That They All May Be One
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For June 1, 2025:
That They All May Be One
by Tom Willadsen
John 17:20-26; Psalm 97; Acts 16:16-34; Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
During Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples, he expresses the desire that all people may be one in him, as he is one with God the creator, and his disciples are one in him and each other.
What, exactly, does unity in Christ look like? In Vacation Bible School more than fifty years ago we sang, “We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.” Were we? After that week in the summer the church that hosted VBS and mine didn’t cross paths again. In Peoria, Illinois, barriers of class, race, and geography kept us from being “one in the Spirit.”
Thirty years later I was confronted by a member of a different church in the city where I was serving, following a funeral at which I had presided. This individual said it was a “scandal to the gospel” that Christians are not united! Jesus prays that we be one in him! This man opined that there should only be one Christian church in town. At that point there were around seventy churches listed in the Yellow Pages — a metric from a different era.
Oh, and he knew which church everyone should go to — his.
In the Bible
Psalm 97
This is an enthronement psalm, a psalm that begins “The Lord is king!” The Lord’s sovereignty and superiority to other nations’ gods are proclaimed by the worshipers. As is the Lord’s command of nature, the mountains, even the heavens above. At the end of the psalm, vv. 10-12, the righteousness of the Lord is imparted to those in the temple, singing praise to God. If you’re also preaching the Acts passage, this is a good echo of the Lord’s supremacy.
John 17:20-26
Today’s gospel reading is the end of Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples. This is the third week in a row that the gospel lection has come from this lengthy speech. I find the farewell discourse convoluted and difficult to follow. Jesus says the same thing with subtle shades of slightly different emphasis repeatedly. If the disciples had celebrated the Passover seder as modern Jews do, they would have had four cups of wine prior to Jesus’ meandering final instructions. We really could do with more interruptions likes Thomas’s in 14:5, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going, how can we know the way?” Today’s reading could be used to argue against the Trinity, specifically the idea that all three “persons” in the Trinity are equal. Jesus states pretty clearly that he is subordinate to God the creator. You take that whole concept on in two weeks on Trinity Sunday.
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
Don’t forget that Revelation is a word of hope and encouragement to followers of Christ who are persecuted and misunderstood. This is the conclusion of the last book of the Bible. It ends as New Testament epistles typically end. How might these words sound to affluent congregations that have never known hunger, let alone persecution for persevering in faith? It’s almost as if we’re reading someone else’s mail.
Acts 16:16-34
Paul and Silas disrupt a pretty sweet gig for the owners of the slave-girl with the gift of divination. They get thrown into prison on trumped up charges. Their conspicuous faith and their concern for their jailers’ welfare leads to a repeat of last week’s lesson with Lydia: another entire household is baptized. There’s no word on what became of the slave-girl.
In the News
Christian Nationalism is on the rise. There is a well-coordinated, well-funded effort to have Christianity named the official, national religion. You hear this when Speaker of the House Mike Johnson says that the words “separation of church and state” do not appear in the Constitution. There are certainly passages in the Bible that can be used to support the effort to make Christianity universal. For example, Philippians 2:10-11 (NRSV)
...so that at the name given to Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
There is, however, a counter narrative. From our nation’s pre-history, before independence from Great Britain, when Roger Williams was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636, for example. Williams disagreed with John Winthrop, who had led a band a Puritans to the colony in 1630, because Williams believed it was impossible to worship God perfectly, and the government should not have a role in enforcing orthodoxy or orthopraxis.
He (Williams) therefore concluded that government must remove itself from anything that touched upon human beings’ relationship with God. A society built on the principles Massachusetts espoused would lead at best to hypocrisy, because forced worship, he wrote, “stinks in God’s nostrils.” At worst, such a society would lead to a foul corruption — not of the state, which was already corrupt, but of the church. (God, Government and Roger Williams’ Big Idea, Smithsonian, January 2012, p. 74)
A recent effort in Oklahoma for the state to fund St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School in Oklahoma City, a charter school whose stated purpose is to "fully embraces the teachings" of the Catholic Church and participate "in the evangelizing mission of the church," was ruled unconstitutional by the narrowest of margins. Originally, the Oklahoma Supreme Court had determined that funding the school would violate the state’s constitution. That decision was appealed to the Supreme Court. A 4-4 decision, Amy Coney Barrett, recused herself, meant that the Oklahoma decision would remain in effect.
Thomas Jefferson, primary author of the Declaration of Independence, said this about the relation between religion and government “No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever.” And “All persons shall have full and free liberty of religious opinion; nor shall any be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious institution.”
In the Sermon
It seems that Christian Nationalists see Christ’s call to being “one” as a call to uniformity, unanimity on a particular kind of Christianity — theirs. But what if unity in Christ is really an aspirational statement for people of all kinds to flourish, following their own, personal senses of call and identity? Wouldn’t that leave room for variety?
More than fifteen years ago I visited the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. I was quite surprised to find a modern, well-designed facility devoted to the idea that the biblical account of Creation found in Genesis should be read as actual, factual history. These people genuinely believed that the world is only around 6,000 years old. The Bible tells them so.
Frankly, I had expected a ramshackle, roadside attraction, along the lines of the Branch Davidians’ compound with a parking lot. I was surprised.
I paid an additional $2.50 so I could attend the “Snakes Alive” presentation. The program included many reptiles, their variety and stunning markings were all demonstrations of the wisdom of the creator. “Turtles prove that God has a sense of humor,” the handler pointed out.
He said “Did you ever think of God as an artist? God could have made only one kind of snake, or tree, or flower. The variety of all forms of life shows the wisdom, creativity, and love of God our Father.”
While there were some conspicuous points of theology made, like, “Natural selection is not evolution — animals can lose traits, but not gain them, so apes can never become human beings.” And “After sin entered the world some animals started eating other animals.” And “What was the snake’s punishment? They had to crawl on their bellies, so maybe prior to the fall serpents had legs and lost them as a consequence of sin.” For the most part the presenter conveyed his wonder and appreciation of creation and the Creator. He concluded the presentation this way: “When you see a sunset or a rainbow, let that remind you of God.”
If people who read the Bible literally can help people appreciate and wonder at creation and the Creator, could it be possible that Christians like them and Christians like me — who take the Bible too seriously to take it literally — could truly be one? Is anything too wonderful for God?
SECOND THOUGHTS
What Are We Witnessing?
by Chris Keating
Luke 24:44-53
Ascension Day is notoriously overlooked by Protestants, primarily because few congregations can muster a crowd on Thursdays. It’s a problem compounded by the Ascension texts themselves. The scriptures aren’t easily understood. The story of Jesus’ departure is flummoxing to modern ears, creating confusion and uncertainty. We may indeed feel a bit like the Apostles in Acts 1:11 who stand with their heads turned toward the sky, unsure of what should happen next.
