Family Matters
Children's sermon
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For March 3, 2024:
Family Matters
by Elena Delhagen
Exodus 20:1-17
It’s no secret that the Old Testament contains a lot of rules. The Jewish people call these mitzvot (the Hebrew word for a singular divine commandment is mitzvah), and in the Torah, there are 613 of them. Some of them are “positive” commandments (mitzvot aseh), which tell us to do something, while others are “negative” (mitzvot lo taaseh), which tell us to abstain from something. The most famous collection of mitzvot, the Ten Commandments, contain both.
The Ten Commandments, given to Moses by YHWH on Mount Sinai, were communicated to the Israelites as a sort of roadmap for how to live as the people of God. That’s what all mitzvot are, really. God doesn’t command us to do or not do something because he is an angry taskmaster in the sky. Rather, God is a wise and gentle parent, teaching us the ins and outs of holy living, one day and one situation at a time.
Which is why it’s hardly surprising that the concepts of children and parents, sons and daughters, generations and descendants, show up so often in the Ten Commandments — really in the whole of scripture. (One source I found pointed out that the Bible mentions family in some shape or form more than 1,500 times!) God’s family is important to him. And as we make our way through scripture, we see that God’s family is ultimately fulfilled through the Son Jesus Christ, who grafts us all together into one tree.
God’s family, then, is not confined to bloodlines. Which means neither is ours. The Ten Commandments offer us a guide on how we should relate to God (commandments 1-4) and how we ought to relate to one another (commandments 5-10). We are asked to care for each other. To be truthful with one another. To be content with what we have and not to take what belongs to others in the family of God. The point of it all is that we honor God when we honor one another; every single mitzvot points us back to this truth.
In the News
UNICEF estimates that approximately 17,000 children in the Gaza Strip of Palestine are unaccompanied or separated from their families. Hospital wards in the displacement camps of Gaza are being filled with those who are internally classified by the acronym WCNSF — “Wounded Child, No Surviving Family.” The Telegraph (UK) reports that rarely, if ever, have so many children been orphaned in such a short period.
Audrey McMahon, a psychiatrist for Doctors Without Borders, states, “The WCNSF acronym is unprecedented in modern day history and should terrify, shock, and even shame anyone who reflects on it. It’s a moral injury to humanity.”
It’s also a sign of how far we, as God’s people, have strayed from the commandments given to us. “You shall not murder.” It doesn’t get much more straightforward than that.
There’s also a video making its rounds on the internet of an elderly Palestinian man being interviewed by a younger man, and in it, he tearfully pleads for a new wheelchair because the one he has is broken. When the younger man returns with the new chair, the two embrace, and the younger man assures the other he will be taken care of. “We are all your sons,” he tells the elderly man in Arabic, reminding the man of our human interconnectedness. It’s true — we are all his sons and daughters, because being part of the family of God means we belong to one another. We’re meant to care for one another. Imagine how different the world could be if we all treated each other like we were sons and fathers, daughters and mothers. Imagine how we could truly live out the Ten Commandments, those mitzvot that God gave us.
In the Scriptures
This passage in Exodus is not the only place in scripture where the Ten Commandments appear. There’s virtually no difference between the ten given here and the ten from Deuteronomy 5 — except for the commandment about keeping the Sabbath. In Exodus, we are told to keep Sabbath because “in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it” (20:11). In Deuteronomy, we are told to keep Sabbath as a remembrance that we were once slaves (in Egypt), and God freed and redeemed us (5:15). Is God contradicting God’s self? Of course not! Both things are true.
By harkening back to creation, we are reminded that God made the world and all things in it good; the Hebrew word is tov, which is better translated as “pure” or “complete.” But we all know what happened next in the story. That goodness has been marred. We see evidence of it everywhere; one need only take a look at the headlines (whether local or global) to see how we have fallen.
And yet, God has freed and redeemed us in Jesus Christ, and keeping the Sabbath day “as a reminder that God has liberated us from all that is evil and injurious to human flourishing. We take joy in remembering that God is redeeming the creation, salvaging all that evil has sullied so as to return it to the glory God intended in the beginning” (Scott Hoezee). And every time we keep the mitzvot — every time we preserve life or care for another or work to repair a broken relationship — we are participating in that beautiful work God is doing, and honoring God in doing so.
In the Sermon
The concept of an individualistic, nuclear family is strictly a Western one. In fact, in many cultures around the world, particularly in African, Asian, and Latinx communities, family is less about bloodlines and more about shared values and norms. It is not uncommon in such cultures to refer to one’s elder as an “auntie” or “uncle” even if there is no genetic link between the two; in cases like these, it’s a sign of respect and honor. A wonderful example of this is the Israeli kibbutz, a community co-op focused largely on agriculture in which all property is shared and children are raised not just by their birth parents but also teachers and other caretakers within the community.
This extended view of family certainly expands our ideas of how we are responsible to and for one another. It certainly is reminiscent of the earliest Christian church that we read about in Acts, where belongings were communal and the believers served one another, not just those in their individual families (Acts 2:42-47). It also calls to mind the words of Jesus while he was on the cross when he told John he would now be Mary’s son and that Mary would now be his mother (John 19:26-27). Family was expanded in order to ensure that everyone was cared for and taken care of.
Throughout scripture, God is continuously teaching God’s people how to be in relationship with one another — how to be a family. Reaching all the way back to Genesis, God teaches us that we are, in fact, to be our “brother’s keeper” (4:9). Once we reach the Ten Commandments, we see that God is setting up a guide for what our relationship with one another — with those in our family — should look like, and this concept is reiterated throughout the rest of the Bible. When we show one another the respect and honor commanded, God promises it will go well for us. But again — it’s not just about us. It’s about the kind of world we’re building, a new kind of world that is marked by God’s justice, peace, and love. One in which violence is no more, the truth is told, everyone has what they need to thrive, and God’s righteousness reigns over all.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Pass The Plate Again
by Quantisha Mason-Doll
John 2:13-22
During the Summer of 2012, I worked at a summer camp in rural North Carolina. Every morning the counselors would put on little skits for the campers. The skits were always funny ways to start the morning and get our energy pumping. One specific skit has stuck with me over a decade later. I still catch myself pantomiming the actions every now and again.
The central figure was a caricature of a sweaty, fire and brimstone preacher with the catch phrase, “Hallelujah, AMEN, PASS THE PLATE AGAIN!” The goal was to get things from the campers and whip them into a frenzy. This was done by doing increasingly dramatic actions, coupled with the catchphrase getting louder and more unhinged. It was one of the ultra-fun morning skits, but it was done sparingly so that it would keep its appeal. Now, a decade plus later, I catch myself pantomiming the skit when the collection plate passes by after a particularly good sermon.
The question was asked: “When God is an underachiever, and when church is unsatisfying, can we get our money back?” I never gave much thought as to why I felt more generous after a dynamic, soul moving sermon. When the sermon was underwhelming I still gave out of a sense of duty. I mean, come on, Jesus is watching, yet I always gave way less. That was until I did an extended pulpit supply that was borderline solo pastoring. By no means was this a mega church, not even a mid-sized one, but it was God’s house nonetheless, and I was tasked with serving the house of the Lord to the best of my abilities. I dreaded the point in the service where I would call for the offering.
While the community gave freely of what they had, I was always nervous that my interpretation of the word was worthy enough of their offerings. I knew my sermon landed well when the offerings were higher than normal and the congregants thanked me for my sermon. I felt like that caricature of a sweaty, fire and brimstone preacher, who each week needed to do something bigger and better to get the same outcome. I found myself lured into the trap of viewing the house of the Lord not as the dwelling place of God but as a commodity that is on offer to those who come on Sunday. Granted, I am not the only one that fell into this trap. Those that sit in the pews each Sunday come less out of a sense of loyalty to God, but a duty. Sunday is their chance to prove to everyone else around them that they are holier than thou. Then there are the select few who come because they feel it is their duty to humble the pastor because they are the only one who knows the “true god.”
Looking at my actions now, I feel that the apostle John and Jesus would both give me side-eye for envisioning a little sweaty preacher commanding the collection plate be passed again. These are the ones that will let you know that they did not like your sermon. They will also tell you all the ways you have failed God. To them and others like them, God and the church becomes part of a transaction. We have late-stage capitalism and the threat of global annihilation to thank for that.
These are the same people that are quick to argue that everything would be better if young people would just come to church. As a young adult, I vividly remember struggling to make time to come to church. I would often beg my bosses to allow me the time off on Sunday so that I could spend it in church. As I aged, I did less and less of that because I could not sacrifice my income to just sit for an hour or two in a space that could be underwhelming or unfulfilling. Now in the face of inflation and a shrinking job market, I do not fault the younger generations for choosing work over going to church. I don't think it's because they lack love or respect for God, they just don't want to meet the Lord yet. I mean this, in the sense that if they don't work they don't have an income and if they don't have an income they die. There is no sunk cost value for the younger generations if it's not worth their time or their effort, they're not going to show up.
