Dead Or Alive
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
Dear fellow preachers,
With all the talk of going to war with Iraq, an appropriate question for Christians is "Should we pray for Saddam Hussein?" For this week's installment of The Immediate Word (TIW), we've asked TIW team member George Murphy, a pastor on the staff of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Akron, Ohio, to think about that question and address it based on Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32 and Philippians 2:1-13. (The Ezekiel text is the alternate Old Testament reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for this week and the Philippians passage is the epistle reading from the Lectionary.)
We also included responses from team members, related illustrations, worship resources by Chuck Cammarata and a children's sermon by Wesley Runk.
This week's installment is the last one you will receive free. Beginning next week, The Immediate Word will be available by subscription only. We will continue to provide great resources based on things in the current life of our country as viewed from a Christian perspective. We believe you will find great value in signing on with us.
Dead or Alive
By George L. Murphy
Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
Philippians 2:1-13
Just after the terrorist attacks on the United States last year, the president announced that Osama bin Laden was wanted "dead or alive." We may not be comfortable with the Old West language, but we can probably all understand the feeling he expressed. We want evildoers put out of commission, unable to kill and destroy.
And now, as we seem to be moving closer to war with Iraq, we may have similar thoughts. Whether we're opposed to military action or for it, we know the crimes of Saddam Hussein and the danger he poses. Many Americans would say that we want him dead or alive as well, and some might add, "Preferably dead."
God's Word today through the prophet Ezekiel should come then as something of a shock. He has been talking about the possibilities for sin and righteousness, and appealing to sinners to repent and turn from their evil ways. Our reading ends with what is almost a plea from God: "Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the LORD God. Turn, then, and live."
"I have no pleasure in the death of anyone," God says. The Hebrew is literally "I have no pleasure in the death of the dying," and one Old Testament scholar renders it as "I take no pleasure in the death of him who is worthy of death."1 God's desire is not for the death of bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, or even the latest serial killer to make the headlines.
Make no mistake: Evildoers are evil and pose a danger to those who try to lead decent lives. They are said here to be "worthy of death." Moreover, the prophet doesn't say that they won't receive the ultimate penalty for their deeds. But that is not God's deepest desire and purpose for them. God's will is rather that they turn and live.
How the Almighty God who loves his whole creation can allow evil to take place contrary to his own will is a deep mystery of the Christian faith. But rather than try to solve that problem, it will be more helpful for us to think about what scripture does make clear to us: God does something about the problem of evil and calls us to be in accord with his will for our enemies.
If we look honestly into our own hearts we realize that without the grace of God we are at best only quantitatively different from the most notorious criminals. We have to struggle with the same desires to put ourselves first, to do what's necessary to get what we want and justify our actions in doing so, and we can be successful in that struggle only by the mercy of God. The Letter to the Ephesians says that without God's grace in Christ we are all "dead in trespasses and sins."
But as the prophet said, God does not desire our death. The heart of the Christian message is that in Jesus Christ, God bears the consequences of our sin. That is what the cross means -- that God's desire for our life is so great that it leads him to take our deathlike condition and our dying upon himself. "Though he was in the form of God," our Second Lesson says, "he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross."
And because of that we are given the possibility of new life, a life patterned after that of Christ. The reason that Paul says what he does about Christ's emptying and humbling himself is to explain what he means when he exhorts us: "Let each of you look not to his own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus."
That is what lies behind those passages in the New Testament where we are told to forgive others, to love our enemies and persecutors, and to pray for them. Those are not just arbitrary rules laid down for us. They are a call to follow God's own example. God does not insist on holding on to the rights and privileges of Number One, and we are not to either. God does not take vengeance every time he is "disrespected," so we aren't to either. "We love because he first loved us." We forgive because we have been forgiven. We pray for our enemies because Jesus prayed for those who crucified him.
This does not mean that we're to pretend that evildoers aren't really evil, or that we shouldn't do what is necessary to protect the innocent from them. For them to continue along the path of sin means ultimately death for them -- physical and spiritual death. God's will for them -- and it is to be our will as well -- is that they "turn" -- that they repent -- "and live." We should have no illusions about what's in the hearts and minds of terrorists and dictators, but we are to pray that their hearts and minds be changed. Both George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein can make decisions that would avert war.
