Immediate Word

For August 12, 2018:

• Holding Our Breath by Chris Keating -- As David laments Absalom’s death, he sinks as if he has been plunged into the sea. Those who are grieving understand the pain David endured. They cling to their burdens, waiting for the Lord.
• Second Thoughts: This Bread is Giving Me Life! by Bethany Peerbolte -- The grumblings of the crowd in John 6:35-51 are the complaints of people clinging to the familiar. Jesus wants them to try something new, the bread of life. This bread promises to keep a person inspired and excited to live fully. A meal that will change them and stick with them throughout life. Great meals have the power to change us. They open our palates, create valuable memories, and build relationship.
• Sermon illustrations by Dean Feldmeyer, Ron Love, and Mary Austin.
• Worship resources by George Reed.
• Belonging Children’s sermon by Tom Willadsen -- Ephesians 4:25--5:2 talks about how churches, groups of Christians, are supposed to be together. You may want to review that “the church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is the people” song (from “I am the Church,” by Richard Avery and Donald Marsh, 1972).

Holding Our Breath
by Chris Keating
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 & Psalm 130

Out of the depths, Tahlequah rises against the current of the waters in the Pacific Northwest, carrying her lifeless newborn with her. Tahlequah, also known as J35, is a part of an endangered population of southern resident killer whales. Her baby calf died not long after birth a week ago, but Tahlequah has been carrying the calf ever since, travelling about 70 miles each day.

Scientists observing the grieving mother note how hard the whale is working to carry the 400-pound child. They also note the mother Orca has also not eaten for days.

“If you’re a whale or a dolphin,” said Deborah Giles, a killer whale biologist who has been observing Tahlequah, “(carrying the deceased calf) means that you have to go down and pick that animal up as it’s sinking, bring it to the surface, hold your breath for as long as you can and then basically dump your baby off your head in order just to take a breath.”

Out the depths, Tahlequah struggles, holding her breath while carrying her grief. It’s a pattern grieving parents, or anyone who facing a loss, understands. Pushed headlong into tragedy, the grief-stricken struggle. Grief plunges us into the depth of despair, where do our best to hold our breath, hoping the burden will be released.

These are a few of the faces of this summer’s bereaved: thousands of Californians suffering from massive wildfires, Olympic skier Bode Miller and his family, families of vacationers who died while riding a duck boat in in Branson, and the parents of a 19-year-old man from Missouri who drowned while celebrating the Fourth of July.

As David laments Absalom’s death, he sinks as if he has been plunged into the sea. Like the giant killer whale, he joins those who hold their breath until they can rise into the hope of God. Those who are grieving understand the pain both Tahlequah and David endure. They cling to their burdens, waiting for the Lord more than those who wait for the morning.  

In the News
News of Tahlequah’s mourning of her calf has spread around the world, capturing the attention of the world and deeper awareness of the plight of the endangered mammal. Readers of the Seattle Times flooded the comments sections of the paper with offerings of poetry, art, and responses to images of the bereaved mother carrying her dead calf.

While there has been significant anectdotal and research data pointing to the complex grieving responses of both dolphins and whales, J35’s mourning is the longest period of mourning ever recorded for an orca. Researchers have been following the mother and members of her pod of southern resident killer whales since the calf died July 24. Following the 17-month gestation period, the bond between mother and child seems especially strong, an indicator of the whale’s ability to navigate complex social emotions such as grief.

Some researchers have noted how dolphin’s express grief in their eyes, conveying feelings of suffering and sadness.

In the midst of this, members of J35’s pod -- her family group -- seem to be holding their own version of a wake for the child. Observers have noted other whales helping the mother carry the calf’s corpse, helping her find strength for their daily journeys. Scientists express concern for J35’s well-being and are monitoring her health closely, especially as her vigil continues.

Tahlequah’s profoundly physical grief touches the hearts of those who know what it is like to hold one’s breath while pushing back against death. Tightness of chest and shortness of breath are classic indicators of anxiety, a common component of grief. When writer Vanessa Martir’s brother died, she noticed a sudden flaring of her asthma symptoms. “I felt my lungs clench tight like an iron-clad fist,” she writes, “I’d had asthma since I was a kid but never like this. It took months for that fist to unclench, finger by steely finger.”

Opening our lungs in response to grief can take many forms. For some that includes working to prevent disease or highlighting accident prevention. Just a few months ago, Olympic skiing champion Bode Miller and his wife Morgan Beck Miller experienced the heart-breaking fatal drowning of their 19-month old daughter. “Never in a million years did we think we would experience a pain like this,” wrote Bode Miller.

Last month, as the Millers were interviewed about their grief, they announced they are committed to helping parents become aware of the dangers of drowning. Out of the depths of their grief, they found a pathway to hope in educating parents about the alarming frequency of toddler drownings. “We have the choice to live our days with purpose,” Morgan Miller said, “to make sure that no other parent has to feel what we’re feeling.”

Like Tahlequah, Bode and Morgan Miller embody a grief that lives in the hope of one day breathing freely. Eager to shed the despair which has filled their lives, they mix their story of heart-wrenching lament with hope-filled promise. Such stories emerge from the paradoxical nature of grief.

The stories of grief are never hard to find, and that has been true for many this summer. The world has grieved not only with an Olympic champion and his wife, but also with an inconsolable whale. We have watched thousands of homes burn as wild fires spread and have wept over the news of tourists killed during an evening boat ride in Branson.

