As team member Leah Lonsbury notes in this installment of The Immediate Word, that atmosphere of fear, doubt, and mistrust seems to be eerily similar to the backdrop surrounding talks between the U.S. and Iran, which concluded last week with a tentative framework for an agreement over Iran’s nuclear program. As discussions unfolded, a New York Times news analysis pointed out that both sides had difficulty hearing one another -- especially over the din of hardliners in each country urging negotiators to be wary of any deal. Many significant hurdles remain, and there are still questions whether a satisfactory final agreement can be reached -- but as Leah points out, the only way these differences can be resolved is through face-to-face negotiations... in other words, for each side to be present with one another. And that echoes again our gospel text: Jesus breaks through the disciples’ fear and doubt simply through his presence, and by letting Thomas touch his wounds. Leah suggests that similarly, the only way that we can dispel fear, doubt, and mistrust in our own lives is through being present and mindful in our relationships: with ourselves, with others, and with our Lord.
Team member Mary Austin shares some additional thoughts on another story in the headlines driven to some extent by fear and doubt: the raging controversy over Indiana’s new “Religious Restoration Freedom Act.” This week’s Acts text declares that believers are “of one heart and soul,” while the psalmist waxes eloquent about how “good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity.” Yet the passage of this law had the opposite effect, as opponents decried what they perceived as a bold attempt to legalize anti-gay discrimination while supporters chafed at what they thought was widespread misunderstanding of the bill’s intent. While some commentators made a case for the necessity of laws guaranteeing religious freedom -- and worry that a legitimate issue is becoming just another proxy in the culture wars -- Mary points out that the practical effect of the legislation is to increase fear, mistrust, and division... not only between Christians and non-Christians, but amongst Christians themselves as well. Mary notes that while it may be difficult for us, we need to think more diligently about how we respond to those with differing beliefs -- for the only way we can achieve the objective of “kindred liv[ing] together in unity” is to build community with others.
In addition to our usual complement of illustrations and worship material, team member Robin Lostetter shares some resources for celebrating this Sunday as “Holy Hilarity Sunday.”
Seeing (Each Other) Is Believing
by Leah Lonsbury
John 20:19-31
The doors are locked, and fear rules the day.
These words describe the scene in the beginning of our passage from John’s gospel this week, but they also describe relations between the U.S. and Iran over the last 36 years.
And then somebody shows up, and keeps showing up. The words that are exchanged might not change that much, but presence is a powerful thing. Sometimes the only antidote for the fear and anxiety that swirl around us is the presence of the One intent on peace.
Nineteen months of intense negotiations on a nuclear agreement began to draw to a close last week in Switzerland with a flurry of late and overnight sessions between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif. The two diplomats remained at the table -- even when many of their international partners abandoned their efforts and left the conversation.
Jesus shows up, and through his presence breathes peace on the disciples who are paralyzed with fear. He knows the power of face-to-face negotiations. Jesus offers doubting Thomas the only evidence he needs -- touch -- direct contact that provides assurance that Thomas has not been abandoned and there is a way to move forward. That way is together.
If seeing (each other) really is believing, how can we follow that way? How do we and can we show up for each other? How can these face-to-face “negotiations” unlock our doors and bring peace?
In the News
While the U.S. and its international partners have been negotiating toward a nuclear deal with Iran, fear, doubt, and mistrust have made so much noise around the table that the participants have had a hard time hearing each other. So hard, in fact, that at times it has seemed as if there were completely different conversations going on, or at least opposing narratives being offered about the progress (or lack thereof) that was being made in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The Americans and their international partners carried on a conversation around the negotiating table and chattered in the hallways about numbers and limits. When Iranian officials gave a press conference largely on their own, they waved away questions about numbers and limits and talked of preserving respect for their rights and Iran’s sense of sovereignty.
From the New York Times...
“We are all about quantifiables: how many centrifuges can spin, how much plutonium can come out of the Arak reactor, how much uranium you can have on hand,” one senior American official at the center of the negotiations said the other day on the condition of anonymity because of the secrecy the United States is trying to enforce around the talks. “They are all about symbolism, about avoiding the optics of backing down,” the official said, even if it means engaging in expensive, inefficient nuclear enrichment activity that makes little economic or strategic sense.
Even as negotiations drew to a close in the early hours of last Wednesday, conflicting reports emerged reflecting vastly different experiences of the discussions. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov came out hopeful, and reported to Russia Today that “we can quite certainly say that on all the key aspects of the final settlement of this problem, the ministers have reached principal consent that will be, hopefully in the next hours, maybe a day, put on paper.”
The French, who have driven a hard bargain during these negotiations, came out with a radically different take on things. Nicolas de Riviere, France’s foreign ministry political director for Iranian affairs, said there was still “much work to do.”
So much work, the French believed, that according to Reuters French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius had left the talks and gone home to France. Reuters quoted an official as saying that Fabius would come back “as soon as it’s useful.”
It’s hard to reach common ground when you can’t hear each other or don’t believe there’s any hope of actually getting there. Even when there are folks trying to get there, others, like Fabius, can get in the way and come between willing parties because of what they say to shut down the conversation or by refusing to be present in one way or another.