For years, the church has done nothing but prove itself to be lacking in its ability to stand on business. Yes, hyper consumption of products and the expendability of those goods have translated into every aspect of our life, even the almighty is not exempt from the unstoppable force of capitalism.
History has a way of repeating itself. As John notes, Jesus goes into the temple and overturns the tables because they have made a mockery of God's house. Frankly, it seems like we have not learned from this dramatic show of frustration and anger. Jesus understood the corruption that comes with a society based on what one can do for another. He saw that there is a disproportionate wielding of power, and that it is the buyers that drive the sellers to do more to satisfy those needs.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean Feldmeyer
Exodus 20:1-17 – The Ten Commandments aren’t just a list of random rules laid down by a demanding deity, they are rules for building and living as a community, whether the community is a tribe, a nation, or a family.
Erma Bombeck’s Rules For Living
In her weekly, syndicated column, humorist Erma Bombeck offered these 8 Commandments for successful living.
1) Never have more children than you have car windows.
2) Never loan your car to someone to whom you have given birth.
3) Pick your friends carefully. A "friend" never goes on a diet when you are fat or tells you how lucky you are to have a husband who remembers Mother's Day — when his gift is a smoke alarm.
4) Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.
5) Know the difference between success and fame. Success is Mother Teresa. Fame is Madonna.
6) Never be in a hurry to terminate a marriage. Remember, you may need this man/woman someday to finish a sentence.
7) There are no guarantees in marriage. If that's what you're looking for, go live with a Sears battery.
8) Never go to a class reunion pregnant. They will think that's all you have been doing since you graduated.
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Rules, No More
Rules of etiquette are created so everyone can feel comfortable whether at a party or at a dinner table. Some rules, however, go out of style and, at some point, are no longer necessary. According to the Maralee McKee School of Etiquette, these are some rules you no longer need to follow:
1) Women should remain seated when being introduced. Ladies, you are now expected to stand just like the guys.
2) Waiting to extend your hand or extending it in a “princess-like” fashion, instead of offering a correct handshake.
3) Gentlemen, you no longer need to wait until a lady extends her hand. You’re free to offer your hand first.
4) Kissing a lady’s hand is now considered pretentious instead of polite.
5) Etiquette used to require men to enter the back seat of a cab (or Uber) first to make sure it was safe and because it was easier for a man to slide over to the other side than for a woman who is wearing a dress. This is no longer the case. Guys, you can get in first or last, whichever is most convenient for all concerned.
6) We no longer need to call other adults who are approximately our same age by Mr. or Ms. and their last name until they ask us to call them by their first name.
7) You no longer have to offer a toast whenever you drink wine or champagne. Yes, that used to be a rule.
8) Sending a wedding gift any time during the first year of marriage used to be okay. Not any longer. Before the event is best.
9) You no longer have to return a dish full of food when you’ve been gifted food.
10) You no longer have to change conversational partners with each new course at a dinner party. Just talk to those seated around you. And does anyone really go to dinner parties anymore?
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Family Rules
Amy Morin, LCSW, is a family therapist and the founder of the Verywell Mind podcast. Writing for the Verywell family website, she says that most parents have a vague notion about what the “family rules” are but every family would benefit by writing them down.
With a list of family rules, she says, everyone in the family becomes clear about expected behavior, including what is allowed and what is not. Rules also help kids feel safe and secure. She also urges parents to make it clear that adults are expected to obey the rules as well as children.
As examples, she offers the following:
How Many Rules?
Golf has 34 basic rules and regulations. The current Rules of Golf published and approved by the United States Golf Association and the R&A Rules Limited consists of over 200 pages covering, explaining, and interpreting those 34 rules in-depth. The first known written set of rules for golf consisted of 13 rules.
Basketball began with 13 rules when it was invented by James Naismith. The game has evolved significantly since its inception, and while the original 13 rules by James Naismith were quite different from today’s game, they laid the foundation for the sport we now know. Today, there just 8 rules but it takes 50 articles spread over 196 pages to explain them. These rules cover various aspects of the game, including equipment, facilities, team regulations, player conduct, violations, fouls, special situations, and the roles of officials and table officials.
Professional football is generally considered to be the sport with the most and most complex rules. The NFL Rulebook contains all the rules and regulations governing professional football. Technically, there are only 18 rules, but each rule is further divided into sections, and many sections are further divided into articles. The rulebook provides detailed guidelines for various aspects of the game, including field dimensions, player conduct, scoring, penalty enforcement, and more.
Baseball. An internet search for the exact number of rules for professional baseball indicates that nobody really knows how many rules there are and what exactly those rules are. Really! Even the books about baseball rules don’t agree.
John 2:13-25 – Jesus admonishes those who seek to make a profit from the practice of religion.
Richest Clergy
The richest pastors in America have accumulated substantial wealth through their ministries and other ventures. Here, according to Yen.com, are the top five of the 20 wealthiest pastors in the United States as of 2024:
Questionable Church Fund Raising Techniques
Grace Baptist Church in Troy, NY, near Albany, gave out an AR-15 assault rifle during its Sunday morning service. "If you support the 2nd Amendment, life, and the Bible, we hope to see you Sunday at 10AM as we give away another AR-15!" the church wrote on its Facebook page last week. The church's website noted that this was "Round Two," as a previous giveaway of an AR-15 was held back in 2014.
Pastor John Koletas said that the giveaways were meant to honor gun owners and hunters who have "been so viciously attacked by anti-Christian socialist policies," according to local NBC affiliate WNYT.
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Questionable Church Fund Raising Techniques 2.0
Bad church fundraising techniques usually fail at their goal and, more importantly, turn people off to church in general. Here are a few bad church fundraising ideas to avoid:
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Give Through, Not To
Our pastor once reminded us that giving to charity is always safest when done through your church. We don’t just give to our church, he said, we give THROUGH our church.
It’s a nearly certain way of avoiding unscrupulous and fake charities like the ones listed below. The top (or bottom) ten worst so-called charities when it comes to accountability and percentage of donations that actually go to help those they claim to help, according to Moneyinc.com:
1. Cancer Fund of America – While the American Cancer Fund of America is now dissolved, it is just one of many philanthropic centers started by James T. Reynolds and his crooked family. From this fund, Reynolds took home an annual salary of around $230,000.
2. American Breast Cancer Foundation – The second cancer research charity to make our list is the American Breast Cancer Foundation, an organization set up in 1997 with the intent of funding health education and free breast exams for women. Any evidence that any of the thousands it’s raised through appeals have made their way to the appropriate services is so thin on the ground as to be non-existent.
3. Children’s Wish Foundation – Anyone reading the name of the next charity on our list stands a good chance of confusing it with the far more famous (and far more reputable) charity, The Make-a-Wish Foundation.
4. Disabled Veterans National Fund – This organization says it will help veterans, but its leaders have shown a history of mismanaging their funds and using very little of their funds to actually help veterans. This organization has had a long history of making poor decisions and came under fire starting in 2012 and in 2014 when only 15% of their funds went to veterans.
5. SPCA International – The charity has come under question for its ethics and many people involved with the group have shown shady histories in the nonprofit sector.
6. United States Deputy Sheriffs’ Association – Forced to move its headquarters to a new state on account of the dodgy dealings and underhanded practices, this organization has long hit the news with its scams, but it continues to try to extort money.
7. Operation Lookout National Center for Missing Youth – A so-called charity with the very worthy aim of providing support and assistance to the families of missing children, it does no such thing, preferring instead to siphon 82% of its donations into its solicitors’ pockets.
8. National Caregiving Foundation – Advertised as an organization that provides support and care for people suffering from mental illness, there is no evidence that it actually does so, and director Regina Salta’s salary amounts to a staggering $106,472 a year according to Charity Navigator.
9. Project Cure (Florida) – Claiming to “raise awareness” about any number of serious health issues, the national headquarters turned out to be a minuscule storage unit in Florida.
10. On Your Feet, Inc. – This is a charity designed to help people who struggle with hard community events or provide disaster relief. Unfortunately, this organization has many red flags that suggest it is not as upstanding as it claims to be. In the past, organization leaders have gone to prison for stealing millions from the charity. While the organization may have improved, it has yet to prove itself to be a reliable charity.
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From team member Chris Keating:
Exodus 20:1-17
Words of Emancipation or Mandates for Control?
Despite our attempt to keep the Ten Commandments encased in marble or displayed one dimensionally on posters in classrooms, the commandments come to us as dynamic statements designed to remind Israel that it is no longer under the bondage of Pharoah. As Walter Brueggemann suggests, “The Ten Commandments are rules by which (Israel can) maintain their recent emancipation from Egypt. Brueggemann’s sermon, “Strategies for Staying Emancipated” notes that the decalogue contains “an announcement that the world is under new governance,” and that the covenant is a call to honor God to the exclusion of every “idol, every ‘ism,’ such as racism, or sexism, or nationalism, or the worship of stuff that is rare or precious or attractive or beautiful or empowering.”
