Is Anyone Listening?
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
For November 20, 2022:
Is Anyone Listening?
by Tom Willadsen
Jeremiah 23:1-6, Psalm 46, Luke 23:33-43, Colossians 1:11-20
In a nation polarized by political divisions and profound distrust, where political leaders’ fantasies and delusions are repeated in partisan echo chambers and truth is not accorded any relevance, could anyone aspire to lead self-sacrificially as Christ does? Where democracy is threatened and in decline, is there any hope? Is anyone listening to the peace Christ offers from Calvary’s hill?
In the Scriptures
We are at the end of the church year. Next Sunday we start all over again with Advent.
The Colossians passage’s latter half is a hymn to Christ. As a prologue to the hymn the author (probably not Paul, scholars contend) reminds the reader that we have been transferred into the kingdom of God’s beloved son.
Jeremiah expresses the Lord’s disgust at “the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of God’s pasture. It is not a stretch to equate earthly monarchs with the failed shepherds of the people. The final two verses are a nice hinge between Reign of Christ Sunday and the Season of Advent, with its righteous Branch of David terminology.
There is a good chance that Psalm 46 is missing a verse. “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” could be inserted between verses 3 and 4. That verse concludes the second and third portions of the psalm.
The most recognized verse is 10, “Be still, and know that I am God,” appears on posters, refrigerator magnets and all kinds of merchandise, apparently advising believers to calm down in the presence of the living God. Given the verses that precede it, however, it appears that the Lord is telling those who oppose the Lord to shut up and get their minds right! Look at the destruction God is capable of, God destroys the very tools you use to oppose God’s people, shut up and look at that!
Today’s gospel reading reminds us all of the in-spite-of nature of Christianity. The one we identify as King is bleeding, dying on the cross. The ones who identify him as King do so mockingly. He only speaks to forgive his executioners and encourage one who is dying beside him.
In the News
We’re at an interesting moment politically to reflect on the Reign of Christ. Great Britain has a new monarch for the first time in seven decades; democracy is under attack in the United States as election deniers managed to win office in some midterm races; Italy’s new prime minister identifies as fascist; (Perhaps she can make the trains run on time as Il Duce reputedly did.) Christian Nationalism has asserted itself more boldly and publicly than ever before.
Personally, I have been frustrated by the reporting on the recently concluded midterm elections. I moved to a new state in October and was completely unfamiliar with the candidates and issues. The vast majority of the news coverage I consumed, even public radio, covered how candidates were fairing in polls, not where they stood on issues that I am concerned about. It is very easy to vote in my new state, one has to opt out of receiving a mail ballot! My greatest frustration was that after turning my ballot in on Thursday before Election Day, I continued to see and hear commercials for candidates. If algorithms can precision target candidates’ messages to specific voter demographics, can’t they also be used to turn those messages off when they can no longer have any impact on my vote?
In the Sermon
The Prosperity Gospel is certainly appealing, if not downright seductive.
Today is Reign of Christ/Christ the King Sunday in many Christian churches. It’s an idea that is very difficult for lifelong Americans to understand. We proudly fought a war of independence to get out from under the tyranny of monarchy. The concept of royalty is foreign to most of us. Giving royal titles is forbidden in our constitution! (Article I, Section 9)
Submitting to a king of any kind goes against our national DNA. But as Bob Dylan famously sang, “You’re gonna have to serve somebody.”
Christ’s kingship is not only under scrutiny in today’s gospel lesson; it is under the heel of the Roman occupiers. Our king did not even save himself. He did not fight back, did not defend himself, accepted a degrading, humiliating execution.
No wonder Christians need to gather together in safe places every week to worship.
We’re crazily, illogically, counter-cultural. At our best we forgive our enemies and accept loss of status and privilege. We seek to lose status and privilege when we’re at our best. We go to the back of the line and do not interest ourselves with who’s first or last. We stand tallest when we stoop to serve.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Woe to the Shepherds
by Dean Feldmeyer
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Sheep rarely join a flock that is scattered.
The flock that is known as Christianity is a scattered flock. Our division, separation, and estrangement from each other is a scandal and one that has done terrible damage to our witness.
Paul Tillich said that the best synonym for sin is separation; separation from God, from each other, from creation, and from our own essential nature. If he’s right, the Christian church, today, is virtually saturated with sin through denominationalism and sectarianism. And that very visible saturation has rendered our witness nearly impotent.
Why, we ask, do young people reject church as an expression of Christianity? Because even Christians have done so. Think about it: If we are Christians of one denomination or another, we have rejected all the other denominations.
In the News and Culture
Denominationalism.
From the Latin, denominare, meaning, to give a name to.
In religion, a denomination is a church organization that unites congregations of similar beliefs and practices and separates the created union from others who do not agree with them.
Denominationalism is especially prevalent in Protestantism, which has given names to The United Methodist Church, The American Baptist Church, the Southern Baptist Church, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, The Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. and notable others.
Sectarianism is denominationalism run amok. Where denominationalism says, “we do, or believe, things differently than them,” sectarianism says, “because they are not like us, they’re going to hell and we cannot associate with them.”
Ecumenism, a term often heard in discussions of denominationalism and sectarianism, is the practice of searching for unity and cooperation among the different denominations.
According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, there are approximately 41,000 Christian denominations and organizations in the world today. My own exhaustive (and exhausting) search of the internet has led me to conclude that, depending on how you define a denomination, there are about 31,000 Christian denominations in the world if you include the independent, non-affiliated churches. Take them out of the count and we have about 4,000 denominations.
In the earliest years of Christianity, denominational splits were almost all about doctrine. (Cf. Antinomianism, c. 55 C.E., Arianism, c. 318 CE, Circumcellions, c. 325 CE, et. al.) The doctrine that won the majority of adherents was called “orthodox” and the minority doctrine was called “heresy.” In some, cases, heretics were killed by orthodox Christians. In A.D. 385 at Trier, Germany, bishops put to death Priscillian and his followers for doubting the Trinity and the Resurrection. At Alexandria in 415, the great woman scientist Hypatia, head of the Alexandria Library, was beaten to death by monks and other followers of St. Cyril, who viewed her science much as the church later viewed Galileo’s. At Constantinople around 550, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian killed multitudes of non-conformists to impose Christian orthodoxy.
Christians killing each other for believing un-orthodox things didn’t really get off the ground, however, until the Middle Ages, when, most scholars agree, executions of heretics numbered in the thousands.
Fortunately, most of our inter-denominational squabbles have not resulted in violence, except for the dismemberment that has been exacted upon the Body of Christ, his church, and which continues to this day.
