Ananias, Meet Your Brother
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
Dear Fellow Preacher:
Few words have higher impact in these troubled times than "security." Driven daily by news from the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism, security issues, both at home and abroad loom large.
It is striking to observe how prominent this theme is in our scripture, hymns, and songs. We speak of a "mighty fortress," being "safe in the arms of Jesus," finding refuge "under his wings," to mention only a few examples. The Bible is replete with conflict, but the psalmists often warn against putting our trust in things that cannot provide true security.
Here at The Immediate Word, we see a sermonic connection between security concerns and the lectionary text from Acts for April 25. So we have asked team member Carlos Wilton to address the matter of security using Acts 9:1-20 as a basis. Comments from team members, illustrations, worship materials, and a children's sermon round out this issue.
ANANIAS, MEET YOUR BROTHER
Carlos Wilton
Acts 9:1-20
The Message on a Postcard
It's one of the most important meetings in the history of Christianity: an otherwise-unknown disciple named Ananias courageously approaches his fearsome persecutor, Saul, now struck blind by God and ready to be converted. Spurred on by a vision from the Lord, Ananias takes a risk and calls him brother -- and the world has never been the same since. There are times in life when God calls us, too, to take risks for the faith.
Is Ananias reckless? Or simply faithful? The book of Acts provides no details of this vision of his other than to say he receives it. The fact that Ananias questions the Lord at this visionary moment, asking, in effect, "Did I hear you right, Lord?" suggests he's none too sure about the prudence of what he's being commanded to do. Yet eventually, Ananias puts fears for his own security aside, and ventures forth to visit that house on the street called Straight.
One of the great values of our society in these days of fear and terrorism is security. It's always been true that, in Washington, the phrase "a matter of national security" is enough to shake loose congressional appropriations -- no questions asked. On many occasions it's also been enough to keep investigating commissions and special prosecutors at bay. At no time in recent decades has this been more true than now.
On an individual level, security is a powerful motivator (and, at times, a de-motivator). "Is it worth the risk?" we often ask ourselves, before venturing into uncharted territory. An entire industry -- the insurance industry -- exists to help us "manage risk" (as though risk can ever really be managed!).
Yet security can also be a potent idol. Faith, by its very nature, includes an element of risk, and the idol of security often stands between us and obedience to God's command. What risks is God calling each of us to take for our faith? What, for each of us, is the house on the street called Straight?
Some Words on the Word
An opening exegetical question is why Luke tells the story of Paul's conversion here. It seems out of place. Most of the material dealing with Paul comes later in Acts.
In fact, Luke is not treating this story as part of his Pauline section. Rather, the conversion of Paul is but one of a string of conversion stories in these early chapters of Acts, all of them involving unlikely people. To Luke, the story of Paul's conversion is but one further piece of evidence that none other than God the Holy Spirit is orchestrating the expansion of the Christian gospel beyond the familiar turf of Judaism into all the world.
Paul's conversion, of course, is particularly dramatic, not so much because of its supernatural elements (which, indeed, are present in some other conversion stories), but because of how far this particular individual must turn before his heart is finally aligned Godward. Prior to his conversion -- at least as Luke tells it -- Saul displays neither the piety of the centurion Cornelius nor the intellectual curiosity of the Ethiopian eunuch. Surely, as a leading Pharisee, this man was both pious and learned, but Luke can only speak of his "breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord" (9:1). Luke is eager for us to know that Saul's turn toward Christian faith is a full 180 degrees.
Some interpreters have quipped that the Acts of the Apostles is probably misnamed: The book could be more accurately titled, "the Acts of the Holy Spirit." From beginning to end, the real protagonist of this book is the Spirit. Yes, there are leading human characters (most notably, Peter and Paul). Yet each of them is directed at every turn, in decisions both weighty and mundane, by the Spirit. In this particular story, the Spirit is active on two fronts: preparing both Ananias and Saul for the encounter that is soon to come. Both receive visions, not just one.
In introducing himself to the Galatians, Paul would describe himself as "an apostle -- sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead" (1:1). Ananias is merely the instrument; the Holy Spirit is the principal actor.
This is not the only account of Paul's conversion in Acts. In Acts 22:6-16, Luke has Paul recount the story of his conversion in his own words. In Acts 26:12-18, Luke does so once again, having Paul repeat his story as part of his testimony before King Agrippa. In Philippians 3:4-11, Paul tells how all the trappings of his former position of honor are now but "refuse" (the Greek term is more colorful), when compared to "the surpassing worth" of knowing Christ.
A Map of the Message
In verse 13, Ananias refers to Saul as "this man." In verse 17, he addresses him as "Brother Saul." Somewhere between verses 13 and 17, a transformation takes place in Ananias' thinking. Luke provides only the sketchiest of psychological details about this transformation. Most of it is left to the reader's imagination, and that imaginative reconstruction is at the heart of this sermon.
In order to respond in obedience, Ananias must first somehow deal with his own innate desire for security. The little dialogue between himself and God indicates how difficult this is for him.
In these post-9/11 days, security is one of the biggest growth sectors of our economy. Those who work for companies that manufacture burglar alarms, or bulletproof vests, or "meals ready to eat" for the military, generally have it made. Customers will be lining up to buy those products for many years to come.
The sad thing about the security industry, though, is that it really doesn't produce anything. The whole purpose of security is defensive -- staving off some bad thing that could possibly happen. If we lived in a world where people truly trusted one another, truly respected and cared for each other, we would have no need to spend all that money to make sure we're safe.
Allow me to share a small, personal example. A couple of years ago, my wife and I bought a used minivan. It came with a "security system" we neither asked for nor cared about -- a burglar alarm that's difficult to disarm, and which has a penchant for going off at odd and unexpected moments. Back in December, as my father-in-law lay dying and the family was coping with that sad reality, we had the minivan in my wife's hometown, Baltimore, parked overnight on a city street. Apparently, the alarm went off in the middle of the night, because the next morning we found an angry note on the windshield and discovered that some irate person had squirted automotive paint on every panel of the van except the roof.
The entire vehicle had to be repainted. Insurance picked up the tab: more than $4,000. Think of all the costs incurred along the way, in that crazy, Rube Goldberg sequence of events -- and all for the sake of security. There was the burglar alarm we didn't want in the first place (but which was surely included in the price of the vehicle), the lost sleep of the poor citizens of that neighborhood, who had to listen to the horn honking all through the night, the time of the police officer who responded to our complaint, the totally unnecessary cost of repainting -- which was covered by insurance, but which will drive up everybody's rates in the long run -- and the added expense (which we did pay for) of the replacement vehicle we had to rent during the weeks while ours was in the shop. All this for the sake of some pipe dream of security -- and who was really made more secure, as a result? No one.
