Immediate Word

For August 25, 2019:

• And a Little Child Shall Lead Them… by Tom Willadsen — There is no question of the passion, sincerity and prophetic nature of the work of young people confronting the most urgent and divisive issues we face as a society.
• Second Thoughts: You Can’t Do That! by Bethany Peerbolte — Whenever I read Luke 13:10-17 I imagine a former classmate slumped over in school. A spirit of jealousy and oppressive conformity had crippled her.
• Sermon illustrations by Ron Love, Mary Austin and Chris Keating.
• Worship resources by George Reed focusing on prophetic leadership of youth; hypocrisy.
• Children’s sermon: Straighten Up! by Dean Feldmeyer — Jesus calls us to care more about people than we care about rules.

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them…
by Tom Willadsen
Jeremiah 1:4-10

Three of the most divisive and controversial issues in the United States this summer are global warming, gun control and the inclusion of the LBGTQ+ community. The airwaves are crammed with experts, pundits, spin doctors and other talking heads. We invest a lot of time and energy on these topics, but it is rare that “the needle moves” in any direction. Perhaps we are listening to the wrong voices.  The prophet Isaiah foretold

The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them. (11:6, NRSV)

Perhaps it’s time to listen to some other voices. In A Brief Statement of Faith, which was added to the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Book of Confessions in 1991, one of the things the Holy Spirit gives us courage to do is “hear the voices of peoples long silenced….” Whether the voices of people younger than 20 years of age can be considered “long silenced,” is debatable. There is, however, no question of the passion, sincerity and prophetic nature of the work of young people confronting the most urgent and divisive issues we face as a society.

In the News
Greta Thunberg is a 16 year old citizen of Sweden. This week she set sail from Plymouth, England on a sixty-foot boat. She plans to attend the Climate Action Summit in New York, which begins September 23. She may even sail to the United Nations climate conference in Santiago in December.

The ship that is bringing her and her father and a two man crew produces no carbon emissions. Had she flown from Sweden to New York it would have added 1,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, hastening the greenhouse effect.

Her mission is not without critics. Steve Milloy, a Fox news staffer, called Thurberg “the ignorant teenage climate puppet” on Twitter. This coincides with the effort of the Trump administration to roll back restrictions on greenhouse emissions from plants producing electricity that were set in place under the prior administration. If the proposed roll back takes effect, more electricity will be produced by coal, a much greater producer of greenhouse gases than natural gas, wind or solar.

Thurberg’s campaign is getting attention. “Last month, the head of the trillion-dollar Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) described the campaign by Greta and others as the greatest threat to the fossil fuel industry.”

Closer to home, the confirmation class at First United Methodist Church in Omaha, Nebraska, declined being confirmed in response to their denomination’s vote at the United Methodist General Conference in February. The vote kept in place denominational restrictions performing same-sex marriages and homosexual clergy. In a letter written by the class to their congregation, the class wrote “We are concerned that if we join at this time we will be sending a message that we approve of this decision. We want to be clear that while we love our congregation we believe that the United Methodist policies on LGBTQ+ clergy and same sex marriage are immoral.” Follow this link to read the complete text of the letter the class sent to their congregation.

In a social media post accompanying the teens' statement, the Omaha church called the decision "historic" and thanked the young group for "leading the way for inclusion of ALL God's beloved children."

One could argue that the stand the confirmation class took was really just a reflection of a substantial generational shift in opinion. Their generation — what are we on now? Generation Z? — has grown up with much less stigma around issues of sexual attraction and gender identity. Still, the approach they took was nuanced and showed a depth of thought and maturity that we can all admire. The class could have severed their ties with the congregation where they learned the Christian faith. Their deep roots, happy memories and nostalgia (their term) for acts of formation their church offered them made them decide to stay connected to the church, even after calling the recent decision of their denomination “immoral.” These young people do not just model justice using a prophetic voice, they are committed to civility as they remain engaged in making their congregation, and denomination, more inclusive and just.  

The shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018, energized a generation of teenagers to work to reform gun laws and restrict access to weapons. Mass shootings have become routine in the United States. With the shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, on our minds, it’s easy to overlook that there has been more than one mass shooting a day in the United States in 2019.

As a result of these efforts, the students are presenting important, emotionally powerful counter-narratives to those of the gun lobby.

In Wisconsin in the week following the mass shootings in Dayton and El Paso, there is partisan division over whether there should be legislation passed to restrict access to guns. Those who oppose restrictions are willing to consider legislation that increases funding for mental health services. It appears that the most certain legislative response will be an increase in funding to make schools safer from mass shootings. (Oshkosh Northwestern, 8/14/19, p. A-1)

Perhaps we need the prophetic leadership of young people when mass shootings are accepted as something we need to be prepared for, rather than something we can actually prevent.

In the Scriptures
Today’s Jeremiah passage is a classic Hebrew scriptures call story. The Lord calls:

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (1:4-5)

The called raises objections

“Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do
not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’” (1:6)

The Lord reassures.
 
But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’;
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the Lord.” (1:7-9)

The Lord touches

Then the Lord put out his hand and
touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,
“Now I have put my words in your mouth. (1:9)
The call concludes with the prophet’s mission

See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.” (1:10)

Compare Moses’ reservations about being called: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11, NIV)

“Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” (Exodus 3:13, NIV)

(Exodus 4:1, NIV)

“Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” (Exodus 4:10, NIV)

This last one is my favorite. It could be that Moses is simply not articulate, maybe he stuttered, maybe he spoke Hebrew with an Egyptian accent, whatever it was, the Lord gave in — even though his nose “got hot,” that is, the Lord got angry — and let Aaron, Moses’ brother do the talking.