The Christian denomination into which I was confirmed and ordained, the United Methodist Church, is being riven by disaffiliations numbering in the hundreds. Please be clear, this is not a “split” in the denomination. No action has been taken by the General Conference, our governing body, to divide the church. This is simply a case of lots of churches who identify as “conservative” or “traditional,” packing their bags and leaving. Some are banding together to form a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church. Other churches, large ones, are joining together to form the Foundry Network, “a collaboration of former United Methodist large-membership churches…that intends to provide accountability and resources without the constraints of a denomination.” (A non-denominational denomination?) Still other former United Methodist churches of more modest size are simply becoming independent community churches without the constraints of denominations or affiliations. (Denominations of one?)
This formerly tolerant, open, inclusive denomination that spoke of itself as a “big tent” under which many different theological perspectives could live, love, and serve Jesus Christ and his kingdom together, is being rent asunder by those who insist that they can no longer abide under the same tent with those whom they have come to define as heretics.
Little wonder that young people (and some, not-so-young) look upon the behavior of the various Christian denominations and, when asked which denomination they favor, respond, “none.”
In the Scriptures
This morning’s reading from Jeremiah begins with a “woe” directed at the kings who, by their cruelty, corruption, ineptitude, unfaithfulness, and/or simple selfishness, have caused separation and estrangement to divide the people of God.
This word is, no doubt, directed at the kings of Judah with which Jeremiah had more than a few run-ins, but probably to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, as well. Jeremiah had originally seen Nebuchadnezzar as God’s punishing rod, turned upon the children of Israel for their unfaithfulness. But the Babylonian king’s ruthlessness and cruelty had caused God to abandon that notion.
Now, God has abandoned Nebuchadnezzar and the kings of Judah, who have only managed to scatter God’s sheep, and has promised to gather the sheep by acts not of kings but of God’s very self.
Does this passage not apply just as well to any people in position of power who use their positions to divide rather than bring people together? Politicians who, by insults, lies, and accusations, divide the people. Pastors who lead their congregations in open war against other Christians who do not hold to their own doctrine and dogma. Indeed, does this “woe” not also speak to family leaders who disown their children and throw them out of the house because of some infraction of so called “family values?”
William Willimon, speaking to United Methodists in his most recent book, Don’t Look Back, reminds us that “Christ fervently prayed that all of his followers (church) would ‘be one’ (John 17:21) and commanded us to get along with one another. Yet, from the first, we’ve been unable fully to live up to his expectations, having so little in common except love for him.”
Bishop Willimon could be speaking to all Christians when he reminds us that it was Christ, himself, who called us to love one another and take that love, not some complex, erudite, and ultimately unimportant point of theology, into the world and make disciples. But, instead, we have vivisected his body, the church, and spread its dismembered pieces into the wilderness, left to disappear into the earth. And in all too many cases, this violence is being instigated by the leaders (ordained and lay) of the church.
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of God’s pasture. Woe, indeed.
In the Sermon
Cade’s Cove is the first white settlement in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern Tennessee. It was first settled in 1820 and, with the help of the Cherokee natives who lived nearby and used two trails that ran through the valley, mostly for hunting, the community grew. Its population peaked in about 1850 with 130 families (approximately 650 people) living and working there.
There was a grist mill, a post office, two schools, a couple of stores and three churches. The Baptist church was the first to be founded in the area in 1820 but in about 1850 it experienced a doctrinal split over whether or not missions were mandated in scripture. This doctrinal schism gave birth to two Baptist churches: The Primitive Baptist Church and the Missionary Baptist Church. There was also a Methodist church that was founded in 1820.
130 families. If historic precedent ran true in Cades Cove, probably about 30% were not religious and did not attend any church at all. That left about 90 families going to three churches. (The size of the buildings, which are still standing, makes it extremely questionable whether that many ever attended at the same time.) The historic record shows that these people lived, worked, and schooled together. They helped each other in times of trouble. They farmed together, pitching in to help each other out at harvest time. They all contributed to pay for the building of the grist mill. Their children and grandchildren intermarried.
But they just couldn’t bring themselves to worship together. 90 families needed three churches to meet all of their theological and religious needs.
Isolated in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, surrounded by wilderness and native Americans, mostly out of touch with the outside world and, still, they behaved, in their religious life, as Christians behave always and everywhere.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul writes, “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. . . . What I mean is this: One of you says, ‘I follow Paul;’ another, ‘I follow Apollos;’ another, ‘I follow Cephas;’ still another, ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1:10-13). The Christians at Corinth were dividing themselves into groups based on the personality and practices of their favorite teachers. Paul rebukes this early denominationalism as wholly unnecessary and damaging to the unity of Christ. Christians are to follow Christ, and the church is to be of the same mind and of the same judgment because we follow a God who is one and who does not change (Deuteronomy 6:4; James 1:17).
We have all witnessed and been present to the undeniable fact that God can use others who are not involved in our denomination. It is not just possible but probable that God may have works in progress that we know nothing about, and God doesn’t need our approval to use someone who does not look, act, or believe as we do.
I am not so naïve as to believe that, short of a mass miracle produced by the Holy Spirit, denominationalism is going to disappear from the face of Christianity. But, if we cannot worship with each other, can we not agree to worship beside each other?
If we cannot be one in mind and practice, as Paul so fervently wished, let us at least be one in spirit. Let us work to make a witness to the world that we are one in our desire to serve the poor, to feed the hungry, to treat the sick and injured, to shelter the homeless, to plead for the widow and protect the orphan.
Let our love for one another be a constant and undeniable witness that God gave us Jesus as a savior not just of certain, select, Christian denominations who happen to stumble upon the correct theology, but of the whole world.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Chris Keating:
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Corrupt nations
According to a recent US News survey, Russia is seen as the most corrupt nation in the world. As defined by Transparency International, a global coalition against corruption, the abuse of “entrusted power for private gain.” The US News survey, part of its 2022 Best Countries rankings, scored the perception of corruption by surveying more than 17,000 persons worldwide. Russia was joined by countries like Belarus (#10), Bangladesh (#9), Brazil (#6), and Myanmar (#5). The United States, meanwhile, was ranked 23rd among the countries perceived as least corrupt.
* * *
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Attending to evil doings
Jeremiah focuses the ire of God on Israel’s leaders — the shepherds of Yahweh’s people — who have failed in their leadership tasks of attending, caring, and nurturing God’s people. America’s ongoing struggle to come to terms with white supremacy is a contemporary illustration of the ways the nation’s history has been fraught with generational failures of shepherding justice and mercy to all its citizens. At the recent Rally 4 Reparations in Washington, DC, a photojournalist for NPR talked with people across the country about what reparations might mean to them.