Play this scene out on a larger scale. On the national level, the cost of security is numbered not in the thousands, but the billions -- as the troops of our nation and its allies are deployed around the world, trying to keep us safe in the war on terrorism. The men and women of our armed services are serving with distinction, but the truth is, they're doing a job no one should have to do, if only the peoples of this earth had done a better job settling their differences.
Helen Keller has some wise words on the subject of security. "Security," she says, "is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do children on the whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."
William Willimon suggests that the Ananias story can be used to emphasize the fact that God works through ordinary people: "The Lord's disciples are not only the prominent 'heroes' of the faith like Peter or Philip but also ordinary folk like Ananias, who walk on stage for a particular mission and then exit as the story moves on. Ministry is a function (a job to do for the Lord) more than a status or a privilege. By the end of this scene faithful Ananias disappears" (Acts; Interpretation series [Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1988], p. 78).
Ananias is an unsung hero of the faith. His could well be the words of the familiar spiritual, "There Is a Balm in Gilead":
If you cannot preach like Peter,
If you cannot pray like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus
And say, "He died for all."
Ananias "tells the love of Jesus," pure and simple. The man he heals and leads to salvation, Saul of Tarsus, will eventually become a preacher and pray-er of awesome power. Yet where would Paul be -- indeed, where would the whole of the Christian church be, down through the ages -- without Ananias? Every act of discipleship, even the most seemingly insignificant, is like a stone cast into a still pond. Concentric circles of ripples emanate from each one, and there's no telling how distant may be the shore upon which those ripples will one day make landfall.
In The Lectionary Commentary: The Old Testament and Acts (ed. Roger E. Van Harn; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001), p. 561, Charles M. Campbell writes:
From day one Saul learns that the Christian life is not an individualistic or isolated undertaking. He learns that as a believer he is part of a community larger than himself and a mission greater than his own vision. He learns that he is dependent on the wisdom, discernment, and faithfulness of other members of that community as he pursues his ministry. It is thus not surprising that Paul's lifework would involve building up churches rather than simply 'converting' individuals. And it is not surprising that Paul would later write so eloquently about the community of faith as a body with many parts, each part dependent on the others for its full flourishing (see 1 Corinthians 12:14-31; Romans 12:3-8). Such was Paul's experience from the first day of his calling.
Perhaps something could be made of the fact that Ananias "lays his hands upon" Saul. Another occasion in which a person "lays hands" on others is to arrest them -- as, indeed, Saul had arrested many a Christian. Ananias lays hands on his enemy in a loving, healing way. And that makes all the difference.
Another possible direction for a sermon would be to consider, in turn, each of the obstacles that stand between Ananias and his obedience to God's command. First, he must deal with the question of how to discern whether or not his mystical vision is genuine. (Luke records no questioning or hesitation on Ananias' part, but one can only assume that, being human, he has some doubts.) Second, Ananias must overcome his understandable fear of this man who by all accounts is a vicious persecutor of Christians. And third, he must overcome the thought -- common enough in our world, as it undoubtedly also was in his -- that there are some people who are simply irredeemable. In order to lead Saul through his conversion, Ananias needs discernment, courage, and forgiveness.
Yet another homiletical direction is suggested by Willimon (p. 79), who quotes a four-part schema of Christian conversion first put forth by Hans Mol. The stages (all of them evident in this story of Paul's conversion) are:
1. Detachment from former patterns of identity
2. A time of meaninglessness and anomie
3. A dramatic transition from darkness to light, from chaos to meaning
4. The faith community supports and accepts the initiate into their life together
Often, in this individualistic culture of ours, we tend to neglect the last of these stages. Conversion neither begins nor ends with the individual; always it is the business of the whole community.
Team Comments
George Murphy responds: The illusion that we have about security is that we can ensure it if we invest enough time, money, and effort in the task. Then we can be certain of what the future will bring. And of course we can take reasonable precautions, but the way events will develop in the future is highly contingent, as the now common illustration of the butterfly effect reminds us. James 4:13-16 puts that in a theological context: In the last analysis all our plans are subject to the condition, "If the Lord wishes." It is more than just a pious flourish to say that we will do something deo volente, "God willing."
But simply recognizing the uncertainty in our own plans doesn't grasp the extent to which we have to face futures that seem insecure. The Lord tells Ananias to do something that, by ordinary calculations, is pretty risky. And Ananias stands in a long tradition -- one going back to the beginnings of salvation history.
Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing." (Genesis 12:1-2)
The Bible has a number of stories about the faithfulness of Abraham (as well as a few showing him rather doubtful about God's extravagant promises), but there is none as startling as this initial one. God speaks to Abram (who at this point, as far as we can tell, is a polytheist) and tells him to leave his homeland and go to a foreign country where he doesn't know anyone, banking entirely on God's promise that he will become a great nation. (How? After all, he's 75 and his wife is 65 and they have no children!) Abram's security is nothing more than God's promise.
But that is by no means the only example. Think of Moses and the Israelites at the Sea of Reeds, with the Egyptian army advancing on them. "Why do you cry out to me?" God demands. "Tell the people to go forward" (Exodus 14:15). Walking into the sea hardly seems like the safest thing to do. But walking into the sea on God's command and promise turns out to be the way to freedom.
Or think of Jesus as he leaves the upper room with his disciples after the Last Supper. It didn't take supernatural insight at that point for Jesus to know that there were people who wanted to get rid of him and that he was in great danger. The most reasonable thing in the world would have been for him to say, "It's getting too hot for us here, boys. If we move fast we can get across the Jordan and lie low for awhile until it's a little safer in Jerusalem." Instead he went to Gethsemane and waited.
We may tend to discount the significance of that because we think that Jesus had the security of knowing that he was going to be raised from the dead. But the security he had was trusting in his Father in spite of his awareness of what was to come. It is not qualitatively different from what we are given when we are called to rely on the promises of God.
Christians generally -- with some good reasons -- have been uncomfortable with language about betting and gambling. We do not believe that, at the most fundamental level, chance rules the world. But any real certainty is in the hands of God. As far as our knowledge is concerned, the outcome of any decision is a matter of percentages. In a real sense we are called to gamble -- to bet our lives on God. But our willingness to do this can involve more than just a belief that the odds are on our side. Our confidence is based on the belief that the one in whom we trust is the one who dared the incredibly risky venture of the Incarnation and the cross just so that we would be able to rely on God for our future.
Roger Lovette responds: Carl, it seems to me that Ananias was asked to call someone brother who was pretty far out of his circle. The problem with all the animosity we have today (Rush Limbaugh, Al Franken) with name-calling is that it demonizes the enemy, and the distance between us grows wider.
Gordon Cosby has said that one of the checkmarks for the call of God is that God calls us to do something that seems impossible or ridiculous. This was certainly the case with Ananias.
Could we Christians make as much a difference in the world yet to come as Ananias made in the life of Paul?