Isaiah said, “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5) Then a seraph touched his mouth with a hot coal from the altar, so when the Lord asked, “Whom shall I send?” Isaiah was ready, his reservations and security put aside.

Contrast the calls of the Hebrew prophets, their negotiations with the Lord, with the disciples whom Jesus called. The disciples dropped what they were doing, left their families and homes and travelled with Jesus. They had front row seats at repeated miracles and still did not get what Jesus was trying to get them to understand. They were obtuse, but he loved them.

This final verse in today’s lesson from Jeremiah includes a literary device called “chiasmus.” A chiamus is a cross-shaped word construction where elements are repeated/contrasted in reverse order.

“To pluck and to pull down” is contrasted with “To build and to plant.” (Some scholars assert that “to destroy and to overthrow” is an insertion by a later writer.)

Note that part of the prophet’s call is to destroy what is already in place. And the destruction precedes that building and planting. Things have to be cleared away to make way for the new reality the prophet foretells.

Vv. 4 & 5 are often cited by opponents of legal abortion because it reads as though the prophet Jeremiah was called prior to conception.

It is not clear exactly how old Jeremiah was when he was called and how soon after being called he began to work. It looks as though the mission came immediately after the call.

Of all the Hebrew prophets, Jeremiah is the one who is most honest about how answering God’s call has caused him to suffer. He says he was “deceived” (though some translation render this “seduced”) and “overpowered.” He was a laughing stock. He was humiliated. It’s no fun being a prophet. That is, if you are true to the call and speak the message the Lord calls you to speak.

Jeremiah did not get a deferment because he was young; the Lord reassured and touched Jeremiah and that was enough to get started.  

In the Sermon
What would it take for people to stop talking and take action on global warming, full inclusion of all people in church and society, and mass shootings? Legislatively we are gridlocked. The fear that the economy will suffer if we switch to less polluting sources of power enables us to be complacent, even as we have just endured the two warmest months in recorded history.

Is there a voice we need to hear? A voice in the wilderness? A voice from among peoples long silenced?

It is easy — it’s practically a reflex! — to dismiss the opinions of young people, especially those who are too young to vote. “Oh, that’s just your youthful idealism. Once you grow up and have to face the real world, you’ll see that things aren’t so clear cut. Just let the grownups take care of all of this.”

Those in control who are not heeding the voices of those who will follow them into the corridors of power, forget too readily that they also were once young, idealistic and passionate about making the world better, safer and more just. Even the prophet Jeremiah dismissed his call, due his youth and lack of experience.

Experience and maturity are not needed for a prophet to deliver the Lord’s message. The Lord promises to be with those whom he calls. The Lord never says, “It will be easy to speak my word.” Or “The people are gonna love you!” Can “I will be with you” be enough for us? Enough for us to take bold, decisive action to address the pressing, divisive problems of the day? When the Lord promises, “A little child shall lead them,” with that be enough for us?...



SECOND THOUGHTS
You Can’t Do That!
by Bethany Peerbolte
Luke 13:10-17

There was a girl in my high school who people called Quasimodo. A name that came because of her tendency to slouch. She did this because if she stood to her full height, she would have towered over everyone in the halls. I can only imagine the predicament her life had become. Stand up and be jeered at for being amazingly tall, or slouch and earn a different nickname. Then, senior year she came back to school completely changed. She was standing tall, in designer clothes, had a new car, and a boyfriend in college! In the world of high school, she had suddenly cracked the code for the best life ever.

The difference was caused when someone saw potential in this slouchy awkward teenager and took a chance on her. The photographer who took her senior pictures asked if she could submit some of the pictures to a talent agency. She was an instant success and spent the rest of the summer traveling around the world for photoshoots. What her peers saw as her deepest flaw has earned her accolades in a fiercely competitive industry. She is now a designer and makes swimwear for celebrities.

Whenever I read Luke 13:10-17 I imagine this classmate slumped over in school. A spirit of jealousy and oppressive conformity had crippled her. The culture of high school in the United States has the power to cripple anyone. One wrong move and even the strong can find themselves hunched over, books gripped tightly to their chest, darting through the halls hoping no one notices them. At times all it takes is someone from outside that culture to see past the ingrained insecurities and tell the student they are worth more than the words people throw at them, or even the words they use while looking in a mirror. One person can infuse someone with a sense of purpose. Their newfound confidence will immediately straighten them up and they will be able to live.

Try this, bend over for a few minutes, walk around, get used to standing that way. Notice what you feel like, what you can see, what you can and cannot physically do. Then stand up. For me, the first thing I notice is a fullness of breath. Suddenly I can fill my lungs. Then I notice how much more I can see, with a farther and wider range of sight. Then I realize my arms could not move freely, hugs would have been hard while slouched over, and praise would be tough. Raising a hand to be noticed or speaking loud enough to be heard would be hard. It is not surprising to me that the first thing this woman does in the synagogue is to join in full praise. She was probably loud, using the new fullness of breath in her lungs, and she was probably waving her arms above her head like wild.

Of course, her praise would have drawn a lot of eyes, and the leaders in the synagogue did not like that. This was their day to be seen after all and this woman is pulling focus. They reprimand Jesus for working on the sabbath as a way to bring the focus back on themselves. They use their knowledge of the law and personal righteousness to posture and gain back the attention that has been diverted to the woman. I like to imagine Jesus reprimanded them without ever looking away from the woman’s joyous display. With his eyes fixed on the newly healed woman, Jesus tosses their critiques aside as foolish. Since Jesus never looks at the synagogue leaders, no one else does either. The crowd does not give the attention to the whining and posturing. Instead, all eyes are still focused on the infectious praise of a woman restored to confidence.

