate it, God is doing a new thing, and we’re invited to join in.
SECOND THOUGHTSJesus’ Money Management Plan
by Bethany Peerbolte
John 12:1-8
There are multiple stories in the Bible that refer to Jesus being anointed. The details vary and seem to melt into one another over time. The woman doing the anointing shifts from impulsive nameless prostitute to Mary, the devoted friend. In some accounts Jesus’ feet are anointed, in others his head. The liquid used to anoint goes from priceless tears to expensive oil. Each author uses these variants to focus in on a different message for the reader to take away.
For our rendering this week we have Mary, the devoted friend, pouring an absurd amount of costly perfume of Jesus’ feet. This action is observed by Judas and interpreted by him to be wasteful. Judas demands that the money could have been spent in a better way, to help the poor. Jesus knows this isn’t Judas’ main concern. He knows Judas wants to use generosity as leverage to convince the masses to revolt. Once the revolt begins Judas knows they will need supplies, and so he has been frugal with the money. Not as an act of generosity but to spend the money selfishly on a cause in which he believes.
Jesus’ response to Judas is possibly the most misused verse of all time, “you will always have the poor, you will not always have me.” This verse has been used to justify all kinds of extravagant selfish spending. It is easy to buy another summer home for ourselves when Jesus says “there will always be poor people, ain’t nothing you can do about it.” The actual second half of Jesus’ statement is the important piece to remember. There will always be those who are poor, and Jesus will not always be here to do the heavy lifting. It will be much harder to spread the gospel after he is gone.
Jesus points to Mary as someone who has spent appropriately. The perfume smelled amazing! One can only imagine the smell filling the house corner to corner. Houses of this time had no glass to cover the windows so the smell must have wafted into the streets. Surely people passing by stopped to ask what the smell was and to inquire why such expensive oil was used in excess. Possibly a few of those who stopped learned about this man named Jesus for the first time. Maybe they came inside and listened to him teach, then headed off to tell their families about their strange walk home.
Jesus tells Judas to shift his spending plan to put Jesus at the center. Spending money on the poor will always be an option, and there will be times when that is exactly what is needed. However, there will be times when money needs to be spent to spread the message of Jesus. If Jesus is at the center of the budget the spending will reap good work. Judas must put aside his self-serving plan for revolution even though it may feed thousands because its intent is not Jesus focused. It does not bring people into the sweet smell of Jesus’ forgiveness and love.
If one were to do a Google search for frivolous spending, they would have plenty of reading material for the rest of the year. Most recently a search would return stories about wealthy parents spending money to cheat college systems and ensure their children get into prestigious schools. Budget cuts taking money from Special Olympics and health benefits while asking for more money to build a southern border wall. These stories are the extreme examples of the average bad spending habits to which we all fall victim. Like the habit of wanting something so badly we would rather find the easy way to pay for it than to earn it. Like the habit of pulling resources from needs to fund our wants.
Helping their children get into a good school is the job of a parent. For wealthy parents, the appeal of buying an acceptance letter is hard to resist. Jesus says “your kids will be fine” and asks parents to consider spending the bribes on things that will encourage people to know him better. Students have been known to get into a highly sought-after college simply for their philanthropy work, or for exhibiting their passion for making the world a better place. Encouraging students to be generous is a better use of funds than paying for a spot at a college they will fail out of after the first quarter.
Budget time is stressful from a single home up to the highest governments. Our dreams for improvement can distract us from the necessary and often dull line items. Jesus says “you will be fine” and asks us to budget in a way that will invite others to get to know Jesus. As the internet meme says “if you are more fortunate than others, build a larger table, not a taller fence.” A wall may keep us safer, but so will better immigration workers, better laws, better infrastructure, better access to resources.
If you are planning to buy another summer home, this should be good news. Jesus didn’t say don’t spend your money. Go ahead and buy the other summer home and think of ways to make it useful to the message of the gospel. Host Bible studies or movie nights where believers can encourage each other in faith. Open the rooms to visiting missionaries and traveling theologians. Let your pastor take a retreat to recharge and fortify themselves for the coming year. The income we earn is a blessing from God and we aren’t asked to bury it in the ground. We are asked to put Jesus at the center and make our blessings a blessing to the world.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:John 12:1-8
How Much Convenience Costs (What we do with our money)
Financial advisor Suze Orman says that one of the biggest ways we waste our money is by paying for convenience.