Grief is present, yet paradoxically so is hope. Like J35, we yearn for the breath of life while lifting our grief to God. Like David, we mourn the tragedy of death even as we search for the grace of hope. Such is the paradox of grief.

In the Scriptures
Like many in the Hebrew Bible, David was a man acquainted with sorrow and familiar with grief, including the grief of his own making. David’s family life has had more drama and dysfunction than an entire season of Dr. Phil. Things had certainly started promising -- God had bestowed a great blessing upon David’s family, and in return David had ruled with righteousness and justice.

Yet things soon went off the rails. By now, David’s household is filled with more scandals than a crooked politician. His family, riddled with plot twists and contrivances, is falling apart. Bitterness and death seem to pursue the shepherd king wherever he goes. There’s the death of the child born by Bathsheba, followed by the sordid rape of David’s daughter Tamar by his son Amnon. Tamar’s rape infuriates her brother Absalom, who kills Amnon. Arranging seating at family reunions must have been a delicate matter. Absalom pulls a Michael Corleone and heads out of town for a while.

Absalom lays low for a while but is eventually restored to the family through Joab’s negotiating. The soap opera continues as Absalom attempts a populist revolt, but not before sleeping with his father’s concubines (16:22). It is a long, strange and complicated story, filled with ambiguity, grief, and paradox.

However, this pervasive paradox resonates with the ambiguities and conflicts present in many families. When David sings “you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies,” we know exactly what he means. When Absalom, despite David’s explicit instructions, is killed in battle, it brings an experience of loss and complicated grief familiar to many.

David’s cry in 18:33 provides a link to Psalm 130. David discovers that the trappings of power and the strength of empire do not preempt him from despair. His is the voices that cries out. His, indeed, is the voice crying from the depths. Paradoxically, his is also the voice that longs for Yahweh’s promised redemption. God’s rich love that has pursued and accompanied David throughout life remains steadfast. In the face of death, he holds his breath. He remains confident that God will come.

Bitterness and death have indeed pursued the shepherd king, but so has the unwavering promise of Yahweh, with whom there is great power to redeem.

In the sermon
The lectionary cuts and pastes the narrative with editorial creativity, isolating the story and framing it largely around the death of Absalom. If one has been preaching from 2 Samuel, then the congregation will already have a semblance of what is happening. If not, some sort of context will be helpful.

But the thread connecting the 2 Samuel text and the Psalm offers an opportunity to explore the theological notion of hope arising from grief. It is a theme our congregations will understand, especially in times when funeral services may outnumber new member classes and baptisms. The paradoxical nature of grief will resonate with many and provide a pastoral opportunity to engage in a conversation on hope.

Key to that conversation will be naming the ways that grief takes our breath away. It holds us, presses upon us, and pushes us. Like a bereaved whale, we fight furiously with the evidence of death clinging to our body. This is the experience a preacher can name for a congregation, encouraging them to experience grief. Our culture, if you’ve not noticed, does not care much for grief, brushing it aside as something unimportant.

David would disagree. Tahlequah would disagree. The woman in the third row from the back, whose husband just died from pancreatic cancer, would disagree. Even the non-church going neighbors of a young man from my town who died July 4 would disagree. Grief demands to be heard.

At 19, Cole was a force of nature. His family told me that life was just starting to hum for the boy. Not unlike many kids his age, he’d travelled over a bit of a rough road. But he was making his way. He had found a good job, and was giving serious thought to joining the Army.

Among his great loves in life were passions for thrill-seeking and all things patriotic. He adored the 4th of July, evidenced by the huge red, white and blue American eagle tattoo emblazoned on his chest. That’s why his plans for celebrating the fourth this year did not surprise anyone. There was a full day of swimming in a quarry in the Ozarks. His friends would join him in jumping off rocks, grilling hot dogs and lighting fireworks.

He made it as far as jumping off rocks.

At his funeral, we told stories about Cole. His family wiped away tears and held each other close. Their friends were gathered nearby. Like the grieving orca pod, they knew this was a time of waiting for hope to emerge, and so they waited. It felt as though we were holding our breath, confident that with the Lord there is power to redeem.


This Bread is Giving Me Life!
by Bethany Peerbolte
John 6:35-51

If you hang around millennials you may have noticed the word “life” has taken on a very special meaning. When a millennial says, “this avocado toast is giving me life” they mean that the toast is inspiring and exciting. This use of the word “life” has made me re-read Jesus’s “I am” statements through a new lens. In this week’s text from John 6, Jesus says he is the bread of life, which made me think of bread that has “given me life” throughout the years. Out of all the meals I have been blessed with, two meals have truly excited and inspired me to live more fully.

In Paris there is a restaurant named Auberge Nicolas Flamel. Flamel is a central figure in the Harry Potter books, of which I am a huge fan, so I made my family put the restaurant on the itinerary. When we got there we were greeted by a beautifully calligraphed black board menu, and a very friendly waiter. Unfortunately, the menu was in French and our waiter did not speak a word of English. Through a series of hilarious coincidences, we were able to piece together in broken Spanish “we want the best” which was close enough for the chef. I was worried because I was a picky eater, like this isn’t the right ranch dressing for my chicken nuggets kind of picky eater. Thankfully, we ended up with the best seven course mouthwatering meal I had ever had in my life. We wrote down what we thought the waiter said as he placed each delicious plate on the table. Back at the hotel we found a menu and asked the front desk to translate. Turns out the dish I liked the most was sea urchin. This meal gave me life. It inspired me to stop asking questions, step away from the familiar, and expand my horizons.  