In an interview this week, Ken Cuccinelli, the acting head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services revealed how he interprets the poem on the Statue of Liberty. He believes the words call for only those “who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge." Twitter quickly blew up about the comment. Twitter always blows up, it is just dependable that way. When it does, we get to make a choice about which thread we dive into.

There is the thread that the leaders of the debate point us down. This is filled with superficial mudslinging. The only exchange is negative comments about the opposite side, and nothing ever advances past the surface of the issue. If the debate is about immigrants living off the system of public help, no one ever asks why. If the debate is about working on the sabbath the only shouts are “you can’t do that.” This keeps us distracted from the threads that ask questions because it’s there that we learn something.

The threads that ask, “what about farmers who live off public subsidies” or “why would people choose to leave their home and family if they are stable” take us deeper into an issue. They make us uncomfortable because they make us look into the faces affected by the topic. They make us look at the women who have been crippled by a spirit of oppression for 18 years and see her rejoicing. Which makes us ask “why is this such a bad thing.”

It was down one of the later kinds of threads that I found stories about immigrants who got off public help quickly when they were given the chance to thrive in an American community. Stories about people who improved their towns and make them safer with new ideas and fresh energy. These threads taught me the kinds of people who depend on government money, and how long they usually need financial support. These threads gave me hope because they kept me focused on the people, not the money or power the leaders wanted me to be in awe of.

Jesus is not tempted to go down the wrong thread of thinking. He keeps asking questions “but don’t you untie your animals on the sabbath” and “is it not worthy of God’s day to help someone.” The questions are always a better use of our attention than the name-calling.


ILLUSTRATIONS

From team member Ron Love:

Jeremiah 1:6
Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”
Ashbel Green Simenton, after graduating in New Jersey College (the future Princeton University), in 1852, he spent a year and a half in Mississippi working as a teacher for young boys. Disappointed with the lack of attention by the local authorities for education, Simonton went back to Pennsylvania and tried to become a lawyer, although by that time many people would advise him to become a minister, something to which his mother had consecrated him for at his birth. In 1855 he had a deep religious experience during a revival and went to Princeton Seminary. In his first term, he heard in the seminary's chapel a sermon by Dr. Charles Hodge, one of his teachers, which moved him to do missionary work in foreign lands. He chose Brazil to be his mission field. He was ordained in 1859 and arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 12 of that same year. Upon arrival he said, “What can one or two missionaries accomplish in an empire as large as the United States? The work is so perfectly hopeless by mere human agency that they who undertake it must either find support by resting upon the power of God or else despair.” He founded the first Presbyterian Church in Brazil on January 12,1865. In order to carry on his work more effectively, he moved to the center of the city, where he was exposed to malaria. With friends begging him to leave, he retorts that if foreign merchants live there merely to make money, he should be willing to do so to win souls. He contracted malaria and die at the age of thirty-four.

* * *

Jeremiah 1:6
Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”
On August 15, 1534, Ignatius of Loyola founded “the company of Jesus.” In 1540 it was granted the approval of the pope, who will name it the Society of Jesus. More often they will be known as “Jesuits.” In their mission work to North America, Ignatius described their organization as similar to that of fur traders, but they focused on God’s will, not beaver skins. The Jesuits used Christian religious symbols when trading with the Native Americans, using the religious symbols as an opportunity to witness for Christ.

* * *

Jeremiah 1:6
Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”
Tikhon of Zadonsk, is best remembered for his numerous spiritual writings that stressed love and forgiveness. At the age of 34 he became a monk. On November 5, 1917, he was selected as the 11th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. Some of his most often repeated quotes are:

Try to know yourself, your own wickedness. Think on the greatness of God and your wretchedness. Meditate on the suffering of Christ, the magnitude of Whose love and suffering surpass our understanding. Ascribe the good that you do to God alone. Do not think about the sin of a brother but about what in him is better than in yourself .... Flee from glory, honors and praise, but if this is impossible, be sorry that such is your lot. Be benevolent to people of low origin. Be freely and willingly obedient not only to those above you but to those below .... The lowlier we are in spirit, the better we know ourselves, and without humility we cannot see God.

— -

Just as the body has an ear, so also does the soul. Not everybody has an ear that is open, nor does every soul. God commands the soul: do not kill, do not steal, do not commit adultery, turn away from evil and do good, etc. The soul whose ears are open, hears and listens to God speaking and does what God commands. Truly, such a soul cannot but hear God and obey His commandments if it has its ears open. Men listen and carry out the commands of earthly kings and lesser authorities, and will not a soul listen to God speaking if it has its ears open? Of course! And with what fervor and delight will it not listen and say to Him: “Ready is my heart, O God, ready is my heart.” (This last line is taken from Psalm 107:2 as recorded in the Septuagint)

— -

For love does not seek its own, it labors, sweats, watches to build up the brother: nothing is inconvenient to love, and by the help of God it turns the impossible into the possible .... Love believes and hopes .... It is ashamed of nothing. Without it, what is the use of prayer? What use are hymns and singing? What is the use of building and adorning churches? What is mortification of the flesh if the neighbor is not loved? Indeed, all are of no consequence .... As an animal cannot exist without bodily warmth, So no good deed can be alive without true love; it is only the pretense of a good deed.

— -

Do we forgive our neighbors their trespasses? God also forgives us in His mercy. Do we refuse to forgive? God, too, will refuse to forgive us. As we treat our neighbors, so also does God treat us. The forgiveness, then, of your sins or unforgiveness, and hence also your salvation or destruction, depend on you yourself, man. For without forgiveness of sins there is no salvation. You can see for yourself how terrible it is.