Americans spend about $478 billion per year on groceries and 11% of that is convenience spending, paying extra for pre-sliced, pre-portioned, pre-cooked, individually wrapped, things that save us time and energy. That’s about $52,580,000,000 per year on stuff that doesn’t make our food healthier or better tasting; it just makes it easier and/or faster for us to prepare.
Broken down into how much we, as individuals, are paying for these conveniences and it looks like this: The average American family spends about $3,300 per year on groceries. About $363 of that is for convenience. That money could be saved, Orman reminds us, and spent on vacations or new furniture, or Christmas gifts for our loved ones if we were willing to walk past the salad bar or peel the oranges, slice the bologna ourselves, or divide up the ground beef into 1 lb. packages, or look up a recipe and cook it from scratch.
The biggest convenience spending, however, is dedicated to eating out.
Americans (individuals, not families) spend about $2,700 per year eating out and about $1,200 of that is spend on fast food. That’s about $52 per week eating out — every man, woman, and child in the country.
Orman doesn’t suggest that we give up eating out altogether. The shock would probably kill us. But if we set aside about $20 per week of our dining out budget and saved it, we would have just over $1,000 at the end of the year to put toward reducing our debt or paying for our kids’ college educations.
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John 12:1-8
Top Ways We Waste Money And How Not To (What we do with our money)
According to the website smartasset.com here are the top ten ways we waste money and some things we can do to correct the problem.
Interest Waste
The Federal Reserve estimates that the average person has about $7,000 in credit card debt. That means if you pay a modest interest rate of 15% and make the minimum payment each month you will be paying $93.75 a month in interest and it will take you 25 years to pay it off.
The Solution: If you can’t pay for it with cash you don’t need it. Make a plan to pay down your outstanding balance as quickly as possible and only use your credit cards if you can pay the bills off at the end of the month.
Bank Fee Waste
ATMs are such a profitable business that even gas stations got into them. Every time you use an ATM that is not part of your bank’s free network it can cost you $2 or more. Account maintenance fees and overdraft charges can add up to hundreds of dollars a year.
The Solution: Stop using ATMs that are not in your bank’s network, there is no reason to do that. Your debit card is as good as cash and it’s accepted just about everywhere. If you’re paying excessive fees, tell your bank you’re taking your money elsewhere and shop for a free checking account.
Lottery Waste
The average lottery player wastes $500 per year on this extreme longshot sucker bet.
The Solution: Don’t play the lottery. Instead, take the $500 and put it in a sound investment.
Cable TV Waste
The average cost of cable every month is $100-$200 per month, having doubled and in some cases tripled in the past few years. This is a waste when you likely don’t watch more than a handful of the thousands of channels.
The Solution: Cut the cord. Dump cable and keep the cash. Use an antenna for local channels and purchase cheap streaming plans like Netflix or Amazon Prime instead.
Bottled Water Waste
The average bottled water drinker consumes 167 bottles a year at an average cost of $1.45 each for a total of $242 a year, not to mention the cost to the environment in packaging waste.
The Solution: Buy a couple of refillable bottles and if you’re not happy with your tap water, get a filter and fill your own. The cost savings will more than cover the cost of the filter and the earth will say thank you.
Lunch Waste
Let’s do lunch! The cost of workday lunches both social and solo is staggering. The cost of eating out even twice a week at the low end of $7.50 per meal amounts to more than $750 per year. For some perspective that rubber chicken sandwich and soft drink you have twice a week cost more than a 7-day Caribbean Cruise in a room with a balcony!
The Solution: Pack your own lunch.
Caffeine Waste
Buying designer cups of coffee at your local coffee establishment will probably cost you about $1,000 per year.
The Solution: Buy a good quality travel mug and take your coffee with you from home.
Designer Anything Waste
Our fascination with labels has blinded us to the fact that more often than not the designer whatever you are buying was made in the exact same factory, using the same materials, put together by the same worker as the identical looking knock-off.
The Solution: Ditch the brand name and go native. Going with the generic can save you up to 75 percent or more and easily add up to thousands of dollars a year.
Health Waste
The single biggest way to waste money is through preventable poor health. Poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking and other bad habits and neglectful behaviors lead to increased spending on not only healthcare but lost income.
The Solution: Take better care of yourself. Stop eating lunch out, pack something healthy from home. Cut back on the caffeine and stop stressing over having to have the latest designer whatever. Fill a bottle with tap water and walk to the bank and close your overpriced account and then turn off the TV and go to the gym.