The second meal that gave me life was in Kenya. The day our team finished the church we were helping to build the community planned a huge dinner to celebrate. As we put the finishing touches on the building the women in the community began to gather. Ingredients for the stew were brought from every home. Only our growling stomachs knew the language to describe the smell that was coming from behind the church. As our stomachs got louder a few of us took a break to check out the delicious smell. This was a mistake. The “kitchen” was the shed we had been storing paint and cleaning chemicals in all week. The shed that we knew was used as a bathroom until the group before us built outhouses. That sight did not “give me life.” We couldn’t deny the food smelled amazing, but I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to eat. At the meal we each took a respectable amount of food, and the Kenyans loaded their plates. After one bite I knew I had not taken enough. It was so delicious that I threw all caution to the wind and went back to fill my plate. Many of us did. When I sat back down the woman next to me gave me the biggest hug. I thought it was for the work we had finished, but our host later told us they were worried we didn’t like their food. My heart sank to think I had almost hurt our relationship with the community. I had focused on all the negative in that shed but there were also clean tarps covering everything. The women were even taking turns keeping the undiapered children away from food. I was so focused on the unfamiliar I could not appreciated all the extra effort they were putting into the meal. Thankfully the succulent food snapped me out of my idiocy so that I could build relationships with the people who gave from their own stores of food to feed me.

Clinging to the familiar almost cost me two amazing life-giving meals. When I stepped away from the familiar I found life. My family loves to retell the story of the Nicolas Flamel meal. It is told the same way every time but the belly laughs my family shares will ring in my ears for a lifetime. When the Kenyan women saw we were enjoying their food their worry melted and they began to tell us their stories. The storytelling was cathartic for everyone. We found ways to connect across very different cultures that weeks of working side by side did not allow. It took a meal to really bring us life.

The complaints from the crowd around Jesus in John 6 come from people who are finding it hard to step away from the familiar. They know Jesus as the son of Mary and Joseph and are grumbling for the same old chicken nuggets. They have been picky spiritual eaters and don’t want to try anything new. However, Jesus knows if they do try something new they will find something exciting, something that will inspire them to live a new way.

This week we can encourage our congregations to remember meals that inspired and excited them. Chances are the situation around those life-giving meals were not ideal or familiar. Yet out of all the meals we sit down for, the ones that excite and inspire us are usually the unfamiliar. Where in life are we still clinging to the familiar? Is Jesus asking us to see beyond what we know to be inspired and excited for something new? Ask any millennial, if you haven’t tried avocado toast you are not living.


ILLUSTRATIONS

From team member Dean Feldmeyer:

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 & Psalm 130
One Man’s Millions
“Hope”
Two decades ago, Harris Rosen, who grew up poor on the lower east side of Manhattan and became wealthy in the Florida hotel business, decided to shepherd part of his fortune into a troubled community with the melodious sounding name of Tangelo Park.

A quick snap from the city’s tourist engine, this neighborhood of small, once-charming houses seemed a world away from theme park pleasures as its leaders tried to beat back drugs, crime and too many shuttered homes. Nearly half its students had dropped out of school.

Twenty-one years later, with an infusion of $11 million of Mr. Rosen’s money so far, Tangelo Park is a striking success story. Nearly all its seniors graduate from high school, and most go on to college on full scholarships Mr. Rosen has financed.

Young children head for kindergarten primed for learning, or already reading, because of the free day care centers and a prekindergarten program Mr. Rosen provides. Property values have climbed. Houses and lawns, with few exceptions, are welcoming. Crime has plummeted.

 “We are sitting on gold here now,” said Jeroline G. Adkinson, president of the Tangelo Park Civic Association and a longtime resident of the mostly black community. “It has helped change the community.”

Milton Anderson sculpted a bush in his front yard in Tangelo Park. He said he had seen improvements in the community and more pride in homeownership in the past 20 years.

The community is small -- with only 3,000 people -- and filled with homeowners, making it unusual for an urban area. Tangelo has determined leaders who were fighting the drug trade even before Mr. Rosen’s arrival. And it has had Mr. Rosen’s focus and financing over 21 years.

“It’s not inexpensive,” Mr. Rosen said. “You stay until the neighborhood no longer needs you.”

But, he added, there are a lot of wealthy people with the resources to do the same thing if they choose.

Sitting with his feet propped up on his old, weathered wooden desk, Mr. Rosen, 75, fit, trim and not given to formalities (his shelter dogs are known to wander about the room), said the program was rooted in an element absent in many American neighborhoods.

A second-grade class at Tangelo Park Elementary School working with school-supplied laptops. Most of the students in the class have been in Mr. Rosen’s program since they were two years old.

 “Hope,” Mr. Rosen said.

Why devote countless hours to school if college, with its high cost, is out of reach?

 “If you don’t have any hope,” he added, “then what’s the point?”

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/26/us/tangelo-park-orlando-florida.html

* * *

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 & Psalm 130
King James and the I Promise School
“Hope”
LeBron James’ new public school in Akron, Ohio, I Promise School, opened two weeks ago.

The school was created for children at risk of falling behind and offers an infrastructure to improve education and home support. He calls it “the most important” project of his professional career.

The LeBron James Family Foundation I Promise School is based in Akron, Ohio, James’ hometown, and houses 240 students -- 120 third-graders and 120 fourth-graders. It was built in partnership with Akron Public Schools and is for children at risk of falling behind.

By 2022, the school will house nearly 1,000 kids in grades first through eighth.