Throughout the negotiations, there has been a sense that the cacophony could have been quelled and more direct communication issuing in faster and greater progress might have happened had it just been Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest J. Moniz, and their Iranian counterparts at the table. The word is that the working relationship of this smaller group is strong and conducive to movement. These officials could apparently hear each other despite their differences, allowing them to take cautious steps out of their comfort zones and toward one another. This may be because they’ve made the effort to know each other and each other’s culture. Kerry has spent more time with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif than with any other foreign official. And when Energy Secretary Moniz talks enrichment and reactor technology with the head of Iran’s atomic energy agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, they have disagreements -- but those are mostly about technology, not ideology. Both Zarif and Salehi were educated in the U.S. before the revolution in 1979, and “while they cannot say so, both clearly appear to see this nuclear negotiation as a way to end the days of Iran’s defining itself by its opposition to the United States.”
These four officials have indicated by their past choices and actions in these negotiations that they intend to keep showing up, keep working, keep hearing and finding their way to the other. That will take them a lot further than defining themselves in opposition to each other.
If the framework deal is allowed to be fleshed out in specifics and makes it to June 30, it’s not clear that the Iranian government or the American Congress will show up and listen like this smaller, committed group. Both countries’ decision-making and policy-forming bodies have the very real potential of just adding more noise and refusing to see one another in a new, revealing, and transformative light.
The same American politicians that beat the drum of war on Afghanistan and Iraq -- and remain dug in that those wars were good, successful, and warranted -- are already trying to shout down the work of these negotiations. Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times claiming these negotiations are useless and that the only answer is to take military action and bomb Iran. Even top Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer is quietly supporting a bill that would allow Congress to undo the White House-brokered agreement by giving the House and Senate an avenue for rejecting it. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has strongly opposed any deal that does not include an Iranian recognition of Israel’s right to exist.
Following these rumblings, President Obama sat down with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and laid out what Friedman is calling an “Obama Doctrine” on Iran and other countries which Obama has sought to draw closer via foreign policy changes. Those changes have meant ending U.S. isolation of those countries, quelling anger and hostilities with new policies aimed building relationship, and attending to the needs that rise up from their citizens. Drawing near like this has the potential to heal old, festering wounds between countries that get reopened again and again with disastrous results. It requires both parties to show up, listen, and try their best to believe each other, and it has proven to begin to carve out pathways to peace with formerly sanctioned countries like Cuba and Burma.
This “engagement” as President Obama is calling his foreign policy tactics just makes sense, especially when the U.S. has so little to lose because of its international power and might and so much to gain in terms of worldwide peace and stability. Those two pieces seem to be forgotten in the opposition chatter and rush to strike militarily -- a foreign policy approach that forgets our connections as members of one human family not defined by national borders and what our resulting interests should be in the negotiations. From Friedman’s interview:
Whatever happened in the past, [President Obama] said, “at this point, the U.S.’s core interests in the region are not oil, are not territorial.... Our core interests are that everybody is living in peace, that it is orderly, that our allies are not being attacked, that children are not having barrel bombs dropped on them, that massive displacements aren’t taking place. Our interests in this sense are really just making sure that the region is working. And if it’s working well, then we’ll do fine. And that’s going to be a big project, given what’s taken place, but I think this [Iran framework deal] is at least one place to start.”
In the Scriptures
The disciples in the locked room lack the power of the international officials in Lausanne, but not their fear, doubt, and mistrust. The disciples also get stymied in their attempts to figure out what’s next and become paralyzed. They lock the doors and shut down. They’d probably leave like French Foreign Minister Fabius, but leaving could mean serious risk and even death. What they have learned from Jesus and seen him do seem lost to these fearful followers. Things had not turned out so well for him, so...
Thomas’ fear is no different than the other disciples’ doubt that there was a future in this whole ministry in The Way business. All of the disciples need evidence that it’s not over, hopeless, or a complete waste of time and possibly life. Fear and doubt lock those doors, but Jesus finds a way through to the disciples by simply showing up. It’s the evidence they need to breathe again, clear their racing minds, and begin to believe that Love does indeed win, even when faced with death.
What changes everything for the disciples? Jesus’ presence. No one can receive a message of peace when wracked with fear, so Jesus stands in their midst and disarms that fear. He shows up... twice (in this Sunday’s reading). Just like Thomas needs to touch Jesus’ wounds to reignite his belief, the disciples need to be with Jesus to remember who they are and what they are called to do. They need him to be present to reconnect what fear has disconnected and rendered useless.
Jesus’ presence and his words are peace -- peace that settles, reminds, and sends. His presence and his words remind the disciples that theirs is a ministry of presence: “Just as the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Just as God has sent me, so I send you to show up, embody love, fix what is broken or off-track, and open the way forward -- together.
Jesus doesn’t send the disciples without equipping them for the journey ahead. He breathes his life on them in the form of the Spirit. Now the Spirit lives with and enables them for a ministry of life-changing presence. What must they do in response? They have to choose to be open enough to receive that Spirit and let it do its work in them.
In the Pulpit
This week, the preacher might consider...
* reflecting on how we do or do not show up for each other. Momastery’s Glennon Doyle Melton offers a beautiful and powerful piece on being present and how, by showing up, we bring God to each other in her post “The most honest, beautiful, important question I have ever heard anyone ask.” Hint -- that question is asked by a child, and we all know they are the greatest theologians. It’s worth a read, even if you aren’t going down this preaching road.
