Immediate Word

For June 24, 2018:

• Biblical Leadership by Dean Feldmeyer -- Giant slayer or storm calmer -- what kind of leader are you?
• Second Thoughts: The “In Spite of” Gospel by Tom Willadsen -- Faith does not inoculate the believer from struggle, difficulty and pain.
• Sermon illustrations by Chris Keating, Ron Love, and Mary Austin.
• Worship resources by George Reed that focus on leadership styles and persevering in times of trouble.
• Calm in the Storm -- Children's sermon by Bethany Peerbolte -- Like the disciples, we all feel worried sometimes. If we have strategies that help us calm down, we can be more like Jesus and remain calm in any storm...

Biblical Leadership
by Dean Feldmeyer
Mark 4:35-41, 1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49

Sooner or later we are all called upon to be leaders. Introverts or extroverts, it doesn’t matter. Some of us gravitate naturally into leadership positions; others flee as fast as we can run. But, eventually, the need to lead catches up with all of us.

And the rules of good leadership apply whether we are leading a church, a billion-dollar multi-national corporation, a country, a baseball team, or a first grade Sunday school class.

Rudyard Kipling, in his 1895 poem, “If,” described it as the ability to “keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, and blaming it on you…”

Rabbi psychologist Edwin Friedman described it as being “the non-anxious presence in an anxious system.”

This week’s lectionary offers two models of leadership: David is the giant slayer, the rescuer, the person who enters the fray, solves the problems and then leads with a combination of proven physical prowess and personal charisma.

Jesus is the “non-anxious presence” that Friedman talks about. He is calm, detached, confident. When his disciples ask, “don’t you care that we are perishing?” his answer reflects his frustration. How could they, after all they’ve seen and experienced, ask such a question? But he doesn’t lose his cool or blow up at them; he simply calms the storm with three well-chosen words and then uses the experience as an opportunity for teaching his disciples.

So, what kind of leader are we going to be?

In the News
The international news has, these past couple of weeks, offered us some stark examples of different kinds of leadership. The leaders of some of the world’s most powerful countries have been paraded across the word’s stage and it is impossible to avoid comparing them.

Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada: Team Captain
Trudeau is the second youngest person to serve in the position of prime minister. He’s the leader of the Liberal party, the son of former PM, Pierre Trudeau, a former actor and teacher. He is a tireless advocate for youth, LGBTQ issues, and the environment.

Carol Goar, writing in the Toronto Star (02/10/16) describes his leadership style this way: “What generally becomes clear early in a prime minister’s tenure is his style of leadership, approach to governing and character. Trudeau is a team captain, not a one-man team. He takes his time assessing challenges before acting. He places a high priority on communicating directly with Canadians. And he is not immune to having fun.”1

Huff Post contributor Alex Burdak says that Trudeau leads with a combination of emotional intelligence, acceptance of diversity, humility, and positivity.2

Angela Merkel, German Chancellor; Purpose Based Leadership
Merkel has been chancellor of Germany since 2005 and was named Time’s “Person of the Year” in 2015.

In Time’s description of her leadership style, they said that: “Her political style is not to have one: no flair, no flourishes, no charisma, just a survivor’s sharp sense of power and a scientist’s devotion to data.”3

Among other of her leadership attributes, Time identified these:

She has never been afraid to be a lone voice: She’s a woman. She’s from East Germany. Her education is not in politics or international relations but in quantum chemistry.

She is a master of “leading from behind,” and a student of Nelson Mandela’s style of leadership, which is to say that she views leadership as a collective activity, the ultimate form of purpose-based leadership. "Purpose -- not the leader, authority, or power -- is what creates and animates a community," writes Harvard Business School professor Linda Hill, in her 2014 book Collective Leadership. “It is what makes people willing to do the hard tasks of innovation together and work through the inevitable conflict and tension.”4

Kim Jon Un, Supreme Leader, People’s Democratic Republic of North Korea: Repressive Dictator
Kim Jong Un is a dictator who rules his country by a combination of brutal violence, relentless repression, and abject terror.

As the State Department wrote in a report last year, the North Korean regime of Leader Kim bears responsibility for “egregious human rights violations by the government in nearly all reporting categories including: extrajudicial killings; disappearances; arbitrary arrests and detentions; torture; political prison camps in which conditions were often harsh, life threatening, and included forced and compulsory labor; unfair trials; rigid controls over many aspects of citizen’s lives, including arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, and correspondence, and denial of the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, religion, and movement; denial of the ability to choose their government; coerced abortion; trafficking in persons; severe restrictions on worker rights, including denial of the right to organize independent unions and domestic forced labor through mass mobilizations and as a part of the re-education system.”5

Anne Applebaum, in an op-ed column for the Washington Post says: “All dictators are insecure, and absolute dictators are absolutely more insecure than the rest. Several years ago, Kim staged the elaborate murder of his uncle, forcing the rest of the elite to watch as his rival was ripped apart by antiaircraft machine guns.”6

That is how he maintains his power.

Donald Trump: President of the United States: Business C.E.O.
Read enough articles about Donald Trump’s leadership style and the two words that you will encounter over and over again are “eccentric” and “unconventional.”

Trump come to politics with virtually no political experience so he must rely on the experience he has had, which is in business, especially in the field of buying and selling real estate.

As the C.E.O. of several companies, he is used to ruling autocratically, that is, by himself with absolute power and authority. He gives orders and they are followed or the person to whom the orders were given is fired. The C.E.O. of the company is the final authority of the company and the buck stops with him or her. C.E.O.’s are ultimately responsible for all the decisions that are made within the company and the company’s success or failure which arises out of those decisions.

Not surprisingly, this background brings both promises and problems to the role of head of state.