And prayer can make a difference. We're able to believe that God hears and acts when we pray for friends, family, and members of the church. It seems harder to believe that our prayers can have any effect for our enemies. But when Jesus tells us to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," he must have meant that it was worth doing. And in any case he did tell us to do it. He didn't just propose it as an option.
The prayer "For our Enemies" in The Book of Common Prayer reminds us that ultimately we all share in the same human condition, and are all in need of the mercy of God to transform our lives.
O God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 2
But when all is said and done we may still feel that the world would be a better place if evildoers were gotten rid of. They ought to be destroyed. But there are two ways of thinking about that. The first, our natural human way, is the most obvious: Wipe them out. The second, God's way, was hinted at by an earlier American president, and ought to be remembered by our leaders today.
Abraham Lincoln was a consummate politician who had few illusions about the evils that people were capable of. He was willing to fight a bloody war for what he believed was right. At the same time he could be very generous to his enemies. Once another politician took him to task for this generosity. "You shouldn't try to befriend your enemies," he told the president. "You ought to be trying to destroy them." Lincoln replied, "When I make my enemy my friend, do I not destroy my enemy?"
The picture of God in Ezekiel as one who does not desire the death of the sinner is, of course, consistent with the picture we are given in Jesus and in many other parts of scripture. At the same time we have to recognize that there are passages in which God seems to be bent on the destruction of sinners, in which war against other nations is commanded, and so forth. The image of God that many people have may be much more one of this sort of vengeful deity than of the God who is "gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love." And the question may occur, can these pictures be reconciled, and if so, how?
There are several ways of responding to this question. First, there is a diversity of theologies within scripture. No one biblical writer gives us a complete understanding of God and God's relationship with the world. So while we can say, e.g., that Philippians 2:5-11 give us a deeper insight into the character of God than do the instructions for holy war in the Book of Joshua, we cannot simply ignore all the texts which give a rather harsh picture of God.
Second, there was some moral and ethical development of God's people under the divine guidance. It should not be surprising if there was some corresponding development of their understanding of God's character and their ability to express God's will.
Finally, the distinction that Luther made between God's "proper work" and God's "alien work" (E.g., Luther's Works Vol.14, p.335.) The former is the work characteristic of God's true nature -- in a sense "what God really wants to do" -- works of love, mercy, and blessing. God's "alien work" of judgment and punishment is done for the sake of his proper work, and is necessary only because of the reality of sin and evil. The condemnation of the law is ultimately to drive people to the grace of the gospel.
Notes
1 Walther Eichrodt, Ezekiel (Westminster, Philadelphia, 1970), 233.
2 The Book of Common Prayer, 816.
Team Comments
Charles Aaron responds: You push us theologically to carry our beliefs to their true limit, forgiving even our worst enemies. I think your piece could be strengthened in a couple of ways, however.
First, I wonder if you should not make clear in the beginning of the sermon that you want us to pray for Saddam and bin Laden. You don't really get around to prayer until near the end. Calling for prayer early on would get our attention and help us understand your theological rationale more clearly.
Second, I believe that part of what we accomplish by praying for our enemies is that we keep ourselves from succumbing to hate. Journalist Leonard Pitts wrote a recent column in the Miami Herald about a group of men who killed a gang member in a residential neighborhood. The residents of the neighborhood were understandably relieved at his death. Their relief devolved into celebration, with children in tow. Pitts' conclusion was that in their crass celebration at the death of a human being, ordinary people had begun to lose their humanity. We pray for our enemies so that we do not lose our own humanity, or our capacity to give and receive love and grace.
Stan Purdum responds: This is good theology and a helpful response to the present situation. But I wish you would linger longer with the present day issue of our feelings about current enemies, which I think is the point that helps worshipers get into these texts. It seems to me that today's audiences start to wander mentally rather quickly when we are giving them straight theology, no matter how good and to the point it is.
Second, regarding this statement: "If we look honestly into our own hearts we realize that without the grace of God we are at best only quantitatively different from the most notorious criminals" -- That's theologically correct, I guess, but do you think people who have been trying to live Christian lives really see themselves similar but for quantity to bin Laden and Hussein? My own reaction as a reader/listener at that point was to start to argue the point, which interfered with subsequent listening.
