Religious in Every Way, or Not
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For May 17, 2020:
Religious in Every Way, or Not
by Dean Feldmeyer
Acts 17:22-31
We Americans pride ourselves in how religious we are. We print our religion on our money (In God we trust) and, to show how not-communist we were seventy years ago, we pasted the words “under God” into the pledge of allegiance and moved American flags into our sanctuaries. Here in Ohio we even borrowed a line from scripture for our state motto: “With God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
We sing “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch, we insist on putting monuments and murals of the Decalogue in our courthouse lobbies and public parks and we erect nativity scenes and menorahs on our courthouse lawns. And God preserve the person who dares to question whether those displays are constitutionally appropriate.
We decry the fact that our kids can’t be required to pray in school and, lest our suffering and oppression be underestimated, we latch upon every story of an over-reaching school administrator as though it was the heralding of the end of days. If no eschaton shows up, we just make vague, self-righteous accusations about how “they” (whoever they are) have “kicked God out of the schools.”
And now, when the world is in the grip of a pandemic that has infected nearly 4 million people and killed a third of a million, and we are asked to stay home from church for a couple of months until this thing passes or is conquered, we beat our breasts and tear our hair and wail and moan about how our constitutional freedom of religion is being usurped, stolen by tyrants and despots.
As a person’s sign said at one of those anti-quarantine, pro-gun, antigovernment rallies: “Open up our churches! We need communion!” Yes, we, the religious oppressed, want to go to church!
Except, by and large, we really don’t. Given the opportunity to go to worship services, most Americans respectfully decline. Given the opportunity to praise the Lord in corporate setting, most American’s reply, “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
We shout loudly that we want and need to go to church but, when this thing is over, will we still? And for how long?
In the Scripture
In chapter 17 of Acts we are given to see Paul’s evangelistic technique as he exercises it in the cities of Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens.
In each city, the first thing he does is go to the local synagogue where he can talk to people who speak the same theological language from the same sources that he, a fellow Jew, does. In Thessalonica, he has some small success, converting a few Jews as well as some “God fearing Greeks,” gentile men who converted to Judaism but refused to be circumcised, and some prominent women.
Some of the synagogue leaders are upset, however. They see Paul as a slick, charismatic, flimflam man who is enticing gullible believers from the one, true religion to some new up-start religion they’ve never even heard of. So, they go to the marketplace and hire some ruffians to go into the town and start a riot. They go to Jason’s house but, not finding Paul, there, they grab Jason and some other followers of The Way and haul them before the town counsel and accuse them of fomenting trouble. The town leaders, however, don’t really buy it and let the believers go after they put up bail.
Immediately after that, the believers of Thessalonica escort Paul, Timothy, and Silas out of town and to the town of Berea, about 50 miles down the coast.
The pattern is repeated almost identically in Berea. Paul goes to the synagogue, debates with the Jewish elders, convinces some Jews, some righteous gentiles, and more than a few women. Luke says that the Jews of Berea are more level headed and fair minded than those of Thessalonica and things would have gone just fine except those malcontents in Thessalonica heard that Paul and his friends were stirring up things in Berea so they went down there to object and stir up trouble.
Not wanting any trouble, the new believers of Berea escort Paul from town and all the way to Athens where they leave him and promise to send Timothy and Silas as soon as they get back.
While he’s waiting for Timothy and Silas, Paul does as he always does and goes to the synagogue to introduce the folks to Jesus Christ. He also goes to the marketplace to preach and teach because, Luke tells us, Athenians love nothing more than to sit around and talk about philosophy. At the marketplace Paul meets some Epicurean and Stoic1 philosophers who are fascinated with what he has to say and take him to the Areopagus.2
Paul has noted, as he wandered through town, that the Athenians are big on religion with the whole city being filled with all kinds of idols. “Athenians,” he says to those gathered at the Areopagus, “I see that you are extremely religious in every way.” They have even erected one monument, he notes, to “an unknown God.” The Athenians, apparently, want to make sure they’ve covered all their bases and not left anyone out.
Seizing on this idea, Paul tells the Areopagus that he is not introducing anything new to their theological system. He is merely affirming it. The God who you acknowledge as unknown, he says, I now make known to you. That God is YHWH, and YHWH is the God who made you and me and everything that is. And this God whom you did not know has not held your ignorance against you but now that you know, thanks to me, God expects you to repent and stop worshiping false Gods and idols, and if you don’t, some heavy duty judging is going to happen all up in here.
Oh, and the one whom God has sent to do the judging is one whom he has raised from the dead.
Luke concludes the chapter by telling us that, as usual, some people scoffed at the idea of someone being raised from the dead, but others were intellectually fascinated and invited him to come back and speak again. Others accepted what he said and joined him. One was Dionysius the Areopagite, a member of the high council, and another was a prominent woman named Damaris, and several others with them.
Religion for many of the Athenians, it turns out, is mostly an intellectual playground. They like to talk about it and argue about it and think about it but doing it, well, that’s not really their thing. That is what philosophy is for. And, in some respects, we Americans are not all that different from those Athenians 2,000 years ago.
In the News
Governor Mike DeWine, of Ohio: “We did not order religious organizations to close, but my message to EVERYONE is that this is serious. When you are coming together, whether in a church or wherever — this is dangerous. We have the ability to do religious services in other ways. I implore religious leaders to think about their congregations. Gathering in groups is dangerous.”
When a prominent, evangelical megachurch near Monroe, Ohio, ignored the governor’s words, they were followed by others around the state who insisted on coming together to worship in large groups, many insisting that they were doing so because it was their constitutional right to do so and, besides, God would save them.
The governor expanded his remarks: “It is not a Christian thing to do. It is not in the Judeo-Christian tradition to hurt people. I’m sure no one intends to do that, but by bringing people together, you’re risking their health, you are risking your health, you are risking total strangers’ health.”
In Virginia, Bishop Gerald Glenn, who founded New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Chesterfield, outside Richmond, refused to close his church to mass meetings, telling his congregation, “I firmly believe that God is larger than this dreaded virus.” The church announced his death on Easter from complications due to the coronavirus.
In Albany, Georgia, near the end of March, over 200 people attended a funeral for a beloved church custodian. In the following weeks, the coronavirus, which has been traced back to that event, has spread throughout the entire community, infecting two dozen persons in one family, alone.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought to the forefront our understanding and, in some cases, our misunderstanding of the first amendment, especially that part that deals with freedom of religion.3 As we often discover when examining the rights that are guaranteed under the constitution, no right is absolute in all cases.
Freedom of speech does not mean freedom to yell “fire” in a crowded theater when there is no fire. It does not allow libel or slander or speech designed to inflame others to riot. The second amendment may protect our right to bear arms but not all arms. Machine guns and bazookas, for instance, may be prohibited.
Neither, it seems, is the first amendment’s religion clause absolute. Human sacrifice as a religious practice is rightly prohibited by law, as is the consuming of hallucinogenic substances, polygamy, and any number of activities that various religions have practiced down through history but have subsequently proved harmful to human beings.
This leads us to the question of whether it is legal for the government to close churches to protect the people from the spread of a deadly pathogen such as the coronavirus. The answer is: “Yes.” Make that, “Yes, but…”
Even the most conservative media have reported that the current, very conservative Justice Department has rightly ruled that the government can legally order churches closed to large gatherings in the interest of preventing the spread of disease in a crisis such as we are currently experiencing. However, the churches cannot be singled out. This type of action can be undertaken only so long as the church is just one of many gathering places that are being closed for the same reason, i.e. cinemas, theaters, sporting venues, and other places where crowds gather. And, there is a limit to how long this action can be enforced — i.e., until the danger has passed.
That is why, last week, U.S. District Judge Greg Van Tatenhove ruled that Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear did not have a “compelling reason for using his authority to limit” worship attendance. The virus, according to Judge Tatenhove, is not sufficiently dangerous and the chances of being infected are not sufficiently compelling for the governor to rule that in-person worship services must be prohibited. All of this hinges on one thing, however, and that is, as long as social distancing and personal hygiene practices are rigorously observed.” The Judge believes that as long as this is the case, your regular Sunday morning worship services are no more dangerous than shopping at “Home Depot and Kroger.”