“Besides having three kids and marrying my wife, putting my mom in a position where she never has to worry about anything ever again for the rest of her life, this is right up there,” James said in November of the school. “Championships, MVPs, I mean, points, rebounds and assists, that stuff is, whatever.”  

James battled poverty and homelessness growing up, at one point missing large chunks of school in fourth grade. He wanted to build a school for children like him growing up to not only provide better education but to provide better life infrastructure.

According to Cleveland.com’s Jennifer Conn, James’ school will look slightly different than other public schools. The hours will be from 9-5. The school year goes from July 30 to May to eliminate what experts call the “slide” that occurs during summer vacation. Through the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, the I Promise School will also help provide food for families who may not be able to provide proper nutrition. There are after-school programs to keep kids from getting into trouble when the school day ends.

https://www.businessinsider.com/lebron-james-school-akron-2018-7

* * *

John 6:35, 41-51
The (corn) Bread of Life
“Bread of Life”
Years ago I was leading a youth mission trip in Appalachia and was placed with another adult (female) and seven teenagers to work on several jobs at the home of a widow lady who lived on the side of a mountain.

The house was in danger of washing down the mountain with the next heavy rain so one task we were assigned was digging a French drain around the house to channel the rain water around and down the mountain, leaving the house safe and dry.

We also were tasked with building a wheelchair ramp to the porch.

One day as we were sitting on the porch, eating our lunch, I commented on the wonderful smells emanating from the within the house. Our host said, “Oh, that ain’t nothing but an old groundhog I’m roasting. Got my son and his family coming over for dinner tonight.”

She was also making cornpone, she said (what my family called cornbread). And some wild raspberries with sugar dumplings. Boiled carrots and potatoes, etc.

Having never even considered eating a groundhog I allowed as how it all smelled wonderful and would probably taste just as good.

“You’ve never eaten groundhog?” she said, amazed. “Well, just leave your sack lunches at home tomorrow cause I’m gonna fix you one for your lunch.”

The next day she was good at her word. Her son had pulled sawhorses and wood planks onto the big porch and covered them with bedsheets as tablecloths. I had already lectured the kids that they would not, out of courtesy, turn up their noses at anything and try a tiny bit of everything.

The groundhog was very good, roasted with carrots and onions and potatoes enough to remove most of what she called the “gamey” flavor. It tasted like nothing so much as a pork roast. The raspberries and dumplings looked awful but were so sweetly delicious I could have eaten the entire pan full of them. And the cornbread with cold butter? It was, well, it was the bread of life.

As we all ate and made yummy noises I watched her face light up with pride and joy and I knew that that cornbread was exactly that, the bread of life.

* * *

John 6:35, 41-51
Ecce Panis (Behold the Bread)
“Bread of Life”
According to the web site, Openculturde.com:

In 1930 a loaf of bread dating to AD 79 (the year Vesuvius claimed two prosperous Roman towns) was excavated from the site of a bakery in Herculaneum.

Eighty-three years later, the British Museum invited London chef Giorgio Locatelli, above, to take a stab at creating an edible facsimile for its Pompeii Live exhibition.

His recipe could be mistaken for modern sourdough, but he also has a go at several details that speak to bread’s role in ancient Roman life:

Its perimeter has a cord baked in to provide for easy transport home. Most Roman homes were without ovens. Those who didn’t buy direct from a bakery took their dough to community ovens, where it was baked for them overnight.

The loaf was scored into eight wedges. This is true of the 80 loaves found in the ovens of the unfortunate baker, Modestus. This was probably to facilitate selling the bread by the slice as we might sell pizza, today.

The crust bears a telltale stamp, one of which reads: ‘Property of Celer, Slave of Q. Granius Verus.’ suggesting the possibility that the bread was found in a communal oven.

http://www.openculture.com/2015/08/how-to-bake-ancient-roman-bread-dating-back-to-79-ad.html

* * *

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 & Psalm 130
The Gift of Hope
“Hope”
Millionaire Eugene Lang greatly changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in East Harlem. Mr. Lang had been asked to speak to a class of 59 sixth-graders in July of 1981. What could he say to inspire these students, most of whom would drop out of school? He wondered how he could get these predominantly black and Puerto Rican children to even look at him. Scrapping his notes, he decided to speak to them from his heart. “Stay in school,” he admonished, “and I’ll help pay the college tuition for every one of you.” At that moment the lives of these students changed. For the first time they had hope. Said one student, “I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling.” Nearly 90 percent of that class went on to graduate from high school.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/08/nyregion/eugene-lang-dead-harlem-college.html

* * * * * * * * *

From team member Ron Love:

“angel touched him”
Encouragement / Discipleship
Malcolm Butler was drafted in 2014 from the University of West Alabama by the New England Patriots as a defensive cornerback. Butler is responsible for one of the most famous plays in Super Bowl history. With twenty-seconds left in Super Bowl XLIX he intercepted a pass at the goal line, preventing a go-ahead touchdown by the Seattle Seahawks, and put the Patriots in position to win the game. Butler was also on the Patriots team that won Super Bowl LI against the Atlantic Falcons. This is why no one can understand why Butler was benched when the Patriots lost Super Bowl LII to the Philadelphia Eagles. Butler did not play on any defensive snaps in the game, and only came in for a single play on special teams. After the game Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said his lack of playing time was a “coach’s decision,” and not due to any disciplinary issues. When asked Butler would only say, “Coach’s decision.” On March 15, 2018, Butler signed a five-year, $61 million contract with the Tennessee Titans, with $30 million guaranteed. When reporters asked Butler about playing for his new team he replied, “I’m on fire I can tell you that. I’m a Tennessee Titan, and I’m just ready to ball for the Titans.”

