In this week’s lectionary text from First Corinthians, Paul highlights the divisions and quarrels within the Corinthian congregation, and his plea to them is essentially the same as that offered in the wake the 1992 Los Angeles riots by Rodney King, the man whose brutal beating by police officers spawned the mayhem: “Can we all get along?” Paul tells the Corinthians that their petty squabbles over which “leader” they belong to are pointless, because they all are followers of Christ. As he bluntly puts it: “Has Christ been divided?” In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Dean Feldmeyer notes that Paul’s exhortation to be “united in the same mind and the same purpose” is a worthy aspiration -- but actually achieving it is difficult when we are so different and there is so much that we fundamentally disagree on... even within the church. How do we go about finding true harmony with our brothers and sisters who are all children of God -- even if we find much about what they believe or how they behave distasteful? Dean suggests that the answer is to be found not just in acknowledging our fear about others in a contentious and violent world, but more importantly in challenging our own status-driven desires to place ourselves above others within our own communities... and he offers an insightful illustration from his own congregational experience about the roadblocks we must confront to achieve unity in the church.
Team member Leah Lonsbury shares some additional thoughts about the adversarial attitude we often take toward others, one that seems more like Isaiah’s image of people exulting when dividing plunder than like the Epiphany image of seeking God’s light. Leah points out that, like the politicians in our headlines who seem more interested in exacting revenge than in finding bipartisan compromise, we want to settle scores and triumph over our enemies instead of reaching out to our fellow children of God. Leah asks us to consider if we’re more concerned with looting the premises while “walking in darkness” or in building connections that allow us to reflect God’s light into the world.
United in Mind and Purpose
by Dean Feldmeyer
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
When Connie Talbot was six years old she wooed Great Britain, singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on Britain’s Got Talent. Even curmudgeonly Simon Cowell was charmed.
Today she’s a teenager, still hugely popular in the United Kingdom. She writes many of her own songs, and last summer she wrote one for ONE, the organization dedicated to ending extreme worldwide poverty by 2030.
The song is “Let’s Get Along,” and it has become very popular among teenage girls, many of whom have posted videos of themselves singing it on YouTube -- which is good, because we really should get along.
But it’s not that simple or easy, is it?
Ask the apostle Paul. He opens his first letter to the Corinthians with an admonition to the Christians that they should get along with each other as an example for the rest of the world.
The question for us is, “How?”
In the News
Is anyplace safe anymore?
You’d think that a small-town grocery store would be about as safe as anywhere in the country, but on Wednesday, January 15, an armed man entered Martin’s Supermarket in Elkhart, Indiana, at about 10:00 p.m. and shot and killed two women (one a customer and one an employee). He was preparing to shoot a third person when police shot and killed him.
In a Florida Walmart, a 65-year-old customer was physically attacked by a 77-year-old customer for taking 22 items into the 20-items-or-less express aisle. The attacker faces felony battery charges.
If you can still feel safe in a movie theater after the July 2012 Aurora, Colorado, theater shooting that took 12 lives, you may want to reconsider that notion. In another Florida case, last week a 71-year-old retired police officer shot and killed a man in a movie theater for texting during the previews of coming attractions. On January 14 it was reported that the shooter is claiming that he “felt threatened” by the victim, clearing the way for a “stand your ground” defense.
Surely nobody still lives under the delusion that our schools are safe. One need only utter the phrase “Sandy Hook” to know that we have forever put the lie to that notion.
And if we are still in denial, then we can just look at the headlines to be brought back to reality. In 2013, 18 people were killed in 25 school shootings. That’s one school shooting every two weeks in the U.S. And 2014 is staying on track at that rate. We logged our first school shooting of the year on Tuesday, January 14, just two weeks into the new year, when a 12-year-old boy took a sawed-off shotgun into his middle school and opened fire in a crowded gymnasium, seriously wounding two children before a heroic teacher talked him into putting the gun down.
