We Are the Holders of Hands
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For October 22, 2023:
We Are the Holders of Hands
by Dean Feldmeyer
Exodus 33:12-23
Some of the most beautiful words in the English language come in small phrases of three or four words: I’ll go with you — I’m on my way — I’ve got your back — Here, take my hand — I’m right here — I love you.
When we’re scared, insecure, lost, hurting, those are the words we want and need to hear. We need to be reassured that we’re not in this thing alone.
In today’s lesson from the Hebrew scriptures Moses says to God: Just give me some reassurance that I’m not going to be out there on the limb all by myself. And God answers: I’ll go with you.
As the war rages in the Middle East, God’s children are being killed and wounded, on both sides of the border. Governments are quick to provide military assistance but, so far, humanitarian aid is being left to civilians. Indeed, Israel has blocked all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza until the hostages being held by Hamas are released.
As Christians, the question before us is: “How will we answer the cry of the innocents.” With what three or four words will we live into the directive of Jesus to “love one another?”
In the Scriptures
YHWH has called Moses to lead God’s children, Israel, out of bondage in Egypt, but Moses isn’t so sure. Before he undertakes this huge task, he needs some reassurances and, in the opening lines of the lesson he asks God a question that sound almost childlike.
“But who will go with me?”
YHWH, he says, has told him that he knows him intimately and that’s why God has chosen him for this task but that’s not good enough for Moses. If he’s going to go enthusiastically into this leadership role, it’s not enough that God knows him; he wants to know God. He needs a little reciprocity in the relationship. A little quid pro quo.
We can almost hear YHWH sigh: Okay, fine. I’ll go with you so you won’t have to carry the whole load by yourself. From time to time, you can put it on me and I’ll give you a break.
But Moses still isn’t satisfied. He keeps pushing: Okay, good. Because this is a pretty big thing you’re sending me out to do and no one is going to believe that you sent me if you aren’t standing beside me. Then he gets this idea. The one thing that will make him feel confident and self-assured going forward.
“Just let me see you,” he says.
But that’s too much. God replies. I’ll give you a peek. Squeeze into the crack in that big rock and, as I pass by, I’ll cover you with my hand and, then, you can see my back as I pass by. Because no one can handle seeing my face.
Moses does as God instructs and is rewarded with the kind of intimate relationship with God that gives reassurance and comfort. Later it will be said of him that, “He talked with YHWH as a man would talk with his friend.”
I don’t know about you, but if I could talk like that with God one of the first things I’d ask him would be what he intends to do about the mess in the Middle East.
In the News
The news, this week and for the near future, will, no doubt, be dominated with dispatches from what we used to call the Holy Land — the Middle East. The election by Republicans of a Speaker of the House of Representatives and the war in Ukraine will probably place second and third, respectively, in the battle for newspaper column inches.
So, a brief and, admittedly, oversimplified digest of the situation in Israel/Palestine might be helpful. (A more thorough exploration of the history and current situation can be found here.)
After WWII, millions of Jews fled Europe to get as far from the Holocaust as they possibly could and about nearly a million of them went to Palestine, their ancestral homeland. In 1948, they declared themselves a free and independent state with the Israeli Declaration of Independence and, in doing so, sparked the 1948 Arab—Israeli War, which resulted in the expulsion of the Palestinian people from their country and their homes. Since that time, the Arab nations surrounding Israel have seen the Jewish state as an illegal country which stole the land from its rightful inhabitants.
Ever since then, the region has been at war, off and on, with various groups vying for the right to represent the displaced Palestinian refugees. As part of the Oslo Accords in the mid 1990’s the Palestinian Authority (PA) was established as a quasi-government in the Palestinian territories.
Initially, the PA governed both the West Bank and Gaza. But the PA lost control over Gaza after elections in 2006, in which the Islamist Hamas party, a faction of the Muslim Brotherhood, which advocates for the total destruction of the state of Israel, defeated Fatah, the long-dominant political party of Yasser Arafat. Unlike the secular Fatah, which recognizes Israel, Hamas—founded in Gaza in 1987 during the First Intifada (uprising)—rejects what it calls the “Zionist entity.”
Hamas’s 2006 election victory in Gaza plunged the PA into crisis and led to a civil war between Fatah and Hamas, with Hamas taking over Gaza in 2007. Israel, with Egyptian support, immediately responded with a land, air, and sea blockade around Gaza that has been in place for 16 years and is decried by human rights organizations as an “open-air prison.”
Gaza is home to 2 million people and is one of the most densely populated places on Earth. From their respective border crossings, Israel and Egypt decide who and what can enter and exit the territory, including humanitarian support. Israel also controls the strip’s supply of water and electricity and can turn it off at will. The blockade has decimated Gaza’s economy—and Gazans’ quality of life. Gaza today is deeply impoverished: Eighty percent of Gazans rely on aid to survive, and 95 percent do not have access to clean drinking water. Around half do not have enough to eat. Many are unable to obtain proper medical care due to a restrictive Israeli permitting system.
When Hamas was elected by the people of Gaza in 2006 and seized control in 2007 they found themselves responsible for 2 million people crowded into a space of 141 square miles, roughly the size of Detroit, in charge of administrative things like organizing a police force, picking up garbage, and keeping the lights on and the water running much of which was controlled by Israel.
While the members of Hamas may have been skilled guerilla fighters and tacticians, given the obstacles they were up against, they were lousy administrators. They had virtually no resources and no knowledge or understanding of economics, or how to grow the economy of their little country. The result being that 90 percent of the people live in abject poverty.
Frustrated, desperate, and exasperated, Hamas determined that the only solution to their problem, was violent, armed resistance with the goal of taking Israel off the map. The Palestinian people would not be free, they said, until Israel was pushed into the sea. And they would accomplish this task not by fighting the Israeli army, which they could not even begin to match with fire power and brute strength, but by fighting the Israeli people. They would use fear, terror, as a weapon, striking at the civilian population until they became so harassed, so filled with grief and angst that they would not want to live there anymore. They would just go away.
What they didn’t consider was that these were people who had survived 2,000 years of persecution and oppression culminating in the holocaust, the worst act of terror ever perpetrated upon a group of human beings in modern times and they didn’t scare easily. The people of Israel didn’t go away. They dug in and returned an eye for an eye, a life for a life. The refused to bargain with terrorist kidnappers and they retaliated for every act of violence with an act of overwhelming power and force.
But Hamas didn’t go away either. Angry and embittered by the conditions under which they were forced to live in Gaza, they turned to the only thing they knew. Last week, we saw that old tactic of fear, terror, and intimidation writ large across the headlines when Hamas fighters fired rockets and crossed the fences into Israel and massacred more than 1000 people — soldiers, police, civilians, men, women, children, and the aged, mostly unarmed.
And we saw Israel retaliate by massacring more than a thousand people in Gaza, again, mostly civilians by carpet bombing the northern areas around Gaza city.
Some governments have been quick to respond with words of support for Israel. The US has already sent military aid and has deployed war ships to the area as a warning to other countries to stay out of the conflict. If congress can ever get moving again, they have promised that their first order of business will be a bill to allocate funds for the support of Israel.
Most countries who support the Palestinian people have not been so vocal. Theirs has been a quieter, wait-and-see sort of response even as Iran pumps money and rockets into Gaza.
And meanwhile, as is always the case in any war, it is the innocents who suffer most. Now that television cameras have finally made it into Gaza, we are beginning to see that the war is harming the people who live there no less than it is harming the Israelis. Pictures of children screaming in pain, parents weeping in grief, young people wandering through the streets, dazed and confused and bleeding, haunt our sleep.
The question for us, the church of Jesus Christ, is not which side we will take in this bitter conflict. That has already been determined by our Lord: We will take the side of the suffering innocents. The question before us is when and how we will do that.
Perhaps the answer to that is written in today’s lesson from the Hebrew Scriptures.
