Soft Power and The Making Of Friends
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For December 22, 2019:
Soft Power and The Making Of Friends
by Dean Feldmeyer
Isaiah 7:10-16
An African proverb says: Choose your friends, wisely. A poorly chosen friend is more dangerous than a hungry lion.
Nearly 3,000 years ago Isaiah tried to convince King Ahaz of Judah that this axiom, or one like it, should drive his country’s foreign affairs. Three countries were vying for his friendship. Israel and Damascus (Syria) wanted him to join them in a coalition to resist the advancing, spreading, conquering army of Assyria. Assyria’s king, Tiglath-Pileser III, wanted Judah to come on board with him. All were threatening violence if they were turned down.
Isaiah’s advice: The security you will get from an alliance with earthly powers will be thin and short lived and based only on what you can do for them. They do not care for your welfare or the welfare of Judah. Lasting security and safety are to be found in the Lord God. Make your alliance with YHWH and YHWH alone.
According to the prophet, whether we are talking about national foreign policy or our personal relationships, who we choose as our friends and how we choose them, and what we hope and expect to get out of the relationship, is as much a matter of faith as it is a matter of politics or feelings.
In the World
On December 10, news sources around the country announced that, after nearly two years of negotiations, Mexico, Canada, and the United States have agreed on a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the United States, Mexico, Canada Agreement (USMCA).
The agreement was signed in November 2018 by President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. At that point, it still had to be ratified by the legislatures of all three countries. Mexico ratified the agreement first, and on December 10, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that, after winning agreements on stronger enforcement of labor and environmental provisions, and stripping a measure that would have locked in long-term patent protection for certain pharmaceutical products, it would be ratified by the U.S. House of Representatives. Senate leader Mitch McConnell has refused to bring it to the floor of the Senate until all impeachment proceedings are concluded.
Canada is expected to ratify the agreement in early 2020. No one is sure when it will actually become law.
Almost all American parties, liberal and conservative, agree that USMCA is an improvement over NAFTA. The, normally centrist, Brookings Institute, however, isn’t so sure. They contend that the changes from NAFTA to USMCA are largely cosmetic, the biggest change being, simply, the name.
One of President Trump’s campaign talking points, they contend, was that NAFTA was the “worst trade deal in the history of the world,” so it would look good on his report card to get the US out of it, which he has accomplished by simply changing the name of the agreement with few substantive changes.
Further, there is the question not of what, but of how.
Diplomacy and foreign relations are most often forged using what is called “soft power,” that is, the ability to convince and persuade others that what is in our interest is in theirs as well, that what benefits us, benefits them, that our wants and needs are conjoined with theirs; we all win by working together.
President Trump’s style is to enter into these types of talks with posturing and threats which, as in the case of USMCA, won some small, short-term concessions for the US but may very likely damage our relationships with Canada and Mexico in future negotiations.
So, with USMCA we ally ourselves, economically, with Mexico and Canada and it is to be hoped that they will see that the treaty benefits all concerned. That’s the ideal.
But what about our relationships with other countries? Countries like North Korea, China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia? Are our interests conjoined with theirs? Do we all benefit from the “friendships” we have recently built with them?
With whom we ally ourselves as a country and how we work out those alliances is a complex process, often based upon masterful skills developed over years of diplomatic experience. And when, finally, such alliances are forged, security and safety are the goals. But this happens only when all of the participating parties are working, in good faith, toward each other’s welfare.
Isaiah, however, warns us, as he warned King Ahaz, that there is only one reliable source of safety and security.
In the Scripture
Ahaz, the grandson of Uzziah and son of Jotham, became king of the southern kingdom of Judah in about 736 BCE at the age of 20. He reigned as co-regent with his father for four years and, upon the death of Jotham, took the throne and reigned on his own from 732BCE until 715BCE.
Things were already in a mess when he took the throne and, according to historians, he didn’t make them any better.
Immediately upon taking the throne, Ahaz had to meet a coalition formed by King Pekah of the northern kingdom of Israel, and King Rezin of Damascus (Syria). These two wanted to form a trilateral coalition to fight against what they foresaw as the imminent invasion of their countries by Tiglath-Pileser III, king of Assyria, the huge and brutal empire to the north.
Isaiah counseled Ahaz to trust in God rather than foreign allies. And, if he was hesitant to do so he should ask God for a sign that Isaiah was telling the truth. In this morning’s reading, Ahaz, having already decided what he is going to do, refuses, saying he will not test God. Isaiah replies that Ahaz will have a sign whether he wants one or not, and the sign will be the birth of a child to a young woman, probably one of the king’s wives, who will call the child Immanuel, meaning “God-with-us.”
Ahaz accepted the council of Isaiah to the point of not joining Israel or Damascus, who had already attacked Judah when Jotham was king. But, to protect himself and Judah, Ahaz called on the aid of the Assyrians. Tiglath-Pileser attacked from the north, sacked Damascus and annexed Syria, He then attacked Israel and the northern kingdom, capturing Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people to Assyria.
Through Assyria's intervention, Ahaz was relieved of his troublesome neighbors, Israel and Damascus. However, while Assyria allowed internal sovereignty to Judah, Ahaz was required to swear sovereignty to Tiglath-Pileser II and provide him with auxiliary soldiers and other forms of tribute.
From Isaiah’s perspective, Ahaz had simply traded one form of earthly tribute for another. He had avoided entangling alliances with Israel and Damascus and wound up in one with Assyria. The prophet was not happy.
Neither was he pleased when the king went to Damascus in 732 BCE to swear homage to Tiglath-Pileser and his gods. While he was there, Ahaz became enamored of an altar that he saw and had one like it made in Jerusalem, and placed in the temple where he also changed the worship ritual to correspond more with those of the Assyrians. He also changed all the furniture of the temple to make it more like the Assyrian temples and he commissioned the building of an astrological observatory with accompanying sacrifices like the ones in Assyria.
2 Kings 16:3 records that Ahaz offered his son as a sacrifice by fire to the Assyrian God, Moloch.
Ahaz, during his whole reign, was free from troubles with his neighboring rulers and from Assyria as long as he complied with their religious regulations and paid the demanded tributes. However, he so contaminated the country’s religious rituals and practices that history has considered him one of Judah’s worst and most wicked kings.
Upon his death at the age of 36, he was not allowed to be buried with other kings of Judah but was placed in an anonymous pauper’s grave.
His son, Hezekiah, spent most of his reign trying to undo the damage Ahaz did to the spiritual life of the country.
In the Pulpit
A sermon from this text can easily find ample parallels between the story of Ahaz and modern day politics. Thomas Friedman, in his book, The Earth is Flat, reminds us that the digital age has made the world smaller and the global commercial playing field flatter. America does not and cannot pretend to exist in a vacuum, alone with only ourselves to consider. We must carve out relationships with other countries.
The question, however, is how shall we go about carving out those relationships? And with whom? We must be careful to create relationships that benefit not just our partners but ourselves as well. We must be careful not to sell our souls, as Ahaz did, for some tenuous earthly security. And we cannot, in building relationships with other countries, rely solely upon muscle. We must also rely upon brains and heart.
Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University coined the term "soft power" in the late 1980s. Put simply, it is the ability to attract and persuade. Whereas hard power — the ability to coerce — grows out of a country's military or economic might, soft power arises from the attractiveness of a country's culture, political ideals, and policies. Soft power is the power of diplomacy.
According to Nye, all too often, we focus, as a country, on our military and/or economic power, trying to force other nations to do our will, when it is soft power that will help prevent terrorists from recruiting supporters from among the moderate majority. And it is soft power that will help us deal with critical global issues that require multilateral cooperation among states. That, he says, is why it is so essential that America understand and apply our soft power.
Isaiah would concur, I think.
And he would add that, as people of faith, we must always remember that our safety and security is not, ultimately, found in any earthly relationship but only in our relationship with the Lord our God.
A sermon might equally bring this consideration down to the micro level wherein the relationships under consideration are not between countries but between individuals.
How do we choose our friends, and how do we counsel our children and grandchildren as they seek to make their way through this foggy terrain? Upon what basis do we choose those with whom we will “hang out?” Mark Twain is reported to have said, “Don’t tell me about yourself. Introduce me to your friends and I’ll know all about you I need to know.”
Why do we choose the people we do as friends? To make us look good? So we can be part of their “in” group? So we can get some of what they’ve got?
And why have they chosen us? The exploitative, faux-friend is nearly a cliché in teen movies but it is a cliché built from the hard clay of experience. Many of us have experienced that thin and fragile friendship that is built on nothing more than what a person can take from us with little concern for what they can give.