* building a case (evidence for the Thomases in our pews and in our hearts) for the only way forward (toward peace, restoration of relationship, dwindling church attendance, community rifts, grief, etc.) -- which is together.
* holding up face-to-face encounters that have changed everything -- unlocking doors, bringing peace, and sending those who were paralyzed with fear out into the life for which they were created and called.
* considering how we keep showing up when disconnection (from self, others, and/or God) has caused paralysis or when the way forward seems impossible or at least out of sight. Consider also when it’s time to stop showing up, in one way or another, and how God’s peace and calling are in that effort as well.
* helping the congregation to think through their “engagement” policy, foreign (outside the church building or community) and domestic (within the church family). What “interests” drive those policies? How are those interests determined? What does engagement look like? What should it look like? What does engagement require of us? What does it give to us? What is its effect?
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Mary Austin
Acts 4:32-35; Psalm 133
As Jesus departs physically and the Spirit comes to the early church, the book of Acts tells us that “those who believed were of one heart and soul.” This rare kind of unity echoes the psalmist, who proclaims “how very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity.” Unity is so elusive that it’s hard to tell whether the psalmist is giving thanks for something precious in the present moment or praying for something still hoped for. That kind of unity is difficult to imagine in today’s fevered atmosphere, where the lines are drawn as religious people vs. everyone else.
Harmony is hard to come by even among people of faith. Indiana’s new “Religious Restoration Freedom Act,” purporting to be about protection for religion, has deepened the divide among people of faith. The law has revealed deep differences of opinion among Christians, and created controversy with people of differing religious beliefs. For non-Christians, it’s easy to lump all Christians together and decide that “they” (we) are intolerant and narrow-minded. While offering “protection” for religious observance, the law has further tarnished the public’s view of Christianity.
Why the fuss over this law, when the federal government and close to two dozen other states have similar ones?
As Crux magazine, a Catholic publication, reports, the difference here “has to do with intent, as well as an expanded definition of who -- or what -- is entitled to religious liberty. It’s no longer just individuals being protected from the overreach of government; it now extends to disputes between private parties, so even businesses can use religious freedom as a defense against discrimination suits.” The public face of the law looks like a gift to religious conservatives, and, according to Crux, “the governor signed the bill at a private ceremony attended by several leaders of conservative groups that have campaigned against same-sex marriage.”
Garrett Epps, a constitutional law professor writing for The Atlantic, notes after a careful reading of the Indiana law that it has two provisions that are not in the similarly named federal law: “First, the Indiana law explicitly allows any for-profit business to assert a right to ‘the free exercise of religion.’ ” Religion: it’s not just for individuals anymore. Epps adds: “Second, the Indiana statute explicitly makes a business’s ‘free exercise’ right a defense against a private lawsuit by another person, rather than simply against actions brought by government. Why does this matter? Well, there’s a lot of evidence that the new wave of ‘religious freedom’ legislation was impelled, at least in part, by a panic over a New Mexico state-court decision, Elane Photography v. Willock. In that case, a same-sex couple sued a professional photography studio that refused to photograph the couple’s wedding.” The Indiana law provides cover against such lawsuits. Epps adds, “Of all the state ‘religious freedom’ laws I have read, this new statute hints most strongly that it is there to be used as a means of excluding gays and same-sex couples from accessing employment, housing, and public accommodations on the same terms as other people.” Other states have laws banning discrimination against LGBT people, but Indiana lacks such a law.
In addition to legalized discrimination, the law also creates divisions. Instead of building community by providing equal protection to all of the state’s citizens, it places some in a privileged position over others.
In recent days, the state of Indiana has talked about fixing the law -- and its public relations problem. The Chicago Tribune reports that two large groups (including the public employees union AFSCME) have canceled plans for conventions, and the tourism promotion group “Visit Indy received more than 800 e-mails from people saying they were canceling trips for events such as the Indianapolis 500 or choosing a different vacation destination. The agency has been scrambling to prevent groups and businesses from either pulling out of negotiations for future conventions or canceling upcoming events altogether.” However, “[e]ven though lawmakers have revised the language of the religious objections law to make clear that it’s not intended to discriminate, Indiana still lacks statewide civil-rights protections for the gay and lesbian community. And economic experts said perceptions about the law could prevent companies from attracting and retaining young talent.”
Clearly, discrimination is not good for the state of Indiana -- or for the public’s perception of Christians.
It’s interesting that, as fewer and fewer people report any religious affiliation, that religion would need more protection. The federal law is designed to limit the government’s ability to infringe on the exercise of religion -- it’s about the practices that strengthen religious belief. The Indiana law seems to be more about how we feel about other people’s lifestyles. Most of us have no limitation on our ability, as people of faith, to pray, to read our sacred texts, or to observe our holidays. If we wonder why more people don’t want to be involved in organized religion, here’s a lesson.
What is the place of people of faith in this conversation?