We humans just aren’t very good at getting along with each other. It’s hard, after all, to get along with people when you’re afraid that they’re going to shoot you if you so much as clear your throat, send a text message to your daughter, or even make eye contact in the wrong way. In fact, the data seems to show that we Americans have put more of our energy, our creativity, and our resources into finding new ways of killing each other than into finding new ways of getting along without killing each other.
The NRA says that this is as it should be. The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, after all, is a good guy with a gun, that New Mexico teacher notwithstanding.
Jesus, who lived much too early to benefit from the NRA’s axiomatic wisdom, told us that we should love our enemies and pray for those who would do us harm.
Paul worries that our inability to get along with each other in the secular world will leak over into our lives together in the church.
In the Scriptures
The Corinthian Christians did not work and play well with others.
Their church was divided into cliques based on who was baptized by whom. This group was baptized by Reverend Cephas; this group by Reverend Apollos; and this group over here, they were baptized by Reverend Paul. And apparently each group was claiming that their baptism was more authentic than that of the others.
And because their baptism was more authentic, they deserved a higher place in the pecking order, a seat at the head of the table. They wanted their opinions to be listened to with more respect at the meetings and they wanted to be called by their last name. They aspired to higher status.
We can almost see Paul shaking his head in frustration. Were they not there when I was preaching? He, for one, is glad, he says, that he baptized only a few of them -- and so unimportant was the number that he can’t even remember how many it was.
He reminds them that they were not baptized in Paul’s name or in the name of Cephas or Apollos. They were, ALL of them, baptized in the name of Jesus Christ who eschewed power and privilege and status, the very one who said that in God’s kingdom the first are last and the last are first.
What power Jesus had was the power of the cross, and the power of his death thereupon.
You want power? Paul asks. You want status? You want to be raised up higher than your brothers and sisters? Then get on the cross with Jesus. That’s the only higher plane that Christians recognize.
And for heaven’s sake, stop bickering.
We are the church of Jesus Christ. We are the ones who live as examples to a fallen world. And if we can’t get along, how can we ever expect them to?
In the Pulpit
A couple of years ago in my congregation, we did an exercise where we asked a group of leaders to come on Sunday morning and make their way through the church to worship pretending that they had never been there before. Then we asked them what the experience of being a newcomer was like.
First, these people said that they didn’t know which door to enter the church by. It’s a big building and has been added on to many times since the original structure was built in 1928, so there are lots of doors. Figuring out which one was the main entrance was difficult, they said.
Second, once they got inside the building they had no idea where anything was. Where was the restroom? The nursery? The sanctuary?
Thirdly, they said that by the time they found everything they were late for the beginning of the worship service and all the seats near the door were taken, so they had to parade all the way to the front to find a seat.
There were other observations, of course, but these three struck a nerve.
The church council acted swiftly to correct these difficulties. They had a large sign placed above the door of the main entrance that said simply “Main Entrance.” They put up easy-to-read signs throughout the building pointing out the way to the restrooms, nursery, sanctuary, youth room, etc. And then they asked members to serve as greeters and hosts at various entrances to help direct newcomers to where they wanted to go. Finally, we asked people to move forward in the sanctuary so that seats near the doors would be available for newcomers who did not want to have to make a spectacle of their entrance.
We thought these were simple steps, the least we could do to make visitors feel welcome and comfortable. We were wrong.
People did not want to serve as greeters because they thought it would make them late for the worship service, and then they would not be able to sit by the door and they would have to parade into the room in front of everyone. And they didn’t want to give up their customary seat in the sanctuary.
In fact, when we heard them out, we discovered that much of the resistance we encountered was status-fed. The question behind the resistance, and sometimes not too far behind it, was this: “Why should we, who have given money and time and effort to support this church, give up the things we like, the things that make us comfortable, to people who are new and haven’t done anything to support the church?”
I gave money; I served on the board; I served in the nursery; I cooked in the kitchen. I belong to Paul; I belong to Apollos; I belong to Cephas.