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John 12:1-8
The Real Cost Of College (What we do with our money)
The headlines a few weeks ago told us of wealthy people who were willing to lie, cheat, and bribe officials to get their kids into top rated colleges. In one case, a parent paid an estimated $4.5 million dollars toward that end. But how much does college really cost?
The web site www.savingforcollege.com provides a college cost calculator into which you can feed your family’s data, goals, and expectations to see how much your child’s college education including tuition, room and board, books, fees and all other expenses, will cost.
Here are a couple of examples:
A child born in 2018 and entering a state university in the state where they live in 2036 can expect to pay a total of $162,819 for a 4-year degree.
The same child would pay roughly $239,044 for the same 4-year degree from a public, out-of-state university.
Same child, same degree from a private university: $303,503.
Same child, same degree from a community college: $50,781
So what does it all mean other than the fact that college is expensive and getting more so?
Well, it means that those parents who spent $4.5 million dollars in bribes could have used that money to pay for their child’s education at a private school and had enough left over to provide full-ride scholarships to that same school for fourteen kids who could not afford to go there.
Or, they could have sent their kid to a private school and paid for 83 kids to go to a community college.
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Philippians 3:4-14
When Should I Give Up? (Straining toward what lies ahead)
Stephen King is one of the most successful writers in the history of American literature, but he wasn’t always so successful. He wrote his first novel, Carrie, while teaching high school English and it was rejected so many times by so many publishers that he nearly gave up writing.
Years ago I was at a writer’s conference where he was one of the keynote speakers and in the Q and A after his talk someone said that they had written a book but it kept getting rejected by publishers. How, the audience member wanted to know, will I know when to give up and stop sending my book out to publishers?
King’s answer was that the young lady should drive a 16 penny nail about an inch into the wall next to her writing desk. Every time she got a rejection slip, he said, she should push it onto that nail. When the nail had collected enough rejection slips that it became so heavy that it fell from the wall, that would be the sign that she should give up.
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Philippians 3:4-14
Too Late (Straining toward what lies ahead)
Comedian and actor, George Burns used to speak of his singing voice as part of his comedy. Though he constantly talked about how wonderful it was, it was, in reality, pretty bad.
When he was on late night talk shows he would insist on singing and he was so famous the hosts would often allow him to but when he sang the singing was really more of a spoken comedic patter than a melody.
He was a master of self-deprecating humor, and one day decided it would make a great joke to have his singing voice insured for a million dollars.
He tells the story this way: "I was so excited. I couldn't wait to rush down to the insurance company. I took a cassette and a tape recorder with me so the insurance man could hear my voice. It was one of my best numbers -- a syncopated version of Yankee Doodle Blues with a yodeling finish. The insurance man listened patiently to the whole thing, then he just looked at me and said, 'Mr. Burns, you should have come to us before you had the accident.'"
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From team member Ron Love:Isaiah 43:19 “new thing”
Bill Murray had completed school and was doing very well for himself. He was vice-president of an airlines and owner of a printing plant. Bill had been away from his family for about twelve years when his mother, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, asked her son to come home and salvage her failing organization. Dutifully, Bill returned to Austin and assumed leadership of the American Atheist Organization (AAC). An astute businessman, Bill quickly increased the gross income of the organization from $3,000 to $30,000 a month.
During his eighteen months in Austin, unfortunate changes came upon Bill Murray. He needed a quart of coffee to get going in the morning, through the day he smoked four packs of cigarettes, and at night he consumed a fifth of liquor in order to sleep. His behavior continued to deteriorate until one night he struck his wife and fired a rifle at the approaching policemen.
Bill also had a troubled conscience that questioned the ethics of the organization he represented. Why, he wondered, were the proceeds always used to buy luxuries such as a new Cadillac, instead of necessities such as an x-ray machine for a hospital? Why did the organization have to sue an astronaut to keep him from praying on a space mission? Bill realized the answer to these questions: his mother was basically a negative and destructive person.
Unable to live with himself any longer, Bill walked out on the AAC. He spent six months living in the Arizona desert. After leaving the desolate land, he joined Alcoholics Anonymous, about which he said, “I saw some miraculous things people were able to accomplish with faith, and I couldn’t help comparing all that with atheism.” Bill Murray surrendered his life to Jesus, and is now a Christian evangelist.