Brueggemann’s view contrasts with a recent decision by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos are people. Last week, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Parker, who issued the opinion that the United States was founded as a Christian nation, was guided in his belief in God’s prohibition against murder in upholding the sanctity of protecting embryos from destruction.
Parker served as an aide to former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who became famous for his crusade to erect monuments to the Ten Commandments in courthouses. Parker made it clear he would continue his mentor’s fight. His opinion on the frozen embryo case includes quotations from Genesis 1 and Exodus 20 and is steeped in a view of Christian nationalism known as “The Seven Mountain Mandate.” The once fringe philosophy, also known as 7M, includes evangelical and Pentecostal leaders, as well as participants in the January 6, 2021 insurrection. 7M believers argue Christians need to take control over the seven spheres of society: family, religion, education, media, entertainment, business, and government.
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Psalm 19
Northern Exposures
For many, there is no speech, nor are there words, to describe the spiritually moving experiences of beholding the magnificent Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights. From a scientific point of view, the explanation of the Northern Lights is straightforward. It is an interplay between the sun, earth, and upper atmosphere. The green and red colored shapes are created by solar winds comprised of changed particles that originate in the sun, travelling away from it in all directions.
But witnessing the lights is a mystical, spiritual question beyond all explanation — a firmament that proclaims God’s handiwork. Seeing them, notes one writer, can evoke a “chance to observe how the universe works — and how small we really are in the grand scheme of things.” Indeed, the writer continues that these are reminders of our place in the world. According to Subconscious Retreats:
The Northern Lights can be seen as a reminder that our existence isn’t as important as we like to think it is. We may be in control of our small corner of the world, but this isn’t the only place where life exists and it isn’t the most important place in the universe, either. Witnessing the lights can help us put our small issues in perspective and return to the place of wonder and curiosity we had as children. The Northern Lights can help us return to a state of mind that is open to learning new things and experiencing things we may have otherwise taken for granted.
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John 2:13-22
Doing something which does not compute
The lectionary editors should affix a big “Approach with Caution” sign to various passages, including John 2:13-22, which can run the risk of promulgating antisemitism. (A quick review of Amy-Jill Levine’s reflections on the problems encountered by various lectionary passages can be found in this June, 2023, article from the Christian Century.) Barring that, a wise interpreter will keep in mind that Jesus’ presence in the Temple in John 2 arises from his own Jewishness and is not, per se, an attack on Judaism.
Instead, pay attention to the way Jesus does the surprising. John’s incarnational witness to Jesus is on full view here. While the synoptic gospels tell the story of Jesus clearing the temple at the end of their stories, John has placed this incident at the beginning. It is a reminder of how God is about to do something that may not compute, or at least seem radically different. John’s understanding of the abundance of God that creates life and calls humans to abide with God is evident in the way Jesus speaks of the temple that is his body. Of course, as John notes, they won’t understand this until after the resurrection, when the message of Christ’s new life will be clear.
In other words, John calls us to embrace the sort of thinking Wendell Berry suggests in his famous poem, “Manifesto: The Mad Farmers Liberation Front.” Berry invites readers to a life that “practices resurrection daily” by “doing something that won’t compute.” In part the poem reads:
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
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From team member Mary Austin:
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Ask Only Questions
As Paul writes, human wisdom isn’t wise enough. Author Liz Wiseman tried a bit of foolishness with her children to bring out their own wisdom. She noticed that she was in an endless loop of telling her kids the same thing over and over and a colleague offered an interesting challenge. He proposed that she speak to her children only in questions. No statements, orders, or directives.
Wiseman says that, driving home one night, she decided to try it. “Everything I said would be a legitimate question. I summoned strength, opened the house door, and began the experiment. Dinner and playtime were interesting. When it got close to bedtime, I looked at my watch and asked my children, “What time is it?” One responded, “It’s bedtime.” I continued, “What do we do to get ready for bed?” They explained, “We get our pajamas on.” “Okay, who needs help?” The two-year old did, so I helped him while the girls got themselves dressed for bed. “What’s next?” I asked. Their responses showed remarkable understanding of the bedtime routine and eagerness to act. Soon their teeth were brushed. “What story will we read tonight? . . . and whose turn is it to pick the story? And who is going to read it?” After story time I asked, “Who is ready for bed?” Eagerly, they said their prayers and hopped into their beds. And stayed there. And then nodded off to sleep. I stood in the hallway in shock and wondered, ‘Have I just witnessed a miracle? What has happened to my children?’ And ‘How long have they known how to do this?’” (from Multipliers, Revised and Updated)
Foolish wisdom carried the day, just as Paul promises.
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1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Foolish Chairs
“For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength,” Paul tells the faithful in Corinth, turning human wisdom on its head. Human wisdom would say that you can’t make individual furniture for just one person, and yet the Adaptive Design Association does just that — and does it affordably.
They make one-of-a-kind furniture for people who have disabilities — and they make it out of cardboard. Author Sara Hendren says cardboard (foolish by human wisdom standards) is “strong enough to make furniture that is temporary, but also temporary-to-permanent, lasting years if needed. The material is sketch-like, under construction, with enough malleability to be edited, reshaped, or even discarded without too much preciousness. Cardboard has the virtue of being provisional, and it retains its experimental spirit even while it offers its sturdy strength… just right for fostering the design of adaptive furniture. It’s also a great match for the near-magical plasticity that marks the development of young children...”
As children with disabilities grow, the workshop can make them new chairs or adapt for new needs. Sara Hendren notes, “The workshop wants the message to be one of accessibility in the broadest sense: A reminder that the built environment and all its structures are the products of human decisions. Does a child want to sit in a stable position, not at a table but instead on the floor, the better to play with siblings? Or reach a stand holding a musical instrument at school?”
Hendren adds, “And sometimes, too, they design for unimaginable heartbreak: Once, years ago, they assembled a lightweight carrier for a baby born with spinal muscular atrophy, for whom the experience of being held caused excruciating pain. Unable to hold her in their arms as they longed to, the parents went to ADA, who made the family a cradle-like structure from cardboard and padding. In it, the baby could recline comfortably but be held closely by her family for the eight months that she lived.” (from What Can a Body Do)
Foolish wisdom makes life easier for people who need something special.
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John 2:13-22
Not Business as Usual
As Jesus turns over the tables in the temple, he’s disrupting business as usual. Gary Haugen, CEO of International Justice Mission, says that his non-profit begins every day by stepping out of the usual workday pattern.
8:30 a.m. was declared to be the formal beginning of every IJM workday and also a time of complete stillness for all — a time we simply call “8:30 Stillness.” Now imagine with me for a moment, a staff of high-performing lawyers, criminal investigators, social workers, and professionals in Washington, DC, and offices across the developing world, rushing into the office to begin their day, faced with the task of fighting slavery, human trafficking, police abuse, and other forms of violent oppression. As these staff arrive at their desks, their first order of business is to stop. All phones are off. Laptops closed. No email. No meetings. Just silence. Solitude. Stillness. For thirty minutes. (told by Ruth Haley Barton in Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership)
Pausing gets us closer to God, as Jesus tells us over and over in his work.
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John 2:13-22
What Are You Really Buying
Interrupting the sales in the temple, Jesus forces the onlookers to think about what they’re really buying that day.
Writer Ian Bogost (Atlantic magazine) explains that we’re never only buying one thing. “What do you get when you buy something? The thing, of course — a Big Mac, airline transit to Miami, the right to stream Bridgerton. This is the hard product. But you receive secondary goods and services as well: The box in which you can transport your burger, complimentary Wi-Fi with your SkyMiles membership, the kinship of watching a show with your family. Call this the “soft product.” If you don’t get the hard product, you’ve been swindled. But that soft product has a value too: Without it, you’d feel shortchanged.”
The sales in the temple offer the soft product of religious connection, and closeness to God, and Jesus offers us a different way to acquire that “soft product.”
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John 2:13-22
Beginning
John chooses a dramatic beginning for Jesus’ ministry — a miracle at a wedding, and then this more public scene in art of the temple. It’s interesting to think about how things begin. Poet John O’Donohue notes that the start is the hardest step.
He writes, “Sometimes the greatest challenge is to actually begin; there is something deep in us that conspires with what wants to remain within safe boundaries and stay the same. Years ago, my neighbor here set out to build his new home. He had just stripped the sod off the field to begin digging out the foundation when an old man from the village happened to come by. He blessed the work and said, “You have the worst of it behind you now.” My neighbor laughed and said, “But I have only just begun.”