* * *

“Would have I died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son?” / “bread of life”
Family / Community
Chipper Jones, on July 29, 2018, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, located in Cooperstown, New York. He played third base for his nineteen-year career with the Atlanta Braves that began in 1995. He was elected on his first year of eligibility. A crowd of 50,000 gathered for the ceremony. During the induction ceremony his wife Taylor watched, wiping tears from her eyes. She was also only a few hours away from giving birth to their child. In his acceptance speech Jones said, “She changed my life forever. It took me forty years and some major imperfections in me along the way to find my true profession. Now we’ve taken two families and blended them together. It has given me what I’ve been searching for my entire life -- true happiness.” They named their newly arrived son Cooper in honor of the special day on which he was born.

* * *

“get up and eat” / Discipleship
Jim Thome, on July 29, 2018, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, located in Cooperstown, New York. He played baseball for twenty-two season that began in 1991. During his induction ceremony, before a gathered crowd of 50,000, he had to wipe away tears after hearing his daughter Lila sing the national anthem. He played for six different teams, most notably the Cleveland Indians from 1991 to 2002. A powerful left-handed hitter, Thome hit 612 home runs during his career. In the history of baseball this placed him eighth on the list. In his speech he praised former Cleveland manager Charlie Manuel, who served as the Indians hitting coach when Thome began his career with the team. Thome said, “He told me I could hit as many home runs as I wanted to. I knew this was someone I could connect with.”

* * *

“Would have I died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son?” / “bread of life”
 Family / Community
Trevor Hoffman, on July 29, 2018, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, located in Cooperstown, New York. He played for eighteen years in the major leagues. It was a career that began in 1993. Hoffman had a slow start as a shortstop, but when he was switched to being a bullpen pitcher he became a star. Using an impressive changeup he recorded 601 saves during his career. He closed his speech, before a gathered crowd of 50,000 by thanking his wife for sharing with him “this amazing journey.” He also took time during his speech to thank his parents for his success saying, “Mom, dad, you’re the biggest reason I’m on this stage. In fact, you’re all my reasons. Not a day goes by that I’m not thankful for all both of you have done. I love you both beyond words.”

* * *

“Would have I died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son?” / “bread of life”
 Family / Community
“get up and eat” / Discipleship
Jack Morris, on July 29, 2018, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, located in Cooperstown, New York. He was an outstanding pitcher in a career that began in 1977 and ended in 1994. He played most of those years with the Detroit Tigers. His induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame came when he was 63-years-old. During his career he had 254 wins. His pitching success came with his fastball, forkball and slider. In his speech, before the assembled crowd of 50,000, he thanked the late Sparky Anderson who managed the Tigers to their 1984 World Series championship. Morris said, “I know Sparky Anderson is with us today. He taught me so many things. He taught me to fight through adversity.”

* * *

“Would have I died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son?”
“bread of life” / Family / Community
“get up and eat” / Discipleship
Alan Trammell, on July 29, 2018, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, located in Cooperstown, New York. He spent his entire twenty-year career, which began in 1977, with the Detroit Tigers. Trammell played shortstop, and along with first baseman Lou Whitaker, they had one of the greatest success stories in baseball history for double plays. In his speech, before an assembly of 50,000 spectators, and with Lou Whitaker in the crowd, Trammell said, “For nineteen years Lou Whitaker and I formed the longest running double play combination in the history of baseball.” Realizing Whitaker had not yet been elected to Cooperstown, Trammell went on to say, “Lou, it was an honor and a pleasure to have played alongside you all these years. I hope someday you’ll be up here, too.”

* * *

“putting away falsehood” / “do not complain” / “taught by God”
Hope / Sin / Stewardship / Teaching / Testimony
The newspaper comic strip Frank & Ernest is written by Bob Thaves. A comic, published on July 30, 2018, showed the motley character Ernie in a vest that is way too small for him. A caption to his right, written by Thaves in a box, read “Pitfalls of Modern Shopping.” On the left side of Ernie he wrote, “The excitement of tracking a purchase every step of the way to your front door only adds to the disappointment when you discover that you ordered the wrong size.”

* * *

“putting away false hood” / “no evil talk”
Justice / Testimony / Community / Sin
John William Lambert made a three wheeled car in Ohio City, Ohio in 1891. This car is generally considered the first gasoline powered American automobile made in the United States. John Lambert’s interest in automobiles began in 1875 when his father George Lambert, who was a farmer, took him to a tannery to see an Otto gas engine that ran without a boiler. Steam powered engines were very popular and well known in the late 1800’s and gasoline engines were only experimental. The gas engine lingered in John Lambert’s mind and he made many plans for a gas driven wagon. In 1891, at the age of only 30, John Lambert constructed a gasoline powered automobile. His tricycle had a single front wheel that was steered by a double foot tiller. In that year Lambert was involved in the first automobile accident in American history. The accident occurred in Ohio City. His vehicle, the first single-cylinder gasoline automobile, which was carrying Lambert and his friend James Swoveland, hit a tree root, causing the car to careen out of control and smash into a hitching post. Injuries from this accident were minor. Lambert proceeded to patent over six hundred inventions, mostly affiliated with the automobile industry. There is an urban legend that the first accident involved two automobiles that crashed at a rural country road interaction in Ohio City. State Farm insurance, in the early 1960s, used this myth to promote the sale of auto insurance.