He did not offer an opinion about how, exactly, such social distancing and hygiene rules are going to be enforced in churches and what is going to happen, legally speaking, if they aren’t.
In the Sermon
Like the Athenians, we Americans are “religious in every way.” We fight for our right to go to worship services even when doing so is at the risk of our lives and the lives of those we say we love as Christ loved us. We demand with threats and demonstrations that our right to worship (and pursue happiness, and be free) be given to us without regard to consequences.
The freedom of religion is part and parcel of the whole freedom thing. It is one thread in the rope that holds the country together and, if you weaken that thread, the whole rope is weakened and may very well break.
The problem with that kind of thinking, however, is that it ignores the reality that all freedoms are held in tension with other freedoms. Your freedom to do what you want, when you want, as you want, must be held in tension with my freedom to live in a relatively safe environment, free from fear, from want, and from disease.
When it comes to religion, your freedom to gather with your friends, shoulder to shoulder, in the sanctuary of your church must be balanced with the reality that if just one of those people in that sanctuary is infected, the infection could spread exponentially throughout the whole community, taking scores of lives, before we even know what’s happening.
Yes, we can go to church, go to the barbershop, go to our favorite bar or restaurant. It’s just a matter of risk. How much risk are we willing to take on to do these things? And whose lives are we willing to put in danger?
Our president has already said that there will be many deaths caused by our determination to get back to normal as quickly as possible. And many have said they are willing to accept that fact. But should they have the freedom to accept it for me or for you? Exactly how many lives are they willing to sacrifice to economic prosperity? A thousand? A million?
Write their names!
A hundred? A score? A dozen?
Write their names!
Five? Three? One?
Whose grandmother? Whose grandfather? Whose mother or father? Whose child?
Write their names! Tell them they have been selected as a human sacrifice to the god of mammon.
This demand to go to church is so full of hypocrisy it virtually glows from the heat of it.
Do you remember what happened in churches following 9/11? Church attendance surged. For about two weeks. Then things went back to normal. We want to demonstrate to the world that we are free to go to worship when we choose to. We just don’t often choose to.
According to the Pew Research Center’s forum on religion and public life in America, 89% of Americans say they believe in God, but only about 36% actually attend worship services on a weekly basis. Another third attend once a month, and 30% never do. And that is based on self-reporting wherein people tend to overestimate their church attendance, not by actual observation where their attendance is documented.
77% say that religion is very or somewhat important in their lives but only 55% say they pray daily. 16% say they pray weekly, 6% monthly and 25% never.
Only 35% read or study scripture weekly, 10% monthly, 8% annually, and 45%, never at all.
It turns out we Americans, especially Christians, prefer a propositional religion that requires of us little more than intellectual assent. We like to believe in things as long as those things don’t make any demands on our lives.
We want a theology that will fit neatly on a bumper sticker or a wall plaque but doesn’t crowd our lives or our priorities too much. We want to believe that, if and when we decide to go to worship, God will deliver us from Covid-19.
And, here, we fall back on the old story of the man who was sitting on the top of his house during a flood, waiting for God to save him.
A person in a canoe paddles up and offers to give him a ride to safety but he declines. God, he says, will deliver him.
A person in a motorboat drives up, same interaction. God, he says, will deliver him.
A helicopter drops a rope ladder to him but he refused to accept it. God, he says, will rescue him.
The flood continues to rise, the man’s house is overcome, he is swept away in the flood and drowns. He goes to heaven and meets God and is indignant. “Why didn’t you rescue me?” he asks.
God responds: “I sent a canoe, a motorboat, and a helicopter. How much rescuing does one man need?”
I know, as Christians, much of our faith identity is based on being together, physically. On hugging each other, and kissing each other’s children, and holding hands, and sitting close together and singing our hearts out. But this is a dangerous time and we place our lives and the lives of those we love at risk when we do those things.
This virus will last but a short while in the grand scheme of our lives and, in the meantime, God has sent us some amazing technology to help us come together in ways that seem almost magical to those of us who were born before television.
Dare we sit atop our churches and deny this temporary rescue that God has given to us? Dare we put ourselves and our loved ones, family and church, at risk becaue we will only accept God’s help if it comes in the way we proscribe?
No, let us come together and worship as we can and, as we do, let us pray that God’s loving, rescuing hand touches those who, in laboratories, and research centers are working to find a rescue for us all.
Amen.
_______
1 Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based on the teachings of Epicurus, founded around 307 B.C. It teaches that the greatest good is to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquility, freedom from fear, and absence from bodily pain. This combination of states is held to constitute happiness in its highest form.
Stoicism is a moral philosophy that emphasizes the discipline and mastery of the emotions in order to reach a wiser, rational, and peaceful mindset.
In Paul’s time, these two philosophical systems were the chief rivals for the minds of contemporary, secular Greeks.
2 The Areopagus was a rocky hill near the Acropolis where trials were held by the high council of Athens, also called the Areopagus. Matters of philosophy and theology were debated and searched for merit there, as well.
3 “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
SECOND THOUGHTS
Eager to Do What is Good
by Mary Austin
1 Peter 3:13-22
As social distancing continues for seemingly the millionth week, people are running out of the willpower to keep isolating, wearing masks and bearing with each other. What seemed reasonable a few weeks ago now feels like a burden. But why are we running low on energy to keep doing good? We know what’s healthy for u s— wearing masks, sheltering in place, limiting contact with other people — and yet we’re growing weary of doing the good that 1 Peter commends to us.
Expert after expert recommends wearing a mask to cut down on the spread of Covid-19, and yet we keep carving out exceptions. We run into a place to grab something quick, and skip the mask. We don’t feel a need for a mask when we walk outside, even though we will encounter other people. The mask is too uncomfortable when we run or ride a bike. “There is widespread agreement that one of easiest ways to control the spread of the coronavirus is to wear a face mask, but there are all kinds of reasons why people don't take this basic step,” says Jacqueline Gollan, a psychologist and professor Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "One, they underestimate the threat. It’s not concrete, it’s abstract. And prevention is a difficult thing to measure." After nearly two months of quarantine, Gollan adds, people “are constantly calculating the gain/loss of doing everyday things like going to the grocery store and not wearing a mask," she said.” Increasingly, wearing a mask, or skipping trip, or missing out on an event feels like suffering. If we don’t know someone who’s sick, it feels abstract.
In Colorado, a restaurant opened on Mother's Day, “in defiance of Colorado’s public health order that limits restaurants statewide to takeout and delivery services. Customers packed C&C Coffee and Kitchen on Trail Boss Drive Sunday, filling tables, a patio and forming a line out the door for dine-in service. Governor Jared Polis’ office on Sunday issued a statement calling such conduct illegal and dangerous.” Apparently, missing brunch looked like suffering to people craving French toast.
The owner of the restaurant had had her own view of what “suffering for doing what is right” means. “C&C Coffee and Kitchen owner April Arellano did not respond to a request for comment Sunday, but a Twitter account for the restaurant declared it was reopening to stand “for America, small businesses, the Constitution and against the overreach of our governor in Colorado!!” Arellano also wrote on Facebook that she “would go out of business if I don’t do something,” and said that “if I lose the business at least I’m fighting.” “We are so behind,” she said in a comment on her post. “We have complied for two months. We cannot make it on $200/day sales when 2 staff cost me $250 not counting, food, cost, utilities and rent.” Arellano also posted a brief live video on her Facebook page showing the crowd in the restaurant. “So much for some of those people saying nobody would show up,” she said in the video.
There is plenty of deep pain all around us, and in some of our lives. The economy lost over 20 million jobs in April. The unemployment rate is “the worst devastation since the Great Depression,” and likely to get worse as industry contracts further. “Job losses have encompassed the entire economy, affecting every major industry. Areas like leisure and hospitality had the biggest losses in April, but even healthcare shed more than a million jobs. Low-wage workers, including many women and members of racial and ethnic minorities, have been hit especially hard.”
