What Happens in Vegas
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
The centerpiece of this week’s lectionary gospel text is a parable about guests who spurn their invitation to a lavish wedding banquet for the king’s son. Some merely ignore the invitation, choosing instead to go about their daily affairs; others actively repudiate it, mistreating and killing the royal messengers. Jesus’ story is clearly meant to be an analogy about the open invitation for all to participate in the feast of God’s kingdom, as well as a cautionary tale about the fate awaiting those who are not prepared to accept the kingdom. But in this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Chris Keating wonders if our stubborn insistence on repeating the same response to the all too frequent incidents of death and destruction that plague our nation and world indicates that as a culture we are like the guests in Jesus’ story who reject their invitations. Chris notes that we have collectively chosen laws and customs that have created a selfish and violent society -- and suggests that in the wake of the massacre on the Las Vegas strip, we ought to take a longer view about our response... and whether we are truly dressed in the proper robes for the banquet Jesus offers us.
Team member Mary Austin shares some additional thoughts on the Matthew text. While Chris suggests we need to rethink our responses to be prepared for the king’s banquet, Mary visualizes the recurring incidents of mass violence in our country as events (like the king’s banquet) that no one wants to be a part of... yet which we are all drawn into whether or not we are directly affected. Mary suggests that what we can do is, like the first responders in Las Vegas, to offer a new banquet of compassion and safety to all who have suffered at the bitter feast of violence and terror. But the one thing we cannot do is (like the guests who reject their invitations) is to be oblivious to the urgency of making a positive contribution to Jesus’ banquet.
What Happens in Vegas
by Chris Keating
Matthew 22:1-14
Stephen Paddock’s weapons burst through the Mandalay Bay’s golden windows last Sunday, spilling round after round of lethal ammunition on concertgoers enjoying an evening of Jason Aldean music. Paddock, a retired multimillionaire and professional gambler, had just placed one last murderous bet.
It was a bet no one would win.
That is especially true for his victims, 58 of whom were killed along with approximately 500 injured. But the impact goes beyond the Vegas strip, especially in the wake of weeks of natural disasters impacting much of the United States. The reverberations from Paddock’s assault, perhaps the largest in modern United States history, rake against the grain of our national psyche, captivating media attention and initiating calls for tougher laws, more access to mental health, tighter security.
As investigators sort through evidence, an all too familiar sequence of post-tragedy events continues to play out. It’s a well-worn litany of actions, including calls for prayer, a national media blitz, interviews with survivors, a presidential visit, and demands for tougher gun control laws. We know the drill.
It’s so familiar that it is fair to wonder whether the age-old Vegas adage will take on new meaning: will what happened in Las Vegas remain there, or will this be the tipping point for substantive change? Put another way, it is tempting to wonder if the nation has become so inured to violence that no one really seems to be paying attention.
This is the life we have chosen -- a life where weapons designed for warfare are readily available; a life characterized by me-first materialism and indulgent excess epitomized by millionaires like Paddock; a life where the invitation to embrace the reign of God is too often rejected or ignored.
Jesus’ tale about the wedding guests is instructive. It’s a rough and tumble story that is unsettling but also timely, as it reminds us what is involved in seeking first the kingdom of God. It’s also a troubling tale of what happens when the choices God sets before us are patently ignored.
In the News
Like the guests who were invited to the wedding but mysteriously refused to attend, Stephen Paddock’s life and activities seemed to be filled with confusing, mysterious ambiguities and contradictions. Investigators fanned out across the country last week in search of answers following the Vegas shooting -- but only seemed to find more questions. So far Paddock’s motives remain unknown.
One of Paddock’s former employees called him a low-key “goofball” whose even-keeled personality was rarely rocked. “He never even got frustrated,” said Lisa Crawford, who had managed property for Paddock from 2006-12.
His brother called him a “math guy” who studied the world of video poker machines the way a scientist combs through DNA. “He could tell you off the top of his head what the odds were down to a tenth of a percent on whatever machine he was playing,” Eric Paddock told reporters. “He studied it like it was a Ph.D. thing. It was not silly gambling. It was work.”
As a professional gambler, Paddock preferred to live a vampire-like existence, remaining indoors as much as possible. He admitted to avoiding daylight in a 2013 deposition, noting he gambled an average of 14 hours a day, 365 days a year. He mastered the art of video poker, sometimes called the “crack cocaine” of gambling machines.
He remained at the same machine once for 24 hours straight, and often played at a rate of $120,000 an hour. He had unlocked the game’s secrets, earning him the chance to amass a fortune while becoming well-known to casino employees. Somewhere along the way, Paddock also began living a dual life, gathering guns and making meticulous plans for the mass shooting.
The ironies of Paddock’s life abound. Gambling, his brother told reporters, wasn’t about glitz and glamour. He didn’t see it as particularly enjoyable. It was a job, “a means to an end.” He gained status, but stayed under the radar.
A notable example of the contradictions of Paddock’s life came the night before the massacre. Paddock called hotel security twice to complain about noise coming from the room below his 32nd-floor suite, where guests were blaring country songs at high volume. The next night he would break the glass of his suite and take aim at 22,000 concertgoers. If Paddock smiled at the irony of complaining about loud noises the night before he conducted the largest mass murder in recent history, no one knows.
Another prominent irony is how Paddock managed to beat the hotel at its own game and keep his real plans a secret. He had managed to avoid letting clues about his crime leak in a town known for having the most closely watched spaces on earth. The eye in the sky missed it.
In life and in death, Stephen Paddock remained an enigma, a man of many ironic contrasts, perhaps not unlike our complex and often conflicting understanding of guns in American society today. It’s likely that what happened in Vegas will stay in Vegas -- and as has happened before, there will be few changes to gun laws.
The irony is that public interest in gun control spikes after mass shootings, but then quickly fades. Prayers are offered, but by and large America has cherished its centuries-long gun-owning heritage. Most legislators miss the striking contrast between praying for peace and taking common-sense actions, a point not missed by gun control advocates.
“The thoughts and prayers of politicians are cruelly hollow if they are paired with continued legislative indifference,” said Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, who pushed for gun control legislation following the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in 2012. “It’s time for Congress to get off its ass and do something.”
The pattern seems ingrained: Columbine, Sandy Hook, Charleston, San Bernardino, Orlando. Each of these tragedies prompted calls for action, yet the actions fall short -- or even head in a different direction. Commentator David Frum notes that previous shootings have resulted in a flurry of gun laws, nearly all of which made it easier to carry guns into more places. Frum, a Republican who once wrote speeches for George W. Bush, notes that nearly all but six states permit citizens to openly carry firearms.
More tragedies do not lead to more restrictions. Frum believes a different approach is needed. In particular, Frum told NPR’s Robert Siegel that strategies need to begin with parents:
In all but eight states, it is completely legal for a parent to put his or her child into a car seat, strap the child into the car seat, roll up all the windows, and smoke a pack of cigarettes inside the car. That’s legal in most places. Most people don’t do it because parents love their children and understand that smoking in a confined space with your child is deadly for the child. We have to begin by making parents understand. This is the group that will unlock this. You’re a bad parent if you have a gun in the house. You’re not protecting your child. You’re endangering your child.
The cases I find it most useful to confront people with are not these terrible mass shootings and instead to focus on the deadly toll every day of a case -- there was a case just the other day from I think Tampa where a 4-year-old girl reached into her grandmother's purse to find some candy. The grandmother always kept candy in her purse. The grandmother also kept a gun in the purse. And so instead of getting the candy, the child got dead. Those are the stories people need to know.
It’s a valid point -- and a reminder of the ironic consequences of the choices we make. Jesus might have been on to something as he shared the parable of the wedding feast, the sumptuous banquet God plans for all creation. As Matthew tells the story, the choice to forgo the banquet has deadly consequences. Will we go? And once we’re there, will we put on the right coat?