Ishia House, of Oakland, California, noted, “Reparations mean acknowledgement. It's acknowledgement and proof of everything that I've been learning, everything that I've been teaching my children. That we are the builders and the creators of everything and just that we've been taught lies and to get reparations, like I said, it's acknowledgment of truth."
For Kevin Belnavis, from New Brunswick, New Jersey, reparations mean: “Payback for 400 years of slavery, Jim Crow and non-stop brutality that has been going on ever since. We need some kind of reparations to take care of future generations. It may not be around for me, but the future, our future, is in the hands of our youth. And that's what's most important.”
In a recent speech to the National Endowment for Humanities, Professor Andrew Delbanco of Columbia University, explored the past, present, and future implications for reparations in the United States. Delbanco presented the NEH’s 50th anniversary Jefferson Lecture, entitled, “The Question of Reparations: Our Past, Our Present, Our Future.” He observed that the question of reparations for slavery is a moral issue confronting every American, even those born hundreds of years after the abolition of slavery. Delbanco said:
If we allow ourselves to be thoughtful, I think we all understand this instinctively. I mean, no one should be blamed for the sins of the fathers, as the scripture puts it. And yet we live in a world that has been damaged by history. And we have a responsibility, I think, to do what we can to repair the world.
So it's a paradoxical problem that on the one hand, the past is past and should have nothing to do with us in the present as individual moral actors. But on the other hand, we live in the world that we've inherited, and so do people who've been injured by history. So it's a difficult moral problem. It's a problem that writers and philosophers have wrestled with for centuries. And we're never going to arrive at a clean, clear answer to it. But the very fact that we're talking about it, I think, is a positive sign for where we could go as a society
* * *
Colossians 1:11-20
The dance of forgiveness
The ancient hymn that pulses through Colossians 1 is a chorus reciting God’s redemptive reign in Jesus Christ. It’s not hard to imagine Paul’s theology inspiring a spirit-filled choreography of praise and thanksgiving celebrating the saints as inheritors of the light of God’s love. Cynthia Winton-Henry, co-founder of InterPlay, has dedicated herself to teaching people how to unlock the spiritual potentials of movement and creative expression. “Dance can help us find God, access wisdom, and recover our souls,” Winton-Henry has written.
Winton-Henry offered a particular spiritual practice on Center for Action and Contemplation that uses dance to promote forgiveness and nonviolent conflict resolution. While it might be hard imagining Paul leading a liturgical dance troupe, the ideas Winton-Henry offer resonate with the images of Colossians 1. “Movement can help recenter you in your body and unlock your innate wisdom. This peace is the peace to be who you are without worry. It is not a staged or pious peace. It isn’t forced or controlled. It is a personal peace that loosens you and brings you back to the heartbeat of humanity. To develop peace in yourself makes you the best peace mediator you can be.” You can also view a recording of this practice on YouTube.
* * *
Luke 23:33-43
What kind of king?
Americans have a paradoxical relationship with monarchy. While the British overlords were summarily rejected in the founding of the nation, we are nonetheless under the spell of fascination with royalty — both real and fictional.
Our children’s fascination with Disney princesses is matched by our seemingly insatiable purchases of royal family collectables. And the value of those items is expected to grow — albeit slowly.
Meanwhile, royal watchers are carefully scrutinizing King Charles III’s every move to capture an early perception of his reign. The King’s deferential honoring of his mother’s legacy has served him well initially, some say. But others wonder if the King’s younger son may prove to be a wildcard in shaping public perception of the Royal family. Prince Harry is planning to release a book soon that has been described as a firsthand account of his life that is “accurate and wholly truthful.” One royal watcher noted “How damning it might be for a son to come out on the eve of his father’s coronation and say, ‘He’s not a fit dad — and he’s not a fit man to be king, either.”
* * * * * *
From team member Mary Austin:
Colossian 1:11-20
Lessons in Endurance and Giving Thanks
Sage and wisdom teacher Parker Palmer looked at our Covid struggles and found new learning in them. “May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks,” the letter to the Colossians offers. Palmer found similar ways to endure and give thanks during the pain of Covid.
Among the lessons, he says, “I’m learning more about some personal dynamics. I’m re-fighting old inner wars between fear and faith, self-reliance and seeking help. As some of the fallout from this crisis comes my way, instead of asking “Why me?” I’m relearning to ask, “Why not me?" I’m learning more about the good hearts of people who reach out in ways that reflect our shared humanity. I'm touched by those who ask, “How you doing? Any way I can help?” and clearly want to know.” He adds, “I’m learning more about millions of people around the planet who are in a “high-risk category” every day of their lives — not because of age or health, but because of race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or poverty. They live in non-stop pandemics of racism, sexism, nationalism, homophobia, structural economic inequality, and armed conflict. I now have a tiny window to glimpse a bit of their experience for a little while. May I learn all I can, and may my learning stick.”
“May you be made strong,” the letter to the Colossians urges. He found added strength even in Covid’s challenges.
* * *
Luke 22:33-43, Jeremiah 23:1-6
Wise Kings (and other leaders)
The prophet Jeremiah speaks of the power of a wise king, one who deals wisely with the people and executes justice and righteousness in the land. Luke shows us Jesus as king, in the most humble circumstances possible. In our world, wise leaders need this same kind of humility, and to be reminded of their limitations. “Senior managers at Allianz Global Investors, a global asset management company, attended a workshop called Dialogue in the Dark, led by visually impaired trainers who conducted the entire workshop in total darkness. The goal of this experiential learning program was to shift leaders' perspectives by making them aware of their limitations, while increasing empathy for others.”
Discomfort makes new kinds of humble leadership possible and is “a quick way to experience leadership from a new perspective. In early 2000, while awaiting the court decision in the antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft, Bill Gates decided to step down as chief executive and focus on his passion for software. This jolted his perspective, and that same year, Gates and his wife established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, taking his leadership in an important new direction.”
Leading in the way God imagines requires the constant cultivation of humility.
* * *
Luke 22:33-43, Jeremiah 23:1-6
Bad Kings (and other leaders)
The people of Israel longed for kings, and, in our time, we long for charismatic politicians, bosses and CEOs. Yet, just like the people of Israel, we consistently fall for bad leaders. “The research is clear: when we choose humble, unassuming people as our leaders, the world around us becomes a better place.” At work, or in politics, “a leader’s humility can be contagious: when leaders behave humbly, followers emulate their modest attitude and behavior…employees following humble leaders were themselves more likely to admit their mistakes and limitations, share the spotlight by deflecting praise to others, and be open to new ideas, advice, and feedback. Yet instead of following the lead of these unsung heroes, we appear hardwired to search for superheroes: over-glorifying leaders who exude charisma.”
