This Church Is Difficult; Who Can Accept It?
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Jesus tells us in this week's lectionary gospel passage that "those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them." He goes on to say that therefore "whoever eats me will live because of me" and that "the one who eats this bread will live forever." Today we interpret his remarks in the context of the communion rite -- but the disciples, understandably concerned about how such words might be received, respond to Jesus: "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" Jesus dismisses their qualms with something of an arched eyebrow, asking them: "Does this offend you?" Apparently the disciples' unease was well-founded, for Mark relates that "because of this" many of Jesus' followers "turned back and no longer went about with him."
In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Leah Lonsbury suggests that the same dynamic played out in this text also exists for modern Christianity. The place of the church in the world has resurfaced as a newsworthy item in recent days with the release of a new poll concluding that atheism is on the rise while the percentage of people identifying themselves as religious has declined, and with a prominent New York Times column questioning if "liberal Christianity" can be saved. We're all familiar with the continuing slide of attendance in mainline denominations, and the resulting budgetary and staffing pressures. But what about the future of the church? What do we have to offer to a public whose reaction to the church often can best be characterized as "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" Leah notes that the answer is embedded in our gospel passage: by fully investing in Jesus and his teachings our lives will be transformed and the church will inevitably be revitalized -- even if the short-term results are that many in our pews, like Jesus' casual followers, "turn back and no longer go about with him."
Team member Mary Austin offers some additional thoughts on the Ephesians passage and its discussion of the armor God provides to protect us from the slings and arrows of life. Of course, armor is by definition defensive... it insulates the wearer from offensive weaponry. Thus, Mary points out, putting on the armor of God and being strong in the Lord does not mean going out and proactively destroying evil -- rather it is intended to allow us to withstand evil and "the wiles of the devil." So it's not coincidental that we are called to "proclaim the gospel of peace." As Mary reminds us, that's not an easy sell in an often violent and unforgiving world; yet with the world is already so filled with violence, we need to do our best not to add to it through our words and deeds.
This Church Is Difficult; Who Can Accept It?
by Leah Lonsbury
John 6:56-69
Listen up, church. In case you haven't noticed, things are changing. It's important that we sit up and listen.
We've got to sit up and listen... not so we can catch the next trend in church music, hire the necessary young musicians from the university down the street, and drop them in the appropriate slot in our "contemporary/casual/family-friendly" worship service.
We've got to sit up and listen... not so we can fearfully figure out where the currents are going and then purposefully turn upstream, cling to washed-out tradition, and put the latest floatation device on "the way we've always done it."
We've got to sit up and listen... not so we can tweak our programming for the widest feel-good appeal and the least interference with our kids' Sunday morning soccer leagues in order to maintain numbers, make budget, and patch together our mostly empty, behemoth buildings with failing boilers and leaky roofs.
We've got to sit up and listen... because the words that are being spoken are "spirit and life." The flesh of our trendy music ministry, our death grip on tradition, and our attempts to blend in and acquiesce to the surrounding culture are in fact "useless."
Snapping to and tuning in won't save the church as we have known it. American religion is still dying. ("This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?") But Jesus offers his followers (that's us) "the words of eternal life" that will resurrect the church, reform the Body, and address the hunger and thirst we see and experience.
Jesus is telling us that "you will live because of me."
Are we listening?
THE WORLD
Listen up, church. The last month or so has brought about some interesting developments in the news that require our attention.
Last week, the Religion News Service reported that "religiosity is on the decline in the U.S. and atheism is on the rise". This is according to a new poll (pdf file), "The Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism," and it offers the following statistics...
* The number of Americans who say they are "religious" dropped 13% in the last seven years (from 73% in a 2005 poll to 60% in this 2012 poll).
* In this same seven-year span, the number of Americans who report as atheists rose 4% (from 1% to 5%).
WIN-Gallup International is responsible for this poll and based its findings on interviews with 50,000 people from 57 countries and five continents. The statistics above come from asking Americans this question: "Irrespective of whether you attend a place of worship or not, would you say you are a religious person, not a religious person, or a convinced atheist?"
Now, this is an interesting question to unpack in itself. And the findings of the poll are already being questioned and pondered as to their accuracy and what they really tell us about the state of American religion. Ryan Cragun, a sociologist of religion from the University of Tampa, questions the growth in the number of atheists. He suggests that Americans are simply more comfortable identifying as "atheist" due to the publication of a series of books by prominent atheists and movements like "The Out Campaign," an effort by the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science that encourages people who do not believe in God to say so publicly.
Barry Kosmin, the principal investigator for the American Religious Identification Survey series, says he's skeptical about the WIN-Gallup poll's findings because trends in religiosity tend to move demographically, and demographics move "glacially." Kosmin also questions findings from other countries such as Vietnam, which shows a sharp 23% drop in religiosity since 2005 but also shows no atheists. "Eight million Communist Party members but zero atheists?" he asks. "That statistic makes me very doubtful of the accuracy of the survey overall and some of the international comparisons."
It's hard for the church to know how to react to a singular poll, especially with the questions it is raising. But perhaps this statement from Cragun should be the piece we take away and ponder: "For a very long time, religiosity has been a central characteristic of the American identity. But what this suggests is that this is changing and people are feeling less inclined to identify as religious to comply with what it means to be a good person in the U.S."
If people don't need church to "be a good person," then that's another strike against us. They begin to add up, and the resulting challenges and decline start to smart.
Beyond Cragun's conclusion, there are a good number of other reasons for the quiet dwindling of the church in America as well. This is evidenced in a pair of recent articles -- one by op-ed columnist Ross Douthat of the New York Times and the other by renowned scholar, author, and church historian Diana Butler Bass. The titles of their pieces provide good summaries. Douthat asks "Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved?" Bass seems to send the spiral even deeper when she responds by asking "Can Christianity Be Saved?"
(A quick public service announcement... Never fear, church. Bass is a devoted Christian and her church glass is over half-full. She has a keen eye for the trajectory we're on -- past, present, and future -- and she isn't giving up on us yet. More on that later.)
Let's begin with Douthat. He traces the crumbling of the "liberal" church -- which he seems to define as anything outside of "politically conservative but theologically shallow" bodies that have been "compromised" by "a gospel of health and wealth" -- to a starting point in the 1960s. He predictably blames the trends unleashed in that era -- the sexual revolution, consumerism, materialism, multiculturalism, and relativism -- for making waves that American Christianity has not been able to withstand. He describes what he sees as a resultant crisis happening in our faith communities around how to keep our churches "relevant and vital," and the "collapse" that is inevitable when we try to adapt ourselves to contemporary values.
The answer Douthat proposes is for the (liberal by Douthat's standards) church to recapture "a religious reason for its own existence," a la the social gospel and the civil rights movement. He draws from Protestant scholar Gary Dorrien as he prescribes a return to the dogmatism of the past that is grounded in Bible study, family devotions, personal prayer, and worship. Devotees to the social gospel and civil rights activists, Douthat and Dorrien suggest, "argued for progressive reform in the context of 'a personal transcendent God... the divinity of Christ, the need of personal redemption, and the importance of Christian missions.' "
Once again, it's hard for the church to know how to react to this argument, especially when Douthat both blames the past and suggests a return to it. Is the answer to the present and the future of the church really to be found in moving backward?
It's hard to know what to do with Douthat's arguments, but perhaps this statement should be the piece we take away and ponder: "Today, by contrast, the leaders of the Episcopal church [the body Douthat identifies as the symbolic center of the crumbling American church] and similar bodies often don't seem to be offering anything you can't already get from a purely secular liberalism."
Sound familiar?
Enter Bass' hopeful wisdom and optimism for the Body as she offers a more nuanced view of the contemporary church in her response to Douthat. She sees "words of eternal life" that the followers of Jesus have to offer that aren't the result of a glossy-eyed nostalgia for the heyday of the American church. We have these words to speak, Bass suggests, because we hear them from Jesus.
So what are those words? What do we have to offer that the rest of the world cannot? As followers of Jesus in a turbulent, complicated, and fast-moving world, what are "the words of eternal life" only the Body of Christ can offer? And how essential are they after all? Jesus tells us, tells the world, that "you will live because of me," but how do we know there isn't just an app for that?
THE WORD
If we look to John's gospel for the answers to our questions, then we find this: the words of eternal life are the crux of this whole gospel story. It will sound dramatic, but they are the key to life itself -- the life for which we were created, which is to dwell with God. They are everything. Everything.
They issue from the source of all creation in God -- the Word. And that Word takes on flesh and comes to be with us, to offer us the life that is really life -- the eternal life of God.
The Word, Jesus, makes the offer in his repeated invitation to live as one with God. In this week's gospel passage, the invitation sounds quite shocking. Jesus means it that way. The invitation he is giving is for a radical new life with God, one that will require everything.