In the Scriptures
Preachers slogging their way through Matthew this fall may well be the ones weeping and gnashing their teeth at the prodigious images of violence and death in these texts. The temple talks of Jesus have included disrupting money changers (21:12-13), cursing a fig tree before breakfast (21:18), and parables involving vineyards in various states of disarray and often including murder.
These are stories of holy rage, of anger about to boil over. But unlike Stephen Paddock’s rage, which seemed to emerge from nowhere, Jesus’ anger is a response to the willful rejection of God’s gracious generosity. The allegory he tells clearly points to Israel’s rejection of God, though an interpreter should be careful assigning blame to Israel. Even the last-minute guests have failed to stop by the tux shop on the way to the party, a potent reminder to the church.
For reasons unknown, the guests invited by the king (22:1-14) have made light of the king’s invitation. Their rejection soon becomes murderous, with the mob seizing the slaves and killing them. In contrast to Luke, where the guests demur by offering excuses, Matthew’s crowd is an unruly violent bunch who have recklessly avoided the king’s generous offer.
They have chosen their way of life, much as Americans have decided the rights of gun owners outweigh the rights of those who are peaceably assembled for a concert, or the rights of children to safely attend school, or the rights of worshipers to gather for Bible study.
In the Sermon
The violence of our times weighs down on us. These texts, filled with images that are difficult to understand, deserve our faithful attention. Ironically, the images of violent disruption seem to be exactly what Jesus intends for the disciples to understand. Perhaps we would do well to let these images marinate in our theological reflections this week.
Gun control, of course, is an issue we might prefer avoiding. Church members reflect the diverse array of opinions on the issue, and there are certainly clergy who enjoy the right to own guns. But what cannot be avoided in this parable are the ways the would-be guests ignore and reject the king’s invitation. This is more than a social obligation; this is a reminder of the generous, loving gift that awaits us.
A sermon could point out the irony of rejecting a life-giving invitation by embracing an ongoing fascination with the tools and weapons of death.
Similarly, as Sally Brown notes in Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew (Vol. 2, p. 185), the violence of these several parables in Matthew are reminders of the horrors we bring on ourselves when we reject God’s invitation. We choose a life that resists God’s way in the world, both individually and as a society. We resist not just the message, but reject the messengers too. We become enamored with our lives, busy pursuing self-interested success, and we fail to hear the call that “Everything is ready!”
The sermon becomes a way of reminding our congregations that in many ways we are like those who have rejected the invitation. Many of us might have envied Paddock, with his success, money, and stockade of power. But the good news of this parable -- once we allow it to reach our ears -- is that God goes out searching not for those with status, privilege, or power. Instead, God reaches out to those willing to reshape their lives in light of the priorities of the gospel.
The world of the disciples is about to be flipped. All that they have known will be changed. In the face of this disruption, there will come an amazing and nearly inexplicable invitation which will be issued to all people. The question remains: Will any of us will hear the call that “Everything is ready,” or will we prefer to accept the lie that “What happens in Vegas (or Newtown or Orlando or Charleston) must stay there.”
SECOND THOUGHTS
The Party No One Wants to Attend
by Mary Austin
Matthew 22:1-14
In a series of sharply pointed parables, Jesus is telling uncomfortable stories about the kingdom of heaven. This time, the realm of God is like a banquet that no one wants to attend. When the king sends his invitations, everyone is mysteriously busy. They have other obligations that keep them from the party.
At this party there should be plenty of food and drink, plus important people to meet. Maybe the guests can take a selfie with the king, or at least with some other notable figures.
But no one wants to go.
In Las Vegas last week, thousands of people became part of an event they didn’t want to attend either. Without warning, they were drawn into the banquet of violence that our country periodically sets for its citizens. Concertgoers in Las Vegas found themselves at the mercy of a gunman, shooting from an upper floor of a nearby hotel. With the shots, they were compelled into a banquet of physical and psychological pain, grief and bewilderment. Just as in the parable, people of all kinds were thrust violently into the story.
First responders were compelled into a party they didn’t seek out. Some firefighters became first responders by chance. They were driving back after assisting at a car accident when people started gathering around their truck. The crowd was so thick that they couldn’t keep driving. “The crew began treating patients brought by concertgoers, which included off-duty emergency workers. ‘After my 15 years as a paramedic, it was just automatic,’ [fireman Brian Emery] said. ‘You just go to work and do what you know how to do.’ Over the next hours, the crew treated some 30 people with a range of injuries, including those who had been stepped on and crushed in the frantic crowd but largely gunshot victims struck by high-caliber fire. They put the wounded in whatever vehicles passed by -- patrol cars or private vehicles.” A number of off-duty firefighters and paramedics from other states also volunteered to help.
At the city’s only Level One trauma center, brand-new surgeons experienced a trial by fire. Timothy Dickoot and Jorge Vega had been board-certified for three days when they were called in to work on the night of the shootings. The hospital was frantically busy. “Fifteen minutes after arriving, both Dickoot and Vega were doing surgeries just three days after receiving their certifications. They spent the whole night working on victims.” They looked around the emergency room and did their own triage, operating on people whose lives could be saved.
But saving a life is just the beginning. For people needing a long recovery, life now revolves around medical care far from home, expensive rehabilitation, the loss of work, and bills that will last for years. For some, a future full of financial hardship looms.
Even people who weren’t physically wounded have been drawn into this banquet of continuing distress. A crisis psychiatrist says that the effects will linger for anyone who was present in Las Vegas, even if they escaped without physical injury: “From watching the footage of the Las Vegas shooting, it is clear from my research experience that survivors will collectively endure a full spectrum of mental health effects in the short and long term -- whether they were physically struck by gunfire or not. It was, after all, the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, a horrific tragedy in which thousands of people feared for life and limb and witnessed friends shot down in cold blood.”
What helps survivors, and those injured, and those who are grieving for loved ones, is for us all to come to this banquet of terror with compassion to offer. The psychiatrist adds: “To help these survivors, the best we can do is to offer compassion, allow them space but be present as they need. Listen thoughtfully if they want to talk about their experience and feelings. Help them with specific needs, and be patient as they process their ordeal and seek to restore order to their lives.”
Shot at 17 in the Columbine school shooting, Austin Eubanks recovered from his physical injuries but became addicted to drugs to cope with the continuing emotional anguish. Now in recovery after an 11-year battle, “Eubanks emphasized that the emotional fallout spreads far beyond the victims to families, the rescuers, and the medical professionals. ‘The ripple effects of these are tremendous,’ he said. Now 35, he runs a substance abuse treatment center in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where fly-fishing and other ‘healthy pursuits’ help him feel whole. ‘The most important piece is human connection,’ he added. ‘I’m surrounded by people who know everything about me. I have no problem calling any of them to say, “I’m really struggling today.” ’ ” The feast of compassion and understanding is the banquet that makes a difference for people.
This feast is a potluck, where no one is compelled to come but all of us bring what we have to offer and contribute to the healing. It could be support for victims or for their faraway families, or a gesture of support for emotionally battered first responders. We bring our time, our listening ears, our gifts of food or funds to this come-as-you-are party, where we seek to add a little bit to the repair of damaged spirits. All of us will have something to bring to this motley potluck.
The parable has two moments of judgment -- the first for those who won’t lay aside their everyday lives to accept an amazing invitation, and the second for the guest who won’t put on the wedding robe. The story reminds us of the earlier parable about the two brothers. One tells the father he’ll go, and doesn’t. The other says he won’t go, and then does. This guest accepts the invitation, but he isn’t fully committed.
This part of the parable has always puzzled me. Why doesn’t this guest just do what he knows he should do?