Luke and Jeremiah offer us visons of leadership that serves the people, and yet we, the people of God, keep falling for jerks. In times of crisis, “high levels of anxiety make us hungry for charisma...conditions of distress and uncertainty… make us more vulnerable to choosing the wrong leader.” Just like our ancestors in faith, “in a time of crisis, it’s easy to be seduced by superheroes that could come and “rescue” us, but who possibly then plunge us into greater peril.” We have to pay attention to God’s vision for leadership, watching mindfully for leaders who are wise shepherds.
* * * * * *
From team member Katy Stenta:
Luke 23:33-43
Jesus Remember Me
It’s amazing to me that the criminal does not ask for forgiveness or to be saved, he just asks to be remembered. Jesus, being Jesus, says the criminal will be remembered and present with Jesus. For many of us, all we ask is to be remembered, but Jesus promises so much more. What does this mean, then, when we practice the remembrance of communion? What does this mean when we remember family and friends? How special is it when we remember one another? To me it reminds me of this other story written by this wonderful small fiction twitter account: @ASmallFiction “Do you have a magic spell to return someone to life?” she said,” “No said, the witch, “I’m sorry.” “Oh.” “Why don’t you tell me about them?” “Will that bring them back?” “For us. For a little while. Stories are a different kind of Magic.” Remembering...is important.
* * *
Colossians 1:11-20
Jesus Firstborn Of All / Image of all Creation
Jesus is the very selfhood of God’s theology translated into humanity, so much so that it is hard to put into words who and what Jesus is. God translated into human form. Word into flesh. Hope embodied. Peacemaker. Kairos. Sometimes the simpler explanation is better. How does it feel to think of God as your sibling? Can you picture squabbling with Christ in the backseat? Can you picture Jesus watching over you, and bringing you into the presence of your parent? Does it change your relationship with Jesus to understand him as more Godly? When I was younger it was easier for me to picture Jesus as all holy. Now, the older I get, I feel closer to Jesus if he feels more grouchy and human. Where do you feel closest to Jesus today?
* * *
Jeremiah 23:1-6
One interpretation of Matthew 5:5 could be “Blessed are those who have been desolated by the empire, for they will inherit the land.” (@PropheticCenter). The use of land here can mean land of the empire, so too the use of meek can mean those in the remnant. Thus, Matthew 5:5 can be a direct carrying on of Jeremiah 23 — where God promises to carry the remnant forward, to execute justice for all those in need, for all the meek and humble. The remnant will then come to mean all those who are marginalized throughout the land.
* * * * * *
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship
One: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
All: who has looked favorably on the people and redeemed them.
One: God has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of David.
All: God has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors.
One: By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us.
All: It will give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
OR
One: God comes as the Christ to reign in love over all creation.
All: We bow in reverence to our eternal Sovereign.
One: God does not come to divide or conquer but to love and unite.
All: In God’s love we open our hearts to all God’s people.
One: The God of creation is the Ruler of all.
All: We welcome all into the glorious reign of our God in Christ.
Hymns and Songs
Rejoice, the Lord is King
UMH: 715/716
H82: 481
PH: 155
NCH: 303
CH: 699
LBW: 171
ELW: 430
W&P: 342
AMEC: 88/89
When Morning Gilds the Skies
UMH: 185
H82: 427
PH: 487
AAHH: 186
NCH: 86
CH: 100
LBW: 545/546
ELW: 853
W&P: 111
AMEC: 29
Blessed Be the God of Israel
UMH: 209
H82: 444
CH: 135
ELW: 552
W&P: 158
Renew: 128
Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies
UMH: 173
H82: 6/7
PH: 462/463
LBW: 265
ELW: 553
W&P: 91
Lift High the Cross
UMH: 159
H82: 473
PH: 371
AAHH: 242:
NCH: 198
CH: 108
LBW: 377
ELW: 660
W&P: 287
Renew: 297
I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord
UMH: 540
H82: 524
PH: 441
NNBH: 302
NCH: 312
CH: 274
LBW: 368
W&P: 549
AMEC: 515/517
God of Grace and God of Glory
UMH: 577
H82: 594/595
PH: 420
NCH: 436
CH: 464
LBW: 415
ELW: 705
W&P: 569
AMEC: 62
STLT 115
Renew: 301
Lead On, O King Eternal
UMH: 580
PH: 447/448
AAHH: 477
NNBH: 415
NCH: 573
CH: 632
LBW: 495
ELW: 805
W&P: 508
AMEC: 177
Renew: 298
Blest Be the Tie That Binds
UMH: 557
PH: 438
AAHH: 341
NNBH: 298
NCH: 393
CH: 433
LBW: 370
ELW: 656
W&P: 393
AMEC: 522
Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation
UMH: 559
H82: 518
PH: 416/417
NCH: 400
CH: 275
LBW: 367
ELW: 645
AMEC: 518
Sing Unto the Lord a New Song
CCB: 16
Jesus, Name Above All Names
CCB: 35
Renew: 26
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
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who gathers your people like a shepherd gathers the flock:
Help us to truly be disciples of Jesus
as we acknowledge him as our head
and we follow him in the ways of love and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God who leads us as our shepherd. You sent Jesus to teach us to follow your ways that we might know life abundant and free. Help us to follow the Christ into the ways of peace and love. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our failure to follow the Christ into your realm.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are a self-centered people who seek our own earthly gain. We are rebellious sheep who do not heed the voice of the shepherd. Call us back once more to your side that we may learn of you and your ways. Open our hearts to the presence of the Christ that we may own you as our true Sovereign. Amen.
One: God reigns in love and welcomes us into the fold. Receive God’s grace and share God’s love with others so that they may know the path the leads to life eternal.
Prayers of the People
Praise and glory to you, O God who reigns through your Christ over all your creation.
(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 are a self-centered people who seek our own earthly gain. We are rebellious sheep who do not heed the voice of the shepherd. Call us back once more to your side that we may learn of you and your ways. Open our hearts to the presence of the Christ that we may own you as our true Sovereign.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which you make your love known to us. We thank you for the beauty and bounty of your creation and for the presence of your Christ through your Spirit. We thank you for those who have shared your love and care for us and born witness to you. We thank you for those who reach out beyond the barriers we have erected and help us find our true unity as your children.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all who are in need this day. We pray for the will to be faithful citizens of your realm as we share the resources of your creation and as we reach out in love and care to others. We pray for open hearts that we may claim our heritage as your people united in your Spirit rather than divided by our feelings of superiority.
(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.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, November 20, 2022 issue.
Copyright 2022 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.
- Is Anyone Listening? by Tom Willadsen. Water can destroy. Where democracy is threatened and in decline, is anyone listening to the peace Christ offers from Calvary’s hill?
