On the final Sunday of 2012, we will surely look with optimism to the new year -- particularly since this has been such a difficult and often depressing year. The headlines have been dominated by stories of mass shootings, devastating superstorms, governmental dysfunction, foreign wars, and economic uncertainty -- so while the media compile their year-end lists that remind us of all the major events of the last 12 months, we all fervently hope that better things are just around the corner... a mindset that finds expression in our own lives through the perennial making of new year’s resolutions.
In this installment of The Immediate Word, however, team member Mary Austin suggests that in addition to looking forward we too should look backward... specifically to the advice Paul shares with the Colossians about the characteristics that exemplify Christian behavior. In the lectionary epistle text for the First Sunday after Christmas, Paul says that God’s chosen ones ought to clothe themselves with "compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience" -- but above all with "love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." The clothing metaphor is an apt one for this time of year, because such well-worn wisdom can sometimes seem like old clothes that are easily cast aside as we give our attention to the shiny new threads and toys we’re received as Christmas gifts. But Mary reminds us that while the luster will inevitably fade from our new apparel -- and that our new year’s resolutions, crafted with the best of intentions, will surely be broken before long -- those old clothes Paul speaks of will never go out of fashion. Because they’re signs of the change God is working in us, they are priceless keepsakes that always deserve to be in our wardrobe.
Team member Leah Lonsbury offers some additional thoughts on the intriguing story in this week’s lectionary gospel passage of an inquisitive 12-year-old Jesus soaking up knowledge from the rabbis in the Temple. Luke paints an interesting picture of Jesus "sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions." This suggests that knowledge and faith are ongoing interactive processes that don’t come with pre-fab, ready-made solutions... something that goes against the grain of how many people approach knowledge and faith in the internet age, where the assumption is that a definitive answer is just a click away. But most important of all, Leah notes, is that before offering his own opinions and answers Jesus sat and listened -- and as a result, "increased in wisdom." That’s a most timely lesson, Leah points out, particularly in the wake of the horrific elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Everyone seems to have a specific course of action or a policy proposal that they’re advocating... and when we are all trying to shout over one another to be heard, how can anyone have the space and solitude to let the Word inform our wisdom? Leah suggests that we might want to emulate the adolescent Jesus’ behavior in the Temple -- listening, questioning, and growing in our understanding -- before acting as if we have all the answers.
Old Clothes
by Mary Austin
Colossians 3:12-17
Everything is earlier this year.
The move to begin our holiday shopping on Thanksgiving Day has started a chain of falling dominoes, and now everything else is coming earlier too. Signs advertising special deals on gym memberships are already popping up, even before we finish packing on the holiday pounds. And the lists of New Year’s resolutions are starting already. U.S. News and World Report says, "Early in the holiday season, often as soon as Thanksgiving has passed, many of us start making plans for New Year’s Eve. And then almost automatically, it’s on to New Year’s resolutions." Um, nope, I hadn’t started yet. Darn… behind again, even before the new year starts.
What will it be this year -- new resolutions, or old wisdom?
THE WORLD
The most commonly broken New Year’s resolutions are surely also the most commonly made. The resolutions most often broken are those to lose weight, quit smoking, eat healthier, get out of debt and save money, and spend more time with family. The more we resolve to do things, the more we fall back into our old habits.
Everyone has advice about making and keeping New Year’s resolutions, including one list of suggestions just for 20-somethings. My favorite: "Wait 30 seconds before you look up a fact you can’t remember on your phone, and try to remember it using your brain. This is what the olden days were like."
If there’s nothing on the list for you, and you’re still stumped, one blogger offers a New Year’s Resolution Generator. Click the button, and the site offers helpful suggestions, such as "Have a garage sale," "Learn Italian," and "Talk more, tweet less." Try it, and see if you’re inspired.
Resolutions are personal goals, but it may be that we’re on the edge of national change as well. After the school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, many in public and private life, from the President to distraught parents and grandparents, have called for national change in how we view gun ownership. NBC News reports that nearly 200,000 people have signed a petition on the White House website asking for greater controls on guns.