The old man said, “That’s what I mean. You have begun; and to make a real beginning is the most difficult act.” There is an old Irish proverb that says, “Tus maith leath na hoibre.” “A good beginning is half the work.” (from To Bless the Space Between Us)
Jesus is off to a notable start, as John tells his story.
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From team member Katy Stenta:
John 2:13-22
Flipping Tables Sunday
Jesus does not need a marketplace. In the wake of John 2, Jesus makes it clear that he is not interested in money. If the idea is that Jesus has left the building, then the book, Gone for Good talks about the huge shift that is coming as most churches will no longer hold property. If Christianity is no longer the bigwig in the room, could the hope be that the white evangelical fanaticism at play in this political moment is the last gasp of a dying era? What would a disenfranchised Christianity look like, and how much healthier might it become?
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Exodus 20:1-17
Establishing Boundaries
In Exodus, we are reminded that boundaries are mutually agreed upon rules. Ones that are meant for the health of the entire community, not dictates meant to oppress one group over another. As laws are being passed of a questionable nature from LGBTQIA strictures to problematical abortion restrictions that led to the inevitable IVF problems, it calls to mind how boundaries are lines that are for safety and health. As such, they exist as lines in the sand, meant to be altered for the greater good. Here are some reasons why ridiculous law exist but are no longer enforced. The Bible is about community.
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1 Corinthians 1:18:25
Nonsense
The idea of who God is does not make sense to logic or power, because it is not a means to an end. For those who are trying to use Christianity to get to power, they are missing the point. This is why government messes up religion and vice versa. One cannot post the Ten Commandments in a classroom, or simply dictate everyone to become Christian. That is not how faith works. One cannot force faith. Faith finds you.
To try to make Christian the power, when its entire point is to empower the weak, is to miss how Jesus works. Jesus is the Savior of the liminal, the weak, the children. Jesus is not here for the powerful. Thus, Christianity is not a religion that makes sense to governments, powers, or principalities. It cannot be forced or enforced. Power robs Christianity of its beauty. It is complicated in that way. God works in the ways we humans would not choose. God is wiser than us. For that I am grateful.
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WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship
One: The heavens are telling the glory of God.
All: The firmament proclaims God’s handiwork.
One: The law of God is perfect, reviving the soul.
All: The decrees of God are sure, making wise the simple;
One: Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts
All: be acceptable to you, O God, our rock and our redeemer.
OR
One: God calls us together as one family united together.
All: We come and reach out to one another.
One: God’s call goes beyond just these gathered here.
All: We extend our hands to those here and away.
One: God’s call reaches out to the whole family of humankind.
All: We will embrace all as God’s own children, our siblings.
Hymns and Songs
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
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty
UMH: 64/65
H82: 362
PH: 138
GTG: 1
AAHH: 329
NNBH: 1
NCH: 227
CH: 4
LBW: 165
ELW: 413
W&P: 136
AMEC: 25
STLT: 26
Renew: 204
For the Beauty of the Earth (especially verse 4)
UMH: 92
H82: 416
PH: 473
GTG: 14
NNBH: 8
NCH: 28
CH: 56
LBW: 561
ELW: 879
W&P: 40
AMEC: 578
STLT: 21
Children of the Heavenly Father
UMH: 141
NCH: 487
LBW: 474
ELW: 781
W&P: 83
Rise, Shine, You People
UMH: 187
LBW: 393
ELW: 665
W&P: 89
Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life
UMH: 427
H82: 609
PH: 408
GTG: 343
NCH: 543
CH: 665
LBW: 429
ELW: 719
W&P: 591
AMEC: 561
O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee
UMH: 430
H82: 659/660
PH: 357
GTG: 738
NNBH: 445
NCH: 503
CH: 602
LBW: 492
ELW: 818
W&P: 589
AMEC: 299:
Let There Be Peace on Earth
UMH: 431
CH: 677
W&P: 614
Jesu, Jesu
UMH: 432
H82: 602
PH: 367
GTG: 203
NCH: 498
CH: 600
ELW: 708
W&P: 273
Renew: 289
Blest Be the Tie That Binds
UMH: 557
PH: 438
GTG: 306
AAHH: 341
NNBH: 298
NCH: 393
CH: 433
LBW: 370
ELW: 656
W&P: 393
AMEC: 522
Sweet, Sweet Spirit
CCB: 7
As We Gather
CCB: 12
Renew: 6
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 and called us to be your own dear children:
Grant us the grace to embrace all people as our family
and to never see others as commodities to be used;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you created us and called us to be your children. You have made of all humanity one family. Help us to understand our connectedness and to serve rather than use others. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our excluding others from the household of God.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have put barriers up to keep others out of your family. We have acted as gate keepers deciding who was and who was not worthy of entrance into your realm. We have usurped your authority and ignored the clear teachings of your Son. Forgive our selfish ways and renew your Spirit within us that we may love all as you love the whole world. Help us to love as Jesus loves. Amen.
One: God claims us as children even when don’t act like our heavenly parent. Receive God’s forgiveness and embrace your siblings in God.
Prayers of the People
Praise and glory are yours, O God who created all humanity to be your family. You embrace us as your children and bestow your love upon us.
(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 put barriers up to keep others out of your family. We have acted as gate keepers deciding who was and who was not worthy of entrance into your realm. We have usurped your authority and ignored the clear teachings of your Son. Forgive our selfish ways and renew your Spirit within us that we may love all as you love the whole world. Help us to love as Jesus loves.
We give you thanks for all the blessings of being called your children. You love us and claim us even when we fail you. You have given us a wonderful place to dwell that produces abundantly the things we need for our earthly lives. You have gifted us with scripture, prophets, psalmists, and teachers to lead us in our spiritual lives. You have given us your Son and your Spirit to direct us and strengthen us on our journey.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another this day and for all our siblings throughout time and place. We pray especially for those who have felt excluded from your family or have been told they do not belong. We pray for those who are working to reach out to those who feel removed from you as they share your love with them.
(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.
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CHILDREN'S SERMON
Knowledge of God’s Law is Sweeter Than Honey
by Tom Willadsen
Psalm 19
The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb. (NRSVUE)
You will need to make edible dough. It’s very simple:
• ½ cup rice cereal
• ½ cup corn starch
• ¼ cup pureed apple sauce (the size of a baby food jar)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Food coloring
Mix the dry ingredients. Add apple sauce. Add vegetable oil. Stir together and mold by hand. Divide dough into parts and put each part in a ziplock bag. Add food color and knead dough while it’s in the ziplock bag to distribute color.
You can watch this less than 3 minute instructional video.
After the kids have gathered ask them if they like to learn new things. If they enjoy learning things in school, for example. Do the things they learn have a taste? Be ready for some strange reactions.
Tell them that a long time ago kids used to eat their homework! Children were given sweet dough when they were learning the alphabet. And when they successfully formed a letter with the dough, they got to eat it! And it tasted really, really good!
Give them each a piece of the edible dough and ask them to make a letter, maybe the first letter in their name.
E for Eric
M for Meghan and so on.
When they’ve made their letter, have them hold it for everyone to see. Then tell them they can eat it. That the dough they’re using is completely safe to eat!
I suggest you experiment with adding honey to the dough. The recipe above, which is from the video, is edible, but not especially tasty. Try adding some honey to it.
There’s a chance some of the kids have never tasted honey.
If you fear they might be squeamish about eating the dough, you might want to have some honey-flavored candy, Bit-o-Honey, for example, so they can experience actually honey taste.
Some pediatricians advise not giving honey to children less than six months old.
You can conclude the lesson with Psalm 34:8 “O taste and see that the Lord is good!” I’ve been using that verse for 30 years to encourage people to have an extra dessert at church events.
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The Immediate Word, March 3, 2024 issue.
Copyright 2024 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.
- Family Matters by Elena Delhagen. The point of it all is that we honor God when we honor one another; every single mitzvot points us back to this truth.
- Second Thoughts: Pass The Plate Again by Quantisha Mason-Doll based on John 2:13-22.
- Sermon illustrations by Dean Feldmeyer, Mary Austin, Chris Keating, Katy Stenta.
- Worship resources by George Reed.
- Children's sermon: Knowledge of God’s Law is Sweeter Than Honey by Tom Willadsen based on Psalm 19.
Family Matters
by Elena Delhagen
Exodus 20:1-17
It’s no secret that the Old Testament contains a lot of rules. The Jewish people call these mitzvot (the Hebrew word for a singular divine commandment is mitzvah), and in the Torah, there are 613 of them. Some of them are “positive” commandments (mitzvot aseh), which tell us to do something, while others are “negative” (mitzvot lo taaseh), which tell us to abstain from something. The most famous collection of mitzvot, the Ten Commandments, contain both.
The Ten Commandments, given to Moses by YHWH on Mount Sinai, were communicated to the Israelites as a sort of roadmap for how to live as the people of God. That’s what all mitzvot are, really. God doesn’t command us to do or not do something because he is an angry taskmaster in the sky. Rather, God is a wise and gentle parent, teaching us the ins and outs of holy living, one day and one situation at a time.
