Breathe the Breath of God
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
For April 19, 2020:
Breathe the Breath of God
by Ron Love
John 20:19-31
In the Scriptures
John 20:19-31
As we walk through this story, verse by verse, as recoded in John’s Gospel, what will unfold before us is fear that is tempered by the presence of Jesus. The story takes place on the evening of the day that we now call Easter — the day of the resurrection. It is evening and the disciples are gathered in the Upper Room, the meeting place that was most familiar to them, most comfortable to them, and they are discussing the message delivered to them by Mary Magdalene, that was confirmed by Peter and the Beloved Disciple — the tomb is empty. Jesus was resurrected. (v.19, 21) Their fear continues until Jesus stands among them, offering them peace and reassurance. (v.19) This offers them relief from their anxiety, and they rejoice. They now have hope. They now have a future. (v.20) But this sense of assurance is short lived, as seven days later, on the following Sunday, the disciples are once again doubting. They are once again perplexed. They are once again afraid. They are once again in hiding. (v.25-26) Jesus comes to them a second time as he is knowledgeable of their trauma. Jesus comes to them a second time as he is aware of their questions and concerns. Jesus comes to them a second time because they are scared. It is not only Thomas who is a doubter. (v.25) Mary doubted when she first went to the tomb the week before. Peter and the Beloved Disciple also questioned that day a week earlier, and even upon seeing the empty tomb, remained bewildered. Then Thomas, seven days after the resurrection event, and after a spiritual conversation with Jesus, made the boldest confession of faith that has ever been recorded in the scriptures, when he proclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (v.28) Thomas made the confession of faith for the other ten disciples gathered in the Upper Room. Thomas gave us the words of our confession of faith this day. With that confession, and with the receiving of the Holy Spirit (v.22), the eleven were able to go forth as missionaries (v.23).
In the News
I, who live in South Carolina, now reside in the isolation of the Upper Room. South Carolina was one of those “hold-out” states, refusing to order a stay-at-home isolation mandate and declare that all non-essential businesses be closed. I was the envy of all my family and friends who were being “government controlled” in Pennsylvania, my home state. Those who lived in the Keystone State, where liquor stores were closed along with hair salons, could not believe that those of us in the Palmetto State could dance unrestrained. But then, South Carolina always waltzed to a different tune, as we were the first state to leave the Union on December 20, 1860. Governor Henry McMaster refused to issue a stay-at-home order. He questioned the constitutionality of such sweeping, executive action. The song changed on Monday, April 6, when the cell phones of 5 million state residents rang with that civil service reverse messaging system. Governor Henry McMaster issued a stay-at-home order. He ordered that all nonessential businesses close because now all 46 counties had become infected with the coronavirus. This made South Carolina the last state east of the Mississippi River to issue such a coronavirus-related mandate. So now, South Carolina mirrors the rest of the nation, the rest of the world — in social isolation.
In the Sermon
The Breath of God
On Sunday, April 5, 2020, he stood behind his pulpit. His white suit, with a lavender shirt and tie, augmented by the matching handkerchief in his pocket, with everything being accentuated as four men, all in dark suits, surrounded him. There he stood, pointing his finger at the video camera, as before him was an empty sanctuary, once packed with thousands. He chants, “Wind, almighty, strong, south wind, Heat: Burn this thing, in the name of Jesus. I say, Satan you bow your knees. You fall on your face.” He then yells “Covid-19” while leaning forward, stretched over the pulpit, and he blows. It is harsh and loud. Droplets spew forth from his mouth. He emptied his lungs to the point of asphyxiation. Unyielding, he continues, “I blow the wind of God on you. You are destroyed forever, and you’ll never be back. Thank you, God. Let it happen. Cause it to happen.”
That televangelist is Kenneth Copeland. He bears the scars of his ministry. He has a net worth of 760 million dollars. Three airplanes, one of which is a Citation jet. A private airfield. A 33-acre estate.
A man in a white robe stepped into a nearly empty room. There were ten other men seated there, two were absent, the doubter, another in guilt, the betrayer. They were afraid. Not of the coronavirus, but of another uncertainty in life, as deadly as the coronavirus — maybe more so. The man in white moves his lips in the form of a passionate kiss and then he blows — it really wasn’t a blow; it was more like a puff. And Satan did come to his knees.
Jesus. Savior. He bears the scars of his ministry. Pierced hands. Perforated feet. Punctured side. His net worth? No more than the white robe that shrouded his beaten body.
One man is a charlatan, the other man is our redeemer. One man is motivated by greed, the other man knows only sacrifice. One man is egocentric, the other man is humble. One man is a lie, the other man is truth. One man lives in a world of shadows; the other man is the light of the world.
Today — this day of the coronavirus — we need the breath of life, not the breath of death. Today — this day of the coronavirus — as we wear the white robes of righteousness, we blow the breath of life upon others with godly actions. Today — this day of the coronavirus — we shun the white suit of deceit whose spittle sallies forth with a deadly infectious lie.
On that day, that evening, that Sunday, the day we now call Easter, Jesus breathed upon the ten that were gathered, the breath of life. The following week, Easter 2 on the liturgical calendar, the liturgical day we are celebrating this morning, the day also known as Low Sunday, the eleven were gathered. Now the doubter, Thomas, received the breath of new life.
In our lectionary reading for this morning the word for “breath” that Jesus blessed the disciples with is the same word that was used to recount the giving of life in the creation story. In John we read, “And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” In Genesis we read, “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
It was the breath of the Holy Spirit. It was the breath of life. It was the breath of empowerment. Upon being blessed with the Holy Spirit Jesus instructed the eleven, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” In other words, Jesus commissioned the eleven to become missionaries. Jesus commissioned them to be evangelists. Jesus commissioned them to be healers, ministering to all who are in need.
The eleven followers of Jesus isolated themselves in the Upper Room, a room that was familiar to them, a room they felt safe in, the room where they received the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday and became the church. The church was not conceived on the Day of Pentecost, but it was birthed when the disciples gathered around the table to receive the body and blood of Jesus for the first time. It was in this Upper Room that the church once again gathered.
They were isolated. They were afraid. Will the Jews come and get them? Will the Romans arrest them? Is there a future?
But in their isolation, they were not idle. They had a purpose. They had a calling. They had a mission.
We can only imagine the discussions that took place among them. They probably reflected on the events leading up to this moment of uncertainty. They must have pondered the teachings of Jesus. But, with their calling to be missionaries, they certainly discussed what they were going to do going forward. How could they minister in the name of Jesus? How could they be productive in the name of Jesus?
And as we know, each of the eleven, and the new twelfth, Matthias, each chose an independent missionary journey.
Today, in the greatest pandemic in a hundred years since the 1918 Spanish flu devastated the world, we are once again in the grips of an unseen enemy. Unknown to them then, but known to us now a century later, isolation is part of the solution. The new normal is “social distancing” and “stay-at-home” self-quarantining.
But isolation does not have to mean idleness. As the eleven disciples planned the future of the church, we can plan on helping others. As the eleven disciples were empowered by the Holy Spirit, that same Spirit empowers us today — we can serve; we can help others; we can still do good.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor who eventually realized that Adolf Hitler was so evil that he had to be removed from office. Bonhoeffer then became involved in a plot to overthrow the Fuhrer and the Nazi regime. Arrested on April 5, 1943 for his participation in the plot, Bonhoeffer spent a year-and-a-half in Tegel military prison. He was then moved to Flossenberg concentration camp where he was executed. His time in prison was not a time of idleness. He wrote letters to his fiancé Maria von Wedemeyer, which were smuggled out by sympathetic guards. The letters cover a multiple of subjects and have been preserved for us in the book Letters and Papers from Prison. In one letter Bonhoeffer wrote, “The Church is the Church only when it exists for others...not dominating, but helping and serving. It must tell men of every calling what it means to live for Christ, to exist for others.”
Even sitting isolated in our homes, we are the church; we do exist to help others.
Thankfully we are not in Tegel prison, but nonetheless, we are imprisoned in our own unique way. We have television. We have Netflix. We can order from Amazon. There is food in the refrigerator. And if we are good enough at estimating the distance of six-feet, we can even go for a walk.
But we are isolated. Isolation does not mean idleness.
We can do, as Bonhoeffer did, use our time productively. As Bonhoeffer wrote letters, so can we. A Hallmark card randomly sent to a member of your church family would be a welcomed surprise. And perhaps, we can use texting for something other than spreading rumors — it can be used to send messages of encouragement.