The anchor of the MSNBC show Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough, gave eloquent testimony to how this recent shooting has changed his mind about gun rights. "You know me," he began, "I am a conservative Republican who received the NRA’s highest ratings over four terms in Congress. I saw this debate over guns as a powerful symbolic struggle between individual rights and government control.... I’ve always taken a libertarian’s approach to Hollywood’s First Amendment rights and gun collectors’ Second Amendment rights. I stood by those libertarian beliefs." He went on to say that he had a new viewpoint after the school shooting. "But last Friday, a chilling thought crossed my mind as I saw the Times Square ticker over ABC spit out news of yet another tragic shooting in yet another tortured town by yet another twisted son of that community. How could I know that within seconds of reading that scrolling headline that the shooter would be an isolated, middle-class white male who spent his days on his computer playing violent video games? How did I know that it was far more likely that he had a mental condition than a rational motive? And how did I know the end of the story before the real reporting even began? I knew the ending of this story because we’ve all seen it too often. I knew that day that the ideologies of my past career were no longer relevant to the future that I want -- that I demand for my children. Friday changed everything. It must change everything. It’s time for Washington to stop trying to win endless wars overseas while we’re losing the war at home.... For the sake of my four children and yours, I choose life, and I choose change. And for the sake of our children, we must do what’s right. And for the sake of this great nation that we love, let’s pray to God that we do."
Change is hard -- whether it’s changing our habits or changing our minds.
THE WORD
The Letter to the Colossians shows us that change is possible -- and with it, growth. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have been changed already, the author notes. He offers us a steady word about our life as people of faith, even more timeless than the perennial resolutions to lose weight, get organized, or save more money. Our resolutions begin with our own desires and hopes -- even if they will make us better people, they begin with our own assessment of what we need. Sometimes they’re about our character, and often they’re about our appearance, or how we look to other people.
In the life of the spirit, though, change begins with God. Before anything else, we are reminded that we are chosen by God. Because of God’s choice, not our own wishes, something has already changed in us. We are already holy and special. Because of that, our choices don’t belong only to us. As a response, we are instructed to live like changed people -- to put on new life like we would new clothes, letting the outside reflect the inside. We are to wear compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience as the garb of our new lives. Forgiveness is required of us, not because we’re super-spiritual, but because Christ has forgiven us.
These are not our easily-broken resolutions, but the changes God is already working in us. This is the work of the Holy Spirit -- not dependent on our willpower, or the time we have available, or how we appear to other people. This is the cooperation of our spirits with God’s Spirit, and our grateful response to God.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Still, living this way outside of church is difficult. The "perfect harmony" is elusive, both in and out of a church community. "We live in a culture that faintly praises kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, but these qualities are neither honed nor honored among perceived history makers. Such qualities are... scoffed at by real-life decision makers," writes Kenneth L. Sehested (Feasting on the Word [Year C, Vol. 1], p. 162). Still, this is our call -- to live life as if Christ lived within each of us. This passage makes a claim on our individual lives, and also on our shared life as a community. The sermon might talk about ways we can support each other in "putting on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience." The sermon might look at the differences between what we value in a friend and in an elected leader, or a teacher, or a boss.
The passage uses clothing as a metaphor for putting on the qualities of faith, but clothes wear out or go out of style. In contrast, these spiritual characteristics develop over many years, and may come fully to life just as our clothes wear out. These are part of a long schooling in faith, not something we can put on instantly. The sermon might look at the connection between what God changes in us, and what we continue to cultivate in our own spirits. These qualities are deeper than simple resolutions, but they also call us to spiritual work.