Which is why it’s hardly surprising that the concepts of children and parents, sons and daughters, generations and descendants, show up so often in the Ten Commandments — really in the whole of scripture. (One source I found pointed out that the Bible mentions family in some shape or form more than 1,500 times!) God’s family is important to him. And as we make our way through scripture, we see that God’s family is ultimately fulfilled through the Son Jesus Christ, who grafts us all together into one tree.
God’s family, then, is not confined to bloodlines. Which means neither is ours. The Ten Commandments offer us a guide on how we should relate to God (commandments 1-4) and how we ought to relate to one another (commandments 5-10). We are asked to care for each other. To be truthful with one another. To be content with what we have and not to take what belongs to others in the family of God. The point of it all is that we honor God when we honor one another; every single mitzvot points us back to this truth.
In the News
UNICEF estimates that approximately 17,000 children in the Gaza Strip of Palestine are unaccompanied or separated from their families. Hospital wards in the displacement camps of Gaza are being filled with those who are internally classified by the acronym WCNSF — “Wounded Child, No Surviving Family.” The Telegraph (UK) reports that rarely, if ever, have so many children been orphaned in such a short period.
Audrey McMahon, a psychiatrist for Doctors Without Borders, states, “The WCNSF acronym is unprecedented in modern day history and should terrify, shock, and even shame anyone who reflects on it. It’s a moral injury to humanity.”
It’s also a sign of how far we, as God’s people, have strayed from the commandments given to us. “You shall not murder.” It doesn’t get much more straightforward than that.
There’s also a video making its rounds on the internet of an elderly Palestinian man being interviewed by a younger man, and in it, he tearfully pleads for a new wheelchair because the one he has is broken. When the younger man returns with the new chair, the two embrace, and the younger man assures the other he will be taken care of. “We are all your sons,” he tells the elderly man in Arabic, reminding the man of our human interconnectedness. It’s true — we are all his sons and daughters, because being part of the family of God means we belong to one another. We’re meant to care for one another. Imagine how different the world could be if we all treated each other like we were sons and fathers, daughters and mothers. Imagine how we could truly live out the Ten Commandments, those mitzvot that God gave us.
In the Scriptures
This passage in Exodus is not the only place in scripture where the Ten Commandments appear. There’s virtually no difference between the ten given here and the ten from Deuteronomy 5 — except for the commandment about keeping the Sabbath. In Exodus, we are told to keep Sabbath because “in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it” (20:11). In Deuteronomy, we are told to keep Sabbath as a remembrance that we were once slaves (in Egypt), and God freed and redeemed us (5:15). Is God contradicting God’s self? Of course not! Both things are true.
By harkening back to creation, we are reminded that God made the world and all things in it good; the Hebrew word is tov, which is better translated as “pure” or “complete.” But we all know what happened next in the story. That goodness has been marred. We see evidence of it everywhere; one need only take a look at the headlines (whether local or global) to see how we have fallen.
And yet, God has freed and redeemed us in Jesus Christ, and keeping the Sabbath day “as a reminder that God has liberated us from all that is evil and injurious to human flourishing. We take joy in remembering that God is redeeming the creation, salvaging all that evil has sullied so as to return it to the glory God intended in the beginning” (Scott Hoezee). And every time we keep the mitzvot — every time we preserve life or care for another or work to repair a broken relationship — we are participating in that beautiful work God is doing, and honoring God in doing so.
In the Sermon
The concept of an individualistic, nuclear family is strictly a Western one. In fact, in many cultures around the world, particularly in African, Asian, and Latinx communities, family is less about bloodlines and more about shared values and norms. It is not uncommon in such cultures to refer to one’s elder as an “auntie” or “uncle” even if there is no genetic link between the two; in cases like these, it’s a sign of respect and honor. A wonderful example of this is the Israeli kibbutz, a community co-op focused largely on agriculture in which all property is shared and children are raised not just by their birth parents but also teachers and other caretakers within the community.
This extended view of family certainly expands our ideas of how we are responsible to and for one another. It certainly is reminiscent of the earliest Christian church that we read about in Acts, where belongings were communal and the believers served one another, not just those in their individual families (Acts 2:42-47). It also calls to mind the words of Jesus while he was on the cross when he told John he would now be Mary’s son and that Mary would now be his mother (John 19:26-27). Family was expanded in order to ensure that everyone was cared for and taken care of.
Throughout scripture, God is continuously teaching God’s people how to be in relationship with one another — how to be a family. Reaching all the way back to Genesis, God teaches us that we are, in fact, to be our “brother’s keeper” (4:9). Once we reach the Ten Commandments, we see that God is setting up a guide for what our relationship with one another — with those in our family — should look like, and this concept is reiterated throughout the rest of the Bible. When we show one another the respect and honor commanded, God promises it will go well for us. But again — it’s not just about us. It’s about the kind of world we’re building, a new kind of world that is marked by God’s justice, peace, and love. One in which violence is no more, the truth is told, everyone has what they need to thrive, and God’s righteousness reigns over all.
SECOND THOUGHTSPass The Plate Again
by Quantisha Mason-Doll
John 2:13-22
During the Summer of 2012, I worked at a summer camp in rural North Carolina. Every morning the counselors would put on little skits for the campers. The skits were always funny ways to start the morning and get our energy pumping. One specific skit has stuck with me over a decade later. I still catch myself pantomiming the actions every now and again.
The central figure was a caricature of a sweaty, fire and brimstone preacher with the catch phrase, “Hallelujah, AMEN, PASS THE PLATE AGAIN!” The goal was to get things from the campers and whip them into a frenzy. This was done by doing increasingly dramatic actions, coupled with the catchphrase getting louder and more unhinged. It was one of the ultra-fun morning skits, but it was done sparingly so that it would keep its appeal. Now, a decade plus later, I catch myself pantomiming the skit when the collection plate passes by after a particularly good sermon.
The question was asked: “When God is an underachiever, and when church is unsatisfying, can we get our money back?” I never gave much thought as to why I felt more generous after a dynamic, soul moving sermon. When the sermon was underwhelming I still gave out of a sense of duty. I mean, come on, Jesus is watching, yet I always gave way less. That was until I did an extended pulpit supply that was borderline solo pastoring. By no means was this a mega church, not even a mid-sized one, but it was God’s house nonetheless, and I was tasked with serving the house of the Lord to the best of my abilities. I dreaded the point in the service where I would call for the offering.
While the community gave freely of what they had, I was always nervous that my interpretation of the word was worthy enough of their offerings. I knew my sermon landed well when the offerings were higher than normal and the congregants thanked me for my sermon. I felt like that caricature of a sweaty, fire and brimstone preacher, who each week needed to do something bigger and better to get the same outcome. I found myself lured into the trap of viewing the house of the Lord not as the dwelling place of God but as a commodity that is on offer to those who come on Sunday. Granted, I am not the only one that fell into this trap. Those that sit in the pews each Sunday come less out of a sense of loyalty to God, but a duty. Sunday is their chance to prove to everyone else around them that they are holier than thou. Then there are the select few who come because they feel it is their duty to humble the pastor because they are the only one who knows the “true god.”
Looking at my actions now, I feel that the apostle John and Jesus would both give me side-eye for envisioning a little sweaty preacher commanding the collection plate be passed again. These are the ones that will let you know that they did not like your sermon. They will also tell you all the ways you have failed God. To them and others like them, God and the church becomes part of a transaction. We have late-stage capitalism and the threat of global annihilation to thank for that.
These are the same people that are quick to argue that everything would be better if young people would just come to church. As a young adult, I vividly remember struggling to make time to come to church. I would often beg my bosses to allow me the time off on Sunday so that I could spend it in church. As I aged, I did less and less of that because I could not sacrifice my income to just sit for an hour or two in a space that could be underwhelming or unfulfilling. Now in the face of inflation and a shrinking job market, I do not fault the younger generations for choosing work over going to church. I don't think it's because they lack love or respect for God, they just don't want to meet the Lord yet. I mean this, in the sense that if they don't work they don't have an income and if they don't have an income they die. There is no sunk cost value for the younger generations if it's not worth their time or their effort, they're not going to show up.
For years, the church has done nothing but prove itself to be lacking in its ability to stand on business. Yes, hyper consumption of products and the expendability of those goods have translated into every aspect of our life, even the almighty is not exempt from the unstoppable force of capitalism.
History has a way of repeating itself. As John notes, Jesus goes into the temple and overturns the tables because they have made a mockery of God's house. Frankly, it seems like we have not learned from this dramatic show of frustration and anger. Jesus understood the corruption that comes with a society based on what one can do for another. He saw that there is a disproportionate wielding of power, and that it is the buyers that drive the sellers to do more to satisfy those needs.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean FeldmeyerExodus 20:1-17 – The Ten Commandments aren’t just a list of random rules laid down by a demanding deity, they are rules for building and living as a community, whether the community is a tribe, a nation, or a family.