Yet the Ascension is not a mystery story to be solved. It is, instead, a call for the church to persist in joyous faithfulness. It is a call that shifts our eyes from staring off into space back to the world we are called to testify to what we have heard and seen in Christ. Ascension reminds us of our union with Christ in heaven. The Ascension, says the normally taciturn John Calvin, reminds us “that in a sense we already ‘sit with God in the heavenly places in him’ so that we do not await heaven with a bare hope, but in our head already possess it.” (Calvin, The Institutes of Christian Religion, Volume 2, chapter 16, section 16.)
We are witnesses, says Luke, sent into the world energetically praising and blessing God. But if we are witnesses, to what or to whom are we testifying? Perhaps even more difficult is wondering if everyday believers feel empowered to be a witness.
Testimony by witnesses is vital to deciding cases in court. It’s importance is enshrined in our legal system through the solemn affirmation that their words represent the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. During the first two weeks of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal sex-trafficking and racketeering trial, the government has called more than a dozen witnesses. Prosecutors have hoped to tell a story about a man accused of violent sex abuse while operating a criminal enterprise.
Musicians, hotel employees, law enforcement officers, and male escorts have all been called to offer their testimony. Singer Cassie Ventura has stood out as a star witness as she recounted the abuse she endured for ten years while she was in a relationship with Combs. Strikingly, Combs’ defense attorneys have not disputed a word of Ventura’s testimony.
NPR reporter Isabella Gomez Sarmiento reported that Combs’ attorneys admit he was violent, but that Ventura was a consensual partner in what they described as “unconventional sex.” Prosecutors have countered that Ventura participated only because she was afraid. Their claims are supported by graphic details provided by male escorts who testified that Combs was always in charge of the encounters.
Normally, such testimony would be considered damning. But in a world where “alternative facts” are promoted regularly from government officials, it is no longer clear what sort of impact witnesses hold on a jury. One wonders if sworn testimony has lost its edge.
Even the most egregious acts by public officials are considered entertaining and therefore acceptable. President Donald Trump’s lecturing of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa over allegations of genocide against white South Africans was praised by conservative media as a sign of Trump’s outrage over violent crime. One analyst called it a “strong positive to emerge from the Oval office.”
Trump’s claims, however, emerged from misleading or false reports. While South Africa does have one of the highest murder rates in the world, a South African judge has concluded that claims of genocide are “clearly imagined,” and “not real.” The same BBC report noted that so far in 2025, only three white farmers have been killed in South Africa.
We know the toll these falsehoods are exacting from our country, our churches, and our dedication to Christ. A month ago, Moira Donegan, the US correspondent for the British Guardian newspaper noted that under President Trump, “the vestiges of the US’s democracy are crumbling to the ground. We don’t know yet what will be erected in its place.”
When falsehoods are promoted as truth, the tendency becomes to distrust any form of testimony. Studies show that conspiracy theories and lies leads to distrust of institutions. Other studies suggest that the acceptance of conspiracy theories and misinformation inevitably erodes the public’s trust. Faced with purplish or even red-leaning congregations, bearing witness against falsehoods promoted by the president becomes difficult.
There’s the dilemma for the church and for Christians. The apostles were sent from the scene of Jesus’ ascension back to a world waiting for their joyful proclamation. Too often, however, we are stuck on that hill, with our eyes focused on the empty place where Christ had stood. We forget, as the Presbyterian Church (USA) constitution reminds us, “The church is called to be a community of faith, entrusting itself to God alone, even at the risk of its life.”
Luke’s account of the Ascension deserves to be preached. It is a reminder that the Gospel does not end but continues in the witness of the apostles’ lives and actions. Luke’s conclusion of the gospel reinforces this by reminding readers that after watching Jesus’ ascension, the apostles return to Jerusalem “with great joy, and they were continually in the temple blessing God.”
In high school, a friend took me to a Christian concert sponsored by a parachurch youth ministry. After blaring out a playlist that seemed to alternate between overly saccharine ballads and something that could only be described as baptized acid rock, the singer plunged into his awkward yet obligatory testimony. He concluded, of course, with the even more obligatory call to accept Jesus Christ. But he also reminded those of us who were already Christian of our mandate to be witnesses. “Who are you going to save this week?”
His point: the only good witness is a busy witness. It was a point reinforced over the years through retreats and Bible studies by energetic conference speakers. Keeping track of how many people you had personally saved through your witness was paramount. At the time, I did not have the theological wisdom required to dispute this. The idea that I should be “saving others” was folded into my normal adolescent worries and insecurities. I was confused. But how effective could this acne-prone, hormone driven gangly teenage boy with big feet really be? It is the same-flawed logic that leads this 63-year-old grandfatherly preacher to worry over Sunday morning attendance.
Years after the concert, I heard the late-great Presbyterian theologian Edward A. Dowey, Jr. suggest that the proper way of answering the question “When were you saved?” is to say, “Two thousand years ago on a hill outside of Jerusalem.” Decades before, Dowey had served as the chair of the committee that drafted the well-known PCUSA “Confession of 1967.” In part, the confession reminds us that church members are collectively called “to fight against pretensions and injustices when these same powers endanger human welfare. Their strength is in their confidence that God’s purpose rather than human schemes will finally prevail.”
Can I get a witness?
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
Unity
Whether we call the subject unity or corporateness or whatever, there are more than a few examples and sweet stories to be found, many of which may have been overused. The children’s book about “Swimmy” comes to mind. Here are a couple of “adult” stories that may or may not feel appropriate depending on your congregational context.
The Phalanx (Unity)
In what may be the most famous action scene in the movie Gladiator, the protagonist, Maximus, and about two dozen other gladiators are at the center of the arena awaiting their adversaries when the announcer proclaims that the audience is about to witness a reenactment of the Roman victory over the army of Carthage. The audience cheers and great roaring proceeds from behind huge doors at the edges of the arena.
Maximus asks how many of the gladiators have served in the army and when he hears that most have, one with him in Spain, he says, “Then you know that whatever comes out of those doors, we have a better chance of surviving if we work together. Together, we survive.”
The giant doors burst open and war chariots, virtual killing machines, emerge and charge toward the gladiators. With a command from Maximus, the fighters fall back and form a phalanx, shoulder to shoulder, locking their shields together, the front row on one knee, another row standing behind them.
As the chariots charge toward them Maximus shouts over and over, “Together! As one! Together! Hold, as one!” They do, and at the end of the battle, the chariots have been overturned, and gladiators have won the day.
* * *
The Phalanx 2.0 (Unity)
In 61 CE the occupying Roman army welched on an agreement that had been made with the Prasutagus, the king of the Iceni, in what is now the Norfolk area of England. The agreement had been that upon Prasutagus’s death, his land would go to his daughters but when his wife Boudica and daughters arrived to receive the deeds to the land, she was flogged, her daughters raped, and they were thrown from the Roman camp and their land seized.