The sermon might look at the place of thanksgiving in the life of faith. This list ends with "and whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Whatever you do, the author says -- allowing for the possibility of failure. Perhaps we will fail at this kind of Christian living, just as we fail at our New Year’s resolutions... and even in our lapses, we are to give thanks to God. We will fail, and start again, because God has started the work in us already.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Listen Up
by Leah Lonsbury
Luke 2:41-52
On Friday, December 21st at 9:30 a.m., a moment of silence was held by 29 US states, [many websites (digitally)], and even the New York Stock Exchange. State government buildings in New York and churches and fire departments across the country broke the silence with bells ringing 26 times -- one time for each of the shooting victims.
The wave of grief has been massive, in Connecticut and across the country. When I went to pick up my second grader last Friday, the usually talkative parents who were waiting for the dismissal bell with me were silent. Their faces were tense, and many of them were wiping tears and trying to pull themselves together before their students surged out of the front doors and broke the silence.
Beyond the ringing of bells and the voices of children just like those who were lost in Connecticut, the silence surrounding this tragedy is being broken in another way. People are lifting their voices from different communities, different life situations, and different interest groups in reaction to this violence.
One of those people is Liza Long, an author and single mom who lives in Boise, Idaho, with her four children. In a post for The Blue Review that has been republished in countless other places, Long wrote about her personal struggles with her son who is mentally ill, very difficult to care for, and sometimes a threat to himself and others, including Long. These are her words about why she is speaking out and what she thinks must be done in response to the loss of life in Newtown…
I am sharing this story because I am Adam Lanza’s mother. I am Dylan Klebold’s and Eric Harris’ mothers. I am James Holmes’ mother. I am Jared Loughner’s mother. I am Seung-Hui Cho’s mother. And these boys -- and their mothers -- need help. In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it’s easy to talk about guns. But it’s time to talk about mental illness.
Another voice we’re hearing is of a blogger known as "thegirlwhowasthursday." She wrote a biting response to Long that included this:
You are NOT Adam Lanza’s mother. The sort of quasi-solidarity expressed in "We are [oppressed people]" or "I am [dead person]" appropriates the experiences of people who are unheard, in this case the victim of a mass homicide, and uses that to bolster a narrative that doesn’t even attempt to discover or represent the experiences of those they claim to speak for. Don’t do that.
And then there’s the voice of Wayne LaPierre , the top lobbyist for the National Rifle Association (NRA). LaPierre has this to say at a Washington news conference: "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."
LaPierre went on to blame video games, movies, and music videos for creating and repeatedly exposing children to a violent culture:
In a race to the bottom, many conglomerates compete with one another to shock, violate, and offend every standard of civilized society, by bringing an even more toxic mix of reckless behavior and criminal cruelty right into our homes.
Then there are those clergy-types. They’re finding their voices too. Funerals and memorial services in Newtown are giving pastors and priests from the area a chance to comfort the grieving and remind us all during this season of darkness that the light has come and is always coming. When Cardinal Timothy Dolan spoke at the mass celebrating the life of special education teacher Anne Marie Murphy, who died cradling one of her students in her arms to shield him from the gunfire, he compared her to that light:
Like him, she has brought together a community, a nation, a world, now awed by her own life and death. Like Jesus, Annie laid down her life for her friends. Like Jesus, Annie’s life and death bring light, truth, goodness, and love to a world often shrouded in darkness, evil, selfishness, and death.
And some clergy voices are challenging those who will listen on the whys and the hows of this tragedy. While presiding over the funeral of six-year-old Benjamin Wheeler, the Rev. Kathleen Adams-Shepherd told the crowd the crime was "inexplicable in human terms," and that Benjamin’s life was cut too short by a "sick young man with access to weapons that should never, ever be in a home."
These voices break the grief-laden silence and tell us what the problem is, correct others when they get it wrong, blame the whole thing on somebody else, seek to soothe, and shout for change. Regardless of what they’re saying, though, they’ve got an angle to deliver and a pronouncement to make.
The Newtown tragedy isn’t the only news that brings with it these kinds of declarations, and it can be difficult to know which statements we should take seriously and allow to influence or guide us.