Erma Bombeck’s Rules For Living
In her weekly, syndicated column, humorist Erma Bombeck offered these 8 Commandments for successful living.
1) Never have more children than you have car windows.
2) Never loan your car to someone to whom you have given birth.
3) Pick your friends carefully. A "friend" never goes on a diet when you are fat or tells you how lucky you are to have a husband who remembers Mother's Day — when his gift is a smoke alarm.
4) Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.
5) Know the difference between success and fame. Success is Mother Teresa. Fame is Madonna.
6) Never be in a hurry to terminate a marriage. Remember, you may need this man/woman someday to finish a sentence.
7) There are no guarantees in marriage. If that's what you're looking for, go live with a Sears battery.
8) Never go to a class reunion pregnant. They will think that's all you have been doing since you graduated.
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Rules, No More
Rules of etiquette are created so everyone can feel comfortable whether at a party or at a dinner table. Some rules, however, go out of style and, at some point, are no longer necessary. According to the Maralee McKee School of Etiquette, these are some rules you no longer need to follow:
1) Women should remain seated when being introduced. Ladies, you are now expected to stand just like the guys.
2) Waiting to extend your hand or extending it in a “princess-like” fashion, instead of offering a correct handshake.
3) Gentlemen, you no longer need to wait until a lady extends her hand. You’re free to offer your hand first.
4) Kissing a lady’s hand is now considered pretentious instead of polite.
5) Etiquette used to require men to enter the back seat of a cab (or Uber) first to make sure it was safe and because it was easier for a man to slide over to the other side than for a woman who is wearing a dress. This is no longer the case. Guys, you can get in first or last, whichever is most convenient for all concerned.
6) We no longer need to call other adults who are approximately our same age by Mr. or Ms. and their last name until they ask us to call them by their first name.
7) You no longer have to offer a toast whenever you drink wine or champagne. Yes, that used to be a rule.
8) Sending a wedding gift any time during the first year of marriage used to be okay. Not any longer. Before the event is best.
9) You no longer have to return a dish full of food when you’ve been gifted food.
10) You no longer have to change conversational partners with each new course at a dinner party. Just talk to those seated around you. And does anyone really go to dinner parties anymore?
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Family Rules
Amy Morin, LCSW, is a family therapist and the founder of the Verywell Mind podcast. Writing for the Verywell family website, she says that most parents have a vague notion about what the “family rules” are but every family would benefit by writing them down.
With a list of family rules, she says, everyone in the family becomes clear about expected behavior, including what is allowed and what is not. Rules also help kids feel safe and secure. She also urges parents to make it clear that adults are expected to obey the rules as well as children.
As examples, she offers the following:
- Treat people and property with respect.
- Ask permission to borrow other people’s belongings.
- Do not hurt anyone’s body (no hitting, pushing, or kicking).
- Do not hurt anyone’s feelings (no yelling, put-downs, or name-calling).
- Knock on closed doors before entering.
- Pick up after yourself.
- No electronic devices after the agreed upon curfew.
- Make amends when you hurt someone.
- Tell the truth.
- Practice good dental and body hygiene.
- Attend family meetings.
How Many Rules?
Golf has 34 basic rules and regulations. The current Rules of Golf published and approved by the United States Golf Association and the R&A Rules Limited consists of over 200 pages covering, explaining, and interpreting those 34 rules in-depth. The first known written set of rules for golf consisted of 13 rules.
Basketball began with 13 rules when it was invented by James Naismith. The game has evolved significantly since its inception, and while the original 13 rules by James Naismith were quite different from today’s game, they laid the foundation for the sport we now know. Today, there just 8 rules but it takes 50 articles spread over 196 pages to explain them. These rules cover various aspects of the game, including equipment, facilities, team regulations, player conduct, violations, fouls, special situations, and the roles of officials and table officials.
Professional football is generally considered to be the sport with the most and most complex rules. The NFL Rulebook contains all the rules and regulations governing professional football. Technically, there are only 18 rules, but each rule is further divided into sections, and many sections are further divided into articles. The rulebook provides detailed guidelines for various aspects of the game, including field dimensions, player conduct, scoring, penalty enforcement, and more.
Baseball. An internet search for the exact number of rules for professional baseball indicates that nobody really knows how many rules there are and what exactly those rules are. Really! Even the books about baseball rules don’t agree.
John 2:13-25 – Jesus admonishes those who seek to make a profit from the practice of religion.
Richest Clergy
The richest pastors in America have accumulated substantial wealth through their ministries and other ventures. Here, according to Yen.com, are the top five of the 20 wealthiest pastors in the United States as of 2024:
- Kenneth Copeland: With a net worth of $300 million, Kenneth Copeland is a prominent televangelist and speaker.
- Pat Robertson: With a net worth of $100 million, Robertson is a well-known Christian minister and founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN).
- Joel Osteen: A popular pastor and author, Osteen has a net worth of $100 million. He leads the Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.
- Steven Furtick Jr.: With a net worth of $55 million, Furtick Jr. is the lead pastor of Elevation Church in North Carolina.
- Andy Stanley: Stanley’s net worth is estimated to be over $50 million. He is the senior pastor of North Point Community Church in Georgia.
Questionable Church Fund Raising Techniques
Grace Baptist Church in Troy, NY, near Albany, gave out an AR-15 assault rifle during its Sunday morning service. "If you support the 2nd Amendment, life, and the Bible, we hope to see you Sunday at 10AM as we give away another AR-15!" the church wrote on its Facebook page last week. The church's website noted that this was "Round Two," as a previous giveaway of an AR-15 was held back in 2014.
Pastor John Koletas said that the giveaways were meant to honor gun owners and hunters who have "been so viciously attacked by anti-Christian socialist policies," according to local NBC affiliate WNYT.
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Questionable Church Fund Raising Techniques 2.0
Bad church fundraising techniques usually fail at their goal and, more importantly, turn people off to church in general. Here are a few bad church fundraising ideas to avoid:
- High-pressure sales tactics: Pushing members to buy expensive items or services they don’t need can create discomfort and resentment within the congregation.
- Overpriced bake sales: While bake sales can be successful, charging exorbitant prices for homemade goods may discourage participation.
- Door-to-door solicitation: Going door-to-door asking for donations can be intrusive and may not be well-received by the community.
- Gambling events: Hosting casino nights, poker tournaments, or other gambling-related fundraisers may conflict with the church’s values and mission.
- Controversial partnerships: Associating with businesses or organizations that have questionable practices or reputations can harm the church’s image.
- Expensive gala events: While galas can raise significant funds, organizing lavish events with high costs may not align with the church’s purpose.
- Selling unhealthy products: Promoting sugary snacks, junk food, or other unhealthy items contradicts the church’s focus on well-being.
- Guilting members: Using guilt or emotional manipulation to encourage donations is not a respectful approach.
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Give Through, Not To
Our pastor once reminded us that giving to charity is always safest when done through your church. We don’t just give to our church, he said, we give THROUGH our church.
It’s a nearly certain way of avoiding unscrupulous and fake charities like the ones listed below. The top (or bottom) ten worst so-called charities when it comes to accountability and percentage of donations that actually go to help those they claim to help, according to Moneyinc.com:
1. Cancer Fund of America – While the American Cancer Fund of America is now dissolved, it is just one of many philanthropic centers started by James T. Reynolds and his crooked family. From this fund, Reynolds took home an annual salary of around $230,000.
2. American Breast Cancer Foundation – The second cancer research charity to make our list is the American Breast Cancer Foundation, an organization set up in 1997 with the intent of funding health education and free breast exams for women. Any evidence that any of the thousands it’s raised through appeals have made their way to the appropriate services is so thin on the ground as to be non-existent.
3. Children’s Wish Foundation – Anyone reading the name of the next charity on our list stands a good chance of confusing it with the far more famous (and far more reputable) charity, The Make-a-Wish Foundation.
4. Disabled Veterans National Fund – This organization says it will help veterans, but its leaders have shown a history of mismanaging their funds and using very little of their funds to actually help veterans. This organization has had a long history of making poor decisions and came under fire starting in 2012 and in 2014 when only 15% of their funds went to veterans.
5. SPCA International – The charity has come under question for its ethics and many people involved with the group have shown shady histories in the nonprofit sector.
6. United States Deputy Sheriffs’ Association – Forced to move its headquarters to a new state on account of the dodgy dealings and underhanded practices, this organization has long hit the news with its scams, but it continues to try to extort money.
7. Operation Lookout National Center for Missing Youth – A so-called charity with the very worthy aim of providing support and assistance to the families of missing children, it does no such thing, preferring instead to siphon 82% of its donations into its solicitors’ pockets.