We can build all the fortresses we want, protect ourselves as much as is possible and still be insecure. Is our security talk a false hope? Seems like Ananias put himself in a pretty insecure position with the church and his neighbors -- even put himself at risk in welcoming "the enemy" Paul.
Stan Purdum responds: Carlos, I loved the story about your van. The church I serve, sitting by itself out in the country, has a security system installed, and it's probably a good idea, because several small churches in our area have been looted. But the only ones to ever set off our alarm were church members, including yours truly. And then we had to hang around to assure the responding police that we were supposed to be there, and were merely inept at handling the alarm.
Related Illustrations
Submitted by Carlos Wilton
The issue in the headlines is security, and it is bound to be one of the crucial concerns during the U.S. presidential election campaign this year. Since 9/11, Americans have felt insecure, and the media and the Homeland Security people have provided a steady diet of reasons to be afraid. Now with economies around the world tanking, with concerns about the environmental impact of global warming growing, and with violence continuing unabated in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Middle East -- it seems that there is no safety or security anywhere. Everything is up for grabs; and nothing is permanent.
Now there's a concept spiritual people understand -- impermanence. Teachers from all religious traditions have made it clear that security is an illusion. As human beings, we are vulnerable and stand in the face of death.
-- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, "Security: America's Favorite Idol," http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/newsh/items/newsitem/item_8328.html
***
A certain group of steelworkers discovered just how important a sense of security is, back in the 1930s, when they were building San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
During the first part of the project, the construction company installed no safety devices. Twenty-three workers fell to their deaths. For the last phase of the project, a huge net was deployed, at a cost of $100,000. At least ten men fell into the safety net, and were saved. That was a marvel in itself -- but the most remarkable thing of all is this: from the day the net was hung, the steelworkers accomplished 25 percent more work. That's how important it was to be assured of their security.
***
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
-- Benjamin Franklin
***
The heart of spirituality isn't safety and security. Instead, it is what Dorothy Day called 'precarity.' In the mind of most, precarity (or precariousness) is a bleak state of uncertainty and danger. The word connotes instability, poverty, marginalization, and the absence of a safety net.... It also suggests radical dependence: the Latin 'precarious' is the state of being dependent on another's will, being upheld or sustained by another's force. So a spirituality centered on precarity acknowledges the radical uncertainty or contingency of human existence and our utter dependence on God.
-- Kerry Walters, in Jacob's Hip: Finding God in an Anxious Age
***
Dying to self isn't like taking a course, where you know syllabus and requirements in advance. Dying to self is like falling in love, leaving home or bearing children: You don't know where you are going, how you will get there, whom you will meet along the way, or what you will find.
Faith is a venture in self-emptying, not self-fulfillment.
-- Tom Ehrich, "On a Journey" e-newsletter, 4/9/04
***
Many of you will remember Terry Anderson. He was the journalist who was held as a hostage in Lebanon along with others we don't remember for 2,454 days!
But few of know that he had been raised in the Catholic Church. Even though he had not been a practicing Catholic for years, however, the Bible was given to him during his captivity. He said it came to him as a gift from heaven. He read. He pondered his life. He had lots of time to ponder his life. Too much time to ponder his life. He began a litany of confession in his mind. He confessed that he had hurt his first wife and daughter. He had made many mistakes. He had been a very arrogant person. He wasn't sure that people liked him much. He wasn't sure he liked himself very much.
Later in the first year of his captivity Anderson became aware of the fact that other hostages were living next door. One was a priest. Father Lawrence Jenco. He asked his captors if he could see the priest. "I am a Catholic," he told them. "I want to make a confession."
His wish was granted. Father Jenco came to his room. They both took off their blindfolds. Anderson hardly knew where to begin. It had been twenty-five years since he had last made confession. Father Jenco was encouraging. Anderson began reciting to this priest the sins he had been reflecting upon. There was much to confess. A bad marriage. Chasing women. Drinking. Anderson found it a very emotional experience. When he finished both he and Father Jenco were in tears. Father Jenco then laid his right hand upon Anderson's head. "In the name of a gentle, loving God, you are forgiven," the priest proclaimed.
Terry Anderson's faith deepened immensely in his hostage years. This moment of confession with Father Jenco, however, was his first formal step back into the church. Self-reflection had grown within him out of the darkness of his hostage encounter. It was time to face the light. It was time in his life for a turn around.
-- Richard A. Jensen, Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit (Lima, Ohio: CSS Publishing, 1994)
***
Evangelism can no longer mean simply taking people out of the world, running them through some process of conversion and then placing them back in the same world and somehow expecting them to survive. If conversion is the translation of persons from one world to another, from one community to another, then conversion to Christ requires a new environment in which it is more possible to live a Christian life.
-- Jim Wallis, The Call to Conversion (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1992), p. 115.
***
Faith means being grasped by a power that is greater than we are, a power that shakes us and turns us, and transforms and heals us. Surrender to this power is faith.
-- Paul Tillich
***
It is God's nature to make something out of nothing. That is why God cannot make anything out of [one] who is not yet nothing.
-- Martin Luther
Worship Resources
This week let me offer you a couple of call to worship options from the readings themselves. The first is based on the Psalm for this week, Psalm 30.
CALL TO WORSHIP
LEADER: Sing to the Lord, you saints;
PEOPLE: Praise the holy name of God.
LEADER: For God's anger last but a moment,
PEOPLE: While God's favor lasts a lifetime;
LEADER: Though weeping may remain for a night,
PEOPLE: Rejoicing comes in the morning.
LEADER: To you O Lord I cried for mercy,
PEOPLE: And you turned my mourning into dancing;
LEADER: You removed my grieving clothes,
PEOPLE: And dressed me in joy.
LEADER: Let our hearts sing!
PEOPLE: Let us not be silent for God is good!
Another option is the text from Revelation 5. You may want to begin by explaining that these words are from John's vision of the heavens at the end of time.
CALL TO WORSHIP
LEADER: Then I heard the voice of many angels,
PEOPLE: Thousands upon thousands.
LEADER: They encircled the throne of the mighty one
PEOPLE: And in a loud voice they sang,
LEADER: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
PEOPLE: To receive power and wealth
LEADER: And wisdom and strength
PEOPLE: And honor and glory and praise!"
LEADER: Then I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, singing
PEOPLE: "To the One who sits on the throne
LEADER: And to the Lamb;
PEOPLE: Be praise and honor and glory and power
LEADER: Forever and ever!"
PEOPLE: And the four magnificent creatures said,
LEADER: "Amen."
PEOPLE: And the elders of Israel and the church
LEADER: Fell down and worshiped.
PEOPLE: So let us worship God as well.
LEADER: Amen.
This prayer of confession could be done as a little drama with a group of people reading the lines:
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
LEADER: There's old lady Knab who lives on the corner. What a hag!