* * *

“hear my voice” / “angel touched him” / “putting away falsehood”
Justice / Testimony / Sin
Howard Cosell was a sports journalist who was widely known for his blustery, cocksure personality. Cosell said of himself, “Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. There’s no question that I’m all of those things.” Yet, he was a man whose conscience would enlighten him. Cosell denounced professional boxing in a November 26, 1982 bout between Larry Holmes and a clearly outmatched Randall “Tex” Cobb at the Astrodome in Houston. The fight was held two weeks after the fatal fight between Ray Mancini and Duk Koo Kim. Immediately after the conclusion of the fifteen-round fight at Caesars Palace Kim collapsed in a coma. Four days later Kim died. The neurosurgeon said his death was the result of one punch. Remembering this, during the boxing match between Holmes and Cobb, Cosell made public his disillusionment with boxing when he said on the air, “I wonder if that referee understands that he is constructing an advertisement for the abolition of the very sport that he’s a part of?” Cosell, who was horrified over the brutality of the one-sided fight, said during his broadcast that if the referee did not stop the fight he would never announce a professional fight again. After that fight in the Astrodome Cosell never again was the broadcaster of a boxing match. After his denunciation of boxing, major boxing reforms were implemented, the most important of which allowed a referee to stop clearly one-sided fight early in order to protect the health of the fighter. Regarding boxing, Cosell said, “Boxing is drama on its grandest scale. No other athletic event is as electrifying as a championship fight. I continued to cover boxing perhaps longer than I should have because of my admiration for the fighters, their earthiness, and their honesty. Generally speaking, the ones who become champions spring from poverty; they work harder and sacrifice more than other athletes. Rarely do they make excuses. They have no teammates to lean on. They are out there all alone, exposed, vulnerable, valiantly summoning up reserves of courage in situations where a lot of other athletes would simply call it quits.” Speaking with Dave Kindred, of the Washington Post, a few days after the Holmes and Cobb fight, Cosell made known his reason he would no longer broadcast a boxing match, “I was simply following my conscience.”

* * *

“putting away falsehood” / “do not complain” / “taught by God”
Teaching / Testimony
Dennis and Peter Gaffney wrote a book titled The Seven-Day Scholar: The Presidents. The book was published in February 2012. The book is composed of 365 true stories from the lives of the Presidents of the United States. One story is to be read each day for inspiration and education. In deciding to write about the presidents the authors wrote this of their motivation, “We chose the Presidents because they are fascinating both as individuals and as a prism through which to glimpse our country’s history.”

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From team member Mary Austin:

John 6:35, 41-51
The Importance of Eating Together
Shared meals have healing powers, believes Cody Delistraty. He recalls the grief that came after his mother’s death, saying “After my mother passed away and my brother went to study in New Zealand, the first thing that really felt different was the dinner table. My father and I began eating separately. We went out to dinners with our friends, ate sandwiches in front of our computers, delivery pizzas while watching movies. Some days we rarely saw each other at all. Then, a few weeks before I was set to leave for university, my father walked downstairs. “You know, I think we should start eating together even if it’s just you and me,” he said. “Your mother would have wanted that.” It wasn’t ideal, of course -- the meals we made weren’t particularly amazing and we missed the presence of Mom and my brother -- but there was something special about setting aside time to be with my father. It was therapeutic: an excuse to talk, to reflect on the day, and on recent events. Our chats about the banal -- of baseball and television -- often led to discussions of the serious -- of politics and death, of memories and loss. Eating together was a small act, and it required very little of us -- 45 minutes away from our usual, quotidian distractions -- and yet it was invariably one of the happiest parts of my day.” Even a simple meal, with unremarkable food, added up to a moment of grace for him and his dad.

Sadly, he notes, most people don’t get this blessing. “Sadly, Americans rarely eat together anymore. In fact, the average American eats one in every five meals in her car, one in four Americans eats at least one fast food meal every single day, and the majority of American families report eating a single meal together less than five days a week. It’s a pity that so many Americans are missing out on what could be meaningful time with their loved ones, but it’s even more than that. Not eating together also has quantifiably negative effects both physically and psychologically.” Jesus has the right idea when he talks about the bread of life -- it’s the food, and the company, that matter so much. 

* * *

John 6:35, 41-51
Living Bread
Jesus proclaims that he is the bread that gives life -- the food that sustains in life-giving ways. The food of our ancestors is another form of life-giving food. In the American South, one form of this is Gullah/Geechee cuisine, which has “roots in West Africa and the Caribbean -- peanut stew, benne seed cookies, black-eyed peas fritters, and greens stewed with coconut milk.” The cuisine is a link back to enslaved ancestors, with a “heritage so rich and distinctive that they are recognized by the United Nations as a “nation within a nation.” The community -- and its food -- is closely tied to the agricultural and marine resources of the Lowcountry, their homeland, which stretches along the coast and sea islands between Jacksonville, North Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida. They are also a community on the front lines of climate change. Over the next 50 years, sea levels may rise so dramatically as to permanently alter the Gullah/Geechee relationship to their land -- and the growing, harvesting, and preparation of food.”