In the Sermon
The 1980 Australian film “Breaker Morant,” covers the court martial of two Australian soldiers, lieutenants Harry “Breaker” Morant and Peter Handcock who are eventually convicted and sentenced to death by firing squad for killing six prisoners of war during the Boer War, between England’s army and South African (Boer) guerrilla fighters. Based on a true story, the two condemned men followed what they thought was a “take no prisoners” order from Lord Kitchner. But because both sides are trying to make peace by the time of the court martial, those at the top have ruled that guilty verdicts must be obtained and the executions need to go forward in order to appease the Boers. “Sacrifices must be made,” in Kitchner’s words.
In the final scene, as the two men are walked by armed guards to the hilltop where the executions take place they quietly reach out and take each other’s hand in what is one of the tenderest scenes I have ever encountered in a commercial movie.
Standing on the very precipice of death, they reach out to receive a small comfort from the skin-to-skin touch of a brother.
When I was a child, we would visit my great uncle Enoch’s farm in southern Indiana. Enoch was kind and gentle, but miserly, old, bachelor German farmer and, according to my grandfather, his brother, he was the last man in the county to have electricity and indoor plumbing installed in his farmhouse. This would have been around 1960.
Tight as he was with a dollar, however, he refused to use either the plumbing or electricity for fear of “wearing them out.” He might flip on a light switch long enough to find a lantern in the dark or use the indoor commode when the temperature outside dipped below zero, but mostly he still made the cold walk to the outhouse whenever the need arose.
And he expected his grand nephews and nieces to do the same. Even after dark, he told us to use the flashlight and find our way to the privy where would would brave the hornets, the smell, and the creaky floor to uh, well, you know.
And the worst part was that my parents never said anything in our defense.
When my little brother or sister looked pleadingly at them and asked, “Will someone go with me?” Our parents just looked at me, the eldest, and said, “Dean!” And I went without argument, holding them by the hand, because I knew the value of having someone who would go with you when you’re desperate and scared, and maybe even hold your hand.
Moses isn’t going to the privy. He’s going to Egypt to do God’s bidding and bring out the children of Israel. And he wants to know, “who will go with me?” And so do we, human beings of the 21st century. Who, we ask, will go with us?
Nowhere is this question more poignantly being asked than by the innocent civilians — men, women, children, youth, elderly people — on both sides of the wire in Israel and Gaza. A teenage Palestinian girl stand in the street weeping, “This is genocide! Why are they doing this to me? I didn’t do anything.” A teenage boy weeps as he tells of spending the night under the body of his dead mother, waiting for the terrorists to return and kill him as well. A little Palestinian girl, maybe 9 or ten years old, face burned and covered with ashes and dirt, looks silently, pleadingly into the camera. An old man from one side or the other — who knows? — is crying so loudly and out of control that he can’t bring himself to speak.
And the subtext, the unspoken plea of every one of these innocents is, “Who will go with us?”
Their hands are stretched out asking for a bit of support, of comfort, of help — physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. They are stretched out to us.
Why us?
Because we are the followers of Jesus Christ, historically, the helpers and the holders of hands.
SECOND THOUGHTS
The Living Image
by Elena Delhagen
Matthew 22:15-22
In the ancient Near East (which, remember, is the context in which the Bible is written), every major god or deity had its own image, or cult statue, that was set up somewhere in the temple that had been dedicated to that god. This is what scripture is referring to when it talks about a “graven image.” It was widely accepted that, in order to communicate with a particular god or goddess, one could do so through the image, or statue. These images were believed to mediate the presence and power of the various deities on earth.
Besides these graven images, those living in the ancient Near East also held that kings were the primary image — the living image — of god on earth. The idea is that a king was the foremost mediator of the presence and will of the gods from heaven to those living on earth. As such, the king also served a priestly function, in that the king of any nation, big or small, also held the title of high priest for whatever the national religion happened to be. There was no distinction between the sacred and secular roles; as king, a ruler would embody both simultaneously.
The Bible, then, was written within this very real, historical context — but it also turns many of the beliefs of its day on its head. For example, instead of there being many gods or goddesses, it proclaims only one true God, YHWH, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and God is not contained in a statue, or image, that’s made by human hands. Yet what is perhaps most radical is scripture’s assertion that it isn’t just royalty — kings and priests — that manifest God’s presence on earth. The opening chapters of Genesis instead declare a new truth: that the entire human race mediates the image of God. Young or old, male or female, all skin colors and languages and socioeconomic class — each and every single person bears the image of God and, thereby, declares God in the world, situation, and experiences in which he or she lives.
This background is crucial if we really want to understand this somewhat strange gospel text for the week. When the Pharisees bring Jesus the coin that is used for tax that has the head of the emperor on it they are, in essence, bringing him a graven image, one that is meant to communicate the authority and power of the emperor in the land. Jesus knows they’re not really concerned about taxes; this has nothing to do with money. It has to do with religion, and power — and Jesus is having none of it. ‘Go ahead,’ Jesus is essentially saying. ‘Give your money to the emperor. That’s not what God, the true God, is concerned about. God cares more about your hearts, your lifestyles, how you carry that divine image in and through you than God cares about a coin.’ He is making the claim that this is all temporary, really. Things like graven images are futile because they’re not real, and the day will come when all will be awakened to that fact.
What is real, though, is the image of God — the living image, in the face of every man, woman, and child throughout the world. This past week, we (the collective we) have been flooded with photos and videos of the horrors taking place in modern Israel/Palestine. There have been gruesome photos and videos of image-bearers, both Israeli and Palestinian, being subjected to unspeakable violence and dehumanization. The international community, one could argue, has known about the pressure cooker that is Gaza for decades. Over the years, civilians living in the walled-off section of the country have experienced terror, bloodshed, and dehumanization under conditions that the UN Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 has called “apartheid.” They are not nameless, faceless, graven images; these are living and breathing human beings who carry the divine image with them. Furthermore, it has only been ninety years — less than a century! — since the beginning of the Holocaust, the inhumane and evil systematic extermination of approximately six million Jews. They were not nameless, faceless, graven images; they were living and breathing human beings who carried the divine image with them, and their genocide has had far-reaching effects on the Jewish community even today, with antisemitism contributing to the oppression of Jews worldwide.
We, as a species, have a terrible tendency to place our trust in the wrong images or, even worse, to willingly choose them. Images of money, power, politics, security, strategy, authority, success, and control have become our gods, and we have forsaken the very face of God in the human beings we see before us. We have dehumanized Palestinian residents of Gaza, assigning them images of our choosing: savages. Animals. Barely human. And we have dehumanized Jews as well, assigning them current images based on antisemitic tropes like greedy or disloyal, while Nazi Germany used images like rats, dirty, and impure. Yet every single image we place upon others, besides that of a beloved child of God, is wrong. To quote St. Catherine of Siena, “The soul is in God, and God is in the soul. God is closer to us than water is to a fish.” If we want to see God, we can do so simply by looking in the mirror. Yet let us not forget that when we turn on the news and see a wailing Palestinian or Israel, fraught with suffering and fear, we see God, too.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
Exodus 33:12-23
Not Embarrassed
In this charming story, God is willing to debate with Moses, to reassure him and then to show Moses the divine glory — in a manageable dose. God is compassionate enough to meet every need that Moses has.
Father Greg Boyle tells about giving a keynote at a conference, talking about the work of Homeboy Industries helping young men and women leave life in gangs. He takes, as he calls then, two homies with him. They sit in the audience for his speech, and he points them out to to conference attendees, who give them an enthusiastic round of applause.
"Afterward, we all have lunch in the hotel and then make our way to the elevator connecting us to the underground parking structure…Eddie is tiny and looks like he’s twelve though he’s nineteen. We get to the elevator before the other two and we await its arrival. Eddie places his hand on my left shoulder and rests his head on my arm. He’s not tired; he’s tender. We stare at the closed elevator door and he says, “Hey, G… you know what I love the most about Homeboy?” “No. What, son?” “That you’re not embarrassed by us.” The words now move through me, with some bright energy, and my eyes glisten with a start. The God we’ve settled for is red in the face and pretends he doesn’t know us at parties. But the God we actually have is never embarrassed by us."
God is not embarrassed by Moses’ requests, and God is not embarrassed by us.