Whether our search for friends is at the macro-level of countries seeking allies or at the micro level of individuals seeking to make friends, Isaiah would remind us that, as good as our friends and/or friendships make us feel, at the end of the day our only true safety and security comes from our relationship, our friendship, with the Lord our God who loves us more than any singing of it.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Be Like Joseph
by Mary Austin
Matthew 1:18-25
If we feel like Joseph at the end of this Advent season, we’re not alone. We can imagine how many sleepless nights he paced, wondering what to do about a pregnant betrothed. How many days was only part of his attention on his work, as he turned over the possibilities of her pregnancy in his mind? How often did he fret about what his family, his neighbors and the village would think? How many times did he try to imagine the conversation he needed to have with her, before he settled on his decision?
Knowing our own tension, we can imagine Joseph’s anxiety, too. Knowing how often we fret about the future, or worry about the present, we find that Joseph is an unexpected companion in this stressful, er, joyful season. Joseph embodies the place where so many of us find ourselves: worried, anxious, depressed and joyless.
A lot of us are in distress. Anxiety among children and teens is pervasive, and the National Institute of Health says that “nearly 1 in 3 of all adolescents ages 13 to 18 will experience an anxiety disorder. These numbers have been rising steadily; between 2007 and 2012, anxiety disorders in children and teens went up 20%.” Hospital admissions for teenagers who are suicidal have doubled in the last decade. One potential cause is the surrounding world that “feels scary and threatening. We've seen an increase in school shootings, with resultant drills and lockdowns in schools. We've seen shootings in public places. There have been terrorist attacks here in the US and around the world taking many lives. From just watching or reading the news, it is reasonable for anyone to feel afraid in public spaces that previously would have felt safe.” Adults, too, report feeling more anxious. “Approximately 40 million American adults — roughly 18% of the population — have an anxiety disorder, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Safety, health, and finances seemed to be the greatest sources of anxiety, according to the APA poll. 68% of respondents said “keeping myself or my family safe” and “my health” made them either somewhat or extremely anxious. 67% said the same of “paying my bills or expenses.” Politics and interpersonal relationships followed at 56% and 48%, respectively.”
Some people in our society have more reason to worry than others. Police shootings are a leading cause of death for young African-American men, who have more reason to fear than others of us. “About 1 in 1,000 black men and boys in America can expect to die at the hands of police, according to a new analysis of deaths involving law enforcement officers. That makes them 2.5 times more likely than white men and boys to die during an encounter with cops. The analysis also showed that Latino men and boys, black women and girls and Native American men, women and children are also killed by police at higher rates than their white peers. But the vulnerability of black males was particularly striking.” The grief from these killings spreads out beyond the individuals involved, adding to the worry carried by the whole community. “A study published in the Lancet last year found that police killings of unarmed black men were associated with an increase in mental health problems such as depression and emotional issues for black people living in the state where the killing took place. And living in a state of constant fear can lead to chronic stress…”
Native American women also have reason to be fearful, as they experience particularly high levels of sexual violence. “More than half of American Indian and Alaska Native women will experience sexual violence in their lifetimes, according to the Department of Justice.” Justice is elusive, given the patchwork of jurisdictions. “Sexual assault investigations can fall through the cracks when tribes and the federal government fail to work together. Even for those few cases that end in a conviction in tribal court, federal law prevents most courts from sentencing perpetrators to more than a year. Survivors who come forward to report assaults often find themselves trapped in small communities with their perpetrators, and several said the broken legal system contributed to their trauma.”
For many people, there are genuine reasons to be afraid.
Then there are iPhone apps with malware. Plus, the top ten things that lead to divorce. And common household foods that can kill you. There are so many things to worry about, both real and imagined. The news likes to keep us on edge, and dramatic headlines are clickable headlines.
Joseph, our fellow traveler in anxiety, offers us a way through this tangled swamp of worries. He receives the gift of divine guidance from the angel, through his dream, and he’s wise enough to recognize that he’s hearing from God. Outside wisdom brings clarity to his worries. He could keep fretting, and ignore the angel’s message, but he makes a decision not to keep living in this particular place of anxiety. Like Joseph, we have to figure out when to keep worrying, and when to stop and take action. Our fears, like his, have a cause, and yet we risk getting swallowed up in them. Joseph put his trust in the message he gets.
For Joseph, there will be plenty to worry about later: getting to Bethlehem, finding a place to stay there, getting away from Herod’s malice, plus traveling to Egypt and then coming back again. He may well have wished for a different life as the years unfold! We can hope that this message from the angel, reminding him of his place in God’s plans, is enough assurance to carry him through all of those future stresses, too. The difficulties don’t go away, but the agonizing can end.
For us, the road out of anxiety may be more complex. We owe it to the people who are legitimately afraid in our society to work for a world that’s more just, and less dangerous. We owe our young friends a world where they aren’t measured as human beings by the number of “likes” they get on social media. We owe the world some work, to make it safe and hospitable for all people.
And we owe ourselves the freedom from mindless worrying, when it’s not necessary. We can follow Joseph’s example and stop pursuing the things that make us fearful without reason. We can bring our worries to the God who is always wise, and we can listen to the places and people who carry God’s voice to us. Life doesn’t ever become easy, and yet it can become free from unnecessary distress. Like Joseph, we have a part to play in God’s plans, and God has a gift of peace for us, too.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Tom Willadsen:
Matthew 1:18-25
Today is the rare day around the Nativity when Joseph gets most of the attention.
Let’s take a closer look at him. He’s “descended from the house and family of David.” [Luke 2:4] He is “a righteous man.” Some scholars contend that he is substantially older than Mary, and that Mary is a teenager, but there is nothing in the text that indicates either’s age. Joseph didn’t want to bring disgrace onto his fiancée, so he decided to “dismiss her quietly.” That word for “dismiss” is the first verb many of us learned in Biblical Greek. It can also mean “divorce,” “untie,” or “set free.” It’s the same verb than John the Baptizer uses when he says he’s not worthy to stoop down and untie “the thong of his sandal.” (Mark 1:7)
An angel appears to Joseph in a dream as soon as Joseph “resolved” to dismiss Mary. Angels are scary things. Their first words are always along the lines of “Don’t be afraid!” At one church I served years ago the kindergarten class was stationed in the balcony with several microphones on Christmas Eve. It was their job to scream, “Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy!” Even though Luke 2 says a single angel said that to the shepherds before the “army of the heavenly host joined” it, the screaming had the desired effect, the worshipers jumped at this shrieked, amplified announcement. We thus offered a little of the fear that came even before the announcement of Jesus’ birth.
So, back to Joseph’s angel. It appeared to him in a dream. Can you think of another Biblical character that had a significant dream? Say someone who was so good at interpreting dreams that it got him out of jail, then won him a huge promotion that put him in a position to keep his family — who believed he was dead — from starving? That other Joseph. Do you suppose there’s a connection? Someone who’s in the right place at the right time who comes to the rescue… Would Jesus have been considered a descendant of David if Joseph had “dismissed” Mary?
This Joseph drops out of the story before Jesus reaches adulthood. Another Joseph, the one from Arimathea, comes at the end of the story, after the baby whose birth is so significant has been crucified and is dead. This third Joseph is there to complete righteousness by seeing that the corpse was taken off the cross that fateful Friday.
* * *
Isaiah 7:10-16
Isaiah 7:14 is one of the most contentious passages in scripture; it’s part of the oracle addressed to King Ahaz in today’s Hebrew scriptures lesson. The Lord has insisted on giving Ahaz a sign, and that sign is “a virgin” or “a young woman” will have a baby named Immanuel. Before this baby has left toddlerhood, the threat besetting Ahaz will be no more. Basically, the oracle tells Ahaz to trust that the Lord will spare his kingdom within about four years at the most.
Whether the Hebrew הּﬠﬥמּﬣ is better translated “virgin” or “young woman” is a huge deal for Christians for whom the virgin birth is an essential tenet of faith. The Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon gives “young woman” as the correct rendering (p. 761). The Jewish Publication Society’s “Tanakh - The Holy Scriptures,” (1985) also renders הּﬠﬥמּﬣ “the young woman. “
Yet when Matthew got around to describing Jesus’ birth he seized on this passage and rendered הּﬠﬥמּﬣ as παρθεηος, or “virgin,” a term that is specific for a young woman who has not has sexual intercourse.
What is often overlooked by Christians is that this oracle from Isaiah predicted the birth of a different child, who had been born more than seven centuries earlier before Jesus was laid in the manger.
So here’s a question for Christians, not just suggested by this particular passage, but about Hebrew prophecy in general: can oracles be “recycled?” Can inspired, written words from other moments in history, other cultures, other millennia, other continents and languages be appropriated today? Are they “used up” once they have “come to pass?”
I know, I know, more than you want to include in your sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, but it’s worth thinking about. How do we use scripture? What kind of authority do we assign to it?