For those of us who live fortunate lives, we do so little actual suffering that we mistake inconvenience for pain. Two Texas state legislators got haircuts recently, taking one for the team, so they could protest state orders to stay at home. We are apparently willing to put people in danger so we can eat well, as meat processing facilities have been ordered to stay open, so carnivores don’t have to break out the tofu. The work is dangerous, and “high rates of absenteeism, whether from sickened workers or fearful employees staying home to avoid infection, have for weeks plagued the meat-packing industry, where workers often labor in close quarters. A Center for Disease Control and Prevention study released on Friday showed more than 4,900 workers in meat and poultry processing facilities have tested positive for Covid-19, and at least 20 have died.”
In this pandemic, the suffering is not happening for any greater purpose. 1 Peter lauds a kind of suffering for a purpose that fit the situation of the early church. His words are hopeful for communities of people being persecuted. In our time, we hear the letter’s admonishment differently.
For many of us, the question is not whether we are suffering, but how much we’re adding to the suffering of others. In mistaking our inconveniences for true suffering, people of privilege run the risk of creating more pain for others. When we demand the labor of others to cut our hair, groom our dogs, polish our nails, cut pork chops or make omelets for us, we add to the pain of those on the receiving end of our demands.
This text is an invitation to consider the suffering of others, and how we might ease it. When we are tempted to demand a privilege, we can instead worry about easing someone else’s burden. We are invited to live “with gentleness and reverence,” easing the weight we put on others. “Keep your conscience clear,” the letter urges the early church, and us.
In our time, some moral calculations are complex. Should we go to the grocery store and expose an employee to illness? Have food delivered, and take a slot that could go to someone older or with a disability? Spend money so people are employed? Save money so we don’t become a drain on others? But some ethical choices are easy. An expert said that we can think about masks and social distancing differently, if we want to do good. “So, even as businesses or states increasingly require them, rebellion is natural — to a degree, says Dr. David Aronoff, director of Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Division of Infectious Diseases and professor of medicine. But he urges Americans to think of the mask guidance not as forced conformity, but as a necessary act of solidarity: Wearing a cloth mask could stop seemingly healthy people from infecting others with coronavirus if they're asymptomatic.” He adds, "We're all hopeful that this pandemic disappears. Then we can stop doing as much risk mitigation. But for now, we really depend on the trust and kindness of others to protect our wellbeing. And that's part of being an American.” Also part of being a Christian. It’s not just hand-washing — there’s another kind of cleanliness. This letter tells us “in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord.” In that, we find our way through inconvenience to service, and we live in the hope of easing one another’s pain in this time. May we be eager to do so.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Tom Willadsen:
Acts 17:22-31
Immediately prior to this reading we learn that Paul has been in Athens for a while and has engaged Jews in synagogues, and Stoic and Epicurean philosophers in discussions and debates. He’s gotten their attention and he’s moved to a bigger venue, the Areopagus. The Areopagus was the venue for homicide, arson and religious trials in Athens. He spoke to a diverse and highly educated audience; Athens was something of a college town.
It’s commonly understood that when he says “I see how extremely religious you are in every way…” before discussing an altar to an unknown god, he was being sarcastic. A more accurate reading, I believe, is that Paul was commenting on their curiosity and diligent pursuit of religious questions sincerely. He was not putting them down, but using this observation as a rhetorical “in” to form a connection with his audience.
Unique to Paul’s visits to cities mentioned in the Bible is Athens. No church arose following his visit. The city is described as being filled with foreigners who spent “their time in nothing but telling and hearing something new.” They say ideas were accepted as play things to be dabbled with, rather than convictions to stake one’s life on. The Athenians found Paul entertaining, worthy of listening to again, but we simply are not disposed to making any kind of commitment to Paul’s faith. After all, another dabbler would be along any day now offering another diversion.
* * *
Psalm 68:8-20
Today’s psalm is unusual in that it is a communal psalm of thanksgiving. It may even be intended to be recited by the king on behalf of the people. Most other psalms of thanksgiving are written as though to be recited by individuals. How does a communal statement of gratitude inform Paul’s foray in Athens, where some were distracted by his message and delivery, but no church formed in its wake?
* * *
1 Peter 3:13-22
This is a potentially dangerous text because it appears to advocate suffering. Let’s be clear, suffering for the sake of the gospel can be considered virtuous and noble, but this does not entail all suffering. There are certain faith leaders in the United States right now who are defying stay-at-home orders in their regions asserting their right to worship, and invoking the First Amendment of the Constitution as their defense. Certainly the courts will sort out whether banning public gatherings beyond a certain size has the effect of restricting the free expression of religion. Those answers will emerge, I expect, well after Covid-19-caused restrictions have passed. It appears to me that in some cases these leaders are seeking to be persecuted — and prosecuted. Again, in my opinion they have the freedom to do that, but the line that must be drawn is between what one has the right to do and what it is the right thing to do. By far most faith leaders are acting with an eye to the greater good as they have switched to worshiping over live streaming, or even worshiping at drive-in movie theatres.
* * *
John 14:15-21
It would be wise to extend this reading through v. 24. The discussion that begins in v. 22 between Jesus and Judas really informs and elaborates on the discussion that Jesus begin in v. 15. Verse 24 is a good closing statement, a literary inclusion that frames and echoes v. 15.
In this text the preacher should be very clear that “love” as used by Jesus is not an emotion, a feeling of affection. It is, rather, a commitment that one makes to put the interests of others ahead of one’s own. In this sense love can be commanded. The feeling of love cannot be commanded any more than an appreciation for Brussel’s sprouts.
* * *
John 14:15-21
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. — Maya Angelou
The love Jesus commands will have the impact of making people feel love. This is beyond mere lip service. Love is a verb, a verb that conveys wellness and selflessness; love is not an emotion. Love is caring in motion.
* * * * * *
From team member Chris Keating:
Acts 17:22-31
Extremely religious in every way, just not in person
According to the Barna Group, Covid-19 has created a bump in church attendance. A survey released April 6, 2020 showed that 44% of pastors are reporting much higher online attendance than normal, and 29% say it has been slightly higher.
In an interview with Newsweek, Barna President David Kinnaman remained optimistic about virtual church attendance, while sensing that many pastors may be preparing for harder times to come.
"One of the things that I've observed about the data this week is that even though churches are beginning to say it might not be until June or later [when they can meet again], there's still this overall good cheer that leaders are expressing about the stability of the environment," said Kinnaman. “In the data, there's a sense that pastors are trying to keep their chin up, but they're also thinking they need to be prepared for what might be the toughest month of ministry any of us have ever had."
* * *
1 Peter 3:13-22
Unjust suffering
Evangelical megachurch pastor and author Darrin Patrick died last weekend as the result of what was described as “self-inflicted gunshot wounds.” Patrick was serving as teaching pastor of Seacoast Church, a multi-site megachurch in South Carolina, and had previously been the pastor of the Journey Church in St. Louis, Missouri.
Patrick had returned to the ministry after a 26-month restoration process. He had been fired from the St. Louis church for misconduct, including inappropriate contact with two women.
Carey Nieuwhof, a Canadian pastor who blogs regularly about leadership in ministry, commented that often “leaders don’t show immediate signals about how deep their struggle really is.” Nieuwhof continues, “Almost any leader knows the deep struggle of leadership. You don’t have to be in it long to know how dark or difficult it can get.”
A 2019 report from the Southern Baptist Convention detailed the frequency of pastor suicide. Many “emotional first responders” struggle with the hidden suffering of suicidal thoughts, writes psychologist Shauna Springer.
Springer writes that when “clergy become public examples of strength, there is an additional pressure placed on their shoulders, as they hold the hope of those within their sphere of ministry. Becoming a caregiver to one individual in need, or the metaphorical "shepherd of an entire flock," can be lonely, and isolating, and can increase the challenge of reaching out and getting support from both professionals and peers.
(If you or someone you love is considering suicide, please call 1-800-273-8255.)