* * *
Exodus 33:12-23
Focus
After all the days spent leading the people in the desert, the nights spent praying for them, more days listening to their quarrels and complaints, this is a rare moment of focus for Moses. All Moses has to do in this moment is concentrate on God, and the experience of God.
Author Kent Nerburn says we can all have this, in a smaller way, if we concentrate. He writes about dedicating the first moments of the day to God. "Now is the moment when I must pause and lift my heart — now, before the day fragments and my consciousness shatters into a thousand pieces. For this is the moment when the senses are most alive, when a thought, a touch, a piece of music can shape the spirit and color the day. But if I am not careful — if I rise, frantic, from my bed, full of small concerns — the mystical flow of the imagination at rest will be broken, the past and the future will rush in to claim my mind, and I will be swept up into life’s petty details and myriad obligations. Gone will be the openness that comes only to the waking heart, and with it, the chance to focus the spirit and consecrate the day. All the great spiritual traditions have known this. The Christian monastics remain silent until their first chant of morning praise. Muslims begin their day with petitions of humility and thanks. The Dakotah Indians learned as children to walk in silence to a lake or stream, splash water on their faces, then offer up a prayer toward the sun. Our lives may not allow such exalted devotions. But something precious is lost if we rush headlong into the details of life without pausing for a moment to pay homage to the mystery of life and the gift of another day." (from Small Graces: The Quiet Gifts of Everyday Life)
* * *
Matthew 22:15-22
Image of God
As Jesus speaks, we see again how deeply he is the image of God for us, even as he reminds us that we reflect the image of God. That happens in all kinds of ways. In the beautiful Inspector Gamache novels by Louise Penny, the mysteries come with all kinds of spiritual lessons. Louise Penny writes about an old dog who knows exactly who God is. "Everyday for Lucy’s entire dog life Jane had sliced a banana for breakfast and had miraculously dropped one of the perfect disks on to the floor where it sat for an instant before being gobbled up. Every morning Lucy’s prayers were answered, confirming her belief that God was old and clumsy and smelt like roses and lived in the kitchen." The image of God is everywhere. (from Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel)
* * *
Matthew 22:15-22
God Carriers
Carrying the image of God is important work. The late South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu was raised in apartheid-era South Africa, where the entire system was organized to remind people of color that they were inferior. Tutu says that when he began to study the Bible, he began to find a different message, noting that “the scriptures say it is because we are created in the image of God, that each one of us is a God-carrier. No matter what our physical circumstances may be, no matter how awful, no matter how deprived you could be, it doesn’t take away from you this intrinsic worth. One saw just how significant it was.”
His work as a priest was to remind people that they were not inferior. “Most of my parishioners were domestic workers, not people who are very well educated. But I would say to them, “You know, mama, when they ask who are you” — you see, the white employer most frequently didn’t use the person’s name. They said the person’s name was too difficult. And so most Africans, women would be called “Annie” and most black men really, you were “boy.” And I would say to them, “When they ask who are you, you say, ‘Me? I’m a God-carrier. I’m God’s partner. I’m created in the image of God.'” And you could see those dear old ladies as they walked out of church on that occasion as if they were on cloud nine. You know, they walked with their backs slightly straighter. And, yeah, it was amazing.” (from OnBeing)
* * *
Matthew 22:15-22
Render to the IRS
It’s not so easy to give Caesar his due — if you want to pay in cash. Economist Jay Zagorsky owed money to the IRS this year, and he decided to render Caesar's money to Caesar in cash. As an economist, he writes about cash and wanted to see if the inscription on our money is still true: legal tender for all debts public and private.
He says, "The statement seemed ironic since I couldn’t figure out how to pay income taxes, one of people’s most significant public debts, with currency. I also wondered how difficult it is for the unbanked to pay taxes. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data shows about 6 million households have no connection to the formal banking system.”
Following the instructions, he finished his taxes, and tried to schedule an appointment to pay. The IRS tried to recommend a pre-paid debit card, which had a number of fees. "The IRS also has partnered with national chains like CVS, Walgreens, 7-Eleven, and Family Dollar to accept cash on its behalf.” All of those things involve more fees. He finally succeeded in making an appointment with the IRS, some weeks later. "The receptionist was polite and again told me all the ways to pay without cash. After I declined, he asked me to take a seat...[and] did a face-palm while shaking his head, which was not a positive sign.” Eventually, another employee came out to say they could not accept cash that day “because no courier was scheduled. Current IRS rules require that a courier take all cash immediately to the bank because they said “holding cash was not safe.” This is surprising given the federal office building was swarming with armed guards and required screening to enter."
A week later, at another appointment, he finally succeeded in paying, and got a receipt that his taxes were paid.
* * * * * *
From team member Tom Willadsen:
An Illustration not tied to any reading specifically
In light of the war between Hamas and Israel, I’ve been musing on a conversation I had nearly 40 years ago as an undergraduate. I was studying Uptown, a neighborhood on the Northside of Chicago that was reputed to be the most racially diverse neighborhood on earth. I was talking to a leader of an American Indian cultural organization. His son was in middle school and had been assigned to write a history paper on an event that had occurred at least 100 years ago. The son chose to write about the Battle of Little Bighorn.
The Battle of Little Bighorn is known to the Lakota and other plains Indians as The Battle of the Greasy Grass. It is also known as Custer’s Last Stand. It was a decisive victory for the united tribes led by Crazy Horse and Chief Gall. Some military historians have said that the tribal fighters were the finest light cavalry force ever assembled. It may have been the most decisive military victory ever for the indigenous tribes.
The man’s son was proud of his people’s achievement, but his father insisted that the son understand the context. Yes, it was a military victory, but it is one that they remember and commemorate rather than celebrate. The man concluded to me words like [I wish I had been able to record this verbatim; it was so moving]:
Write that we are horrified and ashamed of what our people did when we were pushed too far. We look back and see what we are capable of. This is not something to be proud of, not something to celebrate. We must remember that.
When I hear descriptions of the “barbarity” and “acts of terrorism” and “crimes against humanity” that Hamas has been accused of, I need to bear in mind that these actions did not spring up spontaneously. The residents of Gaza have profound, long-standing grievances against Israel. They are the actions of people who have been pushed too far. We must hold that in mind.
* * *
Exodus 33:12-14
Moses renegotiates
In vv. 12 and 13 it appears that Moses is reminded God of promises God has made at an earlier time. These specific promises do not appear in scripture, but God does not dispute their existence with Moses. One of the promises appears to be that the Lord promised Moses an angel to lead him.
The Lord reassures Moses (The Lord does a lot of this.) by saying in Hebrew יֵלֵ֖כוּ פָּנַ֥י. Literally “my face will go with you.” Which is an idiom for God’s presence.
* * *
Exodus 33:15-19
Moses re-renegotiates
Moses appears to drive a harder bargain, or needs even more reassurance, reminding God that the Israelites seek to be “distinguished” by God from other nations. The Hebrew rendered “distinguished” by the Jewish Publication Society is וְנִפְלֵ֙ינוּ֙. The NRSV has that term as “distinct.” Bottom line: Moses wants his people to be special.
* * * * * *
From team member Quantisha Mason-Doll:
Isaiah 45:1-7
Of All People?
On April 10, 2001 3LW released their second and final single Playas Gon' Play with the infamous chorus:
Playas, they gonna play
And haters, they gonna hate
Ballers, they gonna ball
Shot callers, they gonna call
That ain't got nothing to do
With me and you
That's the way it is
That's the way it is
The millennial in me definitely believes they were channeling big-God-choosing-Cyrus-because-Cyrus simps-for-the-Lord-energy. I hear myself saying, ‘Of all people him?’ The Lord chooses an invading king to do the Lord’s work. Then I have to stop myself because I realize I am being a hater and calling into question the big chef who calls the shots.