PEOPLE: And a child of God.
LEADER: And there goes Mr. Natali. They say he's in the Mafia.
PEOPLE: And he's a child of God.
LEADER: Have you ever seen anyone who looks like Cathy? She has got to be the ugliest person on the face of the earth.
PEOPLE: And a child of God.
LEADER: And Jake, he's nineteen and still in eleventh grade. What a dope!
PEOPLE: And a child of God.
LEADER: And Micah, retard.
PEOPLE: And a child of God.
LEADER: And Renee, a psychopath if I've ever seen one.
PEOPLE: And a child of God.
(Pause)
LEADER: O Lord, forgive us for all the people we write off,
PEOPLE: And label,
LEADER: And stereotype,
PEOPLE: And pigeonhole.
LEADER: Remind us that every single person on this earth
PEOPLE: Is a child of yours.
LEADER: And that we are called to love each and every one.
PEOPLE: Each and every one.
LEADER: We ask it in the name of Jesus Christ,
PEOPLE: Who was killed by those who misunderstood and feared him.
LEADER: Amen.
Here is version 2 for a group of readers or a drama team:
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Person #1: There's old lady Knab who lives on the corner.
Person #2: Yeah. What a hag!
Person #3: And a child of God.
Person #4: And there goes Mr. Natali. (waving and then whispering) They say he's in the Mafia.
Person #3: And he's a child of God.
Person #5: Have you ever seen anyone who looks like Cathy.
Person #6: She has got to be the ugliest person on the face of the earth.
Person #3: And a child of God.
Person #1: And Jake over there. (pointing) He's nineteen and still in eleventh grade.
Person #2: What a dope!
Person #3: And a child of God.
Person #4: And Micah, retard.
Person #5: And Renee, a psychopath if ever I've seen one.
Person #1: And here comes Father Maloney.
Person #2: The priest who likes little boys.
Person #4: And ...
Person #3: (Interrupting) And they are all children of God.
Person #5: O Lord, forgive us for all the people we write off,
Person #1: And label,
Person #2: And stereotype,
Person #4: And pigeonhole.
Person #3: Remind us that every single person on this earth is a child of yours.
Person #5: And that we are called to love
Person #1: Each and every one.
Person #2: Each and every one.
Person #4: We ask it in the name of Jesus Christ
Person #5: Who was killed by those who misunderstood and feared him.
Person #3: Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
LEADER: Paul, a self-righteous Pharisee,
PEOPLE: A passionate hater of Christians;
LEADER: A persecutor of the church,
PEOPLE: And then ...
LEADER: A fully forgiven
PEOPLE: New creation in Christ.
LEADER: There is no sin God cannot pardon,
there is no hurt God cannot heal,
there is no hatred God cannot transform.
PEOPLE: Let us praise God for an amazing love.
LEADER: Let us surrender our lives to the Son,
PEOPLE: And become new as Paul did. Amen.
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
As a flower bud opens to the sun in spring, Lord open our hearts now to the son who speaks in the words of this holy book. Amen.
OFFERTORY PRAYER
All we have is yours, O Lord. Implant within us this truth that we might live not as owners but as stewards of what we have been blessed to receive. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
PASTORAL PRAYER
The enemy. We see the enemy everywhere. We see it in the one whose business is in competition with ours; in the face of the kid who sneers at us on the school bus; in the opinion of the one who disagrees with us over matters of theology or church practice; in the cockiness of the neighbor who claims a bit of our property; in the color of the skin that doesn't match ours; in the accent that tells us that this person isn't from here; and in far too many other characteristics of God's other children.
Lord, we pray that in your church we who have been forgiven much would now by your grace begin to see others with the same eyes with which you see us -- eyes that see past differences and disagreements and ugliness and anger and to see the glorious image of the living God that resides in each of us who have been crafted by you.
Give us the eyes to see, and the arms to embrace others that the world might see how your love is the most powerful conquering force in all of creation. Our world needs such eyes and arms Lord. Grant them to us. Amen.
MUSIC
Songs
"My Father's Eyes." This old favorite by Amy Grant would be a marvelous piece for special music this week.
The group Sierra also has a marvelous song titled, "No Stone to Throw" -- another wonderful piece for special music
"Holy, You Are Still Holy"
"Holiness"
Hymns
"Amazing Grace"
"All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name"
"Anywhere with Jesus"
"Go"
"Go Ye into All the World"
"I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go"
"Open My Eyes, That I May See"
"To Be God's People"
"Take My Life and Let It Be"
A Children's Sermon
Wesley T. Runk
Text: Vv. 1 & 2 - Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Acts 9:1-20
Object: colored paper or crayons or paint samples representing the different colors of national security -- GREEN, BLUE, YELLOW, ORANGE, AND RED
Good morning, boys and girls. Today is probably a wonderful day where you live. This morning you got up, got dressed, ate your breakfast, came to church in your car or walked, and attended Sunday school with your friends. Now you are in church with your parents, singing hymns and listening to the scriptures and prayers. This is a wonderful life isn't it? (let them answer) We feel secure and loved don't we? (let them answer)
But everyday isn't like today. Sometimes we live in a time when we must be very alert. How many of you have heard of the word security? (let them answer) We must not only look out for ourselves sometimes but we must be on watch for others. Our country has a code for different times. The different colors I am going to show you are the colors we hear about on our radios, newspapers, and television. The different colors are green, blue, yellow, orange, and red. When you see these colors you know what is going on in the world. We all like the color green because it tells us that things are pretty good. But when we see orange or red then we know that we must be very alert and report to our parents anything that seems strange or very different.
There was a man by the name of Ananias who had a vision from God to go and visit a man named Saul who was in his town of Damascus. God told Ananias to go to Saul and assist him in getting over his blindness. Ananias had heard of Saul and considered him very dangerous. Ananias was thinking Code Red. Ananias had heard that Saul was having people like him, a Christian, put to death. But God asked him to overcome his fear of Saul and go to a house and put his hands on his head and tell him that the Lord Jesus had spoken to him on the road to Damascus where Saul became blind. Now it was three days later and God wanted his blindness removed. Ananias could see red but he trusted in God and went where he was told to go and put his hands on Saul's head and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Immediately Saul was able to see and he asked to be baptized. Saul, who once was the enemy of Jesus and all Christians, became the man we know as Paul.
Today we are afraid of people we call terrorists. How many of you have heard of terrorists? (let them answer) We need to change their hearts and understand that God does not want more hurt but rather help. We need to pray that the terrorists that cause us to raise the colors of yellow, orange, and red will feel the presence of God in their lives like Saul did and then follow the teachings of God rather than terror.
When you leave our church today I want you to think about sharing your love with everyone in the name of Jesus. We can change the world with kindness and the sharing of God's love with everyone. In Jesus' name. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, April 25, 2004, issue.