"Eat my flesh and drink my blood," Jesus invites. Fully ingest me, he says. Let me sustain and nurture your life in my life, the eternal life of God. Abide in me. Make our lives one. Let your life be my life. Let your actions be my actions. Let your words be my words of eternal life.
So what does that look like exactly? What will it require?
Everything.
To accept Jesus' invitation to live as one with God is to say yes to a transformative surrender to the life of God. It requires much -- everything -- of us. But it is the life that spoke us into being and ultimately has the most resonance with us, if we're able to come to terms with that. As Amy C. Howe writes in Feasting on the Word [Year B, Vol. 3], it is "coming home."
But this is Jesus speaking, so that home, that life with God is also subversive, scandalous, and sacrificial, for it seeks peace in a world bent toward conflict. It deals in extravagant generosity in a world of fearful hoarding and advertised scarcity. It provides hospitality that crosses culturally established lines, sometimes walls even. It is dismissive of proper decorum and risks everything, for in this home there is eternal life -- but death and resurrection must come first.
Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm writes of this:
The more we realize that faith calls us to consume the body and blood of Christ, to embrace his death and resurrection and to emulate his manner of living and dying for others, the more difficult the journey of faith becomes. There may be a word of comfort here for congregations who strive to be faithful disciples yet experience declining attendance and church membership. This passage is not intended to reinforce our complacency or discourage us from witnessing the gospel of Jesus Christ to others. But it will help us remember that our calling is a strange and difficult one. It is more than skin-deep, reaching beneath the surface of our lives and into our workplaces, bank accounts, family relationships, eating habits, daily schedules, and all the other ways we choose to live and die for Christ and our neighbors.
-- Feasting on the Word [Year B, Vol. 3], edited by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor (Westminster John Knox, 2009), pgs. 380-385
But risk, difficulty, decline, and death are simply a piece of this coming home, this eternal life with God. It is also salvation. In a short amount of time, the 5,000 followers that Jesus feeds with bread and fish fall away. But as they scurry away and the dust clears, there stand the 12 who have tasted the real thing. Simon Peter speaks for them: "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Here's where Diana Butler Bass' hope for the church comes into play. The crowds have scurried (and are scurrying) away -- but the dust is also clearing, and what is left is the real thing. As the 5,000 (and then some) have left, "introspective... churchgoers returned to the core of the Christian vision," writes Bass -- "Jesus' command to 'Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.' "
As a result, a new kind of American Christianity is emerging. This is the church of the 12, not the 5,000. According to Bass, this is:
... a form of faith that cares for one's neighbor, the common good, and fosters equality, but is, at the same time, a transformative personal faith that is warm, experiential, generous, and thoughtful. This new expression of Christianity maintains the historic liberal passion for serving others but embraces Jesus' injunction that a vibrant love for God is the basis for a meaningful life. These Christians link spirituality with social justice as a path of peace and biblical faith.
This is the church of those who eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus. This is where the words of eternal life are taking root.
In this new church, the growing heartbeat and emerging life does not come from a return to the dogmatism of the past. It grows as its people turn to the practices that can be found in the life of Jesus -- hospitality, prayer, worship, and just action. Careful and transformative theological reflection and Christian formation are key as well. The words of eternal life are everything and taking them on and exploring their depths takes deep commitment and the whole of our spirits and our lives.
This isn't what is catching the attention of the press, writes Bass, but this is the life that is unfolding as the church lives into Jesus' call to abide in him and so in God. The church is coming home and experiencing "the spirit that gives life." This is what will resurrect the church, reform the Body, and address the hunger and thirst we see and experience. This is what the church has to offer that people can't get anywhere else.
So how does all this preach? Here are some ideas...
1. As a gentle or not so gentle reality check as to what this life with God requires. Amy C. Howe writes in Feasting on the Word that we often choose religion over God and we miss what it means eat the flesh and drink the blood:
We, like the disciples, are offended by Jesus' offer of spirit and life. We feel good about serving in the soup kitchen, but we refuse to forgive our pew mate for his addiction. We feel righteous when we teach Sunday school, but we are annoyed by the coos of the baby in worship. We make religion about the rules because we can control the rules. We can amend books of order, we can use scripture to oppress, and we can punish the rule-breakers -- much easier than compassion and forgiveness.
Jesus addresses this in our gospel passage for today by questioning the crowd about what they thought they were getting into with him. "Does this offend you?" he asks. Hello? Is this really news? Have you been listening at all?
2. As an invitation to follow the pattern that Diana Butler Bass observes in the church that is rediscovering its spiritual vitality. This is happening when disciples take seriously the words of eternal life found in Jesus. They are doing this through hospitality, prayer, worship, acting and living justly, theological reflection, and Christian formation. Does one of these practices resonate with or need attention in your community of faith?
3. As a healthy self-examination of where your community of faith stands. Diana Butler Bass is describing a hard-won maturation of the church, a coming into its real self. Where is your community of faith on its journey? How does it need to get real, widen its vision, or grow up? It might be helpful to dig into Thomas Bergler's "When Are We Going to Grow Up? The Juvenilization of American Christianity" from June's issue of Christianity Today. Here's a quick excerpt:
Today many Americans of all ages not only accept a Christianized version of adolescent narcissism, they often celebrate it as authentic spirituality. God, faith, and the church all exist to help me with my problems. Religious institutions are bad; only my personal relationship with Jesus matters. If we believe that a mature faith involves more than good feelings, vague beliefs, and living however we want, we must conclude that juvenilization has revitalized American Christianity at the cost of leaving many individuals mired in spiritual immaturity.
4. As a call to be present in the present, to glean the wisdom of the emerging and vital church as seen in its young leaders and "everyday revolutionaries". There are prophetic voices surfacing from the generation that has grown up in "life after church," in the space that is left for the 12 after the 5,000 have taken their leave. Here's a taste from a blog by Joshua Smith, self-described poet, baker of bread, amateur potter, and lifelong pilgrim:
Over the last several months, I have found myself involved in a number of conversations regarding what a church service would look like if I were designing it from scratch. Part of this stems from my own disenchantment with the church, as well as the feelings of many of my peers who have been alienated by the institution. Part of what follows also stems from my dreams of what the church could be.
The links above represent only two voices that are singing a new and wise tune of spirit and life for the church.
Listen up, church.
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Mary Austin
Ephesians 6:10-20
The Letter to the Ephesians has unfolded week by week, as the lectionary has given us time to take in this beautiful epistle. Starting with the early chapters, the writer makes the claim that the church is a whole new creation, unlike anything people have known before. The old divisions are over by God's power, not human will. Jews and Gentiles equally belong to God. Divided as they are in the world outside the church, now they are part of a new creation. Because this is so new, the writer continues with instructions about how to live together in community. Now the writer winds up the book by offering advice about how to live in a hostile world.
This is timely advice for us too. The hostile world is very present. We've certainly seen plenty of evidence of the "spiritual forces of evil" lately. Shootings in Louisiana and Washington DC replaced shootings in Wisconsin and Colorado in the news. We watch helplessly as the people of Syria suffer while their country collapses. Refugee camps in Africa are overflowing with people displaced by war. Our own election season gives us a daily dose of nastiness and shaded truth.
To the world of the early church and to our current church, the writer has two messages. First, don't give up. "Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power." This is beyond our power to solve, but there is power beyond ours at work too. Second, there is enough violence in the world already. We don't need to share in it -- our work is to stand firm, to work hard to withstand the forces of evil. Our tools are the shield of faith... and the helmet of salvation. When we've strapped all of that on, just when we're expecting a call to war, the letter turns us back to our main task. We've put on all the equipment we can muster, and then the next instruction is "Pray." Pray? Not slash and cut down, do battle and vanquish? Nope. Pray. Lest we forget, the writer says it three times, four if you include "persevere in supplication."
Surely then we'll be instructed to fight, it seems, but the most repeated instruction in the passage is to "stand." Four times for this one. Our spiritual warfare is to stand for peace, to proclaim "the gospel of peace" in a warlike and belligerent world. We stand and make sure that we are not becoming warlike ourselves. We stand and cultivate peace within, taming our own raging impulses, so that our brand of peace might be contagious. It's hard to proclaim what we haven't nurtured in ourselves. And, by grace, when we stand we hold a space for God to work.
Standing is hard work. Buffeted by nasty rhetoric, it's hard to maintain a peaceful calm. In a culture that sees not fighting back as weakness, it's hard to stand firm. In the city of Detroit, where I work, people are acutely sensitive to being disrespected. A shove, a look, or a shrug of the shoulders can all mean something more, and no one wants to be thought of as weak if they walk away. Not being swayed by the violence around us is challenging. We have a wealth of inner work to do if we are to stand firm in the service of peace. There are all kinds of violence -- if we're not out shooting people, we might indulge in the small temptations of name-calling, or judgment, or the delicious occasional treat of looking down on someone. Our violence might come as part of the systems that grow from injustice -- violence from afar.