Still to this day, prophet Isaiah has this way of showing the awe-someness that is the Lord our God while also demonstrating how God deals with faithless humanity. In choosing the outsider the Lord demonstrates ridged understanding of self and identity will often keep us from seeing the fullness that is the glory of God. The Lord preemptively defends Cyrus. The number of ‘I’ statements the Lord uses leaves no leeway for the listener to question the validity of God’s choice in savior. Reading the defense of someone personally chosen by God — Godself — I hear the Lord reassuring Cyrus that this is the way it should be. 3LW says With me and you..That's the way it is God says the Almighty calls the shots and every person that does not agree can hate because that is the way it is meant to be. Of all people, Cyrus was chosen and we lowly people cannot change the reality God has chosen for humanity.
* * *
Exodus 33:12-23
I can’t do this alone
Imposter syndrome is understood as a phenomenon in which a person experiences self-doubt of intellect, skills, or they question their own accomplishments while in the presence of other high-achieving individuals. There is no other higher-achiever than the most High God so no one can blame Moses for this moment of self doubt and weakness. Moses, the most important prophet for the people of the Book, doubted himself and feared going it alone. Here is a person that knows the name of God and found favor with the Lord doubting their ability to teach, preach, and lead the people he was charged with protecting. Even though Moses, at this time, is the most powerful man he still does not want to go it alone. He asks the Lord for guidance. We learn from this moment of Moses grappling with his own imposter syndrome and the reassurance from the Lord that we will never be alone. The Lord will always go before us making true our path — all we must do is push aside that doubt and believe God's steadfast word.
* * * * * *
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship
One: God is sovereign; let the peoples tremble!
All: God sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
One: God is greatly exalted over all the peoples.
All: Let them praise your great and awesome name.
One: Mighty Sovereign, lover of justice, you have established equity.
All: You have executed justice and righteousness.
OR
One: O sing to God a new song; sing to God, all the earth.
All: Sing to God, bless God’s name from day to day.
One: For great is God, and greatly to be praised.
All: Our God is to be revered above all gods.
One: Ascribe to God, O peoples, ascribe to God glory and strength.
All: Worship God in holy splendor; tremble, all the earth.
OR
One: God comes to be made known in our midst.
All: We open our hearts to God’s presence among us.
One: God comes to assure us that we are loved.
All: Thanks be to our loving, caring God.
One: God comes to be known to others through us.
All: We will share God’s presence in all we do and say.
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
God of the Sparrow God of the Whale
UMH: 122
PH: 272
GTG: 22
NCH: 32
CH: 70
ELW: 740
W&P: 29
God Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens
UMH: 150
H82: 580
PH: 268
GTG: 24
NCH: 556
CH: 651
LBW: 463
ELW: 771
W&P: 644
Word of God, Come Down on Earth
UMH: 182
H82: 633
ELW: 510
Blessed Assurance
UMH: 369
PH: 341
GTG: 839
AAHH: 508
NNBH: 249
NCH: 473
CH: 543
ELW: 638
W&P: 426
AMEC: 450
Standing on the Promises
UMH: 374
GTG: 838
AAHH: 373
NNBH: 257
CH: 552
AMEC: 424
There Is a Balm in Gilead
UMH: 375
H82: 676
PH: 394
GTG: 792
AAHH: 524
NNBH: 489
NCH: 553
CH: 501
ELW: 614
W&P: 631
AMEC: 425
Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us
UMH: 381
H82: 708
PH: 387
GTG: 187
AAHH: 424
NNBH: 54
NCH: 252
CH: 558
LBW: 481
ELW: 789
W&P: 440
AMEC: 379
I Need Thee Every Hour
UMH: 397
GTG: 735
AAHH: 451
NNBH: 303
NCH: 517
CH: 578
W&P: 476
AMEC: 327
Close to Thee
UMH: 407
AAHH: 552/553
NNBH: 317
AMEC: 396
Great Is the Lord
CCB: 65
Renew: 22
Something Beautiful
CCB: 84
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 desires to be known by your creation:
Grant us the wisdom to seek to know you fully
even as you know us and all your have created;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you desire to be known by your creation. You show yourself in wondrous ways. Help us to seek you and to be open you knowing us. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our failure to seek to know God more fully.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You come among us to dwell with us and within us and yet we are content to merely talk about you. We are filled with words about you but spend little time with you. We talk about you being love but we seldom open ourselves to experience you as love. Open our hearts that we may truly know you and live in the warm assurance of your constant presence and love. Amen.
One: God desires most of all to be known and loved by us even as God knows and loves us. Receive God’s love and allow it to draw you nearer to God and to others.
Prayers of the People
Glorious are you, O God, beyond our comprehension. Yet you come and make yourself known to us. We praise you for your love that seeks 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. You come among us to dwell with us and within us and yet we are content to merely talk about you. We are filled with words about you but spend little time with you. We talk about you being love but we seldom open ourselves to experience you as love. Open our hearts that we may truly know you and live in the warm assurance of your constant presence and love.
We give you thanks for all the ways you make yourself known to us. We thank you for the beauty of the world around us; for the plants and animals that reflect your creative love and for the still, small voice that speaks to us deep within that you are with us always. We thank you for those who have shared with us your presence through their love and care for us. We thank you for those who have guided and directed us so that we might be open to your Spirit. We thank you for the Christ who lived among us and still is with us.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for the needs of all creation. We pray for your children who struggle with the troubles that surround them so that they are blind to your presence with them. We pray for those who feel alone and abandoned.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
Hear us as we pray for others: (Time for silent or spoken prayer.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Copy Cats!
by Chris Keating
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
“And you became imitators of us and of the Lord…”
What’s the difference between imitating someone and being a copycat? In Peggy Rathman’s fun children’s book “Ruby The Copy Cat,” the main character is always trying to copy whatever the most popular girl in class does or says. Soon the girl she has been imitating becomes irritated with her. Ruby learns that by being herself she can actually be a leader other people wish to imitate.
Help the children learn that imitation is different than merely copying. Play a quick imitation game like “Act Like An Animal” to help teach what it means to learn by imitation. In this game, you pick an animal and then show the children how to act like that animal. For example, you could fly like a bird, or walk like a crab, swim like a fish, march like an ant, waddle like penguins, trumpet like elephants, etc. Have some fun, or perhaps invite one of the children to be the leader and have everyone imitate them.
Why would Paul want the church to imitate him? It was not because he wanted them to be copy cats. Instead, he called them to do the sort of things that put faith into practice. He invites them to change their lives so that they are imitating Jesus in their daily lives.
We imitate Jesus by acting with compassion, care, kindness, and forgiveness. We try to do the things Jesus did to show God’s love. When Paul’s church started imitating him, all the other churches began to see them as an example of how to be Christians. Imitating God in the world means that we can help others discover God’s love.
Another approach to this scripture could be to explain that Paul always started his letters by thanking his friends for all they had done for him. Perhaps we might imitate Paul by saying thank you to people who do nice things for us. You could pass around thank you notes and invite the children to write a note to someone who has helped them.
Close with a responsive prayer, with the children repeating each sentence. Simply ask them to repeat the phrases you are praying as a way of remembering that imitation is a great way to learn what it means to be faithful.
* * * * * *
God Bearers
by Katy Stenta
Exodus 33:12-23, Matthew 22:15-22
Need: A Coin
In the text, the officials try to trick Jesus by asking who they owe their allegiance and money too. Should they pay taxes?
Jesus gets out a coin and asks whose picture is on it?
If you look we have pictures on our money, too.
In those days it was their emperor or king Caesar. We have presidents on our money.
Jesus tells the officials to give to those in power the things that belong them — because those in power want things.
I’ll tell you a secret — God says that God does not need images of God, because God’s face is in every single person, so God does not have to parade about everywhere.
Let’s look at each other’s faces and see how varied and beautiful the face of God is!
So things belong to people, but people belong to God. How amazing is that?!
Let’s say a prayer together…
Prayer
Dear God
Thank you
for reminding us
we all
reflect
your beauty
and
that we
belong to you,
Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, October 22, 2023 issue.
Copyright 2023 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.
- We Are the Holders of Hands by Dean Feldmeyer — Even Moses needed someone to hold his hand.
- Second Thoughts: The Living Image by Elena Delhagen based on Matthew 22:15-22.