Boudica, now the queen of the Iceni, raised an army of over 230,000 warriors to exact revenge and re-take the tribal land. They were successful in three battles on their way to what is modern day London. There, on a road called Watling Street, the Iceni army, now estimated at 300,000 strong, was met by three Roman Legions, about 10,000 soldiers, under the leadership of Gaius Suetonius Paulinus.
The ratio was approximately thirty Iceni warriors for every Roman soldier. However, these Roman soldiers were battle-hardened veterans who had participated in numerous conflicts, possessing extensive training, superior weaponry, and strict discipline. Paulinus strategically positioned his legions in a shallow valley, with a forest at their rear to prevent any flanking maneuvers. He then awaited the arrival of the Iceni forces.
When Boudica’s army arrived, the Romans formed into three long defensive phalanxes, shields locked together, spears protruding from between them. Behind the rows were offensive triangular wedges of soldiers, their perimeters protected by similar phalanxes.
Having no experience at war, no military discipline, and no battle plan, the Iceni depended solely on their overwhelming numbers to win the day as they had in the previous three battles, but it did not work this time. In wave after wave, they threw themselves at the Roman phalanxes to no avail and, when they were exhausted by their efforts, the Roman lines opened and the wedge formations moved into the battle. When the Iceni tried to retreat, their flight was blocked by their own supply wagons that had filled the road behind them.
Historians estimate that, at the end of the day, the Iceni suffered between 80,000 to 100,000 casualties. The Romans, 400.
* * *
Unity Through The Arts
• Theater – When the teacher who led the theater program at my kids’ high school fell ill and was unable to continue, I was approached by the principal, who knew about my college and background in theater, about directing the spring play. This, he assured me, was a “temporary” solution, just until they could find a replacement for the teacher who, it turned out, would not be coming back. I ended up leading the program for eight years.
Much to my delight, the students, at the encouragement of my own son and daughter, flocked to the program and it became the safe sanctuary for anyone in the school who thought they didn’t “fit in” in other groups. The nerds, the geeks, the LGBTQ kids, the shy kids. Everyone, we made it clear, was welcome in the theater program. Popular, unpopular, jocks, musicians, dancers, speakers, everyone. Come to the theater program, we told them, and we’ll find a place for you.
And their parents followed them into the program as well, sewing costumes, building sets, running the lights and sound board, playing in the orchestra, meeting and making friends with other parents that they admitted they might never have otherwise met. The theater program was its own culture of inclusion and acceptance.
• Art has long been a medium for expression and connection, transcending language and cultural barriers. In South Africa, a project called “Ubuntu Mzansi” has brought together artists from diverse backgrounds to create public murals that celebrate unity and resilience. These murals not only beautify urban spaces but also serve as a visual reminder of the country’s journey toward reconciliation. The artists’ collective work has fostered dialogue, inspired local pride, and demonstrated how creativity can help heal historical wounds.
• Music – In 1999, Barenboim and Said, who had become friends in the early 1990s, founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (WEDO) in order to foment a feeling of sympathy and co-existence, chiefly between Arabs and Israelis, through Middle Eastern musical ensembles. Shortly after it was founded, the first workshop was opened in Weimar, Germany, after the organization had received over 200 applications from Arab music students.
In 2016, Ban Ki-moon, the erstwhile United Nations Secretary-General, designated the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra as a United Nations Global Advocate for Cultural Understanding, praising the organization's push for peace and unity, particularly between Israelis and Palestinians.
* * * * * *
From team member Mary Austin:
Acts 16:16-34
Your Inner Wyoming
Freedom is the thread that runs through this pair of stories from Acts. Paul and Silas give the enslaved girl her freedom and lose their own. The earthquake sets them free again from the prison, and yet they choose to stay behind so the jailer isn’t punished. In turn, the jailer chooses an inner freedom that he didn’t know before.
Sharon Salzberg tells a story about traveling with her colleague Joseph Goldstein and going to a restaurant to order food. “As we were waiting for the food to be prepared, Joseph struck up a conversation with the young man working behind the counter. After a few minutes, he told Joseph that he’d never left Houston and went on to describe, somewhat passionately, how his dream was to one day go to Wyoming.
When Joseph asked him what he thought he would find there, he responded, “Open, expansive space, a feeling of being unconfined, with peacefulness and freedom and room to move.” Joseph responded, “There’s an inner Wyoming, too, you know.” At that point, the young man fixed a stare at Joseph and said, “That’s freaky,” as he sidled away.” Salzberg adds that we can all find what Paul and Silas found: that place of inner freedom. “But there is an inner Wyoming, a potential for openness, spaciousness, clarity, and freedom that exists within each of us. We just need confidence in it, to make the journey to that place, to discover it, nurture it, and hold the memory that it’s there, waiting for us to visit anytime." (from Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom)
* * *
John 17:20-26
That They All May be One
Jesus prays that all the believers may be one, which happens in ways we don’t expect. Kate Cohen grew up Jewish and she writes, “My father tells the story of an emissary from a church down the road visiting my parents right after they moved to Broadway, Virginia. The lady said she wanted to welcome them to town and invite them to join the church. My parents replied that, er, actually, they planned to attend the synagogue in Harrisonburg. “That’s just fine,” she responded. “Just making sure you had a place to go.” “A place to go.” That’s why people continue to go to houses of worship…It’s the house part they want. The sense of belonging and welcome and family.” (from We of Little Faith)
Cohen herself is no longer a believer, and yet she feels the pull of community, where people can join together.
* * *
John 17:20-26
Unity
Jesus longs for us to have more unity than we ever manage, partly because we get in our own way. Scott Shigeoka set out to find common ground all over America, having conversations and visiting places where he knew people wouldn’t agree with him. He writes in Seek, “I didn’t think a lunch with a colleague would alter my life.” His coworker, Matt, told Scott that he was an observant Presbyterian and he never talked about his faith at work because he feared being judged. “He thought his Christian beliefs might prevent him from getting a promotion and a salary bump, which he needed to confidently start a family with his wife.” He didn’t feel comfortable revealing that important part of his life.
Shigeoka continues, “Although we couldn’t have seemed more different, this straight white Christian man’s words resonated with me. In a sense, he was in the closet just as I had once been. I was shocked by his revelation. I couldn’t imagine how someone who identified in the majority of so many identities — such as belonging to our country’s most popular religion — could feel this way about sharing his faith at the office. Yet when I started to open my eyes around the workplace, I began to see how Christianity was the butt of jokes and categorically dismissed as “toxic.” I found this ironic, because our human resources department had recently talked about advances the company had made to welcome all people — focusing especially on identities like gender and race.” As a gay man, Shigeoka felt attacked by Christians. “I talked about the way LGBTQ+ people were being demonized by church leaders. I shared my own stories of trying to navigate certain Christian spaces as a queer person, and stories I’d heard about people who were forced into conversion therapy, which has been largely driven by churchgoers. “Now you might get why I’m so against religion, because of what it’s doing to my community,” I said, finishing my monologue. “And maybe that’s what other people have experienced too.” “But we’re not all the same,” he finally said. “No two Christians are the same.”"