In Feasting on the Word [Year B, Volume 3, page 374], Archie Smith Jr. notes an important piece of our standing firm and continuing to pray: "Who can stand on conviction when the tide of popularity turns against us and strong winds of criticism blow? Is this all about lone individuals standing rigidly and resolute? No. Paul is talking about Christian identity and the roots of our common faith. In order to stand firm, we have to be nurtured in a tradition, a faithful community, and grow deep in its rich soil." Our ability to pray and to stand firm is not an individual task but the work of a community, holding each other up. Girded and guarded this way, we can take up the job of proclaiming the gospel of peace.
The gospel of peace has a refreshing sound to it, after the dryness of violence and the emptiness of holding on to anger. May it be that it flourishes within us and spills out around us.
ILLUSTRATIONS
In 1886 the Piqua Hosiery Company opened in Piqua, Ohio, and it would be the first of eighteen underwear factories that would eventually operate in that town. The biggest would be the Atlas Underwear Company, which kept 1.5 million soldiers in long underwear during World War I and by the end of World War II was the world's leading manufacturer of flame-retardant underwear.
By the mid-1960s Piqua was known as "The Underwear Capital of the World" and featured "The Great Outdoor Underwear Festival" every year during the second week of October. Festival events included the "Undy 500," the Long John Parade, the Drop-Seat Trot, bed races, and, of course, the Boxer Ball. Celebrities sent signed pairs of their own underwear that were auctioned for charity.
By the 1990s the festival was still going strong -- until a visitor dared to ask why, and someone realized that not one of the underwear factories was still operating (and none of them had been for years). The festival was not celebrating the Piqua of today but the Piqua of years ago.
How many churches, one wonders, are holding underwear festivals every Sunday, celebrating what they used to be with no ideas about their future?
* * *
Most veteran professional baseball players will confirm that a fastball flying at you at over 100 miles per hour is nearly impossible to see, much less hit. Sportswriter Frank Deford has said that hitting any fastball is the hardest thing to do in all of sports. Hitting one that is going 100 mph is virtually impossible.
And yet, major league batters do just that on a regular basis.
They do it by tempo. They watch a pitcher's movements and his rhythm, and they learn how to time their swing of the bat perfectly so that they can hit the ball without really seeing it. It may take several innings to figure it out, but they inevitably do... and then they start hitting those fastballs.
That's when the experienced pitcher throws the change-up.
The change-up is more theater than it is athletics. The pitcher uses exactly the same motion, exactly the same rhythm, exactly the same windup as he would for a fastball -- but then, just as he releases the ball from his hand, he backs off and eases up and the ball travels toward home plate at about 75% of the speed of his fastball. The batter, thinking that a fastball is coming, swings his bat furiously only to watch the slow change-up pitch float leisurely by him.
No matter how good your fastball is, you can't throw only fastballs and be a successful pitcher. For your fastball to be effective, you have to have a change-up you can throw from time to time.
For a church to be successful it must have a solid fastball that can be pitched well and often, but it doesn't hurt to have a change-up just to keep everyone their toes.
* * *
In 1714 Eberhard L. Gruber and Johann F. Rock created a pietist Christian sect known as the Community of True Inspiration, whose adherents believed that God communicated through inspired individuals just as he had done in the days of the prophets.
For years their followers came together and lived on communal estates in Hesse, but after years of persecution they left Germany in 1840 and settled in upstate New York. In 1843, seeking a more remote area where they could live away from the pressures of modernity, they moved to Iowa, where they purchased land and created a village called Ebenezer about 20 miles west of what is today Iowa City.
By 1854 the population of Ebenezer was over 1,200 souls, so they separated into seven villages called the Amana Communities. (Amana is Hebrew for "stay faithful.") Each village was a self-sustaining farming and manufacturing enterprise where children were educated and families worshiped and worked together communally. Some of the youth were sent to college to return as doctors, attorneys, dentists, and teachers. The villages thrived -- with virtually no input socially or economically from the outside world -- from 1854 until 1931, when the Great Depression reached even to Amana.
That year the need for Amana's agricultural output dropped off severely and they suffered two large fires in the villages, destroying two of their small factories. Also, members of the sect were beginning to feel that the communal lifestyle was stifling creativity and not allowing development that could solve the financial problems of the villages.
In 1932 the elders called members of the community together for a vote. Would they stay the same, with the rules of their church also being the rules of their community? Or would they change, allowing individual creativity and energy to revitalize their economic life even as they retained their old rules for their church?
The following year Amana resident George C. Foerstner founded the Amana Refrigeration Company, and today the Amana villages are a popular tourist attraction known for their restaurants, craft shops, antique shops, small factories, and the simple lifestyle they still espouse and practice. Residents of the community, known as Amanites, are still active in the Amanite church.
* * *
The English painter J.M.W. Turner once sold one of his immense canvases to a close friend, who invited Turner to his home to help hang it. Although the room was spacious and airy, the two men just couldn't get that painting to look right. Finally, the artist turned to his friend and declared it was a useless enterprise. There was only one solution, he said. The room would have to be rebuilt to fit the painting.
There are many who come to church hoping to bring home a little bit of Jesus to adorn their lives: inspirational thoughts to hang, like a pretty picture on the wall. Yet Jesus Christ can never be mere decoration for a human life. He's got to be at the center of it, the focal point from which everything else derives its purpose.
There comes a time -- perhaps many times -- in the life of a Christian when a decision must be made, when all around us would-be disciples are turning away and departing. When the Lord turns to us and asks, "Do you also wish to go away?" What will we say? Will we hang our heads and look down at the ground, then turn and shuffle off like so many others? Or will we have the faith to look him in the eye and answer: "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life!"
* * *
Convicted Watergate conspirator G. Gordon Liddy once gave a lecture on a college campus in Missouri. Throughout the evening Liddy -- who had just been released from prison -- harangued his audience with the idea that only force, brute strength, and an iron will could earn the respect of friends and foes in this "real world, which is in fact a very tough neighborhood."
During the question-and-answer period, one of the college professors rose to speak. Rather timidly, he objected: "In our country, most people... after all... do base their ethics on... the teachings of Jesus... and this doesn't sound much like the teachings of Jesus."
Liddy is said to have glared for a moment before taking in a deep breath and bellowing: "Yeah -- and look what happened to Jesus. They crucified him." To Liddy, the case was closed. The audience responded to his putdown with laughter and thunderous applause.
G. Gordon Liddy was absolutely right. Jesus stood before the terrible, destructive power of Rome in courageous, virtuous silence. And that power rose up and crushed him. To the likes of G. Gordon Liddy -- and Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, and Herod -- that should have been the end of the story. But it wasn't the end. There was another power at work in the life -- and the death -- of Jesus of Nazareth.
* * *
Sameeha Wehba, 70, crawled into her cow pen, pushed a rock against the door, and waited. She cowered for hours, alone and afraid. Finally, just before dawn, when she felt it was safe to emerge, she discovered that she was the only remaining Christian in her village in Dahshour, Egypt.
Through the long hours of the afternoon, then going into the evening and stretching through the night, every Christian in the village fled from rampaging Muslims. The community's priest, cloaked in a white sheet to hide him, was taken out of the village in a police van.
Wehba, looking at the torched church and pillaged homes said: "It was a devil's moment. Whoever caused this was the devil's son."
Application: Paul wrote, "Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
* * *
William Balfour was convicted of shooting to death Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson's 57-year-old mother Darnell Donerson, her 29-year-old brother Jason Hudson, and her 7-year-old nephew Julian King. The October 24, 2008 slayings, in the family's three-story house on Chicago's South Side, were carried out by a jealous estranged husband who was married to Hudson's sister Julia.
At his recent sentencing, Balfour received three terms of life in prison, plus another 120 years on related charges. During the proceedings, Cook County Circuit Judge Charles Burns told Balfour: "You have the heart of an arctic night. Your soul is as barren as dark space."
Application: Paul wrote, "Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Though the armor of God may not protect us from premeditated malice, it can protect us from many of the evils we encounter in a dark "arctic night."
* * *
You probably don't recognize the term "polytetrafluoroethylene." You probably don't even recognize the shorter version of the name used by scientists: PTFE. And you probably don't recognize the name of Dr. Roy Plunkett, the guy who invented this durable defensive armor by accident on April 6, 1938.
But there's a good chance you use it nearly every day.
See, the thing about polytetra... PTFE is that its molecular weight is over 30,000,000 -- making it one of the largest molecules in the universe. And because the molecule is so large it makes polytetra... PTFE very slippery.