Now I wonder if this guest is the one most like us, as we see the banquet of violence all around us in the United States. We’re all compelled to be part of it, touched by it either directly or indirectly. With each awful shooting, we are distressed, pained, or outraged. With each small shooting at a school or workplace, we are mostly oblivious, because they have become so common. We know what we should do to set a different table in the future -- but we don’t, or won’t, change the menu. Now I wonder if we all are the guest who won’t put on the robe. We have trouble taking the step that would make us part of setting a new table. We hesitate to be part of a new banquet of compassion, safety, and fairness. But that banquet is waiting for us too, if we choose to be part of it.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Ron Love:
Exodus 32:1-14
Timothy Sloan, the chief executive officer of Wells Fargo bank, recently appeared before the Senate Banking Committee. His testimony was related to the millions of false accounts the bank opened on unsuspecting customers in order for bank employees to make their sales quotas. Sloan heard withering criticism from the senators. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, said: “What in God’s name were you thinking? I am not against big, but with all due respect, I am against dumb. I am against a business practice that has put Wells Fargo first and customers second.” Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, held up a folder of all of Sloan’s testimonies over the years in which he appeared to be bragging about the company’s sales culture. Warren questioned if Sloan, with this portfolio, was the proper person to lead the company. Warren said: “At best, you were incompetent, and at worst, you were complicit. Either way, you should be fired.”
Application: We need to obey the rules.
*****
Exodus 32:1-14
Sometimes two versions of a movie are filmed at the same time. One is a racy and more vulgar cut intended to be shown in theaters, while a tamer and more family oriented version (to be seen on television) is filmed too since some scenes from the original version cannot be edited to be viewed by a general audience.
Application: We must live a life that does not have two versions.
*****
Exodus 32:1-14
Connie Francis had a career that spanned several decades, that bestowed upon her all the glitter and glamour of Hollywood. Yet despite all that she considers her personal life a bust. The 70-year-old actress said: “For as much success as I had professionally, personally I’m a failure.” She went on to say, “Yeah, I do. My choice of husbands, my lack of judgment in choosing the right husbands... my impulsiveness, my not looking before I leapt. So many mistakes that I would have avoided.” Francis is in the process of auctioning off her Hollywood memorabilia as a way of giving back to her fans.
Application: By following the Ten Commandments, we can guard our personal lives from being failures.
*****
Exodus 32:1-14
Billy Sunday was a professional baseball player from 1883 to 1891 for teams in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. He was converted through the street preaching of Harry Monroe, of the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. Sunday left a $5,000 a year salary as a baseball player for a $75 yearly salary as a YMCA evangelist. He was an evangelist from 1893 to 1935. It is estimated that several hundred thousand people walked the "sawdust trail" to attend one of his services. His sermons, as with so many other evangelists of his day, focused on the degenerate state of man. His sermon “The Devil’s Boomerangs,” often referred to as “Hot Cakes Off the Griddle,” opened with this oration: “You can always get the truth out of the Bible. Of course, you can always find truth elsewhere, but never from so clear a source. Nothing was ever printed more true than ‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap.’ God will not coerce and attempt to force any man to be a Christian. When he dies, however, he will be judged for his sins. He must face the day of judgment. Do as you please. Lie, steal, booze, fight, prostitute. God won’t stop you. Do as you please until the undertaker comes and puts you in a coffin, and then the Lord will have his say. Lives of pleasure shall have an end, the wicked shall not live half their days.” Thus began a litany against every carnal sin known to humanity.
Application: If we obey the Ten Commandments, then we know that we are not the subjects of “Hot Cakes Off the Griddle.”
*****
Exodus 32:1-14; Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23; Matthew 22:1-14
Until he recently resigned, Tim Murphy was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives whose district was located in southwestern Pennsylvania. Murphy was an outspoken pro-life advocate -- but shortly after he voted to make abortions illegal after 20 weeks of fetal development, it was learned that he had encouraged his mistress, Shannon Edwards, to have an abortion. A Pittsburgh newspaper was able to obtain the text messages between the two lovers, both of whom are married. Edwards wrote of Murphy’s desire for her to have an abortion that the congressman had “zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child.” Edwards, it turned out, was not pregnant.
Application: We need to take seriously the commands of the Lord and our own values.
*****
Exodus 32:1-14; Philippians 4:1-9
Terry Bradshaw was the acclaimed quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1970 to 1983. During his 14 seasons with the Steelers, he led the team to four Super Bowl victories. Bradshaw, once said on a talk show that the only way he knew if had completed a pass was by the sound of the crowd in the stadium. This was because after a pass he was almost always knocked to the ground and could not see the field.
Application: Often we will only know if we are keeping the commands of the Lord by the response we receive from others.
*****
Isaiah 25:1-9
Tom Petty, one of the great rock singers and writers of our time, recently died. Along with his band the Heartbreakers, Petty filled concert arenas with songs that stood the test of time -- beginning with his 1976 debut album which included the songs “Breakdown” and “American Girl.” Petty said of his musical ability: “It was a gift I was given, and what it means I don’t know.” Then in conversation with Johnny Cash, Petty learned what the gift meant. Cash said that Petty’s songs “make a lot of people happy.” Petty then realized that his songs helped people in good times and in bad. Petty said: “It does. It makes a lot of people happy. You can’t lose sight of that... that’s what it is all about.”
Application: Isaiah talked about the importance of making people happy.
*****
Isaiah 25:1-9
In the Born Loser comics, Rancid Veeblefester is the president of the company, and his employee Brutus Thornapple is known as the “born loser” since the events of life never seem to act in his favor. In a recent installment, Veeblefester has an obviously disgusted look on his face as he watches Thornapple pass in front of him, dropping papers held in his hand as he walks. After Thornapple passes, Veeblefester says: “They say into each life a little rain must fall... A little rain? Thornapple has been a constant downpour in my life!”
Application: Isaiah discusses that we will have problems in life, but the Lord will restore us.
*****
Philippians 4:1-9
Whenever tragedy strikes our nation, people turn to the scriptures for comfort and assurance. In the wake of the Las Vegas mass shooting, President Donald Trump quoted Psalm 34:18 in trying to reassure the nation. Referencing the psalm, Trump said: “Scripture teaches us the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” He then went on to say: “We seek comfort in those words, for we know God lives in the hearts of those who grieve.” Bible Gateway did a study of 18 other major tragedies in our country, and found four Bible verses that people most often turn to for comfort, assurance, and understanding. They are: John 16:33; Psalm 34:18; Romans 12:19; and Psalm 11:5.
Application: Paul instructs us to “stand firm in the Lord.”
*****
Philippians 4:1-9
In the wake of the Las Vegas mass shooting, the Washington Post published an article concluding that even though religion is declining in America, presidents still turn to the Bible in moments of tragedy. In these times of tragedy, the president is known as the “comforter-in-chief.” The Post offered statistics on the decline of religion, but then shared how past presidents quoted the Bible. After Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot, President Obama said: “Scripture tells us that there is evil in the world and that terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding. In the words of Job, ‘When I looked for light, then came darkness.’ Bad things happen, and we have to guard against simple explanations in the aftermath.”
Application: Paul instructs us to “stand firm in the Lord.”
*****
Matthew 22:1-14
For more than 80 years it was called Princeton Evangelical Fellowship -- but now the Christian group that meets at Princeton University has dropped the word “evangelical” and now calls itself the Princeton Christian Fellowship. The organization’s director, Bill Boyce, said: “There’s a growing recognition that the term evangelical is increasingly either confusing, or unknown, or misunderstood to students.” This has become even more apparent after the election of Donald Trump as president, and the support he received from evangelical Christian leaders, which blended into the alt-right movement.
Application: Whether the term “evangelical” is used or not, when Jesus calls we are to answer.
***************
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
In Charge
“Dean, you’re in charge.”
As the oldest of five children, I learned to both love and hate that little sentence. It meant that while my parents were gone, I was going to have the final say over arguments concerning the television and what programs we were going to watch as well as the fridge and what snacks we were going to eat.
It meant that judgment would be rendered based on my final report to my parents on the behavior of my siblings.
That was the good part, the part I loved.
“You’re in charge” also meant that I was responsible. I was responsible for keeping everyone safe and getting them fed, bathed, and to bed on time.
It was exhausting.