Martin Luther was the catalyst of the Protestant Reformation. Luther was defiant of many of the theological and ecclesiastical positions of the Roman Catholic Church. He was declared a heretic on January 3, 1521 by Pope Leo X. Even so, Luther continued to be so bold in his proclamations condemning Roman Catholicism, that he was called before the Diet of Worms to defend his accusations. The proceedings were presided over by Emperor Charles V. At the end of the convocation on May 25, 1521, Luther, having refused to recant of his views, was declared an enemy of the state and of the church. With this pronouncement, any person, at any time, at any place, could murder Luther without any legal ramifications.
Frederick II, Elector of Saxony, and an ardent supporter of Luther, took the activist to Wartburg Castle in Saxony for his protection. Confined, Luther had a Bible with one page having the scriptures written in Greek, and on the opposing page the same passages were written in Latin. Luther took this time of isolation to translate the Bible into German, the native tongue of all his people, so everyone, not just the priests, could read the Bible. Regarding this endeavor Luther wrote, “Meanwhile I am translating the Bible, though I have undertaken a task beyond my strength”
Confined to our own Wartburg Castle, it is not beyond our strength to share the Gospel message with others. It is always important to hear the word of God, but is anytime more urgent than now. The message of hope. The message of healing. The message of community. If one can put down the bottle of spirits for the real Spirit, creative ways will be discovered.
The Rev. Dr. Darryl Evans is the senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church, which is aligned with the ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians. It is the church I attend in Florence, South Carolina. As you drive up to the sanctuary, the building is hidden by a beautiful row of trees. Rising high above the trees is a magnificent and awe-inspiring white steeple. As the steeple can be seen from a distance, it beckons people to come to God.
During this time of home isolation Evans has been a creative leader in keeping the “covenant partners” (how members are referred to in ECO) connected to the church. One of his innovations is a daily devotional that arrives promptly as an email at 7 o’clock each morning. On March 27, his devotional was titled The Gift of Work. The pastor shared with the church community of covenant partners that even though we are living isolated in our homes we can still serve the Lord; we can still be a church community. In that devotional Evans wrote, “During this time of distancing, the partners of our congregation have widely different routines: some of us are cooped up, quiet, bored. We crave meaningful work. If so, write some cards, text some prayers, make some phone calls to support others. Genesis teaches us that we should never underestimate the power of a good word.”
This week, the Second Sunday of Easter in the liturgical calendar, is part of the Great Fifty Days, which is the period between Easter and Pentecost. The historical practice of preachers was to use this season to explain the mysteries of the faith to those recently added to the faithful by baptism at the Easter Vigil, since, in the first centuries of the church, individuals could only join the church on Easter day.
As we are in the midst of the Great Fifty Days, we can teach the love of God by demonstrating the love of God. As Dr. Evans has shared with us, we can write cards showing that someone is remembered, not forgotten. We can text messages, not a message of bullying or rumor mongering, but a message of love and concern. To the lonely there is the telephone, not to be used an as an instrument for a selfie, but to use the phone for what a phone was intended to be used for — to talk to another person.
When Isaac Newton was in his twenties and a college student at Trinity College in Cambridge, the Great Plague of London hit. From 1665 to 1666, a quarter of the London population would die. At this time all the students were sent home, which was the seventeenth century form of “social distancing.” For the next year Newton stayed at home — isolated — at Woolsthorpe Manor, the family estate about sixty miles northwest of Cambridge. This year has often been called the “year of wonders” in Newton’s life. He continued working on mathematical problems and writing papers that became early calculus. He acquired a few prisms, and wrote theories on optics. Outside his window was an apple tree. He would often sit in the garden looking at the tree, contemplating new scientific theories. Though a falling apple never struck him on the head, falling apples gave him the concept of gravity. When Newton returned to Cambridge in 1667, he was made a fellow in six months and a professor two years later.
Isolation is not synonymous with idleness.
Shall we close by singing Edwin Hatch’s hymn which was written in 1878:
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
fill me with life anew,
that I may love what thou dost love,
and do what thou wouldst do.
SECOND THOUGHTS
How Will We Know?
by Chris Keating
Unless you have been binge watching the Netflix series “The Tiger King,” chances are you’ve been exposed to the novel coronavirus — if not the virus, then the viral misinformation.
Misinformation, rumors and fake news surrounding Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, have accompanied the disease in its pandemic spread. The lies have prompted bigoted attacks and social media uproars and have even been spread by otherwise well-informed officials.
Debunked as false were reports of swans gliding across deserted canals in Venice, and reports of did dolphins coming to visit the city of canals. The virus isn’t linked to 5G technology, despite what you saw on Twitter. You might want to think twice before asking your doctor for a prescription of hydroxychloroquine, even though the President of the United States said, “What do you have to lose?”
Point of fact: you could lose your life, since serious heart problems can be a side effect of taking hydroxychloroquine.
Panic spreads quickly, and pandemic panic seems to spread even more quickly. But it seems that misinformation and falsehood may travel just as fast. The tech company Yonder, which use artificial intelligence to online conversations involving misinformation, noted that while it normally takes up to eight months for “fringe narratives” to seep into the center of the internet, that time has collapsed into three to 14 days during coronavirus. Ironically, that is also the same time period that exposed patients often become symptomatic.
Officials of the World Health Organization even have a fancy name for fake news. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus calls the spread of misinformation an “infodemic” which poses significant threats to countering the disease.
Yonder backs up Ghebreyesus’ claims.
“In the current infodemic, we’ve seen conspiracy theories and other forms of misinformation spread across the internet at an unprecedented velocity,” Yonder Chief Innovation Officer Ryan Fox told TechCrunch. He believes that the trend represents the outsized influence of “small groups of hyper passionate individuals” in driving misinformation, like the 5G claims.
Panic also paralyzes. That’s as true today as it was for the disciples that first Easter. Panic, and not faith, had settled upon them that evening, even though they have heard Mary Magdalene’s witness, “I have seen the Lord.” Though John lacks Luke’s comment that the report of Jesus’ resurrection was nothing more than an “idle tale,” (Luke 24:11) the conclusion seems to be the same: is it true? Did it happen?
What do they have to lose?
Fearing for their lives, the disciples practiced a strict stay-at-home order. John constructs the scene with his customary detail: the sun is falling, the shadows of fear are rising, and the disciples are locked down. In fading sunlight, Jesus appears in their midst. As added assurance, he blesses them with the gift of peace.
John pushes aside the misinformation, coupling the affirmation of Jesus’ presence with their apostolic commission. He tells them their sins are forgiven and sends them out to forgive the sins of others. Misinformation is conquered not by simply wishing something to be true, but by the transforming power of Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life.
When anxiety rises, it is always tempting to find quick-fix solutions. Our brains trigger anxiety-propelled responses which send us on missions to gather information in order to make sense of what is happening. Generally, as the situation resolves the lines separating fact and fiction become clear. Yet there’s nothing to suggest Covid-19 will be resolved anytime soon.
As journalist and researcher Lisa Stifler notes in GeekWire this week, the deception can run from relatively benign (swans in Venice) to potentially dangerous such as promises of a cure.
“Key information about access to testing,” writes Stifler, “the number of infected and dying people, and data about how the disease spreads is shifting and evolving and sometimes contradictory. In an era where information moves at a breakneck speed, the public is consuming research and advice that’s not yet complete.”
In part, our willingness to accept misinformation as true arises from information overload. Information which may seem to appear trustworthy and true is quickly accepted. Afterall, we are exposed gobs and gobs of data every day. Interestingly, if there is a photograph attached to the misinformation — even if it is only tangentially related — increases our acceptance of the information as accurate. Researchers call that “processing fluency.”
Likewise, vivid personal stories also enhance the likelihood of believing something we heard, or even simply the story’s repetition. The more frequently something appears in our news feed the less skeptical we become. The feelings of familiarity make something sound a bit more truthy.
Smooth talking hucksters have purloined that knowledge into door-to-door success for ages. The boxes of molding encyclopedias in your basement attest to that, as do the scads of kitchen gadgets or the “as sold on TV” gizmos hawked by aging celebrities. A feeling of wanting something to be true may make something appear to be truer than it is.
Perhaps it is our experience with hucksters which makes Thomas so relatable to us. Mistakenly dubbed “doubting,” Thomas asks for nothing less than the same experience the others had. He yearns to know — deeply, tangibly — the promise of resurrection.
He won’t be convinced by misinformation, half-truths, or emotion-laden appeals. Rumors won’t sway Thomas, nor anyone else. He will know only as he encounters Christ’s transforming presence. It is that sort of experience which so many long for today.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
John 20:19-31
A Jigsaw Puzzle as a Solution for Doubt
Living in this time of Covid-19 required isolation, Diane Starks and her family could only see what they had lost. Her daughter, Julia, was a high school senior, facing the end of the year without a prom, graduation, or even the ability to settle on a college. To distract themselves, they decided to make a project out of doing a large jigsaw puzzle. Diane says, “I stared at the hundreds of jigsaw puzzle pieces spread out on our dining room table. “This is going to take a while.” “Isn’t that the point?” My 17-year-old daughter, Julia, said. “To keep us off the screens during the quarantine?” “You’re right,” I said as I picked up a piece, tried unsuccessfully to find its spot, and then set it back down. “Maybe this will take my mind off of everything I’ve lost,” Julia said.