* * *
Romans 1:1-7
We’re about to celebrate Christmas and we’re looking at the start of “Dear Romans.” What’s up with that? It circles back to Matthew’s gospel’s assertion that Jesus is a descendant of David. That’s his “fleshly” heritage. He’s got another heritage, which we’ll see when we worship January 12, the first Sunday after Epiphany, aka “Baptism of the Lord.” While Paul is not explicit about this, exactly, it’s clear that he is pointing believers to see that Christ is both human and divine.
At the end of Paul’s salutation to the Romans, he refers to them as “saints.” It’s interesting that this term, so perilous for Protestants and cherished by Roman Catholics, only appears in plural form in the Christian Bible. We are not, cannot be, saints in isolation, but only in community do we attain that identity. Together.
* * *
Application: Matthew 1:18-25
Joseph exhibits some classic symptoms of anxiety. In the past decade anxiety has become a “thing.” A thing that, increasingly, Americans regard as a health/medical condition for which we are medicated.
Colleges and universities have recognized and begun responding to what is called an epidemic among our young people. John Dunne, the Distinguished Chair in Contemplative Humanities at the University of Wisconsin, teaches a class to incoming freshmen called “The Art and Science of Human Flourishing.”
Dr. Dunne is famous for “the Strawberry Exercise.” He asks his students to imagine a strawberry. Freshly picked, red, ripe, washed…Most of his students start to respond as though there is an actual strawberry with them. Do this yourself. Are you salivating yet? Good.
Dunne uses this experience to help illustrate “cognitive fusion” — the integration of mental and physical functioning. It’s a benign example, accessible to anyone with a shred of imagination. Now, Dunne instructs, take that experience and apply it to a situation that you’re stressed or worried about. Say, this calculus test. Imagining it as impossible will cause your body to manifest the symptoms of test anxiety. And the beauty of anxiety is its portability — you can stress about this calculus test anytime, anywhere!
Suppose, instead, you imagined yourself opening your Blue Book as a well-prepared student. You’ve studied, you’ve learned the material, you’re ready. You may not ace the test, but you’re in a mental position to do your level best.
Do you suppose that Joseph’s dream angel helped him “de-fuse” from his engagement to Mary and her pregnancy? Perhaps it did, and good thing too, that Xanax wasn’t around then.
* * * * * *
From team member Chris Keating:
Thunberg: child prophet or just a child?
When Time magazine named 16-year old climate activist Greta Thunberg its “Person of the Year” for 2019, some it was a confirming of her status as a prophet. Her actions point to the necessity of speaking truth to power. Margaret Atwood, author of the The Handmaid’s Tale, praised her as a modern Joan of Arc.
Others suggest that rather than seeing her as a prophet pointing out something we do not know, she is instead a sign that reminds us of what there is near-universal scientific consensus: climate change is happening. It is real, and has been documented for decades. As Thunberg herself says, “I don’t want you to listen to me, I want you to listen to the scientists. Her youth conveys an important sign, writes Amherst College professor Ellen Boucher. “Thunberg is not unravelling the mysteries of our era, or a time traveler sent to stop climate change,” writes Boucher. “Rather, she is a child admonishing selfishness and pleading for fairness.” She is, in other words, a signpost of her generation and a display ad for needed societal change.
* * *
Ahaz’ inability to trust
When Ahaz refuses to put God to the test by asking for a sign, he is ostensibly suggesting that it is wrong to push God for some sort of sign. But as Anathea Portier-Young’s commentary suggests, God has been in the business of providing signs since the time of Noah and Moses. Isaiah sees Ahaz’ refusal to ask for a sign not as an expression of his righteousness, but of his unbelief.
Stephen Covey once wrote that “The first job of any leader is to inspire trust. Trust is confidence born of two dimensions: character and competence. Character includes your integrity, motive and intent with people. Competence includes your capabilities, skills, results, and track record. Both dimensions are vital.” The most critical aspect of leadership, Covey said, is to extend trust to others, and to “recognize that trust impacts us 24/7, 365 days a year.” Nothing, he wrote, is faster than the speed of trust.
* * *
This shall be a sign to you…
Samantha Krerowicz decided to add a little politics to her holiday decorations around her Las Vegas, NV home. Krerowicz put up a sign that reads, “Merry Impeachmas,” last week, to the disdain of her neighbors. A dozen eggs were thrown at her house and a rock was thrown through one of her windows. The reaction has prompted her to consider taking the sign down.
* * *
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
Fed with the bread of tears
As Christmas approaches, torrents of pent up emotions — fear, loneliness, grief, sadness — are often released. The Psalmist cries out to God in hope of salvation, just as millions of others cry out to friends, pastors, counselors or even emergency services. The Avon and Somerset police in England reported that over half of the emergency calls it received during the two weeks before Christmas last year were not calls requiring police services. Dispatchers reported receiving calls from frightened and lonely persons looking for assurance and a calm voice. In one case, a dispatcher spent 30 minutes on a call with an 85-year old woman while his colleagues searched for family who could look after the woman.
This year, the force is promoting a social media campaign to highlight the needs vulnerable elderly and lonely persons in the community. The department is encouraging neighbors to use send Christmas cards to people in their neighborhoods who may need encouragement.
* * *
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
Restoring hope
When Frank Capra’s movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” was released 73 years ago, it attracted little attention and was considered a failure by major studios. Yet the movie has become a classic, and is considered one of the greatest films of all time. It’s message of hope has inspired a Presbyterian pastor to create a short video, “It’s a Wonderful Church.” The video created by the Rev. Ryan Landino is the latest in his series “Pastor Ryan’s Sixty Second Sermons.” With the help of Clarence the Angel, the pastor in the movie discovers the impact his church and presbytery have had in the local area. The pastor wakes up from his dream renewed, just like George Bailey in the classic movie.
“This video is a love letter to the connectional church,” says Landino, “our community of churches holding each other up and being held accountable to the integrity of embodying God’s love and justice today, an integrity that is needed now more than ever.”
* * *
Matthew 1:18-25
Vulnerable families
This week, hundreds immigrants formed lines outside of offices of New York’s Department of Motor Vehicles to take advantage of the state’s new “Green Light” law which offers driver’s license privileges to following the enactment of the state’s “Green Light” law extending drivers licenses to undocumented persons. A similar law took effect in neighboring New Jersey this week.
While it adds new dimensions to ongoing debates about immigration, the law also provides additional support to families who are struggling—perhaps not unlike the struggles faced by Mary and Joseph. In New York, it offers immigrants opportunities to access health care, employment, education and grocery shopping. “It’s about survival,” said Eva Gomez, 39, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who lives in Passaic, NJ.
* * * * * *
From team member Ron Love
Matthew 1:23
“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him “Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”
The writer of today’s hymn O Come, O Come, Emmanuel! is unknown to us, as should be expected. He was a monk who composed the hymn in the ninth century. It was sung only one week in the year. It was only sung during he the last seven days of Advent. Only one line was sung each day in response to the vespers service. The song was lost for centuries, until John Mason Neale discovered it in the mid-nineteenth century. Neale was a British Anglican priest who spoke twenty languages. He devoted himself to finding ancient Christian hymns that were lost through the ages. It is unknown how he came across this hymn, which was written in Latin. The hymn was published in the 1850s. Twenty-five years after its publication the original hymn was reduced from seven to five stanzas, as we know it today.
Verse one speaks of “Emmanuel, our deliverer.” As Israel was once exiled in Babylonia, we today are separated from God in heaven.
Verse two speaks of “Lord of Might.” The God of Moses, the God of the Exodus, will bring forth his thundering might upon us, releasing us from bondage.
Verse three speaks of the “Rod of Jesse.” This prophecy refers to Isaiah 11:1, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a branch will bear fruit.”
Verse four speaks to “Day-Spring.” This refers to the priest Zacharias who upon hearing of the birth of Jesus said, “because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79)
Verse five speaks to “Thou Key of David.” This makes reference to the prophecy first expressed by Isaiah 22:22, “I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”
* * *
Matthew 1:23
“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him “Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”
Saint Teresa of Avila was a Spanish nun of the Carmelite Order. She is considered a mystic. One of the things for which she is best known for is introducing Christianity to “mental prayer.” She developed this spiritual devotion while residing at a convent. Her mother died in 1529, and despite her father’s opposition, Teresa, in 1535, entered the Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation at Avila. Within two years her health collapsed, and she was an invalid for three years. It was during this time that she developed a love for mental prayer. She described mental prayer as, “Mental prayer is nothing else but being on terms of friendship with God, frequently conversing in secret with Him.” After her recovery, however, she stopped praying. She continued for fifteen years in a mental state that was divided between the worldly and the divine. In 1555, she underwent a religious awakening. With her awakening she restored the Carmelites to a life of austerity, since over the years the order had become too relaxed. Her reform required the nuns to totally withdraw from the secular world so they could meditate on divine law and through a prayerful life of penance and exercising what she termed as “our vocation of reparation” for the sins of humankind. Teresa had her prayer book with her at all times. The prayer printed below became known as “St. Teresa’s Bookmark” because she kept the prayer on a card in her prayer book. The prayer reads:
Let nothing disturb you;
Let nothing frighten you.