Ask voters why the voted for him and many will tell you that they thought he would “shake things up,” and that he has done. Washington, indeed, the entire country seems to be constantly in the middle of a major earthquake.

A democratic republic, such as the United States, cannot be run like a corporation with one C.E.O. Decisions about governing are supposed to be shared, as is the responsibility for governing.

Trump’s mercurial personality and his proclivity for throwing temper tantrums may have served him well in industry where people, upon being subjected to such a spectacle, ran to do his bidding. In government, however, where the press is always and everywhere present, it makes the tantrum-thrower-in-chief seem simply childish.

In business Trump was used to exploring possibilities and, if they failed, he could simply declare his new company bankrupt, not pay his bills, and move on to the next adventure. In government, it isn’t that easy. Bills must be paid and promises must be kept.

In business, underlings and employees offer criticism only if invited and then carefully and with delicacy so as not to offend. In government, the free press runs to offer criticism and cares not who is offended.

In business, Trump was rarely required to explain or defend complex ideas or programs to a mass audience. A large vocabulary was not a required part of his business skill set. Up to his election he was, after all, known mostly for uttering only two words: “You’re fired.” In government and international relations, however, a rather broader vocabulary is required and, if you don’t have it, you must find people to work for you who do.

Leigh Buchanan, editor at large of “Inc” magazine compares Trump to Pope Francis. Trump, she says, represents the old, archaic form of aggressive, authoritative leadership while Pope Francis represents a more contemporary empathetic and collaborative style.

And even though they are both very different, they share some important leadership traits. They are both authentic. They are populists and deal makers. And they are both charismatic, fearless, mavericks.

In the Scripture
Today’s lection offers two more examples of leadership.

King David: Giant Slayer
As the story of the Philistine War begins, the armies are arrayed against one another. Historians tell us that the Philistines, who tended to fight from chariots and on horseback, preferred to fight on flat ground. They had perfected the art of iron smelting and, while their weapons were sharp and durable, they were also heavy and hard to lug up a hill.

The Israelites, on the other hand, carried light weapons made of bronze and fought on foot. They preferred to hang onto the high ground and make the Philistines come to them.

So, we have the Philistines on the plain and the Israelites on the hilltops. They are shouting insults at each other every day but they refuse to move from their favored fighting place. This hurling of insults without movement could go on forever.

David, who has been anointed for special service but not sent into battle, arrives with some food and supplies for his brothers who immediately chastise him for just wanting to come and watch the battle that is not happening.

About this time Goliath steps out in front of his fellow soldiers and makes his familiar taunt and David is surprised to see his brothers and their fellow soldiers cowering in their trenches, all afraid to meet Goliath in man-to-man combat.

We all know the story from here on and can have a lot of fun retelling it but there is no need to do so, here. David kills Goliath, the Israelites win the day, David is given the daughter of the king as his wife and his life of intrigue, conquest and, eventually, rule, is off and running.

Jonathan Kirsch says, in his biographical history of the life of David that so profound was his physical and charismatic attractiveness that literally everyone who met David, including God, fell in love with him.

“Something crucial in human history begins with the biblical figure of King David. He is the original alpha male, the kind of man whose virile ambition always drives him to the head of the pack. He is the first superstar, a figure so compelling that the Bible may have originated as his royal biography. He is an authentic sex symbol, a ruggedly handsome fellow who inspires passion in both men and women, a passion expressed sometimes as hero worship and sometimes as carnal longing. He is ‘the quintessential winner,’ as one Bible scholar puts it, and the biblical life story of David has always shaped what we expect of ourselves and, even more so, of the men and women who lead us.”7

Jesus of Nazareth: The Self-Differentiated Leader
“Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”

True, this is only the fourth chapter of the gospel but they have seen and heard a lot of stuff. Just a few hours before this story unfolds, they have seen Jesus feed 5,000 people with a few loaves of bread and a handful of smoked fish.

Yet, it has had no effect on them. They are still terrified. They think they are going to drown. But listen to what they say. They don’t ask Jesus for help. They don’t say, “Hey, Jesus, wake up and get to bailing this boat out before it sinks!” They don’t say, “Hey, Jesus, we could sure use one of those miracles you’re so famous for right about now.”

No, what they do is throw around some misplaced blame. This, according to Edwin Friedman, is one of the five characteristics of a chronically anxious system, but we’ll get to that in a moment. The issue, here, is how Jesus responds to that misplaced blame.

Their question reveals that the real problem, here, is not that the boat is filling up or that the storm is about to overwhelm them. The real problem, Jesus points out, is that, regardless of what they have seen and heard and experienced, they still have no faith.

His response to their lack of faith is the perfect example of the non-anxious presence in the midst of an anxious system. He does not chastise them. First, he calms the storm quickly and efficiently with only three words. Then he offers them the opportunity to reflect on what they have just experienced and how their reaction to the storm might affect their ministry beyond the confines of this boat.

In the Sermon
A leader, according to Friedman, is an individual who influences a group of people toward a common goal. The goal may be grand or small, important or frivolous. The role of the leader is the same.

Note that, for Friedman, the role of the leader is not to accomplish the goal. That is the role of the group. The role of the leader is to influence the group so that they can accomplish their goal.

The effective leader is the non-anxious presence in an anxious system (group).

All systems are anxious.

It is their nature to be so.

They are anxious that they won’t meet their goal, whether the goal is to make a million dollars, beat last year’s sales quota, win the game, build a church, paint the house or clean out the garage. They are anxious that they won’t get along with each other. They are anxious that they will be unhappy during the work or even after the goal is achieved.