As water levels rise, “the Nation is bracing for climate change by building cultural resilience -- especially by preserving and adapting its food heritage. Food in Gullah/Geechee culture has always been about “surviving and doing things so there can be a next generation,” says Matthew Raiford, co-owner of Gilliard Farms in Brunswick, Georgia, which he and his sister Althea Raiford inherited from their great-great-great grandfather. In this way, adapting to climate change is consistent with Gullah culture. Family farms, many of which have been handed down through the generations, form the backbone of agriculture in the Nation. Gullah chef B.J. Dennis agrees. “Food in Gullah culture tells a story of people who held onto some of the ways and traditions of their West African and West Indian ancestors,” he says. Dennis is working to familiarize the public -- locally and nationally -- with these centuries-old food traditions. By preserving its food heritage, he hopes to assure the long-term survival of this essential aspect of Gullah/Geechee identity.”

Just as manna gave the people of Israel life in the wilderness, the traditional Gullah/Geechee foods have given life and identity to enslaved people and their descendants.

* * *

John 6:35, 41-51
Family Dinners
Leah Chesier also finds that many of her memories are rooted in family meals.  She observes, wisely, that “there’s a difference between eating food and sharing a meal.” She recalls, “Growing up, my family of four ate dinner together almost every night. While I don’t remember all of the conversations we had, I remember being with my family around our little table in the ‘breakfast room’ (who knows why we called it that -- we ate dinner in there more than breakfast, but I digress) and talking about our days. It wasn’t perfect; not every meal was home cooked (some of my favorite nights included KFC buckets -- it was a rare treat) and as young kids, my sister and I definitely had our share of arguments over someone kicking someone else under the table. No, it wasn’t perfect, but it was home.”

In saying that he is the bread of life, Jesus is calling all of us to that feeling of home. “When we share meals, we usually do so for the experience. We make eye contact, we share stories, we discuss ideas -- or sometimes, we just discuss how good the food is. Good food = good mood. That’s my motto. Meals were meant to be shared.” Our spiritual food is the same -- meant to be shared.

* * *

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Getting Grief Right
Like David, grief counselor Patrick O’Malley lost a son, and he says we’re wrong if we think we “get over” the experience of loss. He says that grief “may be less intense over time, but I tell folks all the time it may change -- you may have less intensity and less frequency. But, if you have just an absolute moment of despair and sadness 10 years from today, that doesn’t mean you didn’t grieve correctly…The language I use is that your loss is a part of your life story, and that story will be with you for your life. I often say this and it’s just amazing -- even this week it’s happened -- where I will say, ‘The intensity of your loss is directly connected to the amount of your love, and if you are able to see that, then the self-judgment falls away, the self-criticism dissipates.’ There’s an understanding that our basic design to be attached to those we love is what has happened here -- that attachment is now broken in this lifetime. And, when it’s restated -- which I believe strongly that it is -- as you know your every tear is about your love, then the shame can go away and we can be present to our story in whatever form that takes for however it shapes and forms over years to come.”

Working with grief starts with knowing that “you had a unique relationship with the one you lost. It can’t be anything else because it starts with your unique attachment to the one who died. And so, my encouragement is rather than trying to figure out if I’m getting it right or wrong, to really deepen into the story -- to see how it has been part of your life. And then [the depth of feeling that you have about the absence of that person] starts to make sense.”

Grief is part of our unique story, growing out of our singular attachments to people. 

* * *

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Angel Food Cake
In Betty Peck’s kindergarten class, one of the students was very ill and was hospitalized. Each day the other kindergarten children would gather together and draw a card to send her. One day, the little girl passed away. When Betty told the other children of the news she asked them “My dears, what should we do to celebrate the life of this little angel who has been in our midst?” They became very quiet and then responded, “Why, we should have an angel food cake and remember all the wonderful things about her.” So that is what they did -- they ate an angel food cake, Betty creating the world’s easiest lemon curd to go along with it.”

Grief requires rituals for mourning, and people to share the sorrow along with us.

* * * * * * * * *

From team member Tom Willadsen:Psalm 34:9-19
The concept that wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord is echoed in the reading from Proverbs. Young ones, listen to this wise instruction, do you want to live a long time? Do you want a good life? The psalmist gives a road map to the good life.

It’s simple, deceptively simple.
   Depart from evil and do good;
      seek peace and pursue it.

First of all, “good” in the first half of verse 14 is used as a noun, do not complain about the grammar here. Also notice that the metaphor for the good life is one of travel, transportation. Depart, seek, pursue are all verbs of movement. And peace is not something that one finds; one must go looking for it.

How many of us have imagined that peace will find us when we have finally crossed everything off our to-do lists? The psalm does not say that. The psalm tells us to go after peace, look for it, hunt for it.

This advice is reminiscent of a Chinese proverb: “A man can stand for a long time with his mouth open before a roast chicken flies in.” I’m confident of the truth of this maxim; I’m 54 and not once has a roast chicken flown into my mouth. Maybe I should shut my mouth, listen to the instruction of those wiser than I, and pursue peace.


WORSHIP
by George Reed

Call to Worship: (based on Psalm 130)
Leader: Out of the depths we cry to you, O God.
People: Let your ears be attentive to the voice of our supplications!
Leader: If you, O God, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
People: But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.
Leader: O people, hope in God! For with God there is steadfast love.
People: With God there is great power to redeem.

OR

Leader: God sees our sadness and despair.
People: We bring our broken hearts to God.
Leader: God comes and walks with us in our darkness.
People: We reach for God’s hand in our lostness.
Leader: God guides us towards the light and to hope.
People: With God’s help we will hope again.