All things are passing.
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
Nothing is wanting to him who possesses God.
God alone suffices.
* * *
Isaiah 7:15
He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.
If one would tour the old section of Charleston, South Carolina, they would see many homes having their porch ceilings, and the trim around their windows and doors painted blue. This is because, for the Gullah culture, the color blue is supposed to ward off malevolent spirits. Most of the slaves who came to Charleston were from the West African coast. But these slaves consisted of many different tribes who had different dialects and cultures. When they resettled in America along the Eastern coast, they blended these various dialects and cultures together and it became known as the Gullah culture. It began on the Sea Islands of the Southeast, as African slaves working in remote areas formed a common language and culture, which mixed European and African influences with English.
* * *
Matthew 1:23
Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him “Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”
Mental illness has become a major health issue for colleges. Anxiety and depression are two major issues confronting healthcare workers. Because of the lack of healthcare professionals, there is a long wait on the part of students to receive counseling. This has resulted in a number of suicides. The Associated Press did a study of the largest universities in each state. Since 2014, the number of students receiving mental health treatment at those schools has grown by 35%, while total enrollment grew just 5%. By 2018, nearly 1 in 10 students were coming for help, but the number of licensed counselors changed little, from an average of 16 to 19 over five years. On some campuses, that amounts to one counselor for every 4,000 students. It is recommended that there be a minimum of one counselor per 1,500 students, but few of the 39 universities studied met that benchmark. At the University of Maryland, it can take up to 30 days to see a counsellor. Sharon Kirkland-Gordon, director of this university’s counseling center, said, “A lot can happen in 30 days. For someone who is close to crisis mode, 30 days can be too late to see someone.” At the university student organizers, on February 14, 2015, launched a campaign called “30 Days Too Late.” The campaign slogan reflecting on how long it took to receive help for a mental health problem.
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Isaiah 7:15
He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.
The West Virginia Basic Training Class #18 for the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation were dismissed because of their graduating class picture, which was taken on November 27, 2019. In the photo all of the new correctional officers are seen performing the Nazi salute. A caption at the top of the picture reads “Hail Byrd!” who was their training instructor. Secretary Jeff Sandy, the director of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety wrote in a memo regarding the photograph, “It is distasteful, hurtful, disturbing, highly insensitive and completely inappropriate.”
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WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock!
People: You, who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
Leader: Stir up your might, and come to save us!
People: Restore us, O God; let your face shine.
Leader: Give us life, and we will call on your name.
People: Restore us, O Lord God of hosts, that we may be saved.
OR
Leader: Come and join together in the presence of the Most High.
People: With joy we come to the shelter of God’s love.
Leader: God is our shelter from the storms of life.
People: God’s presence is our help and our joy.
Leader: In the strength of our God’s love we can reach out to others.
People: In God’s Spirit we will share God’s love with all.
Hymns and Songs:
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
UMH: 211
H82: 56
PH: 9
AAHH: 188
NNBH: 82
NCH: 116
CH: 119
LBW: 34
ELA: 257
W&P: 154
AMEC: 102
STLT: 225
Savior of the Nations, Come
UMH: 214
PH: 14
LBW: 28
ELA: 263
W&P: 168
Emmanuel, Emmanuel
UMH: 204
AAHH: 189
NNBH: 98
CH: 134
W&P: 178
CCB: 31
Renew: 28
People, Look East
UMH: 202
PH: 12
CH: 142
ELA: 248
W&P: 161
STLT: 226
I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light
UMH: 206
H82: 490
ELA: 815
W&P: 248
Renew: 152
Be Still, My Soul
UMH: 534
AAHH: 135
NNBH: 263
NCH: 488
CH: 566
W&P: 451
AMEC: 426
Hope of the World
UMH: 178
H82: 472
PH: 360
NCH: 46
CH: 538
LBW: 493
W&P: 404
Let There Be Light
UMH: 440
NNBH: 450
NCH: 589
STLT: 142
You Are Mine
CCB: 58
God, You Are My God
CCB: 60
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who is with us always as our strength:
Grant us the courage to trust in you in fearful times
and the faith to always align ourselves with your reign;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are our strength. You are the once who always stands with us. Help us to trust you and to stand with you that we may face our fears. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our looking for security in places other than God.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have aligned ourselves with so many different factions hoping that they will bring us peace and prosperity, security and safety. We have neglected to seek these things from you when you are the only source of what we need. We turn, once again, to you and to your Christ as the source of all good. Renew us in your Spirit that we may continue to follow the Christ. Amen.
Leader: God is our Source and our Help. God welcomes us back into the protection of the everlasting wings of strength. Trust in God and share God’s strength with others.
Prayers of the People
We worship and adore you, O God, for you are the strength that never fails. You offer us shelter when all around us is failing.
(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 have aligned ourselves with so many different factions hoping that they will bring us peace and prosperity, security and safety. We have neglected to seek these things from you when you are the only source of what we need. We turn, once again, to you and to your Christ as the source of all good. Renew us in your Spirit that we may continue to follow the Christ.
We thank you for your love that binds us to you and to one another. We thank you for your Spirit the eases our fears and brings us strength.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for those who dwell in fear and anxiety. There are real dangers and troubles in our world. We pray that we may help share your presence with others so that they can face their fears knowing you are with them.
(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
Read 1 John 4:9-11.
This Sunday is about love. We all want to be loved and cared for. We want people to like us and be friendly. Sometimes that doesn’t happen and people are not nice to us. But today we remember that God loves us. God loves us so much that Jesus is coming to be with us forever. Jesus is God’s sign that we are always loved by God. Today we light the candle of love to celebrate God’s love for all of us.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
God’s Invitation
by Bethany Peerbolte
Romans 1:1-7
Paul has a very specific goal in opening his letter to Rome this way. Rome is a huge city with powerful people scurrying around doing important things. Rome is where Caesar is, who also calls himself “son of god” and whose birth is “good news.” Paul sees these people, and understands their struggle to climb the social ladder, but Paul is also concerned with the people who will never earn a fancy invitation. Paul wants even the lowest in Rome to understand that they have a calling, and not any old calling, a calling from God. Many times in his letters Paul explains there is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles in God’s kingdom. Paul strives to break these walls and leave open the message of the gospel for everyone.
These first few verses step right in line with Paul’s agenda. The letter is to “all in Rome” and serves to remind them they have received an invitation to be God’s holy people. You could enhance this lesson time by inviting someone to come and talk about how they feel their job or hobby is also their calling from God.
Say something like:
In December there are lots of events to be invited to. We have family Christmas parties, parties with friends, school parties, maybe even special band or choir or dance recitals. We all know people who seem to be invited to more parties than us. They have something to do every weekend! That can leave us feeling sad because we didn’t get that many invitations.
The letter we are reading today was originally sent to people in Rome. Rome at the time was like New York City. It was a huge place with lots of people and lots of things going on all the time. The popular people who lived there had their thing. They would hold parties, or wear fancy clothes, or debate big ideas, or solve complicated problems. They all had a purpose.
Some people, though, still had a hard time finding something that they could call their own. Even though they were working hard or had great friends, the rest of the city didn’t see them as important. They didn’t get fancy invitations to parties. They weren’t asked to big meetings to talk about their ideas. When they saw all the other people in Rome doing big things they felt little.
Then Paul wrote them a letter and this letter says to everyone in Rome “you have a purpose.” They are called by God to be loving and to bless the city and the people around them.
When I say “called” you probably think of a phone. When God calls we hear it in our heart. Have you ever felt really happy doing something? Like playing soccer, or listening to a friend, or doing homework for your favorite subject? That is God calling you. When we feel that way inside it is God telling us that is our purpose. That doesn’t mean homework in that subject won’t ever be hard, or that we won’t lose some soccer games. What matters is if we feel God calling our heart back to something over and over.
Paul wanted everyone to feel important because to God we are. Let’s say a prayer together.
God, thank you for giving each of us a purpose. We want to feel you calling our hearts. Help us to listen. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, December 22, 2019 issue.
Copyright 2019 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
- Soft Power and The Making Of Friends by Dean Feldmeyer — Lasting security and safety are to be found in the Lord God.
- Second Thoughts: Be Like Joseph by Mary Austin — We can follow Joseph’s example and stop pursuing the things that make us fearful without reason.