A certain amount of anxiety is acceptable, even necessary if the group is to be effective. Some groups, however, are overwhelmed with anxiety. Here are five signs of overwhelming anxiety:

• Reactivity -- People go into fight and flight reactions such as keeping their mouth shut/avoiding the boss (read my book, Fight, Flight, Freeze!).
• Herding -- People over-identify with their own groups (us vs. them) and are more concerned about their rights than their responsibilities.
• Displaced Blame -- People point in every other direction rather than calmly looking at their own role in what has gone wrong/what could make it better.
• Quick Fix Mentality -- Speaks for itself, although one manifestation is trying to implement too many solutions at the same time
• Absence of Non-Anxious Leadership -- This is the root cause of all of the above and it replicates itself in a dysfunctional system

In A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, Friedman offers characteristics of effective leaders, a list that is too exhaustive to fully examine, here. But here are a few that may be “preach-able” because they are, essentially, Biblical characteristics:

• The capacity to get outside the emotional climate of the day. The effective leader does not get sucked into the emotional status of others whether that status is panic or celebration, fear or courage, the leader sets his/her own emotional climate. Cf. today’s story.
• The willingness to be exposed and vulnerable. Jesus is the perfect example of this. How else might he have been crucified because of the values and relationships he valued?
• Persistence in the face of resistance and rejection. Jesus faced constant resistance from both the political and religious leaders of his day.
• Stamina in the face of sabotage. When a leader takes initiative, the uproar that follows has less to do with the outcome of that initiative as the fact that the leader took initiative in the first place. One of the criticisms that Jesus faced was “Who are you to tell us what to do?” You aren’t even a Pharisee. You don’t have a seminary degree.
• Being headstrong and ruthless in the eyes of others. Being non-anxious in times of insecurity will, inevitably, lead to accusations that the leader doesn’t care or has ulterior motives. The effective leader is not swayed by these accusations.

The self-differentiated leader is the leader who, like Jesus, clearly understands the boundaries that separate us from each other and how those boundaries need to be implemented in order for a system to function effectively. In other words, just becaue you are in a panic does not mean that I must be in a panic, too.


1 https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/02/10/justin-trudeau-makes-his-leadership-style-clear-in-first-100-days-goar.html; http://www.revaseth.com/mom-shift/5-leadership-lessons-canadian-prime-minister-justin-trudeau/
2 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-budak/4-leadership-lessons-from_b_9287888.html

3 https://www.inc.com/ilan-mochari/time-person-of-year-angela-merkel.html

4 https://www.inc.com/ilan-mochari/time-person-of-year-angela-merkel.html

5 https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2018/06/14/look-kim-jong-un-is-just-doing-his-best/?utm_term=.15d9660e8bad   

6 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/06/12/a-fantastic-meeting-for-trump-and-kim/?utm_term=.b0ff6683c560

7 King David: The Real Life of the Man Who Ruled Israel. Jonathan Kirsch. Chapter 1, Charisma. Excerpted at https://www.readinggroupguides.com/reviews/king-david/excerpt



The “In Spite of” Gospel
by Tom Willadsen
2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Years ago I heard former major league catcher and broadcaster Joe Garagiola observe something like, “Every week at church I hear about Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians, and it makes me wonder, did the Corinthians ever write back?”

Archaeologists in the Middle East have not dug Corinthian correspondence from the ground, but it is obvious that Paul has heard from them -- and about them -- while he’d been away. Paul shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with the Corinthians and the affection and connection he felt for them is obvious throughout his second letter to them.

While he had been away, some “super apostles” have visited the Corinthians and have taught a different message. The super apostles urged the Corinthians to practice circumcision and to observe the dietary laws of observant Jews. Paul argued against all that, reminding the Corinthians of the centrality of Christ’s death on the cross.

Paul contrasted his ministry and connection with the Corinthians as distinct from the “peddlers” of this different message. In today’s terms he pointed to his commitment to transparency; that he wasn’t eloquent, but he was sincere. He did not dazzle with awe-inspiring, miraculous feats; he led with his weakness to make the amazing love of God in Christ all the more amazing. They didn’t need anything else when they heard the gospel from him. “Accept acceptance!” he urged. The battle is already won; now is the time, now is the moment, to live as people of the resurrection. Carpe diem!

Ministers know how hard this can be, how easily people can get distracted, confused and lost. Just yesterday I told someone “If people could accept and trust the reality of Grace, I’d be out of a job.”

One of the things that makes faith difficult, however, is the idea that having faith will shield the believer from difficulty, pain, struggle, etc.

How many of us have heard friends and family members of a faithful church member stricken with a terrible circumstance say, “I can’t believe God would treat her like this! See how much she’s suffering? If God loves everyone, how could this happen to someone whose faith and whose commitment to her church was so strong?”

Paul could not be more honest, however, about the ways he suffered for the gospel, suffered for his sisters and brothers in Corinth.

In chapter 4 he reminded them of the miracle that the Lord entrusted the most valuable thing there is, the living love of God, in clay jars, earthly vessels, sacks of skin. He reminded them that they were

afflicted
crushed
perplexed
persecuted
struck down
given up to death

all of which are temporary, so that Christ’s death may be displayed, as an expression of God’s eternal love.

In chapter 5 Paul contrasted the transient life and the perishability of the body with the eternity of God’s realm. And he gave them another list of the suffering that he had endured for them, and for the gospel

affliction
hardships
calamities
beatings
imprisonments
riots
labors
sleeplessness nights
hunger
but all are reconciled in the New Creation.

He balanced the list of hardships with virtues that he brought to faith, confident in the grace of God, that appear in today’s reading.

purity
knowledge
patience
kindness
holiness of spirit
genuine love
truthful speech

Paul never denied the peril of following Christ, but he always pointed to something much greater and more lasting that the difficulties one faces in daily life.