* * *
John 14:15-21
Never orphaned
Covid-19 has forced every congregation and pastor to rethink all aspects of ministry — including pastoral care. Congregations at the epicenter of the pandemic have become creative in their ministry of sharing the promise Jesus offered in John 14:15-21.
In New York City, Pastor Mike Carrion of the Promised Land Covenant Church braces each time his phone rings. His church is located in the south Bronx, a center of the Covid-19 storm which has been particularly virulent among African American and Latino communities.
“I’m on the phone with a mom and she screams,” Carrion told the Washington Post. “How does she continue to raise her other children with her baby gone?” Carrion said of speaking with a mother of a seventh-grader who died of Covid-19, the disease the virus causes. “No seminary class prepares you for this.”
Carrion’s church is located in the poorest congressional district in the United States. Officials estimate that the poverty rate is 44%. Carrion said 13 families in the church have faced the death of loved ones in one month.
Maintaining connection in the church includes a group text among the church’s nine (mostly part-time) pastors and Zoom counseling sessions with individuals and groups. “People need more than a poem and three principles. People need to deal with fear,” he said. “We need the person of God and we need a God-given therapist to help us navigate our brokenness.”
* * * * * *
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: Bless our God, O peoples, bless our God.
People: Let the sound of God’s praise be heard,
Leader: Let us come into God’s presence and honor our vows.
People: Come and hear what God has done for us.
Leader: Blessed be God who has not rejected our prayers.
People: Blessed be God who has not removed steadfast love from us.
OR
Leader: Let us worship the God who dwells among us.
People: We rejoice that we are always in the presence of our God.
Leader: God is with us in worship and in our daily lives.
People: No matter our circumstances our God is with us
Leader: Let us make God’s presence known to others.
People: We will show forth God by our love and service.
Hymns and Songs:
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
UMH: 117
H82: 680
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
ELW: 632
W&P: 84
AMEC: 61
STLT: 281
God Will Take Care of You
UMH: 130
AAHH: 137
NNBH: 52
NCH: 460
AMEC: 437
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
ELW: 733
W&P: 72
AMEC: 84
Renew: 249
Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies
UMH: 173
H82: 6/7
PH: 462/463
LBW: 265
ELW: 553
W&P: 91
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
UMH: 349
NNBH: 195
ELW: 284
W&P: 472
It Is Well with My Soul
UMH: 377
AAHH: 377
NNBH: 255
NCH: 438
CH: 561
ELW: 785
W&P: 428
AMEC: 448
O Come and Dwell in Me
UMH: 388
O Jesus, I Have Promised
UMH: 396
H82: 655
PH: 388/389
NCH: 493
CH: 612
LBW: 503
ELW: 810
W&P: 458
AMEC: 280
Take My Life, and Let It Be
UMH: 399
H82: 707
PH: 391
NNBH: 213
NCH: 448
CH: 609
LBW: 406
ELW: 583/685
W&P: 466
AMEC: 292
Renew: 150
Take Up Thy Cross
UMH: 415
H82: 675
PH: 393
LBW: 398
ELW: 667
W&P: 351
AMEC: 294
The Steadfast Love of the Lord
CCB: 28
Renew: 23
Cares Chorus
CCB: 53
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
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who dwells within and among us:
Grant us the faith to trust in your presence
whatever the circumstances of our lives;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you dwell within us and among us. You are present in all the circumstances of our lives. Help us to trust in your presence as we face the changing ways of life around us. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our lack of faith and determination to actually follow Jesus.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are quick to call ourselves Christians and to claim membership in our church but we are much slower when it comes to actually tuning our lives to the Gospel beat. We want to assure ourselves that we have a place in heaven with Jesus but we often fail to join him in his ministry to the poor, the rejected, and the despised. We look upon the crucified one and think that his message is all about us feeling good about ourselves. We have forgotten about loving our enemies and praying for those who mistreat us. Forgive us, Gracious God, and restore your Spirit within us that we may know the joy of faithful discipleship. Amen.
Leader: God is within us and among us and desires to love others through us. In loving others we know that we are loves, as well. Receive God’s love as you give it generously to others.
Prayers of the People
We praise you, O God of majesty and glory; we praise you, O God of humility and service.
(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 call ourselves Christians and to claim membership in our church but we are much slower when it comes to actually tuning our lives to the Gospel beat. We want to assure ourselves that we have a place in heaven with Jesus but we often fail to join him in his ministry to the poor, the rejected, and the despised. We look upon the crucified one and think that his message is all about us feeling good about ourselves. We have forgotten about loving our enemies and praying for those who mistreat us. Forgive us, Gracious God, and restore your Spirit within us that we may know the joy of faithful discipleship.
We give you thanks for all the ways that you make yourself known in our lives. We thank you for the ways in which you speak to us through scripture and through nature, through worship and through friendship.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We pray for those who find it difficult to believe that you are here with us. We pray for all who seek to find their way to a life that has meaning and purpose.
(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
Do you ever pretend? Do you play like you are a super hero or a famous sports person or a firefighter? What do you like to pretend? Do you have anything special you wear to help you pretend, like a cape or something? Being a super hero, great sports player, or a firefighter takes more than just a costume. It means actually doing those things that they do. Being a Christian is more than just showing up at church or wearing a cross, it is about being loving and kind like Jesus.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN'S SERMON
We’ve Come This Far
by Bethany Peerbolte
1 Peter 3:13-22
The verses from 1 Peter this week asks us to make an accounting of where our hope comes from. That can be a hard thing to do if we never notice the source. The children are experiencing a unique chance to pause in the middle of a scary time and see what is giving them hope. This will help them return to those hope-filled things the next time they need to. It is also a great time to connect those comforting things to God. To show how God provides for us through games, and friends, and other sources we might not normally recognize as being from God.
In your lesson say something like:
There is a great song in our hymnal titled “We’ve Come This Far By Faith.” In the lyrics the song says when we go through hard times the thing that gets us through is trusting in God. It says we should lean on God. I wonder if you have ever hurt your foot or your leg. When that kind of injury happens we have to lean on someone else to help us get to safety. That is what the song is saying we do when we have a hard thing to face. We lean on God, trusting that God will help us through.
This song was written by a man named Albert Godson. He was of African-American descent and he learned to play the piano very well. He played so well that lots of people wanted to have him play for them. He moved to a big city far away from family and friends so he could chase his dream of being a famous pianist.
While he was away from his family and friends he struggled to feel like he belonged. He got depressed and it was while he was depressed that he wrote “We’ve Come This Far By Faith.” He heard the tune in his head and sat down at a piano and played, then he heard the words. He says God was singing the words to him.
This song reminds us that there have been really bad days in our lives, but we made it through. For Christians we believe we make it through those times with God’s help. Sometimes we don’t even notice the help God is giving because it comes from an unexpected place.
I wonder what has been helping you get through the shelter in place measures we have been taking to keep our community safe. Maybe puzzles, or family games have helped pass the time. Maybe playing videos games with friends online has helped you stay connected with friends. Maybe someone has been there to listen to you and help you get through. Whatever has helped you is the help God is giving you. God inspires people to listen and offer advice. They may be saying the words but we believe God is giving them the words like Albert believes when he wrote his song. God helps game makers and puzzle designers make the things that we need to get through tough weeks.
I hope you will take the time to think about what has helped you. Why? One reason is to recognize what helps so you can continue to get through this tough time. Another reason, though, is to see God working in your life. To see how God is helping you and fulfilling the promise to never leave us alone. We can always trust God to be with us and to let us lean on God when we need to.
Let’s say a prayer thanking God for the help.
Faithful God, thank you for being there for us in this hard time. We still need you and will keep leaning on you for help. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, May 17, 2020 issue.
Copyright 2020 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.
- Religious in Every Way, or Not by Dean Feldmeyer — To paraphrase the Apostle Paul, for our own time: Americans, I see how extremely religious you are in every way, except when you aren’t.
- Second Thoughts:Eager to Do What is Good by Mary Austin — Are we actually suffering, or just impatient?