This debate calls us ponder (again...) how we respond faithfully to people with other beliefs, even seemingly hateful ones. More hate doesn’t build community. The pizza business owners who said they wouldn’t cater a gay wedding have been met with a storm of hate mail, making them into a caricature of Christian values. Conor Friedersdorf suggests that there may be more nuance to this than we first see. He poses the question of whether there’s a difference between serving every customer who comes through the door -- the obligation of owning a business -- and feeling uncomfortable catering a gay wedding. He adds, calling us all to a more reflective response, “The question I’d ask those who want to use non-state means to punish mom-and-pop businesses that decline to cater gay weddings is what, exactly, their notion of a fair punishment is... respectful critique and persuasion is more effective than shaming. What about other approaches? If their Yelp rating goes down by a star does the punishment fit the ‘crime’? Is there a financial loss at which social pressure goes from appropriate to too much? How about putting them out of business? Digital mobs insulting them and their children? E-mail and phone threats from anonymous internet users? If you think that any of those go too far have you spoken up against the people using those tactics?”
Are we bringing a spirit of unity to the conversation? Do we come hoping for greater understanding? Friersdorf wonders if there might be a place for the Christian photographer or caterer to join the community of the wedding and add a small piece of witness to the day. (Put that way, gay and lesbian people might not want Christians anywhere near their weddings, out of fear of what they might do or say...)
What about businesses who do serve everyone, and say so proudly? Should we be supporting them, and telling them we’re there for the pizza or the flowers or the candles because their values are also our values? Oh, and by the way, our Christian faith is the place we first learned to love our neighbor.
The vision of community offered in Acts prompts me to think about how I respond to people who see the world differently. If we all proclaim the same faith, is there an underlying thread of unity that comes as a gift from God? Is something already there, something that I’m missing? Should I be doing more to look for that thread, and working to bring it into these conversations?
Some years ago, the moderator of my denomination -- the Presbyterian Church (USA) -- came to visit a group of clergypeople in Detroit. This was during the hard days of struggle over the place of gay and lesbian people in the ordained ministry of the denomination (now thankfully resolved). The fight was so bitter that the moderator visited the pro and con groups separately. “How are you doing getting along with the other side?” she asked.
There was a pause, a long silence, and then a colleague said: “Truthfully, things go better when I don’t talk to them at all.”
Since then, the sphere of public conversation via internet, Twitter, and blogs has only amplified. It’s easier than ever to avoid each other, make each other into stick figures, and say things we would never say to someone’s face.
Maybe there’s more than that. If the psalmist is celebrating a current reality, I want some of that unity. If the writer is looking for something better, I want to be part of that -- difficult as it is.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Robin Lostetter:
The Power of Presence
In her book Ashes Transformed, Tilda Norberg tells about the death of her parents in a plane crash when she was 16 years old. She was waiting at the airport to meet them on an Easter Sunday after worship, and witnessed the horrific, fiery crash that killed all 47 passengers instantly. In the midst of the shock and the pandemonium all around her, Tilda experienced an unforgettable, comforting presence:
Then I saw Jesus. He stood directly in front of me and gazed at me with great love. I don’t mean I saw him with my mind’s eye, as I have many times since. I saw him with physical eyes, perceiving him in the same way I see my dog curled up at my feet. His clothing glowed, and I knew that I was seeing his resurrected body. Jesus spoke to me, and I heard seven words with physical ears: “Don’t be afraid; I am always with you.” He repeated these words many times, as if to make sure that I understood and would be certain for the rest of my life that he had indeed spoken to me.
(from “Seeing Jesus Alive Changes Everything” in John Sumwalt, How to Preach the Miracles: Why People Don’t Believe Them and What You Can Do About It [CSS Publishing Co., 2007])
*****
Community Embracing Diversity Through Presence
“How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity.” -- Psalm 133
Community is built face-to-face. Cultivating community requires time in the presence of one another. The “Community of Living Traditions” (CLT) at Stony Point Center, a Presbyterian retreat center, offers participants the opportunity to experience interfaith community that values and respects the three “Religions of the Book.” There are residential opportunities for folk from Jewish, Muslim, and Christian traditions; but activities are open to all Stony Point visitors: worship, prayer, recreation, and workshops/conferences. (CLT is an affiliate of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and is supported by the three faith traditions on the Stony Point campus: Muslim Peace Fellowship, Luke 6 Project, and the SPC Jewish Community.)
Here’s a description of the program’s goals from the CLT website...
Practicing Hospitality: We begin with practicing the hospitality of our Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faith traditions, as we host the Center’s guest groups. In its deepest sense, hospitality means “welcoming the other, welcoming the stranger,” whether that comes in the form of another human being, a group, an idea, or a critique. It is this fundamental openness to learning about, understanding, and potentially being changed by the other that is the foundational practice which leads to collaborative, effective efforts to nurture peace, nonviolence, and social justice.
Engaging Faith: As individuals dedicated to deepening our faith journey in our own tradition, we reach out to share and learn about each other’s traditions.
Cultivating Nonviolence and Justice: We learn about and strive to put into practice the legacy of hospitality and strategic nonviolence that exists within each faith tradition, as we seek ways to support the larger faith-based movement for peace, nonviolence, and justice.
The Christian group of the three living communities, the Luke 6 Project, takes its purpose from the sixth chapter of Luke. Foundational are verses such as 31 (“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”) and 37-38 (“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”).
One evening at a Luke 6 gathering, after two days discussing how scripture guides their community and peace-making, the rabbi-in-residence led the community in singing and laughter while demonstrating specific Jewish traditions. Finding ourselves laughing together, sharing food, discovering our commonalities, and being present with one another created community bonds that transcended that brief moment in chronos time.