And it was my first experience of the law that with great power and great freedom comes great responsibility. At the age of 16 I wasn’t sure it was worth it.
*****
A Dog’s World
Our Jack Russell terrier, James, loved nothing more than to go outside -- but he often misbehaved when he did so. He would find a small depression in the ground at the fence line and then dig to the point of exhaustion so that he could escape. Eventually he would squeeze his way under the fence, get out of the yard, and take off for a romp around the neighborhood.
We would look for him, and after finding him and bringing him back to the yard he would be tied to a small tree for the remainder of the day while I fixed the hole under the fence.
He soon discovered that relationship between freedom and responsibility is as certain as night and day. If he wanted to be free within the confines of our yard, he would have to behave responsibly and stop digging under the fence. Freedom was to be found inside the fence, not outside of it.
*****
Dead Kids and Constitutional Rights
Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher insists that the deaths of innocent people “don’t trump” his constitutional rights. He said as much in an open letter to the families of victims in the 2014 shooting rampage near the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Wurzelbacher’s letter was published on Barbwire a few days after one shooting victim’s father blamed “craven, irresponsible politicians” and the National Rifle Association for his son’s death.
Wurzelbacher said the words of Richard Martinez, whose son Christopher Martinez was a victim, “will be exploited by gun-grab extremists as are all tragedies involving gun violence and the mentally ill by the anti-Second Amendment Left.” The former congressional candidate told Martinez to “back off.”
Wurzelbacher said his letter is directed “only to the families of the gunshot victims in Santa Barbara” and not to the families of three who were stabbed ahead of the shooting spree. “I am sorry you lost your child. I myself have a son and daughter, and the one thing I never want to go through is what you are going through now. But: as harsh as this sounds -- your dead kids don’t trump my constitutional rights,” Wurzelbacher wrote.
Wurzelbacher acknowledged his comments are “harsh,” but claimed pro-gun control activists “don’t care about your family or your dead children at all.”
“They sound like they do, whereas I sound uncaring and like I say, harsh,” Wurzelbacher wrote. “Don’t be fooled -- I care about your family and mine. The future of our very liberty lies in the balance of this fight.”
*****
Four Freedoms and Four Responsibilities
The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his State of the Union speech on January 6, 1941. In the address he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people “everywhere in the world” ought to enjoy:
* freedom of speech
* freedom of worship
* freedom from want
* freedom from fear
Were Roosevelt writing the speech today, one cannot help but wonder if he might have included the four responsibilities that go along with each of these four freedoms.
With the freedom of speech goes the responsibility of sensitivity and thoughtfulness, because we know that it is impossible to unsay something that has been already said.
With the freedom of worship goes the responsibility of tolerance and inclusivity, because we know that religion can be a divisive force that separates and estranges people from each other.
With the freedom from want goes the responsibility to be prudent, because we know that it is often difficult to discern genuine wants from needs.
And with freedom from fear goes the responsibility to seek peace and pursue it, because we know that it is the lack of understanding that often creates the settings in which fear is born.
*****
Idolatry
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “worship” in this way: reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; also, an act of expressing such reverence; also, extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem.
For Christians, however, there is only one that is worthy of such devotion and esteem.
St. Augustine is credited with saying that idolatry is when we worship something that should be used, or use something that should be worshiped.
The Shema says: Hear, O Israel. The Lord is God. Only the Lord.
Author James Packer says: “Football, the firm, and family are also gods for some. Indeed the list of other gods is endless, for anything that anyone allows to run his life becomes his god and the claimants for this prerogative are legion. In the matter of life’s basic loyalty, temptation is a many-headed monster.”
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Praise God! O give thanks to our good God.
People: God’s steadfast love endures forever.
Leader: Happy are those who observe justice.
People: Happy are those who do righteousness at all times.
Leader: Remember us, O God.
People: Remember us that we may glory in your heritage.
OR
Leader: God sets before us the way of life and of death.
People: God does not force us but urges us to choose life.
Leader: The path we choose makes our lives what they are.
People: Our choices affect the lives of others around us.
Leader: Choose wisely. Choose the path of life.
People: For our sake and the sake of the world we will choose life.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“O Worship the King”
found in:
UMH: 73
H82: 388
PH: 476
NNBH: 6
NCH: 26
CH: 17
LBW: 548
ELA: 842
AMEC: 12
“Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”
found in:
UMH: 103
H82: 423
PH: 263
NCH: 1
CH: 66
LBW: 526
ELA: 834
W&P: 48
AMEC: 71
STLT: 273
Renew: 46
“O Jesus, I Have Promised”
found in:
UMH: 396
H82: 655
PH: 388, 389
NCH: 493
CH: 612
LBW: 503
ELA: 810
W&P: 458
AMEC: 280
“Seek Ye First”
found in:
UMH: 405
H82: 711
PH: 333
CH: 354
W&P: 349
CCB: 76
“A Charge to Keep I Have”
found in:
UMH: 413
AAHH: 467, 468
NNBH: 436
AMEC: 342
“Let There Be Peace on Earth”
found in:
UMH: 431
CH: 877
W&P: 614
“Be Thou My Vision”
found in:
UMH: 451
H82: 488
PH: 339
NCH: 451
CH: 595
ELA: 793
W&P: 502
AMEC: 281
STLT: 20
Renew: 151
“Trust and Obey”
found in:
UMH: 467
AAHH: 380
NNBH: 322
CH: 566
W&P: 443
AMEC: 377
“Make Me a Servant”
found in:
CCB: 90
“Refiner’s Fire”
found in:
CCB: 79
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God, who is the gracious life-giver: Grant to us the wisdom to follow your way to life
that sets us free from violence and hatred; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are the gracious life-giver. You set before us a path leading to life that is free from violence and hatred. Help us to discern that path in our lives and to follow it. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our failure to walk the path of life God has set before us.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have offered us life, but we have chosen death. You have offered us peace, and we have chosen violence. Then in our ignorance and our short-sightedness we wonder why the world is filled with death and violence. Open our eyes and fill us with your Spirit once again that we may see that our choices are responsible for the way things are. Amen.
Leader: God has given us freedom to choose our paths. When we see the folly of our choices, God honors our change of direction. Receive God’s love and grace, and take the path God sets before you.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise you, O God, for the gracious way you share your life with all of creation. We offer you our worship and adoration because you are love eternal.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have offered us life, but we have chosen death. You have offered us peace, and we have chosen violence. Then in our ignorance and our short-sightedness we wonder why the world is filled with death and violence. Open our eyes and fill us with your Spirit once again that we may see that our choices are responsible for the way things are.
We give you thanks for all the ways you bring us wholeness and life. You fill us with good things and even pour out yourself into us. You do not force us to follow you, but offer us the opportunity to enter into your life and love.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our brokenness. We are aware of many hurts in the lives of your children. We are sometimes overwhelmed by the pain and suffering in our world. We know that much of it comes from our own actions and words. Our choices affect not just ourselves but others too. Help us to not just pray for those who are hurting but also to make sure our words and actions help healing and wholeness to come to all your people.
(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 consequences. What happens if we get angry and break one of our toys? We can’t play with it anymore, and neither can anyone else. What happens if we share our toys? We get to enjoy playing with them, and so do others. What we do and say affects us and others. When we are kind and share, when we say nice things to others, it makes them feel good -- and it makes us feel good too.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Freedom and Responsibility
by Dean Feldmeyer
You will need:
* a pair of children’s scissors (with blunt tips)
* a pair of adult scissors (with pointed tips)
I have here two pairs of scissors. Now, take a close look at these and tell me which one is the scissors for children and which one is the scissors for adults. (Let brief discussion follow.)
Which pair would be better for cutting paper and cloth? If the big pointy ones are better for cutting, why do we always give these little blunt ones to the kids?
That’s right! The big pointy scissors are kind of dangerous, aren’t they? They’re very sharp, so you might get cut. They’re very pointy, so you might get poked. They are big and long and heavy, so you might accidentally drop them on your foot or cut someone else with them. They cut really well, but if you use them you must be very careful.