Open any online news source or flip on any news channel and you’re bound to hear a politician (or six) from one side or the other (or both) proclaiming that they have determined just how to tie the knot on the rope dangling over the fiscal cliff. Along these lines, right before a vote was set to take place in the House on a "Plan B", Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders firmly indicated that they had sufficient support to pass the legislation. "We’re going to have the votes to pass both the permanent tax relief bill as well as the spending reduction bill," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor told reporters at a press conference at the Capitol. Except it turns out that they didn’t, and no vote was taken.
And if you’re looking for a voice who has a verdict to announce on just about everything, check out this interview with retiring Representative Barney Frank. In it, he makes bold and definitive statements on Westboro Baptist Church and free speech, gay marriage rights, Supreme Court Judge Antonin Scalia’s bigotry, legalizing marijuana and prostitution, legislation concerning transgender individuals, and several other hot-button topics. Frank has got it all figured out, according to Frank. That’s why he’ll be such a success at his next gig -- a political pundit and TV commentator.
Journalist Michelangelo Signorile sums up the interview like this:
And though no one could possibly say Barney Frank wasn’t taken seriously as a member of Congress, Frank says he’s going to be even more of potent force as a pundit and commentator. "I think I’ll have more credibility," [Frank] observed. "There’s a great cynicism of politicians today -- unduly and excessive in my judgment -- so when I say what I think now, people say, ‘Oh, you’re just trying to curry favor.’ Well, they won’t be able to say that anymore." Who knew Barney Frank’s voice could be heard any louder or clearer?
But maybe before we break the silence, before we make our pronouncements, before we tell it like it is, we should remember that even the Word knew when to leave the festival crowds, go to God’s house, and sit among the teachers. Before he taught, before he preached, before he healed, and before he even began his work in ministry, he got quiet and listened. He asked questions and spent time growing his understanding and his connection with God and God’s beloved. And when it came time for Jesus to teach, preach, heal, and minister to individuals and crowds, he had "increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor" (Luke 2:52). He broke the silence and he made his pronouncements -- but only after he had done the work of faithful preparation.
In a world where there is little silence left to break, where self-assured and absolute pronouncements are the norm, how can we learn to follow Jesus’ lead? How can we make room for our own learning? How can we seek God’s wisdom and guiding love? How can ask and consider, question and hold silence, so that we might grow in the faith that allows us to teach, preach, heal, and minister in the way of the Word, the Light that has come and is always coming?
ILLUSTRATIONS
Will you need to return or exchange any of the clothes you received for Christmas this year? Sometimes we’re forced to do this because the sizes selected do not fit us. In other cases we just conclude: "That style doesn’t suit me; it may look good on somebody else, but I’d never feel comfortable wearing it. I’ll exchange it for something to my liking."
The first verse of this week’s Colossians reading tells us that we’ve all received some new clothes this Christmas. These clothes are "compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, and love."
What a perfect new Christmas outfit for any of us to wear! Maybe we’re not always used to the style, but this is an outfit worth getting used to. These kinds of clothes could spell the "new you" in the coming New Year. Don’t return this Christmas outfit! Give it a try. Wear it awhile. It’ll grow on you, and most certainly it’ll grow on others.
*****
In the comic strip Hagar the Horrible, Hagar dresses up in his Viking armor as he prepares to go out and meet his enemy. All his weapons, shields, and armor are intended to make him look mean. "How do I look?" he asks his wife, Helga. "Horrible," she replies. "Good," he says, "a first impression is so important."
Likewise, the first impression we make as Christ’s followers is also important. Do we wear the things that make for war or for peace? Our Lord would have us put on love, compassion, kindness, forgiveness, and thankfulness. He would have us leave our weapons of hate, resentment, and other contrasting ways far behind us.
*****
"Ask me anything you like. I’ll reveal everything. I will treasure the truth. You could know anything. I am but a fool to play unaware of things."
A hymn? A love song?