In a world where getting along with others may place our very lives at risk, the key to success is not to be found in climbing above our brothers and sisters onto a platform of status and privilege. The key to getting along with others, for Christians, is to be found upon the cross of Christ.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Dividing Plunder or Seeking Light?
by Leah Lonsbury
Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27:1, 4-9
By this coming Sunday, we’ll be almost a month into 2014. It’s likely that most New Year’s resolutions have failed at this point, and that life has returned to its usual patterns and schedules for many, if not most of us. Epiphany is three weeks old now and things are beginning to seem less shiny and bright, but Isaiah still insists on reminding us yet again that “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”
We can see why Isaiah keeps returning to this point, historically speaking and as far as its importance in our contemporary world. We see much darkness and always have need for light. Unfortunately, yokes are still plentiful for God’s people and we know what it means -- personally, for those we love, and for the masses -- to be weighed down by debt, addiction, disease, grief, hunger, disaster, violence, broken relationships, and so many other burdens. Oh, for another glimpse of that light and a lifting of all that we carry on our shoulders! Oh, for an increasing joy, like the joy that the harvest’s abundance brings or like when the “people exult when dividing plunder”!
Wait. What?
While dividing plunder seems a little out of place in the midst of pious celebrations, not to mention out of date in 2014, maybe it’s really not so far from our own experiences and today’s headlines after all.
When light shines for us, when our burdens are lifted and we finally come out on top, what does our increased joy look like? How does it manifest? Is it in the vein of the hand-shaking and promises of bipartisan compromise once the election results have come in, or does it look more like sticking it to those who refuse to endorse our re-election efforts and making the opposing party pay through orchestrated traffic jams? And if it’s the latter, what kind of light are we really depending on after all? Are we really experiencing increased joy, the kind that comes with an inbreaking of God’s light and grace, or are we celebrating a hollow victory, one that comes at the expense of God’s children on “the other side”?
Despite the dissonance we might first experience with Isaiah’s comparison to the celebrations of plundering conquerors, it might not really be that far from our day-to-day encounters. Think about sitting on the sidelines of a highly competitive sporting event, especially when it involves children or youth who play soccer or football like mini-professionals. Or take a minute to consider the wrangling around success and cutthroat vying for promotion that sometimes happens in the workplace. And in terms of headlines, what about the widening gap in prosperity that means the average American CEO now makes 380 times what an average worker makes and the worker must labor a month to bring home what a CEO makes in 1 hour.
And then there’s politics. The jostling, stick-it-to-them, favor-trading, payback culture of our highest elected officials has become something of a national joke. We almost don’t expect Congress to do anything but fight anymore. Out of fear of loss of power, position, or re-election, our politicians are more likely to spend their time and energy trying to foil the efforts of their enemies than actually work on or pass legislation that might benefit the people who sent them to Washington. “As people exult when diving plunder” almost doesn’t seem out of place when we watch the parties’ efforts at settling scores become so dysfunctional that all of Congress becomes fodder for marriage counselors.
From Yahoo! News...
Carol Bailey, a Seattle family law attorney and mediator, has spent her career helping couples transform dysfunctional relationships into productive ones. And now she’s volunteering her services on Capitol Hill.... Bailey has authored a guide, Easing Congressional Gridlock: A Divorce Mediator’s Guide for the Union That Can’t Dissolve, in which she outlines 10 tips for lawmakers on how to stop bickering and start working toward positive solutions. And this week, she’s come to Washington to distribute her brochure, along with a pocket-size card that summarizes the tips for members to carry in their wallets.
Considering Congress’ current fear-filled, payback culture, Bailey says:
“I really think both sides are to blame and it comes down to individuals. I watch and am always kind of monitoring what they’re saying, and I see people that are in both parties saying things that are accusatory, negative... this is some very specific behaviors that they can engage in that can improve things and I know they work.”
The article notes:
The tips in Bailey’s 10-point guide include: “You don’t learn anything new when you’re talking,” “Get over yourself: This is not about you or your party,” and “There’s no way to reach agreement without compromise.”
Though Bailey is targeting members of Congress with her lesson, she points out that the tips aren’t only good for politics but for all interpersonal relationships.
“As I tell everybody, it works in love and in politics,” she said.