Plunkett was working for DuPont research laboratories in New Jersey, developing gases related to freon refrigerants. When he checked one sample, he discovered that it had polymerized spontaneously into a white, waxy solid. He immediately realized that this substance was so hard, so slippery, and so non-absorbent that it would make an excellent coating for cooking pans.
The accidental polymer was named Teflon -- and Roy Plunkett earned a place in the inventors hall of fame, while his invention/discovery has become a metaphor for anything that protects by way of slipperiness.
* * *
Kevlar, a lightweight fiber that is five times stronger than steel, was invented by a DuPont chemist named Stephanie Kwolek. The material is now used in the bulletproof body armor worn by the U.S. military and law enforcement officers, as well as in dozens of products including canoe hulls, skis, tires, and sports equipment.
Kwolek, a researcher in DuPont's fiber research group, was looking for the successor to popular consumer products like nylon. An attempt to dissolve two polymers resulted in an incredibly strong but lightweight new substance. As Kwolek explains, "Fibers are tested for tensile strength, elongation at break, and stiffness. I had the as-spun fibers tested, and the results came back with extraordinary numbers." Her discovery led to a whole new field of polymer research.
The material was first marketed by DuPont in 1971 and has since become a standard manufacturing material. Kwolek, a legendary figure in her field, has earned 17 patents and in 1995 was inducted into the inventors hall of fame.
* * *
It's a sad commentary on our society that most police officers are required to wear some sort of body armor as a matter of course. Once the exclusive domain of the SWAT team or other special tactical units, now many police departments require all on-duty officers to wear protection.
Ballistic protective shields come in many varieties. Body armor comes in concealable and exterior styles. Extra trauma foam pads are an option designed to reduce impact trauma. For those hot days, vest air conditioner attachments can help keep an officer cool. This unit is basically a hose that attaches to the vehicle's air conditioning vent and slips into the neck hole of the vest.
Bulletproof helmets come in a variety of protection levels (spray foam trauma protection is highly recommended for helmets). One can carry a backpack or briefcase that has ballistic protection built in, making them portable shields. There are special glasses and face shields, groin protectors, canine vests, and ballistic blankets to throw over bombs.
The armor of God is much more practical, lightweight, and less expensive: truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation.
* * *
Remember the scene from Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote in which the addled old knight makes a pasteboard helmet and wears it on his head? Though the flimsy headgear is struck by a sword and pierced, Don Quixote continues to believe in its protective powers. Commenting on this incident, Henry Ward Beecher writes: "Are there not many Don Quixotes among (us), who put on armor that looks very well till some sword or spear is thrust into it, but which then is found to be like the pasteboard helmet that went to pieces the moment it was touched?" The writer of Ephesians encourages us to put on the whole armor of God. Only the entire complement -- helmet of salvation, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the proclamation of the gospel, the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit -- is sufficient to save us when evil attacks.
* * *
Europe is being torn apart by more than economic debt and problems with the euro. The seventeen countries that are joined together by a common currency lack a common identity. Many people in northern European countries, especially Germany, think of their southern counterparts as lolling in the Mediterranean sun while overspending and are tax-dodging their way to ruin. Meanwhile a common sentiment in southern countries is that their northern counterparts are rigid beyond reason, so gloomy in their own lives that they are determined to see the southerners suffer.
This stereotypical thinking has created larger issues than national debts and the inefficiency of the euro, for it prevents a reasonable and coherent solution to the economic challenges that loom over all seventeen countries. Vincent Forest, a London-based economist with the Economist Intelligence Unit noted that "national resentments in Europe are rising to dramatic levels." He went on to say that this stereotyping has created "a political and social crisis."
Application: In this week's alternate Old Testament text Joshua said: "but as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord." Until the seventeen countries of Europe realize that they are a family of nations who must chose to live under the same roof, there will always be estrangement. Joshua knew that this was as true for Israel as it is today for Europe as well as many other countries across the globe.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: How lovely is your dwelling place, O God of hosts!
People: My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Leader: Happy are those who live in God's house, ever singing God's praise.
People: Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
Leader: For a day in God's courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
People: I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.
OR
Leader: Come and feast on the God of life!
People: We come to be filled with the very life of our God!
Leader: Many things tempt us, but they do not satisfy.
People: Even the good gifts of creation are fleeting.
Leader: Only God can fill the hunger in our deepest being.
People: We long for God. We desire God above all.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"How Great Thou Art"
found in:
UMH: 77
PH: 467
AAHH: 148
NNBH: 43
CH: 33
LBW: 532
ELA: 856
Renew: 250
"Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones"
found in:
UMH: 90
H82: 618
PH: 451
LBW: 175
ELA: 424
"All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name"
found in:
UMH: 154/155
H82: 450/451
PH: 142/143
AAHH: 292/293/294
NNBH: 315
NCH: 304
CH: 91/92
LBW: 328/329
ELA: 634
Renew: 45
"O Come and Dwell in Me"
found in:
UMH: 388
"Breathe on Me, Breath of God"
found in:
UMH: 420
H82: 508
PH: 316
AAHH: 317
NNBH: 126
NCH: 292
CH: 254
LBW: 488
"O God Who Shaped Creation"
found in:
UMH: 443
"For the Bread Which You Have Broken"
found in:
UMH: 614/615
H82: 340/341
PH: 508/509
CH: 411
LBW: 200
ELA: 494
"Bread of the World"
found in:
UMH: 624
H82: 301
PH: 502
NCH: 346
CH: 387
"The Steadfast Love of the Lord"
found in:
CCB: 28
Renew: 23
"Your Loving Kindness Is Better than Life"
found in:
CCB: 26
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is the source and foundation of all life: Grant us the wisdom to seek to fill ourselves with you that we may know the life that is eternal; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
O God, you are life and you are the life-giver. Hear us as we worship you and praise your name. Feed us with your own self that we may know your life within us and so that we may share your life with the world. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways we fill our lives with things that do not lead to life.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have allowed passing things around us to distract us from the real things of life. We have been seduced with the glitter of wealth, status, and comfort. We have feasted at the trough of the world and we are wasting away. We have failed to seek out the true life that is only found in you. Open our eyes to see the life you offer us in your own self. Help us to drink deeply from the waters of life that flow from you. Amen.
Leader: God desires nothing but good things and life eternal for all God's children. Receive the blessings and life of God that you may live in joy and peace.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We worship and adore you, O God, for you are life and in you alone we find our life.
(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 allowed passing things around us to distract us from the real things of life. We have been seduced with the glitter of wealth, status, and comfort. We have feasted at the trough of the world and we are wasting away. We have failed to seek out the true life that is only found in you. Open our eyes to see the life you offer us in your own self. Help us to drink deeply from the waters of life that flow from you.
We thank you for all the blessings we have received from your abundant hand. Most of all, we thank you for Jesus and the life he offers us in you.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We lift up to you a world that is dying. We look around and see people who have cut themselves off from the fount of living waters and drink heavily from polluted wells. Help us to be faithful disciples of Jesus who offer the waters of life to all.
(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 nutrition: the good things we eat that help us grow. Some things are fun to eat but are not very nutritious. The things we think about feed us too. Thinking about good things, like God, helps us grow into better people. Thinking mean things does not.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The Armor of God
Ephesians 6:10-20
Object: a football uniform with all of the equipment (helmet, shoulder pads, knee pads, etc.)
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you go to your school's football games with your parents or friends? Do any of you play football? (let the children answer) Some of you go to the games, and some of you even play football. It's a pretty rough game, isn't it? (let them answer) Do you ever get hurt playing? (let them answer) When I watch the games at the stadium or on television, I always think about what a rough game football is, and how easy it would be to get hurt. Of course, I know that the uniform that each football player wears helps to protect him, and also helps him to be a better player.
Have you ever seen all the parts of a football player's uniform? (let them answer) I brought one along with me this morning so that you could see all the parts. (show each pad and tell them where it goes in the uniform) You can see how many different parts it takes to protect the body against injury. There is something for the knee, the hip, the thigh, the ribs, the shoulder, and the head. When you are wearing all these pads, it means that you can hit harder and you can take harder hits from other football players.
Christians are a little bit like football players. We have to play in a pretty rough world sometimes with people who are not so nice. Some people we know like to lie and do mean things. Others play unfair and cheat, while some will do anything to hurt someone else. If you are a Christian, you can't do the same things they do. We don't want you to lie or steal from someone else or hurt them because you were hurt. A Christian cannot do those kinds of things. That is why the apostle Paul tells us to help ourselves with a different kind of equipment. Pretend that these shoulder pads are called "forgiveness" and that this helmet is called "truth." We can name the knee pads the "love" that God has for you, and the hip pads "honesty." When you put on all the good things that God has given you to protect you in this world, then you are safe. I know that some people are going to try and hurt you, and sometimes you will wonder if it is worth being a Christian. But I know that it is, and you will know that it is too when you know how you feel after telling the truth or after forgiving someone who has tried to hurt you.