* * *

Psalm 103:3
who forgives
Johann Tetzel was a German Dominican friar. He was appointed Inquisitor for Poland and Saxony. He later became the Grand Commissioner for indulgences in Germany. Tetzel was known for granting indulgences on behalf of the Roman Catholic church in exchange for money, which claimed to allow a remission of temporal punishment due to sin, the guilt of which has been forgiven. Tetzel was fond of saying, “As soon as the gold in the casket rings, the rescued soul to heaven springs.” This was a position challenged by Martin Luther, and one of the reasons he placed his Ninety-five Theses on the doors of the Wittenberg church door. Two of those points were:

27. They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the money clinks into the money chest, the soul flies out of purgatory.

28. It is certain that when money clinks in the money chest, greed and avarice can be increased; but when the church intercedes, the result is in the hands of God alone.

This contributed in part to the Protestant Reformation. The main usage of the indulgences sold by Johann Tetzel was to help fund and build the St. Peter's Basilica.

On August 11, 1519, Tetzel died in Leipzig. Upon his death it was said the he died “neglected, smitten in soul, and full of misery.” After indulgences had fallen into disrepute through Luther’s teaching, Tetzel complained to Rome that he was safe nowhere. When Luther heard of his illness, he written him a kind letter forgiving him.

* * *

Jeremiah 1:6
Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”
On August 7, 1737, twenty-year-old Benjamin Beddome hears a visiting preacher speak on the text “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” He is deeply moved by this sermon, and because of it it, two-years later be begins studying for the pastorate. In 1740 he became the pastor of the Baptist church in Bourton-on-the Water, in Gloucestershire. He served this church for 55-years. Under his preaching a revival broke forth in Gloucestershire in 1741, during which forty people were saved. Perhaps even more amazing, Beddome wrote a new hymn for the close of each worship service.

* * *

Isaiah 58:11 – The Lord will guide you continually
Luke 13:11 – crippled for eighteen years
Luke 13:16 – And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?
George Müller was an evangelist and a workaholic who only had time for his work agenda and nothing else. On August 9, 1831, his wife, Mary Groves Müller, gave birth to a still-born child. George condemns himself for not having more seriously considered the medical dangers of child-bearing. He chided himself for not praying more earnestly for the pregnancy. He also acknowledged that he had not rejoiced in the prospect of parenthood as a blessing but rather as something to be dreaded as a burden and hindrance in the Lord’s work. As a result of this tragedy, George and Mary, in 1836 opened an orphanage in their home at 6 Wilson Street, in Bristol, for the accommodation of thirty girls. Soon after, three more houses on Wilson Street were furnished, not only for girls but also for boys and younger children, eventually increasing the capacity for children who could be cared for to 130. Because of neighbors’ complaints and limited space, a new building was constructed to house three hundred children, and in 1849, at Ashley Down, Bristol, the new home opened. The Müllers continued constructing new orphanages, and by May 26, 1870, 1,722 children were being accommodated in five orphanages, although there was room for 2,050 children.

* * *

Luke 13:14
But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.”
When it appeared that Congress would be unable to pass the 2011 budget, 800,000 federal employees who were deemed “nonessential” would be furloughed. Thus, the national parks, museums, the passport office, and other government offices that are “essential” to the citizens of our country would be closed. Yet the congressmen responsible for the budget would remain working and continue to be paid their $178,000 salary. Humorist Andy Borowitz wrote in a tweet, “That’s like eliminating he fire dept & sending checks to the arsonists.”

* * *

Hebrews 12:25
how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven!
Susan Roy wrote a book that studied the history of the fallout shelter, titled, Bamboozled: How the U.S. Government Misled Itself and Its People Into Believing They Could Survive a Nuclear Attack, which was published in April 2011. The summary of the book is that nuclear bombs are so powerful and radiation so long lasting, that even the best built and best stocked fallout shelter would prove ineffective. This lesson really became apparent to Roy when she visited a Nevada Test Site where experimental nuclear bombs were detonated. The test site is larger than the state of Rhode Island. As one takes a bus tour through the test grounds massive craters are visible. But what disturbed Roy the most was this, “The tone of the tour is relentlessly upbeat. The bomb is described as a marvelous technical achievement; there is never a reference to what its actual purpose was — to efficiently kill hundreds of thousands or millions of people. It is one of the most profoundly depressing places I’ve seen.”

* * *

Jeremiah 1:10
See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.
Stephen Harold Spender was born on February 28, 1909, in London. He attended Oxford University and fought in the Spanish Civil War. In the 1920s and 1930s he associated with other poets and socialists, such as W.H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood, Louis MacNeice, and C. Day Lewis. During World War II, Spender worked for the London fire service. He co-founded Horizon magazine with Cyril Connolly and served as its editor from 1939 to 1941. He was editor of Encounter magazine from 1953 to 1966. Spender’s poetry was often inspired by social protest. His themes centered on social justice and the class struggle. He once wrote, “History is the ship carrying living memories to the future.”

* * *

Hebrews 12:22
But you have come to Mount Zion
Gary Blair, in his 32-years as a collegiate basketball head coach has had only one losing season. In his present position as head coach of Texas A&M, Blair, before each game, will scrawl a plus sign on his hand. This is to remind him to be as positive with his players as he is with the public.

* * * * * *

From team member Mary Austin:

Jeremiah 1:4-10
Led By a Child
In quiet ways, young people like Vivienne Harr let their actions speak with prophetic truth. Like God speaking through the young prophet in the making, Jeremiah, we find God’s truth shining through the example that many young people set. Vivienne Harr, who likes to be called Vivie, “was inspired to take a stand against slavery when she was eight, after seeing an installation on slavery by Lisa Kristine…Vivie was particularly moved by [a] picture of two Nepalese children carrying huge rocks on their backs.” To help, she decided to raise money by setting up a lemonade stand. “Vivie’s project went viral after Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times op-ed columnist, tweeted about @vivienneharr and #MAKEASTAND LEMONADE…All the business acumen that Vivie had was selling lemonade. She took a stand and did something – selling lemonade was in her power to be a voice for the voiceless.” After word spread about her mission, then “New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg invited her to sell her lemonade in Times Square. By the end of the day, she had raised $101,320.”