- Sermon illustrations by Tom Willadsen, Mary Austin, Quantisha Mason-Doll.
- Worship resources by George Reed.
- Children's sermon: Copy Cats! by Chris Keating based on 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10.
God Bearers by Katy Stenta based on Exodus 33:12-23, Matthew 22:15-22.
We Are the Holders of Handsby Dean Feldmeyer
Exodus 33:12-23
Some of the most beautiful words in the English language come in small phrases of three or four words: I’ll go with you — I’m on my way — I’ve got your back — Here, take my hand — I’m right here — I love you.
When we’re scared, insecure, lost, hurting, those are the words we want and need to hear. We need to be reassured that we’re not in this thing alone.
In today’s lesson from the Hebrew scriptures Moses says to God: Just give me some reassurance that I’m not going to be out there on the limb all by myself. And God answers: I’ll go with you.
As the war rages in the Middle East, God’s children are being killed and wounded, on both sides of the border. Governments are quick to provide military assistance but, so far, humanitarian aid is being left to civilians. Indeed, Israel has blocked all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza until the hostages being held by Hamas are released.
As Christians, the question before us is: “How will we answer the cry of the innocents.” With what three or four words will we live into the directive of Jesus to “love one another?”
In the Scriptures
YHWH has called Moses to lead God’s children, Israel, out of bondage in Egypt, but Moses isn’t so sure. Before he undertakes this huge task, he needs some reassurances and, in the opening lines of the lesson he asks God a question that sound almost childlike.
“But who will go with me?”
YHWH, he says, has told him that he knows him intimately and that’s why God has chosen him for this task but that’s not good enough for Moses. If he’s going to go enthusiastically into this leadership role, it’s not enough that God knows him; he wants to know God. He needs a little reciprocity in the relationship. A little quid pro quo.
We can almost hear YHWH sigh: Okay, fine. I’ll go with you so you won’t have to carry the whole load by yourself. From time to time, you can put it on me and I’ll give you a break.
But Moses still isn’t satisfied. He keeps pushing: Okay, good. Because this is a pretty big thing you’re sending me out to do and no one is going to believe that you sent me if you aren’t standing beside me. Then he gets this idea. The one thing that will make him feel confident and self-assured going forward.
“Just let me see you,” he says.
But that’s too much. God replies. I’ll give you a peek. Squeeze into the crack in that big rock and, as I pass by, I’ll cover you with my hand and, then, you can see my back as I pass by. Because no one can handle seeing my face.
Moses does as God instructs and is rewarded with the kind of intimate relationship with God that gives reassurance and comfort. Later it will be said of him that, “He talked with YHWH as a man would talk with his friend.”
I don’t know about you, but if I could talk like that with God one of the first things I’d ask him would be what he intends to do about the mess in the Middle East.
In the News
The news, this week and for the near future, will, no doubt, be dominated with dispatches from what we used to call the Holy Land — the Middle East. The election by Republicans of a Speaker of the House of Representatives and the war in Ukraine will probably place second and third, respectively, in the battle for newspaper column inches.
So, a brief and, admittedly, oversimplified digest of the situation in Israel/Palestine might be helpful. (A more thorough exploration of the history and current situation can be found here.)
After WWII, millions of Jews fled Europe to get as far from the Holocaust as they possibly could and about nearly a million of them went to Palestine, their ancestral homeland. In 1948, they declared themselves a free and independent state with the Israeli Declaration of Independence and, in doing so, sparked the 1948 Arab—Israeli War, which resulted in the expulsion of the Palestinian people from their country and their homes. Since that time, the Arab nations surrounding Israel have seen the Jewish state as an illegal country which stole the land from its rightful inhabitants.
Ever since then, the region has been at war, off and on, with various groups vying for the right to represent the displaced Palestinian refugees. As part of the Oslo Accords in the mid 1990’s the Palestinian Authority (PA) was established as a quasi-government in the Palestinian territories.
Initially, the PA governed both the West Bank and Gaza. But the PA lost control over Gaza after elections in 2006, in which the Islamist Hamas party, a faction of the Muslim Brotherhood, which advocates for the total destruction of the state of Israel, defeated Fatah, the long-dominant political party of Yasser Arafat. Unlike the secular Fatah, which recognizes Israel, Hamas—founded in Gaza in 1987 during the First Intifada (uprising)—rejects what it calls the “Zionist entity.”
Hamas’s 2006 election victory in Gaza plunged the PA into crisis and led to a civil war between Fatah and Hamas, with Hamas taking over Gaza in 2007. Israel, with Egyptian support, immediately responded with a land, air, and sea blockade around Gaza that has been in place for 16 years and is decried by human rights organizations as an “open-air prison.”
Gaza is home to 2 million people and is one of the most densely populated places on Earth. From their respective border crossings, Israel and Egypt decide who and what can enter and exit the territory, including humanitarian support. Israel also controls the strip’s supply of water and electricity and can turn it off at will. The blockade has decimated Gaza’s economy—and Gazans’ quality of life. Gaza today is deeply impoverished: Eighty percent of Gazans rely on aid to survive, and 95 percent do not have access to clean drinking water. Around half do not have enough to eat. Many are unable to obtain proper medical care due to a restrictive Israeli permitting system.
When Hamas was elected by the people of Gaza in 2006 and seized control in 2007 they found themselves responsible for 2 million people crowded into a space of 141 square miles, roughly the size of Detroit, in charge of administrative things like organizing a police force, picking up garbage, and keeping the lights on and the water running much of which was controlled by Israel.
While the members of Hamas may have been skilled guerilla fighters and tacticians, given the obstacles they were up against, they were lousy administrators. They had virtually no resources and no knowledge or understanding of economics, or how to grow the economy of their little country. The result being that 90 percent of the people live in abject poverty.
Frustrated, desperate, and exasperated, Hamas determined that the only solution to their problem, was violent, armed resistance with the goal of taking Israel off the map. The Palestinian people would not be free, they said, until Israel was pushed into the sea. And they would accomplish this task not by fighting the Israeli army, which they could not even begin to match with fire power and brute strength, but by fighting the Israeli people. They would use fear, terror, as a weapon, striking at the civilian population until they became so harassed, so filled with grief and angst that they would not want to live there anymore. They would just go away.
What they didn’t consider was that these were people who had survived 2,000 years of persecution and oppression culminating in the holocaust, the worst act of terror ever perpetrated upon a group of human beings in modern times and they didn’t scare easily. The people of Israel didn’t go away. They dug in and returned an eye for an eye, a life for a life. The refused to bargain with terrorist kidnappers and they retaliated for every act of violence with an act of overwhelming power and force.
But Hamas didn’t go away either. Angry and embittered by the conditions under which they were forced to live in Gaza, they turned to the only thing they knew. Last week, we saw that old tactic of fear, terror, and intimidation writ large across the headlines when Hamas fighters fired rockets and crossed the fences into Israel and massacred more than 1000 people — soldiers, police, civilians, men, women, children, and the aged, mostly unarmed.
And we saw Israel retaliate by massacring more than a thousand people in Gaza, again, mostly civilians by carpet bombing the northern areas around Gaza city.
Some governments have been quick to respond with words of support for Israel. The US has already sent military aid and has deployed war ships to the area as a warning to other countries to stay out of the conflict. If congress can ever get moving again, they have promised that their first order of business will be a bill to allocate funds for the support of Israel.
Most countries who support the Palestinian people have not been so vocal. Theirs has been a quieter, wait-and-see sort of response even as Iran pumps money and rockets into Gaza.
And meanwhile, as is always the case in any war, it is the innocents who suffer most. Now that television cameras have finally made it into Gaza, we are beginning to see that the war is harming the people who live there no less than it is harming the Israelis. Pictures of children screaming in pain, parents weeping in grief, young people wandering through the streets, dazed and confused and bleeding, haunt our sleep.
The question for us, the church of Jesus Christ, is not which side we will take in this bitter conflict. That has already been determined by our Lord: We will take the side of the suffering innocents. The question before us is when and how we will do that.
Perhaps the answer to that is written in today’s lesson from the Hebrew Scriptures.