These other scissors don’t cut very well, but they aren’t pointy and they aren’t sharp -- so you don’t have to be really careful with them.
See, that’s the thing. If you want to be free to cut lots of things, then you also have to be very responsible. And if you aren’t free, you don’t have to be very responsible.
That’s the way God made life, you know? The freer we are, the more responsible we have to be.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, October 15, 2017, issue.
Copyright 2017 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.
Team member Mary Austin shares some additional thoughts on the Matthew text. While Chris suggests we need to rethink our responses to be prepared for the king’s banquet, Mary visualizes the recurring incidents of mass violence in our country as events (like the king’s banquet) that no one wants to be a part of... yet which we are all drawn into whether or not we are directly affected. Mary suggests that what we can do is, like the first responders in Las Vegas, to offer a new banquet of compassion and safety to all who have suffered at the bitter feast of violence and terror. But the one thing we cannot do is (like the guests who reject their invitations) is to be oblivious to the urgency of making a positive contribution to Jesus’ banquet.
What Happens in Vegas
by Chris Keating
Matthew 22:1-14
Stephen Paddock’s weapons burst through the Mandalay Bay’s golden windows last Sunday, spilling round after round of lethal ammunition on concertgoers enjoying an evening of Jason Aldean music. Paddock, a retired multimillionaire and professional gambler, had just placed one last murderous bet.
It was a bet no one would win.
That is especially true for his victims, 58 of whom were killed along with approximately 500 injured. But the impact goes beyond the Vegas strip, especially in the wake of weeks of natural disasters impacting much of the United States. The reverberations from Paddock’s assault, perhaps the largest in modern United States history, rake against the grain of our national psyche, captivating media attention and initiating calls for tougher laws, more access to mental health, tighter security.
As investigators sort through evidence, an all too familiar sequence of post-tragedy events continues to play out. It’s a well-worn litany of actions, including calls for prayer, a national media blitz, interviews with survivors, a presidential visit, and demands for tougher gun control laws. We know the drill.
It’s so familiar that it is fair to wonder whether the age-old Vegas adage will take on new meaning: will what happened in Las Vegas remain there, or will this be the tipping point for substantive change? Put another way, it is tempting to wonder if the nation has become so inured to violence that no one really seems to be paying attention.
This is the life we have chosen -- a life where weapons designed for warfare are readily available; a life characterized by me-first materialism and indulgent excess epitomized by millionaires like Paddock; a life where the invitation to embrace the reign of God is too often rejected or ignored.
Jesus’ tale about the wedding guests is instructive. It’s a rough and tumble story that is unsettling but also timely, as it reminds us what is involved in seeking first the kingdom of God. It’s also a troubling tale of what happens when the choices God sets before us are patently ignored.
In the News
Like the guests who were invited to the wedding but mysteriously refused to attend, Stephen Paddock’s life and activities seemed to be filled with confusing, mysterious ambiguities and contradictions. Investigators fanned out across the country last week in search of answers following the Vegas shooting -- but only seemed to find more questions. So far Paddock’s motives remain unknown.
One of Paddock’s former employees called him a low-key “goofball” whose even-keeled personality was rarely rocked. “He never even got frustrated,” said Lisa Crawford, who had managed property for Paddock from 2006-12.
His brother called him a “math guy” who studied the world of video poker machines the way a scientist combs through DNA. “He could tell you off the top of his head what the odds were down to a tenth of a percent on whatever machine he was playing,” Eric Paddock told reporters. “He studied it like it was a Ph.D. thing. It was not silly gambling. It was work.”
As a professional gambler, Paddock preferred to live a vampire-like existence, remaining indoors as much as possible. He admitted to avoiding daylight in a 2013 deposition, noting he gambled an average of 14 hours a day, 365 days a year. He mastered the art of video poker, sometimes called the “crack cocaine” of gambling machines.
He remained at the same machine once for 24 hours straight, and often played at a rate of $120,000 an hour. He had unlocked the game’s secrets, earning him the chance to amass a fortune while becoming well-known to casino employees. Somewhere along the way, Paddock also began living a dual life, gathering guns and making meticulous plans for the mass shooting.
The ironies of Paddock’s life abound. Gambling, his brother told reporters, wasn’t about glitz and glamour. He didn’t see it as particularly enjoyable. It was a job, “a means to an end.” He gained status, but stayed under the radar.
A notable example of the contradictions of Paddock’s life came the night before the massacre. Paddock called hotel security twice to complain about noise coming from the room below his 32nd-floor suite, where guests were blaring country songs at high volume. The next night he would break the glass of his suite and take aim at 22,000 concertgoers. If Paddock smiled at the irony of complaining about loud noises the night before he conducted the largest mass murder in recent history, no one knows.
Another prominent irony is how Paddock managed to beat the hotel at its own game and keep his real plans a secret. He had managed to avoid letting clues about his crime leak in a town known for having the most closely watched spaces on earth. The eye in the sky missed it.
In life and in death, Stephen Paddock remained an enigma, a man of many ironic contrasts, perhaps not unlike our complex and often conflicting understanding of guns in American society today. It’s likely that what happened in Vegas will stay in Vegas -- and as has happened before, there will be few changes to gun laws.
The irony is that public interest in gun control spikes after mass shootings, but then quickly fades. Prayers are offered, but by and large America has cherished its centuries-long gun-owning heritage. Most legislators miss the striking contrast between praying for peace and taking common-sense actions, a point not missed by gun control advocates.
“The thoughts and prayers of politicians are cruelly hollow if they are paired with continued legislative indifference,” said Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, who pushed for gun control legislation following the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in 2012. “It’s time for Congress to get off its ass and do something.”
The pattern seems ingrained: Columbine, Sandy Hook, Charleston, San Bernardino, Orlando. Each of these tragedies prompted calls for action, yet the actions fall short -- or even head in a different direction. Commentator David Frum notes that previous shootings have resulted in a flurry of gun laws, nearly all of which made it easier to carry guns into more places. Frum, a Republican who once wrote speeches for George W. Bush, notes that nearly all but six states permit citizens to openly carry firearms.
More tragedies do not lead to more restrictions. Frum believes a different approach is needed. In particular, Frum told NPR’s Robert Siegel that strategies need to begin with parents:
In all but eight states, it is completely legal for a parent to put his or her child into a car seat, strap the child into the car seat, roll up all the windows, and smoke a pack of cigarettes inside the car. That’s legal in most places. Most people don’t do it because parents love their children and understand that smoking in a confined space with your child is deadly for the child. We have to begin by making parents understand. This is the group that will unlock this. You’re a bad parent if you have a gun in the house. You’re not protecting your child. You’re endangering your child.
The cases I find it most useful to confront people with are not these terrible mass shootings and instead to focus on the deadly toll every day of a case -- there was a case just the other day from I think Tampa where a 4-year-old girl reached into her grandmother's purse to find some candy. The grandmother always kept candy in her purse. The grandmother also kept a gun in the purse. And so instead of getting the candy, the child got dead. Those are the stories people need to know.
It’s a valid point -- and a reminder of the ironic consequences of the choices we make. Jesus might have been on to something as he shared the parable of the wedding feast, the sumptuous banquet God plans for all creation. As Matthew tells the story, the choice to forgo the banquet has deadly consequences. Will we go? And once we’re there, will we put on the right coat?
In the Scriptures
Preachers slogging their way through Matthew this fall may well be the ones weeping and gnashing their teeth at the prodigious images of violence and death in these texts. The temple talks of Jesus have included disrupting money changers (21:12-13), cursing a fig tree before breakfast (21:18), and parables involving vineyards in various states of disarray and often including murder.
These are stories of holy rage, of anger about to boil over. But unlike Stephen Paddock’s rage, which seemed to emerge from nowhere, Jesus’ anger is a response to the willful rejection of God’s gracious generosity. The allegory he tells clearly points to Israel’s rejection of God, though an interpreter should be careful assigning blame to Israel. Even the last-minute guests have failed to stop by the tux shop on the way to the party, a potent reminder to the church.