There is a cost to following Christ, Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it most eloquently, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

Jesus gets at this when he tells his followers to rejoice in persecution -- it shows they’re on the right track. Here’s part of the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12, NRSV)

Faith is not the absence of doubt. The reward for faith is not protection from hardship. Faith, true faith, far from denying struggle, embraces and transcends it.

Paul led with his humanity and humility, signs of his weakness -- to point to God’s enduring love for humanity.

Paul urged the Corinthians to an “In Spite of” faith. A faith that puts the difficulties of today into a much larger context, a context where one can rejoice, that is “joice again!” in the knowledge of the accepting grace of the living God.

Paul Tillich made the same point in The Courage to Be, “Courage is the affirmation of one’s essential nature, one’s inner aim or entelechy, but it is an affirmation which has in itself the character of “in spite of.”

Another, more modern theologian makes the same point. In the liner notes of Taylor Swift’s CD “Fearless,” the songstress writes,

This album is called “FEARLESS,” and I guess I’d like to clarify why we chose that as the title. To me, “FEARLESS” is not the absence of fear. It is not being completely unafraid. To me, FEARLESS is having fears. FEARLESS is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, FEARLESS is living in spite of those things that scare you to death…. It’s FEARLESS to have faith that someday things will change… You have to believe in love stories and prince charmings and happily ever after. That’s why I write these songs. Because I think love is FEARLESS.

Okay colleagues, there it is. Tillich and Swift made the same point. Faith isn’t the absence of doubt, it’s the conviction of something much larger, large enough to take fear into itself to a deeper, more resilient faith. Suffering is not the end of the line, certainly not the end of faith! Faith is the in spite of, relentless trust in the acceptance, the reconciliation already in place. Right now. Right now is the time!

Who’s fearless enough to use this on June 24?


ILLUSTRATIONS

From team member Chris Keating:

1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49
Introverts
Introverts as leaders: Goliath was huge and menacing, and David was lithe and charming, and as Dean Feldmeyer observes this week quite possibly the quintessential alpha male. Yet focusing on these leadership types exclusively ignores an important and often overlooked category: the introvert.

Susan Cain, the author of “Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking,” reminds leaders in organizations to pay attention to a full third of individuals in their organizations who could be described as introverts. Here’s what Cain said in an interview:

…there’s this fascinating study that was done by the psychologist Russell Geen, where he gave math problems to introverts and extroverts to solve with varying levels of background noise. And he found that the introverts did better when the noise was lower, and the extroverts did better when the noise was higher.

This is because introverts and extroverts really operate ideally in different levels of stimulation. You know, that’s a profound bit of research when you think about it, because it tells us that a one size fits all environment really doesn’t work.

Introverts are powerful, Cain says, because they can harness solitude in order to solve complex problems. In addition, introverts are persistent and dedicated to remaining focused. She continues:

…introverts have so much to contribute. For one thing, there’s the creativity piece that I was alluding to before. People who have looked at who the most creative people are, they almost always find that these people have deep introverted streaks in them.

And that is because solitude is so crucial to creativity. And it is easier for introverts to go off by themselves, to think in this way because it’s something that they need to do, kind of for their own emotional peace. And that coincides really well with creative work. But it’s kind of beyond that, too.

Introverts also show a kind of persistence, and a kind of level of concentration that extroverts have sometimes more trouble with. So for example, if you give introverts and extroverts a difficult problem to solve, like a complicated maze or whatever it is, you will find that the introverts spend more time analyzing the problem before they delve into it than extroverts do.

And then they spend more time working at it, and they work at it longer before they give up. And that’s huge. That is huge, that kind of persistence. Albert Einstein, who was an introvert, I believe, said famously, “It’s not that I am so smart. It’s that I stay with problems longer.”

* * *

Psalm 133
Unity at all costs?
The vision of the psalmist is for a time when all creation will be at peace. Yet, as Edwin Friedman often discussed in his interpretation of Bowen family systems theories, “peace” is not the result of simply agreeing. Peace is rather the result of a long, complex process of self-differentiation. Friedman described this sort of behavior as regressive and the society which produced it “a seatbelt society” more oriented toward safety than risk.

An example of this failure to risk true peace could be this story, which apparently was a favorite of conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer:

A few years ago, the Pope visited New York and was shown the sights by Henry Kissinger. The two men visited the Bronx Zoo, where Kissinger showed the Pope to a lion’s cage. A young lamb was also in the cage, snuggled up against the lion.

The Pope was amazed. “For 2000 years, we’ve prayed for signs of the messianic era and the fulfillment of the prophecy that the lion will lie down next to the lamb. I see you must really be a man of peace. How did you do it?”

To which Kissinger replied, “All it takes is a new lamb every day!” (Source: https://gatesofvienna.net/2014/01/wholl-be-the-lamb-today/)

* * *

Mark 4:35-41
Fear-free leadership
In the midst of the storm, Jesus remains calm. It’s a reminder of what disciples are called to do amidst the struggles and pressures of life. Leadership expert Alison Reid notes that assuming this sort of level of differentiation in leadership is not easy. She suggests that leaders adopt a three-fold process in order to practice staying calm in trying circumstances. The method she suggests includes: 1) Awareness; 2) Design, and 3) Practice. In brief, she suggests:

• Start by identifying moments of increased anxiety. What are our triggers?
• Secondly, clarify how you want your response to be different. Design this response, paying attention to the sorts of changes that will be needed to be made in our internal dialogue.
• Practice the sort of responses needed so that unproductive or more anxious behaviors can be interrupted.