- Second Thoughts: Woe to the Shepherds by Dean Feldmeyer. The young man looked up from his coffee, met my gaze, and sighed. “Why should I be a Christian, when even you Christians can’t agree on what to believe?” Why, indeed?
- Sermon illustrations by Mary Austin, Chris Keating Katy Stenta.
- Worship resources by George Reed.
Is Anyone Listening?by Tom Willadsen
Jeremiah 23:1-6, Psalm 46, Luke 23:33-43, Colossians 1:11-20
In a nation polarized by political divisions and profound distrust, where political leaders’ fantasies and delusions are repeated in partisan echo chambers and truth is not accorded any relevance, could anyone aspire to lead self-sacrificially as Christ does? Where democracy is threatened and in decline, is there any hope? Is anyone listening to the peace Christ offers from Calvary’s hill?
In the Scriptures
We are at the end of the church year. Next Sunday we start all over again with Advent.
The Colossians passage’s latter half is a hymn to Christ. As a prologue to the hymn the author (probably not Paul, scholars contend) reminds the reader that we have been transferred into the kingdom of God’s beloved son.
Jeremiah expresses the Lord’s disgust at “the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of God’s pasture. It is not a stretch to equate earthly monarchs with the failed shepherds of the people. The final two verses are a nice hinge between Reign of Christ Sunday and the Season of Advent, with its righteous Branch of David terminology.
There is a good chance that Psalm 46 is missing a verse. “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” could be inserted between verses 3 and 4. That verse concludes the second and third portions of the psalm.
The most recognized verse is 10, “Be still, and know that I am God,” appears on posters, refrigerator magnets and all kinds of merchandise, apparently advising believers to calm down in the presence of the living God. Given the verses that precede it, however, it appears that the Lord is telling those who oppose the Lord to shut up and get their minds right! Look at the destruction God is capable of, God destroys the very tools you use to oppose God’s people, shut up and look at that!
Today’s gospel reading reminds us all of the in-spite-of nature of Christianity. The one we identify as King is bleeding, dying on the cross. The ones who identify him as King do so mockingly. He only speaks to forgive his executioners and encourage one who is dying beside him.
In the News
We’re at an interesting moment politically to reflect on the Reign of Christ. Great Britain has a new monarch for the first time in seven decades; democracy is under attack in the United States as election deniers managed to win office in some midterm races; Italy’s new prime minister identifies as fascist; (Perhaps she can make the trains run on time as Il Duce reputedly did.) Christian Nationalism has asserted itself more boldly and publicly than ever before.
Personally, I have been frustrated by the reporting on the recently concluded midterm elections. I moved to a new state in October and was completely unfamiliar with the candidates and issues. The vast majority of the news coverage I consumed, even public radio, covered how candidates were fairing in polls, not where they stood on issues that I am concerned about. It is very easy to vote in my new state, one has to opt out of receiving a mail ballot! My greatest frustration was that after turning my ballot in on Thursday before Election Day, I continued to see and hear commercials for candidates. If algorithms can precision target candidates’ messages to specific voter demographics, can’t they also be used to turn those messages off when they can no longer have any impact on my vote?
In the Sermon
The Prosperity Gospel is certainly appealing, if not downright seductive.
Today is Reign of Christ/Christ the King Sunday in many Christian churches. It’s an idea that is very difficult for lifelong Americans to understand. We proudly fought a war of independence to get out from under the tyranny of monarchy. The concept of royalty is foreign to most of us. Giving royal titles is forbidden in our constitution! (Article I, Section 9)
Submitting to a king of any kind goes against our national DNA. But as Bob Dylan famously sang, “You’re gonna have to serve somebody.”
Christ’s kingship is not only under scrutiny in today’s gospel lesson; it is under the heel of the Roman occupiers. Our king did not even save himself. He did not fight back, did not defend himself, accepted a degrading, humiliating execution.
No wonder Christians need to gather together in safe places every week to worship.
We’re crazily, illogically, counter-cultural. At our best we forgive our enemies and accept loss of status and privilege. We seek to lose status and privilege when we’re at our best. We go to the back of the line and do not interest ourselves with who’s first or last. We stand tallest when we stoop to serve.
SECOND THOUGHTSWoe to the Shepherds
by Dean Feldmeyer
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Sheep rarely join a flock that is scattered.
The flock that is known as Christianity is a scattered flock. Our division, separation, and estrangement from each other is a scandal and one that has done terrible damage to our witness.
Paul Tillich said that the best synonym for sin is separation; separation from God, from each other, from creation, and from our own essential nature. If he’s right, the Christian church, today, is virtually saturated with sin through denominationalism and sectarianism. And that very visible saturation has rendered our witness nearly impotent.
Why, we ask, do young people reject church as an expression of Christianity? Because even Christians have done so. Think about it: If we are Christians of one denomination or another, we have rejected all the other denominations.
In the News and Culture
Denominationalism.
From the Latin, denominare, meaning, to give a name to.
In religion, a denomination is a church organization that unites congregations of similar beliefs and practices and separates the created union from others who do not agree with them.
Denominationalism is especially prevalent in Protestantism, which has given names to The United Methodist Church, The American Baptist Church, the Southern Baptist Church, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, The Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. and notable others.
Sectarianism is denominationalism run amok. Where denominationalism says, “we do, or believe, things differently than them,” sectarianism says, “because they are not like us, they’re going to hell and we cannot associate with them.”
Ecumenism, a term often heard in discussions of denominationalism and sectarianism, is the practice of searching for unity and cooperation among the different denominations.
According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, there are approximately 41,000 Christian denominations and organizations in the world today. My own exhaustive (and exhausting) search of the internet has led me to conclude that, depending on how you define a denomination, there are about 31,000 Christian denominations in the world if you include the independent, non-affiliated churches. Take them out of the count and we have about 4,000 denominations.
In the earliest years of Christianity, denominational splits were almost all about doctrine. (Cf. Antinomianism, c. 55 C.E., Arianism, c. 318 CE, Circumcellions, c. 325 CE, et. al.) The doctrine that won the majority of adherents was called “orthodox” and the minority doctrine was called “heresy.” In some, cases, heretics were killed by orthodox Christians. In A.D. 385 at Trier, Germany, bishops put to death Priscillian and his followers for doubting the Trinity and the Resurrection. At Alexandria in 415, the great woman scientist Hypatia, head of the Alexandria Library, was beaten to death by monks and other followers of St. Cyril, who viewed her science much as the church later viewed Galileo’s. At Constantinople around 550, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian killed multitudes of non-conformists to impose Christian orthodoxy.
Christians killing each other for believing un-orthodox things didn’t really get off the ground, however, until the Middle Ages, when, most scholars agree, executions of heretics numbered in the thousands.