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From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
No Noose Is Good Noose
Duke University is trying to identify the people who hung a noose from a tree on campus, an act that has left the university community reeling.
The noose was found early last Wednesday hanging from a tree on the Bryant Center Plaza, a popular campus hub. Police took the noose down, but the display drew anguish, horror, and frustration on the Durham, North Carolina-based campus and across social media.
People marched and chanted at a rally organized by the university’s Black Student Alliance, and a forum followed later in the day. Duke Student Government president Lavanya Sunder wants the student body to learn from what happened. “I’m asking of us to say something else. Not ‘This isn’t us,’ but ‘this cannot be us and this will not be us,’ ” Sunder said.
Duke social sciences dean Linda Burton took aim at the anonymous perpetrators. “We are so much more than what is likely a smaller group of people with little minds,” Burton said.
Larry Moneta, the vice president of student affairs, called the display a “cowardly act of bias” in an e-mail to students. “I can’t begin to describe the disgust and anger I felt, and still feel,” Moneta wrote. “Though it has since been removed, the photos are everywhere and its hateful message will sadly pervade and persist for a long time.”
University president Richard H. Brodhead spoke at a campus rally Wednesday. “This is no Duke we will accept. This is no Duke we want,” Brodhead said. “This is not the Duke we are here to experience, and this is not the Duke we’re here to create.”
Abigail LaBella, a Duke University graduate and member of the Professional Student Council, said she was horrified by the display. “Those who propagate hate will not feel welcome here at our Duke,” LaBella said.
The noose display comes two weeks after another campus controversy in which a black female student said a group of white males chanted a racist song at her, mirroring a chant recited in a video showing members at a University of Oklahoma fraternity.
*****
Somebody Should Have Done Something
During his years as premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev denounced many of the policies and atrocities of Joseph Stalin. Once, as he censured Stalin in a public meeting, Khrushchev was interrupted by a shout from a heckler in the audience: “You were one of Stalin’s colleagues. Why didn’t you stop him?”
“Who said that?” roared Khrushchev. An agonizing silence followed, as nobody in the room dared move a muscle. Then Khrushchev replied quietly, “Now you know why.”
*****
Cutting the Rope
In Clint Eastwood’s adventure/spy movie The Eiger Sanction, Eastwood plays Dr. Jonathan Hemlock, a professor of art history as well as an accomplished mountain climber. In his spare time, he’s also a professional assassin for a mysterious government spy agency.
In the film he is recruited to join an expedition to climb the dangerous and threatening “Eiger Mountain” in the Alps. While on the climb he is to determine which of the climbers is an enemy spy and “deal with him accordingly.”
Hemlock hires his old friend and climbing partner Ben Bowman (played by George Kennedy) to help him get in shape for the climb and to run the base camp, but he gradually comes to realize that Ben may be the very spy he is looking for.
Well into the climb a rope breaks and Hemlock find himself dangling thousands of feet over a gorge, held only by the safety rope. Bowman appears and throws him a rope, which he fixes to his climbing harness. Now the only thing he has to do is cut the safety rope so Ben can pull him to safety.
But what if Ben is the very spy he has been sent to terminate? What if Ben has figured out Jonathan’s real mission? To cut the safety rope is to put himself totally in the hands of his old friend. Will Ben save him?
Hemlock places his knife against the rope, looks up, looks down, looks at his old friend and... cuts the rope.
*****
Captain Sober Today
A ship captain one day recorded in his log: “First-mate drunk today.” It was a true statement, but it was the first incident where the mate had been drunk while on duty. The mate pleaded with the captain to amend the entry but the captain refused, saying that it was a true statement. The next time the first-mate was in charge of the ship, he recorded in the log: “Captain sober today.”
*****
I Understand Perfectly
In the movie The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Judi Dench plays Evelyn Greenslade, a retired woman in her mid-80s who has moved to India to live in a hotel for retired British ex-patriots who are trying to stretch their pensions out by living frugally abroad.
While there, she gets a job as a textile buyer for a company that is just getting off the ground. They give her a team of Indian helpers and send her off to make the best deals she can with crafty textile merchants in the marketplaces of teeming cities like Delhi and Mumbai.
At one particular location her lead assistant tells her that the merchant they want to buy from is trying to cheat them by selling his wares at four times the going rate. He thinks he can do this because she is an elderly white woman who, because she is naïve, can be manipulated and lied to with impunity.
The assistant quickly writes something on a piece of paper and tells her to memorize it and say it when he touches his hair. They go into the seller’s office and begin to haggle, then suddenly the two Indian men begin talking in Hindi. The seller berates Evelyn’s assistant because he works for an old white woman. Then he launches into an insulting description of Evelyn.
About halfway through this diatribe the assistant subtly reaches to his head and touches his hair, at which point Evelyn speaks in halting Hindi. She has no idea what she is saying, but the audience is shown the meaning of her words in subtitles across the bottom of the screen:
“Excuse me. I speak fluent Hindi and I understand every word you have just said.”
“Every word?” the seller asks.
She nods her head one time. The seller sighs and offers his goods at half the price he was asking.