In the Sermon
The 1980 Australian film “Breaker Morant,” covers the court martial of two Australian soldiers, lieutenants Harry “Breaker” Morant and Peter Handcock who are eventually convicted and sentenced to death by firing squad for killing six prisoners of war during the Boer War, between England’s army and South African (Boer) guerrilla fighters. Based on a true story, the two condemned men followed what they thought was a “take no prisoners” order from Lord Kitchner. But because both sides are trying to make peace by the time of the court martial, those at the top have ruled that guilty verdicts must be obtained and the executions need to go forward in order to appease the Boers. “Sacrifices must be made,” in Kitchner’s words.
In the final scene, as the two men are walked by armed guards to the hilltop where the executions take place they quietly reach out and take each other’s hand in what is one of the tenderest scenes I have ever encountered in a commercial movie.
Standing on the very precipice of death, they reach out to receive a small comfort from the skin-to-skin touch of a brother.
When I was a child, we would visit my great uncle Enoch’s farm in southern Indiana. Enoch was kind and gentle, but miserly, old, bachelor German farmer and, according to my grandfather, his brother, he was the last man in the county to have electricity and indoor plumbing installed in his farmhouse. This would have been around 1960.
Tight as he was with a dollar, however, he refused to use either the plumbing or electricity for fear of “wearing them out.” He might flip on a light switch long enough to find a lantern in the dark or use the indoor commode when the temperature outside dipped below zero, but mostly he still made the cold walk to the outhouse whenever the need arose.
And he expected his grand nephews and nieces to do the same. Even after dark, he told us to use the flashlight and find our way to the privy where would would brave the hornets, the smell, and the creaky floor to uh, well, you know.
And the worst part was that my parents never said anything in our defense.
When my little brother or sister looked pleadingly at them and asked, “Will someone go with me?” Our parents just looked at me, the eldest, and said, “Dean!” And I went without argument, holding them by the hand, because I knew the value of having someone who would go with you when you’re desperate and scared, and maybe even hold your hand.
Moses isn’t going to the privy. He’s going to Egypt to do God’s bidding and bring out the children of Israel. And he wants to know, “who will go with me?” And so do we, human beings of the 21st century. Who, we ask, will go with us?
Nowhere is this question more poignantly being asked than by the innocent civilians — men, women, children, youth, elderly people — on both sides of the wire in Israel and Gaza. A teenage Palestinian girl stand in the street weeping, “This is genocide! Why are they doing this to me? I didn’t do anything.” A teenage boy weeps as he tells of spending the night under the body of his dead mother, waiting for the terrorists to return and kill him as well. A little Palestinian girl, maybe 9 or ten years old, face burned and covered with ashes and dirt, looks silently, pleadingly into the camera. An old man from one side or the other — who knows? — is crying so loudly and out of control that he can’t bring himself to speak.
And the subtext, the unspoken plea of every one of these innocents is, “Who will go with us?”
Their hands are stretched out asking for a bit of support, of comfort, of help — physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. They are stretched out to us.
Why us?
Because we are the followers of Jesus Christ, historically, the helpers and the holders of hands.
SECOND THOUGHTSThe Living Image
by Elena Delhagen
Matthew 22:15-22
In the ancient Near East (which, remember, is the context in which the Bible is written), every major god or deity had its own image, or cult statue, that was set up somewhere in the temple that had been dedicated to that god. This is what scripture is referring to when it talks about a “graven image.” It was widely accepted that, in order to communicate with a particular god or goddess, one could do so through the image, or statue. These images were believed to mediate the presence and power of the various deities on earth.
Besides these graven images, those living in the ancient Near East also held that kings were the primary image — the living image — of god on earth. The idea is that a king was the foremost mediator of the presence and will of the gods from heaven to those living on earth. As such, the king also served a priestly function, in that the king of any nation, big or small, also held the title of high priest for whatever the national religion happened to be. There was no distinction between the sacred and secular roles; as king, a ruler would embody both simultaneously.
The Bible, then, was written within this very real, historical context — but it also turns many of the beliefs of its day on its head. For example, instead of there being many gods or goddesses, it proclaims only one true God, YHWH, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and God is not contained in a statue, or image, that’s made by human hands. Yet what is perhaps most radical is scripture’s assertion that it isn’t just royalty — kings and priests — that manifest God’s presence on earth. The opening chapters of Genesis instead declare a new truth: that the entire human race mediates the image of God. Young or old, male or female, all skin colors and languages and socioeconomic class — each and every single person bears the image of God and, thereby, declares God in the world, situation, and experiences in which he or she lives.
This background is crucial if we really want to understand this somewhat strange gospel text for the week. When the Pharisees bring Jesus the coin that is used for tax that has the head of the emperor on it they are, in essence, bringing him a graven image, one that is meant to communicate the authority and power of the emperor in the land. Jesus knows they’re not really concerned about taxes; this has nothing to do with money. It has to do with religion, and power — and Jesus is having none of it. ‘Go ahead,’ Jesus is essentially saying. ‘Give your money to the emperor. That’s not what God, the true God, is concerned about. God cares more about your hearts, your lifestyles, how you carry that divine image in and through you than God cares about a coin.’ He is making the claim that this is all temporary, really. Things like graven images are futile because they’re not real, and the day will come when all will be awakened to that fact.
What is real, though, is the image of God — the living image, in the face of every man, woman, and child throughout the world. This past week, we (the collective we) have been flooded with photos and videos of the horrors taking place in modern Israel/Palestine. There have been gruesome photos and videos of image-bearers, both Israeli and Palestinian, being subjected to unspeakable violence and dehumanization. The international community, one could argue, has known about the pressure cooker that is Gaza for decades. Over the years, civilians living in the walled-off section of the country have experienced terror, bloodshed, and dehumanization under conditions that the UN Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 has called “apartheid.” They are not nameless, faceless, graven images; these are living and breathing human beings who carry the divine image with them. Furthermore, it has only been ninety years — less than a century! — since the beginning of the Holocaust, the inhumane and evil systematic extermination of approximately six million Jews. They were not nameless, faceless, graven images; they were living and breathing human beings who carried the divine image with them, and their genocide has had far-reaching effects on the Jewish community even today, with antisemitism contributing to the oppression of Jews worldwide.
We, as a species, have a terrible tendency to place our trust in the wrong images or, even worse, to willingly choose them. Images of money, power, politics, security, strategy, authority, success, and control have become our gods, and we have forsaken the very face of God in the human beings we see before us. We have dehumanized Palestinian residents of Gaza, assigning them images of our choosing: savages. Animals. Barely human. And we have dehumanized Jews as well, assigning them current images based on antisemitic tropes like greedy or disloyal, while Nazi Germany used images like rats, dirty, and impure. Yet every single image we place upon others, besides that of a beloved child of God, is wrong. To quote St. Catherine of Siena, “The soul is in God, and God is in the soul. God is closer to us than water is to a fish.” If we want to see God, we can do so simply by looking in the mirror. Yet let us not forget that when we turn on the news and see a wailing Palestinian or Israel, fraught with suffering and fear, we see God, too.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:Exodus 33:12-23
Not Embarrassed
In this charming story, God is willing to debate with Moses, to reassure him and then to show Moses the divine glory — in a manageable dose. God is compassionate enough to meet every need that Moses has.
Father Greg Boyle tells about giving a keynote at a conference, talking about the work of Homeboy Industries helping young men and women leave life in gangs. He takes, as he calls then, two homies with him. They sit in the audience for his speech, and he points them out to to conference attendees, who give them an enthusiastic round of applause.
"Afterward, we all have lunch in the hotel and then make our way to the elevator connecting us to the underground parking structure…Eddie is tiny and looks like he’s twelve though he’s nineteen. We get to the elevator before the other two and we await its arrival. Eddie places his hand on my left shoulder and rests his head on my arm. He’s not tired; he’s tender. We stare at the closed elevator door and he says, “Hey, G… you know what I love the most about Homeboy?” “No. What, son?” “That you’re not embarrassed by us.” The words now move through me, with some bright energy, and my eyes glisten with a start. The God we’ve settled for is red in the face and pretends he doesn’t know us at parties. But the God we actually have is never embarrassed by us."