For reasons unknown, the guests invited by the king (22:1-14) have made light of the king’s invitation. Their rejection soon becomes murderous, with the mob seizing the slaves and killing them. In contrast to Luke, where the guests demur by offering excuses, Matthew’s crowd is an unruly violent bunch who have recklessly avoided the king’s generous offer.
They have chosen their way of life, much as Americans have decided the rights of gun owners outweigh the rights of those who are peaceably assembled for a concert, or the rights of children to safely attend school, or the rights of worshipers to gather for Bible study.
In the Sermon
The violence of our times weighs down on us. These texts, filled with images that are difficult to understand, deserve our faithful attention. Ironically, the images of violent disruption seem to be exactly what Jesus intends for the disciples to understand. Perhaps we would do well to let these images marinate in our theological reflections this week.
Gun control, of course, is an issue we might prefer avoiding. Church members reflect the diverse array of opinions on the issue, and there are certainly clergy who enjoy the right to own guns. But what cannot be avoided in this parable are the ways the would-be guests ignore and reject the king’s invitation. This is more than a social obligation; this is a reminder of the generous, loving gift that awaits us.
A sermon could point out the irony of rejecting a life-giving invitation by embracing an ongoing fascination with the tools and weapons of death.
Similarly, as Sally Brown notes in Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew (Vol. 2, p. 185), the violence of these several parables in Matthew are reminders of the horrors we bring on ourselves when we reject God’s invitation. We choose a life that resists God’s way in the world, both individually and as a society. We resist not just the message, but reject the messengers too. We become enamored with our lives, busy pursuing self-interested success, and we fail to hear the call that “Everything is ready!”
The sermon becomes a way of reminding our congregations that in many ways we are like those who have rejected the invitation. Many of us might have envied Paddock, with his success, money, and stockade of power. But the good news of this parable -- once we allow it to reach our ears -- is that God goes out searching not for those with status, privilege, or power. Instead, God reaches out to those willing to reshape their lives in light of the priorities of the gospel.
The world of the disciples is about to be flipped. All that they have known will be changed. In the face of this disruption, there will come an amazing and nearly inexplicable invitation which will be issued to all people. The question remains: Will any of us will hear the call that “Everything is ready,” or will we prefer to accept the lie that “What happens in Vegas (or Newtown or Orlando or Charleston) must stay there.”
SECOND THOUGHTS
The Party No One Wants to Attend
by Mary Austin
Matthew 22:1-14
In a series of sharply pointed parables, Jesus is telling uncomfortable stories about the kingdom of heaven. This time, the realm of God is like a banquet that no one wants to attend. When the king sends his invitations, everyone is mysteriously busy. They have other obligations that keep them from the party.
At this party there should be plenty of food and drink, plus important people to meet. Maybe the guests can take a selfie with the king, or at least with some other notable figures.
But no one wants to go.
In Las Vegas last week, thousands of people became part of an event they didn’t want to attend either. Without warning, they were drawn into the banquet of violence that our country periodically sets for its citizens. Concertgoers in Las Vegas found themselves at the mercy of a gunman, shooting from an upper floor of a nearby hotel. With the shots, they were compelled into a banquet of physical and psychological pain, grief and bewilderment. Just as in the parable, people of all kinds were thrust violently into the story.
First responders were compelled into a party they didn’t seek out. Some firefighters became first responders by chance. They were driving back after assisting at a car accident when people started gathering around their truck. The crowd was so thick that they couldn’t keep driving. “The crew began treating patients brought by concertgoers, which included off-duty emergency workers. ‘After my 15 years as a paramedic, it was just automatic,’ [fireman Brian Emery] said. ‘You just go to work and do what you know how to do.’ Over the next hours, the crew treated some 30 people with a range of injuries, including those who had been stepped on and crushed in the frantic crowd but largely gunshot victims struck by high-caliber fire. They put the wounded in whatever vehicles passed by -- patrol cars or private vehicles.” A number of off-duty firefighters and paramedics from other states also volunteered to help.
At the city’s only Level One trauma center, brand-new surgeons experienced a trial by fire. Timothy Dickoot and Jorge Vega had been board-certified for three days when they were called in to work on the night of the shootings. The hospital was frantically busy. “Fifteen minutes after arriving, both Dickoot and Vega were doing surgeries just three days after receiving their certifications. They spent the whole night working on victims.” They looked around the emergency room and did their own triage, operating on people whose lives could be saved.
But saving a life is just the beginning. For people needing a long recovery, life now revolves around medical care far from home, expensive rehabilitation, the loss of work, and bills that will last for years. For some, a future full of financial hardship looms.
Even people who weren’t physically wounded have been drawn into this banquet of continuing distress. A crisis psychiatrist says that the effects will linger for anyone who was present in Las Vegas, even if they escaped without physical injury: “From watching the footage of the Las Vegas shooting, it is clear from my research experience that survivors will collectively endure a full spectrum of mental health effects in the short and long term -- whether they were physically struck by gunfire or not. It was, after all, the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, a horrific tragedy in which thousands of people feared for life and limb and witnessed friends shot down in cold blood.”
What helps survivors, and those injured, and those who are grieving for loved ones, is for us all to come to this banquet of terror with compassion to offer. The psychiatrist adds: “To help these survivors, the best we can do is to offer compassion, allow them space but be present as they need. Listen thoughtfully if they want to talk about their experience and feelings. Help them with specific needs, and be patient as they process their ordeal and seek to restore order to their lives.”
Shot at 17 in the Columbine school shooting, Austin Eubanks recovered from his physical injuries but became addicted to drugs to cope with the continuing emotional anguish. Now in recovery after an 11-year battle, “Eubanks emphasized that the emotional fallout spreads far beyond the victims to families, the rescuers, and the medical professionals. ‘The ripple effects of these are tremendous,’ he said. Now 35, he runs a substance abuse treatment center in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where fly-fishing and other ‘healthy pursuits’ help him feel whole. ‘The most important piece is human connection,’ he added. ‘I’m surrounded by people who know everything about me. I have no problem calling any of them to say, “I’m really struggling today.” ’ ” The feast of compassion and understanding is the banquet that makes a difference for people.
This feast is a potluck, where no one is compelled to come but all of us bring what we have to offer and contribute to the healing. It could be support for victims or for their faraway families, or a gesture of support for emotionally battered first responders. We bring our time, our listening ears, our gifts of food or funds to this come-as-you-are party, where we seek to add a little bit to the repair of damaged spirits. All of us will have something to bring to this motley potluck.
The parable has two moments of judgment -- the first for those who won’t lay aside their everyday lives to accept an amazing invitation, and the second for the guest who won’t put on the wedding robe. The story reminds us of the earlier parable about the two brothers. One tells the father he’ll go, and doesn’t. The other says he won’t go, and then does. This guest accepts the invitation, but he isn’t fully committed.
This part of the parable has always puzzled me. Why doesn’t this guest just do what he knows he should do?
Now I wonder if this guest is the one most like us, as we see the banquet of violence all around us in the United States. We’re all compelled to be part of it, touched by it either directly or indirectly. With each awful shooting, we are distressed, pained, or outraged. With each small shooting at a school or workplace, we are mostly oblivious, because they have become so common. We know what we should do to set a different table in the future -- but we don’t, or won’t, change the menu. Now I wonder if we all are the guest who won’t put on the robe. We have trouble taking the step that would make us part of setting a new table. We hesitate to be part of a new banquet of compassion, safety, and fairness. But that banquet is waiting for us too, if we choose to be part of it.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Ron Love:
Exodus 32:1-14
Timothy Sloan, the chief executive officer of Wells Fargo bank, recently appeared before the Senate Banking Committee. His testimony was related to the millions of false accounts the bank opened on unsuspecting customers in order for bank employees to make their sales quotas. Sloan heard withering criticism from the senators. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, said: “What in God’s name were you thinking? I am not against big, but with all due respect, I am against dumb. I am against a business practice that has put Wells Fargo first and customers second.” Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, held up a folder of all of Sloan’s testimonies over the years in which he appeared to be bragging about the company’s sales culture. Warren questioned if Sloan, with this portfolio, was the proper person to lead the company. Warren said: “At best, you were incompetent, and at worst, you were complicit. Either way, you should be fired.”