“Next week, she’d celebrate her 18th birthday at home, unable to see her friends. She was unable to work, as the restaurant where she worked was closed. But her biggest worry was for the college scholarship she’d applied for and should've heard from weeks ago. With the university closed, the decision had been delayed. She couldn’t choose which school to attend without knowing how much financial help she’d receive. Her whole future felt uncertain…“I feel like my whole life is like this puzzle,” she said. “All of the pieces are out of place and I may never get them back together. I know it’s hard when we can’t see the future, but we have to trust God with it.” She sighed. “If just one piece would go into place, I think I could handle the uncertainty of the rest. I don’t need to see everything at once. I just need a piece of it.” Over the next few days, they worked on the puzzle, a little bit at a time.
The puzzle came together, and the future was still uncertain. “As each day went by,” Diane says, “I prayed that Julia’s big picture would also come into view. But no scholarship offer arrived. No letter from her high school explaining the new plans for prom or graduation. Everything was still unclear. Finally, we were down to the final few puzzle pieces. As Julia put one into place, she said, “Mom, when we started this puzzle, I asked God to show me how the pieces of my life would fit together. I still haven’t heard anything.” I sighed. “We have to just keep praying. And keep trusting God.” I knew my words weren’t what she wanted to hear, but I had nothing else to offer. Two days after we completed our puzzle, we got the call. Julia had been awarded a generous scholarship to one of her top choices. As she spoke to the university representative, I hugged her from behind, thanking God through happy tears. When she got off the phone, she threw herself into my arms. “Thank you, God,” she murmured. That afternoon, she paid her enrollment fee to her chosen school and picked her dormitory. I could see how much lighter she felt. At this moment, our jigsaw puzzle is finished. Julia’s future — and everyone else’s — is still unknown. But we know that God is working it out, fitting the pieces of our lives together for good.”
Piece by piece, God works with us in our seasons of doubt.
***
John 20:19-31
Not Belonging
Thomas takes a risk, with the other disciples, and with Jesus, when he asks for more evidence that Jesus is risen from the dead. He wants what the others received when Jesus appeared, and he’s willing to risk standing out from the group to receive it. Author and professor Brene Brown was doing research on what makes people feel like part of a group, and she says, “I had never thought about the concept of not belonging, even though I lived it. I never thought about the concept of not belonging at home as being such a universal experience of pain until — I don’t know how long ago, it may have been eight or nine years ago — I was doing some research, and I was in a middle school, and I was doing focus groups with middle schoolers. And I was asking these middle schoolers what the difference was — what they thought the difference was between fitting in and belonging. And they just had these incredibly simple and profound answers: “Fitting in is when you want to be a part of something. Belonging is when others want you.”
“They just rattled one off after the other, and I was so taken aback, and then a young girl raised her hand and said, “You know, miss, it’s really hard not to fit in or belong at school, but not belonging at home is the worst.” And when she said that, probably half the kids either burst into tears or just put their heads down, unable to speak. Other kids gave examples: “My parents were really athletic and popular. I’m not athletic. I’m not popular. I don’t fit in with my family. I don’t belong there.” And just this thing washed over me, of — for a middle schooler, and you know that age — for a middle schooler to say, “Not belonging here is tough, but there’s nothing worse than not belonging at home” — you understood. I felt the magnitude of it in my bones.”
Thomas is willing to risk that for a deeper connection, the one with Jesus. Brene Brown says that belonging, “is a spiritual practice, and it’s the spiritual practice of believing in ourselves and belonging to ourselves so fully that we find what’s sacred in not only being a part of something, like our DNA calls us to be, but also, we find sacred the need, on occasion, to stand alone in our values, in our beliefs, when we’re called to do that, as well. And so, to me, this idea of true belonging is a type of belonging that never requires us to be inauthentic or change who we are, but a type of belonging that demands who we are — that we be who we are — even when we jeopardize connection with other people…” In the same way, doubt can be a spiritual practice, when we step out of belonging to seek a deeper truth.
Brene Brown adds, “And one of the things I talk about all the time when I’m working with leaders, from CEOs to special forces troops, I always ask the same question — most recently, NFL teams — “Give me an example of courage that you’ve seen in your life or that you, yourself, have engaged in, any act of bravery, that was not completely defined by vulnerability.” No one has, to this day — even special forces; when Navy Seals can’t tell you, then no one can tell you — because the problem is, there is no courage without vulnerability. But we’re all taught to be brave, and then we’re all warned, growing up, to not be vulnerable. And so that’s the rub. And so when you have bravery without vulnerability, that’s when you get what we’re looking at today: all bluster, all posturing, no real courage.” That’s Thomas, with his courage and his vulnerability woven together, longing for more of Jesus.
***
1 Peter 1:3-9
Living Hope
In this second Sunday of Easter, 1 Peter offers us a stirring word of hope. We are reminded that, “in this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials.” People are finding interesting ways to cope with the “various trials” in this time of isolation. In this season, Sonja Livingston is finding hope in different ways. For her, it started with a different way to imagine the time. A friend suggested, “Do not think of it as quarantine. Think of it as a cloister.” She says, “That thought led me to start lighting candles at night. My husband and I sit and listen to chants by the Benedictine nuns from a monastery in Missouri or look at our cats and talk about what’s on our minds — the commodification of art, for instance, how close the magnolia buds are to opening, or when toilet paper might return to store shelves. Because my husband is immunocompromised and I have a nagging cold, we sit on opposite ends of the sofa or in different chairs, several feet apart. Often, we sit in the soft glow and don’t say a word. In this way, we’re transforming our rather ordinary little house into a sanctuary.”
There’s still plenty to worry about. She notes the things that suck away hope, saying, “I’m just as panicked as everyone else. I hoard boxes of spaghetti and Kleenex and scroll through my Twitter feed reading coronavirus statistics. I overeat fresh-baked bread in attempt to shore myself against the time when all the loaves might disappear. I wipe down doorknobs and cling to my bottle of hand sanitizer like it’s a long-lost love. I binge-watch Netflix and ruminate over the heartbreaking necessity of social distancing and whether my niece who waitressed at Denny’s will be able pay her rent and if my father-in-law in his eighties will get through this thing and how on earth my dwindling urban church will survive without its weekly collection plate and much more superficially who will cut and style all our hair.”
But the gift of radical hope returns when we seek it. “But for about 20 minutes at the end of the day, all of this drops away…It’s not about the room. The music. Or even the candles, really. It’s about making ourselves still in the face of uncertainty. It’s about closing our eyes and opening ourselves to the flickering moment and all that actually surrounds us — the good, the bad, the unknown. It’s about sifting it through the net of our undivided attention, and honing our sense of what’s beautiful and true and lasting in this world.” We may not see Jesus, or even the end of this terrible pandemic, and yet the “genuineness of your faith — being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honor,” even now.
* * * * * *
From team member Chris Keating:
John 20:19-31
Rumors debunked
Referring to the possible use of the drug hydroxychloroquine in combatting Covid-19, President Donald Trump told reporters on April 4, “What do you have to lose? I’ll say it again: what do you have to lose? Take it. I really think they should take it.”
In the face of a pandemic, hopes for any effective treatment run high. But the President’s hypothetical question, “What do you have to lose?” can be answered with a very serious, “Your life.”
Not long after the president’s claims were broadcast, an Arizona man and his wife were hospitalized after they ingested a form of chloroquine used for cleaning fish tanks. The man died and his wife became severely ill. A few days later the Center for Disease Control released a warning about the drug. Physician groups and drug researchers say it is much too soon to know if chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine will be effective in treating Covid-19, and have warned about side effects including death.
Application: Rumors and misinformation filled the disciples with fear until they encountered the transforming presence of the risen Christ.
***
John 20:19-31
Infodemic
Fear sent the apostles into lockdown. Panic can generate serious waves of anxiety, as has been seen by the spread of misinformation and rumors. As Covid-19 began to spread across the globe, officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) identified two challenges that needed to be confronted: a pandemic and an “infodemic.”
WHO official Sylvie Briand offered her insight to the British medical journal, The Lancet,
We know that every outbreak will be accompanied by a kind of tsunami of information, but also within this information you always have misinformation, rumours, etc. We know that even in the Middle Ages there was this phenomenon.”