- Sermon illustrations by Tom Willadsen and Chris Keating.
- Worship resources by George Reed that focus on patient persistence in doing good; being religious.
- Children’s sermon: We’ve Come This Far by Bethany Peerbolte — Children are experiencing a unique chance to pause in the middle of a scary time and see what is giving them hope.
Religious in Every Way, or Notby Dean Feldmeyer
Acts 17:22-31
We Americans pride ourselves in how religious we are. We print our religion on our money (In God we trust) and, to show how not-communist we were seventy years ago, we pasted the words “under God” into the pledge of allegiance and moved American flags into our sanctuaries. Here in Ohio we even borrowed a line from scripture for our state motto: “With God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
We sing “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch, we insist on putting monuments and murals of the Decalogue in our courthouse lobbies and public parks and we erect nativity scenes and menorahs on our courthouse lawns. And God preserve the person who dares to question whether those displays are constitutionally appropriate.
We decry the fact that our kids can’t be required to pray in school and, lest our suffering and oppression be underestimated, we latch upon every story of an over-reaching school administrator as though it was the heralding of the end of days. If no eschaton shows up, we just make vague, self-righteous accusations about how “they” (whoever they are) have “kicked God out of the schools.”
And now, when the world is in the grip of a pandemic that has infected nearly 4 million people and killed a third of a million, and we are asked to stay home from church for a couple of months until this thing passes or is conquered, we beat our breasts and tear our hair and wail and moan about how our constitutional freedom of religion is being usurped, stolen by tyrants and despots.
As a person’s sign said at one of those anti-quarantine, pro-gun, antigovernment rallies: “Open up our churches! We need communion!” Yes, we, the religious oppressed, want to go to church!
Except, by and large, we really don’t. Given the opportunity to go to worship services, most Americans respectfully decline. Given the opportunity to praise the Lord in corporate setting, most American’s reply, “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
We shout loudly that we want and need to go to church but, when this thing is over, will we still? And for how long?
In the Scripture
In chapter 17 of Acts we are given to see Paul’s evangelistic technique as he exercises it in the cities of Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens.
In each city, the first thing he does is go to the local synagogue where he can talk to people who speak the same theological language from the same sources that he, a fellow Jew, does. In Thessalonica, he has some small success, converting a few Jews as well as some “God fearing Greeks,” gentile men who converted to Judaism but refused to be circumcised, and some prominent women.
Some of the synagogue leaders are upset, however. They see Paul as a slick, charismatic, flimflam man who is enticing gullible believers from the one, true religion to some new up-start religion they’ve never even heard of. So, they go to the marketplace and hire some ruffians to go into the town and start a riot. They go to Jason’s house but, not finding Paul, there, they grab Jason and some other followers of The Way and haul them before the town counsel and accuse them of fomenting trouble. The town leaders, however, don’t really buy it and let the believers go after they put up bail.
Immediately after that, the believers of Thessalonica escort Paul, Timothy, and Silas out of town and to the town of Berea, about 50 miles down the coast.
The pattern is repeated almost identically in Berea. Paul goes to the synagogue, debates with the Jewish elders, convinces some Jews, some righteous gentiles, and more than a few women. Luke says that the Jews of Berea are more level headed and fair minded than those of Thessalonica and things would have gone just fine except those malcontents in Thessalonica heard that Paul and his friends were stirring up things in Berea so they went down there to object and stir up trouble.
Not wanting any trouble, the new believers of Berea escort Paul from town and all the way to Athens where they leave him and promise to send Timothy and Silas as soon as they get back.
While he’s waiting for Timothy and Silas, Paul does as he always does and goes to the synagogue to introduce the folks to Jesus Christ. He also goes to the marketplace to preach and teach because, Luke tells us, Athenians love nothing more than to sit around and talk about philosophy. At the marketplace Paul meets some Epicurean and Stoic1 philosophers who are fascinated with what he has to say and take him to the Areopagus.2
Paul has noted, as he wandered through town, that the Athenians are big on religion with the whole city being filled with all kinds of idols. “Athenians,” he says to those gathered at the Areopagus, “I see that you are extremely religious in every way.” They have even erected one monument, he notes, to “an unknown God.” The Athenians, apparently, want to make sure they’ve covered all their bases and not left anyone out.
Seizing on this idea, Paul tells the Areopagus that he is not introducing anything new to their theological system. He is merely affirming it. The God who you acknowledge as unknown, he says, I now make known to you. That God is YHWH, and YHWH is the God who made you and me and everything that is. And this God whom you did not know has not held your ignorance against you but now that you know, thanks to me, God expects you to repent and stop worshiping false Gods and idols, and if you don’t, some heavy duty judging is going to happen all up in here.
Oh, and the one whom God has sent to do the judging is one whom he has raised from the dead.
Luke concludes the chapter by telling us that, as usual, some people scoffed at the idea of someone being raised from the dead, but others were intellectually fascinated and invited him to come back and speak again. Others accepted what he said and joined him. One was Dionysius the Areopagite, a member of the high council, and another was a prominent woman named Damaris, and several others with them.
Religion for many of the Athenians, it turns out, is mostly an intellectual playground. They like to talk about it and argue about it and think about it but doing it, well, that’s not really their thing. That is what philosophy is for. And, in some respects, we Americans are not all that different from those Athenians 2,000 years ago.
In the News
Governor Mike DeWine, of Ohio: “We did not order religious organizations to close, but my message to EVERYONE is that this is serious. When you are coming together, whether in a church or wherever — this is dangerous. We have the ability to do religious services in other ways. I implore religious leaders to think about their congregations. Gathering in groups is dangerous.”
When a prominent, evangelical megachurch near Monroe, Ohio, ignored the governor’s words, they were followed by others around the state who insisted on coming together to worship in large groups, many insisting that they were doing so because it was their constitutional right to do so and, besides, God would save them.
The governor expanded his remarks: “It is not a Christian thing to do. It is not in the Judeo-Christian tradition to hurt people. I’m sure no one intends to do that, but by bringing people together, you’re risking their health, you are risking your health, you are risking total strangers’ health.”
In Virginia, Bishop Gerald Glenn, who founded New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Chesterfield, outside Richmond, refused to close his church to mass meetings, telling his congregation, “I firmly believe that God is larger than this dreaded virus.” The church announced his death on Easter from complications due to the coronavirus.
In Albany, Georgia, near the end of March, over 200 people attended a funeral for a beloved church custodian. In the following weeks, the coronavirus, which has been traced back to that event, has spread throughout the entire community, infecting two dozen persons in one family, alone.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought to the forefront our understanding and, in some cases, our misunderstanding of the first amendment, especially that part that deals with freedom of religion.3 As we often discover when examining the rights that are guaranteed under the constitution, no right is absolute in all cases.
Freedom of speech does not mean freedom to yell “fire” in a crowded theater when there is no fire. It does not allow libel or slander or speech designed to inflame others to riot. The second amendment may protect our right to bear arms but not all arms. Machine guns and bazookas, for instance, may be prohibited.
Neither, it seems, is the first amendment’s religion clause absolute. Human sacrifice as a religious practice is rightly prohibited by law, as is the consuming of hallucinogenic substances, polygamy, and any number of activities that various religions have practiced down through history but have subsequently proved harmful to human beings.
This leads us to the question of whether it is legal for the government to close churches to protect the people from the spread of a deadly pathogen such as the coronavirus. The answer is: “Yes.” Make that, “Yes, but…”
Even the most conservative media have reported that the current, very conservative Justice Department has rightly ruled that the government can legally order churches closed to large gatherings in the interest of preventing the spread of disease in a crisis such as we are currently experiencing. However, the churches cannot be singled out. This type of action can be undertaken only so long as the church is just one of many gathering places that are being closed for the same reason, i.e. cinemas, theaters, sporting venues, and other places where crowds gather. And, there is a limit to how long this action can be enforced — i.e., until the danger has passed.