After this conversation, Shigeoka finally visited his friend's church — and found a pride flag on the wall. (from Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World)
We have more opportunities to move closer to Jesus’ vision than we realize.
* * * * * *
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship
One: The LORD reigns! Let the earth rejoice!
All: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne.
One: The heavens proclaim God’s righteousness.
All: And all the people behold God’s glory.
One: For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth.
All: You, O God, are exalted far above all gods.
OR
One: God call us together to hear the good news!
All: We long for good news in these times of stress.
One: God calls us to know love and to share it with others.
All: We long to be loved and for our divisions to be healed.
One: The good news is for you and for all.
All: As we receive God’s love we will share it with others.
Hymns and Songs
O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
UMH: 57/58/59
H82: 493
PH: 466
GTG: 610
AAHH: 184
NNBH: 23
NCH: 42
CH: 5
LBW: 559
ELW: 886
W&P: 96
AMEC: 1/2
Renew: 32
All Creatures of Our God and King
UMH: 62
H82: 400
PH: 455
GTG: 15
AAHH: 147
NNBH: 33
NCH: 17
CH: 22
LBW: 527
ELW: 835
W&P: 23
AMEC: 50
STLT: 203
Renew: 47
When in Our Music God Is Glorified
UMH: 68
H82: 420
PH: 264
GTG: 641
AAHH: 112
NCH: 561
CH: 7
LBW: 555
ELW: 850/851
W&P: 7
STLT: 36
Renew: 62
Amazing Grace
UMH: 378
H82: 671
PH: 280
GTG: 649
AAHH: 271/272
NNBH: 161/163
NCH: 547/548
CH: 546
LBW: 448
ELW: 779
W&P: 422
AMEC: 226
STLT: 205/206
Renew: 189
’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
UMH: 462
AAHH: 368
NNBH: 292
AMEC: 440
Wonderful Words of Life
UMH: 600
AAHH: 332
NNBH: 293
NCH: 319
CH: 323
W&P: 668
AMEC: 207
Jesus Is All the World to Me
UMH: 469
AAHH: 382
NNBH: 283
AMEC: 349
Here I Am, Lord
UMH: 593
PH: 525
GTG: 69
AAHH: 567
CH: 452
ELW: 574
W&P: 559
Renew: 149
Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation
UMH: 559
H82: 518
PH: 416/417
GTG: 394
NCH: 400
CH: 275
LBW: 367
ELW: 645
AMEC: 518
Lord, You Give the Great Commission
UMH: 584
H82: 528
PH: 429
GTG: 298
CH: 459
ELW: 579
W&P: 592
Renew: 305
We Are One in Christ Jesus
CCB: 43
People Need the Lord
CCB: 52
Music Resources Key
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
GTG: Glory to God, The 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
ELW: 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 created us as one family
Grant us the grace to care for one another
and to share the good news of your love in Christ Jesus;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you have created all people to be one family. Help us to care for each other in our need and to share with all the good news of your love for us in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our divisions and failure to share the Gospel.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have divided your people and placed barriers between us. We have despoiled your image of unity and family. Where you created multiplicity and called it good we have tried to make everyone like us. We have not even shared your good news with others. We have kept quiet when you invited us to share throughout all the world. Forgive our shameful behavior and our failures. Renew us in your Spirit and make us one as we proclaim to all the good news. Amen.
One: God is gracious and forgiving to all. Receive God’s grace and embrace one another as you share the news of Jesus.
Prayers of the People
We worship and adore you, O God, because you are the one who brings good news of life to all creation. You gather us as your children into your arms of compassion.
(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 divided your people and placed barriers between us. We have despoiled your image of unity and family. Where you created multiplicity and called it good we have tried to make everyone like us. We have not even shared your good news with others. We have kept quiet when you invited us to share your Word throughout all the world. Forgive our shameful behavior and our failures. Renew us in your Spirit and make us one as we proclaim to all the good news.
We give you thanks for those who have shared the good news of Jesus with others throughout the ages so that, at last, we have also heard of your great love for us all. We are blessed that folks have told the story over and over until it finally took root and grew in our hearts. We thank you for the unity of the Spirit which makes us all one in Christ Jesus.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another because we are all one family united in you. We pray for the divisions we have allowed to grow between us that these rifts might be healed. We lift up those who have felt pushed out and abandoned. We pray for those who have been unable to hear your good news of love because we have not spoken it or when our actions nullified our words.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
Hear us as we pray for others: (Time for silent or spoken prayer.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray 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
When Will Jesus Return?
by Katy Stenta
Acts 1:1-11
If you chose you can have a Jesus figure, some disciples and a paper cloud/cotton balls for a cloud, and angel figures.
(Jesus teaching the disciples.)
This is a Sunday where the disciples have a lot of questions
They want to know how the kingdom is coming—
how everything will be restored?
How it is all going to work out and happen?
You know Jesus doesn’t usually answer questions in a straightforward way.
Instead he comforts the disciples by saying:
“I will send you the Holy Spirit.”
When the disciples ask when everything will change, and when he will return, and all the promises will be fulfilled, Jesus says:
“No one knows.”
This is an important thing to remember, because there are a lot of people who claim to know when God is bringing Jesus back, or when the kingdom is coming, but Jesus said only God knows.
(Have the cloud ready to hide Jesus.)
After Jesus explains all of this, a cloud comes and hides Jesus and he is gone.
Then the disciples looked for Jesus, but could not find him.
(Have the angels come to talk to the disciples.)
Until an angel came and said, “Why are you looking for Jesus? He is in heaven. He will return, but it is not time to look for Jesus.”
Why do you think the angels said to stop looking at the sky for Jesus?
What do you think the disciples are going to do now?
(Follow Jesus’s teachings, work on building community, love, try not to worry about the kingdom or Jesus’s return, tell stories about Jesus.)
Let’s Pray:
Jesus,
Remind us
to focus
on telling your
good news,
especially when
we are worried
about timings
and all the things
that need to get done.
Remind us
of your story
whenever we need it. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, June 1, 2025 issue.
Copyright 2025 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.
- That They All May Be One by Tom Willadsen based on Acts 16:16-34, Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21; John 17:20-26, Psalm 97.
- Second Thoughts: What Are We Witnessing? by Chris Keating. While overlooked by many Protestants, Ascension Day reminds the church of its hopeful proclamation of God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ. Neither a mystery to be solved, or an event to be explained, it becomes the hope to which the church presses.