“But the difference now with social media is that this phenomenon is amplified, it goes faster and further, like the viruses that travel with people and go faster and further. So it is a new challenge, and the challenge is the [timing] because you need to be faster if you want to fill the void…What is at stake during an outbreak is making sure people will do the right thing to control the disease or to mitigate its impact. So it is not only information to make sure people are informed; it is also making sure people are informed to act appropriately.”
Possible application: The apostles yearned for a transforming experience of “knowing” the risen Christ. It was this “information,” coupled with the presence of the Holy Spirit, which sent them into the world as witnesses of the resurrection.
***
John 20:19-31
Thomas and the gift of resilience
Let’s stop the annual abuse of Thomas. In particular, set aside the disparaging title of “doubting,” Thomas and instead recall that Thomas simply wanted the same experience of encountering Jesus. In fact, Thomas’ questions and persistence in remaining faithful are evidence of his spiritual resiliency in the face of trauma.
Thomas, like those of us who are experiencing the trauma of Covid-19, had firsthand exposure to a traumatic event. His exclamation of Jesus as Lord points to the way he is able to demonstrate his profound sense of spiritual resilience.
Robert J. Wicks, in his book “Spiritual Resilience,” (Franciscan Media) offers a helpful definition of spiritual resilience: “Spiritual resilience is not simply about recovering from adversity. It is about bouncing back in a way that deeper knowledge of both God and self may result. With the right guidance, during difficult times and periods of confusion, pain, and stress, we have a unique opportunity to nurture our relationship with God and enable it to grow in surprising ways."
* * * * * *
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: Protect us, O God, for in you we take refuge.
People: You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.
Leader: God is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
People: The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.
Leader: You show me the path of life, O God.
People: In your presence there is fullness of joy.
OR
Leader: Our Creator God invites us to join in the work of creation.
People: Made in God’s image, we are also creators.
Leader: God has made us so that we can think and reason.
People: We will use our abilities for the good of all people.
Leader: God calls us into community even while we isolate.
People: We will remember our connection to all God’s people.
Hymns and Songs:
All Creatures of Our God and King
UMH: 62
H82: 400
PH: 455
AAHH: 147
NNBH: 33
NCH: 17
CH: 22
LBW: 527
ELW: 835
W&P: 23
AMEC: 50
STLT: 203
Renew: 47
How Great Thou Art
UMH: 77
PH: 467
AAHH: 148
NNBH: 43
NCH: 35
CH: 33
LBW: 532
ELW: 856
W&P: 51
AMEC: 58
Renew: 250
For the Beauty of the Earth
UMH: 92
H82: 416
PH: 473
NNBH: 8
NCH: 28
CH: 56
LBW: 561
ELW: 879
W&P: 40
AMEC: 578
STLT: 21
I Sing the Almighty Power of God
UMH: 152
H82: 398
PH: 288
NCH: 12
W&P: 31
Renew: 54
Christ Is Risen
UMH: 307
PH: 104
CH: 222
ELW: 383
He Lives
UMH: 310
AAHH: 275
NNBH: 119
CH: 226
W&P: 302
Thine Be the Glory
UMH: 308
PH: 122
NCH: 253
CH: 218
LBW: 145
ELW: 376
W&P: 310
AMEC: 157
Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain
UMH: 315
H82: 199/200
PH: 114/115
NCH: 230
CH: 215
LBW: 132
ELW: 363
Jesus Calls Us
UMH: 398
H82: 549/550
NNBH: 183
NCH: 171/172
CH: 337
LBW: 494
ELW: 696
W&P: 345
AMEC: 238
I Need Thee Every Hour
UMH: 397
AAHH: 451
NNBH: 303
NCH: 517
CH: 578
W&P: 476
AMEC: 327
Give Thanks
CCB: 92
Renew: 266
Shine, Jesus, Shine
CCB: 81
Renew: 247
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 is community:
Grant us the wisdom to recognize our connectedness
and use our time of isolation for the common good;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are community in your very nature. Help us to remember that we are connected to you and to all your children as we work for the common good even while we are physically apart. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our failure to seek the common good.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. All too often we are focused on what we can do to help ourselves and we forget our responsibility to care for others. We are concerned about ourselves and our own close family and forget the needs of others around us. We focus on our need to get out and forget that doing so puts others at risk. Give us hearts of compassion that seek the good of all people everywhere during this time of isolation. Amen.
Leader: God is our loving parent who cares for us and delights in our caring for one another. Receive God’s grace and forgiveness and us those gifts to share God’s love with others.
Prayers of the People
We praise you, O God, for the wonder of your love that encompasses all of your creation. You hold all of your children in your love and care.
(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. All too often we are focused on what we can do to help ourselves and we forget our responsibility to care for others. We are concerned about ourselves and our own close family and forget the needs of others around us. We focus on our need to get out and forget that doing so puts others at risk. Give us hearts of compassion that seek the good of all people everywhere during this time of isolation.
We thank you for all the ways in which you have gifted us with abilities and resources. You have made us with minds that can reason and think so that we can work out solutions to problems. You created us in your image so that we are creative, as well. You have made us so that we can share our ideas and build on what others have done.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We pray for those who have no place to shelter away from this virus and the hardships of life. We pray for those who are forced by necessity to go out to earn a living in a scary world. We pray for those who go out willingly to help others when it would be safer to stay at home.
(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 how it is difficult to stay at home but we can use this time to help others. Some of that help we don’t even have to do anything, it just happens. When we stay home and aren’t being taken to school or sporting events, we burn less gasoline and the air is cleaner. When we stay home we help other people stay safe by not allowing the virus to spread. We can also use the time to pray for people or make cards to send to them.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Is Seeing Believing?
by Tom Willadsen
John 20:19-31
Find some images of optical illusions. Here are two that I found in a quick Google search:
Ask the kids how many legs the elephant has. It looks like five, or maybe four. If there’s disagreement among the kids about how many legs, that’s really good.
The image on the right is little more subtle. More than half of people who see this image see an old woman in profile. She has a large nose, black hair and a sort of flowing white scarf over her head. A smaller group of people will see a young woman, in profile, seen slightly from the back. Her hair is black, she has a small nose and it appears a sort of choker necklace. The young woman’s necklace is the old woman’s mouth. It may take a little cajoling, but get the all the kids to see both the old and young woman in the picture. There is more than one picture in the picture! You want them to believe their eyes.
Now shift and tell them about the disciples who were gathered in the evening on Easter, the day of resurrection. They have assembled in a locked room; they are afraid. Jesus appeared to them. Somehow he got through the locked door, or apparated, like a character in a Harry Potter story. He greeted them, then he showed them his scars from being crucified. They were filled with joy! Their teacher and friend was alive! And they knew it was he, not someone who just looked like him, because they saw the scars on his hands and in his side. Thomas wasn’t with them that night.
The ten disciples (12 minus Thomas minus Judas = 10) told Thomas they had seen the Lord! Thomas insisted he had to see Jesus with his own eyes.
A week passed. The eleven were together again on Sunday night and Jesus again appeared in their midst despite the door being shut. Jesus showed Thomas his scars, had him put his hand into the wound on Jesus’ side. Thomas believed that Jesus has risen.
Jesus says something really important — and he really says it to all his followers who came after the disciples, after he ascended into Heaven. Jesus asked Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
The disciples, including Thomas, had a front row seat when Jesus performed miracles, healed the sick, fed thousands of people, and when we confounded the religious leaders. They were at his side; they saw with their own eyes what he did. And still it was hard for them to believe that he had risen from the dead. Thomas needed to see for himself before he believed, but when he saw, he believed.
They had a huge advantage over us, people who try to follow Jesus nearly 2,000 years after he went back up to heaven. We have stories about Jesus from the Bible. We have people who have lived the Christian faith for a long time who help us to follow him. But we do not have the eyewitness experience that Thomas had, that all the disciples had. So who can help us to believe that Jesus rose from the dead if we don’t have personal experience?
At this point indicate that all the people gathered for worship have something to share, something to say, to guide us as we try to follow Jesus. This might take some stretching, because you’re probably live streaming worship now, rather than defying health department orders and worshiping in person. Live streaming may be, however, a more effective way to get this message across. It’s hard to follow Jesus, and we have each other to help us as we try to follow him. We have each other. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, April 19, 2020 issue.
Copyright 2020 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.
- Breathe the Breath of God by Ron Love — We need the breath of life, not the breath of death. As we wear the white robes of righteousness, we blow the breath of life upon others with godly actions.
- Second Thoughts: How Will We Know? by Chris Keating — Shaken by the Jesus’ death, the disciples try to sort fact from fiction and rumor from reality — not unlike the way misinformation around Covid 19 creates problems for us.