Copyright 2004 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 permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
Few words have higher impact in these troubled times than "security." Driven daily by news from the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism, security issues, both at home and abroad loom large.
It is striking to observe how prominent this theme is in our scripture, hymns, and songs. We speak of a "mighty fortress," being "safe in the arms of Jesus," finding refuge "under his wings," to mention only a few examples. The Bible is replete with conflict, but the psalmists often warn against putting our trust in things that cannot provide true security.
Here at The Immediate Word, we see a sermonic connection between security concerns and the lectionary text from Acts for April 25. So we have asked team member Carlos Wilton to address the matter of security using Acts 9:1-20 as a basis. Comments from team members, illustrations, worship materials, and a children's sermon round out this issue.
ANANIAS, MEET YOUR BROTHER
Carlos Wilton
Acts 9:1-20
The Message on a Postcard
It's one of the most important meetings in the history of Christianity: an otherwise-unknown disciple named Ananias courageously approaches his fearsome persecutor, Saul, now struck blind by God and ready to be converted. Spurred on by a vision from the Lord, Ananias takes a risk and calls him brother -- and the world has never been the same since. There are times in life when God calls us, too, to take risks for the faith.
Is Ananias reckless? Or simply faithful? The book of Acts provides no details of this vision of his other than to say he receives it. The fact that Ananias questions the Lord at this visionary moment, asking, in effect, "Did I hear you right, Lord?" suggests he's none too sure about the prudence of what he's being commanded to do. Yet eventually, Ananias puts fears for his own security aside, and ventures forth to visit that house on the street called Straight.
One of the great values of our society in these days of fear and terrorism is security. It's always been true that, in Washington, the phrase "a matter of national security" is enough to shake loose congressional appropriations -- no questions asked. On many occasions it's also been enough to keep investigating commissions and special prosecutors at bay. At no time in recent decades has this been more true than now.
On an individual level, security is a powerful motivator (and, at times, a de-motivator). "Is it worth the risk?" we often ask ourselves, before venturing into uncharted territory. An entire industry -- the insurance industry -- exists to help us "manage risk" (as though risk can ever really be managed!).
Yet security can also be a potent idol. Faith, by its very nature, includes an element of risk, and the idol of security often stands between us and obedience to God's command. What risks is God calling each of us to take for our faith? What, for each of us, is the house on the street called Straight?
Some Words on the Word
An opening exegetical question is why Luke tells the story of Paul's conversion here. It seems out of place. Most of the material dealing with Paul comes later in Acts.
In fact, Luke is not treating this story as part of his Pauline section. Rather, the conversion of Paul is but one of a string of conversion stories in these early chapters of Acts, all of them involving unlikely people. To Luke, the story of Paul's conversion is but one further piece of evidence that none other than God the Holy Spirit is orchestrating the expansion of the Christian gospel beyond the familiar turf of Judaism into all the world.
Paul's conversion, of course, is particularly dramatic, not so much because of its supernatural elements (which, indeed, are present in some other conversion stories), but because of how far this particular individual must turn before his heart is finally aligned Godward. Prior to his conversion -- at least as Luke tells it -- Saul displays neither the piety of the centurion Cornelius nor the intellectual curiosity of the Ethiopian eunuch. Surely, as a leading Pharisee, this man was both pious and learned, but Luke can only speak of his "breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord" (9:1). Luke is eager for us to know that Saul's turn toward Christian faith is a full 180 degrees.
Some interpreters have quipped that the Acts of the Apostles is probably misnamed: The book could be more accurately titled, "the Acts of the Holy Spirit." From beginning to end, the real protagonist of this book is the Spirit. Yes, there are leading human characters (most notably, Peter and Paul). Yet each of them is directed at every turn, in decisions both weighty and mundane, by the Spirit. In this particular story, the Spirit is active on two fronts: preparing both Ananias and Saul for the encounter that is soon to come. Both receive visions, not just one.
In introducing himself to the Galatians, Paul would describe himself as "an apostle -- sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead" (1:1). Ananias is merely the instrument; the Holy Spirit is the principal actor.
This is not the only account of Paul's conversion in Acts. In Acts 22:6-16, Luke has Paul recount the story of his conversion in his own words. In Acts 26:12-18, Luke does so once again, having Paul repeat his story as part of his testimony before King Agrippa. In Philippians 3:4-11, Paul tells how all the trappings of his former position of honor are now but "refuse" (the Greek term is more colorful), when compared to "the surpassing worth" of knowing Christ.
A Map of the Message
In verse 13, Ananias refers to Saul as "this man." In verse 17, he addresses him as "Brother Saul." Somewhere between verses 13 and 17, a transformation takes place in Ananias' thinking. Luke provides only the sketchiest of psychological details about this transformation. Most of it is left to the reader's imagination, and that imaginative reconstruction is at the heart of this sermon.
In order to respond in obedience, Ananias must first somehow deal with his own innate desire for security. The little dialogue between himself and God indicates how difficult this is for him.
In these post-9/11 days, security is one of the biggest growth sectors of our economy. Those who work for companies that manufacture burglar alarms, or bulletproof vests, or "meals ready to eat" for the military, generally have it made. Customers will be lining up to buy those products for many years to come.
The sad thing about the security industry, though, is that it really doesn't produce anything. The whole purpose of security is defensive -- staving off some bad thing that could possibly happen. If we lived in a world where people truly trusted one another, truly respected and cared for each other, we would have no need to spend all that money to make sure we're safe.
Allow me to share a small, personal example. A couple of years ago, my wife and I bought a used minivan. It came with a "security system" we neither asked for nor cared about -- a burglar alarm that's difficult to disarm, and which has a penchant for going off at odd and unexpected moments. Back in December, as my father-in-law lay dying and the family was coping with that sad reality, we had the minivan in my wife's hometown, Baltimore, parked overnight on a city street. Apparently, the alarm went off in the middle of the night, because the next morning we found an angry note on the windshield and discovered that some irate person had squirted automotive paint on every panel of the van except the roof.
The entire vehicle had to be repainted. Insurance picked up the tab: more than $4,000. Think of all the costs incurred along the way, in that crazy, Rube Goldberg sequence of events -- and all for the sake of security. There was the burglar alarm we didn't want in the first place (but which was surely included in the price of the vehicle), the lost sleep of the poor citizens of that neighborhood, who had to listen to the horn honking all through the night, the time of the police officer who responded to our complaint, the totally unnecessary cost of repainting -- which was covered by insurance, but which will drive up everybody's rates in the long run -- and the added expense (which we did pay for) of the replacement vehicle we had to rent during the weeks while ours was in the shop. All this for the sake of some pipe dream of security -- and who was really made more secure, as a result? No one.