Jesus has a special place for the people who wear his kind of protection, and I know that you will want to share what he has for you. The next time you see a football player, remember the kind of pads that God is asking you to wear, and you will know how much he cares for you in this world.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, August 26, 2012, issue.
Copyright 2012 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Leah Lonsbury suggests that the same dynamic played out in this text also exists for modern Christianity. The place of the church in the world has resurfaced as a newsworthy item in recent days with the release of a new poll concluding that atheism is on the rise while the percentage of people identifying themselves as religious has declined, and with a prominent New York Times column questioning if "liberal Christianity" can be saved. We're all familiar with the continuing slide of attendance in mainline denominations, and the resulting budgetary and staffing pressures. But what about the future of the church? What do we have to offer to a public whose reaction to the church often can best be characterized as "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" Leah notes that the answer is embedded in our gospel passage: by fully investing in Jesus and his teachings our lives will be transformed and the church will inevitably be revitalized -- even if the short-term results are that many in our pews, like Jesus' casual followers, "turn back and no longer go about with him."
Team member Mary Austin offers some additional thoughts on the Ephesians passage and its discussion of the armor God provides to protect us from the slings and arrows of life. Of course, armor is by definition defensive... it insulates the wearer from offensive weaponry. Thus, Mary points out, putting on the armor of God and being strong in the Lord does not mean going out and proactively destroying evil -- rather it is intended to allow us to withstand evil and "the wiles of the devil." So it's not coincidental that we are called to "proclaim the gospel of peace." As Mary reminds us, that's not an easy sell in an often violent and unforgiving world; yet with the world is already so filled with violence, we need to do our best not to add to it through our words and deeds.
This Church Is Difficult; Who Can Accept It?
by Leah Lonsbury
John 6:56-69
Listen up, church. In case you haven't noticed, things are changing. It's important that we sit up and listen.
We've got to sit up and listen... not so we can catch the next trend in church music, hire the necessary young musicians from the university down the street, and drop them in the appropriate slot in our "contemporary/casual/family-friendly" worship service.
We've got to sit up and listen... not so we can fearfully figure out where the currents are going and then purposefully turn upstream, cling to washed-out tradition, and put the latest floatation device on "the way we've always done it."
We've got to sit up and listen... not so we can tweak our programming for the widest feel-good appeal and the least interference with our kids' Sunday morning soccer leagues in order to maintain numbers, make budget, and patch together our mostly empty, behemoth buildings with failing boilers and leaky roofs.
We've got to sit up and listen... because the words that are being spoken are "spirit and life." The flesh of our trendy music ministry, our death grip on tradition, and our attempts to blend in and acquiesce to the surrounding culture are in fact "useless."
Snapping to and tuning in won't save the church as we have known it. American religion is still dying. ("This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?") But Jesus offers his followers (that's us) "the words of eternal life" that will resurrect the church, reform the Body, and address the hunger and thirst we see and experience.
Jesus is telling us that "you will live because of me."
Are we listening?
THE WORLD
Listen up, church. The last month or so has brought about some interesting developments in the news that require our attention.
Last week, the Religion News Service reported that "religiosity is on the decline in the U.S. and atheism is on the rise". This is according to a new poll (pdf file), "The Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism," and it offers the following statistics...
* The number of Americans who say they are "religious" dropped 13% in the last seven years (from 73% in a 2005 poll to 60% in this 2012 poll).
* In this same seven-year span, the number of Americans who report as atheists rose 4% (from 1% to 5%).
WIN-Gallup International is responsible for this poll and based its findings on interviews with 50,000 people from 57 countries and five continents. The statistics above come from asking Americans this question: "Irrespective of whether you attend a place of worship or not, would you say you are a religious person, not a religious person, or a convinced atheist?"
Now, this is an interesting question to unpack in itself. And the findings of the poll are already being questioned and pondered as to their accuracy and what they really tell us about the state of American religion. Ryan Cragun, a sociologist of religion from the University of Tampa, questions the growth in the number of atheists. He suggests that Americans are simply more comfortable identifying as "atheist" due to the publication of a series of books by prominent atheists and movements like "The Out Campaign," an effort by the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science that encourages people who do not believe in God to say so publicly.
Barry Kosmin, the principal investigator for the American Religious Identification Survey series, says he's skeptical about the WIN-Gallup poll's findings because trends in religiosity tend to move demographically, and demographics move "glacially." Kosmin also questions findings from other countries such as Vietnam, which shows a sharp 23% drop in religiosity since 2005 but also shows no atheists. "Eight million Communist Party members but zero atheists?" he asks. "That statistic makes me very doubtful of the accuracy of the survey overall and some of the international comparisons."
It's hard for the church to know how to react to a singular poll, especially with the questions it is raising. But perhaps this statement from Cragun should be the piece we take away and ponder: "For a very long time, religiosity has been a central characteristic of the American identity. But what this suggests is that this is changing and people are feeling less inclined to identify as religious to comply with what it means to be a good person in the U.S."
If people don't need church to "be a good person," then that's another strike against us. They begin to add up, and the resulting challenges and decline start to smart.
Beyond Cragun's conclusion, there are a good number of other reasons for the quiet dwindling of the church in America as well. This is evidenced in a pair of recent articles -- one by op-ed columnist Ross Douthat of the New York Times and the other by renowned scholar, author, and church historian Diana Butler Bass. The titles of their pieces provide good summaries. Douthat asks "Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved?" Bass seems to send the spiral even deeper when she responds by asking "Can Christianity Be Saved?"
(A quick public service announcement... Never fear, church. Bass is a devoted Christian and her church glass is over half-full. She has a keen eye for the trajectory we're on -- past, present, and future -- and she isn't giving up on us yet. More on that later.)
Let's begin with Douthat. He traces the crumbling of the "liberal" church -- which he seems to define as anything outside of "politically conservative but theologically shallow" bodies that have been "compromised" by "a gospel of health and wealth" -- to a starting point in the 1960s. He predictably blames the trends unleashed in that era -- the sexual revolution, consumerism, materialism, multiculturalism, and relativism -- for making waves that American Christianity has not been able to withstand. He describes what he sees as a resultant crisis happening in our faith communities around how to keep our churches "relevant and vital," and the "collapse" that is inevitable when we try to adapt ourselves to contemporary values.
The answer Douthat proposes is for the (liberal by Douthat's standards) church to recapture "a religious reason for its own existence," a la the social gospel and the civil rights movement. He draws from Protestant scholar Gary Dorrien as he prescribes a return to the dogmatism of the past that is grounded in Bible study, family devotions, personal prayer, and worship. Devotees to the social gospel and civil rights activists, Douthat and Dorrien suggest, "argued for progressive reform in the context of 'a personal transcendent God... the divinity of Christ, the need of personal redemption, and the importance of Christian missions.' "
Once again, it's hard for the church to know how to react to this argument, especially when Douthat both blames the past and suggests a return to it. Is the answer to the present and the future of the church really to be found in moving backward?
It's hard to know what to do with Douthat's arguments, but perhaps this statement should be the piece we take away and ponder: "Today, by contrast, the leaders of the Episcopal church [the body Douthat identifies as the symbolic center of the crumbling American church] and similar bodies often don't seem to be offering anything you can't already get from a purely secular liberalism."
Sound familiar?
Enter Bass' hopeful wisdom and optimism for the Body as she offers a more nuanced view of the contemporary church in her response to Douthat. She sees "words of eternal life" that the followers of Jesus have to offer that aren't the result of a glossy-eyed nostalgia for the heyday of the American church. We have these words to speak, Bass suggests, because we hear them from Jesus.
So what are those words? What do we have to offer that the rest of the world cannot? As followers of Jesus in a turbulent, complicated, and fast-moving world, what are "the words of eternal life" only the Body of Christ can offer? And how essential are they after all? Jesus tells us, tells the world, that "you will live because of me," but how do we know there isn't just an app for that?
THE WORD
If we look to John's gospel for the answers to our questions, then we find this: the words of eternal life are the crux of this whole gospel story. It will sound dramatic, but they are the key to life itself -- the life for which we were created, which is to dwell with God. They are everything. Everything.
They issue from the source of all creation in God -- the Word. And that Word takes on flesh and comes to be with us, to offer us the life that is really life -- the eternal life of God.
The Word, Jesus, makes the offer in his repeated invitation to live as one with God. In this week's gospel passage, the invitation sounds quite shocking. Jesus means it that way. The invitation he is giving is for a radical new life with God, one that will require everything.
"Eat my flesh and drink my blood," Jesus invites. Fully ingest me, he says. Let me sustain and nurture your life in my life, the eternal life of God. Abide in me. Make our lives one. Let your life be my life. Let your actions be my actions. Let your words be my words of eternal life.
So what does that look like exactly? What will it require?