- Sermon illustrations by Mary Austin, Chris Keating, Bethany Peerbolte.
- Worship resources by George Reed that focus on ministry in isolation; confusion.
- Children’s sermon: Is Seeing Believing? by Tom Willadsen — Who can help us to believe that Jesus rose from the dead if we don’t have personal experience?
Breathe the Breath of Godby Ron Love
John 20:19-31
In the Scriptures
John 20:19-31
As we walk through this story, verse by verse, as recoded in John’s Gospel, what will unfold before us is fear that is tempered by the presence of Jesus. The story takes place on the evening of the day that we now call Easter — the day of the resurrection. It is evening and the disciples are gathered in the Upper Room, the meeting place that was most familiar to them, most comfortable to them, and they are discussing the message delivered to them by Mary Magdalene, that was confirmed by Peter and the Beloved Disciple — the tomb is empty. Jesus was resurrected. (v.19, 21) Their fear continues until Jesus stands among them, offering them peace and reassurance. (v.19) This offers them relief from their anxiety, and they rejoice. They now have hope. They now have a future. (v.20) But this sense of assurance is short lived, as seven days later, on the following Sunday, the disciples are once again doubting. They are once again perplexed. They are once again afraid. They are once again in hiding. (v.25-26) Jesus comes to them a second time as he is knowledgeable of their trauma. Jesus comes to them a second time as he is aware of their questions and concerns. Jesus comes to them a second time because they are scared. It is not only Thomas who is a doubter. (v.25) Mary doubted when she first went to the tomb the week before. Peter and the Beloved Disciple also questioned that day a week earlier, and even upon seeing the empty tomb, remained bewildered. Then Thomas, seven days after the resurrection event, and after a spiritual conversation with Jesus, made the boldest confession of faith that has ever been recorded in the scriptures, when he proclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (v.28) Thomas made the confession of faith for the other ten disciples gathered in the Upper Room. Thomas gave us the words of our confession of faith this day. With that confession, and with the receiving of the Holy Spirit (v.22), the eleven were able to go forth as missionaries (v.23).
In the News
I, who live in South Carolina, now reside in the isolation of the Upper Room. South Carolina was one of those “hold-out” states, refusing to order a stay-at-home isolation mandate and declare that all non-essential businesses be closed. I was the envy of all my family and friends who were being “government controlled” in Pennsylvania, my home state. Those who lived in the Keystone State, where liquor stores were closed along with hair salons, could not believe that those of us in the Palmetto State could dance unrestrained. But then, South Carolina always waltzed to a different tune, as we were the first state to leave the Union on December 20, 1860. Governor Henry McMaster refused to issue a stay-at-home order. He questioned the constitutionality of such sweeping, executive action. The song changed on Monday, April 6, when the cell phones of 5 million state residents rang with that civil service reverse messaging system. Governor Henry McMaster issued a stay-at-home order. He ordered that all nonessential businesses close because now all 46 counties had become infected with the coronavirus. This made South Carolina the last state east of the Mississippi River to issue such a coronavirus-related mandate. So now, South Carolina mirrors the rest of the nation, the rest of the world — in social isolation.
In the Sermon
The Breath of God
On Sunday, April 5, 2020, he stood behind his pulpit. His white suit, with a lavender shirt and tie, augmented by the matching handkerchief in his pocket, with everything being accentuated as four men, all in dark suits, surrounded him. There he stood, pointing his finger at the video camera, as before him was an empty sanctuary, once packed with thousands. He chants, “Wind, almighty, strong, south wind, Heat: Burn this thing, in the name of Jesus. I say, Satan you bow your knees. You fall on your face.” He then yells “Covid-19” while leaning forward, stretched over the pulpit, and he blows. It is harsh and loud. Droplets spew forth from his mouth. He emptied his lungs to the point of asphyxiation. Unyielding, he continues, “I blow the wind of God on you. You are destroyed forever, and you’ll never be back. Thank you, God. Let it happen. Cause it to happen.”
That televangelist is Kenneth Copeland. He bears the scars of his ministry. He has a net worth of 760 million dollars. Three airplanes, one of which is a Citation jet. A private airfield. A 33-acre estate.
A man in a white robe stepped into a nearly empty room. There were ten other men seated there, two were absent, the doubter, another in guilt, the betrayer. They were afraid. Not of the coronavirus, but of another uncertainty in life, as deadly as the coronavirus — maybe more so. The man in white moves his lips in the form of a passionate kiss and then he blows — it really wasn’t a blow; it was more like a puff. And Satan did come to his knees.
Jesus. Savior. He bears the scars of his ministry. Pierced hands. Perforated feet. Punctured side. His net worth? No more than the white robe that shrouded his beaten body.
One man is a charlatan, the other man is our redeemer. One man is motivated by greed, the other man knows only sacrifice. One man is egocentric, the other man is humble. One man is a lie, the other man is truth. One man lives in a world of shadows; the other man is the light of the world.
Today — this day of the coronavirus — we need the breath of life, not the breath of death. Today — this day of the coronavirus — as we wear the white robes of righteousness, we blow the breath of life upon others with godly actions. Today — this day of the coronavirus — we shun the white suit of deceit whose spittle sallies forth with a deadly infectious lie.
On that day, that evening, that Sunday, the day we now call Easter, Jesus breathed upon the ten that were gathered, the breath of life. The following week, Easter 2 on the liturgical calendar, the liturgical day we are celebrating this morning, the day also known as Low Sunday, the eleven were gathered. Now the doubter, Thomas, received the breath of new life.
In our lectionary reading for this morning the word for “breath” that Jesus blessed the disciples with is the same word that was used to recount the giving of life in the creation story. In John we read, “And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” In Genesis we read, “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
It was the breath of the Holy Spirit. It was the breath of life. It was the breath of empowerment. Upon being blessed with the Holy Spirit Jesus instructed the eleven, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” In other words, Jesus commissioned the eleven to become missionaries. Jesus commissioned them to be evangelists. Jesus commissioned them to be healers, ministering to all who are in need.
The eleven followers of Jesus isolated themselves in the Upper Room, a room that was familiar to them, a room they felt safe in, the room where they received the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday and became the church. The church was not conceived on the Day of Pentecost, but it was birthed when the disciples gathered around the table to receive the body and blood of Jesus for the first time. It was in this Upper Room that the church once again gathered.
They were isolated. They were afraid. Will the Jews come and get them? Will the Romans arrest them? Is there a future?
But in their isolation, they were not idle. They had a purpose. They had a calling. They had a mission.
We can only imagine the discussions that took place among them. They probably reflected on the events leading up to this moment of uncertainty. They must have pondered the teachings of Jesus. But, with their calling to be missionaries, they certainly discussed what they were going to do going forward. How could they minister in the name of Jesus? How could they be productive in the name of Jesus?
And as we know, each of the eleven, and the new twelfth, Matthias, each chose an independent missionary journey.
Today, in the greatest pandemic in a hundred years since the 1918 Spanish flu devastated the world, we are once again in the grips of an unseen enemy. Unknown to them then, but known to us now a century later, isolation is part of the solution. The new normal is “social distancing” and “stay-at-home” self-quarantining.
But isolation does not have to mean idleness. As the eleven disciples planned the future of the church, we can plan on helping others. As the eleven disciples were empowered by the Holy Spirit, that same Spirit empowers us today — we can serve; we can help others; we can still do good.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor who eventually realized that Adolf Hitler was so evil that he had to be removed from office. Bonhoeffer then became involved in a plot to overthrow the Fuhrer and the Nazi regime. Arrested on April 5, 1943 for his participation in the plot, Bonhoeffer spent a year-and-a-half in Tegel military prison. He was then moved to Flossenberg concentration camp where he was executed. His time in prison was not a time of idleness. He wrote letters to his fiancé Maria von Wedemeyer, which were smuggled out by sympathetic guards. The letters cover a multiple of subjects and have been preserved for us in the book Letters and Papers from Prison. In one letter Bonhoeffer wrote, “The Church is the Church only when it exists for others...not dominating, but helping and serving. It must tell men of every calling what it means to live for Christ, to exist for others.”
Even sitting isolated in our homes, we are the church; we do exist to help others.
Thankfully we are not in Tegel prison, but nonetheless, we are imprisoned in our own unique way. We have television. We have Netflix. We can order from Amazon. There is food in the refrigerator. And if we are good enough at estimating the distance of six-feet, we can even go for a walk.
But we are isolated. Isolation does not mean idleness.
We can do, as Bonhoeffer did, use our time productively. As Bonhoeffer wrote letters, so can we. A Hallmark card randomly sent to a member of your church family would be a welcomed surprise. And perhaps, we can use texting for something other than spreading rumors — it can be used to send messages of encouragement.