Before we get immersed in our own kind of plundering and Bailey comes for us too, it would behoove us to follow the path illuminated for us in the light Isaiah is trying to point out and the Psalmist is trying to describe in our texts for this week. Seeking God’s light, let’s continually ask ourselves...
* Are our triumphs ones that release burden, lift up those who have been oppressed, and shine the light of hope on those who have known only darkness?
* Do our actions and our successes grow from God’s illuminating presence and our choice to reside in and live out that light?
* Do our victories and assurance grow out of our experience of salvation, of being held in God’s stronghold, of knowing shelter in the day of trouble? Have we been lifted above the fray and beyond the wrangling of those who call us enemies by the gracious One who keeps, provides for, and calls us to something better, something brighter?
When we can answer “yes,” then we can join the Psalmist and sing “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” Then we will know, even this late in January, that we “who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
A Second Look at Our Enemies
Paul Gilbert, the author of Mindful Compassion, suggests that compassion is a human necessity. Gilbert observes that understanding how the brain works allows us to cultivate compassion instead of anger when things don’t go our way. If we pay attention to where we focus our thoughts, Gilbert says, we can develop compassion instead of succumbing to rage:
Attention also puts things outside the spotlight, into darkness. Let’s say you go Christmas shopping and enter ten shops, and in nine shops the assistants are very helpful to you, but in one shop the assistant is very rude and she makes you wait. Well, whom do you think about when you go home? “God, where do they get these people from?” you say to yourself. “Should I write to the store manager and get her fired? She was so rude.” You’re in a loop now and you’re in the anger system. You’ve forgotten all the shop assistants who were nice to you. They’re in darkness because the spotlight is on the rude one. How absolutely extraordinary that we can forget 90 percent of our experience!
Gilbert adds, “But of course once we notice what the mind is up to -- and why -- then we can begin to take control over our attention and use it mindfully and practically. What about if you, on purpose, decide that you’re going to recall the other nine people? Just spend time remembering how kind one of them was in that shop, another’s smile, how one tried so hard to find you the thing you wanted.” This releases us from what he calls “the anger loop” and sets us on the path to connection with people who once seemed like enemies.
Gilbert continues, “We need compassion because life is hard. We are all susceptible to diseases and injuries. Every one of us has a lifespan that had a start and will have an end. Just like you, I am vulnerable to disease. Just like you, I could have a blood test tomorrow that says my life is going to end. Just like you, I could hear that my son has been killed in a car crash. Because these things can happen to any of us at any time, we’re all in this together.”
*****
The School for Fear
Fear once seemed unavoidable when danger or stress threatened, but Carolyn Gregoire believes that we can lessen the grip of fear on our lives. Asking how we can reduce fear and increase courage in everyday life, she observes that “it’s not just about facing fear, but also about coping with risk and uncertainty (as Ernest Hemingway put it, courage is ‘grace under pressure’). And, it seems, we can make ourselves more courageous with practice and effort.”
We can practice banishing fear by practicing vulnerability, by acknowledging fear, and by choosing to expose ourselves to what we fear. Finally, we can practice acts of courage, starting small and building up to bigger acts. Gregoire concludes, “To build a courageous character, the muscle of courage must be continually strengthened.”
*****
How to Treat an Enemy
In spite of his family’s objections, James Zwerg participated in the civil rights movement’s Freedom Rides, including one where both he and John Lewis (now a congressman) were badly beaten. Zwerg, first off the bus, was beaten unconscious that night and taken to a hospital. Fearing that the mob was coming to get him to finish the job, a nurse drugged him so that he wouldn’t suffer if the mob reached him. It took years for Zwerg to recover, emotionally as much as physically.