She raised $100,000 and then turned to bottled lemonade to keep the process going. Her father “quit his job to dedicate himself to her goal full-time, and he's now in talks with two major grocery chains for distribution rights.” Twitter took note, and out of all their users, “including A-list celebrities and heads of state, Twitter chose Vivienne to ring the bell at their IPO on the New York Stock Exchange because “she represents what one person can do in the world."

Harr says that young people can be natural leaders. “Kids don't see a lot of the obstacles in the world," Harr says. She thinks that more adults could benefit from the idealistic optimism that comes with being a child. Failure has never once crossed her mind as she and her family worked to turn a lemonade stand into a real company. And her dad said it's her unwavering optimism that inspired him to leave his job and work towards realizing her vision.”

Vivie Harr, like many other young people, is a gifted leader with a prophetic voice, following the pattern of Jeremiah.

* * *

Jeremiah 1:4-10
Even Dora is a Leader
The prophet Jeremiah reminds us again that God uses all kinds of leaders to show the way. They can be young – and they can even be fictional. Dora the Explorer has led the way  to an expanded array of multicultural characters in children’s programming. As NPR reports, “Dora the Explorer is one of the most recognized Latinx characters on TV. She debuted on Nickelodeon almost 20 years ago.” She recently moved from TV to movies, in Dora and the Lost City of Gold.   

The original creators “imagined the girl would be white. But months into developing the show, the creative head at Nickelodeon, Brown Johnson, went to a conference where she learned that of the 80 prime-time characters under the age of 18, not a single one was Latinx. She came back and declared that the show they were working on would now feature a Latina. Eric Weiner, another creator of the show, says, "At the time, Pat Buchanan was running for president, spewing all this hatred about, 'We don't want Spanish speakers in our country.' So this idea of not building barriers gave extra meaning and heart and urgency to the mission of the show." The creators behind Dora set out to empower Latinx kids and normalize bilingualism. But they were all white. So they brought in consultants like Carlos Cortes, a professor from the University of California, Riverside. Cortes helped with cultural sensitivity and answered big questions, like where Dora should be from…[unable to decide] they decided to move forward with a pan-Latina character, not from anywhere in particular. And so finally, Dora the Explorer, with her signature bob and pink shirt, aired on television screens for the first time on Aug. 14, 2000. Within less than a year, the show became the top commercial hit for preschoolers ages 2 to 5.”

As Dora comes to life in the film, “the live-action adaptation from Nickelodeon Studios provides a rare opportunity for mainstream Latinx representation in Hollywood. Even more unusual: a film in which five leads (including Dora’s cousin Diego, played by Jeff Wahlberg) are of Latino descent. In fact, even Dora’s pet monkey, Boots, and cartoon nemesis, Swiper, are played by Latinx actors Danny Trejo and Benicio Del Toro, respectively.”

Dora is another young leader who has had an impact way beyond what anyone expected — perhaps the same reaction that greeted the young prophet Jeremiah.

* * *

Luke 13:10-17
Isolation
The woman bent over with her illness must be isolated from her community. She has trouble looking people in the eye, and walking around must be very painful for her. A day’s errands bring a measure of exhaustion.

Susan Schaller encountered a similarly isolated man, who was deaf and had no idea that sound existed. As she recalls, “When I met this man he was twenty-seven years old. Because he didn't know there was sound, because he didn't know he was deaf, he didn't know there was hearing and deafness. He studied lips and mouths. He knew something was happening. He's a very smart man. He'd be staring at lips. He'd stare at your mouth and he'd stare at this person's lips and he thought he was stupid. He thought he was stupid because he thought we had figured this mouth-movement stuff out visually. Why can't I get it? He thought he was stupid. He had no idea we were making sounds. One of the things that attracted me to him more than anything else — the intelligence in his eyes caught my eye — but more than that, he hadn't given up. I can't imagine going twenty-seven years thinking I was stupid and watching mouths. The most frustrating thing I can imagine. He didn't know what language was. He didn't know what sound was, but he knew something was happening and he wanted to know what that something was.”

Like Jesus spotting the bent over woman, Schaller met this man when she went to be an ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter, and found the classroom so chaotic that she was ready to leave. “I went to the door to walk out and was actually turning the handle to leave, when I see this man who looked so frightened. He was holding himself as if he were wearing a straightjacket. He was backed up in a corner, protecting himself. I saw that he was studying mouths, he was studying people. Even though he was frightened, he was still watching: what is happening, what is happening? I watched an aide go up and sign to him. She was a really lousy signer and she got very frustrated. She opened up a workbook and took his hand with a pencil in it and forced his hand, from a picture of a cat to C-A-T. Then she moved on. He just had this blank look and was very scared. It was obvious he had no idea what he'd just done. So I couldn't walk out. I was curious. I walked up to him and signed, "Hello. My name is Susan." He tried to copy that and did a sloppy rendition of "Hello, my name is Susan." Obviously he didn't know what he was doing. It wasn't language. And I was shocked…I couldn't walk away. I slowly figured out that this man had no language. As I said, I could see that he was very intelligent. I could see he was trying very hard. I was twenty-two years old. I had no idea of what I was doing. I was faced with how to communicate the idea of language to someone without language.”