- Sermon illustrations by Mary Austin, Dean Feldmeyer.
- Worship resources by George Reed.
- Children’s Sermon: When Will Jesus Return by Katy Stenta based on Acts 1:1-11.
That They All May Be Oneby Tom Willadsen
John 17:20-26; Psalm 97; Acts 16:16-34; Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
During Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples, he expresses the desire that all people may be one in him, as he is one with God the creator, and his disciples are one in him and each other.
What, exactly, does unity in Christ look like? In Vacation Bible School more than fifty years ago we sang, “We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.” Were we? After that week in the summer the church that hosted VBS and mine didn’t cross paths again. In Peoria, Illinois, barriers of class, race, and geography kept us from being “one in the Spirit.”
Thirty years later I was confronted by a member of a different church in the city where I was serving, following a funeral at which I had presided. This individual said it was a “scandal to the gospel” that Christians are not united! Jesus prays that we be one in him! This man opined that there should only be one Christian church in town. At that point there were around seventy churches listed in the Yellow Pages — a metric from a different era.
Oh, and he knew which church everyone should go to — his.
In the Bible
Psalm 97
This is an enthronement psalm, a psalm that begins “The Lord is king!” The Lord’s sovereignty and superiority to other nations’ gods are proclaimed by the worshipers. As is the Lord’s command of nature, the mountains, even the heavens above. At the end of the psalm, vv. 10-12, the righteousness of the Lord is imparted to those in the temple, singing praise to God. If you’re also preaching the Acts passage, this is a good echo of the Lord’s supremacy.
John 17:20-26
Today’s gospel reading is the end of Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples. This is the third week in a row that the gospel lection has come from this lengthy speech. I find the farewell discourse convoluted and difficult to follow. Jesus says the same thing with subtle shades of slightly different emphasis repeatedly. If the disciples had celebrated the Passover seder as modern Jews do, they would have had four cups of wine prior to Jesus’ meandering final instructions. We really could do with more interruptions likes Thomas’s in 14:5, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going, how can we know the way?” Today’s reading could be used to argue against the Trinity, specifically the idea that all three “persons” in the Trinity are equal. Jesus states pretty clearly that he is subordinate to God the creator. You take that whole concept on in two weeks on Trinity Sunday.
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
Don’t forget that Revelation is a word of hope and encouragement to followers of Christ who are persecuted and misunderstood. This is the conclusion of the last book of the Bible. It ends as New Testament epistles typically end. How might these words sound to affluent congregations that have never known hunger, let alone persecution for persevering in faith? It’s almost as if we’re reading someone else’s mail.
Acts 16:16-34
Paul and Silas disrupt a pretty sweet gig for the owners of the slave-girl with the gift of divination. They get thrown into prison on trumped up charges. Their conspicuous faith and their concern for their jailers’ welfare leads to a repeat of last week’s lesson with Lydia: another entire household is baptized. There’s no word on what became of the slave-girl.
In the News
Christian Nationalism is on the rise. There is a well-coordinated, well-funded effort to have Christianity named the official, national religion. You hear this when Speaker of the House Mike Johnson says that the words “separation of church and state” do not appear in the Constitution. There are certainly passages in the Bible that can be used to support the effort to make Christianity universal. For example, Philippians 2:10-11 (NRSV)
...so that at the name given to Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
There is, however, a counter narrative. From our nation’s pre-history, before independence from Great Britain, when Roger Williams was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636, for example. Williams disagreed with John Winthrop, who had led a band a Puritans to the colony in 1630, because Williams believed it was impossible to worship God perfectly, and the government should not have a role in enforcing orthodoxy or orthopraxis.
He (Williams) therefore concluded that government must remove itself from anything that touched upon human beings’ relationship with God. A society built on the principles Massachusetts espoused would lead at best to hypocrisy, because forced worship, he wrote, “stinks in God’s nostrils.” At worst, such a society would lead to a foul corruption — not of the state, which was already corrupt, but of the church. (God, Government and Roger Williams’ Big Idea, Smithsonian, January 2012, p. 74)
A recent effort in Oklahoma for the state to fund St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School in Oklahoma City, a charter school whose stated purpose is to "fully embraces the teachings" of the Catholic Church and participate "in the evangelizing mission of the church," was ruled unconstitutional by the narrowest of margins. Originally, the Oklahoma Supreme Court had determined that funding the school would violate the state’s constitution. That decision was appealed to the Supreme Court. A 4-4 decision, Amy Coney Barrett, recused herself, meant that the Oklahoma decision would remain in effect.
Thomas Jefferson, primary author of the Declaration of Independence, said this about the relation between religion and government “No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever.” And “All persons shall have full and free liberty of religious opinion; nor shall any be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious institution.”
In the Sermon
It seems that Christian Nationalists see Christ’s call to being “one” as a call to uniformity, unanimity on a particular kind of Christianity — theirs. But what if unity in Christ is really an aspirational statement for people of all kinds to flourish, following their own, personal senses of call and identity? Wouldn’t that leave room for variety?
More than fifteen years ago I visited the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. I was quite surprised to find a modern, well-designed facility devoted to the idea that the biblical account of Creation found in Genesis should be read as actual, factual history. These people genuinely believed that the world is only around 6,000 years old. The Bible tells them so.
Frankly, I had expected a ramshackle, roadside attraction, along the lines of the Branch Davidians’ compound with a parking lot. I was surprised.
I paid an additional $2.50 so I could attend the “Snakes Alive” presentation. The program included many reptiles, their variety and stunning markings were all demonstrations of the wisdom of the creator. “Turtles prove that God has a sense of humor,” the handler pointed out.
He said “Did you ever think of God as an artist? God could have made only one kind of snake, or tree, or flower. The variety of all forms of life shows the wisdom, creativity, and love of God our Father.”
While there were some conspicuous points of theology made, like, “Natural selection is not evolution — animals can lose traits, but not gain them, so apes can never become human beings.” And “After sin entered the world some animals started eating other animals.” And “What was the snake’s punishment? They had to crawl on their bellies, so maybe prior to the fall serpents had legs and lost them as a consequence of sin.” For the most part the presenter conveyed his wonder and appreciation of creation and the Creator. He concluded the presentation this way: “When you see a sunset or a rainbow, let that remind you of God.”
If people who read the Bible literally can help people appreciate and wonder at creation and the Creator, could it be possible that Christians like them and Christians like me — who take the Bible too seriously to take it literally — could truly be one? Is anything too wonderful for God?