- Sermon illustrations by Tom Willadsen, Ron Love, and Chris Keating.
- Worship resources by George Reed that focus on alliances; fear and anxiety.
- Children’s sermon: God’s Invitation by Bethany Peerbolte — Paul wanted everyone to feel important because to God we are.
Soft Power and The Making Of Friendsby Dean Feldmeyer
Isaiah 7:10-16
An African proverb says: Choose your friends, wisely. A poorly chosen friend is more dangerous than a hungry lion.
Nearly 3,000 years ago Isaiah tried to convince King Ahaz of Judah that this axiom, or one like it, should drive his country’s foreign affairs. Three countries were vying for his friendship. Israel and Damascus (Syria) wanted him to join them in a coalition to resist the advancing, spreading, conquering army of Assyria. Assyria’s king, Tiglath-Pileser III, wanted Judah to come on board with him. All were threatening violence if they were turned down.
Isaiah’s advice: The security you will get from an alliance with earthly powers will be thin and short lived and based only on what you can do for them. They do not care for your welfare or the welfare of Judah. Lasting security and safety are to be found in the Lord God. Make your alliance with YHWH and YHWH alone.
According to the prophet, whether we are talking about national foreign policy or our personal relationships, who we choose as our friends and how we choose them, and what we hope and expect to get out of the relationship, is as much a matter of faith as it is a matter of politics or feelings.
In the World
On December 10, news sources around the country announced that, after nearly two years of negotiations, Mexico, Canada, and the United States have agreed on a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the United States, Mexico, Canada Agreement (USMCA).
The agreement was signed in November 2018 by President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. At that point, it still had to be ratified by the legislatures of all three countries. Mexico ratified the agreement first, and on December 10, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that, after winning agreements on stronger enforcement of labor and environmental provisions, and stripping a measure that would have locked in long-term patent protection for certain pharmaceutical products, it would be ratified by the U.S. House of Representatives. Senate leader Mitch McConnell has refused to bring it to the floor of the Senate until all impeachment proceedings are concluded.
Canada is expected to ratify the agreement in early 2020. No one is sure when it will actually become law.
Almost all American parties, liberal and conservative, agree that USMCA is an improvement over NAFTA. The, normally centrist, Brookings Institute, however, isn’t so sure. They contend that the changes from NAFTA to USMCA are largely cosmetic, the biggest change being, simply, the name.
One of President Trump’s campaign talking points, they contend, was that NAFTA was the “worst trade deal in the history of the world,” so it would look good on his report card to get the US out of it, which he has accomplished by simply changing the name of the agreement with few substantive changes.
Further, there is the question not of what, but of how.
Diplomacy and foreign relations are most often forged using what is called “soft power,” that is, the ability to convince and persuade others that what is in our interest is in theirs as well, that what benefits us, benefits them, that our wants and needs are conjoined with theirs; we all win by working together.
President Trump’s style is to enter into these types of talks with posturing and threats which, as in the case of USMCA, won some small, short-term concessions for the US but may very likely damage our relationships with Canada and Mexico in future negotiations.
So, with USMCA we ally ourselves, economically, with Mexico and Canada and it is to be hoped that they will see that the treaty benefits all concerned. That’s the ideal.
But what about our relationships with other countries? Countries like North Korea, China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia? Are our interests conjoined with theirs? Do we all benefit from the “friendships” we have recently built with them?
With whom we ally ourselves as a country and how we work out those alliances is a complex process, often based upon masterful skills developed over years of diplomatic experience. And when, finally, such alliances are forged, security and safety are the goals. But this happens only when all of the participating parties are working, in good faith, toward each other’s welfare.
Isaiah, however, warns us, as he warned King Ahaz, that there is only one reliable source of safety and security.
In the Scripture
Ahaz, the grandson of Uzziah and son of Jotham, became king of the southern kingdom of Judah in about 736 BCE at the age of 20. He reigned as co-regent with his father for four years and, upon the death of Jotham, took the throne and reigned on his own from 732BCE until 715BCE.
Things were already in a mess when he took the throne and, according to historians, he didn’t make them any better.
Immediately upon taking the throne, Ahaz had to meet a coalition formed by King Pekah of the northern kingdom of Israel, and King Rezin of Damascus (Syria). These two wanted to form a trilateral coalition to fight against what they foresaw as the imminent invasion of their countries by Tiglath-Pileser III, king of Assyria, the huge and brutal empire to the north.
Isaiah counseled Ahaz to trust in God rather than foreign allies. And, if he was hesitant to do so he should ask God for a sign that Isaiah was telling the truth. In this morning’s reading, Ahaz, having already decided what he is going to do, refuses, saying he will not test God. Isaiah replies that Ahaz will have a sign whether he wants one or not, and the sign will be the birth of a child to a young woman, probably one of the king’s wives, who will call the child Immanuel, meaning “God-with-us.”
Ahaz accepted the council of Isaiah to the point of not joining Israel or Damascus, who had already attacked Judah when Jotham was king. But, to protect himself and Judah, Ahaz called on the aid of the Assyrians. Tiglath-Pileser attacked from the north, sacked Damascus and annexed Syria, He then attacked Israel and the northern kingdom, capturing Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people to Assyria.
Through Assyria's intervention, Ahaz was relieved of his troublesome neighbors, Israel and Damascus. However, while Assyria allowed internal sovereignty to Judah, Ahaz was required to swear sovereignty to Tiglath-Pileser II and provide him with auxiliary soldiers and other forms of tribute.
From Isaiah’s perspective, Ahaz had simply traded one form of earthly tribute for another. He had avoided entangling alliances with Israel and Damascus and wound up in one with Assyria. The prophet was not happy.
Neither was he pleased when the king went to Damascus in 732 BCE to swear homage to Tiglath-Pileser and his gods. While he was there, Ahaz became enamored of an altar that he saw and had one like it made in Jerusalem, and placed in the temple where he also changed the worship ritual to correspond more with those of the Assyrians. He also changed all the furniture of the temple to make it more like the Assyrian temples and he commissioned the building of an astrological observatory with accompanying sacrifices like the ones in Assyria.
2 Kings 16:3 records that Ahaz offered his son as a sacrifice by fire to the Assyrian God, Moloch.
Ahaz, during his whole reign, was free from troubles with his neighboring rulers and from Assyria as long as he complied with their religious regulations and paid the demanded tributes. However, he so contaminated the country’s religious rituals and practices that history has considered him one of Judah’s worst and most wicked kings.
Upon his death at the age of 36, he was not allowed to be buried with other kings of Judah but was placed in an anonymous pauper’s grave.
His son, Hezekiah, spent most of his reign trying to undo the damage Ahaz did to the spiritual life of the country.
In the Pulpit
A sermon from this text can easily find ample parallels between the story of Ahaz and modern day politics. Thomas Friedman, in his book, The Earth is Flat, reminds us that the digital age has made the world smaller and the global commercial playing field flatter. America does not and cannot pretend to exist in a vacuum, alone with only ourselves to consider. We must carve out relationships with other countries.
The question, however, is how shall we go about carving out those relationships? And with whom? We must be careful to create relationships that benefit not just our partners but ourselves as well. We must be careful not to sell our souls, as Ahaz did, for some tenuous earthly security. And we cannot, in building relationships with other countries, rely solely upon muscle. We must also rely upon brains and heart.
Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University coined the term "soft power" in the late 1980s. Put simply, it is the ability to attract and persuade. Whereas hard power — the ability to coerce — grows out of a country's military or economic might, soft power arises from the attractiveness of a country's culture, political ideals, and policies. Soft power is the power of diplomacy.
According to Nye, all too often, we focus, as a country, on our military and/or economic power, trying to force other nations to do our will, when it is soft power that will help prevent terrorists from recruiting supporters from among the moderate majority. And it is soft power that will help us deal with critical global issues that require multilateral cooperation among states. That, he says, is why it is so essential that America understand and apply our soft power.
Isaiah would concur, I think.
And he would add that, as people of faith, we must always remember that our safety and security is not, ultimately, found in any earthly relationship but only in our relationship with the Lord our God.
A sermon might equally bring this consideration down to the micro level wherein the relationships under consideration are not between countries but between individuals.
How do we choose our friends, and how do we counsel our children and grandchildren as they seek to make their way through this foggy terrain? Upon what basis do we choose those with whom we will “hang out?” Mark Twain is reported to have said, “Don’t tell me about yourself. Introduce me to your friends and I’ll know all about you I need to know.”
Why do we choose the people we do as friends? To make us look good? So we can be part of their “in” group? So we can get some of what they’ve got?