No, it’s the theme song to a commercial for Google’s Nexus tablet, which is programmed to recognize questions and answer them. Volumes and volumes -- a virtual library of information -- can be right there at your fingertips any time you want or need it, for just a couple hundred bucks.
But anything that is hooked up to the internet -- a phone, a tablet, a computer -- can do that. Communicating information from one place to another in nanoseconds is what the internet is all about. Information is its medium.
Feelings? Not so much. Values? Hardly at all. Wisdom? Probably not. Knowledge? Maybe a little. But information? More than you could ever use.
The song, incidentally, is "Sleep on Needles" by the Norwegian singer Sondre Lerche... in case you were curious. You can find it on YouTube.
*****
Here is how the Discover Channel’s website describes their hit TV show Mythbusters:
The Emmy-nominated series Mythbusters aims to uncover the truth behind popular myths and legends by mixing scientific method with gleeful curiosity and plain old-fashioned ingenuity to create a signature style of experimentation….
* Can combining Diet Coke and Mentos make your stomach explode?
* Would a bull really cause destruction in a china shop?
* Is it possible to beat a lie detector test?
* Can plugging your finger in a gun barrel cause it to backfire?
* Is there a way to beat police speed cameras?
Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, the original mythbusters, now employ a team of accomplices and hundreds of thousands of dollars in technological gadgetry to either verify or bust the myths they choose. But probably the most important tool they employ in their work is simple curiosity.
*****
In his essay "Twelve Virtues of Rationality", Eliezer S. Yudkowsky, a research fellow at the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, lists curiosity as the first and most important of the "rational virtues":
The first virtue is curiosity. A burning itch to know is higher than a solemn vow to pursue truth. To feel the burning itch of curiosity requires both that you be ignorant, and that you desire to relinquish your ignorance. If in your heart you believe you already know, or if in your heart you do not wish to know, then your questioning will be purposeless and your skills without direction. Curiosity seeks to annihilate itself; there is no curiosity that does not want an answer. The glory of glorious mystery is to be solved, after which it ceases to be mystery. Be wary of those who speak of being open-minded and modestly confess their ignorance. There is a time to confess your ignorance and a time to relinquish your ignorance.
The other virtues, Yudkowsky says, are: relinquishment, lightness, evenness, argument, empiricism, simplicity, humility, perfectionism, precision, and scholarship. The remaining virtue is the one yet to be named.
*****
One of the reasons that curiosity is considered a virtue by many moral philosophers is that it bears the characteristic of fecundity. That is, it produces offspring.
One’s curiosity may not, in and of itself, produce that which makes for a better or more authentic human life, but it often produces offspring which do produce those things which make human life better.
Nowhere is this more perfectly expressed than in the opening lines of every Star Trek adventure: "Space... the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise -- its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before."
While the mission of the starship Enterprise is one driven by simple curiosity, the effect of its exploration is always realized in doing good.
*****
On November 26, 2011, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), a robotic space probe mission to Mars, was launched. Eight and a half months later, on August 6, 2012, the MSL successfully landed a robot rover in Gale Crater on the planet’s surface.
The overall objectives of the probe and the rover vehicle include investigating Mars’ habitability, studying its climate and geology, and collecting data for a manned mission to Mars. The rover carries a variety of scientific instruments designed by an international team.
The rover’s name? Curiosity.
*****
"Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind."
According to Leon Edel in his biography of Henry James, the famous author said these words to his nephew Willie James in 1902. Ironically, James is probably most famous for being the author of one of America’s most enduring horror stories, The Turn of the Screw, a novel which he wrote just four years earlier in 1898.
*****
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor. (Luke 2:52)
Apparently even Jesus had to grow up and mature. And if he did, must we not grow and mature also?
One is reminded of the story of a group of tourists in Ireland who entered a small village where they saw an elderly man sitting on a bench outside a pub. One of the tourists asked the old man, "Were any important people born here?"
To which the man responded, "No, only babies."