She worked him for a long, slow time, trying to make the connection that everything has a name, and a way to speak about it. Many times he was ready to give up in frustration, and many times she was, too. Until one day, it clicked for him. She remembers, “it was the most emotional moment with another human being, I think, in my life so that even now, after all these years, I'm choking up…he started pointing to everything in the room…All of a sudden, this twenty-seven-year-old man — who, of course, had seen a wall and a door and a window before — started pointing to everything. He pointed to the table. He wanted me to sign table. He wanted the symbol. He wanted the name for table. And he wanted the symbol, the sign, for window. The amazing thing is that the look on his face was as if he had never seen a window before. The window became a different thing with a symbol attached to it. But it's not just a symbol. It's a shared symbol. He can say "window" to someone else tomorrow who he hasn't even met yet! And they will know what a window is. There's something magical that happens between humans and symbols and the sharing of symbols. That was his first "Aha!" He just went crazy for a few seconds, pointing to everything in the room and signing whatever I signed. Then he collapsed and started crying, and I don't mean just a few tears. He cradled his head in his arms on the table and the table was shaking loudly from his sobbing. Of course, I don't know what was in his head, but I'm just guessing he saw what he had missed for twenty-seven years.”

The language lessons reconnected him with other people, just like Jesus reconnects the bent-over women with her community again. When we see the potential in someone, instead of the problem, God is at work.

* * *

Luke 13:10-17
Learning from Disability
Jesus heals the woman who has been bent over with her disability for close to two decades. We think often about what was restored to her life, but the story of Elise Roy makes me think about what she may have learned during this time of pain and separation from ordinary life.

Elise Roy is now deaf, and she says, “I'll never forget the sound of laughing with my friends. I'll never forget the sound of my mother's voice right before I fell asleep. And I'll never forget the comforting sound of water trickling down a stream. Imagine my fear, pure fear, when, at the age of 10, I was told I was going to lose my hearing. And over the next five years, it progressed until I was classified as profoundly deaf. But I believe that losing my hearing was one of the greatest gifts I've ever received. You see, I get to experience the world in a unique way. And I believe that these unique experiences that people with disabilities have is what's going to help us make and design a better world for everyone — both for people with and without disabilities.”

Her view of the world is so unique that she “decided to go back to school and get my master's in social design. This looks at how to use design to create positive change in the world. While I was there, I fell in love with woodworking. But what I quickly realized was that I was missing out on something. As you're working with a tool, right before it's about to kick back at you — which means the piece or the tool jumps back at you — it makes a sound. And I couldn't hear this sound. So I decided, why not try and solve it? My solution was a pair of safety glasses that were engineered to visually alert the user to pitch changes in the tool, before the human ear could pick it up.” Her solution was unique because she was a beginner, she says, and also because of her particular way of understanding the world.

Designing for people who have a disability benefits everyone. She adds, “as I went on, I kept running into more and more solutions that were originally made for people with disabilities, and that ended up being picked up, embraced and loved by the mainstream, disability or not. This is an OXO potato peeler. It was originally designed for people with arthritis, but it was so comfortable, everybody loved it. Text messaging: that was originally designed for people who are deaf. And as you know, everybody loves that, too.”

She says, “Let people with disabilities help you look sideways, and in the process, solve some of the greatest problems.” Perhaps the woman who was once bent over, and then healed by Jesus, brought a whole different understanding to the next chapter of her life.

* * * * * *

From team member Chris Keating

Jeremiah 1:4-10
The art of knowing what we don’t know
While Donald Rumsfeld, the former secretary of defense, is hardly an expert on the prophet Jeremiah, there are some areas where the two might have found agreement. Jeremiah is afraid to speak on behalf of God — he’s aware that there are plenty of known “knowns;” even perhaps some unknown “unknowns.” Confused? Keep reading…

Seventeen years ago, the ever loquacious Rumsfeld gave a now famous response to a reporter’s question about terrorist groups operating within Iraq. “There are known knowns,” Rumsfeld said, “there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns, that is to say there are some things we know we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know.” Rumsfeld’s memoir “Known and Unknown” is a play on his pedantic press briefing. Rumsfeld wrote countless memos throughout his government career that his staff named “Snowflakes.” A 2013 documentary movie by Errol Morris features the former politician reading and discussing many of the papers.

* * *

Jeremiah 1:4-10
I’m only a boy, OK?
Jeremiah’s famous hesitancy to pursue his calling hit home in our family life recently. Following our family vacation this summer, our adult children flew home while my wife and I remained behind to spend some time together. It was a nice example of how they’re “adulting,” which is the current slang for what we used to call “growing up.” When our college-age son got home, however, he found that the refrigerator was not stocked to his liking. He counted his options: we’d be home in four days, which either meant a lot of mac and cheese or a trip to the grocery store. He ran to the store, and then sent us a text message: “I adulted by going to the store. I don’t like it. Come back soon.”

His mother smiled, though I wondered just how much money he had spent on pizza rolls and Oreos.

* * *

Jeremiah 1:4-10
The kids will be alright, they just need to save the world first
Adolescents find themselves quite literally on the growing edge of their lives. They’re often moody, independent, rebellious, energetic, sleep-deprived, and willing to take a risk all at the same time.

Some of them are also changing the world.

Jeremiah’s youthfulness become an instrument of God’s proclamation. Similarly, youth in Hong Kong have become the instruments of change in the Chinese colony by their leadership of a massive resistance movement. They’ve become part of a long legacy of youthful resisters that includes Tiananmen Square, the Arab Spring, and more recently the students of Stoneman Douglas High School. Ronald Rosbottom writes that their youthful acts of courage, no matter how small or large, are bold statements of patriotic hopefulness for societal change. “Unlike their leaders,” Rosbottom writes, “who hug the flag, thereby trying to freeze dissent, they offered new values to symbols of patriotism. They do not hate their country; they despise what their country has become.”