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Philippians 3:12 “but I press on to make it my own”
In filming the movie “Jesus of Nazareth,” Ernest Borgnine played the role of the centurion who stood at the foot of the cross, looking up into the face of the crucified Jesus of Nazareth. Since this was a movie, actors only came on the set when needed; so instead of having the actor portraying Jesus before him, Borgnine stared at an “X” chalk mark. In such a sterile setting, Borgnine had a difficult time capturing the emotions that the Roman soldier must have experienced at that tragic moment. In order to feel the part, Borgnine asked someone to read Luke’s account of the crucifixion. As the words were being read, Borgnine felt more and more uncomfortable, ashamed that like the first centurion he failed to acknowledge the Son of God in his own life. Then something miraculous happened — the chalk mark suddenly was transformed into the face of Jesus, lifelike and clear. Captivated by the revelation, Borgnine realized how the centurion who first stood at the foot of the cross must have been affected; in all sincerity he repeated the soldier’s words: “Certainly this man was innocent!”
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John 12:7 “leave her alone”
David Livingston was placed gently on his bed. Ill, few believed he could live until morning. A young boy was told to sit on the steps of the good physician’s hut. If anything should be needed for the care and comfort of the man beloved by all, the youth should run and get the elders of the village. Hours into the night the lad heard a stirring from within. As instructed, he immediately went for help. When the elders arrived at the hut they found Livingston dead, kneeling in prayer beside his bed.
This missionary devoted his life to the African people, and had gained their esteem and respect. They knew his body should be returned to his London home, where it would be entombed in Westminster Abbey. But his heart they removed and buried in the African soil, for it was with them that Livingston had shard his life.
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From team member Chris Keating:Isaiah 43:16-21
Something new...
Isaiah declares that God is about to do something new; but is there really anything new under the sun?
There is, according to one promoter of Earth Hour 2019, and that act of innovation could be as simple as turning out the lights. Earth Hour, an annual environmental awareness event promoted worldwide, was held last Saturday March 30. The action calls participants to be aware of global environmental issues by inviting them to turn their lights off for one hour.
The event is organized by the World Wildlife Fund. WWF senior Vice President Lou Leonard says it’s an essential way of calling attention to global climate change. “By going dark for Earth Hour, we can show steadfast commitment to protecting our families, our communities and our planet from the dangerous effects of a warming world,” Leonard. “The rising demand for energy, food and water means this problem is only going to worsen, unless we act now.”
Sid Das suggests that each of the worldwide participants are innovators who are demonstrating a commitment to a new vision emerging in the world:
Not because switching off a light takes much innovation, but because they share the vision that together, we can show the world we care about climate change and nature loss. These two threats are our planet’s biggest environmental challenge yet. It is easy to put your hands up and say the stakes are stacked against us, or they are too high to try. But each of the individuals who participate in Earth Hour has decided their ambition is higher, and I believe this changes the game entirely. Together, they are participating in creating a new future that will change the world we live in, not just for our generation but for our children, their children and so on.
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John 12:1-8
Always with you?
Liz Theoharis, director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice, and author of Always With Us? What Jesus Really Said about the Poor, notes that these words of Jesus are perhaps among the most misunderstood verses in scripture. “It seems that since I was a child, I have heard every week or so that ‘the poor you will always have with you,’ (Matthew 26:11, Mark 14:7, and John 12:8) means that poverty is inevitable.” At times, Theoharis suggests, this has resulted in poverty-shaming by prosperity gospel preachers who see poverty as the inevitable result of sinful choices. Generally speaking, she writes (p. 26) the claims share similar themes: heaven is better than earth; Jesus counts more than the poor; individual charity is the best solution; or a moralistic view that suggests we must help the poor because they cannot help themselves.
Theoharis proposes an “intertextual” reading of this verse by pairing it with a verse from Deuteronomy 15 which was likely the source Jesus was using for the statement. “Since there were never cease to be some in need on the earth,” Deuteronomy advises, “I therefore command you ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.” (Deut.15:11)
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John 12:1-8
A changed imagination
Toward the conclusion of her work, Liz Theoharis highlights a passage from Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved. She sees a connection between Morrison’s book about the ending of slavery and reuniting of a community with the challenge demonstrated by the anointing of Jesus. Theoharis quotes Morrison:
She did not tell them to clean up their lives or to go and sin no more. She did not tell them they were the blessed of the earth, its inheriting meek or its glory-bound pure. She told them that the only grace they could have was the grace they could imagine. That if they could not see it, they would not have it. As Mary pours the costly perfume, she calls attention to the grace Jesus has offered, challenging the disciples to change the way they imagined God’s presence at work in the world. For Theoharis, this is a call to serve the poor by believing that poverty can be eradicated, and that faithfully witnessing to Jesus means proclaiming God’s loving concern for the poor, marginalized, and oppressed. (See “Always With Us?” pp. 152-53.)