From team member Ron Love:

Proclamation
In the newspaper comic the Born Loser, we have Brutus Thornapple, who is known as the born loser because in his innocence he remains unappreciated. In this day’s comic, we have Brutus standing face-to-face with his wife Gladys. And it is truly a standoff. It is a marriage where criticism is the preferred communication style. This may be better understood when we realize that Brutus is often called by Gladys as “Thorny,” and Gladys is often referred to by Brutus as “Hornet.” Gladys sternly says to her husband of many years, “Sometimes you make me crazy!” She then goes on to say, “You never remember our anniversary! You never remember my birthday!” And then, in the last frame, she scolds, “But my true age? That you know by heart!”

Application: Paul writes that we must be “truthful in speech” and that we must “have spoken frankly.” Often times as we speak frankly, we fail to share that which is important to the other person.

* * *

Justice
Wouldn’t it be nice to have Kim Kardashian West as your advocate. You know Kim Kardashian West, she is famous just for being Kim Kardashian West, nothing less, nothing more. West took up the cause of Alice Marie Johnson, who is 63, and has been in prison for 20-years. She was serving a life sentence without parole. As Johnson was convicted of a non-violent drug offense, West felt she ought to be released from the federal penitentiary in Aliceville, Alabama. West, using her famous status, was able to meet with White House officials, and even President Trump himself. From those meetings, Trump commuted Johnson’s life-sentence, and she is now out of prison. Only a pardon would erase Johnson’s conviction, where a commutation only ends her sentence. This may seem like a fair and just thing to do, until you look at former President Barack Obama decision who reviewed her sentence. Obama commuted hundreds of prisoners who were in jail for non-violent drug offenses, but he refused to do so for Johnson. Johnson was more than just a street drug dealer, but she ran an operation in which she oversaw more than a dozen street dealers who worked for her. One could almost say she was the head of a drug cartel. Alice Marie Johnson is not the innocent grandmother that Kim Kardashian West would like us to embrace.

Application: You may or may not agree with Trump’s decision, but you must be aware of the facts behind the case, rather than the enthusiasm one may have for Kim Kardashian West. In our lectionary reading, God tried to explain the facts to Job.

* * *

Discipleship
Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell are two of the fastest rock climbers to date. They set the fastest climb up El Capitan in Yosemite National Park and have recently broke their own previous record for the fastest ascent. They chose to climb The Nose route, which runs up the middle to the massive monolith towering above the Yosemite Valley. They climbed El Capitan’s 3,000-foot sheer granite wall in 1 hour, 58 minutes, 7 seconds. But, this record pace came only after weeks of practice.

Application: David was able to defeat Goliath because of determination, courage, and a life time of practice of using a sling. As Christians, we need to be dedicated to the task that has been set before us.

* * *

Environment
Pope Francis recently met with the chief executives of the major oil producing industries in the world. Francis said the transition to less-polluting energy sources “is a challenge of epochal proportions.” The Pope went on to say that “Civilization requires energy, but energy must not destroy civilization.”

Application: God tried to explain to Job the meaning of Creation.

* * *

Leadership
Perhaps in the turmoil of today’s politics and world events, the big chestnut colt Justify has become our new hero as a new Triple Crown winner. Justify won the Kentucky Derby by 2 ½ lengths, he won the Preakness by ½ length, and the Belmont by 1 ¾ lengths. At the Belmont, Justify drew the No. 1 post, which is a very unfavorable place to begin the race. But when the door opened, Jockey Mike Smith got Justify to leave with a burst of speed, and he remained the front runner for the entire 1 ½ mile course, finishing at 2:28:18. Smith said of Justify, “This horse ran a tremendous race, he’s so gifted. He’s sent from heaven. I tell you it’s just amazing.”

Application: David exhibited all the qualities to be a Triple Crown winner. Perhaps David was sent from heaven.

* * *

Unity
The Southern Baptist Convention, with 15.2 million members, it is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. The denomination is now suffering from numerous allegations of sexual abuse. One reason that fosters sexual abuse is the doctrine of “complementarianism.” Complementarianism promotes male leadership in the home and in the church. This policy subjugates women to the commands and demands of the males who have control over them. Albert Mohler is the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. As the #MeToo movement has finally caught up with and exposed the sexual abuse in Southern Baptists homes and churches, Mohler said, “The avalanche of sexual misconduct that has come to light in recent weeks is almost too much to bear. These grievous revelations of sin have occurred in churches, in denominational ministries, and even in our seminaries.”

Application: Psalm 133 discuses unity which will never be possible as long as complementarianism prevails.

* * *

Purity
A problem has just been thrust upon First Congregational Church in Latham Park in Stamford, Connecticut. A 26-foot statue of Marilyn Monroe was erected in the park. The statue is called Forever Marilyn. The statue depicts a scene from her 1955 movie The Seven Year Itch. It is the well-known scene of Monroe standing over a New York City subway grate with the wind blowing up her dress, exposing her underwear. The statue might be troublesome enough for the church, but add to this that her backside faces the front doors of First Congregational Church. The city justified the statue by noting that throughout Europe there are many nude statues. The problem is, Latham Park is not Europe. As expected, controversy has already emerged by those who consider Forever Marilyn offensive, and others who think it is acceptable expression of art.

Application: Paul expresses the need for purity, but this could be difficult upon leaving worship you come face-to-face with the backside of Marilyn Monroe in her underwear.

* * *

Discipleship
Phil Mickelson was 33-years-old, and in his 12th full year on the PGA Tour, before he had his major victory. On June 17th he made his 27th appearance in the U.S. Open, more than any of the other 156 players at Shinnecock Hills. Of those, 65 of the players were not even born when Mickelson, now 48, even began to play professional golf. Mickelson, in his outstanding career, has yet to win the Grand Slam in golf, needing only a victory at the U.S. Open to achieve that accomplishment. And the 2018 event prevented it once more. This has not tarnished a career where he has won 43 events on the PGA Tour, including five major championships, three Masters titles, and an Open Championship.