*****
The unthinkable became a reality, and no one could understand why. Three diverse and theologically incompatible denominations with conflicting heritages blended themselves into a nondescript denomination known as the United Church of Canada. To the consternation of all involved in this process, the theme of unification was not a sudden awareness of the unity found among Christians as the Body of Christ, nor was it the realization that the message of one divine prophet proclaimed a sole definable call to discipleship; instead, the denominations themselves no longer had a sufficient membership and financial base to support their institutional structures. Thus, my bewildered friends, a merger occurred and hypocrites had further fodder for the denouncement of another sacred institution.
A sociological review of the merger put forth a solemn thesis, which was expanded and applied to the state churches of Europe and the First Amendment Church in the United States. As church behavior has a sameness that is universally displayed across both centuries and continents, it was possible from this academic endeavor to disclose the emergence of an undisputable and sobering truth -- it only takes three generations for a denomination and/or nation to become biblically illiterate. Here in the United States and in our present state of seeming serenity, the cloud of judgment is emerging like a black horde of locusts descending upon the unrepentant Egyptians.
It is time we take seriously the teaching of adolescents. They must come to the church’s temple of learning, the same as the 12-year-old Jesus.
*****
Many people can no longer read Hawthorne and Melville, for their biblical allusions elude them. So what is the meaning of Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale preaching aloft as Hester Prynne stands in shame below, or the implication of a white whale circling a three-masted schooner? Bereft of the ability to comprehend these biblical inferences, we opt to skip mindlessly through Tom Clancy and Mary Higgins Clark. We no longer read with awe the thundering oratory of Abraham Lincoln, who as he stood in his hometown of Springfield launching a political career declared that we cannot be a "house divided," for his biblical reference is elusive.
To understand life, we must first understand the scriptures.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Praise God! Praise God from the heavens;
People: Praise God in the heights!
Leader: Praise God, all you angels; praise God, all you host!
People: Praise God, sun and moon; praise God, all you shining stars!
Leader: Praise God, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!
People: Let us all praise the name of God, for God commanded and we were created.
OR
Leader: Come and be in the presence of the Eternal One.
People: We come in awe and wonder of our God.
Leader: Be open to all the God would reveal to us this day.
People: Day to day brings forth knowledge about us and about God.
Leader: Rejoice in a God who invites us experience the divine self.
People: We have an awesome God who is open to us.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing"
found in:
UMH: 57
H82: 493
PH: 466
AAHH: 184
NNBH: 23
NCH: 42
CH: 5
LBW: 559
ELA: 886
Renew: 32
"God of Many Names"
found in:
UMH: 105
CH: 13
"The Care the Eagle Gives Her Young"
found in:
UMH: 118
NCH: 468
"There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy"
found in:
UMH: 121
H82: 469, 470
PH: 298
NCH: 23
CH: 73
LBW: 290
ELA: 587, 588
"O God, Our Help in Ages Past"
found in:
UMH: 117
H82: 680
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
ELA: 632
"This Is a Day of New Beginnings"
found in:
UMH: 383
NCH: 417
CH: 518
"When Our Confidence Is Shaken"
found in:
UMH: 505
CH: 534
"Great Is Thy Faithfulness"
found in:
UMH: 14
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
ELA: 733
Renew: 249
"Awesome God"
found in:
CCB: 17
Renew: 245
"Humble Yourself in the Sight of the Lord"
found in:
CCB: 72
Renew: 188
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
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is ever revealing yourself anew: Grant us the courage to ask the hard questions, that our faith may be as fresh as the morning dew and as grounded as the Rock; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come to worship you, O God, the Rock of our Salvation and the Eternal One. We come as new people who are constantly being reformed by the knowledge we are acquiring. Help us during this time to also be re-created in your image, that in our newness we may reflect your eternal love. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our reluctance to do the hard work of making our faith alive and fresh in this new day.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are quick to state the historic statements of belief of the church, not because we have truly adopted them as our own but because we don’t want to think them through. Or we are quick to take on the latest statements about the faith for the same poor reason. We are afraid to look deep within and see what we truly believe. We are afraid to look deep within and see why we have adopted the beliefs we have. Forgive us, and give us courage to be honest with you, ourselves, and each other. Amen.