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Philippians 3:4-14
Gotta Get in
The recent college admissions scandals have illustrated the price many parents are willing to pay in order to get their child into an elite college or university. But what if the assumption that getting into a top-tier school will insure your success is wrong? After all, as Paul points out in Philippians 3:4-14, he had a top-drawer resume, and all the reasons to boast. “Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.”
While somewhat dated, a 2004 Brookings Institute report noted that gaining a degree from an elite college did not necessarily equate into higher lifetime incomes. It’s the student, not the school, which seems to make the ultimate difference. The report continues, “[Students] have been led to believe that if you go to X school, then Y will result, and this just isn’t true,” says Judith Shapiro, the president of Barnard. “It’s good to attend a good college, but there are many good colleges. Getting into Princeton or Barnard just isn’t a life-or-death matter.”
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Philippians 3:4-14
The dark side of admissions
As college-bound high school seniors begin preparing for the spring season of “acceptance anxiety,” wise pastors might wish to pay attention to the correlation between Paul’s exhortation to seek the gains offered by Christ instead of focusing on worldly definitions of success. There’s a “dark side” to our hyper-focus on success, Lauren S. Rikleen says:
But there is a growing dark side to the health and well-being of a generation of kids hyper-focused on success. Mental health issues and stress disorders are a growing concern. In a study reported by the American Psychological Association, nearly half of the teenagers surveyed said they were more worried than they were the year before, yet only 28 percent of the parents similarly observed an increase in their teens’ stress. The study identified a similar disconnect with respect to academic pressure as a source of stress, with 44 percent of the children surveyed reporting that they worry about doing well in school, while only approximately a third of the parents saw this as a source of stress in their children. Another study of teenagers reported feelings of extreme or moderate stress during the school year. Even more alarming, suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people between the ages of 15 to 24. And as the CDC reports, many more teenagers attempt suicide unsuccessfully.
She concludes: The pressure of this reality is daunting and requires schools and parents to become partners in providing teenagers with a healthier adolescence. The frenzied schedules that have become the prerequisites to college acceptance leave teens physically exhausted, even as a growing body of research reveals the importance of rest to a young person’s development. For example, the CDC reports that sleep deficiency is a public health epidemic. Other data shows a link between lack of sleep in teenagers and depression and suicide.
WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: When God restored us, we were like those who dream.
People: Then our mouth was filled with laughter.
Leader: Our tongue were filled with shouts of joy.
People: Then it was said, "God has done great things for them."
Leader: God has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.
People: Restore our fortunes, O God, like the watercourses in the Negeb.
Leader: May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.
People: Those who go out weeping shall come home with shouts of joy.
OR
Leader: Come and see the new thing God is doing among us!
People: We come in expectation of God’s new and wondrous work.
Leader: God comes and blesses us so we can bless others.
People: We are indeed blessed by our God and we are glad.
Leader: Share those blessings with others so that they grow.
People: With thanksgiving we will freely give as God has given.
Hymns and Songs:
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
ELA: 733
W&P: 72
AMEC: 84
Renew: 249
Morning Has Broken
UMH: 145
H82: 8
PH: 469
CH: 53
ELA: 556
W&P: 35
STLT: 38
What Gift Can We Bring
UMH: 87
NCH: 370
ELA: 685
STLT: 404
Hope of the World
UMH: 178
H82: 472
PH: 360
NCH: 46
CH: 538
LBW: 493
W&P: 404
This Is a Day of New Beginnings
UMH: 383
NCH: 417
CH: 518
W&P: 355
More Love to Thee, O Christ
UMH: 453
PH: 359
AAHH: 375
NNBH: 214
NCH: 456
CH: 527
AMEC: 460
Holy Spirit, Truth Divine
UMH: 465
PH: 321
NCH: 63
CH: 241
LBW: 257
ELA: 398
Come Down, O Love Divine
UMH: 475
H82: 516
PH: 313
NCH: 289
CH: 582
LBW: 508
ELA: 804
W&P: 330
More Precious than Silver
CCB: 25
We Are His Hands
CCB: 85
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
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 ever creating anew:
Grant us the wisdom to see you at work
and give us the courage to act alongside you;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are ever at work creating new things. We pray that we may have the vision to see what you are doing and the courage to join you in your work. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our misuse of the resources you provide us as well as our blindness to your new works.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have blessed us with many resources which we have hoarded and squandered on ourselves instead of using to share your love. We have been so intent on grasping for ourselves that we have failed to noticed what you are doing among us. Forgive us and renew us with your Spirit that we may be faithful children of the Most High. Amen.