Application: We need to obey the rules.
*****
Exodus 32:1-14
Sometimes two versions of a movie are filmed at the same time. One is a racy and more vulgar cut intended to be shown in theaters, while a tamer and more family oriented version (to be seen on television) is filmed too since some scenes from the original version cannot be edited to be viewed by a general audience.
Application: We must live a life that does not have two versions.
*****
Exodus 32:1-14
Connie Francis had a career that spanned several decades, that bestowed upon her all the glitter and glamour of Hollywood. Yet despite all that she considers her personal life a bust. The 70-year-old actress said: “For as much success as I had professionally, personally I’m a failure.” She went on to say, “Yeah, I do. My choice of husbands, my lack of judgment in choosing the right husbands... my impulsiveness, my not looking before I leapt. So many mistakes that I would have avoided.” Francis is in the process of auctioning off her Hollywood memorabilia as a way of giving back to her fans.
Application: By following the Ten Commandments, we can guard our personal lives from being failures.
*****
Exodus 32:1-14
Billy Sunday was a professional baseball player from 1883 to 1891 for teams in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. He was converted through the street preaching of Harry Monroe, of the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. Sunday left a $5,000 a year salary as a baseball player for a $75 yearly salary as a YMCA evangelist. He was an evangelist from 1893 to 1935. It is estimated that several hundred thousand people walked the "sawdust trail" to attend one of his services. His sermons, as with so many other evangelists of his day, focused on the degenerate state of man. His sermon “The Devil’s Boomerangs,” often referred to as “Hot Cakes Off the Griddle,” opened with this oration: “You can always get the truth out of the Bible. Of course, you can always find truth elsewhere, but never from so clear a source. Nothing was ever printed more true than ‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap.’ God will not coerce and attempt to force any man to be a Christian. When he dies, however, he will be judged for his sins. He must face the day of judgment. Do as you please. Lie, steal, booze, fight, prostitute. God won’t stop you. Do as you please until the undertaker comes and puts you in a coffin, and then the Lord will have his say. Lives of pleasure shall have an end, the wicked shall not live half their days.” Thus began a litany against every carnal sin known to humanity.
Application: If we obey the Ten Commandments, then we know that we are not the subjects of “Hot Cakes Off the Griddle.”
*****
Exodus 32:1-14; Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23; Matthew 22:1-14
Until he recently resigned, Tim Murphy was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives whose district was located in southwestern Pennsylvania. Murphy was an outspoken pro-life advocate -- but shortly after he voted to make abortions illegal after 20 weeks of fetal development, it was learned that he had encouraged his mistress, Shannon Edwards, to have an abortion. A Pittsburgh newspaper was able to obtain the text messages between the two lovers, both of whom are married. Edwards wrote of Murphy’s desire for her to have an abortion that the congressman had “zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child.” Edwards, it turned out, was not pregnant.
Application: We need to take seriously the commands of the Lord and our own values.
*****
Exodus 32:1-14; Philippians 4:1-9
Terry Bradshaw was the acclaimed quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1970 to 1983. During his 14 seasons with the Steelers, he led the team to four Super Bowl victories. Bradshaw, once said on a talk show that the only way he knew if had completed a pass was by the sound of the crowd in the stadium. This was because after a pass he was almost always knocked to the ground and could not see the field.
Application: Often we will only know if we are keeping the commands of the Lord by the response we receive from others.
*****
Isaiah 25:1-9
Tom Petty, one of the great rock singers and writers of our time, recently died. Along with his band the Heartbreakers, Petty filled concert arenas with songs that stood the test of time -- beginning with his 1976 debut album which included the songs “Breakdown” and “American Girl.” Petty said of his musical ability: “It was a gift I was given, and what it means I don’t know.” Then in conversation with Johnny Cash, Petty learned what the gift meant. Cash said that Petty’s songs “make a lot of people happy.” Petty then realized that his songs helped people in good times and in bad. Petty said: “It does. It makes a lot of people happy. You can’t lose sight of that... that’s what it is all about.”
Application: Isaiah talked about the importance of making people happy.
*****
Isaiah 25:1-9
In the Born Loser comics, Rancid Veeblefester is the president of the company, and his employee Brutus Thornapple is known as the “born loser” since the events of life never seem to act in his favor. In a recent installment, Veeblefester has an obviously disgusted look on his face as he watches Thornapple pass in front of him, dropping papers held in his hand as he walks. After Thornapple passes, Veeblefester says: “They say into each life a little rain must fall... A little rain? Thornapple has been a constant downpour in my life!”
Application: Isaiah discusses that we will have problems in life, but the Lord will restore us.
*****
Philippians 4:1-9
Whenever tragedy strikes our nation, people turn to the scriptures for comfort and assurance. In the wake of the Las Vegas mass shooting, President Donald Trump quoted Psalm 34:18 in trying to reassure the nation. Referencing the psalm, Trump said: “Scripture teaches us the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” He then went on to say: “We seek comfort in those words, for we know God lives in the hearts of those who grieve.” Bible Gateway did a study of 18 other major tragedies in our country, and found four Bible verses that people most often turn to for comfort, assurance, and understanding. They are: John 16:33; Psalm 34:18; Romans 12:19; and Psalm 11:5.
Application: Paul instructs us to “stand firm in the Lord.”
*****
Philippians 4:1-9
In the wake of the Las Vegas mass shooting, the Washington Post published an article concluding that even though religion is declining in America, presidents still turn to the Bible in moments of tragedy. In these times of tragedy, the president is known as the “comforter-in-chief.” The Post offered statistics on the decline of religion, but then shared how past presidents quoted the Bible. After Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot, President Obama said: “Scripture tells us that there is evil in the world and that terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding. In the words of Job, ‘When I looked for light, then came darkness.’ Bad things happen, and we have to guard against simple explanations in the aftermath.”
Application: Paul instructs us to “stand firm in the Lord.”
*****
Matthew 22:1-14
For more than 80 years it was called Princeton Evangelical Fellowship -- but now the Christian group that meets at Princeton University has dropped the word “evangelical” and now calls itself the Princeton Christian Fellowship. The organization’s director, Bill Boyce, said: “There’s a growing recognition that the term evangelical is increasingly either confusing, or unknown, or misunderstood to students.” This has become even more apparent after the election of Donald Trump as president, and the support he received from evangelical Christian leaders, which blended into the alt-right movement.
Application: Whether the term “evangelical” is used or not, when Jesus calls we are to answer.
***************
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
In Charge
“Dean, you’re in charge.”
As the oldest of five children, I learned to both love and hate that little sentence. It meant that while my parents were gone, I was going to have the final say over arguments concerning the television and what programs we were going to watch as well as the fridge and what snacks we were going to eat.
It meant that judgment would be rendered based on my final report to my parents on the behavior of my siblings.
That was the good part, the part I loved.
“You’re in charge” also meant that I was responsible. I was responsible for keeping everyone safe and getting them fed, bathed, and to bed on time.
It was exhausting.
And it was my first experience of the law that with great power and great freedom comes great responsibility. At the age of 16 I wasn’t sure it was worth it.
*****
A Dog’s World
Our Jack Russell terrier, James, loved nothing more than to go outside -- but he often misbehaved when he did so. He would find a small depression in the ground at the fence line and then dig to the point of exhaustion so that he could escape. Eventually he would squeeze his way under the fence, get out of the yard, and take off for a romp around the neighborhood.