Leader: God created us with thinking minds to contemplate the greatness of our world and our God. Take courage and know that God is always with us in our faith, our doubt, and our searching.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise and worship you, O God, because you are the creator of all. You made us in your image and gave us the ability to think and reason.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are quick to state the historic statements of belief of the church, not because we have truly adopted them as our own but because we don’t want to think them through. Or we are quick to take on the latest statements about the faith for the same poor reason. We are afraid to look deep within and see what we truly believe. We are afraid to look deep within and see why we have adopted the beliefs we have. Forgive us, and give us courage to be honest with you, ourselves, and each other.
We give you thanks for all the blessings of this life. Most of all, we thank you for revealing yourself to us. We thank you that you do not expect us to fully understand you but only to be open.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We pray for our inability to be honest about our faith and our doubts. We pray for those who feel forced away from you by our blustering assertions that we know it all when it comes to faith.
(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
Share with the children some of the things that intelligent people used to believe -- e.g., the world is flat; human beings will never fly; there are only four elements (air, earth, fire, water); the Sun goes around the Earth. Then talk about some of the religious things people believed -- e.g., God lives in one place (on a mountain, in the temple, etc.); God loves one group of people more than another, etc. Just as we go to school to learn, and need to keep learning even after we get out of school, we need to always be open to learning more and more about God. God is so big and awesome that we can never know all there is about God -- but as we learn and as we share, we grow in our knowledge and love of God.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Clothing Ourselves
Colossians 3:12-17
Objects: large t-shirts and sticky labels with the words "compassion," "kindness," "humility," "meekness," "patience," and "love" written on them
Today is the first Sunday after Christmas, and we should all say, "Thank you, Jesus, for coming into our hearts." (have the children repeat this) I thought we might take a look today at some of the things that Jesus brings us when he enters our hearts. I brought along a few t-shirts, and I thought a few of you could pick out your favorites. The Bible talks about putting on different kinds of clothes. (ask one child to pick a shirt) This is lovely. (put the shirt on over the child’s clothing) Is it all right if I give it a name that the Bible has chosen? (let the child answer) Good, I will name this one "compassion." (put the tag on the shirt) Do you know what "compassion" means? (let the children answer) Compassion is sharing the sorrow of a friend and helping them the best way that we are able. If your friend has a very sick dog and your friend is feeling bad, you should show your friend compassion.
Someone else make a choice. (follow the same procedure) Is it all right if I put a name on your shirt? (let the child answer) I am going to call this shirt "kindness." Do you know what "kindness" is? (let them answer) Kindness is doing for others the same things you would want someone to do for you.
Let’s try another one. My word for this shirt is "humility," and it is about being humble. Humble people do not brag about themselves. They say good things about other people. (let another child choose a shirt) This shirt’s name is "meekness." When someone is meek it means that they are not loud and pushy. A meek person is a good person, but few people know about the good things they do. (let another child select a shirt) Very good. This shirt is named something everyone wishes he or she had -- it is "patience." Does anyone here have patience? A patient person waits until it is his or her turn, or even longer. Patience is listening and being very encouraging.
I need someone to choose one more shirt. (select the child) I saved the best name until last. The name on this shirt is "love." Love is the secret to happiness. Being a Christian is being filled with God’s love.
If we could be these six things every day, all day long, we would have a wonderful world. Let’s say again the six words that are God’s gifts: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and love. Even when we take off these shirts (remove the t-shirts) we should keep these things in our hearts, and the next time you choose the shirt you want to wear, I want you to think about how Christians dress up their lives with these important words.
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The Immediate Word, December 30, 2012, issue.
Copyright 2012 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.