Hymns and Songs:
Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven
UMH: 66
H82: 410
PH: 478
CH: 23
LBW: 549
ELA: 864/865
W&P: 82
AMEC: 70
Renew: 53 

The King of Love My Shepherd Is
UMH: 138
H82: 645/646
PH: 171
NCH: 248
LBW: 456
ELA: 502
Renew: 106

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
UMH: 384
H82: 657
PH: 376
AAHH: 440
NNBH: 65
NCH: 43
CH: 517
LBW: 315
ELA: 631
W&P: 358
AMEC: 458
Renew: 196

Hope of the World
UMH: 178
H82: 472
PH: 360
NCH: 46
CH: 538
LBW: 493
W&P: 404

Hymn of Promise
UMH: 707
NCH: 433
CH: 638
W&P: 515

If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee
UMH: 142
H82: 635
PH: 282
NCH: 410
LBW: 453
ELA: 769
W&P: 429

Let Us Break Bread Together
UMH: 618
H82: 325
PH: 513
AAHH: 686
NNBH: 358
NCH: 330
CH: 425
LBW: 212
ELA: 471
W&P: 699
AMEC: 530
STLT: 406
CCB: 46

Fill My Cup, Lord
UMH: 641
PH: 350
AAHH: 447
NNBH: 377
CH: 351
CCB: 47

Shine, Jesus, Shine
CCB: 81
Renew: 247

God Is So Good
CCB: 75

Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship

Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who is the hope of all who despair:
Grant us the courage to trust in you
so that we may find hope even in the darkest of times;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

OR

We praise you, O God, because you are hope. You are life and light in the midst of darkness and death. Help us to trust in you when life is bleak so that we may find hope that brings life abundantly into our existence. Amen.

Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially when we fall into despair forgetting that God is our everlasting hope.

People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have allowed the conditions of our lives to rob us of our joy. We have forgotten the power of love that you bring into our lives. We act as if the powers of this world have the last say. In our focusing on ourselves and our condition we have forgotten that you are the very foundation of our lives. Restore our sight so that we might see you at work in our lives. Lift us once more to that hope that is based on you. Amen.

Leader: God is our hope and our salvation. Trust in God and share God’s hope with others.

Prayers of the People
We Worship and adore you, O God, because you are the beginning and the end of all creation. We and all creation are immersed in your love.

(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 the conditions of our lives to rob us of our joy. We have forgotten the power of love that you bring into our lives. We act as if the powers of this world have the last say. In our focusing on ourselves and our condition we have forgotten that you are the very foundation of our lives. Restore our sight so that we might see you at work in our lives. Lift us once more to that hope that is based on you.

We thank you for your love that always surrounds us. We thank you for those who know your steadfast love and share hope and love with us.

(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)

We pray for one another this day. We pray for those who find life so difficult they don’t believe in hope any longer. We pray for all who work to restore lives and hopes around the world.

(Other intercessions may be offered.)

All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:

Our Father....Amen.

(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service)

All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.

Children’s Sermon Starter
Share some bread with the children. Talk about how good it tastes and how many ways we can fix it. Just plain, pb&j, grilled cheese, etc. It was so important to people in Jesus’ day that it was a symbol of life. Jesus and his teachings are so important we call him the Bread of Life. When we share with others, whether it is bread or anything else, we are sharing Jesus and the Bread of Life.


CHILDREN’S SERMON
Belonging
by Tom Willadsen
Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Ephesians 4:25-5:2 talks about how churches, groups of Christians, are supposed to be together. You may want to review that “the church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is the people” song (from “I am the Church,” by Richard Avery and Donald Marsh, 1972).

Ask something like: “what does it mean to belong? When Christian churches were just getting started, some of them had a problem. Some members of the church were thieves -- their job was to take things that did not belong to them. Maybe that happens in your family too. My brother got really angry at me once when I took his baseball glove instead of using my own. His glove was better than mine; I wanted to play well, so my team would win. But he pointed out that it was his glove -- it didn’t belong to me!

When Mom found out, I had to sit in the chair; that’s what we called “Time Out” when I was growing up. Mom said, “Thomas, you belong in the chair.”

At my house I can never find the scissors. There are four of us, and each of us has projects that we need the scissors for. The scissors belong in a specific drawer, even in a certain place in the drawer. If whoever used them last doesn’t put them back where they belong the person who wants to use them next cannot find them.

Belonging, when we talk about things, means being in the right place; belonging means something a little different when we talk about people.

Do you belong to any clubs? Maybe some of you belong to the choir, or the Cub scouts or Brownies. Maybe you belong to a club at school. Do you ever think of the church as a club? What does it mean to belong to the church? I’ll bet most of you were baptized at church -- maybe even this church. That’s the way people join the church; that’s the way the church knows who belongs here.

But here’s the part I want you to remember today. Look around at all the people in church today. And people out there in the sanctuary, look at us up front. We belong together. This is the right place to be. Belonging is the right relationship for members of the church. But the Bible says something even better. The Bible says that we belong to each other. We belong together. See the people you see every week at church? You belong to them and they belong to you.

And part of belonging together is to take care of each other, not just by putting the scissors back so the next person can find them, but take care of them. And know that there will come times when you or someone in your family will need to be taken care of. And all of the people together, all of us, members of each other, belong to each other!   

Let’s say a prayer:
Living God, we thank you for providing everything we need to live. We thank you for food, and sunshine and places where we feel safe. We thank you for the families we belong to. And we thank you for all the people who belong to us, because we belong together. Amen.


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The Immediate Word, August 12, 2018, issue.

Copyright 2018 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.