Fortunately, most of our inter-denominational squabbles have not resulted in violence, except for the dismemberment that has been exacted upon the Body of Christ, his church, and which continues to this day.
The Christian denomination into which I was confirmed and ordained, the United Methodist Church, is being riven by disaffiliations numbering in the hundreds. Please be clear, this is not a “split” in the denomination. No action has been taken by the General Conference, our governing body, to divide the church. This is simply a case of lots of churches who identify as “conservative” or “traditional,” packing their bags and leaving. Some are banding together to form a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church. Other churches, large ones, are joining together to form the Foundry Network, “a collaboration of former United Methodist large-membership churches…that intends to provide accountability and resources without the constraints of a denomination.” (A non-denominational denomination?) Still other former United Methodist churches of more modest size are simply becoming independent community churches without the constraints of denominations or affiliations. (Denominations of one?)
This formerly tolerant, open, inclusive denomination that spoke of itself as a “big tent” under which many different theological perspectives could live, love, and serve Jesus Christ and his kingdom together, is being rent asunder by those who insist that they can no longer abide under the same tent with those whom they have come to define as heretics.
Little wonder that young people (and some, not-so-young) look upon the behavior of the various Christian denominations and, when asked which denomination they favor, respond, “none.”
In the Scriptures
This morning’s reading from Jeremiah begins with a “woe” directed at the kings who, by their cruelty, corruption, ineptitude, unfaithfulness, and/or simple selfishness, have caused separation and estrangement to divide the people of God.
This word is, no doubt, directed at the kings of Judah with which Jeremiah had more than a few run-ins, but probably to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, as well. Jeremiah had originally seen Nebuchadnezzar as God’s punishing rod, turned upon the children of Israel for their unfaithfulness. But the Babylonian king’s ruthlessness and cruelty had caused God to abandon that notion.
Now, God has abandoned Nebuchadnezzar and the kings of Judah, who have only managed to scatter God’s sheep, and has promised to gather the sheep by acts not of kings but of God’s very self.
Does this passage not apply just as well to any people in position of power who use their positions to divide rather than bring people together? Politicians who, by insults, lies, and accusations, divide the people. Pastors who lead their congregations in open war against other Christians who do not hold to their own doctrine and dogma. Indeed, does this “woe” not also speak to family leaders who disown their children and throw them out of the house because of some infraction of so called “family values?”
William Willimon, speaking to United Methodists in his most recent book, Don’t Look Back, reminds us that “Christ fervently prayed that all of his followers (church) would ‘be one’ (John 17:21) and commanded us to get along with one another. Yet, from the first, we’ve been unable fully to live up to his expectations, having so little in common except love for him.”
Bishop Willimon could be speaking to all Christians when he reminds us that it was Christ, himself, who called us to love one another and take that love, not some complex, erudite, and ultimately unimportant point of theology, into the world and make disciples. But, instead, we have vivisected his body, the church, and spread its dismembered pieces into the wilderness, left to disappear into the earth. And in all too many cases, this violence is being instigated by the leaders (ordained and lay) of the church.
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of God’s pasture. Woe, indeed.
In the Sermon
Cade’s Cove is the first white settlement in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern Tennessee. It was first settled in 1820 and, with the help of the Cherokee natives who lived nearby and used two trails that ran through the valley, mostly for hunting, the community grew. Its population peaked in about 1850 with 130 families (approximately 650 people) living and working there.
There was a grist mill, a post office, two schools, a couple of stores and three churches. The Baptist church was the first to be founded in the area in 1820 but in about 1850 it experienced a doctrinal split over whether or not missions were mandated in scripture. This doctrinal schism gave birth to two Baptist churches: The Primitive Baptist Church and the Missionary Baptist Church. There was also a Methodist church that was founded in 1820.
130 families. If historic precedent ran true in Cades Cove, probably about 30% were not religious and did not attend any church at all. That left about 90 families going to three churches. (The size of the buildings, which are still standing, makes it extremely questionable whether that many ever attended at the same time.) The historic record shows that these people lived, worked, and schooled together. They helped each other in times of trouble. They farmed together, pitching in to help each other out at harvest time. They all contributed to pay for the building of the grist mill. Their children and grandchildren intermarried.
But they just couldn’t bring themselves to worship together. 90 families needed three churches to meet all of their theological and religious needs.
Isolated in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, surrounded by wilderness and native Americans, mostly out of touch with the outside world and, still, they behaved, in their religious life, as Christians behave always and everywhere.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul writes, “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. . . . What I mean is this: One of you says, ‘I follow Paul;’ another, ‘I follow Apollos;’ another, ‘I follow Cephas;’ still another, ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1:10-13). The Christians at Corinth were dividing themselves into groups based on the personality and practices of their favorite teachers. Paul rebukes this early denominationalism as wholly unnecessary and damaging to the unity of Christ. Christians are to follow Christ, and the church is to be of the same mind and of the same judgment because we follow a God who is one and who does not change (Deuteronomy 6:4; James 1:17).
We have all witnessed and been present to the undeniable fact that God can use others who are not involved in our denomination. It is not just possible but probable that God may have works in progress that we know nothing about, and God doesn’t need our approval to use someone who does not look, act, or believe as we do.
I am not so naïve as to believe that, short of a mass miracle produced by the Holy Spirit, denominationalism is going to disappear from the face of Christianity. But, if we cannot worship with each other, can we not agree to worship beside each other?
If we cannot be one in mind and practice, as Paul so fervently wished, let us at least be one in spirit. Let us work to make a witness to the world that we are one in our desire to serve the poor, to feed the hungry, to treat the sick and injured, to shelter the homeless, to plead for the widow and protect the orphan.
Let our love for one another be a constant and undeniable witness that God gave us Jesus as a savior not just of certain, select, Christian denominations who happen to stumble upon the correct theology, but of the whole world.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Chris Keating:Jeremiah 23:1-6
Corrupt nations
According to a recent US News survey, Russia is seen as the most corrupt nation in the world. As defined by Transparency International, a global coalition against corruption, the abuse of “entrusted power for private gain.” The US News survey, part of its 2022 Best Countries rankings, scored the perception of corruption by surveying more than 17,000 persons worldwide. Russia was joined by countries like Belarus (#10), Bangladesh (#9), Brazil (#6), and Myanmar (#5). The United States, meanwhile, was ranked 23rd among the countries perceived as least corrupt.
* * *
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Attending to evil doings
Jeremiah focuses the ire of God on Israel’s leaders — the shepherds of Yahweh’s people — who have failed in their leadership tasks of attending, caring, and nurturing God’s people. America’s ongoing struggle to come to terms with white supremacy is a contemporary illustration of the ways the nation’s history has been fraught with generational failures of shepherding justice and mercy to all its citizens. At the recent Rally 4 Reparations in Washington, DC, a photojournalist for NPR talked with people across the country about what reparations might mean to them.