Martin Luther was the catalyst of the Protestant Reformation. Luther was defiant of many of the theological and ecclesiastical positions of the Roman Catholic Church. He was declared a heretic on January 3, 1521 by Pope Leo X. Even so, Luther continued to be so bold in his proclamations condemning Roman Catholicism, that he was called before the Diet of Worms to defend his accusations. The proceedings were presided over by Emperor Charles V. At the end of the convocation on May 25, 1521, Luther, having refused to recant of his views, was declared an enemy of the state and of the church. With this pronouncement, any person, at any time, at any place, could murder Luther without any legal ramifications.
Frederick II, Elector of Saxony, and an ardent supporter of Luther, took the activist to Wartburg Castle in Saxony for his protection. Confined, Luther had a Bible with one page having the scriptures written in Greek, and on the opposing page the same passages were written in Latin. Luther took this time of isolation to translate the Bible into German, the native tongue of all his people, so everyone, not just the priests, could read the Bible. Regarding this endeavor Luther wrote, “Meanwhile I am translating the Bible, though I have undertaken a task beyond my strength”
Confined to our own Wartburg Castle, it is not beyond our strength to share the Gospel message with others. It is always important to hear the word of God, but is anytime more urgent than now. The message of hope. The message of healing. The message of community. If one can put down the bottle of spirits for the real Spirit, creative ways will be discovered.
The Rev. Dr. Darryl Evans is the senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church, which is aligned with the ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians. It is the church I attend in Florence, South Carolina. As you drive up to the sanctuary, the building is hidden by a beautiful row of trees. Rising high above the trees is a magnificent and awe-inspiring white steeple. As the steeple can be seen from a distance, it beckons people to come to God.
During this time of home isolation Evans has been a creative leader in keeping the “covenant partners” (how members are referred to in ECO) connected to the church. One of his innovations is a daily devotional that arrives promptly as an email at 7 o’clock each morning. On March 27, his devotional was titled The Gift of Work. The pastor shared with the church community of covenant partners that even though we are living isolated in our homes we can still serve the Lord; we can still be a church community. In that devotional Evans wrote, “During this time of distancing, the partners of our congregation have widely different routines: some of us are cooped up, quiet, bored. We crave meaningful work. If so, write some cards, text some prayers, make some phone calls to support others. Genesis teaches us that we should never underestimate the power of a good word.”
This week, the Second Sunday of Easter in the liturgical calendar, is part of the Great Fifty Days, which is the period between Easter and Pentecost. The historical practice of preachers was to use this season to explain the mysteries of the faith to those recently added to the faithful by baptism at the Easter Vigil, since, in the first centuries of the church, individuals could only join the church on Easter day.
As we are in the midst of the Great Fifty Days, we can teach the love of God by demonstrating the love of God. As Dr. Evans has shared with us, we can write cards showing that someone is remembered, not forgotten. We can text messages, not a message of bullying or rumor mongering, but a message of love and concern. To the lonely there is the telephone, not to be used an as an instrument for a selfie, but to use the phone for what a phone was intended to be used for — to talk to another person.
When Isaac Newton was in his twenties and a college student at Trinity College in Cambridge, the Great Plague of London hit. From 1665 to 1666, a quarter of the London population would die. At this time all the students were sent home, which was the seventeenth century form of “social distancing.” For the next year Newton stayed at home — isolated — at Woolsthorpe Manor, the family estate about sixty miles northwest of Cambridge. This year has often been called the “year of wonders” in Newton’s life. He continued working on mathematical problems and writing papers that became early calculus. He acquired a few prisms, and wrote theories on optics. Outside his window was an apple tree. He would often sit in the garden looking at the tree, contemplating new scientific theories. Though a falling apple never struck him on the head, falling apples gave him the concept of gravity. When Newton returned to Cambridge in 1667, he was made a fellow in six months and a professor two years later.
Isolation is not synonymous with idleness.
Shall we close by singing Edwin Hatch’s hymn which was written in 1878:
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
fill me with life anew,
that I may love what thou dost love,
and do what thou wouldst do.
SECOND THOUGHTSHow Will We Know?
by Chris Keating
Unless you have been binge watching the Netflix series “The Tiger King,” chances are you’ve been exposed to the novel coronavirus — if not the virus, then the viral misinformation.
Misinformation, rumors and fake news surrounding Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, have accompanied the disease in its pandemic spread. The lies have prompted bigoted attacks and social media uproars and have even been spread by otherwise well-informed officials.
Debunked as false were reports of swans gliding across deserted canals in Venice, and reports of did dolphins coming to visit the city of canals. The virus isn’t linked to 5G technology, despite what you saw on Twitter. You might want to think twice before asking your doctor for a prescription of hydroxychloroquine, even though the President of the United States said, “What do you have to lose?”
Point of fact: you could lose your life, since serious heart problems can be a side effect of taking hydroxychloroquine.
Panic spreads quickly, and pandemic panic seems to spread even more quickly. But it seems that misinformation and falsehood may travel just as fast. The tech company Yonder, which use artificial intelligence to online conversations involving misinformation, noted that while it normally takes up to eight months for “fringe narratives” to seep into the center of the internet, that time has collapsed into three to 14 days during coronavirus. Ironically, that is also the same time period that exposed patients often become symptomatic.
Officials of the World Health Organization even have a fancy name for fake news. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus calls the spread of misinformation an “infodemic” which poses significant threats to countering the disease.
Yonder backs up Ghebreyesus’ claims.
“In the current infodemic, we’ve seen conspiracy theories and other forms of misinformation spread across the internet at an unprecedented velocity,” Yonder Chief Innovation Officer Ryan Fox told TechCrunch. He believes that the trend represents the outsized influence of “small groups of hyper passionate individuals” in driving misinformation, like the 5G claims.
Panic also paralyzes. That’s as true today as it was for the disciples that first Easter. Panic, and not faith, had settled upon them that evening, even though they have heard Mary Magdalene’s witness, “I have seen the Lord.” Though John lacks Luke’s comment that the report of Jesus’ resurrection was nothing more than an “idle tale,” (Luke 24:11) the conclusion seems to be the same: is it true? Did it happen?
What do they have to lose?
Fearing for their lives, the disciples practiced a strict stay-at-home order. John constructs the scene with his customary detail: the sun is falling, the shadows of fear are rising, and the disciples are locked down. In fading sunlight, Jesus appears in their midst. As added assurance, he blesses them with the gift of peace.
John pushes aside the misinformation, coupling the affirmation of Jesus’ presence with their apostolic commission. He tells them their sins are forgiven and sends them out to forgive the sins of others. Misinformation is conquered not by simply wishing something to be true, but by the transforming power of Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life.
When anxiety rises, it is always tempting to find quick-fix solutions. Our brains trigger anxiety-propelled responses which send us on missions to gather information in order to make sense of what is happening. Generally, as the situation resolves the lines separating fact and fiction become clear. Yet there’s nothing to suggest Covid-19 will be resolved anytime soon.
As journalist and researcher Lisa Stifler notes in GeekWire this week, the deception can run from relatively benign (swans in Venice) to potentially dangerous such as promises of a cure.
“Key information about access to testing,” writes Stifler, “the number of infected and dying people, and data about how the disease spreads is shifting and evolving and sometimes contradictory. In an era where information moves at a breakneck speed, the public is consuming research and advice that’s not yet complete.”
In part, our willingness to accept misinformation as true arises from information overload. Information which may seem to appear trustworthy and true is quickly accepted. Afterall, we are exposed gobs and gobs of data every day. Interestingly, if there is a photograph attached to the misinformation — even if it is only tangentially related — increases our acceptance of the information as accurate. Researchers call that “processing fluency.”
Likewise, vivid personal stories also enhance the likelihood of believing something we heard, or even simply the story’s repetition. The more frequently something appears in our news feed the less skeptical we become. The feelings of familiarity make something sound a bit more truthy.
Smooth talking hucksters have purloined that knowledge into door-to-door success for ages. The boxes of molding encyclopedias in your basement attest to that, as do the scads of kitchen gadgets or the “as sold on TV” gizmos hawked by aging celebrities. A feeling of wanting something to be true may make something appear to be truer than it is.
Perhaps it is our experience with hucksters which makes Thomas so relatable to us. Mistakenly dubbed “doubting,” Thomas asks for nothing less than the same experience the others had. He yearns to know — deeply, tangibly — the promise of resurrection.