God is not embarrassed by Moses’ requests, and God is not embarrassed by us.
* * *
Exodus 33:12-23
Focus
After all the days spent leading the people in the desert, the nights spent praying for them, more days listening to their quarrels and complaints, this is a rare moment of focus for Moses. All Moses has to do in this moment is concentrate on God, and the experience of God.
Author Kent Nerburn says we can all have this, in a smaller way, if we concentrate. He writes about dedicating the first moments of the day to God. "Now is the moment when I must pause and lift my heart — now, before the day fragments and my consciousness shatters into a thousand pieces. For this is the moment when the senses are most alive, when a thought, a touch, a piece of music can shape the spirit and color the day. But if I am not careful — if I rise, frantic, from my bed, full of small concerns — the mystical flow of the imagination at rest will be broken, the past and the future will rush in to claim my mind, and I will be swept up into life’s petty details and myriad obligations. Gone will be the openness that comes only to the waking heart, and with it, the chance to focus the spirit and consecrate the day. All the great spiritual traditions have known this. The Christian monastics remain silent until their first chant of morning praise. Muslims begin their day with petitions of humility and thanks. The Dakotah Indians learned as children to walk in silence to a lake or stream, splash water on their faces, then offer up a prayer toward the sun. Our lives may not allow such exalted devotions. But something precious is lost if we rush headlong into the details of life without pausing for a moment to pay homage to the mystery of life and the gift of another day." (from Small Graces: The Quiet Gifts of Everyday Life)
* * *
Matthew 22:15-22
Image of God
As Jesus speaks, we see again how deeply he is the image of God for us, even as he reminds us that we reflect the image of God. That happens in all kinds of ways. In the beautiful Inspector Gamache novels by Louise Penny, the mysteries come with all kinds of spiritual lessons. Louise Penny writes about an old dog who knows exactly who God is. "Everyday for Lucy’s entire dog life Jane had sliced a banana for breakfast and had miraculously dropped one of the perfect disks on to the floor where it sat for an instant before being gobbled up. Every morning Lucy’s prayers were answered, confirming her belief that God was old and clumsy and smelt like roses and lived in the kitchen." The image of God is everywhere. (from Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel)
* * *
Matthew 22:15-22
God Carriers
Carrying the image of God is important work. The late South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu was raised in apartheid-era South Africa, where the entire system was organized to remind people of color that they were inferior. Tutu says that when he began to study the Bible, he began to find a different message, noting that “the scriptures say it is because we are created in the image of God, that each one of us is a God-carrier. No matter what our physical circumstances may be, no matter how awful, no matter how deprived you could be, it doesn’t take away from you this intrinsic worth. One saw just how significant it was.”
His work as a priest was to remind people that they were not inferior. “Most of my parishioners were domestic workers, not people who are very well educated. But I would say to them, “You know, mama, when they ask who are you” — you see, the white employer most frequently didn’t use the person’s name. They said the person’s name was too difficult. And so most Africans, women would be called “Annie” and most black men really, you were “boy.” And I would say to them, “When they ask who are you, you say, ‘Me? I’m a God-carrier. I’m God’s partner. I’m created in the image of God.'” And you could see those dear old ladies as they walked out of church on that occasion as if they were on cloud nine. You know, they walked with their backs slightly straighter. And, yeah, it was amazing.” (from OnBeing)
* * *
Matthew 22:15-22
Render to the IRS
It’s not so easy to give Caesar his due — if you want to pay in cash. Economist Jay Zagorsky owed money to the IRS this year, and he decided to render Caesar's money to Caesar in cash. As an economist, he writes about cash and wanted to see if the inscription on our money is still true: legal tender for all debts public and private.
He says, "The statement seemed ironic since I couldn’t figure out how to pay income taxes, one of people’s most significant public debts, with currency. I also wondered how difficult it is for the unbanked to pay taxes. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data shows about 6 million households have no connection to the formal banking system.”
Following the instructions, he finished his taxes, and tried to schedule an appointment to pay. The IRS tried to recommend a pre-paid debit card, which had a number of fees. "The IRS also has partnered with national chains like CVS, Walgreens, 7-Eleven, and Family Dollar to accept cash on its behalf.” All of those things involve more fees. He finally succeeded in making an appointment with the IRS, some weeks later. "The receptionist was polite and again told me all the ways to pay without cash. After I declined, he asked me to take a seat...[and] did a face-palm while shaking his head, which was not a positive sign.” Eventually, another employee came out to say they could not accept cash that day “because no courier was scheduled. Current IRS rules require that a courier take all cash immediately to the bank because they said “holding cash was not safe.” This is surprising given the federal office building was swarming with armed guards and required screening to enter."
A week later, at another appointment, he finally succeeded in paying, and got a receipt that his taxes were paid.
* * * * * *
From team member Tom Willadsen:An Illustration not tied to any reading specifically
In light of the war between Hamas and Israel, I’ve been musing on a conversation I had nearly 40 years ago as an undergraduate. I was studying Uptown, a neighborhood on the Northside of Chicago that was reputed to be the most racially diverse neighborhood on earth. I was talking to a leader of an American Indian cultural organization. His son was in middle school and had been assigned to write a history paper on an event that had occurred at least 100 years ago. The son chose to write about the Battle of Little Bighorn.
The Battle of Little Bighorn is known to the Lakota and other plains Indians as The Battle of the Greasy Grass. It is also known as Custer’s Last Stand. It was a decisive victory for the united tribes led by Crazy Horse and Chief Gall. Some military historians have said that the tribal fighters were the finest light cavalry force ever assembled. It may have been the most decisive military victory ever for the indigenous tribes.
The man’s son was proud of his people’s achievement, but his father insisted that the son understand the context. Yes, it was a military victory, but it is one that they remember and commemorate rather than celebrate. The man concluded to me words like [I wish I had been able to record this verbatim; it was so moving]:
Write that we are horrified and ashamed of what our people did when we were pushed too far. We look back and see what we are capable of. This is not something to be proud of, not something to celebrate. We must remember that.
When I hear descriptions of the “barbarity” and “acts of terrorism” and “crimes against humanity” that Hamas has been accused of, I need to bear in mind that these actions did not spring up spontaneously. The residents of Gaza have profound, long-standing grievances against Israel. They are the actions of people who have been pushed too far. We must hold that in mind.
* * *
Exodus 33:12-14
Moses renegotiates
In vv. 12 and 13 it appears that Moses is reminded God of promises God has made at an earlier time. These specific promises do not appear in scripture, but God does not dispute their existence with Moses. One of the promises appears to be that the Lord promised Moses an angel to lead him.
The Lord reassures Moses (The Lord does a lot of this.) by saying in Hebrew יֵלֵ֖כוּ פָּנַ֥י. Literally “my face will go with you.” Which is an idiom for God’s presence.
* * *
Exodus 33:15-19
Moses re-renegotiates
Moses appears to drive a harder bargain, or needs even more reassurance, reminding God that the Israelites seek to be “distinguished” by God from other nations. The Hebrew rendered “distinguished” by the Jewish Publication Society is וְנִפְלֵ֙ינוּ֙. The NRSV has that term as “distinct.” Bottom line: Moses wants his people to be special.
* * * * * *
From team member Quantisha Mason-Doll:Isaiah 45:1-7
Of All People?
On April 10, 2001 3LW released their second and final single Playas Gon' Play with the infamous chorus:
Playas, they gonna play
And haters, they gonna hate
Ballers, they gonna ball
Shot callers, they gonna call
That ain't got nothing to do
With me and you
That's the way it is
That's the way it is
The millennial in me definitely believes they were channeling big-God-choosing-Cyrus-because-Cyrus simps-for-the-Lord-energy. I hear myself saying, ‘Of all people him?’ The Lord chooses an invading king to do the Lord’s work. Then I have to stop myself because I realize I am being a hater and calling into question the big chef who calls the shots.