SECOND THOUGHTSWhat Are We Witnessing?
by Chris Keating
Luke 24:44-53
Ascension Day is notoriously overlooked by Protestants, primarily because few congregations can muster a crowd on Thursdays. It’s a problem compounded by the Ascension texts themselves. The scriptures aren’t easily understood. The story of Jesus’ departure is flummoxing to modern ears, creating confusion and uncertainty. We may indeed feel a bit like the Apostles in Acts 1:11 who stand with their heads turned toward the sky, unsure of what should happen next.
Yet the Ascension is not a mystery story to be solved. It is, instead, a call for the church to persist in joyous faithfulness. It is a call that shifts our eyes from staring off into space back to the world we are called to testify to what we have heard and seen in Christ. Ascension reminds us of our union with Christ in heaven. The Ascension, says the normally taciturn John Calvin, reminds us “that in a sense we already ‘sit with God in the heavenly places in him’ so that we do not await heaven with a bare hope, but in our head already possess it.” (Calvin, The Institutes of Christian Religion, Volume 2, chapter 16, section 16.)
We are witnesses, says Luke, sent into the world energetically praising and blessing God. But if we are witnesses, to what or to whom are we testifying? Perhaps even more difficult is wondering if everyday believers feel empowered to be a witness.
Testimony by witnesses is vital to deciding cases in court. It’s importance is enshrined in our legal system through the solemn affirmation that their words represent the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. During the first two weeks of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal sex-trafficking and racketeering trial, the government has called more than a dozen witnesses. Prosecutors have hoped to tell a story about a man accused of violent sex abuse while operating a criminal enterprise.
Musicians, hotel employees, law enforcement officers, and male escorts have all been called to offer their testimony. Singer Cassie Ventura has stood out as a star witness as she recounted the abuse she endured for ten years while she was in a relationship with Combs. Strikingly, Combs’ defense attorneys have not disputed a word of Ventura’s testimony.
NPR reporter Isabella Gomez Sarmiento reported that Combs’ attorneys admit he was violent, but that Ventura was a consensual partner in what they described as “unconventional sex.” Prosecutors have countered that Ventura participated only because she was afraid. Their claims are supported by graphic details provided by male escorts who testified that Combs was always in charge of the encounters.
Normally, such testimony would be considered damning. But in a world where “alternative facts” are promoted regularly from government officials, it is no longer clear what sort of impact witnesses hold on a jury. One wonders if sworn testimony has lost its edge.
Even the most egregious acts by public officials are considered entertaining and therefore acceptable. President Donald Trump’s lecturing of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa over allegations of genocide against white South Africans was praised by conservative media as a sign of Trump’s outrage over violent crime. One analyst called it a “strong positive to emerge from the Oval office.”
Trump’s claims, however, emerged from misleading or false reports. While South Africa does have one of the highest murder rates in the world, a South African judge has concluded that claims of genocide are “clearly imagined,” and “not real.” The same BBC report noted that so far in 2025, only three white farmers have been killed in South Africa.
We know the toll these falsehoods are exacting from our country, our churches, and our dedication to Christ. A month ago, Moira Donegan, the US correspondent for the British Guardian newspaper noted that under President Trump, “the vestiges of the US’s democracy are crumbling to the ground. We don’t know yet what will be erected in its place.”
When falsehoods are promoted as truth, the tendency becomes to distrust any form of testimony. Studies show that conspiracy theories and lies leads to distrust of institutions. Other studies suggest that the acceptance of conspiracy theories and misinformation inevitably erodes the public’s trust. Faced with purplish or even red-leaning congregations, bearing witness against falsehoods promoted by the president becomes difficult.
There’s the dilemma for the church and for Christians. The apostles were sent from the scene of Jesus’ ascension back to a world waiting for their joyful proclamation. Too often, however, we are stuck on that hill, with our eyes focused on the empty place where Christ had stood. We forget, as the Presbyterian Church (USA) constitution reminds us, “The church is called to be a community of faith, entrusting itself to God alone, even at the risk of its life.”
Luke’s account of the Ascension deserves to be preached. It is a reminder that the Gospel does not end but continues in the witness of the apostles’ lives and actions. Luke’s conclusion of the gospel reinforces this by reminding readers that after watching Jesus’ ascension, the apostles return to Jerusalem “with great joy, and they were continually in the temple blessing God.”
In high school, a friend took me to a Christian concert sponsored by a parachurch youth ministry. After blaring out a playlist that seemed to alternate between overly saccharine ballads and something that could only be described as baptized acid rock, the singer plunged into his awkward yet obligatory testimony. He concluded, of course, with the even more obligatory call to accept Jesus Christ. But he also reminded those of us who were already Christian of our mandate to be witnesses. “Who are you going to save this week?”
His point: the only good witness is a busy witness. It was a point reinforced over the years through retreats and Bible studies by energetic conference speakers. Keeping track of how many people you had personally saved through your witness was paramount. At the time, I did not have the theological wisdom required to dispute this. The idea that I should be “saving others” was folded into my normal adolescent worries and insecurities. I was confused. But how effective could this acne-prone, hormone driven gangly teenage boy with big feet really be? It is the same-flawed logic that leads this 63-year-old grandfatherly preacher to worry over Sunday morning attendance.
Years after the concert, I heard the late-great Presbyterian theologian Edward A. Dowey, Jr. suggest that the proper way of answering the question “When were you saved?” is to say, “Two thousand years ago on a hill outside of Jerusalem.” Decades before, Dowey had served as the chair of the committee that drafted the well-known PCUSA “Confession of 1967.” In part, the confession reminds us that church members are collectively called “to fight against pretensions and injustices when these same powers endanger human welfare. Their strength is in their confidence that God’s purpose rather than human schemes will finally prevail.”
Can I get a witness?
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:Unity
Whether we call the subject unity or corporateness or whatever, there are more than a few examples and sweet stories to be found, many of which may have been overused. The children’s book about “Swimmy” comes to mind. Here are a couple of “adult” stories that may or may not feel appropriate depending on your congregational context.
The Phalanx (Unity)
In what may be the most famous action scene in the movie Gladiator, the protagonist, Maximus, and about two dozen other gladiators are at the center of the arena awaiting their adversaries when the announcer proclaims that the audience is about to witness a reenactment of the Roman victory over the army of Carthage. The audience cheers and great roaring proceeds from behind huge doors at the edges of the arena.
Maximus asks how many of the gladiators have served in the army and when he hears that most have, one with him in Spain, he says, “Then you know that whatever comes out of those doors, we have a better chance of surviving if we work together. Together, we survive.”
The giant doors burst open and war chariots, virtual killing machines, emerge and charge toward the gladiators. With a command from Maximus, the fighters fall back and form a phalanx, shoulder to shoulder, locking their shields together, the front row on one knee, another row standing behind them.
As the chariots charge toward them Maximus shouts over and over, “Together! As one! Together! Hold, as one!” They do, and at the end of the battle, the chariots have been overturned, and gladiators have won the day.