Application: We have learned from the story of David the need for perseverance.

* * *

Salvation
Rembrandt completed an inspiring painting in 1634 which he titled, The Descent from the Cross. Standing to the right of the cross, a somberly dressed figure in deep brown-red, is Nicodemus, who received permission to bury Jesus. Seated left, whose colors barely make her visible, is Mary, shown fainting and supported by several women. Gathered in the rear are the apostles, scarcely seen in the dark shadows. The livid color of Christ’s body, set off against white linen, surrounded by the dark images, creates an unforgettable impression. Another figure is illuminated as brilliantly as Jesus, a man standing at the top of a ladder, helping to lower the body. The strong blue figure bears a resemblance to the artist. Rembrandt placed himself at the scene of deliverance, for he too had received the words of redemption.

Application: In our lectionary reading Paul discussed the importance of understanding the message of salvation. Rembrandt used his skill as an artist to convey his personal message of salvation. We too must recognize our sins and then place ourselves on the cross of Christ. In so doing, we will be able to share with others our personal message of salvation.

* * *

Purity
Julie, who resides in Bradenton, Florida, wrote an inspiring letter to Abigail Van Buren, better known to us as Dear Abby. Julie’s grandmother died at the age of 101, and the family was confronted with the all too common problem of distributing her personal possessions and household goods. It was a question of who got what and what was kept and what was disposed of. Having walked through the home, Julie decided that a healthy alternative to keeping things was to keep memories. So, before the items were dispersed, photographs were taken of every room, hallway, closet, outside views, and made into a photo album of memories. To have grandma’s special chair is nice, but it does not compare to slowly going through the album and reliving the memories of the warmth of the home. The chair preserved in the corner of a grandchild’s room is a nice keepsake, but it lacks the poignancy of seeing it in grandma’s house and all the joyful memories that engulfed it. Julie wrote, “Looking at my photo album is even better than having the actual items, because everything is in the setting I remember.” She went on to conclude, “Now I have an album of photographs that makes me feel like I’m standing in the middle of it again.” Abby replied, “I’m sure that looking at your album brings back a multitude of happy memories.”

Application: Purity, knowledge, kindness, holiness of spirit and genuine love do not come from possessions, but from memories. These memories inspire us to be kind and thoughtful of others.

From team member Mary Austin:

1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49 and Mark 4:35-41
Who is An Effective Leader?
When asked to draw a picture of an effective leader (stop for a moment and think about what pops into your mind) almost no one would have drawn a picture of David, the shepherd boy with no training in being a warrior. Goliath would have fit people’s mental picture. When an organizational psychologist asks people to do this exercise, “In terms of gender, the results are almost always the same. Both men and women almost always draw men.”

It’s difficult to get people to notice women as leaders, even when they display the exact same behaviors as men, in controlled situations. “In one experiment, participants were asked to call into a monthly sales team meeting of a fictional insurance company, during which they would hear from either an Eric or an Erica. Later they were asked to rate the speaker on the degree to which he or she had “exhibited leadership,” “influenced the team” or “assumed a leadership role.” The Erics who spoke up with change-oriented ideas were far more likely to be identified as leaders than Erics who simply critiqued their team’s performance. But Ericas did not receive a boost in status from sharing ideas even though they were exactly the same as the Erics’.”

Like the people who don’t imagine young David as a leader, psychologist Alice Eagly says that we see leadership through the lens of our unconscious bias. We’re looking for one kind of leadership. “It’s that the capacity to “take charge,” which is strongly associated with one’s ability to lead, continues to be considered a largely male characteristic, she said.”

Leadership comes from unexpected places, as David reminds us in his encounter with Goliath.

* * *

1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49
Meeting Face to Face
David presents himself as a challenger to Goliath, making his case in person. Research now shows that making a personal request is dramatically more effective than an email request, even from someone we know. If you need to get something done, you can email 200 people, or ask six in person, and net the same result. The study authors asked people ahead of time to predict their chances of success, and the askers believed that email would be just as effective as a personal request. Why are we so deluded? “Why do people think of email as being equally effective when it is so clearly not? In our studies, participants were highly attuned to their own trustworthiness and the legitimacy of the action they were asking others to take when they sent their emails. Anchored on this information, they failed to anticipate what the recipients of their emails were likely to see: an untrustworthy email asking them to click on a suspicious link.”

As David and Goliath learn, there’s nothing quite like a face to face meeting.

* * *

1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49 and Mark 4:35-41
Pointless Work
Both Jesus and David show purposeful leadership, and there is value in the work they do, both for themselves and for the people around them. In contrast, Professor David Graeber has been thinking about work that's pointless, for the person doing it and the wider world.  “David Graeber, an anthropologist, Occupy Wall Street activist and self-described anarchist, has followed up his widely read 2013 essay about the pointlessness many people see in the value of their jobs -- particularly those in clerical, administrative or managerial fields -- with a radical, provocative book-length exploration of the phenomenon and what he believes are the political and societal consequences of its growth.”

In an interview, Graber said that these meaningless jobs are “just so pointless that even the person doing it can’t justify its existence to themselves. Either they think that if it disappeared, it would make no difference, or that it might make the world a slightly better place -- but they have to play along with the idea that it is needed, useful and important.” The people with these jobs are miserable -- and confused, wondering why they aren’t happy to be paid good money to do basically nothing. Graeber says, “But they’re not, and they can’t figure out why they can even have a right to complain, so that makes it worse…People’s sense of themselves is based around what they do -- and what they do means how they contribute and affect the world around them.”