We would look for him, and after finding him and bringing him back to the yard he would be tied to a small tree for the remainder of the day while I fixed the hole under the fence.
He soon discovered that relationship between freedom and responsibility is as certain as night and day. If he wanted to be free within the confines of our yard, he would have to behave responsibly and stop digging under the fence. Freedom was to be found inside the fence, not outside of it.
*****
Dead Kids and Constitutional Rights
Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher insists that the deaths of innocent people “don’t trump” his constitutional rights. He said as much in an open letter to the families of victims in the 2014 shooting rampage near the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Wurzelbacher’s letter was published on Barbwire a few days after one shooting victim’s father blamed “craven, irresponsible politicians” and the National Rifle Association for his son’s death.
Wurzelbacher said the words of Richard Martinez, whose son Christopher Martinez was a victim, “will be exploited by gun-grab extremists as are all tragedies involving gun violence and the mentally ill by the anti-Second Amendment Left.” The former congressional candidate told Martinez to “back off.”
Wurzelbacher said his letter is directed “only to the families of the gunshot victims in Santa Barbara” and not to the families of three who were stabbed ahead of the shooting spree. “I am sorry you lost your child. I myself have a son and daughter, and the one thing I never want to go through is what you are going through now. But: as harsh as this sounds -- your dead kids don’t trump my constitutional rights,” Wurzelbacher wrote.
Wurzelbacher acknowledged his comments are “harsh,” but claimed pro-gun control activists “don’t care about your family or your dead children at all.”
“They sound like they do, whereas I sound uncaring and like I say, harsh,” Wurzelbacher wrote. “Don’t be fooled -- I care about your family and mine. The future of our very liberty lies in the balance of this fight.”
*****
Four Freedoms and Four Responsibilities
The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his State of the Union speech on January 6, 1941. In the address he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people “everywhere in the world” ought to enjoy:
* freedom of speech
* freedom of worship
* freedom from want
* freedom from fear
Were Roosevelt writing the speech today, one cannot help but wonder if he might have included the four responsibilities that go along with each of these four freedoms.
With the freedom of speech goes the responsibility of sensitivity and thoughtfulness, because we know that it is impossible to unsay something that has been already said.
With the freedom of worship goes the responsibility of tolerance and inclusivity, because we know that religion can be a divisive force that separates and estranges people from each other.
With the freedom from want goes the responsibility to be prudent, because we know that it is often difficult to discern genuine wants from needs.
And with freedom from fear goes the responsibility to seek peace and pursue it, because we know that it is the lack of understanding that often creates the settings in which fear is born.
*****
Idolatry
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “worship” in this way: reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; also, an act of expressing such reverence; also, extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem.
For Christians, however, there is only one that is worthy of such devotion and esteem.
St. Augustine is credited with saying that idolatry is when we worship something that should be used, or use something that should be worshiped.
The Shema says: Hear, O Israel. The Lord is God. Only the Lord.
Author James Packer says: “Football, the firm, and family are also gods for some. Indeed the list of other gods is endless, for anything that anyone allows to run his life becomes his god and the claimants for this prerogative are legion. In the matter of life’s basic loyalty, temptation is a many-headed monster.”
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Praise God! O give thanks to our good God.
People: God’s steadfast love endures forever.
Leader: Happy are those who observe justice.
People: Happy are those who do righteousness at all times.
Leader: Remember us, O God.
People: Remember us that we may glory in your heritage.
OR
Leader: God sets before us the way of life and of death.
People: God does not force us but urges us to choose life.
Leader: The path we choose makes our lives what they are.
People: Our choices affect the lives of others around us.
Leader: Choose wisely. Choose the path of life.
People: For our sake and the sake of the world we will choose life.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“O Worship the King”
found in:
UMH: 73
H82: 388
PH: 476
NNBH: 6
NCH: 26
CH: 17
LBW: 548
ELA: 842
AMEC: 12
“Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”
found in:
UMH: 103
H82: 423
PH: 263
NCH: 1
CH: 66
LBW: 526
ELA: 834
W&P: 48
AMEC: 71
STLT: 273
Renew: 46
“O Jesus, I Have Promised”
found in:
UMH: 396
H82: 655
PH: 388, 389
NCH: 493
CH: 612
LBW: 503
ELA: 810
W&P: 458
AMEC: 280
“Seek Ye First”
found in:
UMH: 405
H82: 711
PH: 333
CH: 354
W&P: 349
CCB: 76
“A Charge to Keep I Have”
found in:
UMH: 413
AAHH: 467, 468
NNBH: 436
AMEC: 342
“Let There Be Peace on Earth”
found in:
UMH: 431
CH: 877
W&P: 614
“Be Thou My Vision”
found in:
UMH: 451
H82: 488
PH: 339
NCH: 451
CH: 595
ELA: 793
W&P: 502
AMEC: 281
STLT: 20
Renew: 151
“Trust and Obey”
found in:
UMH: 467
AAHH: 380
NNBH: 322
CH: 566
W&P: 443
AMEC: 377
“Make Me a Servant”
found in:
CCB: 90
“Refiner’s Fire”
found in:
CCB: 79
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God, who is the gracious life-giver: Grant to us the wisdom to follow your way to life
that sets us free from violence and hatred; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are the gracious life-giver. You set before us a path leading to life that is free from violence and hatred. Help us to discern that path in our lives and to follow it. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our failure to walk the path of life God has set before us.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have offered us life, but we have chosen death. You have offered us peace, and we have chosen violence. Then in our ignorance and our short-sightedness we wonder why the world is filled with death and violence. Open our eyes and fill us with your Spirit once again that we may see that our choices are responsible for the way things are. Amen.
Leader: God has given us freedom to choose our paths. When we see the folly of our choices, God honors our change of direction. Receive God’s love and grace, and take the path God sets before you.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise you, O God, for the gracious way you share your life with all of creation. We offer you our worship and adoration because you are love eternal.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have offered us life, but we have chosen death. You have offered us peace, and we have chosen violence. Then in our ignorance and our short-sightedness we wonder why the world is filled with death and violence. Open our eyes and fill us with your Spirit once again that we may see that our choices are responsible for the way things are.
We give you thanks for all the ways you bring us wholeness and life. You fill us with good things and even pour out yourself into us. You do not force us to follow you, but offer us the opportunity to enter into your life and love.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our brokenness. We are aware of many hurts in the lives of your children. We are sometimes overwhelmed by the pain and suffering in our world. We know that much of it comes from our own actions and words. Our choices affect not just ourselves but others too. Help us to not just pray for those who are hurting but also to make sure our words and actions help healing and wholeness to come to all your people.
(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 consequences. What happens if we get angry and break one of our toys? We can’t play with it anymore, and neither can anyone else. What happens if we share our toys? We get to enjoy playing with them, and so do others. What we do and say affects us and others. When we are kind and share, when we say nice things to others, it makes them feel good -- and it makes us feel good too.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Freedom and Responsibility
by Dean Feldmeyer
You will need:
* a pair of children’s scissors (with blunt tips)
* a pair of adult scissors (with pointed tips)
I have here two pairs of scissors. Now, take a close look at these and tell me which one is the scissors for children and which one is the scissors for adults. (Let brief discussion follow.)
Which pair would be better for cutting paper and cloth? If the big pointy ones are better for cutting, why do we always give these little blunt ones to the kids?
That’s right! The big pointy scissors are kind of dangerous, aren’t they? They’re very sharp, so you might get cut. They’re very pointy, so you might get poked. They are big and long and heavy, so you might accidentally drop them on your foot or cut someone else with them. They cut really well, but if you use them you must be very careful.
These other scissors don’t cut very well, but they aren’t pointy and they aren’t sharp -- so you don’t have to be really careful with them.
See, that’s the thing. If you want to be free to cut lots of things, then you also have to be very responsible. And if you aren’t free, you don’t have to be very responsible.
That’s the way God made life, you know? The freer we are, the more responsible we have to be.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, October 15, 2017, issue.
Copyright 2017 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.