* * *
The Phalanx 2.0 (Unity)
In 61 CE the occupying Roman army welched on an agreement that had been made with the Prasutagus, the king of the Iceni, in what is now the Norfolk area of England. The agreement had been that upon Prasutagus’s death, his land would go to his daughters but when his wife Boudica and daughters arrived to receive the deeds to the land, she was flogged, her daughters raped, and they were thrown from the Roman camp and their land seized.
Boudica, now the queen of the Iceni, raised an army of over 230,000 warriors to exact revenge and re-take the tribal land. They were successful in three battles on their way to what is modern day London. There, on a road called Watling Street, the Iceni army, now estimated at 300,000 strong, was met by three Roman Legions, about 10,000 soldiers, under the leadership of Gaius Suetonius Paulinus.
The ratio was approximately thirty Iceni warriors for every Roman soldier. However, these Roman soldiers were battle-hardened veterans who had participated in numerous conflicts, possessing extensive training, superior weaponry, and strict discipline. Paulinus strategically positioned his legions in a shallow valley, with a forest at their rear to prevent any flanking maneuvers. He then awaited the arrival of the Iceni forces.
When Boudica’s army arrived, the Romans formed into three long defensive phalanxes, shields locked together, spears protruding from between them. Behind the rows were offensive triangular wedges of soldiers, their perimeters protected by similar phalanxes.
Having no experience at war, no military discipline, and no battle plan, the Iceni depended solely on their overwhelming numbers to win the day as they had in the previous three battles, but it did not work this time. In wave after wave, they threw themselves at the Roman phalanxes to no avail and, when they were exhausted by their efforts, the Roman lines opened and the wedge formations moved into the battle. When the Iceni tried to retreat, their flight was blocked by their own supply wagons that had filled the road behind them.
Historians estimate that, at the end of the day, the Iceni suffered between 80,000 to 100,000 casualties. The Romans, 400.
* * *
Unity Through The Arts
• Theater – When the teacher who led the theater program at my kids’ high school fell ill and was unable to continue, I was approached by the principal, who knew about my college and background in theater, about directing the spring play. This, he assured me, was a “temporary” solution, just until they could find a replacement for the teacher who, it turned out, would not be coming back. I ended up leading the program for eight years.
Much to my delight, the students, at the encouragement of my own son and daughter, flocked to the program and it became the safe sanctuary for anyone in the school who thought they didn’t “fit in” in other groups. The nerds, the geeks, the LGBTQ kids, the shy kids. Everyone, we made it clear, was welcome in the theater program. Popular, unpopular, jocks, musicians, dancers, speakers, everyone. Come to the theater program, we told them, and we’ll find a place for you.
And their parents followed them into the program as well, sewing costumes, building sets, running the lights and sound board, playing in the orchestra, meeting and making friends with other parents that they admitted they might never have otherwise met. The theater program was its own culture of inclusion and acceptance.
• Art has long been a medium for expression and connection, transcending language and cultural barriers. In South Africa, a project called “Ubuntu Mzansi” has brought together artists from diverse backgrounds to create public murals that celebrate unity and resilience. These murals not only beautify urban spaces but also serve as a visual reminder of the country’s journey toward reconciliation. The artists’ collective work has fostered dialogue, inspired local pride, and demonstrated how creativity can help heal historical wounds.
• Music – In 1999, Barenboim and Said, who had become friends in the early 1990s, founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (WEDO) in order to foment a feeling of sympathy and co-existence, chiefly between Arabs and Israelis, through Middle Eastern musical ensembles. Shortly after it was founded, the first workshop was opened in Weimar, Germany, after the organization had received over 200 applications from Arab music students.
In 2016, Ban Ki-moon, the erstwhile United Nations Secretary-General, designated the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra as a United Nations Global Advocate for Cultural Understanding, praising the organization's push for peace and unity, particularly between Israelis and Palestinians.
* * * * * *
From team member Mary Austin:Acts 16:16-34
Your Inner Wyoming
Freedom is the thread that runs through this pair of stories from Acts. Paul and Silas give the enslaved girl her freedom and lose their own. The earthquake sets them free again from the prison, and yet they choose to stay behind so the jailer isn’t punished. In turn, the jailer chooses an inner freedom that he didn’t know before.
Sharon Salzberg tells a story about traveling with her colleague Joseph Goldstein and going to a restaurant to order food. “As we were waiting for the food to be prepared, Joseph struck up a conversation with the young man working behind the counter. After a few minutes, he told Joseph that he’d never left Houston and went on to describe, somewhat passionately, how his dream was to one day go to Wyoming.
When Joseph asked him what he thought he would find there, he responded, “Open, expansive space, a feeling of being unconfined, with peacefulness and freedom and room to move.” Joseph responded, “There’s an inner Wyoming, too, you know.” At that point, the young man fixed a stare at Joseph and said, “That’s freaky,” as he sidled away.” Salzberg adds that we can all find what Paul and Silas found: that place of inner freedom. “But there is an inner Wyoming, a potential for openness, spaciousness, clarity, and freedom that exists within each of us. We just need confidence in it, to make the journey to that place, to discover it, nurture it, and hold the memory that it’s there, waiting for us to visit anytime." (from Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom)
* * *
John 17:20-26
That They All May be One
Jesus prays that all the believers may be one, which happens in ways we don’t expect. Kate Cohen grew up Jewish and she writes, “My father tells the story of an emissary from a church down the road visiting my parents right after they moved to Broadway, Virginia. The lady said she wanted to welcome them to town and invite them to join the church. My parents replied that, er, actually, they planned to attend the synagogue in Harrisonburg. “That’s just fine,” she responded. “Just making sure you had a place to go.” “A place to go.” That’s why people continue to go to houses of worship…It’s the house part they want. The sense of belonging and welcome and family.” (from We of Little Faith)
Cohen herself is no longer a believer, and yet she feels the pull of community, where people can join together.
* * *
John 17:20-26
Unity
Jesus longs for us to have more unity than we ever manage, partly because we get in our own way. Scott Shigeoka set out to find common ground all over America, having conversations and visiting places where he knew people wouldn’t agree with him. He writes in Seek, “I didn’t think a lunch with a colleague would alter my life.” His coworker, Matt, told Scott that he was an observant Presbyterian and he never talked about his faith at work because he feared being judged. “He thought his Christian beliefs might prevent him from getting a promotion and a salary bump, which he needed to confidently start a family with his wife.” He didn’t feel comfortable revealing that important part of his life.