Leader: God is good and gracious abounding in generosity that is to be shared. Receive God’s grace and blessings and share them with your sisters and brothers.
Prayers of the People
Blessings and honor and glory to you, O God, because you are the Creator who never ceases to create. You are constantly doing new things.
(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 blessed us with many resources which we have hoarded and squandered on ourselves instead of using to share your love. We have been so intent on grasping for ourselves that we have failed to noticed what you are doing among us. Forgive us and renew us with your Spirit that we may be faithful children of the Most High.
We give you thanks for the new blessings we receive every day. You have blessed us in so many ways.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all your children. We pray for those who have not received as many blessings because others have grabbed them away. We pray that all of us might be more aware of your constantly creating new things among us.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Mary in today’s Gospel story is blessed. She has a nice house and has a fine jar containing a very expensive and wonderful perfume. But she doesn’t keep it for herself. She uses it to anoint Jesus. God has blessed her and she is blessing Jesus with her gift.
CHILDREN'S SERMONAnosmic
by Tom Willadsen
John 12:1-8
Get as many different things with distinct smells that you can find.
A person who cannot see is blind.
A person who cannot hear is deaf.
A person with no sense of smell is anosmic. That’s a word that very few adults will know — but they will likely remember it.
Ask the kids if they can smell anything when they’re up in front. There may be communion elements up there, probably flowers, but chances are there are no strong smells. Ask them if they can think of any times that the sense of smell has been an important part of worship. (The kids at my last congregation may remember the time I burned some frankincense. That was a catastrophe. I didn’t just run out of the sanctuary with it; I took it outdoors. Even then I feared that a low-flying bird might be killed by flying through the fumes. As a shower gift, frankincense just doesn’t make sense.)
Really, the only times my congregation was aware of a smell were when something was being cooked while worship was going on. On Easter, after the lilies have been in the sanctuary, with the doors shut, since 1:00 Friday afternoon there was a pleasant smell, but by the time the choir and brass were done rehearsing, the smell had dissipated.
Have them smell the things you have gathered beforehand. Lotions are good choices, also hand soap, dish soap and laundry detergent. You might want to have some unpleasant smells too. Ammonia, or decaying leaves would be good choices.
Ask the kids to vote on the smell they like best. Depending on the ages of the kids, you might let them vote more than once. I went to seminary in Chicago, so multiple voting never bothered me much.
When they’ve picked their favorite smell, ask what the smell made them think of — what’s associated with it.
Let all the kinds get another whiff of the winning scent, maybe pass it to the choir or through the congregation. Ask the kids what it would be like if the favorite scent filled the whole sanctuary. Would that be memorable? (Yes! The sense of smell is our most primitive sense, linked to our “reptile brain,” memories connected to smells are very evocative.)
Would it take a lot of, say hand lotion, to fill the sanctuary with that smell?
Would it be expensive?
Why would someone spend a lot of money on a smell?
Mary was being extravagant — in a good way. She broke out the best nard, because when the guy who brought her brother back to life came to visit you really wanted to be lavish.
Mainline Protestants just don’t get “lavish” or “extravagant.” But they might be able to imagine what they do to get the house ready for company. Mary was going to extremes, because she quite simply could not thank Jesus enough for bringing Lazarus back.
Tie her gratitude to her extravagance. Tie her extravagance to making sure there was a pleasant smell, filling the house.
(Bonus funny story about smells in church: One evening I was squeezing lemons to make my friend Magdalena’s chicken recipe. When I was done, I smelled my fingers and said, “Ooh, they smell like Pledge.” What does it mean when our first association with a smell is with a manmade product rather than the thing itself? Maybe that Americans are so surrounded by consumerism that we’re estranged from the real thing. )
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The Immediate Word, April 7, 2019 issue.
Copyright 2019 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.