That is why, last week, U.S. District Judge Greg Van Tatenhove ruled that Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear did not have a “compelling reason for using his authority to limit” worship attendance. The virus, according to Judge Tatenhove, is not sufficiently dangerous and the chances of being infected are not sufficiently compelling for the governor to rule that in-person worship services must be prohibited. All of this hinges on one thing, however, and that is, as long as social distancing and personal hygiene practices are rigorously observed.” The Judge believes that as long as this is the case, your regular Sunday morning worship services are no more dangerous than shopping at “Home Depot and Kroger.”
He did not offer an opinion about how, exactly, such social distancing and hygiene rules are going to be enforced in churches and what is going to happen, legally speaking, if they aren’t.
In the Sermon
Like the Athenians, we Americans are “religious in every way.” We fight for our right to go to worship services even when doing so is at the risk of our lives and the lives of those we say we love as Christ loved us. We demand with threats and demonstrations that our right to worship (and pursue happiness, and be free) be given to us without regard to consequences.
The freedom of religion is part and parcel of the whole freedom thing. It is one thread in the rope that holds the country together and, if you weaken that thread, the whole rope is weakened and may very well break.
The problem with that kind of thinking, however, is that it ignores the reality that all freedoms are held in tension with other freedoms. Your freedom to do what you want, when you want, as you want, must be held in tension with my freedom to live in a relatively safe environment, free from fear, from want, and from disease.
When it comes to religion, your freedom to gather with your friends, shoulder to shoulder, in the sanctuary of your church must be balanced with the reality that if just one of those people in that sanctuary is infected, the infection could spread exponentially throughout the whole community, taking scores of lives, before we even know what’s happening.
Yes, we can go to church, go to the barbershop, go to our favorite bar or restaurant. It’s just a matter of risk. How much risk are we willing to take on to do these things? And whose lives are we willing to put in danger?
Our president has already said that there will be many deaths caused by our determination to get back to normal as quickly as possible. And many have said they are willing to accept that fact. But should they have the freedom to accept it for me or for you? Exactly how many lives are they willing to sacrifice to economic prosperity? A thousand? A million?
Write their names!
A hundred? A score? A dozen?
Write their names!
Five? Three? One?
Whose grandmother? Whose grandfather? Whose mother or father? Whose child?
Write their names! Tell them they have been selected as a human sacrifice to the god of mammon.
This demand to go to church is so full of hypocrisy it virtually glows from the heat of it.
Do you remember what happened in churches following 9/11? Church attendance surged. For about two weeks. Then things went back to normal. We want to demonstrate to the world that we are free to go to worship when we choose to. We just don’t often choose to.
According to the Pew Research Center’s forum on religion and public life in America, 89% of Americans say they believe in God, but only about 36% actually attend worship services on a weekly basis. Another third attend once a month, and 30% never do. And that is based on self-reporting wherein people tend to overestimate their church attendance, not by actual observation where their attendance is documented.
77% say that religion is very or somewhat important in their lives but only 55% say they pray daily. 16% say they pray weekly, 6% monthly and 25% never.
Only 35% read or study scripture weekly, 10% monthly, 8% annually, and 45%, never at all.
It turns out we Americans, especially Christians, prefer a propositional religion that requires of us little more than intellectual assent. We like to believe in things as long as those things don’t make any demands on our lives.
We want a theology that will fit neatly on a bumper sticker or a wall plaque but doesn’t crowd our lives or our priorities too much. We want to believe that, if and when we decide to go to worship, God will deliver us from Covid-19.
And, here, we fall back on the old story of the man who was sitting on the top of his house during a flood, waiting for God to save him.
A person in a canoe paddles up and offers to give him a ride to safety but he declines. God, he says, will deliver him.
A person in a motorboat drives up, same interaction. God, he says, will deliver him.
A helicopter drops a rope ladder to him but he refused to accept it. God, he says, will rescue him.
The flood continues to rise, the man’s house is overcome, he is swept away in the flood and drowns. He goes to heaven and meets God and is indignant. “Why didn’t you rescue me?” he asks.
God responds: “I sent a canoe, a motorboat, and a helicopter. How much rescuing does one man need?”
I know, as Christians, much of our faith identity is based on being together, physically. On hugging each other, and kissing each other’s children, and holding hands, and sitting close together and singing our hearts out. But this is a dangerous time and we place our lives and the lives of those we love at risk when we do those things.
This virus will last but a short while in the grand scheme of our lives and, in the meantime, God has sent us some amazing technology to help us come together in ways that seem almost magical to those of us who were born before television.
Dare we sit atop our churches and deny this temporary rescue that God has given to us? Dare we put ourselves and our loved ones, family and church, at risk becaue we will only accept God’s help if it comes in the way we proscribe?
No, let us come together and worship as we can and, as we do, let us pray that God’s loving, rescuing hand touches those who, in laboratories, and research centers are working to find a rescue for us all.
Amen.
_______
1 Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based on the teachings of Epicurus, founded around 307 B.C. It teaches that the greatest good is to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquility, freedom from fear, and absence from bodily pain. This combination of states is held to constitute happiness in its highest form.
Stoicism is a moral philosophy that emphasizes the discipline and mastery of the emotions in order to reach a wiser, rational, and peaceful mindset.
In Paul’s time, these two philosophical systems were the chief rivals for the minds of contemporary, secular Greeks.
2 The Areopagus was a rocky hill near the Acropolis where trials were held by the high council of Athens, also called the Areopagus. Matters of philosophy and theology were debated and searched for merit there, as well.
3 “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
SECOND THOUGHTSEager to Do What is Good
by Mary Austin
1 Peter 3:13-22
As social distancing continues for seemingly the millionth week, people are running out of the willpower to keep isolating, wearing masks and bearing with each other. What seemed reasonable a few weeks ago now feels like a burden. But why are we running low on energy to keep doing good? We know what’s healthy for u s— wearing masks, sheltering in place, limiting contact with other people — and yet we’re growing weary of doing the good that 1 Peter commends to us.
Expert after expert recommends wearing a mask to cut down on the spread of Covid-19, and yet we keep carving out exceptions. We run into a place to grab something quick, and skip the mask. We don’t feel a need for a mask when we walk outside, even though we will encounter other people. The mask is too uncomfortable when we run or ride a bike. “There is widespread agreement that one of easiest ways to control the spread of the coronavirus is to wear a face mask, but there are all kinds of reasons why people don't take this basic step,” says Jacqueline Gollan, a psychologist and professor Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "One, they underestimate the threat. It’s not concrete, it’s abstract. And prevention is a difficult thing to measure." After nearly two months of quarantine, Gollan adds, people “are constantly calculating the gain/loss of doing everyday things like going to the grocery store and not wearing a mask," she said.” Increasingly, wearing a mask, or skipping trip, or missing out on an event feels like suffering. If we don’t know someone who’s sick, it feels abstract.
In Colorado, a restaurant opened on Mother's Day, “in defiance of Colorado’s public health order that limits restaurants statewide to takeout and delivery services. Customers packed C&C Coffee and Kitchen on Trail Boss Drive Sunday, filling tables, a patio and forming a line out the door for dine-in service. Governor Jared Polis’ office on Sunday issued a statement calling such conduct illegal and dangerous.” Apparently, missing brunch looked like suffering to people craving French toast.
The owner of the restaurant had had her own view of what “suffering for doing what is right” means. “C&C Coffee and Kitchen owner April Arellano did not respond to a request for comment Sunday, but a Twitter account for the restaurant declared it was reopening to stand “for America, small businesses, the Constitution and against the overreach of our governor in Colorado!!” Arellano also wrote on Facebook that she “would go out of business if I don’t do something,” and said that “if I lose the business at least I’m fighting.” “We are so behind,” she said in a comment on her post. “We have complied for two months. We cannot make it on $200/day sales when 2 staff cost me $250 not counting, food, cost, utilities and rent.” Arellano also posted a brief live video on her Facebook page showing the crowd in the restaurant. “So much for some of those people saying nobody would show up,” she said in the video.