And why have they chosen us? The exploitative, faux-friend is nearly a cliché in teen movies but it is a cliché built from the hard clay of experience. Many of us have experienced that thin and fragile friendship that is built on nothing more than what a person can take from us with little concern for what they can give.
Whether our search for friends is at the macro-level of countries seeking allies or at the micro level of individuals seeking to make friends, Isaiah would remind us that, as good as our friends and/or friendships make us feel, at the end of the day our only true safety and security comes from our relationship, our friendship, with the Lord our God who loves us more than any singing of it.
SECOND THOUGHTSBe Like Joseph
by Mary Austin
Matthew 1:18-25
If we feel like Joseph at the end of this Advent season, we’re not alone. We can imagine how many sleepless nights he paced, wondering what to do about a pregnant betrothed. How many days was only part of his attention on his work, as he turned over the possibilities of her pregnancy in his mind? How often did he fret about what his family, his neighbors and the village would think? How many times did he try to imagine the conversation he needed to have with her, before he settled on his decision?
Knowing our own tension, we can imagine Joseph’s anxiety, too. Knowing how often we fret about the future, or worry about the present, we find that Joseph is an unexpected companion in this stressful, er, joyful season. Joseph embodies the place where so many of us find ourselves: worried, anxious, depressed and joyless.
A lot of us are in distress. Anxiety among children and teens is pervasive, and the National Institute of Health says that “nearly 1 in 3 of all adolescents ages 13 to 18 will experience an anxiety disorder. These numbers have been rising steadily; between 2007 and 2012, anxiety disorders in children and teens went up 20%.” Hospital admissions for teenagers who are suicidal have doubled in the last decade. One potential cause is the surrounding world that “feels scary and threatening. We've seen an increase in school shootings, with resultant drills and lockdowns in schools. We've seen shootings in public places. There have been terrorist attacks here in the US and around the world taking many lives. From just watching or reading the news, it is reasonable for anyone to feel afraid in public spaces that previously would have felt safe.” Adults, too, report feeling more anxious. “Approximately 40 million American adults — roughly 18% of the population — have an anxiety disorder, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Safety, health, and finances seemed to be the greatest sources of anxiety, according to the APA poll. 68% of respondents said “keeping myself or my family safe” and “my health” made them either somewhat or extremely anxious. 67% said the same of “paying my bills or expenses.” Politics and interpersonal relationships followed at 56% and 48%, respectively.”
Some people in our society have more reason to worry than others. Police shootings are a leading cause of death for young African-American men, who have more reason to fear than others of us. “About 1 in 1,000 black men and boys in America can expect to die at the hands of police, according to a new analysis of deaths involving law enforcement officers. That makes them 2.5 times more likely than white men and boys to die during an encounter with cops. The analysis also showed that Latino men and boys, black women and girls and Native American men, women and children are also killed by police at higher rates than their white peers. But the vulnerability of black males was particularly striking.” The grief from these killings spreads out beyond the individuals involved, adding to the worry carried by the whole community. “A study published in the Lancet last year found that police killings of unarmed black men were associated with an increase in mental health problems such as depression and emotional issues for black people living in the state where the killing took place. And living in a state of constant fear can lead to chronic stress…”
Native American women also have reason to be fearful, as they experience particularly high levels of sexual violence. “More than half of American Indian and Alaska Native women will experience sexual violence in their lifetimes, according to the Department of Justice.” Justice is elusive, given the patchwork of jurisdictions. “Sexual assault investigations can fall through the cracks when tribes and the federal government fail to work together. Even for those few cases that end in a conviction in tribal court, federal law prevents most courts from sentencing perpetrators to more than a year. Survivors who come forward to report assaults often find themselves trapped in small communities with their perpetrators, and several said the broken legal system contributed to their trauma.”
For many people, there are genuine reasons to be afraid.
Then there are iPhone apps with malware. Plus, the top ten things that lead to divorce. And common household foods that can kill you. There are so many things to worry about, both real and imagined. The news likes to keep us on edge, and dramatic headlines are clickable headlines.
Joseph, our fellow traveler in anxiety, offers us a way through this tangled swamp of worries. He receives the gift of divine guidance from the angel, through his dream, and he’s wise enough to recognize that he’s hearing from God. Outside wisdom brings clarity to his worries. He could keep fretting, and ignore the angel’s message, but he makes a decision not to keep living in this particular place of anxiety. Like Joseph, we have to figure out when to keep worrying, and when to stop and take action. Our fears, like his, have a cause, and yet we risk getting swallowed up in them. Joseph put his trust in the message he gets.
For Joseph, there will be plenty to worry about later: getting to Bethlehem, finding a place to stay there, getting away from Herod’s malice, plus traveling to Egypt and then coming back again. He may well have wished for a different life as the years unfold! We can hope that this message from the angel, reminding him of his place in God’s plans, is enough assurance to carry him through all of those future stresses, too. The difficulties don’t go away, but the agonizing can end.
For us, the road out of anxiety may be more complex. We owe it to the people who are legitimately afraid in our society to work for a world that’s more just, and less dangerous. We owe our young friends a world where they aren’t measured as human beings by the number of “likes” they get on social media. We owe the world some work, to make it safe and hospitable for all people.
And we owe ourselves the freedom from mindless worrying, when it’s not necessary. We can follow Joseph’s example and stop pursuing the things that make us fearful without reason. We can bring our worries to the God who is always wise, and we can listen to the places and people who carry God’s voice to us. Life doesn’t ever become easy, and yet it can become free from unnecessary distress. Like Joseph, we have a part to play in God’s plans, and God has a gift of peace for us, too.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Tom Willadsen:Matthew 1:18-25
Today is the rare day around the Nativity when Joseph gets most of the attention.
Let’s take a closer look at him. He’s “descended from the house and family of David.” [Luke 2:4] He is “a righteous man.” Some scholars contend that he is substantially older than Mary, and that Mary is a teenager, but there is nothing in the text that indicates either’s age. Joseph didn’t want to bring disgrace onto his fiancée, so he decided to “dismiss her quietly.” That word for “dismiss” is the first verb many of us learned in Biblical Greek. It can also mean “divorce,” “untie,” or “set free.” It’s the same verb than John the Baptizer uses when he says he’s not worthy to stoop down and untie “the thong of his sandal.” (Mark 1:7)
An angel appears to Joseph in a dream as soon as Joseph “resolved” to dismiss Mary. Angels are scary things. Their first words are always along the lines of “Don’t be afraid!” At one church I served years ago the kindergarten class was stationed in the balcony with several microphones on Christmas Eve. It was their job to scream, “Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy!” Even though Luke 2 says a single angel said that to the shepherds before the “army of the heavenly host joined” it, the screaming had the desired effect, the worshipers jumped at this shrieked, amplified announcement. We thus offered a little of the fear that came even before the announcement of Jesus’ birth.
So, back to Joseph’s angel. It appeared to him in a dream. Can you think of another Biblical character that had a significant dream? Say someone who was so good at interpreting dreams that it got him out of jail, then won him a huge promotion that put him in a position to keep his family — who believed he was dead — from starving? That other Joseph. Do you suppose there’s a connection? Someone who’s in the right place at the right time who comes to the rescue… Would Jesus have been considered a descendant of David if Joseph had “dismissed” Mary?
This Joseph drops out of the story before Jesus reaches adulthood. Another Joseph, the one from Arimathea, comes at the end of the story, after the baby whose birth is so significant has been crucified and is dead. This third Joseph is there to complete righteousness by seeing that the corpse was taken off the cross that fateful Friday.
* * *
Isaiah 7:10-16
Isaiah 7:14 is one of the most contentious passages in scripture; it’s part of the oracle addressed to King Ahaz in today’s Hebrew scriptures lesson. The Lord has insisted on giving Ahaz a sign, and that sign is “a virgin” or “a young woman” will have a baby named Immanuel. Before this baby has left toddlerhood, the threat besetting Ahaz will be no more. Basically, the oracle tells Ahaz to trust that the Lord will spare his kingdom within about four years at the most.
Whether the Hebrew הּﬠﬥמּﬣ is better translated “virgin” or “young woman” is a huge deal for Christians for whom the virgin birth is an essential tenet of faith. The Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon gives “young woman” as the correct rendering (p. 761). The Jewish Publication Society’s “Tanakh - The Holy Scriptures,” (1985) also renders הּﬠﬥמּﬣ “the young woman. “
Yet when Matthew got around to describing Jesus’ birth he seized on this passage and rendered הּﬠﬥמּﬣ as παρθεηος, or “virgin,” a term that is specific for a young woman who has not has sexual intercourse.
What is often overlooked by Christians is that this oracle from Isaiah predicted the birth of a different child, who had been born more than seven centuries earlier before Jesus was laid in the manger.