Everything.
To accept Jesus' invitation to live as one with God is to say yes to a transformative surrender to the life of God. It requires much -- everything -- of us. But it is the life that spoke us into being and ultimately has the most resonance with us, if we're able to come to terms with that. As Amy C. Howe writes in Feasting on the Word [Year B, Vol. 3], it is "coming home."
But this is Jesus speaking, so that home, that life with God is also subversive, scandalous, and sacrificial, for it seeks peace in a world bent toward conflict. It deals in extravagant generosity in a world of fearful hoarding and advertised scarcity. It provides hospitality that crosses culturally established lines, sometimes walls even. It is dismissive of proper decorum and risks everything, for in this home there is eternal life -- but death and resurrection must come first.
Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm writes of this:
The more we realize that faith calls us to consume the body and blood of Christ, to embrace his death and resurrection and to emulate his manner of living and dying for others, the more difficult the journey of faith becomes. There may be a word of comfort here for congregations who strive to be faithful disciples yet experience declining attendance and church membership. This passage is not intended to reinforce our complacency or discourage us from witnessing the gospel of Jesus Christ to others. But it will help us remember that our calling is a strange and difficult one. It is more than skin-deep, reaching beneath the surface of our lives and into our workplaces, bank accounts, family relationships, eating habits, daily schedules, and all the other ways we choose to live and die for Christ and our neighbors.
-- Feasting on the Word [Year B, Vol. 3], edited by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor (Westminster John Knox, 2009), pgs. 380-385
But risk, difficulty, decline, and death are simply a piece of this coming home, this eternal life with God. It is also salvation. In a short amount of time, the 5,000 followers that Jesus feeds with bread and fish fall away. But as they scurry away and the dust clears, there stand the 12 who have tasted the real thing. Simon Peter speaks for them: "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Here's where Diana Butler Bass' hope for the church comes into play. The crowds have scurried (and are scurrying) away -- but the dust is also clearing, and what is left is the real thing. As the 5,000 (and then some) have left, "introspective... churchgoers returned to the core of the Christian vision," writes Bass -- "Jesus' command to 'Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.' "
As a result, a new kind of American Christianity is emerging. This is the church of the 12, not the 5,000. According to Bass, this is:
... a form of faith that cares for one's neighbor, the common good, and fosters equality, but is, at the same time, a transformative personal faith that is warm, experiential, generous, and thoughtful. This new expression of Christianity maintains the historic liberal passion for serving others but embraces Jesus' injunction that a vibrant love for God is the basis for a meaningful life. These Christians link spirituality with social justice as a path of peace and biblical faith.
This is the church of those who eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus. This is where the words of eternal life are taking root.
In this new church, the growing heartbeat and emerging life does not come from a return to the dogmatism of the past. It grows as its people turn to the practices that can be found in the life of Jesus -- hospitality, prayer, worship, and just action. Careful and transformative theological reflection and Christian formation are key as well. The words of eternal life are everything and taking them on and exploring their depths takes deep commitment and the whole of our spirits and our lives.
This isn't what is catching the attention of the press, writes Bass, but this is the life that is unfolding as the church lives into Jesus' call to abide in him and so in God. The church is coming home and experiencing "the spirit that gives life." This is what will resurrect the church, reform the Body, and address the hunger and thirst we see and experience. This is what the church has to offer that people can't get anywhere else.
So how does all this preach? Here are some ideas...
1. As a gentle or not so gentle reality check as to what this life with God requires. Amy C. Howe writes in Feasting on the Word that we often choose religion over God and we miss what it means eat the flesh and drink the blood:
We, like the disciples, are offended by Jesus' offer of spirit and life. We feel good about serving in the soup kitchen, but we refuse to forgive our pew mate for his addiction. We feel righteous when we teach Sunday school, but we are annoyed by the coos of the baby in worship. We make religion about the rules because we can control the rules. We can amend books of order, we can use scripture to oppress, and we can punish the rule-breakers -- much easier than compassion and forgiveness.
Jesus addresses this in our gospel passage for today by questioning the crowd about what they thought they were getting into with him. "Does this offend you?" he asks. Hello? Is this really news? Have you been listening at all?
2. As an invitation to follow the pattern that Diana Butler Bass observes in the church that is rediscovering its spiritual vitality. This is happening when disciples take seriously the words of eternal life found in Jesus. They are doing this through hospitality, prayer, worship, acting and living justly, theological reflection, and Christian formation. Does one of these practices resonate with or need attention in your community of faith?
3. As a healthy self-examination of where your community of faith stands. Diana Butler Bass is describing a hard-won maturation of the church, a coming into its real self. Where is your community of faith on its journey? How does it need to get real, widen its vision, or grow up? It might be helpful to dig into Thomas Bergler's "When Are We Going to Grow Up? The Juvenilization of American Christianity" from June's issue of Christianity Today. Here's a quick excerpt:
Today many Americans of all ages not only accept a Christianized version of adolescent narcissism, they often celebrate it as authentic spirituality. God, faith, and the church all exist to help me with my problems. Religious institutions are bad; only my personal relationship with Jesus matters. If we believe that a mature faith involves more than good feelings, vague beliefs, and living however we want, we must conclude that juvenilization has revitalized American Christianity at the cost of leaving many individuals mired in spiritual immaturity.
4. As a call to be present in the present, to glean the wisdom of the emerging and vital church as seen in its young leaders and "everyday revolutionaries". There are prophetic voices surfacing from the generation that has grown up in "life after church," in the space that is left for the 12 after the 5,000 have taken their leave. Here's a taste from a blog by Joshua Smith, self-described poet, baker of bread, amateur potter, and lifelong pilgrim:
Over the last several months, I have found myself involved in a number of conversations regarding what a church service would look like if I were designing it from scratch. Part of this stems from my own disenchantment with the church, as well as the feelings of many of my peers who have been alienated by the institution. Part of what follows also stems from my dreams of what the church could be.
The links above represent only two voices that are singing a new and wise tune of spirit and life for the church.
Listen up, church.
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Mary Austin
Ephesians 6:10-20
The Letter to the Ephesians has unfolded week by week, as the lectionary has given us time to take in this beautiful epistle. Starting with the early chapters, the writer makes the claim that the church is a whole new creation, unlike anything people have known before. The old divisions are over by God's power, not human will. Jews and Gentiles equally belong to God. Divided as they are in the world outside the church, now they are part of a new creation. Because this is so new, the writer continues with instructions about how to live together in community. Now the writer winds up the book by offering advice about how to live in a hostile world.
This is timely advice for us too. The hostile world is very present. We've certainly seen plenty of evidence of the "spiritual forces of evil" lately. Shootings in Louisiana and Washington DC replaced shootings in Wisconsin and Colorado in the news. We watch helplessly as the people of Syria suffer while their country collapses. Refugee camps in Africa are overflowing with people displaced by war. Our own election season gives us a daily dose of nastiness and shaded truth.
To the world of the early church and to our current church, the writer has two messages. First, don't give up. "Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power." This is beyond our power to solve, but there is power beyond ours at work too. Second, there is enough violence in the world already. We don't need to share in it -- our work is to stand firm, to work hard to withstand the forces of evil. Our tools are the shield of faith... and the helmet of salvation. When we've strapped all of that on, just when we're expecting a call to war, the letter turns us back to our main task. We've put on all the equipment we can muster, and then the next instruction is "Pray." Pray? Not slash and cut down, do battle and vanquish? Nope. Pray. Lest we forget, the writer says it three times, four if you include "persevere in supplication."
Surely then we'll be instructed to fight, it seems, but the most repeated instruction in the passage is to "stand." Four times for this one. Our spiritual warfare is to stand for peace, to proclaim "the gospel of peace" in a warlike and belligerent world. We stand and make sure that we are not becoming warlike ourselves. We stand and cultivate peace within, taming our own raging impulses, so that our brand of peace might be contagious. It's hard to proclaim what we haven't nurtured in ourselves. And, by grace, when we stand we hold a space for God to work.
Standing is hard work. Buffeted by nasty rhetoric, it's hard to maintain a peaceful calm. In a culture that sees not fighting back as weakness, it's hard to stand firm. In the city of Detroit, where I work, people are acutely sensitive to being disrespected. A shove, a look, or a shrug of the shoulders can all mean something more, and no one wants to be thought of as weak if they walk away. Not being swayed by the violence around us is challenging. We have a wealth of inner work to do if we are to stand firm in the service of peace. There are all kinds of violence -- if we're not out shooting people, we might indulge in the small temptations of name-calling, or judgment, or the delicious occasional treat of looking down on someone. Our violence might come as part of the systems that grow from injustice -- violence from afar.