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From team member Ron Love:
John 20:19-31
Rembrandt completed an inspiring painting in 1634 which he titled The Descent from the Cross. Standing to the right of the cross is Nicodemus, a somberly dressed figure in deep brown-red who received permission to bury Jesus. Seated to the left and barely visible is Mary, shown fainting and supported by the women. Gathered in the rear are the apostles, scarcely seen in the dark shadows. The vivid color of Christ’s body, set off against white linen and surrounded by dark images, creates an unforgettable impression. One other person is illuminated as brilliantly as Jesus -- a man standing at the top of a ladder, helping to lower the body. The strong blue figure bears a resemblance to the artist. Rembrandt placed himself at the scene of deliverance, for he too had heard the words of redemption.
Application: Like the disciples, we have come to realize that the story of Holy Week is our story.
*****
John 20:19-31
On March 25, 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. led a procession of 25,000 demonstrators into Montgomery, Alabama. Solemnly the marchers passed the Jefferson Davis Hotel, which had a huge Rebel flag draped across its front. Quietly they stood at Confederate Square, where Negroes had been auctioned off in the days of servitude. Spontaneously, the multitude sang: “Deep in my heart, I do believe, we have overcome -- today.” The cavalcade lurched forward, proceeding up Dexter Avenue, following the same path as Jefferson Davis’ inaugural parade. These descendants of slaves freely strode to the portico of the capitol; the place where Davis had taken his oath of office as president of the Confederate States. Governor George C. Wallace refused to meet with the Freedom Marchers, and he would not receive their petition demanding the right to vote. The crowd milled in front of the statehouse, as the governor peered anxiously from behind his cracked office blinds. Positioned below the governor’s window, King stood on the flatbed of a trailer, readying himself to address the gathering. With television cameras focused on his round, intense face and his body silhouetted against the setting sun, King intoned: “We are on the move now. The burning of our churches will not deter us. We are on the move now. The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us. We are on the move now. The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. We are on the move now. The arrest and release of known murderers will not discourage us. We are on the move now. Like an idea whose time has come, not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us. We are moving to the land of freedom.”
Application: “We are on the move now” became the cry of the disciples as they came to understand the message of the Resurrection.
*****
John 20:19-31
Martin Luther King stepped down off the trailer. The demonstration was over. It was time for everyone to return to Selma. The black participants, most unable to drive, were in need of transportation. White brothers and sisters from across the nation, Freedom Riders they were called, came to carry them home. One volunteer was Viola Liuzzo, a mother of five, who traveled from Detroit to protest segregation. Unfamiliar with the roads, Mrs. Liuzzo was given a 19-year-old black guide. On her second trip from Selma a car followed behind her; soon there was a high-speed chase on Highway 80. Shots rang out in the night, her windshield shattered, and Viola Liuzzo died at the wheel of her car. Four members of the Ku Klux Klan were arrested for murder, but the district attorney refused to prosecute. President Lyndon Baines Johnson condemned the killing. Addressing the nation on television, the president said that Mrs. Liuzzo “was murdered by enemies of justice, who for decades have used the rope and the gun, the tar and the feathers to terrorize their neighbors. They struck by night... for their purposes cannot stand the light.”
Application: Though the disciples were moving forward by faith, they were also knew they were moving forward into perilous times.
*****
John 20:19-31
In 1901 President William B. McKinley visited Niagara Falls. Encouraged by his entourage, he agreed to walk across the bridge connecting the United States with Canada. Great excitement prevailed, until he suddenly halted near the center of the bridge and returned home. McKinley explained that he did not want to be the first president to leave the boundaries of the United States while still of office.
Application: We have to understand that Thomas was unwilling to cross the bridge of faith until he had more assurance.
***************
From team member Chris Keating:
Acts 4:32-35
A Great Drought Was Upon Them All
Though some rain and mountain snows are predicted for California this week, the relief won’t be sufficient to quench the state’s four-year-long drought. Last week, Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order mandating water reduction measures. The measures will likely demand that homeowners cut back on watering lawns and gardens. Mandatory conservation efforts will also include a 25 percent reduction in water use per city. Brown emphasized his point by standing on dry grass in a field where the snowpack is typically at least five feet in depth.
Some experts, however, argue that the efforts do not place sufficient restrictions on California’s agricultural community. “It is striking that [Brown’s] executive order refines restrictions to the urban sector that consumes only 20 percent of California’s water and leaves the agricultural sector, which consumes 80 percent of the water, untouched at least for the moment,” journalist Mark Hertsgaard told ABC News. “You can’t leave 80 percent of the problem off the table.” Jonas Minton, a water policy adviser, noted that residents and farmers must work together. “People are willing to sacrifice when they believe it is a shared sacrifice.”
Application: Agriculture is a critical component to California’s economy. But how are endangered resources shared equitably? The current drought indicates that all parts of the state must find ways to conserve water resources together to ensure that there is “not a needy person among them.”
*****
Psalm 133
How Hard and Difficult It Is When Brothers and Sisters Do Not Agree
While denominational splits and schisms are not new, one Kansas congregation is under a court order to remain under one roof -- in spite of hurtful conflict. Members of the Presbyterian Church of Stanley in suburban Kansas City are involved in a painful church split. About a third of the church’s 1,200 members chose to leave the mainline Presbyterian Church (USA) in favor of a more evangelical denomination, including the pastor and members of the session. The local presbytery and around 1,000 church members who wish to remain in the PC(USA) are suing to claim ownership of the building. Like any sticky divorce, family ties and friendships have been stretched or frayed. Currently, a judge has ruled that both churches must share the building in an uneasy arrangement. A trial will be held later in April.