So here’s a question for Christians, not just suggested by this particular passage, but about Hebrew prophecy in general: can oracles be “recycled?” Can inspired, written words from other moments in history, other cultures, other millennia, other continents and languages be appropriated today? Are they “used up” once they have “come to pass?”
I know, I know, more than you want to include in your sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, but it’s worth thinking about. How do we use scripture? What kind of authority do we assign to it?
* * *
Romans 1:1-7
We’re about to celebrate Christmas and we’re looking at the start of “Dear Romans.” What’s up with that? It circles back to Matthew’s gospel’s assertion that Jesus is a descendant of David. That’s his “fleshly” heritage. He’s got another heritage, which we’ll see when we worship January 12, the first Sunday after Epiphany, aka “Baptism of the Lord.” While Paul is not explicit about this, exactly, it’s clear that he is pointing believers to see that Christ is both human and divine.
At the end of Paul’s salutation to the Romans, he refers to them as “saints.” It’s interesting that this term, so perilous for Protestants and cherished by Roman Catholics, only appears in plural form in the Christian Bible. We are not, cannot be, saints in isolation, but only in community do we attain that identity. Together.
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Application: Matthew 1:18-25
Joseph exhibits some classic symptoms of anxiety. In the past decade anxiety has become a “thing.” A thing that, increasingly, Americans regard as a health/medical condition for which we are medicated.
Colleges and universities have recognized and begun responding to what is called an epidemic among our young people. John Dunne, the Distinguished Chair in Contemplative Humanities at the University of Wisconsin, teaches a class to incoming freshmen called “The Art and Science of Human Flourishing.”
Dr. Dunne is famous for “the Strawberry Exercise.” He asks his students to imagine a strawberry. Freshly picked, red, ripe, washed…Most of his students start to respond as though there is an actual strawberry with them. Do this yourself. Are you salivating yet? Good.
Dunne uses this experience to help illustrate “cognitive fusion” — the integration of mental and physical functioning. It’s a benign example, accessible to anyone with a shred of imagination. Now, Dunne instructs, take that experience and apply it to a situation that you’re stressed or worried about. Say, this calculus test. Imagining it as impossible will cause your body to manifest the symptoms of test anxiety. And the beauty of anxiety is its portability — you can stress about this calculus test anytime, anywhere!
Suppose, instead, you imagined yourself opening your Blue Book as a well-prepared student. You’ve studied, you’ve learned the material, you’re ready. You may not ace the test, but you’re in a mental position to do your level best.
Do you suppose that Joseph’s dream angel helped him “de-fuse” from his engagement to Mary and her pregnancy? Perhaps it did, and good thing too, that Xanax wasn’t around then.
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From team member Chris Keating:Thunberg: child prophet or just a child?
When Time magazine named 16-year old climate activist Greta Thunberg its “Person of the Year” for 2019, some it was a confirming of her status as a prophet. Her actions point to the necessity of speaking truth to power. Margaret Atwood, author of the The Handmaid’s Tale, praised her as a modern Joan of Arc.
Others suggest that rather than seeing her as a prophet pointing out something we do not know, she is instead a sign that reminds us of what there is near-universal scientific consensus: climate change is happening. It is real, and has been documented for decades. As Thunberg herself says, “I don’t want you to listen to me, I want you to listen to the scientists. Her youth conveys an important sign, writes Amherst College professor Ellen Boucher. “Thunberg is not unravelling the mysteries of our era, or a time traveler sent to stop climate change,” writes Boucher. “Rather, she is a child admonishing selfishness and pleading for fairness.” She is, in other words, a signpost of her generation and a display ad for needed societal change.
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Ahaz’ inability to trust
When Ahaz refuses to put God to the test by asking for a sign, he is ostensibly suggesting that it is wrong to push God for some sort of sign. But as Anathea Portier-Young’s commentary suggests, God has been in the business of providing signs since the time of Noah and Moses. Isaiah sees Ahaz’ refusal to ask for a sign not as an expression of his righteousness, but of his unbelief.
Stephen Covey once wrote that “The first job of any leader is to inspire trust. Trust is confidence born of two dimensions: character and competence. Character includes your integrity, motive and intent with people. Competence includes your capabilities, skills, results, and track record. Both dimensions are vital.” The most critical aspect of leadership, Covey said, is to extend trust to others, and to “recognize that trust impacts us 24/7, 365 days a year.” Nothing, he wrote, is faster than the speed of trust.
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This shall be a sign to you…
Samantha Krerowicz decided to add a little politics to her holiday decorations around her Las Vegas, NV home. Krerowicz put up a sign that reads, “Merry Impeachmas,” last week, to the disdain of her neighbors. A dozen eggs were thrown at her house and a rock was thrown through one of her windows. The reaction has prompted her to consider taking the sign down.
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Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
Fed with the bread of tears
As Christmas approaches, torrents of pent up emotions — fear, loneliness, grief, sadness — are often released. The Psalmist cries out to God in hope of salvation, just as millions of others cry out to friends, pastors, counselors or even emergency services. The Avon and Somerset police in England reported that over half of the emergency calls it received during the two weeks before Christmas last year were not calls requiring police services. Dispatchers reported receiving calls from frightened and lonely persons looking for assurance and a calm voice. In one case, a dispatcher spent 30 minutes on a call with an 85-year old woman while his colleagues searched for family who could look after the woman.
This year, the force is promoting a social media campaign to highlight the needs vulnerable elderly and lonely persons in the community. The department is encouraging neighbors to use send Christmas cards to people in their neighborhoods who may need encouragement.
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Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
Restoring hope
When Frank Capra’s movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” was released 73 years ago, it attracted little attention and was considered a failure by major studios. Yet the movie has become a classic, and is considered one of the greatest films of all time. It’s message of hope has inspired a Presbyterian pastor to create a short video, “It’s a Wonderful Church.” The video created by the Rev. Ryan Landino is the latest in his series “Pastor Ryan’s Sixty Second Sermons.” With the help of Clarence the Angel, the pastor in the movie discovers the impact his church and presbytery have had in the local area. The pastor wakes up from his dream renewed, just like George Bailey in the classic movie.
“This video is a love letter to the connectional church,” says Landino, “our community of churches holding each other up and being held accountable to the integrity of embodying God’s love and justice today, an integrity that is needed now more than ever.”
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Matthew 1:18-25
Vulnerable families
This week, hundreds immigrants formed lines outside of offices of New York’s Department of Motor Vehicles to take advantage of the state’s new “Green Light” law which offers driver’s license privileges to following the enactment of the state’s “Green Light” law extending drivers licenses to undocumented persons. A similar law took effect in neighboring New Jersey this week.
While it adds new dimensions to ongoing debates about immigration, the law also provides additional support to families who are struggling—perhaps not unlike the struggles faced by Mary and Joseph. In New York, it offers immigrants opportunities to access health care, employment, education and grocery shopping. “It’s about survival,” said Eva Gomez, 39, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who lives in Passaic, NJ.
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From team member Ron LoveMatthew 1:23
“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him “Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”
The writer of today’s hymn O Come, O Come, Emmanuel! is unknown to us, as should be expected. He was a monk who composed the hymn in the ninth century. It was sung only one week in the year. It was only sung during he the last seven days of Advent. Only one line was sung each day in response to the vespers service. The song was lost for centuries, until John Mason Neale discovered it in the mid-nineteenth century. Neale was a British Anglican priest who spoke twenty languages. He devoted himself to finding ancient Christian hymns that were lost through the ages. It is unknown how he came across this hymn, which was written in Latin. The hymn was published in the 1850s. Twenty-five years after its publication the original hymn was reduced from seven to five stanzas, as we know it today.
Verse one speaks of “Emmanuel, our deliverer.” As Israel was once exiled in Babylonia, we today are separated from God in heaven.
Verse two speaks of “Lord of Might.” The God of Moses, the God of the Exodus, will bring forth his thundering might upon us, releasing us from bondage.
Verse three speaks of the “Rod of Jesse.” This prophecy refers to Isaiah 11:1, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a branch will bear fruit.”
Verse four speaks to “Day-Spring.” This refers to the priest Zacharias who upon hearing of the birth of Jesus said, “because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79)
Verse five speaks to “Thou Key of David.” This makes reference to the prophecy first expressed by Isaiah 22:22, “I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”
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Matthew 1:23
“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him “Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”
Saint Teresa of Avila was a Spanish nun of the Carmelite Order. She is considered a mystic. One of the things for which she is best known for is introducing Christianity to “mental prayer.” She developed this spiritual devotion while residing at a convent. Her mother died in 1529, and despite her father’s opposition, Teresa, in 1535, entered the Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation at Avila. Within two years her health collapsed, and she was an invalid for three years. It was during this time that she developed a love for mental prayer. She described mental prayer as, “Mental prayer is nothing else but being on terms of friendship with God, frequently conversing in secret with Him.” After her recovery, however, she stopped praying. She continued for fifteen years in a mental state that was divided between the worldly and the divine. In 1555, she underwent a religious awakening. With her awakening she restored the Carmelites to a life of austerity, since over the years the order had become too relaxed. Her reform required the nuns to totally withdraw from the secular world so they could meditate on divine law and through a prayerful life of penance and exercising what she termed as “our vocation of reparation” for the sins of humankind. Teresa had her prayer book with her at all times. The prayer printed below became known as “St. Teresa’s Bookmark” because she kept the prayer on a card in her prayer book. The prayer reads:
Let nothing disturb you;
Let nothing frighten you.