Still to this day, prophet Isaiah has this way of showing the awe-someness that is the Lord our God while also demonstrating how God deals with faithless humanity. In choosing the outsider the Lord demonstrates ridged understanding of self and identity will often keep us from seeing the fullness that is the glory of God. The Lord preemptively defends Cyrus. The number of ‘I’ statements the Lord uses leaves no leeway for the listener to question the validity of God’s choice in savior. Reading the defense of someone personally chosen by God — Godself — I hear the Lord reassuring Cyrus that this is the way it should be. 3LW says With me and you..That's the way it is God says the Almighty calls the shots and every person that does not agree can hate because that is the way it is meant to be. Of all people, Cyrus was chosen and we lowly people cannot change the reality God has chosen for humanity.
* * *
Exodus 33:12-23
I can’t do this alone
Imposter syndrome is understood as a phenomenon in which a person experiences self-doubt of intellect, skills, or they question their own accomplishments while in the presence of other high-achieving individuals. There is no other higher-achiever than the most High God so no one can blame Moses for this moment of self doubt and weakness. Moses, the most important prophet for the people of the Book, doubted himself and feared going it alone. Here is a person that knows the name of God and found favor with the Lord doubting their ability to teach, preach, and lead the people he was charged with protecting. Even though Moses, at this time, is the most powerful man he still does not want to go it alone. He asks the Lord for guidance. We learn from this moment of Moses grappling with his own imposter syndrome and the reassurance from the Lord that we will never be alone. The Lord will always go before us making true our path — all we must do is push aside that doubt and believe God's steadfast word.
* * * * * *
WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship
One: God is sovereign; let the peoples tremble!
All: God sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
One: God is greatly exalted over all the peoples.
All: Let them praise your great and awesome name.
One: Mighty Sovereign, lover of justice, you have established equity.
All: You have executed justice and righteousness.
OR
One: O sing to God a new song; sing to God, all the earth.
All: Sing to God, bless God’s name from day to day.
One: For great is God, and greatly to be praised.
All: Our God is to be revered above all gods.
One: Ascribe to God, O peoples, ascribe to God glory and strength.
All: Worship God in holy splendor; tremble, all the earth.
OR
One: God comes to be made known in our midst.
All: We open our hearts to God’s presence among us.
One: God comes to assure us that we are loved.
All: Thanks be to our loving, caring God.
One: God comes to be known to others through us.
All: We will share God’s presence in all we do and say.
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
God of the Sparrow God of the Whale
UMH: 122
PH: 272
GTG: 22
NCH: 32
CH: 70
ELW: 740
W&P: 29
God Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens
UMH: 150
H82: 580
PH: 268
GTG: 24
NCH: 556
CH: 651
LBW: 463
ELW: 771
W&P: 644
Word of God, Come Down on Earth
UMH: 182
H82: 633
ELW: 510
Blessed Assurance
UMH: 369
PH: 341
GTG: 839
AAHH: 508
NNBH: 249
NCH: 473
CH: 543
ELW: 638
W&P: 426
AMEC: 450
Standing on the Promises
UMH: 374
GTG: 838
AAHH: 373
NNBH: 257
CH: 552
AMEC: 424
There Is a Balm in Gilead
UMH: 375
H82: 676
PH: 394
GTG: 792
AAHH: 524
NNBH: 489
NCH: 553
CH: 501
ELW: 614
W&P: 631
AMEC: 425
Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us
UMH: 381
H82: 708
PH: 387
GTG: 187
AAHH: 424
NNBH: 54
NCH: 252
CH: 558
LBW: 481
ELW: 789
W&P: 440
AMEC: 379
I Need Thee Every Hour
UMH: 397
GTG: 735
AAHH: 451
NNBH: 303
NCH: 517
CH: 578
W&P: 476
AMEC: 327
Close to Thee
UMH: 407
AAHH: 552/553
NNBH: 317
AMEC: 396
Great Is the Lord
CCB: 65
Renew: 22
Something Beautiful
CCB: 84
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 desires to be known by your creation:
Grant us the wisdom to seek to know you fully
even as you know us and all your have created;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you desire to be known by your creation. You show yourself in wondrous ways. Help us to seek you and to be open you knowing us. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our failure to seek to know God more fully.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You come among us to dwell with us and within us and yet we are content to merely talk about you. We are filled with words about you but spend little time with you. We talk about you being love but we seldom open ourselves to experience you as love. Open our hearts that we may truly know you and live in the warm assurance of your constant presence and love. Amen.
One: God desires most of all to be known and loved by us even as God knows and loves us. Receive God’s love and allow it to draw you nearer to God and to others.
Prayers of the People
Glorious are you, O God, beyond our comprehension. Yet you come and make yourself known to us. We praise you for your love that seeks 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. You come among us to dwell with us and within us and yet we are content to merely talk about you. We are filled with words about you but spend little time with you. We talk about you being love but we seldom open ourselves to experience you as love. Open our hearts that we may truly know you and live in the warm assurance of your constant presence and love.
We give you thanks for all the ways you make yourself known to us. We thank you for the beauty of the world around us; for the plants and animals that reflect your creative love and for the still, small voice that speaks to us deep within that you are with us always. We thank you for those who have shared with us your presence through their love and care for us. We thank you for those who have guided and directed us so that we might be open to your Spirit. We thank you for the Christ who lived among us and still is with us.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for the needs of all creation. We pray for your children who struggle with the troubles that surround them so that they are blind to your presence with them. We pray for those who feel alone and abandoned.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
Hear us as we pray for others: (Time for silent or spoken prayer.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN'S SERMONCopy Cats!
by Chris Keating
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
“And you became imitators of us and of the Lord…”
What’s the difference between imitating someone and being a copycat? In Peggy Rathman’s fun children’s book “Ruby The Copy Cat,” the main character is always trying to copy whatever the most popular girl in class does or says. Soon the girl she has been imitating becomes irritated with her. Ruby learns that by being herself she can actually be a leader other people wish to imitate.
Help the children learn that imitation is different than merely copying. Play a quick imitation game like “Act Like An Animal” to help teach what it means to learn by imitation. In this game, you pick an animal and then show the children how to act like that animal. For example, you could fly like a bird, or walk like a crab, swim like a fish, march like an ant, waddle like penguins, trumpet like elephants, etc. Have some fun, or perhaps invite one of the children to be the leader and have everyone imitate them.
Why would Paul want the church to imitate him? It was not because he wanted them to be copy cats. Instead, he called them to do the sort of things that put faith into practice. He invites them to change their lives so that they are imitating Jesus in their daily lives.
We imitate Jesus by acting with compassion, care, kindness, and forgiveness. We try to do the things Jesus did to show God’s love. When Paul’s church started imitating him, all the other churches began to see them as an example of how to be Christians. Imitating God in the world means that we can help others discover God’s love.
Another approach to this scripture could be to explain that Paul always started his letters by thanking his friends for all they had done for him. Perhaps we might imitate Paul by saying thank you to people who do nice things for us. You could pass around thank you notes and invite the children to write a note to someone who has helped them.
Close with a responsive prayer, with the children repeating each sentence. Simply ask them to repeat the phrases you are praying as a way of remembering that imitation is a great way to learn what it means to be faithful.
* * * * * *
God Bearers
by Katy Stenta
Exodus 33:12-23, Matthew 22:15-22
Need: A Coin
In the text, the officials try to trick Jesus by asking who they owe their allegiance and money too. Should they pay taxes?
Jesus gets out a coin and asks whose picture is on it?
If you look we have pictures on our money, too.
In those days it was their emperor or king Caesar. We have presidents on our money.
Jesus tells the officials to give to those in power the things that belong them — because those in power want things.
I’ll tell you a secret — God says that God does not need images of God, because God’s face is in every single person, so God does not have to parade about everywhere.
Let’s look at each other’s faces and see how varied and beautiful the face of God is!
So things belong to people, but people belong to God. How amazing is that?!
Let’s say a prayer together…
Prayer
Dear God
Thank you
for reminding us
we all
reflect
your beauty
and
that we
belong to you,
Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, October 22, 2023 issue.
Copyright 2023 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.