There is plenty of deep pain all around us, and in some of our lives. The economy lost over 20 million jobs in April. The unemployment rate is “the worst devastation since the Great Depression,” and likely to get worse as industry contracts further. “Job losses have encompassed the entire economy, affecting every major industry. Areas like leisure and hospitality had the biggest losses in April, but even healthcare shed more than a million jobs. Low-wage workers, including many women and members of racial and ethnic minorities, have been hit especially hard.”
For those of us who live fortunate lives, we do so little actual suffering that we mistake inconvenience for pain. Two Texas state legislators got haircuts recently, taking one for the team, so they could protest state orders to stay at home. We are apparently willing to put people in danger so we can eat well, as meat processing facilities have been ordered to stay open, so carnivores don’t have to break out the tofu. The work is dangerous, and “high rates of absenteeism, whether from sickened workers or fearful employees staying home to avoid infection, have for weeks plagued the meat-packing industry, where workers often labor in close quarters. A Center for Disease Control and Prevention study released on Friday showed more than 4,900 workers in meat and poultry processing facilities have tested positive for Covid-19, and at least 20 have died.”
In this pandemic, the suffering is not happening for any greater purpose. 1 Peter lauds a kind of suffering for a purpose that fit the situation of the early church. His words are hopeful for communities of people being persecuted. In our time, we hear the letter’s admonishment differently.
For many of us, the question is not whether we are suffering, but how much we’re adding to the suffering of others. In mistaking our inconveniences for true suffering, people of privilege run the risk of creating more pain for others. When we demand the labor of others to cut our hair, groom our dogs, polish our nails, cut pork chops or make omelets for us, we add to the pain of those on the receiving end of our demands.
This text is an invitation to consider the suffering of others, and how we might ease it. When we are tempted to demand a privilege, we can instead worry about easing someone else’s burden. We are invited to live “with gentleness and reverence,” easing the weight we put on others. “Keep your conscience clear,” the letter urges the early church, and us.
In our time, some moral calculations are complex. Should we go to the grocery store and expose an employee to illness? Have food delivered, and take a slot that could go to someone older or with a disability? Spend money so people are employed? Save money so we don’t become a drain on others? But some ethical choices are easy. An expert said that we can think about masks and social distancing differently, if we want to do good. “So, even as businesses or states increasingly require them, rebellion is natural — to a degree, says Dr. David Aronoff, director of Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Division of Infectious Diseases and professor of medicine. But he urges Americans to think of the mask guidance not as forced conformity, but as a necessary act of solidarity: Wearing a cloth mask could stop seemingly healthy people from infecting others with coronavirus if they're asymptomatic.” He adds, "We're all hopeful that this pandemic disappears. Then we can stop doing as much risk mitigation. But for now, we really depend on the trust and kindness of others to protect our wellbeing. And that's part of being an American.” Also part of being a Christian. It’s not just hand-washing — there’s another kind of cleanliness. This letter tells us “in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord.” In that, we find our way through inconvenience to service, and we live in the hope of easing one another’s pain in this time. May we be eager to do so.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Tom Willadsen:Acts 17:22-31
Immediately prior to this reading we learn that Paul has been in Athens for a while and has engaged Jews in synagogues, and Stoic and Epicurean philosophers in discussions and debates. He’s gotten their attention and he’s moved to a bigger venue, the Areopagus. The Areopagus was the venue for homicide, arson and religious trials in Athens. He spoke to a diverse and highly educated audience; Athens was something of a college town.
It’s commonly understood that when he says “I see how extremely religious you are in every way…” before discussing an altar to an unknown god, he was being sarcastic. A more accurate reading, I believe, is that Paul was commenting on their curiosity and diligent pursuit of religious questions sincerely. He was not putting them down, but using this observation as a rhetorical “in” to form a connection with his audience.
Unique to Paul’s visits to cities mentioned in the Bible is Athens. No church arose following his visit. The city is described as being filled with foreigners who spent “their time in nothing but telling and hearing something new.” They say ideas were accepted as play things to be dabbled with, rather than convictions to stake one’s life on. The Athenians found Paul entertaining, worthy of listening to again, but we simply are not disposed to making any kind of commitment to Paul’s faith. After all, another dabbler would be along any day now offering another diversion.
* * *
Psalm 68:8-20
Today’s psalm is unusual in that it is a communal psalm of thanksgiving. It may even be intended to be recited by the king on behalf of the people. Most other psalms of thanksgiving are written as though to be recited by individuals. How does a communal statement of gratitude inform Paul’s foray in Athens, where some were distracted by his message and delivery, but no church formed in its wake?
* * *
1 Peter 3:13-22
This is a potentially dangerous text because it appears to advocate suffering. Let’s be clear, suffering for the sake of the gospel can be considered virtuous and noble, but this does not entail all suffering. There are certain faith leaders in the United States right now who are defying stay-at-home orders in their regions asserting their right to worship, and invoking the First Amendment of the Constitution as their defense. Certainly the courts will sort out whether banning public gatherings beyond a certain size has the effect of restricting the free expression of religion. Those answers will emerge, I expect, well after Covid-19-caused restrictions have passed. It appears to me that in some cases these leaders are seeking to be persecuted — and prosecuted. Again, in my opinion they have the freedom to do that, but the line that must be drawn is between what one has the right to do and what it is the right thing to do. By far most faith leaders are acting with an eye to the greater good as they have switched to worshiping over live streaming, or even worshiping at drive-in movie theatres.
* * *
John 14:15-21
It would be wise to extend this reading through v. 24. The discussion that begins in v. 22 between Jesus and Judas really informs and elaborates on the discussion that Jesus begin in v. 15. Verse 24 is a good closing statement, a literary inclusion that frames and echoes v. 15.
In this text the preacher should be very clear that “love” as used by Jesus is not an emotion, a feeling of affection. It is, rather, a commitment that one makes to put the interests of others ahead of one’s own. In this sense love can be commanded. The feeling of love cannot be commanded any more than an appreciation for Brussel’s sprouts.
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John 14:15-21
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. — Maya Angelou
The love Jesus commands will have the impact of making people feel love. This is beyond mere lip service. Love is a verb, a verb that conveys wellness and selflessness; love is not an emotion. Love is caring in motion.
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From team member Chris Keating:Acts 17:22-31
Extremely religious in every way, just not in person
According to the Barna Group, Covid-19 has created a bump in church attendance. A survey released April 6, 2020 showed that 44% of pastors are reporting much higher online attendance than normal, and 29% say it has been slightly higher.
In an interview with Newsweek, Barna President David Kinnaman remained optimistic about virtual church attendance, while sensing that many pastors may be preparing for harder times to come.
"One of the things that I've observed about the data this week is that even though churches are beginning to say it might not be until June or later [when they can meet again], there's still this overall good cheer that leaders are expressing about the stability of the environment," said Kinnaman. “In the data, there's a sense that pastors are trying to keep their chin up, but they're also thinking they need to be prepared for what might be the toughest month of ministry any of us have ever had."
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1 Peter 3:13-22
Unjust suffering
Evangelical megachurch pastor and author Darrin Patrick died last weekend as the result of what was described as “self-inflicted gunshot wounds.” Patrick was serving as teaching pastor of Seacoast Church, a multi-site megachurch in South Carolina, and had previously been the pastor of the Journey Church in St. Louis, Missouri.
Patrick had returned to the ministry after a 26-month restoration process. He had been fired from the St. Louis church for misconduct, including inappropriate contact with two women.
Carey Nieuwhof, a Canadian pastor who blogs regularly about leadership in ministry, commented that often “leaders don’t show immediate signals about how deep their struggle really is.” Nieuwhof continues, “Almost any leader knows the deep struggle of leadership. You don’t have to be in it long to know how dark or difficult it can get.”
A 2019 report from the Southern Baptist Convention detailed the frequency of pastor suicide. Many “emotional first responders” struggle with the hidden suffering of suicidal thoughts, writes psychologist Shauna Springer.