All things are passing.
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
Nothing is wanting to him who possesses God.
God alone suffices.
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Isaiah 7:15
He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.
If one would tour the old section of Charleston, South Carolina, they would see many homes having their porch ceilings, and the trim around their windows and doors painted blue. This is because, for the Gullah culture, the color blue is supposed to ward off malevolent spirits. Most of the slaves who came to Charleston were from the West African coast. But these slaves consisted of many different tribes who had different dialects and cultures. When they resettled in America along the Eastern coast, they blended these various dialects and cultures together and it became known as the Gullah culture. It began on the Sea Islands of the Southeast, as African slaves working in remote areas formed a common language and culture, which mixed European and African influences with English.
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Matthew 1:23
Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him “Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”
Mental illness has become a major health issue for colleges. Anxiety and depression are two major issues confronting healthcare workers. Because of the lack of healthcare professionals, there is a long wait on the part of students to receive counseling. This has resulted in a number of suicides. The Associated Press did a study of the largest universities in each state. Since 2014, the number of students receiving mental health treatment at those schools has grown by 35%, while total enrollment grew just 5%. By 2018, nearly 1 in 10 students were coming for help, but the number of licensed counselors changed little, from an average of 16 to 19 over five years. On some campuses, that amounts to one counselor for every 4,000 students. It is recommended that there be a minimum of one counselor per 1,500 students, but few of the 39 universities studied met that benchmark. At the University of Maryland, it can take up to 30 days to see a counsellor. Sharon Kirkland-Gordon, director of this university’s counseling center, said, “A lot can happen in 30 days. For someone who is close to crisis mode, 30 days can be too late to see someone.” At the university student organizers, on February 14, 2015, launched a campaign called “30 Days Too Late.” The campaign slogan reflecting on how long it took to receive help for a mental health problem.
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Isaiah 7:15
He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.
The West Virginia Basic Training Class #18 for the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation were dismissed because of their graduating class picture, which was taken on November 27, 2019. In the photo all of the new correctional officers are seen performing the Nazi salute. A caption at the top of the picture reads “Hail Byrd!” who was their training instructor. Secretary Jeff Sandy, the director of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety wrote in a memo regarding the photograph, “It is distasteful, hurtful, disturbing, highly insensitive and completely inappropriate.”
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WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock!
People: You, who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
Leader: Stir up your might, and come to save us!
People: Restore us, O God; let your face shine.
Leader: Give us life, and we will call on your name.
People: Restore us, O Lord God of hosts, that we may be saved.
OR
Leader: Come and join together in the presence of the Most High.
People: With joy we come to the shelter of God’s love.
Leader: God is our shelter from the storms of life.
People: God’s presence is our help and our joy.
Leader: In the strength of our God’s love we can reach out to others.
People: In God’s Spirit we will share God’s love with all.
Hymns and Songs:
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
UMH: 211
H82: 56
PH: 9
AAHH: 188
NNBH: 82
NCH: 116
CH: 119
LBW: 34
ELA: 257
W&P: 154
AMEC: 102
STLT: 225
Savior of the Nations, Come
UMH: 214
PH: 14
LBW: 28
ELA: 263
W&P: 168
Emmanuel, Emmanuel
UMH: 204
AAHH: 189
NNBH: 98
CH: 134
W&P: 178
CCB: 31
Renew: 28
People, Look East
UMH: 202
PH: 12
CH: 142
ELA: 248
W&P: 161
STLT: 226
I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light
UMH: 206
H82: 490
ELA: 815
W&P: 248
Renew: 152
Be Still, My Soul
UMH: 534
AAHH: 135
NNBH: 263
NCH: 488
CH: 566
W&P: 451
AMEC: 426
Hope of the World
UMH: 178
H82: 472
PH: 360
NCH: 46
CH: 538
LBW: 493
W&P: 404
Let There Be Light
UMH: 440
NNBH: 450
NCH: 589
STLT: 142
You Are Mine
CCB: 58
God, You Are My God
CCB: 60
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who is with us always as our strength:
Grant us the courage to trust in you in fearful times
and the faith to always align ourselves with your reign;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are our strength. You are the once who always stands with us. Help us to trust you and to stand with you that we may face our fears. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our looking for security in places other than God.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have aligned ourselves with so many different factions hoping that they will bring us peace and prosperity, security and safety. We have neglected to seek these things from you when you are the only source of what we need. We turn, once again, to you and to your Christ as the source of all good. Renew us in your Spirit that we may continue to follow the Christ. Amen.
Leader: God is our Source and our Help. God welcomes us back into the protection of the everlasting wings of strength. Trust in God and share God’s strength with others.
Prayers of the People
We worship and adore you, O God, for you are the strength that never fails. You offer us shelter when all around us is failing.
(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 have aligned ourselves with so many different factions hoping that they will bring us peace and prosperity, security and safety. We have neglected to seek these things from you when you are the only source of what we need. We turn, once again, to you and to your Christ as the source of all good. Renew us in your Spirit that we may continue to follow the Christ.
We thank you for your love that binds us to you and to one another. We thank you for your Spirit the eases our fears and brings us strength.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for those who dwell in fear and anxiety. There are real dangers and troubles in our world. We pray that we may help share your presence with others so that they can face their fears knowing you are with them.
(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
Read 1 John 4:9-11.
This Sunday is about love. We all want to be loved and cared for. We want people to like us and be friendly. Sometimes that doesn’t happen and people are not nice to us. But today we remember that God loves us. God loves us so much that Jesus is coming to be with us forever. Jesus is God’s sign that we are always loved by God. Today we light the candle of love to celebrate God’s love for all of us.
CHILDREN'S SERMONGod’s Invitation
by Bethany Peerbolte
Romans 1:1-7
Paul has a very specific goal in opening his letter to Rome this way. Rome is a huge city with powerful people scurrying around doing important things. Rome is where Caesar is, who also calls himself “son of god” and whose birth is “good news.” Paul sees these people, and understands their struggle to climb the social ladder, but Paul is also concerned with the people who will never earn a fancy invitation. Paul wants even the lowest in Rome to understand that they have a calling, and not any old calling, a calling from God. Many times in his letters Paul explains there is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles in God’s kingdom. Paul strives to break these walls and leave open the message of the gospel for everyone.
These first few verses step right in line with Paul’s agenda. The letter is to “all in Rome” and serves to remind them they have received an invitation to be God’s holy people. You could enhance this lesson time by inviting someone to come and talk about how they feel their job or hobby is also their calling from God.
Say something like:
In December there are lots of events to be invited to. We have family Christmas parties, parties with friends, school parties, maybe even special band or choir or dance recitals. We all know people who seem to be invited to more parties than us. They have something to do every weekend! That can leave us feeling sad because we didn’t get that many invitations.
The letter we are reading today was originally sent to people in Rome. Rome at the time was like New York City. It was a huge place with lots of people and lots of things going on all the time. The popular people who lived there had their thing. They would hold parties, or wear fancy clothes, or debate big ideas, or solve complicated problems. They all had a purpose.
Some people, though, still had a hard time finding something that they could call their own. Even though they were working hard or had great friends, the rest of the city didn’t see them as important. They didn’t get fancy invitations to parties. They weren’t asked to big meetings to talk about their ideas. When they saw all the other people in Rome doing big things they felt little.
Then Paul wrote them a letter and this letter says to everyone in Rome “you have a purpose.” They are called by God to be loving and to bless the city and the people around them.
When I say “called” you probably think of a phone. When God calls we hear it in our heart. Have you ever felt really happy doing something? Like playing soccer, or listening to a friend, or doing homework for your favorite subject? That is God calling you. When we feel that way inside it is God telling us that is our purpose. That doesn’t mean homework in that subject won’t ever be hard, or that we won’t lose some soccer games. What matters is if we feel God calling our heart back to something over and over.
Paul wanted everyone to feel important because to God we are. Let’s say a prayer together.
God, thank you for giving each of us a purpose. We want to feel you calling our hearts. Help us to listen. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, December 22, 2019 issue.
Copyright 2019 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