8. National Caregiving Foundation – Advertised as an organization that provides support and care for people suffering from mental illness, there is no evidence that it actually does so, and director Regina Salta’s salary amounts to a staggering $106,472 a year according to Charity Navigator.
9. Project Cure (Florida) – Claiming to “raise awareness” about any number of serious health issues, the national headquarters turned out to be a minuscule storage unit in Florida.
10. On Your Feet, Inc. – This is a charity designed to help people who struggle with hard community events or provide disaster relief. Unfortunately, this organization has many red flags that suggest it is not as upstanding as it claims to be. In the past, organization leaders have gone to prison for stealing millions from the charity. While the organization may have improved, it has yet to prove itself to be a reliable charity.
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From team member Chris Keating:Exodus 20:1-17
Words of Emancipation or Mandates for Control?
Despite our attempt to keep the Ten Commandments encased in marble or displayed one dimensionally on posters in classrooms, the commandments come to us as dynamic statements designed to remind Israel that it is no longer under the bondage of Pharoah. As Walter Brueggemann suggests, “The Ten Commandments are rules by which (Israel can) maintain their recent emancipation from Egypt. Brueggemann’s sermon, “Strategies for Staying Emancipated” notes that the decalogue contains “an announcement that the world is under new governance,” and that the covenant is a call to honor God to the exclusion of every “idol, every ‘ism,’ such as racism, or sexism, or nationalism, or the worship of stuff that is rare or precious or attractive or beautiful or empowering.”
Brueggemann’s view contrasts with a recent decision by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos are people. Last week, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Parker, who issued the opinion that the United States was founded as a Christian nation, was guided in his belief in God’s prohibition against murder in upholding the sanctity of protecting embryos from destruction.
Parker served as an aide to former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who became famous for his crusade to erect monuments to the Ten Commandments in courthouses. Parker made it clear he would continue his mentor’s fight. His opinion on the frozen embryo case includes quotations from Genesis 1 and Exodus 20 and is steeped in a view of Christian nationalism known as “The Seven Mountain Mandate.” The once fringe philosophy, also known as 7M, includes evangelical and Pentecostal leaders, as well as participants in the January 6, 2021 insurrection. 7M believers argue Christians need to take control over the seven spheres of society: family, religion, education, media, entertainment, business, and government.
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Psalm 19
Northern Exposures
For many, there is no speech, nor are there words, to describe the spiritually moving experiences of beholding the magnificent Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights. From a scientific point of view, the explanation of the Northern Lights is straightforward. It is an interplay between the sun, earth, and upper atmosphere. The green and red colored shapes are created by solar winds comprised of changed particles that originate in the sun, travelling away from it in all directions.
But witnessing the lights is a mystical, spiritual question beyond all explanation — a firmament that proclaims God’s handiwork. Seeing them, notes one writer, can evoke a “chance to observe how the universe works — and how small we really are in the grand scheme of things.” Indeed, the writer continues that these are reminders of our place in the world. According to Subconscious Retreats:
The Northern Lights can be seen as a reminder that our existence isn’t as important as we like to think it is. We may be in control of our small corner of the world, but this isn’t the only place where life exists and it isn’t the most important place in the universe, either. Witnessing the lights can help us put our small issues in perspective and return to the place of wonder and curiosity we had as children. The Northern Lights can help us return to a state of mind that is open to learning new things and experiencing things we may have otherwise taken for granted.
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John 2:13-22
Doing something which does not compute
The lectionary editors should affix a big “Approach with Caution” sign to various passages, including John 2:13-22, which can run the risk of promulgating antisemitism. (A quick review of Amy-Jill Levine’s reflections on the problems encountered by various lectionary passages can be found in this June, 2023, article from the Christian Century.) Barring that, a wise interpreter will keep in mind that Jesus’ presence in the Temple in John 2 arises from his own Jewishness and is not, per se, an attack on Judaism.
Instead, pay attention to the way Jesus does the surprising. John’s incarnational witness to Jesus is on full view here. While the synoptic gospels tell the story of Jesus clearing the temple at the end of their stories, John has placed this incident at the beginning. It is a reminder of how God is about to do something that may not compute, or at least seem radically different. John’s understanding of the abundance of God that creates life and calls humans to abide with God is evident in the way Jesus speaks of the temple that is his body. Of course, as John notes, they won’t understand this until after the resurrection, when the message of Christ’s new life will be clear.
In other words, John calls us to embrace the sort of thinking Wendell Berry suggests in his famous poem, “Manifesto: The Mad Farmers Liberation Front.” Berry invites readers to a life that “practices resurrection daily” by “doing something that won’t compute.” In part the poem reads:
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
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From team member Mary Austin:1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Ask Only Questions
As Paul writes, human wisdom isn’t wise enough. Author Liz Wiseman tried a bit of foolishness with her children to bring out their own wisdom. She noticed that she was in an endless loop of telling her kids the same thing over and over and a colleague offered an interesting challenge. He proposed that she speak to her children only in questions. No statements, orders, or directives.
Wiseman says that, driving home one night, she decided to try it. “Everything I said would be a legitimate question. I summoned strength, opened the house door, and began the experiment. Dinner and playtime were interesting. When it got close to bedtime, I looked at my watch and asked my children, “What time is it?” One responded, “It’s bedtime.” I continued, “What do we do to get ready for bed?” They explained, “We get our pajamas on.” “Okay, who needs help?” The two-year old did, so I helped him while the girls got themselves dressed for bed. “What’s next?” I asked. Their responses showed remarkable understanding of the bedtime routine and eagerness to act. Soon their teeth were brushed. “What story will we read tonight? . . . and whose turn is it to pick the story? And who is going to read it?” After story time I asked, “Who is ready for bed?” Eagerly, they said their prayers and hopped into their beds. And stayed there. And then nodded off to sleep. I stood in the hallway in shock and wondered, ‘Have I just witnessed a miracle? What has happened to my children?’ And ‘How long have they known how to do this?’” (from Multipliers, Revised and Updated)
Foolish wisdom carried the day, just as Paul promises.
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1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Foolish Chairs
“For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength,” Paul tells the faithful in Corinth, turning human wisdom on its head. Human wisdom would say that you can’t make individual furniture for just one person, and yet the Adaptive Design Association does just that — and does it affordably.
They make one-of-a-kind furniture for people who have disabilities — and they make it out of cardboard. Author Sara Hendren says cardboard (foolish by human wisdom standards) is “strong enough to make furniture that is temporary, but also temporary-to-permanent, lasting years if needed. The material is sketch-like, under construction, with enough malleability to be edited, reshaped, or even discarded without too much preciousness. Cardboard has the virtue of being provisional, and it retains its experimental spirit even while it offers its sturdy strength… just right for fostering the design of adaptive furniture. It’s also a great match for the near-magical plasticity that marks the development of young children...”
As children with disabilities grow, the workshop can make them new chairs or adapt for new needs. Sara Hendren notes, “The workshop wants the message to be one of accessibility in the broadest sense: A reminder that the built environment and all its structures are the products of human decisions. Does a child want to sit in a stable position, not at a table but instead on the floor, the better to play with siblings? Or reach a stand holding a musical instrument at school?”
Hendren adds, “And sometimes, too, they design for unimaginable heartbreak: Once, years ago, they assembled a lightweight carrier for a baby born with spinal muscular atrophy, for whom the experience of being held caused excruciating pain. Unable to hold her in their arms as they longed to, the parents went to ADA, who made the family a cradle-like structure from cardboard and padding. In it, the baby could recline comfortably but be held closely by her family for the eight months that she lived.” (from What Can a Body Do)
Foolish wisdom makes life easier for people who need something special.
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John 2:13-22
Not Business as Usual
As Jesus turns over the tables in the temple, he’s disrupting business as usual. Gary Haugen, CEO of International Justice Mission, says that his non-profit begins every day by stepping out of the usual workday pattern.
8:30 a.m. was declared to be the formal beginning of every IJM workday and also a time of complete stillness for all — a time we simply call “8:30 Stillness.” Now imagine with me for a moment, a staff of high-performing lawyers, criminal investigators, social workers, and professionals in Washington, DC, and offices across the developing world, rushing into the office to begin their day, faced with the task of fighting slavery, human trafficking, police abuse, and other forms of violent oppression. As these staff arrive at their desks, their first order of business is to stop. All phones are off. Laptops closed. No email. No meetings. Just silence. Solitude. Stillness. For thirty minutes. (told by Ruth Haley Barton in Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership)
Pausing gets us closer to God, as Jesus tells us over and over in his work.
* * *
John 2:13-22
What Are You Really Buying
Interrupting the sales in the temple, Jesus forces the onlookers to think about what they’re really buying that day.