Before the Freedom Ride, Zwerg prayed for the strength not to fight back in anger. As told in John Blake’s book Children of the Movement (Chicago Review Press, 2004), “Zwerg says he had the most beautiful experience in his life. ‘I bowed my head,’ he says. ‘I asked God to give me the strength to remain nonviolent and to forgive the people for what they might do. It was very brief, but in that instant, I felt an overwhelming presence. I don’t know how else to describe it. A peace came over me. I knew that no matter what happened to me, it was going to be OK. Whether I lived or whether I died, I felt this incredible calm.’ ”
***************
From team member Ron Love:
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
The recent film Saving Mr. Banks tells the story of the quest by Walt Disney (portrayed by Tom Hanks) to persuade a reluctant P.L. Travers, the author of Mary Poppins, to allow him to make a movie adaptation of his daughters’ favorite children’s book. Actress Meryl Streep made headlines when she declared that the great mogul was a bigot, racist, sexist, and anti-Semitic. In response to the burgeoning controversy, Abigail Disney, Walt’s grandniece, confirmed that Streep’s accusations were accurate. Writing on her Facebook page, Abigail said: “Anti-Semite? Check. Misogynist? OF COURSE!! Racist? C’mon, he made a film (Jungle Book) about how you should stay ‘with your own kind’ at the height of the fight over segregation! As if the ‘King of the Jungle’ number wasn’t proof enough!”
Application: Walt Disney definitely had an attitude of “I belong to?” which did not express unity.
*****
Isaiah 9:1-4
In an interview with President Obama aboard Air Force One, David Remnick of The New Yorker asked the president’s opinion about the immediate and long-range consequences of concussions in professional football. Replying to the question Obama said, “I would not let my son play pro football.” Then the president went on to say, “These guys, they know what they’re doing. They know what they are buying into.”
Application: People are still in need of seeing the great light.
*****
Isaiah 9:1-4
State Senator Wendy Davis of Texas made a name for herself last June with an 11-hour filibuster defending abortion rights, standing the entire time without a break while wearing pink tennis shoes. The popularity she gained from that moment has allowed her to campaign for governor. In her public resumé she wrote how as a 19-year-old teenager she became a single mom living in a mobile home, and that by juggling low-paying jobs she was able to attend community college and go on to graduate from Harvard Law School. Davis says that because of her stamina and resourcefulness she should be elected governor. But the Dallas Morning News has revealed that Davis actually fudged the details of her bio -- she was pregnant at 21 and lived with her mother until she moved into her own apartment. Her husband, whom she later divorced, financed her education and law degree from Harvard. In response Davis wrote, “My language should have been tighter.”
Application: If allowed, for the sake of power people will try to keep us in the dark. That is why we need to see the great illuminating light of Jesus.
*****
Isaiah 9:1-4
There is an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases among seniors (those over the age of 60). Having become sexually active before the era of safe sex -- and not having to be concerned about an unwanted pregnancy -- they do not feel the need to use protection.
Application: It is not only the young and foolish who need to see the light.
*****
Matthew 4:12-23
The recent death of Hiroo Onoda at the age of 91 has made front-page news. Onoda is the Japanese army officer who hid in the jungles of the Philippine island of Lubang for 29 years after the official surrender of Japan to the Allies in 1945. The young lieutenant took seriously his orders to continue his guerrilla warfare operations until officially relieved of command. When interviewed about why he continued his 30-year war, Onoda responded: “In Japan you go to war because you are ready to die. That is the absolute precondition. To become a prisoner is the worst thing possible. Japan could be described as a culture based on shame?On Lubang I didn’t want to be seen as a failure. So I protected my honor and carried out my mission to the end.”
Application: With the command “follow me,” we are to carry out our mission until the end.
***************
From team member Chris Keating:
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Garden State Bickering
It doesn’t exist, but it is not hard imagining what St. Paul could have written in an Epistle to the Christians of Hoboken, New Jersey -- especially in light of the ongoing controversy surrounding Governor Chris Christie: “It’s been reported to me that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters! Some say, ‘I belong to Governor Christie’ while others are saying ‘I belong to Mayor Zimmer!’ ”
*****
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
An Urban Vision for Human Unity
Admittedly it is a long shot, but Paul’s actual words to the Corinthians might make unity in that political upheaval possible. A recent speech by Rowan Williams, the former archbishop of Canterbury, suggests that spirituality is required to create unity. Speaking in London on January 17 to an audience of Muslims and Christians, Williams said that imaginative spirituality is the key to achieving unity within cities.