In Feasting on the Word [Year B, Volume 3, page 374], Archie Smith Jr. notes an important piece of our standing firm and continuing to pray: "Who can stand on conviction when the tide of popularity turns against us and strong winds of criticism blow? Is this all about lone individuals standing rigidly and resolute? No. Paul is talking about Christian identity and the roots of our common faith. In order to stand firm, we have to be nurtured in a tradition, a faithful community, and grow deep in its rich soil." Our ability to pray and to stand firm is not an individual task but the work of a community, holding each other up. Girded and guarded this way, we can take up the job of proclaiming the gospel of peace.
The gospel of peace has a refreshing sound to it, after the dryness of violence and the emptiness of holding on to anger. May it be that it flourishes within us and spills out around us.
ILLUSTRATIONS
In 1886 the Piqua Hosiery Company opened in Piqua, Ohio, and it would be the first of eighteen underwear factories that would eventually operate in that town. The biggest would be the Atlas Underwear Company, which kept 1.5 million soldiers in long underwear during World War I and by the end of World War II was the world's leading manufacturer of flame-retardant underwear.
By the mid-1960s Piqua was known as "The Underwear Capital of the World" and featured "The Great Outdoor Underwear Festival" every year during the second week of October. Festival events included the "Undy 500," the Long John Parade, the Drop-Seat Trot, bed races, and, of course, the Boxer Ball. Celebrities sent signed pairs of their own underwear that were auctioned for charity.
By the 1990s the festival was still going strong -- until a visitor dared to ask why, and someone realized that not one of the underwear factories was still operating (and none of them had been for years). The festival was not celebrating the Piqua of today but the Piqua of years ago.
How many churches, one wonders, are holding underwear festivals every Sunday, celebrating what they used to be with no ideas about their future?
* * *
Most veteran professional baseball players will confirm that a fastball flying at you at over 100 miles per hour is nearly impossible to see, much less hit. Sportswriter Frank Deford has said that hitting any fastball is the hardest thing to do in all of sports. Hitting one that is going 100 mph is virtually impossible.
And yet, major league batters do just that on a regular basis.
They do it by tempo. They watch a pitcher's movements and his rhythm, and they learn how to time their swing of the bat perfectly so that they can hit the ball without really seeing it. It may take several innings to figure it out, but they inevitably do... and then they start hitting those fastballs.
That's when the experienced pitcher throws the change-up.
The change-up is more theater than it is athletics. The pitcher uses exactly the same motion, exactly the same rhythm, exactly the same windup as he would for a fastball -- but then, just as he releases the ball from his hand, he backs off and eases up and the ball travels toward home plate at about 75% of the speed of his fastball. The batter, thinking that a fastball is coming, swings his bat furiously only to watch the slow change-up pitch float leisurely by him.
No matter how good your fastball is, you can't throw only fastballs and be a successful pitcher. For your fastball to be effective, you have to have a change-up you can throw from time to time.
For a church to be successful it must have a solid fastball that can be pitched well and often, but it doesn't hurt to have a change-up just to keep everyone their toes.
* * *
In 1714 Eberhard L. Gruber and Johann F. Rock created a pietist Christian sect known as the Community of True Inspiration, whose adherents believed that God communicated through inspired individuals just as he had done in the days of the prophets.
For years their followers came together and lived on communal estates in Hesse, but after years of persecution they left Germany in 1840 and settled in upstate New York. In 1843, seeking a more remote area where they could live away from the pressures of modernity, they moved to Iowa, where they purchased land and created a village called Ebenezer about 20 miles west of what is today Iowa City.
By 1854 the population of Ebenezer was over 1,200 souls, so they separated into seven villages called the Amana Communities. (Amana is Hebrew for "stay faithful.") Each village was a self-sustaining farming and manufacturing enterprise where children were educated and families worshiped and worked together communally. Some of the youth were sent to college to return as doctors, attorneys, dentists, and teachers. The villages thrived -- with virtually no input socially or economically from the outside world -- from 1854 until 1931, when the Great Depression reached even to Amana.
That year the need for Amana's agricultural output dropped off severely and they suffered two large fires in the villages, destroying two of their small factories. Also, members of the sect were beginning to feel that the communal lifestyle was stifling creativity and not allowing development that could solve the financial problems of the villages.
In 1932 the elders called members of the community together for a vote. Would they stay the same, with the rules of their church also being the rules of their community? Or would they change, allowing individual creativity and energy to revitalize their economic life even as they retained their old rules for their church?
The following year Amana resident George C. Foerstner founded the Amana Refrigeration Company, and today the Amana villages are a popular tourist attraction known for their restaurants, craft shops, antique shops, small factories, and the simple lifestyle they still espouse and practice. Residents of the community, known as Amanites, are still active in the Amanite church.
* * *
The English painter J.M.W. Turner once sold one of his immense canvases to a close friend, who invited Turner to his home to help hang it. Although the room was spacious and airy, the two men just couldn't get that painting to look right. Finally, the artist turned to his friend and declared it was a useless enterprise. There was only one solution, he said. The room would have to be rebuilt to fit the painting.
There are many who come to church hoping to bring home a little bit of Jesus to adorn their lives: inspirational thoughts to hang, like a pretty picture on the wall. Yet Jesus Christ can never be mere decoration for a human life. He's got to be at the center of it, the focal point from which everything else derives its purpose.
There comes a time -- perhaps many times -- in the life of a Christian when a decision must be made, when all around us would-be disciples are turning away and departing. When the Lord turns to us and asks, "Do you also wish to go away?" What will we say? Will we hang our heads and look down at the ground, then turn and shuffle off like so many others? Or will we have the faith to look him in the eye and answer: "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life!"
* * *
Convicted Watergate conspirator G. Gordon Liddy once gave a lecture on a college campus in Missouri. Throughout the evening Liddy -- who had just been released from prison -- harangued his audience with the idea that only force, brute strength, and an iron will could earn the respect of friends and foes in this "real world, which is in fact a very tough neighborhood."
During the question-and-answer period, one of the college professors rose to speak. Rather timidly, he objected: "In our country, most people... after all... do base their ethics on... the teachings of Jesus... and this doesn't sound much like the teachings of Jesus."
Liddy is said to have glared for a moment before taking in a deep breath and bellowing: "Yeah -- and look what happened to Jesus. They crucified him." To Liddy, the case was closed. The audience responded to his putdown with laughter and thunderous applause.
G. Gordon Liddy was absolutely right. Jesus stood before the terrible, destructive power of Rome in courageous, virtuous silence. And that power rose up and crushed him. To the likes of G. Gordon Liddy -- and Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, and Herod -- that should have been the end of the story. But it wasn't the end. There was another power at work in the life -- and the death -- of Jesus of Nazareth.
* * *
Sameeha Wehba, 70, crawled into her cow pen, pushed a rock against the door, and waited. She cowered for hours, alone and afraid. Finally, just before dawn, when she felt it was safe to emerge, she discovered that she was the only remaining Christian in her village in Dahshour, Egypt.
Through the long hours of the afternoon, then going into the evening and stretching through the night, every Christian in the village fled from rampaging Muslims. The community's priest, cloaked in a white sheet to hide him, was taken out of the village in a police van.
Wehba, looking at the torched church and pillaged homes said: "It was a devil's moment. Whoever caused this was the devil's son."
Application: Paul wrote, "Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
* * *
William Balfour was convicted of shooting to death Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson's 57-year-old mother Darnell Donerson, her 29-year-old brother Jason Hudson, and her 7-year-old nephew Julian King. The October 24, 2008 slayings, in the family's three-story house on Chicago's South Side, were carried out by a jealous estranged husband who was married to Hudson's sister Julia.
At his recent sentencing, Balfour received three terms of life in prison, plus another 120 years on related charges. During the proceedings, Cook County Circuit Judge Charles Burns told Balfour: "You have the heart of an arctic night. Your soul is as barren as dark space."
Application: Paul wrote, "Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Though the armor of God may not protect us from premeditated malice, it can protect us from many of the evils we encounter in a dark "arctic night."
* * *
You probably don't recognize the term "polytetrafluoroethylene." You probably don't even recognize the shorter version of the name used by scientists: PTFE. And you probably don't recognize the name of Dr. Roy Plunkett, the guy who invented this durable defensive armor by accident on April 6, 1938.
But there's a good chance you use it nearly every day.
See, the thing about polytetra... PTFE is that its molecular weight is over 30,000,000 -- making it one of the largest molecules in the universe. And because the molecule is so large it makes polytetra... PTFE very slippery.
Plunkett was working for DuPont research laboratories in New Jersey, developing gases related to freon refrigerants. When he checked one sample, he discovered that it had polymerized spontaneously into a white, waxy solid. He immediately realized that this substance was so hard, so slippery, and so non-absorbent that it would make an excellent coating for cooking pans.
The accidental polymer was named Teflon -- and Roy Plunkett earned a place in the inventors hall of fame, while his invention/discovery has become a metaphor for anything that protects by way of slipperiness.