Play this scene out on a larger scale. On the national level, the cost of security is numbered not in the thousands, but the billions -- as the troops of our nation and its allies are deployed around the world, trying to keep us safe in the war on terrorism. The men and women of our armed services are serving with distinction, but the truth is, they're doing a job no one should have to do, if only the peoples of this earth had done a better job settling their differences.
Helen Keller has some wise words on the subject of security. "Security," she says, "is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do children on the whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."
William Willimon suggests that the Ananias story can be used to emphasize the fact that God works through ordinary people: "The Lord's disciples are not only the prominent 'heroes' of the faith like Peter or Philip but also ordinary folk like Ananias, who walk on stage for a particular mission and then exit as the story moves on. Ministry is a function (a job to do for the Lord) more than a status or a privilege. By the end of this scene faithful Ananias disappears" (Acts; Interpretation series [Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1988], p. 78).
Ananias is an unsung hero of the faith. His could well be the words of the familiar spiritual, "There Is a Balm in Gilead":
If you cannot preach like Peter,
If you cannot pray like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus
And say, "He died for all."
Ananias "tells the love of Jesus," pure and simple. The man he heals and leads to salvation, Saul of Tarsus, will eventually become a preacher and pray-er of awesome power. Yet where would Paul be -- indeed, where would the whole of the Christian church be, down through the ages -- without Ananias? Every act of discipleship, even the most seemingly insignificant, is like a stone cast into a still pond. Concentric circles of ripples emanate from each one, and there's no telling how distant may be the shore upon which those ripples will one day make landfall.
In The Lectionary Commentary: The Old Testament and Acts (ed. Roger E. Van Harn; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001), p. 561, Charles M. Campbell writes:
From day one Saul learns that the Christian life is not an individualistic or isolated undertaking. He learns that as a believer he is part of a community larger than himself and a mission greater than his own vision. He learns that he is dependent on the wisdom, discernment, and faithfulness of other members of that community as he pursues his ministry. It is thus not surprising that Paul's lifework would involve building up churches rather than simply 'converting' individuals. And it is not surprising that Paul would later write so eloquently about the community of faith as a body with many parts, each part dependent on the others for its full flourishing (see 1 Corinthians 12:14-31; Romans 12:3-8). Such was Paul's experience from the first day of his calling.
Perhaps something could be made of the fact that Ananias "lays his hands upon" Saul. Another occasion in which a person "lays hands" on others is to arrest them -- as, indeed, Saul had arrested many a Christian. Ananias lays hands on his enemy in a loving, healing way. And that makes all the difference.
Another possible direction for a sermon would be to consider, in turn, each of the obstacles that stand between Ananias and his obedience to God's command. First, he must deal with the question of how to discern whether or not his mystical vision is genuine. (Luke records no questioning or hesitation on Ananias' part, but one can only assume that, being human, he has some doubts.) Second, Ananias must overcome his understandable fear of this man who by all accounts is a vicious persecutor of Christians. And third, he must overcome the thought -- common enough in our world, as it undoubtedly also was in his -- that there are some people who are simply irredeemable. In order to lead Saul through his conversion, Ananias needs discernment, courage, and forgiveness.
Yet another homiletical direction is suggested by Willimon (p. 79), who quotes a four-part schema of Christian conversion first put forth by Hans Mol. The stages (all of them evident in this story of Paul's conversion) are:
1. Detachment from former patterns of identity
2. A time of meaninglessness and anomie
3. A dramatic transition from darkness to light, from chaos to meaning
4. The faith community supports and accepts the initiate into their life together
Often, in this individualistic culture of ours, we tend to neglect the last of these stages. Conversion neither begins nor ends with the individual; always it is the business of the whole community.
Team Comments
George Murphy responds: The illusion that we have about security is that we can ensure it if we invest enough time, money, and effort in the task. Then we can be certain of what the future will bring. And of course we can take reasonable precautions, but the way events will develop in the future is highly contingent, as the now common illustration of the butterfly effect reminds us. James 4:13-16 puts that in a theological context: In the last analysis all our plans are subject to the condition, "If the Lord wishes." It is more than just a pious flourish to say that we will do something deo volente, "God willing."
But simply recognizing the uncertainty in our own plans doesn't grasp the extent to which we have to face futures that seem insecure. The Lord tells Ananias to do something that, by ordinary calculations, is pretty risky. And Ananias stands in a long tradition -- one going back to the beginnings of salvation history.
Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing." (Genesis 12:1-2)
The Bible has a number of stories about the faithfulness of Abraham (as well as a few showing him rather doubtful about God's extravagant promises), but there is none as startling as this initial one. God speaks to Abram (who at this point, as far as we can tell, is a polytheist) and tells him to leave his homeland and go to a foreign country where he doesn't know anyone, banking entirely on God's promise that he will become a great nation. (How? After all, he's 75 and his wife is 65 and they have no children!) Abram's security is nothing more than God's promise.
But that is by no means the only example. Think of Moses and the Israelites at the Sea of Reeds, with the Egyptian army advancing on them. "Why do you cry out to me?" God demands. "Tell the people to go forward" (Exodus 14:15). Walking into the sea hardly seems like the safest thing to do. But walking into the sea on God's command and promise turns out to be the way to freedom.
Or think of Jesus as he leaves the upper room with his disciples after the Last Supper. It didn't take supernatural insight at that point for Jesus to know that there were people who wanted to get rid of him and that he was in great danger. The most reasonable thing in the world would have been for him to say, "It's getting too hot for us here, boys. If we move fast we can get across the Jordan and lie low for awhile until it's a little safer in Jerusalem." Instead he went to Gethsemane and waited.
We may tend to discount the significance of that because we think that Jesus had the security of knowing that he was going to be raised from the dead. But the security he had was trusting in his Father in spite of his awareness of what was to come. It is not qualitatively different from what we are given when we are called to rely on the promises of God.
Christians generally -- with some good reasons -- have been uncomfortable with language about betting and gambling. We do not believe that, at the most fundamental level, chance rules the world. But any real certainty is in the hands of God. As far as our knowledge is concerned, the outcome of any decision is a matter of percentages. In a real sense we are called to gamble -- to bet our lives on God. But our willingness to do this can involve more than just a belief that the odds are on our side. Our confidence is based on the belief that the one in whom we trust is the one who dared the incredibly risky venture of the Incarnation and the cross just so that we would be able to rely on God for our future.
Roger Lovette responds: Carl, it seems to me that Ananias was asked to call someone brother who was pretty far out of his circle. The problem with all the animosity we have today (Rush Limbaugh, Al Franken) with name-calling is that it demonizes the enemy, and the distance between us grows wider.
Gordon Cosby has said that one of the checkmarks for the call of God is that God calls us to do something that seems impossible or ridiculous. This was certainly the case with Ananias.
Could we Christians make as much a difference in the world yet to come as Ananias made in the life of Paul?