“Either the city is a challenge for our imagination, or it is a desert and chaos,” Williams explained, as he spoke about the need for imagination to see past differences. He discussed the need to understand the stranger, saying, “I am not going to be fully human without that person.” Spirituality was, he said, a means of better achieving the vision of a unified city, saying, “Urban faith is something which at its best can be part of the process, providing respect for people who belong together.”
*****
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Emergent Epiphany
The Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber is not a typical Lutheran pastor. Heavily tattooed and frank-speaking, Bolz-Weber is a former standup comic and recovering alcoholic who is the founder of the House for All Sinners and Saints, an emergent Lutheran congregation in Denver. In her best-selling memoir Pastrix, Bolz-Weber shares stories of her faith and ministry, including an experience of a chance meeting with a fundamentalist blogger known for his frequent excoriations of her. Stunned by his genuine interest for conversation, she found herself in a 30-minute conversation with the man -- an experience she likens to “spiritual waterboarding” (“Jesus holding my head under the waters of my own baptism until I cry uncle”). The experience provides an astonishing illustration of the hopes embodied in Paul’s words to the Corinthians.
Bolz-Weber writes, “God made my enemy my friend that day.... When these kinds of things happen in my life, things that are so clearly filled with more beauty or redemption or reconciliation than my cranky personality and stony heart could ever manufacture on their own, I just have no other explanation than this: God” (Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner and Saint [Jericho Books, 2013], p. 111).
*****
Isaiah 9:1-4
Light in Winter’s Darkness
Isaiah’s promise of light to those who are despairing may provide glimmers of hope to those impacted by Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of clinical depression. People who have SAD typically see their symptoms appear in the late fall as days become shorter. It is a real disorder whose treatment often includes light therapy. A recent Slate article noted the benefits of light box therapy. Such boxes use bright white fluorescent bulbs that simulate the sun’s rays. Nothing will replace a bright sunny day completely, but scientists do see improvements in the gloomy moods of those exposed to light. It seems as though Isaiah may have been on the right track all along.
*****
Isaiah 9:1-4
12 Years a Slave Lights the Way
According to The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Years a Slave will be the film to beat for this year’s Best Picture award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Despite strong rivals, Steve McQueen’s epic story of a free black man’s abduction into slavery offers what writer Scott Feinberg sees as the keys to nabbing the Oscar -- namely, “gravitas, social significance, and relevance to the present day, plus the support of most of the key constituencies in the Academy (actors, directors, writers, film editors, etc.). It basically got everything that it could have realistically hoped for...”
12 Years a Slave is a movie that well illustrates the hope of those who have journeyed through dark paths.
On his Visual Parables blog, Presbyterian minister and film reviewer Ed McNulty notes that the film shines a light on our nation’s dark history of slavery and lauds “Chiwetel Ejiofor’s truly magnificent performance as the runaway who moves from total despair to acceptance to hope.”
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: God is our light and our salvation; whom shall we fear?
People: God is the stronghold of our life; of whom shall we be afraid?
Leader: One thing we asked of God, that we will seek after:
People: To live in the house of God all the days of our life.
Leader: “Come,” our heart says, “seek God’s face!”
People: Your face, Lord, do we seek.
OR
Leader: Come and praise the God who created us all.
People: We come to worship our God who has given us life.
Leader: Out of the dust of our earth God made us.
People: With God’s own breath we received life.
Leader: We are all God’s creatures, God’s children.