Ishia House, of Oakland, California, noted, “Reparations mean acknowledgement. It's acknowledgement and proof of everything that I've been learning, everything that I've been teaching my children. That we are the builders and the creators of everything and just that we've been taught lies and to get reparations, like I said, it's acknowledgment of truth."
For Kevin Belnavis, from New Brunswick, New Jersey, reparations mean: “Payback for 400 years of slavery, Jim Crow and non-stop brutality that has been going on ever since. We need some kind of reparations to take care of future generations. It may not be around for me, but the future, our future, is in the hands of our youth. And that's what's most important.”
In a recent speech to the National Endowment for Humanities, Professor Andrew Delbanco of Columbia University, explored the past, present, and future implications for reparations in the United States. Delbanco presented the NEH’s 50th anniversary Jefferson Lecture, entitled, “The Question of Reparations: Our Past, Our Present, Our Future.” He observed that the question of reparations for slavery is a moral issue confronting every American, even those born hundreds of years after the abolition of slavery. Delbanco said:
If we allow ourselves to be thoughtful, I think we all understand this instinctively. I mean, no one should be blamed for the sins of the fathers, as the scripture puts it. And yet we live in a world that has been damaged by history. And we have a responsibility, I think, to do what we can to repair the world.
So it's a paradoxical problem that on the one hand, the past is past and should have nothing to do with us in the present as individual moral actors. But on the other hand, we live in the world that we've inherited, and so do people who've been injured by history. So it's a difficult moral problem. It's a problem that writers and philosophers have wrestled with for centuries. And we're never going to arrive at a clean, clear answer to it. But the very fact that we're talking about it, I think, is a positive sign for where we could go as a society
* * *
Colossians 1:11-20
The dance of forgiveness
The ancient hymn that pulses through Colossians 1 is a chorus reciting God’s redemptive reign in Jesus Christ. It’s not hard to imagine Paul’s theology inspiring a spirit-filled choreography of praise and thanksgiving celebrating the saints as inheritors of the light of God’s love. Cynthia Winton-Henry, co-founder of InterPlay, has dedicated herself to teaching people how to unlock the spiritual potentials of movement and creative expression. “Dance can help us find God, access wisdom, and recover our souls,” Winton-Henry has written.
Winton-Henry offered a particular spiritual practice on Center for Action and Contemplation that uses dance to promote forgiveness and nonviolent conflict resolution. While it might be hard imagining Paul leading a liturgical dance troupe, the ideas Winton-Henry offer resonate with the images of Colossians 1. “Movement can help recenter you in your body and unlock your innate wisdom. This peace is the peace to be who you are without worry. It is not a staged or pious peace. It isn’t forced or controlled. It is a personal peace that loosens you and brings you back to the heartbeat of humanity. To develop peace in yourself makes you the best peace mediator you can be.” You can also view a recording of this practice on YouTube.
* * *
Luke 23:33-43
What kind of king?
Americans have a paradoxical relationship with monarchy. While the British overlords were summarily rejected in the founding of the nation, we are nonetheless under the spell of fascination with royalty — both real and fictional.
Our children’s fascination with Disney princesses is matched by our seemingly insatiable purchases of royal family collectables. And the value of those items is expected to grow — albeit slowly.
Meanwhile, royal watchers are carefully scrutinizing King Charles III’s every move to capture an early perception of his reign. The King’s deferential honoring of his mother’s legacy has served him well initially, some say. But others wonder if the King’s younger son may prove to be a wildcard in shaping public perception of the Royal family. Prince Harry is planning to release a book soon that has been described as a firsthand account of his life that is “accurate and wholly truthful.” One royal watcher noted “How damning it might be for a son to come out on the eve of his father’s coronation and say, ‘He’s not a fit dad — and he’s not a fit man to be king, either.”
* * * * * *
From team member Mary Austin:Colossian 1:11-20
Lessons in Endurance and Giving Thanks
Sage and wisdom teacher Parker Palmer looked at our Covid struggles and found new learning in them. “May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks,” the letter to the Colossians offers. Palmer found similar ways to endure and give thanks during the pain of Covid.
Among the lessons, he says, “I’m learning more about some personal dynamics. I’m re-fighting old inner wars between fear and faith, self-reliance and seeking help. As some of the fallout from this crisis comes my way, instead of asking “Why me?” I’m relearning to ask, “Why not me?" I’m learning more about the good hearts of people who reach out in ways that reflect our shared humanity. I'm touched by those who ask, “How you doing? Any way I can help?” and clearly want to know.” He adds, “I’m learning more about millions of people around the planet who are in a “high-risk category” every day of their lives — not because of age or health, but because of race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or poverty. They live in non-stop pandemics of racism, sexism, nationalism, homophobia, structural economic inequality, and armed conflict. I now have a tiny window to glimpse a bit of their experience for a little while. May I learn all I can, and may my learning stick.”
“May you be made strong,” the letter to the Colossians urges. He found added strength even in Covid’s challenges.
* * *
Luke 22:33-43, Jeremiah 23:1-6
Wise Kings (and other leaders)
The prophet Jeremiah speaks of the power of a wise king, one who deals wisely with the people and executes justice and righteousness in the land. Luke shows us Jesus as king, in the most humble circumstances possible. In our world, wise leaders need this same kind of humility, and to be reminded of their limitations. “Senior managers at Allianz Global Investors, a global asset management company, attended a workshop called Dialogue in the Dark, led by visually impaired trainers who conducted the entire workshop in total darkness. The goal of this experiential learning program was to shift leaders' perspectives by making them aware of their limitations, while increasing empathy for others.”
Discomfort makes new kinds of humble leadership possible and is “a quick way to experience leadership from a new perspective. In early 2000, while awaiting the court decision in the antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft, Bill Gates decided to step down as chief executive and focus on his passion for software. This jolted his perspective, and that same year, Gates and his wife established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, taking his leadership in an important new direction.”
Leading in the way God imagines requires the constant cultivation of humility.
* * *
Luke 22:33-43, Jeremiah 23:1-6
Bad Kings (and other leaders)
The people of Israel longed for kings, and, in our time, we long for charismatic politicians, bosses and CEOs. Yet, just like the people of Israel, we consistently fall for bad leaders. “The research is clear: when we choose humble, unassuming people as our leaders, the world around us becomes a better place.” At work, or in politics, “a leader’s humility can be contagious: when leaders behave humbly, followers emulate their modest attitude and behavior…employees following humble leaders were themselves more likely to admit their mistakes and limitations, share the spotlight by deflecting praise to others, and be open to new ideas, advice, and feedback. Yet instead of following the lead of these unsung heroes, we appear hardwired to search for superheroes: over-glorifying leaders who exude charisma.”