We can build all the fortresses we want, protect ourselves as much as is possible and still be insecure. Is our security talk a false hope? Seems like Ananias put himself in a pretty insecure position with the church and his neighbors -- even put himself at risk in welcoming "the enemy" Paul.
Stan Purdum responds: Carlos, I loved the story about your van. The church I serve, sitting by itself out in the country, has a security system installed, and it's probably a good idea, because several small churches in our area have been looted. But the only ones to ever set off our alarm were church members, including yours truly. And then we had to hang around to assure the responding police that we were supposed to be there, and were merely inept at handling the alarm.
Related Illustrations
Submitted by Carlos Wilton
The issue in the headlines is security, and it is bound to be one of the crucial concerns during the U.S. presidential election campaign this year. Since 9/11, Americans have felt insecure, and the media and the Homeland Security people have provided a steady diet of reasons to be afraid. Now with economies around the world tanking, with concerns about the environmental impact of global warming growing, and with violence continuing unabated in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Middle East -- it seems that there is no safety or security anywhere. Everything is up for grabs; and nothing is permanent.
Now there's a concept spiritual people understand -- impermanence. Teachers from all religious traditions have made it clear that security is an illusion. As human beings, we are vulnerable and stand in the face of death.
-- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, "Security: America's Favorite Idol," http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/newsh/items/newsitem/item_8328.html
***
A certain group of steelworkers discovered just how important a sense of security is, back in the 1930s, when they were building San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
During the first part of the project, the construction company installed no safety devices. Twenty-three workers fell to their deaths. For the last phase of the project, a huge net was deployed, at a cost of $100,000. At least ten men fell into the safety net, and were saved. That was a marvel in itself -- but the most remarkable thing of all is this: from the day the net was hung, the steelworkers accomplished 25 percent more work. That's how important it was to be assured of their security.
***
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
-- Benjamin Franklin
***
The heart of spirituality isn't safety and security. Instead, it is what Dorothy Day called 'precarity.' In the mind of most, precarity (or precariousness) is a bleak state of uncertainty and danger. The word connotes instability, poverty, marginalization, and the absence of a safety net.... It also suggests radical dependence: the Latin 'precarious' is the state of being dependent on another's will, being upheld or sustained by another's force. So a spirituality centered on precarity acknowledges the radical uncertainty or contingency of human existence and our utter dependence on God.
-- Kerry Walters, in Jacob's Hip: Finding God in an Anxious Age
***
Dying to self isn't like taking a course, where you know syllabus and requirements in advance. Dying to self is like falling in love, leaving home or bearing children: You don't know where you are going, how you will get there, whom you will meet along the way, or what you will find.
Faith is a venture in self-emptying, not self-fulfillment.
-- Tom Ehrich, "On a Journey" e-newsletter, 4/9/04
***
Many of you will remember Terry Anderson. He was the journalist who was held as a hostage in Lebanon along with others we don't remember for 2,454 days!
But few of know that he had been raised in the Catholic Church. Even though he had not been a practicing Catholic for years, however, the Bible was given to him during his captivity. He said it came to him as a gift from heaven. He read. He pondered his life. He had lots of time to ponder his life. Too much time to ponder his life. He began a litany of confession in his mind. He confessed that he had hurt his first wife and daughter. He had made many mistakes. He had been a very arrogant person. He wasn't sure that people liked him much. He wasn't sure he liked himself very much.
Later in the first year of his captivity Anderson became aware of the fact that other hostages were living next door. One was a priest. Father Lawrence Jenco. He asked his captors if he could see the priest. "I am a Catholic," he told them. "I want to make a confession."
His wish was granted. Father Jenco came to his room. They both took off their blindfolds. Anderson hardly knew where to begin. It had been twenty-five years since he had last made confession. Father Jenco was encouraging. Anderson began reciting to this priest the sins he had been reflecting upon. There was much to confess. A bad marriage. Chasing women. Drinking. Anderson found it a very emotional experience. When he finished both he and Father Jenco were in tears. Father Jenco then laid his right hand upon Anderson's head. "In the name of a gentle, loving God, you are forgiven," the priest proclaimed.
Terry Anderson's faith deepened immensely in his hostage years. This moment of confession with Father Jenco, however, was his first formal step back into the church. Self-reflection had grown within him out of the darkness of his hostage encounter. It was time to face the light. It was time in his life for a turn around.
-- Richard A. Jensen, Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit (Lima, Ohio: CSS Publishing, 1994)
***
Evangelism can no longer mean simply taking people out of the world, running them through some process of conversion and then placing them back in the same world and somehow expecting them to survive. If conversion is the translation of persons from one world to another, from one community to another, then conversion to Christ requires a new environment in which it is more possible to live a Christian life.
-- Jim Wallis, The Call to Conversion (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1992), p. 115.
***
Faith means being grasped by a power that is greater than we are, a power that shakes us and turns us, and transforms and heals us. Surrender to this power is faith.
-- Paul Tillich
***
It is God's nature to make something out of nothing. That is why God cannot make anything out of [one] who is not yet nothing.
-- Martin Luther
Worship Resources
This week let me offer you a couple of call to worship options from the readings themselves. The first is based on the Psalm for this week, Psalm 30.
CALL TO WORSHIP
LEADER: Sing to the Lord, you saints;
PEOPLE: Praise the holy name of God.
LEADER: For God's anger last but a moment,
PEOPLE: While God's favor lasts a lifetime;
LEADER: Though weeping may remain for a night,
PEOPLE: Rejoicing comes in the morning.
LEADER: To you O Lord I cried for mercy,
PEOPLE: And you turned my mourning into dancing;
LEADER: You removed my grieving clothes,
PEOPLE: And dressed me in joy.
LEADER: Let our hearts sing!
PEOPLE: Let us not be silent for God is good!
Another option is the text from Revelation 5. You may want to begin by explaining that these words are from John's vision of the heavens at the end of time.
CALL TO WORSHIP
LEADER: Then I heard the voice of many angels,
PEOPLE: Thousands upon thousands.
LEADER: They encircled the throne of the mighty one
PEOPLE: And in a loud voice they sang,
LEADER: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
PEOPLE: To receive power and wealth
LEADER: And wisdom and strength
PEOPLE: And honor and glory and praise!"
LEADER: Then I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, singing
PEOPLE: "To the One who sits on the throne
LEADER: And to the Lamb;
PEOPLE: Be praise and honor and glory and power
LEADER: Forever and ever!"
PEOPLE: And the four magnificent creatures said,
LEADER: "Amen."
PEOPLE: And the elders of Israel and the church
LEADER: Fell down and worshiped.
PEOPLE: So let us worship God as well.
LEADER: Amen.
This prayer of confession could be done as a little drama with a group of people reading the lines:
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
LEADER: There's old lady Knab who lives on the corner. What a hag!