People: We rejoice in our unity and reach out in love to all.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“All Things Bright and Beautiful”
found in:
UMH: 147
H82: 405
PH: 267
NCH: 31
CH: 61
W&P: 30
AMEC: 434
“God, Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens”
found in:
UMH: 150
H82: 580
PH: 268
NCH: 556
CH: 651
LBW: 463
ELA: 771
W&P: 644
“Blest Be the Tie That Binds”
found in:
UMH: 557
PH: 438
AAHH: 341
NNBH: 298
NCH: 393
CH: 433
LBW: 370
ELA: 656
W&P: 393
AMEC: 572
“Where Charity and Love Prevail”
found in:
UMH: 549
H82: 581
NCH: 396
LBW: 126
ELA: 359
“In Christ There Is No East or West”
found in:
UMH: 548
H82: 529
PH: 439, 440
AAHH: 398, 399
NNBH: 299
NCH: 394, 395
CH: 687
LBW: 259
ELA: 650
W&P: 600, 603
AMEC: 557
“Help Us Accept Each Other”
found in:
UMH: 560
PH: 358
NCH: 388
CH: 487
W&P: 596
AMEC: 558
“Let There Be Peace on Earth”
found in:
UMH: 431
CH: 677
W&P: 614
“Jesu, Jesu”
found in:
UMH: 432
H82: 602
PH: 367
NCH: 498
CH: 600
ELA: 708
W&P: 273
CCB: 66
Renew: 289
“I Am Loved”
found in:
CCB: 80
“Unity”
found in:
CCB: 59
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who created us to be one people: Grant us the grace to live together in peace and harmony, reflecting the great unity of your own self; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We offer you our praise, O God. Receive our songs and prayers to your glory, and open our hearts to her you speak to us today. Open our eyes that we may see the unity of all people as you see us. Open our hearts that we may love as you love. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our harboring of hurts and our refusal to acknowledge all people as our sisters and brothers.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have created us to be together as your children, and yet we look for ways to separate ourselves from others. We imagine that how much money or education we have makes us better or worse than others. We think that the color of our skin or the way we speak is a sign of real difference between us and others. We forget that you created us all from the same dust and breathed into us all your own breath. Forgive us our foolishness, and help us to embrace others as you love and embrace them. Amen.
Leader: God is our loving parent and welcomes us all into the unity of love and compassion.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
Praise and glory and blessing are yours, O God, for you created us and you call us together as your children. We are all creatures of your earth and of your own Spirit.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have created us to be together as your children, and yet we look for ways to separate ourselves from others. We imagine that how much money or education we have makes us better or worse than others. We think that the color of our skin or the way we speak is a sign of real difference between us and others. We forget that you created us all from the same dust and breathed into us all your own breath. Forgive us our foolishness, and help us to embrace others as you love and embrace them.
We give you thanks for all the blessings we have received from your generous heart. We thank you for family and friends and all those who share your love with us.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We are aware of many divisions among us that must trouble your heart of love. Help us to be your presence of love and unity in this broken world.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
If someone is your friend but they say bad things about you, does that feel friendly to you? What if they say they are your friend but they hit you? It is not enough to just say we are friends -- we must act like friends. God created us all and wants us to treat everyone as our friends -- not to just say they are our friends, but to act like they are.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Working Together
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Object: a simple child’s jigsaw puzzle with only a few pieces
I have a job for us to do today -- I want us to put this puzzle together. (Show the puzzle to the children.) I will give out the pieces to the puzzle (pass them out), and then I want you to put it together by each person adding your piece where it belongs. Let’s get started. (Let them put the puzzle together.)
That went well, didn’t it? Everyone cooperated and the pieces all fit in nicely. Can you imagine how hard it would be to put the puzzle together if nobody wanted to cooperate? How could we have gotten the puzzle together if some of you had refused to add your piece when it was needed? Would we have been able to put the puzzle together? (Let them answer.)
The Bible tells us that we all need to work together in the church. God wants us to be united in what we believe, teach, and practice. If everyone cooperates and does one’s part, we can have a good church where a lot gets done. But if some people won’t cooperate and they refuse to help the others get jobs done, we won’t have a very good church, will we? (Let them answer.) No, we won’t. I’m sure all of you would like to see us have a strong, healthy church that gets the Lord’s work done, don’t you? (Let them answer.)
Okay, let’s ask God to help us have that kind of church.
Prayer: Dearest God: Please lead us all to do all the things that we can do to make this church strong and healthy. Teach us to work together in love. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, January 26, 2014, issue.
Copyright 2014 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