Luke and Jeremiah offer us visons of leadership that serves the people, and yet we, the people of God, keep falling for jerks. In times of crisis, “high levels of anxiety make us hungry for charisma...conditions of distress and uncertainty… make us more vulnerable to choosing the wrong leader.” Just like our ancestors in faith, “in a time of crisis, it’s easy to be seduced by superheroes that could come and “rescue” us, but who possibly then plunge us into greater peril.” We have to pay attention to God’s vision for leadership, watching mindfully for leaders who are wise shepherds.
* * * * * *
From team member Katy Stenta:Luke 23:33-43
Jesus Remember Me
It’s amazing to me that the criminal does not ask for forgiveness or to be saved, he just asks to be remembered. Jesus, being Jesus, says the criminal will be remembered and present with Jesus. For many of us, all we ask is to be remembered, but Jesus promises so much more. What does this mean, then, when we practice the remembrance of communion? What does this mean when we remember family and friends? How special is it when we remember one another? To me it reminds me of this other story written by this wonderful small fiction twitter account: @ASmallFiction “Do you have a magic spell to return someone to life?” she said,” “No said, the witch, “I’m sorry.” “Oh.” “Why don’t you tell me about them?” “Will that bring them back?” “For us. For a little while. Stories are a different kind of Magic.” Remembering...is important.
* * *
Colossians 1:11-20
Jesus Firstborn Of All / Image of all Creation
Jesus is the very selfhood of God’s theology translated into humanity, so much so that it is hard to put into words who and what Jesus is. God translated into human form. Word into flesh. Hope embodied. Peacemaker. Kairos. Sometimes the simpler explanation is better. How does it feel to think of God as your sibling? Can you picture squabbling with Christ in the backseat? Can you picture Jesus watching over you, and bringing you into the presence of your parent? Does it change your relationship with Jesus to understand him as more Godly? When I was younger it was easier for me to picture Jesus as all holy. Now, the older I get, I feel closer to Jesus if he feels more grouchy and human. Where do you feel closest to Jesus today?
* * *
Jeremiah 23:1-6
One interpretation of Matthew 5:5 could be “Blessed are those who have been desolated by the empire, for they will inherit the land.” (@PropheticCenter). The use of land here can mean land of the empire, so too the use of meek can mean those in the remnant. Thus, Matthew 5:5 can be a direct carrying on of Jeremiah 23 — where God promises to carry the remnant forward, to execute justice for all those in need, for all the meek and humble. The remnant will then come to mean all those who are marginalized throughout the land.
* * * * * *
WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship
One: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
All: who has looked favorably on the people and redeemed them.
One: God has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of David.
All: God has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors.
One: By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us.
All: It will give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
OR
One: God comes as the Christ to reign in love over all creation.
All: We bow in reverence to our eternal Sovereign.
One: God does not come to divide or conquer but to love and unite.
All: In God’s love we open our hearts to all God’s people.
One: The God of creation is the Ruler of all.
All: We welcome all into the glorious reign of our God in Christ.
Hymns and Songs
Rejoice, the Lord is King
UMH: 715/716
H82: 481
PH: 155
NCH: 303
CH: 699
LBW: 171
ELW: 430
W&P: 342
AMEC: 88/89
When Morning Gilds the Skies
UMH: 185
H82: 427
PH: 487
AAHH: 186
NCH: 86
CH: 100
LBW: 545/546
ELW: 853
W&P: 111
AMEC: 29
Blessed Be the God of Israel
UMH: 209
H82: 444
CH: 135
ELW: 552
W&P: 158
Renew: 128
Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies
UMH: 173
H82: 6/7
PH: 462/463
LBW: 265
ELW: 553
W&P: 91
Lift High the Cross
UMH: 159
H82: 473
PH: 371
AAHH: 242:
NCH: 198
CH: 108
LBW: 377
ELW: 660
W&P: 287
Renew: 297
I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord
UMH: 540
H82: 524
PH: 441
NNBH: 302
NCH: 312
CH: 274
LBW: 368
W&P: 549
AMEC: 515/517
God of Grace and God of Glory
UMH: 577
H82: 594/595
PH: 420
NCH: 436
CH: 464
LBW: 415
ELW: 705
W&P: 569
AMEC: 62
STLT 115
Renew: 301
Lead On, O King Eternal
UMH: 580
PH: 447/448
AAHH: 477
NNBH: 415
NCH: 573
CH: 632
LBW: 495
ELW: 805
W&P: 508
AMEC: 177
Renew: 298
Blest Be the Tie That Binds
UMH: 557
PH: 438
AAHH: 341
NNBH: 298
NCH: 393
CH: 433
LBW: 370
ELW: 656
W&P: 393
AMEC: 522
Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation
UMH: 559
H82: 518
PH: 416/417
NCH: 400
CH: 275
LBW: 367
ELW: 645
AMEC: 518
Sing Unto the Lord a New Song
CCB: 16
Jesus, Name Above All Names
CCB: 35
Renew: 26
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
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who gathers your people like a shepherd gathers the flock:
Help us to truly be disciples of Jesus
as we acknowledge him as our head
and we follow him in the ways of love and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God who leads us as our shepherd. You sent Jesus to teach us to follow your ways that we might know life abundant and free. Help us to follow the Christ into the ways of peace and love. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our failure to follow the Christ into your realm.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are a self-centered people who seek our own earthly gain. We are rebellious sheep who do not heed the voice of the shepherd. Call us back once more to your side that we may learn of you and your ways. Open our hearts to the presence of the Christ that we may own you as our true Sovereign. Amen.
One: God reigns in love and welcomes us into the fold. Receive God’s grace and share God’s love with others so that they may know the path the leads to life eternal.
Prayers of the People
Praise and glory to you, O God who reigns through your Christ over all your creation.
(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 are a self-centered people who seek our own earthly gain. We are rebellious sheep who do not heed the voice of the shepherd. Call us back once more to your side that we may learn of you and your ways. Open our hearts to the presence of the Christ that we may own you as our true Sovereign.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which you make your love known to us. We thank you for the beauty and bounty of your creation and for the presence of your Christ through your Spirit. We thank you for those who have shared your love and care for us and born witness to you. We thank you for those who reach out beyond the barriers we have erected and help us find our true unity as your children.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all who are in need this day. We pray for the will to be faithful citizens of your realm as we share the resources of your creation and as we reach out in love and care to others. We pray for open hearts that we may claim our heritage as your people united in your Spirit rather than divided by our feelings of superiority.
(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.
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The Immediate Word, November 20, 2022 issue.
Copyright 2022 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.