Like David and Jesus, we all want to make a meaningful contribution to the world around us.

* * *

1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49
Unexpected Leadership
When the seasoned warriors in Saul’s camp look at David, they’re not expecting a champion. When Goliath sees him, he’s not expecting defeat. Similarly, when his classmates saw Sef Scott, they weren’t expecting an inspiring graduation speaker. Sef has autism, and is mostly non-verbal at school. Many of his classmates had never heard him speak. But Sef applied to be a student graduation speaker, and was accepted. He wrote and practiced his speech with his mother and brother, and none of his classmates knew he would be speaking. Even his dad was surprised when he stood up to the microphone! “While many students had seen Sef in the halls, he was largely in special-needs classes and most didn’t know him, his mother, Vicki Scott, said. She doesn’t know quite why, but when she saw a notice inviting seniors to audition a speech for graduation, she had an inkling that he’d want to do it.”

Sef always had the support of his classmates, but this was a huge step for him. “When Sef started elementary school, his parents worried he’d be a target for bullying. Instead, they saw his classmates holding his hand and leading him to where he needed to go. They decided that they could never move away from the place where other kids knew him and cared for him. But to get onto the graduation-day podium, Sef had to audition the speech before a panel of judges who did not know him.”

Sef’s speech “had advice for the other graduates: to follow their own hopes and goals and not just blindly tread a path that doesn’t feel true to them.

“Don’t follow someone else’s dreams. Don’t waste time on something you never wanted. Do the unexpected. It’s your life that you are living, not anyone else’s, so do what fulfills you. Don’t fear the future, don’t fear the unknown. Will it be unexpected? Yes. Yes it will. But that does not make it wrong.” He read the speech through, pausing a few times but never stopping. At a couple of points, the audience burst into applause. Then Scott began hearing sniffling around her. Then she started sniffling. Sef got a standing ovation. Afterward he was surrounded by people offering congratulations.”

“Luke Traina, 16, a rising junior who was Sef’s buddy in an “angel” baseball league for students with special needs, learned shortly before the ceremony that Sef was going to speak. He went there to hear him, with knots in his stomach. “I was really nervous, I was saying prayers the whole entire time,” Luke said. “But as soon as I heard him start I knew he had it.… When he started speaking it was like all of a sudden the boy trapped inside him all those years got to have his voice heard.” Brittney Love, a paraprofessional at the school who worked one-on-one with Sef this year, said she had seen him build up confidence and maturity over the past year. For him to give a speech like that felt like opening doors for other kids with special needs. “I feel like people have no idea what it’s like for kids like him,” she said. “They’re overshadowed. But there’s a lot of very smart kids in special needs.” The theme of his speech applied to everyone in the room, special needs or not, Love said. “Do what’s best for you -- I think that’s just perfect,” she said.

The speech showed something important to his classmates, but also revealed something to Sef himself. “Sef’s mother thinks his willingness to speak was driven by a realization that this was the last opportunity he would have to be with the schoolmates he’d grown up with, and he wanted them to know him. And while he generally prefers to be alone rather than with other people, being on the podium seemed to infuse him with a greater sense of connection to the world.”

Leadership comes through all kinds of people, as Goliath -- and we -- find out. It’s to our peril if we overlook people who don’t seem like traditional leaders.

* * *

Mark 4:35-41
Leadership in the Storm
Our current national conversation about guns and gun laws feels like a storm that no one can calm. In the swirl of words and opinions, Bruce Seiler, a former Secret Service employee, is showing an unusual kind of leadership. Seiler founded the National Center for Unwanted Firearms, where people can send guns to be destroyed, if they don’t know what to do with them. “As a Secret Service employee charged with assessing threats on the president’s life, Seiler was always mindful of how easily criminals could acquire guns. But as an armorer and ordinance specialist, he is also a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. “I’m anti-gun violence and gun crime,” he says. “That’s my political affiliation.” In 2006, he began developing the idea for an organization that could facilitate the safe transfer and disposal of firearms. Ten years later, he and his business partner, Chip Ayers, a former member of the Secret Service’s Counter Sniper Team, launched a website for NCUF.”

Seiler says many of the guns come from “middle-aged people who inherit unwanted guns and don’t want them ending up in the wrong hands. The weapons his organization has acquired have either been turned over to law enforcement for repurposing, retained for their historical value or destroyed. The first gun they destroyed was a cheap revolver, made of pot metal, which Seiler said was “more dangerous to the user than the intended victim”.” An increase in gun manufacturing contributes to a surplus of guns, adding to the “problem of unwanted firearms, especially for law enforcement. “Across the country, police property rooms are bulging at the seams with firearms,” says Ray Reynolds, a retired police commander and founder of Gunbusters, a St. Louis-based company that also destroys guns. Since 2014, his business has expanded to four locations, and he’s destroyed more than 20,000 firearms for agencies across the country. This surplus of firearms negatively affects both rural and urban agencies, but options for safe gun disposal vary significantly by state and jurisdiction.”

Seiler’s skills bring peace of mind to many, even in the middle of our storm of competing interests in the gun conversation.


WORSHIP
by George Reed

Call to Worship:
Leader: God is a stronghold for the oppressed.
People: Sing praises to God, who dwells in Zion
Leader: Those who know your name put their trust in you, O God.
People: For you, O God, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Leader: Be gracious to us, O God.
People: So that we may recount all your praises.

OR

Leader: God calls us to follow the way to life eternal.
People: We hear God’s call with joy and we obey.   
Leader: God sends leaders to help us find the path.
People: We search for God’s leaders to assist us.   
Leader: God calls us to lead others at times.
People: We listen for God’s voice and we will lead.          