Writer Ian Bogost (Atlantic magazine) explains that we’re never only buying one thing. “What do you get when you buy something? The thing, of course — a Big Mac, airline transit to Miami, the right to stream Bridgerton. This is the hard product. But you receive secondary goods and services as well: The box in which you can transport your burger, complimentary Wi-Fi with your SkyMiles membership, the kinship of watching a show with your family. Call this the “soft product.” If you don’t get the hard product, you’ve been swindled. But that soft product has a value too: Without it, you’d feel shortchanged.”
The sales in the temple offer the soft product of religious connection, and closeness to God, and Jesus offers us a different way to acquire that “soft product.”
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John 2:13-22
Beginning
John chooses a dramatic beginning for Jesus’ ministry — a miracle at a wedding, and then this more public scene in art of the temple. It’s interesting to think about how things begin. Poet John O’Donohue notes that the start is the hardest step.
He writes, “Sometimes the greatest challenge is to actually begin; there is something deep in us that conspires with what wants to remain within safe boundaries and stay the same. Years ago, my neighbor here set out to build his new home. He had just stripped the sod off the field to begin digging out the foundation when an old man from the village happened to come by. He blessed the work and said, “You have the worst of it behind you now.” My neighbor laughed and said, “But I have only just begun.”
The old man said, “That’s what I mean. You have begun; and to make a real beginning is the most difficult act.” There is an old Irish proverb that says, “Tus maith leath na hoibre.” “A good beginning is half the work.” (from To Bless the Space Between Us)
Jesus is off to a notable start, as John tells his story.
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From team member Katy Stenta:John 2:13-22
Flipping Tables Sunday
Jesus does not need a marketplace. In the wake of John 2, Jesus makes it clear that he is not interested in money. If the idea is that Jesus has left the building, then the book, Gone for Good talks about the huge shift that is coming as most churches will no longer hold property. If Christianity is no longer the bigwig in the room, could the hope be that the white evangelical fanaticism at play in this political moment is the last gasp of a dying era? What would a disenfranchised Christianity look like, and how much healthier might it become?
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Exodus 20:1-17
Establishing Boundaries
In Exodus, we are reminded that boundaries are mutually agreed upon rules. Ones that are meant for the health of the entire community, not dictates meant to oppress one group over another. As laws are being passed of a questionable nature from LGBTQIA strictures to problematical abortion restrictions that led to the inevitable IVF problems, it calls to mind how boundaries are lines that are for safety and health. As such, they exist as lines in the sand, meant to be altered for the greater good. Here are some reasons why ridiculous law exist but are no longer enforced. The Bible is about community.
* * *
1 Corinthians 1:18:25
Nonsense
The idea of who God is does not make sense to logic or power, because it is not a means to an end. For those who are trying to use Christianity to get to power, they are missing the point. This is why government messes up religion and vice versa. One cannot post the Ten Commandments in a classroom, or simply dictate everyone to become Christian. That is not how faith works. One cannot force faith. Faith finds you.
To try to make Christian the power, when its entire point is to empower the weak, is to miss how Jesus works. Jesus is the Savior of the liminal, the weak, the children. Jesus is not here for the powerful. Thus, Christianity is not a religion that makes sense to governments, powers, or principalities. It cannot be forced or enforced. Power robs Christianity of its beauty. It is complicated in that way. God works in the ways we humans would not choose. God is wiser than us. For that I am grateful.
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WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship
One: The heavens are telling the glory of God.
All: The firmament proclaims God’s handiwork.
One: The law of God is perfect, reviving the soul.
All: The decrees of God are sure, making wise the simple;
One: Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts
All: be acceptable to you, O God, our rock and our redeemer.
OR
One: God calls us together as one family united together.
All: We come and reach out to one another.
One: God’s call goes beyond just these gathered here.
All: We extend our hands to those here and away.
One: God’s call reaches out to the whole family of humankind.
All: We will embrace all as God’s own children, our siblings.
Hymns and Songs
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
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty
UMH: 64/65
H82: 362
PH: 138
GTG: 1
AAHH: 329
NNBH: 1
NCH: 227
CH: 4
LBW: 165
ELW: 413
W&P: 136
AMEC: 25
STLT: 26
Renew: 204
For the Beauty of the Earth (especially verse 4)
UMH: 92
H82: 416
PH: 473
GTG: 14
NNBH: 8
NCH: 28
CH: 56
LBW: 561
ELW: 879
W&P: 40
AMEC: 578
STLT: 21
Children of the Heavenly Father
UMH: 141
NCH: 487
LBW: 474
ELW: 781
W&P: 83
Rise, Shine, You People
UMH: 187
LBW: 393
ELW: 665
W&P: 89
Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life
UMH: 427
H82: 609
PH: 408
GTG: 343
NCH: 543
CH: 665
LBW: 429
ELW: 719
W&P: 591
AMEC: 561
O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee
UMH: 430
H82: 659/660
PH: 357
GTG: 738
NNBH: 445
NCH: 503
CH: 602
LBW: 492
ELW: 818
W&P: 589
AMEC: 299:
Let There Be Peace on Earth
UMH: 431
CH: 677
W&P: 614
Jesu, Jesu
UMH: 432
H82: 602
PH: 367
GTG: 203
NCH: 498
CH: 600
ELW: 708
W&P: 273
Renew: 289
Blest Be the Tie That Binds
UMH: 557
PH: 438
GTG: 306
AAHH: 341
NNBH: 298
NCH: 393
CH: 433
LBW: 370
ELW: 656
W&P: 393
AMEC: 522
Sweet, Sweet Spirit
CCB: 7
As We Gather
CCB: 12
Renew: 6
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 and called us to be your own dear children:
Grant us the grace to embrace all people as our family
and to never see others as commodities to be used;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you created us and called us to be your children. You have made of all humanity one family. Help us to understand our connectedness and to serve rather than use others. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our excluding others from the household of God.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have put barriers up to keep others out of your family. We have acted as gate keepers deciding who was and who was not worthy of entrance into your realm. We have usurped your authority and ignored the clear teachings of your Son. Forgive our selfish ways and renew your Spirit within us that we may love all as you love the whole world. Help us to love as Jesus loves. Amen.
One: God claims us as children even when don’t act like our heavenly parent. Receive God’s forgiveness and embrace your siblings in God.
Prayers of the People
Praise and glory are yours, O God who created all humanity to be your family. You embrace us as your children and bestow your love upon us.
(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 put barriers up to keep others out of your family. We have acted as gate keepers deciding who was and who was not worthy of entrance into your realm. We have usurped your authority and ignored the clear teachings of your Son. Forgive our selfish ways and renew your Spirit within us that we may love all as you love the whole world. Help us to love as Jesus loves.
We give you thanks for all the blessings of being called your children. You love us and claim us even when we fail you. You have given us a wonderful place to dwell that produces abundantly the things we need for our earthly lives. You have gifted us with scripture, prophets, psalmists, and teachers to lead us in our spiritual lives. You have given us your Son and your Spirit to direct us and strengthen us on our journey.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another this day and for all our siblings throughout time and place. We pray especially for those who have felt excluded from your family or have been told they do not belong. We pray for those who are working to reach out to those who feel removed from you as they share your love with them.
(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.
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CHILDREN'S SERMONKnowledge of God’s Law is Sweeter Than Honey
by Tom Willadsen
Psalm 19
The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb. (NRSVUE)
You will need to make edible dough. It’s very simple:
• ½ cup rice cereal
• ½ cup corn starch
• ¼ cup pureed apple sauce (the size of a baby food jar)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Food coloring
Mix the dry ingredients. Add apple sauce. Add vegetable oil. Stir together and mold by hand. Divide dough into parts and put each part in a ziplock bag. Add food color and knead dough while it’s in the ziplock bag to distribute color.
You can watch this less than 3 minute instructional video.
After the kids have gathered ask them if they like to learn new things. If they enjoy learning things in school, for example. Do the things they learn have a taste? Be ready for some strange reactions.
Tell them that a long time ago kids used to eat their homework! Children were given sweet dough when they were learning the alphabet. And when they successfully formed a letter with the dough, they got to eat it! And it tasted really, really good!
Give them each a piece of the edible dough and ask them to make a letter, maybe the first letter in their name.
E for Eric
M for Meghan and so on.
When they’ve made their letter, have them hold it for everyone to see. Then tell them they can eat it. That the dough they’re using is completely safe to eat!
I suggest you experiment with adding honey to the dough. The recipe above, which is from the video, is edible, but not especially tasty. Try adding some honey to it.
There’s a chance some of the kids have never tasted honey.
If you fear they might be squeamish about eating the dough, you might want to have some honey-flavored candy, Bit-o-Honey, for example, so they can experience actually honey taste.
Some pediatricians advise not giving honey to children less than six months old.
You can conclude the lesson with Psalm 34:8 “O taste and see that the Lord is good!” I’ve been using that verse for 30 years to encourage people to have an extra dessert at church events.
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The Immediate Word, March 3, 2024 issue.
Copyright 2024 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.