Application: The psalmist envisions the deep joy of unity, while too often our tendency is to prefer division and antipathy toward each other.
*****
1 John 1:1--2:2
What Do You Do When You Are Unsure?
John’s epistle calls the church to walk in light, and to delight in good works of faith that produce joy, integrity, and fellowship. Yet what do we do when we are unsure, filled not only with the doubt of Thomas but doubts about our own abilities? The 2008 movie Doubt frames these (and other) questions around the story of a popular priest’s encounter with a severe and overbearing nun (played by Meryl Streep). Father Flynn, portrayed by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, preaches on the possibilities doubt may offer for believers. “Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty,” Flynn tells his congregation. “When you are lost, you are not alone.” (You can see the scene here on YouTube.) Flynn’s attitudes and drive toward change are challenged by Streep’s character, Sister Aloysius. Following a confrontation between the two, Father Flynn preaches another sermon about the destructive nature of gossip.
Application: Father Flynn’s insistence that faith provides a way of “walking in the light” and leads disciples to live lives of joy even in moments of doubt is challenged by the school principal, who insists that faith be grounded in rigid traditions.
RESOURCES FOR HOLY HUMOR (or HOLY HILARITY) SUNDAY
by Robin Lostetter
What is Holy Hilarity Sunday?
Easter is not over! For churches that follow the liturgical year, there are 50 days of Easter in which to celebrate before Pentecost Sunday. This Sunday is one of the five remaining Sundays of the Easter season (after Easter Sunday itself) in which we can celebrate! To drive home the point of celebration, and to shake off the mantle of Lent, there is the custom of Holy Hilarity Sunday that is observed on the Second Sunday of Easter.
The following three excerpts come from the The Joyful Noiseletter:
The custom was rooted in the musings of early church theologians (like Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, and John Chrysostom) that God played a practical joke on the devil by raising Jesus from the dead. Risus paschalis -- the Easter laugh -- the early theologians called it.
In “Be of Good Cheer,” an article by Detroit Free Press religion writer David Crumm, there is a colorful description of the Holy Humor Sunday service at First Congregational Church in Royal Oak, Michigan. Crumm noted that Holy Humor Sunday is “a modern adaptation of the ancient custom of Easter Monday, which still is a holiday in dozens of countries, featuring picnics, parties, practical jokes, joke-telling, and boys and girls drenching each other with water.”
In The Easter Book (Harcourt Brace, 1954), Rev. Francis Weiser noted that Easter Monday was traditionally a holiday in Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant countries. It was a day of special festivities: games, Emmaus walks in the country, picnics, pranks, practical jokes, and “drenching customs.” On Easter Monday, for instance, boys drenched girls with water, and the girls retaliated by drenching the boys.”
From these images of drenching, one might conclude that Holy Hilarity might lend itself to adapting a “Remember Your Baptism” approach to worship on the Second Sunday of Easter.
Below are some liturgical suggestions. Many more liturgy and preaching ideas can be found in The Joyful Noiseletter, including a sermon by John Chrysostom, scripture “a la Dr. Seuss,” a baseball-based (no pun intended) sermon outline, hymn ideas, ideas for children’s participation (Butterfly Sunday), and testimonies of increased attendance at Holy Hilarity services, whether celebrated on this Sunday or another time.
Bulletin Note of Explanation
Today is Holy Hilarity Sunday: Today, we follow the ancient practice of seeing the Sunday after Easter as a time to celebrate the great joke God played on sin and death by raising Jesus from the dead. Holy Humor/Hilarity Sundays, also known as Bright Sundays, are occasions for people to join in praise, laughter, and good humor in celebrating God’s love for us.
Congregational Response (to the sermon, to the Assurance of Pardon, or in lieu of the Gloria Patri)
This “mirthful” stanza from the Advent hymn “People, Look East” can be used by changing just a few words. The hymn's text was written in 1928 by Eleanor Farjeon, whose works are represented by David Higham Associates Ltd. In searching their website I could find no copyright for the text, so one may conclude that it is in the public domain -- or one might search further for permission to make and print textual changes. In Glory to God, the new Presbyterian hymnal, there is no restriction on printing the text itself. The Easter changes I have made are represented in bold type.
Angels, announce with shouts of mirth Christ who brings new life to earth.
Set every peak and valley praising. With the word, the Lord is raising.
People, look east and sing today: Love, the Lord, is risen today!
Call to Worship (could be listed as Call to Laughter)
Leader: This is the time to rejoice!
All: What better time than now!
Leader: This is the day to laugh.
Leader: What did the cabbage pastor say to the people?
Pastor: Lettuce pray!
Leader: How many choir directors does it take to change a light bulb?
Choir: No one knows, because no one ever watches the director!
Leader: How many Presbyterians does it take to change a light bulb?
All: Change? Presbyterians don’t believe in change!
Leader: What’s the greatest joke ever?
All: The one God played on death on Easter morning!