Hymns and Songs:
Lead On, O King Eternal
UMH: 580
PH: 447/448
AAHH: 477
NNBH: 415
NCH: 573
CH: 632
LBW: 495
ELA: 805
W&P: 508
AMEC: 177 
Renew: 298

O God, Our Help in Ages Past
UMH: 117
H82: 680
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
ELA: 632
W&P: 84
AMEC: 61
STLT: 281

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
UMH: 127
H82: 690
PH: 281
AAHH: 138/139/140
NNBH: 232
NCH: 18/19
CH: 622
LBW: 343
ELA: 618
W&P: 501
AMEC: 52/53/65  

He Leadeth Me: O Blessed Thought
UMH: 128
AAHH: 142
NNBH: 235
CH: 545
LBW: 501
W&P: 499
AMEC: 395

Great Is Thy Faithfulness
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
ELA: 733
W&P: 72
AMEC: 84   
Renew: 249

If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee
UMH: 142
H82: 635
PH: 282
NCH: 410
LBW: 453
ELA: 769
W&P: 429

Lift High the Cross
UMH: 159
H82: 473
PH: 371
AAHH: 242
NCH: 198
CH: 108
LBW: 377
ELA: 660
W&P: 287 
Renew: 297

Hope of the World
UMH: 178
H82: 472
PH: 360
NCH: 46
CH: 538
LBW: 493
W&P: 404

All Hail King Jesus
CCB: 29
Renew: 35

Our God Reigns
CCB: 33

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 is the true leader of all creation:
Grant us the wisdom to adapt our leadership as you have done
meeting the needs of your people so they could follow you;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

OR

We praise you, O God, because you are the only leader we can follow into life abundant. You come to your people and lead them according to their needs so that they can understand and follow you. Help us to do the same. Amen.

Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our reliance on one leadership style whether it is in our leading or in our following.

People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We pick the kind of leaders that we want to follow and the kind of leadership we want to use based on our preferences. We forget that leadership is contextual and needs to be focused on accomplishing the goal. We even forget the goal is to assist in ushering in your reign. Help us to turn to you, once again, and set our sights on the goal that is above all others. Help us to work in ways that assist others in finding abundant life in you. Amen.
 
Leader: God comes to us to redeem us into a life that is full and abundant. Receive God’s grace and love and share that with all who you meet this week.

Prayers of the People
All glory and praise are yours, O God, because you are the Creator of all. You understand your creatures and our need for leadership.

(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 pick the kind of leaders that we want to follow and the kind of leadership we want to use based on our preferences. We forget that leadership is contextual and needs to be focused on accomplishing the goal. We even forget the goal is to assist in ushering in your reign. Help us to turn to you, once again, and set our sights on the goal that is above all others. Help us to work in ways that assist others in finding abundant life in you.

We give you thanks for those you have called to be leaders of your movement. Some of those we know by name as their names are written in scripture; some we know because their names are written in history; some we know because their names are written in our hearts. We thank you for leading us into your life eternal.

(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)

We pray for all creation this day. We pray for those who find themselves in places of leadership at whatever level. May they be blessed and draw upon your wisdom.

(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
Talk to the children about playing Follow the Leader. Talk with them about how you would play it differently indoors or outdoors. What would you do differently if it was dark and you couldn’t see each other? God has sent us leaders like David and like Jesus. Each had a job to do but they were different leaders because the task was different. All of us can be leaders for God at different times and places.


Calm in the Storm
by Bethany Peerbolte
Mark 4:35-41

Anxiety and worry is a huge problem in our children. They often cannot recognize the difference between worry, fear, and anger. This lesson will help them identify worry, give them strategies to calm down, and connect to the biblical story. Like the disciples, we all feel worried sometimes. If we have strategies that help us calm down, we can be more like Jesus and remain calm in any storm.

Say something like:

Our story today from the Bible tells about a time Jesus and his friends were in a boat together. They were sailing when a big storm came and started rocking the boat. Jesus’ friends were really worried the boat would sink, but do you know where Jesus was? He was napping! Jesus stayed calm even when things got scary because Jesus knew God was in control.

Has anyone here ever felt worried? Show me your worried face. When I have a big test, or have to meet new people I feel worried. When I get worried I get butterflies in my stomach and a lump in my throat. When I’m worried all I can think about it what is worrying me and sometimes I want to avoid the thing that worries me altogether.

I’ll bet Jesus’ friends all had different reactions to feeling worried about the storm. Some of them might have wanted to run away, some might have wanted to fight the storm, others might have just frozen. I wonder what you would do if you were on that boat? Run away, fight, or freeze?

Being worried isn’t a bad thing, it can even help us solve problems. Sometime though we get so worried it isn’t healthy. We should try to be worried like Jesus. Jesus was also worried about the storm but he knew how to calm his worry. He said a prayer for help, he found a comfortable place, and he rested until he could think of a solution.

There are lots of ways to help ourselves feel calmer. We can close our eyes and imagine we are in someplace special. Like a favorite vacation, or comfortable place at home. We can squeeze a stuffed animal or a pillow or slowly drink a cold glass of water.

Deep breaths are helpful too. Let’s try one I call Darth Vader Breath. Cup your hand over your mouth, now breath slowly in and out like Darth Vader. Great job! I also like to say a prayer when I feel worried, it helps remind me that God is with me and helping me, let’s pray.

God, you are always with us. Thank you for helping us with our small and big worries. We want to be calm like Jesus was when things got scary. Help us find ways to calm down and remember you are bigger than our biggest worry. Amen.


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


The Immediate Word, June 24, 2018, issue.

Copyright 2018 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.