Shigeoka continues, “Although we couldn’t have seemed more different, this straight white Christian man’s words resonated with me. In a sense, he was in the closet just as I had once been. I was shocked by his revelation. I couldn’t imagine how someone who identified in the majority of so many identities — such as belonging to our country’s most popular religion — could feel this way about sharing his faith at the office. Yet when I started to open my eyes around the workplace, I began to see how Christianity was the butt of jokes and categorically dismissed as “toxic.” I found this ironic, because our human resources department had recently talked about advances the company had made to welcome all people — focusing especially on identities like gender and race.” As a gay man, Shigeoka felt attacked by Christians. “I talked about the way LGBTQ+ people were being demonized by church leaders. I shared my own stories of trying to navigate certain Christian spaces as a queer person, and stories I’d heard about people who were forced into conversion therapy, which has been largely driven by churchgoers. “Now you might get why I’m so against religion, because of what it’s doing to my community,” I said, finishing my monologue. “And maybe that’s what other people have experienced too.” “But we’re not all the same,” he finally said. “No two Christians are the same.”"
After this conversation, Shigeoka finally visited his friend's church — and found a pride flag on the wall. (from Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World)
We have more opportunities to move closer to Jesus’ vision than we realize.
* * * * * *
WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship
One: The LORD reigns! Let the earth rejoice!
All: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne.
One: The heavens proclaim God’s righteousness.
All: And all the people behold God’s glory.
One: For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth.
All: You, O God, are exalted far above all gods.
OR
One: God call us together to hear the good news!
All: We long for good news in these times of stress.
One: God calls us to know love and to share it with others.
All: We long to be loved and for our divisions to be healed.
One: The good news is for you and for all.
All: As we receive God’s love we will share it with others.
Hymns and Songs
O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
UMH: 57/58/59
H82: 493
PH: 466
GTG: 610
AAHH: 184
NNBH: 23
NCH: 42
CH: 5
LBW: 559
ELW: 886
W&P: 96
AMEC: 1/2
Renew: 32
All Creatures of Our God and King
UMH: 62
H82: 400
PH: 455
GTG: 15
AAHH: 147
NNBH: 33
NCH: 17
CH: 22
LBW: 527
ELW: 835
W&P: 23
AMEC: 50
STLT: 203
Renew: 47
When in Our Music God Is Glorified
UMH: 68
H82: 420
PH: 264
GTG: 641
AAHH: 112
NCH: 561
CH: 7
LBW: 555
ELW: 850/851
W&P: 7
STLT: 36
Renew: 62
Amazing Grace
UMH: 378
H82: 671
PH: 280
GTG: 649
AAHH: 271/272
NNBH: 161/163
NCH: 547/548
CH: 546
LBW: 448
ELW: 779
W&P: 422
AMEC: 226
STLT: 205/206
Renew: 189
’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
UMH: 462
AAHH: 368
NNBH: 292
AMEC: 440
Wonderful Words of Life
UMH: 600
AAHH: 332
NNBH: 293
NCH: 319
CH: 323
W&P: 668
AMEC: 207
Jesus Is All the World to Me
UMH: 469
AAHH: 382
NNBH: 283
AMEC: 349
Here I Am, Lord
UMH: 593
PH: 525
GTG: 69
AAHH: 567
CH: 452
ELW: 574
W&P: 559
Renew: 149
Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation
UMH: 559
H82: 518
PH: 416/417
GTG: 394
NCH: 400
CH: 275
LBW: 367
ELW: 645
AMEC: 518
Lord, You Give the Great Commission
UMH: 584
H82: 528
PH: 429
GTG: 298
CH: 459
ELW: 579
W&P: 592
Renew: 305
We Are One in Christ Jesus
CCB: 43
People Need the Lord
CCB: 52
Music Resources Key
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
GTG: Glory to God, The 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
ELW: 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 created us as one family
Grant us the grace to care for one another
and to share the good news of your love in Christ Jesus;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you have created all people to be one family. Help us to care for each other in our need and to share with all the good news of your love for us in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our divisions and failure to share the Gospel.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have divided your people and placed barriers between us. We have despoiled your image of unity and family. Where you created multiplicity and called it good we have tried to make everyone like us. We have not even shared your good news with others. We have kept quiet when you invited us to share throughout all the world. Forgive our shameful behavior and our failures. Renew us in your Spirit and make us one as we proclaim to all the good news. Amen.
One: God is gracious and forgiving to all. Receive God’s grace and embrace one another as you share the news of Jesus.
Prayers of the People
We worship and adore you, O God, because you are the one who brings good news of life to all creation. You gather us as your children into your arms of compassion.
(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 divided your people and placed barriers between us. We have despoiled your image of unity and family. Where you created multiplicity and called it good we have tried to make everyone like us. We have not even shared your good news with others. We have kept quiet when you invited us to share your Word throughout all the world. Forgive our shameful behavior and our failures. Renew us in your Spirit and make us one as we proclaim to all the good news.
We give you thanks for those who have shared the good news of Jesus with others throughout the ages so that, at last, we have also heard of your great love for us all. We are blessed that folks have told the story over and over until it finally took root and grew in our hearts. We thank you for the unity of the Spirit which makes us all one in Christ Jesus.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another because we are all one family united in you. We pray for the divisions we have allowed to grow between us that these rifts might be healed. We lift up those who have felt pushed out and abandoned. We pray for those who have been unable to hear your good news of love because we have not spoken it or when our actions nullified our words.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
Hear us as we pray for others: (Time for silent or spoken prayer.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray 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 SERMONWhen Will Jesus Return?
by Katy Stenta
Acts 1:1-11
If you chose you can have a Jesus figure, some disciples and a paper cloud/cotton balls for a cloud, and angel figures.
(Jesus teaching the disciples.)
This is a Sunday where the disciples have a lot of questions
They want to know how the kingdom is coming—
how everything will be restored?
How it is all going to work out and happen?
You know Jesus doesn’t usually answer questions in a straightforward way.
Instead he comforts the disciples by saying:
“I will send you the Holy Spirit.”
When the disciples ask when everything will change, and when he will return, and all the promises will be fulfilled, Jesus says:
“No one knows.”
This is an important thing to remember, because there are a lot of people who claim to know when God is bringing Jesus back, or when the kingdom is coming, but Jesus said only God knows.
(Have the cloud ready to hide Jesus.)
After Jesus explains all of this, a cloud comes and hides Jesus and he is gone.
Then the disciples looked for Jesus, but could not find him.
(Have the angels come to talk to the disciples.)
Until an angel came and said, “Why are you looking for Jesus? He is in heaven. He will return, but it is not time to look for Jesus.”
Why do you think the angels said to stop looking at the sky for Jesus?
What do you think the disciples are going to do now?
(Follow Jesus’s teachings, work on building community, love, try not to worry about the kingdom or Jesus’s return, tell stories about Jesus.)
Let’s Pray:
Jesus,
Remind us
to focus
on telling your
good news,
especially when
we are worried
about timings
and all the things
that need to get done.
Remind us
of your story
whenever we need it. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, June 1, 2025 issue.
Copyright 2025 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.