He won’t be convinced by misinformation, half-truths, or emotion-laden appeals. Rumors won’t sway Thomas, nor anyone else. He will know only as he encounters Christ’s transforming presence. It is that sort of experience which so many long for today.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:John 20:19-31
A Jigsaw Puzzle as a Solution for Doubt
Living in this time of Covid-19 required isolation, Diane Starks and her family could only see what they had lost. Her daughter, Julia, was a high school senior, facing the end of the year without a prom, graduation, or even the ability to settle on a college. To distract themselves, they decided to make a project out of doing a large jigsaw puzzle. Diane says, “I stared at the hundreds of jigsaw puzzle pieces spread out on our dining room table. “This is going to take a while.” “Isn’t that the point?” My 17-year-old daughter, Julia, said. “To keep us off the screens during the quarantine?” “You’re right,” I said as I picked up a piece, tried unsuccessfully to find its spot, and then set it back down. “Maybe this will take my mind off of everything I’ve lost,” Julia said.
“Next week, she’d celebrate her 18th birthday at home, unable to see her friends. She was unable to work, as the restaurant where she worked was closed. But her biggest worry was for the college scholarship she’d applied for and should've heard from weeks ago. With the university closed, the decision had been delayed. She couldn’t choose which school to attend without knowing how much financial help she’d receive. Her whole future felt uncertain…“I feel like my whole life is like this puzzle,” she said. “All of the pieces are out of place and I may never get them back together. I know it’s hard when we can’t see the future, but we have to trust God with it.” She sighed. “If just one piece would go into place, I think I could handle the uncertainty of the rest. I don’t need to see everything at once. I just need a piece of it.” Over the next few days, they worked on the puzzle, a little bit at a time.
The puzzle came together, and the future was still uncertain. “As each day went by,” Diane says, “I prayed that Julia’s big picture would also come into view. But no scholarship offer arrived. No letter from her high school explaining the new plans for prom or graduation. Everything was still unclear. Finally, we were down to the final few puzzle pieces. As Julia put one into place, she said, “Mom, when we started this puzzle, I asked God to show me how the pieces of my life would fit together. I still haven’t heard anything.” I sighed. “We have to just keep praying. And keep trusting God.” I knew my words weren’t what she wanted to hear, but I had nothing else to offer. Two days after we completed our puzzle, we got the call. Julia had been awarded a generous scholarship to one of her top choices. As she spoke to the university representative, I hugged her from behind, thanking God through happy tears. When she got off the phone, she threw herself into my arms. “Thank you, God,” she murmured. That afternoon, she paid her enrollment fee to her chosen school and picked her dormitory. I could see how much lighter she felt. At this moment, our jigsaw puzzle is finished. Julia’s future — and everyone else’s — is still unknown. But we know that God is working it out, fitting the pieces of our lives together for good.”
Piece by piece, God works with us in our seasons of doubt.
***
John 20:19-31
Not Belonging
Thomas takes a risk, with the other disciples, and with Jesus, when he asks for more evidence that Jesus is risen from the dead. He wants what the others received when Jesus appeared, and he’s willing to risk standing out from the group to receive it. Author and professor Brene Brown was doing research on what makes people feel like part of a group, and she says, “I had never thought about the concept of not belonging, even though I lived it. I never thought about the concept of not belonging at home as being such a universal experience of pain until — I don’t know how long ago, it may have been eight or nine years ago — I was doing some research, and I was in a middle school, and I was doing focus groups with middle schoolers. And I was asking these middle schoolers what the difference was — what they thought the difference was between fitting in and belonging. And they just had these incredibly simple and profound answers: “Fitting in is when you want to be a part of something. Belonging is when others want you.”
“They just rattled one off after the other, and I was so taken aback, and then a young girl raised her hand and said, “You know, miss, it’s really hard not to fit in or belong at school, but not belonging at home is the worst.” And when she said that, probably half the kids either burst into tears or just put their heads down, unable to speak. Other kids gave examples: “My parents were really athletic and popular. I’m not athletic. I’m not popular. I don’t fit in with my family. I don’t belong there.” And just this thing washed over me, of — for a middle schooler, and you know that age — for a middle schooler to say, “Not belonging here is tough, but there’s nothing worse than not belonging at home” — you understood. I felt the magnitude of it in my bones.”
Thomas is willing to risk that for a deeper connection, the one with Jesus. Brene Brown says that belonging, “is a spiritual practice, and it’s the spiritual practice of believing in ourselves and belonging to ourselves so fully that we find what’s sacred in not only being a part of something, like our DNA calls us to be, but also, we find sacred the need, on occasion, to stand alone in our values, in our beliefs, when we’re called to do that, as well. And so, to me, this idea of true belonging is a type of belonging that never requires us to be inauthentic or change who we are, but a type of belonging that demands who we are — that we be who we are — even when we jeopardize connection with other people…” In the same way, doubt can be a spiritual practice, when we step out of belonging to seek a deeper truth.
Brene Brown adds, “And one of the things I talk about all the time when I’m working with leaders, from CEOs to special forces troops, I always ask the same question — most recently, NFL teams — “Give me an example of courage that you’ve seen in your life or that you, yourself, have engaged in, any act of bravery, that was not completely defined by vulnerability.” No one has, to this day — even special forces; when Navy Seals can’t tell you, then no one can tell you — because the problem is, there is no courage without vulnerability. But we’re all taught to be brave, and then we’re all warned, growing up, to not be vulnerable. And so that’s the rub. And so when you have bravery without vulnerability, that’s when you get what we’re looking at today: all bluster, all posturing, no real courage.” That’s Thomas, with his courage and his vulnerability woven together, longing for more of Jesus.
***
1 Peter 1:3-9
Living Hope
In this second Sunday of Easter, 1 Peter offers us a stirring word of hope. We are reminded that, “in this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials.” People are finding interesting ways to cope with the “various trials” in this time of isolation. In this season, Sonja Livingston is finding hope in different ways. For her, it started with a different way to imagine the time. A friend suggested, “Do not think of it as quarantine. Think of it as a cloister.” She says, “That thought led me to start lighting candles at night. My husband and I sit and listen to chants by the Benedictine nuns from a monastery in Missouri or look at our cats and talk about what’s on our minds — the commodification of art, for instance, how close the magnolia buds are to opening, or when toilet paper might return to store shelves. Because my husband is immunocompromised and I have a nagging cold, we sit on opposite ends of the sofa or in different chairs, several feet apart. Often, we sit in the soft glow and don’t say a word. In this way, we’re transforming our rather ordinary little house into a sanctuary.”
There’s still plenty to worry about. She notes the things that suck away hope, saying, “I’m just as panicked as everyone else. I hoard boxes of spaghetti and Kleenex and scroll through my Twitter feed reading coronavirus statistics. I overeat fresh-baked bread in attempt to shore myself against the time when all the loaves might disappear. I wipe down doorknobs and cling to my bottle of hand sanitizer like it’s a long-lost love. I binge-watch Netflix and ruminate over the heartbreaking necessity of social distancing and whether my niece who waitressed at Denny’s will be able pay her rent and if my father-in-law in his eighties will get through this thing and how on earth my dwindling urban church will survive without its weekly collection plate and much more superficially who will cut and style all our hair.”
But the gift of radical hope returns when we seek it. “But for about 20 minutes at the end of the day, all of this drops away…It’s not about the room. The music. Or even the candles, really. It’s about making ourselves still in the face of uncertainty. It’s about closing our eyes and opening ourselves to the flickering moment and all that actually surrounds us — the good, the bad, the unknown. It’s about sifting it through the net of our undivided attention, and honing our sense of what’s beautiful and true and lasting in this world.” We may not see Jesus, or even the end of this terrible pandemic, and yet the “genuineness of your faith — being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honor,” even now.
* * * * * *
From team member Chris Keating:John 20:19-31
Rumors debunked
Referring to the possible use of the drug hydroxychloroquine in combatting Covid-19, President Donald Trump told reporters on April 4, “What do you have to lose? I’ll say it again: what do you have to lose? Take it. I really think they should take it.”
In the face of a pandemic, hopes for any effective treatment run high. But the President’s hypothetical question, “What do you have to lose?” can be answered with a very serious, “Your life.”
Not long after the president’s claims were broadcast, an Arizona man and his wife were hospitalized after they ingested a form of chloroquine used for cleaning fish tanks. The man died and his wife became severely ill. A few days later the Center for Disease Control released a warning about the drug. Physician groups and drug researchers say it is much too soon to know if chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine will be effective in treating Covid-19, and have warned about side effects including death.
Application: Rumors and misinformation filled the disciples with fear until they encountered the transforming presence of the risen Christ.
***
John 20:19-31
Infodemic
Fear sent the apostles into lockdown. Panic can generate serious waves of anxiety, as has been seen by the spread of misinformation and rumors. As Covid-19 began to spread across the globe, officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) identified two challenges that needed to be confronted: a pandemic and an “infodemic.”