Springer writes that when “clergy become public examples of strength, there is an additional pressure placed on their shoulders, as they hold the hope of those within their sphere of ministry. Becoming a caregiver to one individual in need, or the metaphorical "shepherd of an entire flock," can be lonely, and isolating, and can increase the challenge of reaching out and getting support from both professionals and peers.
(If you or someone you love is considering suicide, please call 1-800-273-8255.)
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John 14:15-21
Never orphaned
Covid-19 has forced every congregation and pastor to rethink all aspects of ministry — including pastoral care. Congregations at the epicenter of the pandemic have become creative in their ministry of sharing the promise Jesus offered in John 14:15-21.
In New York City, Pastor Mike Carrion of the Promised Land Covenant Church braces each time his phone rings. His church is located in the south Bronx, a center of the Covid-19 storm which has been particularly virulent among African American and Latino communities.
“I’m on the phone with a mom and she screams,” Carrion told the Washington Post. “How does she continue to raise her other children with her baby gone?” Carrion said of speaking with a mother of a seventh-grader who died of Covid-19, the disease the virus causes. “No seminary class prepares you for this.”
Carrion’s church is located in the poorest congressional district in the United States. Officials estimate that the poverty rate is 44%. Carrion said 13 families in the church have faced the death of loved ones in one month.
Maintaining connection in the church includes a group text among the church’s nine (mostly part-time) pastors and Zoom counseling sessions with individuals and groups. “People need more than a poem and three principles. People need to deal with fear,” he said. “We need the person of God and we need a God-given therapist to help us navigate our brokenness.”
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WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: Bless our God, O peoples, bless our God.
People: Let the sound of God’s praise be heard,
Leader: Let us come into God’s presence and honor our vows.
People: Come and hear what God has done for us.
Leader: Blessed be God who has not rejected our prayers.
People: Blessed be God who has not removed steadfast love from us.
OR
Leader: Let us worship the God who dwells among us.
People: We rejoice that we are always in the presence of our God.
Leader: God is with us in worship and in our daily lives.
People: No matter our circumstances our God is with us
Leader: Let us make God’s presence known to others.
People: We will show forth God by our love and service.
Hymns and Songs:
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
UMH: 117
H82: 680
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
ELW: 632
W&P: 84
AMEC: 61
STLT: 281
God Will Take Care of You
UMH: 130
AAHH: 137
NNBH: 52
NCH: 460
AMEC: 437
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
ELW: 733
W&P: 72
AMEC: 84
Renew: 249
Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies
UMH: 173
H82: 6/7
PH: 462/463
LBW: 265
ELW: 553
W&P: 91
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
UMH: 349
NNBH: 195
ELW: 284
W&P: 472
It Is Well with My Soul
UMH: 377
AAHH: 377
NNBH: 255
NCH: 438
CH: 561
ELW: 785
W&P: 428
AMEC: 448
O Come and Dwell in Me
UMH: 388
O Jesus, I Have Promised
UMH: 396
H82: 655
PH: 388/389
NCH: 493
CH: 612
LBW: 503
ELW: 810
W&P: 458
AMEC: 280
Take My Life, and Let It Be
UMH: 399
H82: 707
PH: 391
NNBH: 213
NCH: 448
CH: 609
LBW: 406
ELW: 583/685
W&P: 466
AMEC: 292
Renew: 150
Take Up Thy Cross
UMH: 415
H82: 675
PH: 393
LBW: 398
ELW: 667
W&P: 351
AMEC: 294
The Steadfast Love of the Lord
CCB: 28
Renew: 23
Cares Chorus
CCB: 53
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
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who dwells within and among us:
Grant us the faith to trust in your presence
whatever the circumstances of our lives;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you dwell within us and among us. You are present in all the circumstances of our lives. Help us to trust in your presence as we face the changing ways of life around us. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our lack of faith and determination to actually follow Jesus.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are quick to call ourselves Christians and to claim membership in our church but we are much slower when it comes to actually tuning our lives to the Gospel beat. We want to assure ourselves that we have a place in heaven with Jesus but we often fail to join him in his ministry to the poor, the rejected, and the despised. We look upon the crucified one and think that his message is all about us feeling good about ourselves. We have forgotten about loving our enemies and praying for those who mistreat us. Forgive us, Gracious God, and restore your Spirit within us that we may know the joy of faithful discipleship. Amen.
Leader: God is within us and among us and desires to love others through us. In loving others we know that we are loves, as well. Receive God’s love as you give it generously to others.
Prayers of the People
We praise you, O God of majesty and glory; we praise you, O God of humility and service.
(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 call ourselves Christians and to claim membership in our church but we are much slower when it comes to actually tuning our lives to the Gospel beat. We want to assure ourselves that we have a place in heaven with Jesus but we often fail to join him in his ministry to the poor, the rejected, and the despised. We look upon the crucified one and think that his message is all about us feeling good about ourselves. We have forgotten about loving our enemies and praying for those who mistreat us. Forgive us, Gracious God, and restore your Spirit within us that we may know the joy of faithful discipleship.
We give you thanks for all the ways that you make yourself known in our lives. We thank you for the ways in which you speak to us through scripture and through nature, through worship and through friendship.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We pray for those who find it difficult to believe that you are here with us. We pray for all who seek to find their way to a life that has meaning and purpose.
(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
Do you ever pretend? Do you play like you are a super hero or a famous sports person or a firefighter? What do you like to pretend? Do you have anything special you wear to help you pretend, like a cape or something? Being a super hero, great sports player, or a firefighter takes more than just a costume. It means actually doing those things that they do. Being a Christian is more than just showing up at church or wearing a cross, it is about being loving and kind like Jesus.
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CHILDREN'S SERMONWe’ve Come This Far
by Bethany Peerbolte
1 Peter 3:13-22
The verses from 1 Peter this week asks us to make an accounting of where our hope comes from. That can be a hard thing to do if we never notice the source. The children are experiencing a unique chance to pause in the middle of a scary time and see what is giving them hope. This will help them return to those hope-filled things the next time they need to. It is also a great time to connect those comforting things to God. To show how God provides for us through games, and friends, and other sources we might not normally recognize as being from God.
In your lesson say something like:
There is a great song in our hymnal titled “We’ve Come This Far By Faith.” In the lyrics the song says when we go through hard times the thing that gets us through is trusting in God. It says we should lean on God. I wonder if you have ever hurt your foot or your leg. When that kind of injury happens we have to lean on someone else to help us get to safety. That is what the song is saying we do when we have a hard thing to face. We lean on God, trusting that God will help us through.
This song was written by a man named Albert Godson. He was of African-American descent and he learned to play the piano very well. He played so well that lots of people wanted to have him play for them. He moved to a big city far away from family and friends so he could chase his dream of being a famous pianist.
While he was away from his family and friends he struggled to feel like he belonged. He got depressed and it was while he was depressed that he wrote “We’ve Come This Far By Faith.” He heard the tune in his head and sat down at a piano and played, then he heard the words. He says God was singing the words to him.
This song reminds us that there have been really bad days in our lives, but we made it through. For Christians we believe we make it through those times with God’s help. Sometimes we don’t even notice the help God is giving because it comes from an unexpected place.
I wonder what has been helping you get through the shelter in place measures we have been taking to keep our community safe. Maybe puzzles, or family games have helped pass the time. Maybe playing videos games with friends online has helped you stay connected with friends. Maybe someone has been there to listen to you and help you get through. Whatever has helped you is the help God is giving you. God inspires people to listen and offer advice. They may be saying the words but we believe God is giving them the words like Albert believes when he wrote his song. God helps game makers and puzzle designers make the things that we need to get through tough weeks.
I hope you will take the time to think about what has helped you. Why? One reason is to recognize what helps so you can continue to get through this tough time. Another reason, though, is to see God working in your life. To see how God is helping you and fulfilling the promise to never leave us alone. We can always trust God to be with us and to let us lean on God when we need to.
Let’s say a prayer thanking God for the help.
Faithful God, thank you for being there for us in this hard time. We still need you and will keep leaning on you for help. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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The Immediate Word, May 17, 2020 issue.
Copyright 2020 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.