PEOPLE: And a child of God.
LEADER: And there goes Mr. Natali. They say he's in the Mafia.
PEOPLE: And he's a child of God.
LEADER: Have you ever seen anyone who looks like Cathy? She has got to be the ugliest person on the face of the earth.
PEOPLE: And a child of God.
LEADER: And Jake, he's nineteen and still in eleventh grade. What a dope!
PEOPLE: And a child of God.
LEADER: And Micah, retard.
PEOPLE: And a child of God.
LEADER: And Renee, a psychopath if I've ever seen one.
PEOPLE: And a child of God.
(Pause)
LEADER: O Lord, forgive us for all the people we write off,
PEOPLE: And label,
LEADER: And stereotype,
PEOPLE: And pigeonhole.
LEADER: Remind us that every single person on this earth
PEOPLE: Is a child of yours.
LEADER: And that we are called to love each and every one.
PEOPLE: Each and every one.
LEADER: We ask it in the name of Jesus Christ,
PEOPLE: Who was killed by those who misunderstood and feared him.
LEADER: Amen.
Here is version 2 for a group of readers or a drama team:
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Person #1: There's old lady Knab who lives on the corner.
Person #2: Yeah. What a hag!
Person #3: And a child of God.
Person #4: And there goes Mr. Natali. (waving and then whispering) They say he's in the Mafia.
Person #3: And he's a child of God.
Person #5: Have you ever seen anyone who looks like Cathy.
Person #6: She has got to be the ugliest person on the face of the earth.
Person #3: And a child of God.
Person #1: And Jake over there. (pointing) He's nineteen and still in eleventh grade.
Person #2: What a dope!
Person #3: And a child of God.
Person #4: And Micah, retard.
Person #5: And Renee, a psychopath if ever I've seen one.
Person #1: And here comes Father Maloney.
Person #2: The priest who likes little boys.
Person #4: And ...
Person #3: (Interrupting) And they are all children of God.
Person #5: O Lord, forgive us for all the people we write off,
Person #1: And label,
Person #2: And stereotype,
Person #4: And pigeonhole.
Person #3: Remind us that every single person on this earth is a child of yours.
Person #5: And that we are called to love
Person #1: Each and every one.
Person #2: Each and every one.
Person #4: We ask it in the name of Jesus Christ
Person #5: Who was killed by those who misunderstood and feared him.
Person #3: Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
LEADER: Paul, a self-righteous Pharisee,
PEOPLE: A passionate hater of Christians;
LEADER: A persecutor of the church,
PEOPLE: And then ...
LEADER: A fully forgiven
PEOPLE: New creation in Christ.
LEADER: There is no sin God cannot pardon,
there is no hurt God cannot heal,
there is no hatred God cannot transform.
PEOPLE: Let us praise God for an amazing love.
LEADER: Let us surrender our lives to the Son,
PEOPLE: And become new as Paul did. Amen.
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
As a flower bud opens to the sun in spring, Lord open our hearts now to the son who speaks in the words of this holy book. Amen.
OFFERTORY PRAYER
All we have is yours, O Lord. Implant within us this truth that we might live not as owners but as stewards of what we have been blessed to receive. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
PASTORAL PRAYER
The enemy. We see the enemy everywhere. We see it in the one whose business is in competition with ours; in the face of the kid who sneers at us on the school bus; in the opinion of the one who disagrees with us over matters of theology or church practice; in the cockiness of the neighbor who claims a bit of our property; in the color of the skin that doesn't match ours; in the accent that tells us that this person isn't from here; and in far too many other characteristics of God's other children.
Lord, we pray that in your church we who have been forgiven much would now by your grace begin to see others with the same eyes with which you see us -- eyes that see past differences and disagreements and ugliness and anger and to see the glorious image of the living God that resides in each of us who have been crafted by you.
Give us the eyes to see, and the arms to embrace others that the world might see how your love is the most powerful conquering force in all of creation. Our world needs such eyes and arms Lord. Grant them to us. Amen.
MUSIC
Songs
"My Father's Eyes." This old favorite by Amy Grant would be a marvelous piece for special music this week.
The group Sierra also has a marvelous song titled, "No Stone to Throw" -- another wonderful piece for special music
"Holy, You Are Still Holy"
"Holiness"
Hymns
"Amazing Grace"
"All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name"
"Anywhere with Jesus"
"Go"
"Go Ye into All the World"
"I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go"
"Open My Eyes, That I May See"
"To Be God's People"
"Take My Life and Let It Be"
A Children's Sermon
Wesley T. Runk
Text: Vv. 1 & 2 - Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Acts 9:1-20
Object: colored paper or crayons or paint samples representing the different colors of national security -- GREEN, BLUE, YELLOW, ORANGE, AND RED
Good morning, boys and girls. Today is probably a wonderful day where you live. This morning you got up, got dressed, ate your breakfast, came to church in your car or walked, and attended Sunday school with your friends. Now you are in church with your parents, singing hymns and listening to the scriptures and prayers. This is a wonderful life isn't it? (let them answer) We feel secure and loved don't we? (let them answer)
But everyday isn't like today. Sometimes we live in a time when we must be very alert. How many of you have heard of the word security? (let them answer) We must not only look out for ourselves sometimes but we must be on watch for others. Our country has a code for different times. The different colors I am going to show you are the colors we hear about on our radios, newspapers, and television. The different colors are green, blue, yellow, orange, and red. When you see these colors you know what is going on in the world. We all like the color green because it tells us that things are pretty good. But when we see orange or red then we know that we must be very alert and report to our parents anything that seems strange or very different.
There was a man by the name of Ananias who had a vision from God to go and visit a man named Saul who was in his town of Damascus. God told Ananias to go to Saul and assist him in getting over his blindness. Ananias had heard of Saul and considered him very dangerous. Ananias was thinking Code Red. Ananias had heard that Saul was having people like him, a Christian, put to death. But God asked him to overcome his fear of Saul and go to a house and put his hands on his head and tell him that the Lord Jesus had spoken to him on the road to Damascus where Saul became blind. Now it was three days later and God wanted his blindness removed. Ananias could see red but he trusted in God and went where he was told to go and put his hands on Saul's head and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Immediately Saul was able to see and he asked to be baptized. Saul, who once was the enemy of Jesus and all Christians, became the man we know as Paul.
Today we are afraid of people we call terrorists. How many of you have heard of terrorists? (let them answer) We need to change their hearts and understand that God does not want more hurt but rather help. We need to pray that the terrorists that cause us to raise the colors of yellow, orange, and red will feel the presence of God in their lives like Saul did and then follow the teachings of God rather than terror.
When you leave our church today I want you to think about sharing your love with everyone in the name of Jesus. We can change the world with kindness and the sharing of God's love with everyone. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, April 25, 2004, issue.
Copyright 2004 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 permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