WHO official Sylvie Briand offered her insight to the British medical journal, The Lancet,
We know that every outbreak will be accompanied by a kind of tsunami of information, but also within this information you always have misinformation, rumours, etc. We know that even in the Middle Ages there was this phenomenon.”
“But the difference now with social media is that this phenomenon is amplified, it goes faster and further, like the viruses that travel with people and go faster and further. So it is a new challenge, and the challenge is the [timing] because you need to be faster if you want to fill the void…What is at stake during an outbreak is making sure people will do the right thing to control the disease or to mitigate its impact. So it is not only information to make sure people are informed; it is also making sure people are informed to act appropriately.”
Possible application: The apostles yearned for a transforming experience of “knowing” the risen Christ. It was this “information,” coupled with the presence of the Holy Spirit, which sent them into the world as witnesses of the resurrection.
***
John 20:19-31
Thomas and the gift of resilience
Let’s stop the annual abuse of Thomas. In particular, set aside the disparaging title of “doubting,” Thomas and instead recall that Thomas simply wanted the same experience of encountering Jesus. In fact, Thomas’ questions and persistence in remaining faithful are evidence of his spiritual resiliency in the face of trauma.
Thomas, like those of us who are experiencing the trauma of Covid-19, had firsthand exposure to a traumatic event. His exclamation of Jesus as Lord points to the way he is able to demonstrate his profound sense of spiritual resilience.
Robert J. Wicks, in his book “Spiritual Resilience,” (Franciscan Media) offers a helpful definition of spiritual resilience: “Spiritual resilience is not simply about recovering from adversity. It is about bouncing back in a way that deeper knowledge of both God and self may result. With the right guidance, during difficult times and periods of confusion, pain, and stress, we have a unique opportunity to nurture our relationship with God and enable it to grow in surprising ways."
* * * * * *
WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: Protect us, O God, for in you we take refuge.
People: You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.
Leader: God is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
People: The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.
Leader: You show me the path of life, O God.
People: In your presence there is fullness of joy.
OR
Leader: Our Creator God invites us to join in the work of creation.
People: Made in God’s image, we are also creators.
Leader: God has made us so that we can think and reason.
People: We will use our abilities for the good of all people.
Leader: God calls us into community even while we isolate.
People: We will remember our connection to all God’s people.
Hymns and Songs:
All Creatures of Our God and King
UMH: 62
H82: 400
PH: 455
AAHH: 147
NNBH: 33
NCH: 17
CH: 22
LBW: 527
ELW: 835
W&P: 23
AMEC: 50
STLT: 203
Renew: 47
How Great Thou Art
UMH: 77
PH: 467
AAHH: 148
NNBH: 43
NCH: 35
CH: 33
LBW: 532
ELW: 856
W&P: 51
AMEC: 58
Renew: 250
For the Beauty of the Earth
UMH: 92
H82: 416
PH: 473
NNBH: 8
NCH: 28
CH: 56
LBW: 561
ELW: 879
W&P: 40
AMEC: 578
STLT: 21
I Sing the Almighty Power of God
UMH: 152
H82: 398
PH: 288
NCH: 12
W&P: 31
Renew: 54
Christ Is Risen
UMH: 307
PH: 104
CH: 222
ELW: 383
He Lives
UMH: 310
AAHH: 275
NNBH: 119
CH: 226
W&P: 302
Thine Be the Glory
UMH: 308
PH: 122
NCH: 253
CH: 218
LBW: 145
ELW: 376
W&P: 310
AMEC: 157
Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain
UMH: 315
H82: 199/200
PH: 114/115
NCH: 230
CH: 215
LBW: 132
ELW: 363
Jesus Calls Us
UMH: 398
H82: 549/550
NNBH: 183
NCH: 171/172
CH: 337
LBW: 494
ELW: 696
W&P: 345
AMEC: 238
I Need Thee Every Hour
UMH: 397
AAHH: 451
NNBH: 303
NCH: 517
CH: 578
W&P: 476
AMEC: 327
Give Thanks
CCB: 92
Renew: 266
Shine, Jesus, Shine
CCB: 81
Renew: 247
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 is community:
Grant us the wisdom to recognize our connectedness
and use our time of isolation for the common good;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are community in your very nature. Help us to remember that we are connected to you and to all your children as we work for the common good even while we are physically apart. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our failure to seek the common good.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. All too often we are focused on what we can do to help ourselves and we forget our responsibility to care for others. We are concerned about ourselves and our own close family and forget the needs of others around us. We focus on our need to get out and forget that doing so puts others at risk. Give us hearts of compassion that seek the good of all people everywhere during this time of isolation. Amen.
Leader: God is our loving parent who cares for us and delights in our caring for one another. Receive God’s grace and forgiveness and us those gifts to share God’s love with others.
Prayers of the People
We praise you, O God, for the wonder of your love that encompasses all of your creation. You hold all of your children in your love and care.
(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. All too often we are focused on what we can do to help ourselves and we forget our responsibility to care for others. We are concerned about ourselves and our own close family and forget the needs of others around us. We focus on our need to get out and forget that doing so puts others at risk. Give us hearts of compassion that seek the good of all people everywhere during this time of isolation.
We thank you for all the ways in which you have gifted us with abilities and resources. You have made us with minds that can reason and think so that we can work out solutions to problems. You created us in your image so that we are creative, as well. You have made us so that we can share our ideas and build on what others have done.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We pray for those who have no place to shelter away from this virus and the hardships of life. We pray for those who are forced by necessity to go out to earn a living in a scary world. We pray for those who go out willingly to help others when it would be safer to stay at home.
(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 how it is difficult to stay at home but we can use this time to help others. Some of that help we don’t even have to do anything, it just happens. When we stay home and aren’t being taken to school or sporting events, we burn less gasoline and the air is cleaner. When we stay home we help other people stay safe by not allowing the virus to spread. We can also use the time to pray for people or make cards to send to them.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN'S SERMONIs Seeing Believing?
by Tom Willadsen
John 20:19-31
Find some images of optical illusions. Here are two that I found in a quick Google search:
Ask the kids how many legs the elephant has. It looks like five, or maybe four. If there’s disagreement among the kids about how many legs, that’s really good.
The image on the right is little more subtle. More than half of people who see this image see an old woman in profile. She has a large nose, black hair and a sort of flowing white scarf over her head. A smaller group of people will see a young woman, in profile, seen slightly from the back. Her hair is black, she has a small nose and it appears a sort of choker necklace. The young woman’s necklace is the old woman’s mouth. It may take a little cajoling, but get the all the kids to see both the old and young woman in the picture. There is more than one picture in the picture! You want them to believe their eyes.
Now shift and tell them about the disciples who were gathered in the evening on Easter, the day of resurrection. They have assembled in a locked room; they are afraid. Jesus appeared to them. Somehow he got through the locked door, or apparated, like a character in a Harry Potter story. He greeted them, then he showed them his scars from being crucified. They were filled with joy! Their teacher and friend was alive! And they knew it was he, not someone who just looked like him, because they saw the scars on his hands and in his side. Thomas wasn’t with them that night.
The ten disciples (12 minus Thomas minus Judas = 10) told Thomas they had seen the Lord! Thomas insisted he had to see Jesus with his own eyes.
A week passed. The eleven were together again on Sunday night and Jesus again appeared in their midst despite the door being shut. Jesus showed Thomas his scars, had him put his hand into the wound on Jesus’ side. Thomas believed that Jesus has risen.
Jesus says something really important — and he really says it to all his followers who came after the disciples, after he ascended into Heaven. Jesus asked Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
The disciples, including Thomas, had a front row seat when Jesus performed miracles, healed the sick, fed thousands of people, and when we confounded the religious leaders. They were at his side; they saw with their own eyes what he did. And still it was hard for them to believe that he had risen from the dead. Thomas needed to see for himself before he believed, but when he saw, he believed.
They had a huge advantage over us, people who try to follow Jesus nearly 2,000 years after he went back up to heaven. We have stories about Jesus from the Bible. We have people who have lived the Christian faith for a long time who help us to follow him. But we do not have the eyewitness experience that Thomas had, that all the disciples had. So who can help us to believe that Jesus rose from the dead if we don’t have personal experience?
At this point indicate that all the people gathered for worship have something to share, something to say, to guide us as we try to follow Jesus. This might take some stretching, because you’re probably live streaming worship now, rather than defying health department orders and worshiping in person. Live streaming may be, however, a more effective way to get this message across. It’s hard to follow Jesus, and we have each other to help us as we try to follow him. We have each other. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, April 19, 2020 issue.
Copyright 2020 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.