He concludes by saying: “the newest young adult generation will somehow, transparently and courageously, though at times ineptly, return our attention to problems rather than to bromides, to action rather than apathy, to courage rather than to fear. A decision to take a step in opposition to an inauthentic power may at first be a small act, but that ripple in the becalmed lake of enforced obeisance can soon become a flash flood of resistance. Thank goodness for the kids.”

* * *

Isaiah 58:9b-14
Eradicating hunger requires more than charity
Bread for the World founder Art Simon, a former Lutheran pastor, is grateful for the contributions church people make to food pantries. But he believes that food pantries alone will not solve the problem of hunger.

Simon, at age 89, has written a new book, Silence Can Kill: Speaking Up to End Hunger and Make Our Economy Work for Everyone, which advocates for direct legislative action to end hunger in the United States. Simon has been involved in hunger action for 45 years with Bread for the World, but still believes eradicating world hunger by 2030 is possible. In an interview with Religious News Service, Simon agreed that it’s a steep hill to climb, and can’t be done through charity alone.

Charity is a wonderful thing. Charity is essential and I’m still actively part of charitable efforts in hunger. But charity can only do so much. It’s quite limited in what it can do in the long run. It doesn’t have a sufficient spread to reach people who need the help and it doesn’t have the authority to make decisions for the nation as a whole. To end hunger — even to reduce hunger — we’ve got to get the whole nation behind it.

Simon’s words reflect the commitment of Isaiah. The prophet’s injunction to offer food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted reflects a shared commitment to allow the abundance of God’s justice become a light that shines throughout the world.


* * *

Isaiah 58:9b-14
The limits of self-sufficiency
A rule enacted by the government this month would penalize legal immigrants by denying them permanent status in the United States if they are relying on various forms of public assistance such as food stamps. Acting Director of Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli says the ruling is designed to promote immigration among persons who are self-sufficient; poverty activists believe it could mean disaster for low income immigrants who are legally residing in the United States. Negative outcomes could mean reduced eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps), federally-funded school lunch programs, and other health programs.

Feeding America, the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States, believe the new rules will “increase hunger in this country,” and will “create fear and confusion.” Others called the actions heartless and cruel. A spokesperson for the Heritage Foundation, on the other hand, said the changes were “long over-due” and will protect US taxpayers by making sure immigrants are self-sufficient.

Isaiah’s call to “remove the yoke from among you,” is a reminder that pursuing justice for the poor and oppressed is a primary concern for God’s people. While we prize self-sufficiency, the prophet envisions a relationship with God that serves the poor by envisioning the abundance that God can provide (Isaiah 58:11).

* * *

Luke 13:10-17
Unrelenting burden and pain
In Luke 13:10-17, Jesus offers relief to a woman burdened by crippling pain. He liberates her, releasing her so that she may stand up straight. The striking element of the story is that it occurs on the sabbath, which is sure to cause a stir among Jesus’ critics. Jesus’ actions demonstrate the liberating power of God at work in the world and offer new understandings to the understanding of sabbath as God’s gift of release. The burden she has born was great, but greater is God’s power.

The unyielding brutalities of systemic racism in the United States offer an example of a great and painful burden born by African Americans. This month marks the 400th anniversary of slavery in the United States. Unlike the woman in Luke, we know the names of the first slaves to arrive in Virginia in 1619. Yet the names given to them by Portuguese missionaries — names such as Anthony, Isabela, William, Angela and others — ignore the truth of the real names of these African men and women.

Over the centuries, the compounded oppression of white supremacy have added to the burdens of people of color, including the ancestors of those first slaves. The burdens they have born have been great. African Americans who discover the roots of their ancestor’s tortured past have described it as a transforming experience.

The burdens of racism have imposed a pain more intense than the physical pain of the bent over woman — which makes the pronouncement of God’s gift of Sabbath release offered to all ever more crucial.


* * * * * *


WORSHIP
by George Reed

Call to Worship:
Leader: In you, O God, we take refuge.
People: Let us never be put to shame.
Leader: In your righteousness deliver and rescue us.
People: Incline your ear to us and save us.
Leader: Upon you we have leaned from our birth.
People: Our praise is continually of you.

OR

Leader: Come and hear the word God has for us today!
People: We are open to listen to what God has to say.
Leader: The word may not come from whom you expect.
People: But we know where the truth of God resides.
Leader: God speaks in star, babes and rocks sometimes.
People: We will listen to all voices for God’s voice.

Hymns and Songs:
All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
UMH: 154/155
H82: 450/451
PH: 142/143
AAHH: 292/293/294
NNBH: 3/5
NCH: 304
CH: 91/92
LBW: 328/329
ELW: 634
W&P: 100/106
AMEC: 4/5/6
Renw: 45

Holy God, We Praise Thy Name
UMH: 79
H82: 366
PH: 460
NNBH: 13
NCH: 276
LBW: 535
ELA: 414
W&P: 138

O Young and Fearless Prophet
UMH: 444
CH: 669
STLT: 276

Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart
UMH: 160/161
H82: 556/557
PH: 145/146
AAHH: 537
NNBH: 7
NCH: 55/71
CH: 15
LBW: 553
ELA: 873/874
W&P: 113
AMEC: 8

Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
UMH: 358
H82: 652/653
PH: 345
NCH: 502
CH: 594
LBW: 506
W&P: 470
AMEC: 344

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
UMH: 384
H82: 657
PH: 376
AAHH: 440
NNBH: 65
NCH: 43
CH: 517
LBW: 315
ELA: 631
W&P: 358
AMEC: 455
Renew: 196

O Jesus, I Have Promised
UMH: 396
H82: 655
PH: 388/389
NCH: 493
CH: 612
LBW: 503
ELA: 810
W&P: 458
AMEC: 280

Lord, I Want to Be a Christian
UMH: 402
PH: 372
AAHH: 463
NNBH: 156
NCH: 454
CH: 589
W&P: 457
AMEC: 282
Renew: 145

Make Me a Servant
CCB: 90

Give Thanks
CCB: 92
Renew: 266

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

Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who speaks and acts in unexpected ways:
Grant us the grace to hear your voice
whether it comes from youth or from age;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

OR

We worship you, O God, who comes to us in many forms. You speak through expected and expected ways. Give us the wisdom not to dismiss those who are young as being incapable of bearing your message. Amen.

Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our insistence that we and those like us are the only ones who can hear and speak God’s word.

People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We try to put limits on who can be God’s messenger. We might be willing to listen to some but not others. We too quickly dismiss youth as being ‘too young’ and ‘too naive’ to understand the complexities of life. We forget the power of the Spirit to inspire and give insight to all God’s creatures, young and old. We forget the source of wisdom and truth is God and not our own experiences. Cleanse our minds and open our hearts to hear you word, O God, through whomever you desire to speak. Amen.

Leader: God is speaking to us all the time whether we hear or not. God desires to share love and wisdom with us all. Listen for God’s voice and echo that love and wisdom to all.

Prayers of the People
We praise you, O God, and worship your holy name. You come to your creatures in myriad ways and forms. We praise you for your constant presence among us.

(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)

We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We try to put limits on who can be God’s messenger. We might be willing to listen to some but not others. We too quickly dismiss youth as being ‘too young’ and ‘too naive’ to understand the complexities of life. We forget the power of the Spirit to inspire and give insight to all God’s creatures, young and old. We forget the source of wisdom and truth is God and not our own experiences. Cleanse our minds and open our hearts to hear you word, O God, through whomever you desire to speak.

We thank you for your voice that speaks in so many ways to us. You speak through scripture and ritual and sacrament; you speak through aged ones, youth and babies; you speak through the earth and the sky. All creation sings of your love and presence.

(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)

We pray for all your creation. We pray for the earth which we have so shamelessly abused and for the creatures, human and otherwise, who struggle because of that abuse.

(Other intercessions may be offered.)

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

Our Father....Amen.

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

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

Children’s Sermon Starter
Do you ever feel left out of a conversation because you are ‘just a child’? Jeremiah must have felt like that sometimes because when God asked him to speak for God, Jeremiah thought he was too young, too little to speak for God. But God told Jeremiah that he didn’t need to worry about that because he was sharing God’s message. All of us, young and old can speak for God when we share God’s love and care with others.



CHILDREN'S SERMON
Straighten Up!
by Dean Feldmeyer
Luke 13:10-17

THEME: Jesus calls us to care more about people than we care about rules.

YOU WILL NEED: Copies of the script below and three adults or youth to play the parts of Jesus (1) and the hypocrites (2).

Begin by assembling your adult actors and going through the script at least one time. They should remain seated at their places, relatively close to the front of the worship area.

Now, call all the children forward but instead of sitting down, have them remain standing and then begin the script.

NARRATOR: Okay, everyone, gather around, here. Now, I need your help to act out a story and to do that you’re all going to play the part of a person who is bent over and can’t stand up straight. So, BOOM!, everyone bend over. Now, way over. That’s it.

What can you see when you’re bent over like that? The floor. Your shoes. Yeah that’s pretty much it, right?

Now, imagine that you’ve been like that for your whole life, never able to stand up straight. The story in the Bible says that the woman was bent over like that for 18 years. Can you imagine?

But wait! Here comes Jesus. Maybe Jesus can help.

JESUS: (Rising to come forward) Whoa! What’s going on here? Why are you people all bent over?

NARRATOR: Oh, Jesus. They’ve been like that their whole lives, is there anything you can do to help them?

JESUS: Why, of course, I can help. (Holds out hand toward children.) All of you, stand…

HYPOCRITES: (Standing) Wait! You can’t do that!

JESUS & NARRATOR: Why not?

HYPOCRITE ONE: Because it’s Sunday and the commandment says that we should honor the Sabbath and keep it holy. That means not working on Sunday.

HYPOCRITE TWO: And healing those kids would be work! So you can’t do it. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow.

JESUS: But I’m not going to be here tomorrow.

HYPOCRITE ONE: That’s too bad.

HYPOCRITE TWO: I guess they won’t get healed, then.

JESUS: Wait a minute. Didn’t you two eat breakfast this morning?

HYPOCRITES: Yes.

JESUS: And wasn’t fixing breakfast work?

HYPOCRITES: (Slowly) Yes.

JESUS: And didn’t you feed your dog?

HYPOCRITES: Yes

JESUS: And didn’t you put on clothes and drive to church?

HYPOCRITE ONE: Well…

HYPOCRITE TWO: Yes…

JESUS: So it is okay to do some kinds of work on Sunday, right? Work that helps you and your dog. But it’s not okay to do work that helps these kids. Is that what you’re saying?

HYPOCRITES: Well…

JESUS: (Turning to kids, still bent over) Kids, straighten up!

NARRATOR: (Leads congregation in applause.)

JESUS: See, rules are usually good things. But when they get in the way of helping others, then they can become bad things. So we always have to be careful that the one rule we always follow is the one I gave you:

Love one another.

Okay?

KIDS: OKAY!

(Curtain call with applause for the actors, if appropriate.)

End with prayer that we will always have the strength to put others first.


* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Immediate Word, August 25, 2019 issue.

Copyright 2019 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.