(From Thom M. Shuman, Lectionary Worship Aids: Cradled in God’s Heart[CSS Publishing Co., 2007], p. 211)
Camp Song or Children’s Time
Ho-Ho-Ho Hosanna, Ha-Ha-Ha Hallelujah!
He-He-He He saved us, I have the joy of the Lord!
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!
People: It is like the precious oil on the head.
Leader: It is like the dew of Hermon.
People: It is like the dew which falls on the mountains of Zion.
Leader: For there God ordained blessing.
People: There God ordained life forevermore.
OR
Leader: God calls us to rejoice that Christ is alive!
People: We come celebrate the rising of the Christ.
Leader: God calls us into the presence of the Christ.
People: We are here to center our lives in Jesus.
Leader: Jesus comes to bring us peace.
People: We receive the peace of Christ which banishes fear and doubt.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“The Strife Is O’er, the Battle Done”
found in:
UMH: 306
PH: 119
AAHH: 277
NCH: 242
CH: 221
LBW: 135
W&P: 290
AMEC: 162
“Christ Is Risen”
found in:
UMH: 307
PH: 104
CH: 222
ELA: 383
“Thine Be the Glory”
found in:
UMH: 308
PH: 122
NCH: 253
CH: 218
LBW: 145
ELA: 376
W&P: 310
AMEC: 157
“Cristo Vive” (“Christ Is Risen”)
found in:
UMH: 313
PH: 109
“Christ Is Alive”
found in:
UMH: 318
H82: 182
PH: 108
LBW: 363
ELA: 389
W&P: 312
Renew: 300
“Take Time to Be Holy”
found in:
UMH: 395
NNBH: 306
CH: 572
W&P: 483
AMEC: 286
“Jesus, United By Thy Grace”
found in:
UMH: 561
“Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation”
found in:
UMH: 559
H82: 518
PH: 416, 417
NCH: 400
CH: 275
LBW: 367
ELA: 645
AMEC: 518
“You Are Mine”
found in:
CCB: 58
“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 sent Jesus into our midst to dispel our fears and doubts: Grant us the grace to place ourselves in his presence daily so that the uncertainties of this life are seen through his eyes; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We worship and praise you, O God, for you have sent Jesus to allay our doubts and fears. Help us to center ourselves in the Spirit of the Christ, that we may see the uncertainties of our lives through the eyes of Jesus. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our failure to center our lives in the Christ Spirit.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We call ourselves disciples of Jesus, but we spend too little time in his presence. We allow the things of this world to fill our time and our minds so that we do not take time to listen for the Christ Spirit speaking to us. We miss the opportunity to center ourselves in the peace of Christ, and instead we let fear and doubt rule our lives. Forgive us our foolish ways, and call us back once more to the Good Shepherd who brings us peace. Amen.
Leader: Christ is alive and seeking us! Receive God’s grace and love, and allow the Spirit to fill you with peace and hope.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
Glory to you, God of life. You send the Christ into our lives to bring us peace and life eternal.
(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 call ourselves disciples of Jesus, but we spend too little time in his presence. We allow the things of this world to fill our time and our minds so that we do not take time to listen for the Christ Spirit speaking to us. We miss the opportunity to center ourselves in the peace of Christ, and instead we let fear and doubt rule our lives. Forgive us our foolish ways, and call us back once more to the Good Shepherd who brings us peace.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which you make your presence known to us. We thank you that you have called us into worship so that we may take some time to center our lives in you.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need, and for all, anywhere, who find themselves filled with fears and doubts. Help us to be the presence of Christ for others so that they may know peace.
(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
Talk to the children about how it can be scary to be alone, but just having someone with you makes it better. The disciples were very scared, but then Jesus was with them and they knew it would be okay. When we are scared we can remember that Jesus is always with us.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Peace Be With You
John 20:19-31
Object: a peace symbol
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (v. 21).
How are you this morning? (allow answers from the children) Today we are going to talk about peace. Who can tell me what “peace” means? (allow answers) According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, peace means “a pact or agreement to end hostilities between those who have been at war or in a state of enmity.” Wow! That’s a lot of big words! And really, when we think about the most basic meaning of peace, it means something very simple: no fighting. When we are at peace, we feel calm. We are not fighting with other people; we are not fighting with God; we are not fighting against ourselves. Being at peace is a good, happy feeling!
During our worship service, we take time to wish peace to each other. We call it “the passing of the peace.” What do we say when we do this? (allow answers) We shake hands with or hug the people around us and say, “Peace be with you!” They usually reply by saying, “And also with you.” Not only do we wish peace for the others in our congregation, but we know that they are wishing the same thing for us.
Even Jesus wished peace for his friends -- so it must be something important! When we wish someone peace, we show that we care about them. It is a wish for something simple. When other people have peace, they aren’t giving us anything; peace is something that is personal, for one person at a time. So when we wish others peace, we are wishing for them to have something for themselves -- something that we will not gain from.
When you think of peace, what do you think of? (allow answers) Some people might think of a calm lake or ocean. Some people might think of white, fluffy clouds in the sky. Some people might think of curling up on the couch with a good book. Peace means different things to different people. (show peace symbol)
This week, ask what peace means to other people. Find out what makes people feel calm. You might learn something new about your family and friends. And in the meantime... peace be with you.
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The Immediate Word, April 12, 2015, issue.
Copyright 2015 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.