* * *
Kevlar, a lightweight fiber that is five times stronger than steel, was invented by a DuPont chemist named Stephanie Kwolek. The material is now used in the bulletproof body armor worn by the U.S. military and law enforcement officers, as well as in dozens of products including canoe hulls, skis, tires, and sports equipment.
Kwolek, a researcher in DuPont's fiber research group, was looking for the successor to popular consumer products like nylon. An attempt to dissolve two polymers resulted in an incredibly strong but lightweight new substance. As Kwolek explains, "Fibers are tested for tensile strength, elongation at break, and stiffness. I had the as-spun fibers tested, and the results came back with extraordinary numbers." Her discovery led to a whole new field of polymer research.
The material was first marketed by DuPont in 1971 and has since become a standard manufacturing material. Kwolek, a legendary figure in her field, has earned 17 patents and in 1995 was inducted into the inventors hall of fame.
* * *
It's a sad commentary on our society that most police officers are required to wear some sort of body armor as a matter of course. Once the exclusive domain of the SWAT team or other special tactical units, now many police departments require all on-duty officers to wear protection.
Ballistic protective shields come in many varieties. Body armor comes in concealable and exterior styles. Extra trauma foam pads are an option designed to reduce impact trauma. For those hot days, vest air conditioner attachments can help keep an officer cool. This unit is basically a hose that attaches to the vehicle's air conditioning vent and slips into the neck hole of the vest.
Bulletproof helmets come in a variety of protection levels (spray foam trauma protection is highly recommended for helmets). One can carry a backpack or briefcase that has ballistic protection built in, making them portable shields. There are special glasses and face shields, groin protectors, canine vests, and ballistic blankets to throw over bombs.
The armor of God is much more practical, lightweight, and less expensive: truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation.
* * *
Remember the scene from Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote in which the addled old knight makes a pasteboard helmet and wears it on his head? Though the flimsy headgear is struck by a sword and pierced, Don Quixote continues to believe in its protective powers. Commenting on this incident, Henry Ward Beecher writes: "Are there not many Don Quixotes among (us), who put on armor that looks very well till some sword or spear is thrust into it, but which then is found to be like the pasteboard helmet that went to pieces the moment it was touched?" The writer of Ephesians encourages us to put on the whole armor of God. Only the entire complement -- helmet of salvation, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the proclamation of the gospel, the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit -- is sufficient to save us when evil attacks.
* * *
Europe is being torn apart by more than economic debt and problems with the euro. The seventeen countries that are joined together by a common currency lack a common identity. Many people in northern European countries, especially Germany, think of their southern counterparts as lolling in the Mediterranean sun while overspending and are tax-dodging their way to ruin. Meanwhile a common sentiment in southern countries is that their northern counterparts are rigid beyond reason, so gloomy in their own lives that they are determined to see the southerners suffer.
This stereotypical thinking has created larger issues than national debts and the inefficiency of the euro, for it prevents a reasonable and coherent solution to the economic challenges that loom over all seventeen countries. Vincent Forest, a London-based economist with the Economist Intelligence Unit noted that "national resentments in Europe are rising to dramatic levels." He went on to say that this stereotyping has created "a political and social crisis."
Application: In this week's alternate Old Testament text Joshua said: "but as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord." Until the seventeen countries of Europe realize that they are a family of nations who must chose to live under the same roof, there will always be estrangement. Joshua knew that this was as true for Israel as it is today for Europe as well as many other countries across the globe.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: How lovely is your dwelling place, O God of hosts!
People: My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Leader: Happy are those who live in God's house, ever singing God's praise.
People: Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
Leader: For a day in God's courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
People: I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.
OR
Leader: Come and feast on the God of life!
People: We come to be filled with the very life of our God!
Leader: Many things tempt us, but they do not satisfy.
People: Even the good gifts of creation are fleeting.
Leader: Only God can fill the hunger in our deepest being.
People: We long for God. We desire God above all.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"How Great Thou Art"
found in:
UMH: 77
PH: 467
AAHH: 148
NNBH: 43
CH: 33
LBW: 532
ELA: 856
Renew: 250
"Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones"
found in:
UMH: 90
H82: 618
PH: 451
LBW: 175
ELA: 424
"All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name"
found in:
UMH: 154/155
H82: 450/451
PH: 142/143
AAHH: 292/293/294
NNBH: 315
NCH: 304
CH: 91/92
LBW: 328/329
ELA: 634
Renew: 45
"O Come and Dwell in Me"
found in:
UMH: 388
"Breathe on Me, Breath of God"
found in:
UMH: 420
H82: 508
PH: 316
AAHH: 317
NNBH: 126
NCH: 292
CH: 254
LBW: 488
"O God Who Shaped Creation"
found in:
UMH: 443
"For the Bread Which You Have Broken"
found in:
UMH: 614/615
H82: 340/341
PH: 508/509
CH: 411
LBW: 200
ELA: 494
"Bread of the World"
found in:
UMH: 624
H82: 301
PH: 502
NCH: 346
CH: 387
"The Steadfast Love of the Lord"
found in:
CCB: 28
Renew: 23
"Your Loving Kindness Is Better than Life"
found in:
CCB: 26
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is the source and foundation of all life: Grant us the wisdom to seek to fill ourselves with you that we may know the life that is eternal; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
O God, you are life and you are the life-giver. Hear us as we worship you and praise your name. Feed us with your own self that we may know your life within us and so that we may share your life with the world. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways we fill our lives with things that do not lead to life.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have allowed passing things around us to distract us from the real things of life. We have been seduced with the glitter of wealth, status, and comfort. We have feasted at the trough of the world and we are wasting away. We have failed to seek out the true life that is only found in you. Open our eyes to see the life you offer us in your own self. Help us to drink deeply from the waters of life that flow from you. Amen.
Leader: God desires nothing but good things and life eternal for all God's children. Receive the blessings and life of God that you may live in joy and peace.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We worship and adore you, O God, for you are life and in you alone we find our life.
(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 allowed passing things around us to distract us from the real things of life. We have been seduced with the glitter of wealth, status, and comfort. We have feasted at the trough of the world and we are wasting away. We have failed to seek out the true life that is only found in you. Open our eyes to see the life you offer us in your own self. Help us to drink deeply from the waters of life that flow from you.
We thank you for all the blessings we have received from your abundant hand. Most of all, we thank you for Jesus and the life he offers us in you.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We lift up to you a world that is dying. We look around and see people who have cut themselves off from the fount of living waters and drink heavily from polluted wells. Help us to be faithful disciples of Jesus who offer the waters of life to all.
(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 nutrition: the good things we eat that help us grow. Some things are fun to eat but are not very nutritious. The things we think about feed us too. Thinking about good things, like God, helps us grow into better people. Thinking mean things does not.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The Armor of God
Ephesians 6:10-20
Object: a football uniform with all of the equipment (helmet, shoulder pads, knee pads, etc.)
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you go to your school's football games with your parents or friends? Do any of you play football? (let the children answer) Some of you go to the games, and some of you even play football. It's a pretty rough game, isn't it? (let them answer) Do you ever get hurt playing? (let them answer) When I watch the games at the stadium or on television, I always think about what a rough game football is, and how easy it would be to get hurt. Of course, I know that the uniform that each football player wears helps to protect him, and also helps him to be a better player.
Have you ever seen all the parts of a football player's uniform? (let them answer) I brought one along with me this morning so that you could see all the parts. (show each pad and tell them where it goes in the uniform) You can see how many different parts it takes to protect the body against injury. There is something for the knee, the hip, the thigh, the ribs, the shoulder, and the head. When you are wearing all these pads, it means that you can hit harder and you can take harder hits from other football players.
Christians are a little bit like football players. We have to play in a pretty rough world sometimes with people who are not so nice. Some people we know like to lie and do mean things. Others play unfair and cheat, while some will do anything to hurt someone else. If you are a Christian, you can't do the same things they do. We don't want you to lie or steal from someone else or hurt them because you were hurt. A Christian cannot do those kinds of things. That is why the apostle Paul tells us to help ourselves with a different kind of equipment. Pretend that these shoulder pads are called "forgiveness" and that this helmet is called "truth." We can name the knee pads the "love" that God has for you, and the hip pads "honesty." When you put on all the good things that God has given you to protect you in this world, then you are safe. I know that some people are going to try and hurt you, and sometimes you will wonder if it is worth being a Christian. But I know that it is, and you will know that it is too when you know how you feel after telling the truth or after forgiving someone who has tried to hurt you.
Jesus has a special place for the people who wear his kind of protection, and I know that you will want to share what he has for you. The next time you see a football player, remember the kind of pads that God is asking you to wear, and you will know how much he cares for you in this world.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, August 26, 2012, issue.
Copyright 2012 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