Larry Hard responds: I would hope that in every church, listeners agree that we are to pray for our enemies, including Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, since that is what Jesus taught us. The question is, WHAT are we to pray? You may wish to include suggestions about what we are to pray when we pray for Hussein. I would think we would not pray for his success if that means developing weapons of mass destruction, or to pray for health and long life if he really is planning to destroy others. You may want to elaborate on your sentence about how we should pray for "hearts and minds be changed." Does that mean to pray for conversion to Christian faith and living, or to be good Muslims, or to be respectful of life no matter the faith? If the sermon is really calling me to pray for Hussein, then I want to know what words you would use in praying for him. Maybe including a prayer specific to this situation would be very helpful.
I have always liked Lincoln's response to those after the Civil War who wanted former enemies to continue to be treated as enemies. As a listener, I would be thinking about the difference between political generosity and reconciliation and that of generosity toward someone who continues to order the killing of even his own people when they are a threat to him. I would also be remembering how Lincoln took a stand and felt it was right to take up arms. As Lincoln said, "Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong." Also, we live in a time (unlike Lincoln's) when there are weapons that can destroy life as we know it on this planet. Lincoln also said, "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew." What I am suggesting is that though I like Lincoln's words you quote, I'm not certain that it is a good closing summary since it is in the context of another time and situation.
Though I raise these concerns, I thank you for the good ways you open up a very important issue for our time. The ethical dimensions are very complicated. I think of Bonhoeffer in feeling he had to take a strong stand against Hitler even to the extent of joining a plot to kill Hitler. On the other hand, I have a difficult time thinking of bin Laden, Hussein or any enemy as beyond redemption, and thus I do pray for Hussein to see others and the world in ways that lead him to open his nation to UN inspectors and live at peace with all people. At least your piece raises many questions in my mind. A sermon based on your work could include an invitation for listeners to remain after the service for discussion.
Carlos Wilton responds: I'm a little uncomfortable with the speed of your jump, in the opening paragraphs, from saying "all" of us want Osama bin Laden dead or alive, to saying "many" of us want the same treatment for Saddam Hussein. Not all listeners will catch the difference between "all" and "many," as quickly as it goes by. Global (and near-global) terms like "all" and "many" are tricky. It's clear, from the intensity of the present debate on Capitol Hill, that there's nowhere near the unanimity among Americans for invading Iraq as there was for invading Afghanistan. Some may feel that by using phrases like "all of us" or "most of us," you're dragging them along to a place they don't want to go.
"Dead or alive" is a colorful term, but it also has unpleasant connotations of lynch mobs and vigilante justice.
I like what you do with the Ezekiel passage, particularly God's statement, "I have no pleasure in the death of anyone." If it does come to pass that our nation invades Iraq, I'd be a lot less worried if I could hear our commander-in-chief and our generals saying something similar ahead of time. (Without such a statement, I'd fear that any invasion that might ensue is more about vengeance than justice.)
Wesley Runk responds: Here's how I think many people may hear this piece: "How can I talk about praying for Laden or Hussein when I cannot pray for the scumbags that live in my own community? How can I pray for them when I cannot forgive the guy who cheated me with my blacktop? I can't face a two-timing wife, a drug-using child, a shoplifting employee, a selfish, egotistic neighbor. I can't even forgive the coach of my son's little league team who never let's my son play. What do I say to the childcare assistant who abused my child or the priest who fondled my son?"
We want to change the world, we want to have Hussein destroy his weapons of mass destruction, and yet we are not functional enough Christians to do any one of the above acts of prayer or forgiveness.
We need to look our members in the eyes and preach that kind of prayer and see if it advances to Laden and Hussein. Am I wrong? Are we looking for words that describe the ugliness of our situations as well as the totality of Christ's forgiveness and hate of death?
George Murphy responds to the team: There is some tension between Stan's statement that it's "over-theologized" and Larry's that the difference between the Ezekiel passage and other OT passages might raise questions. Addressing the latter concern would require yet more theologizing (diversity within the canon, the evolution of ethics, and perhaps Luther's distinction between God's "proper work" and his "alien work.)
As Carlos suggests, getting nuances in a text across in actual delivery is important. In the prayer "For our Enemies," e.g., one of my colleagues at St. Paul did this well by saying,"Lead them -- and us -- from prejudice to truth; deliver them -- and us -- from hatred, cruelty and revenge...." (and, by the way, that is an example, albeit general, of what we should be praying for our enemies).
We have a difference of opinion on the strength of the Lincoln quote as an ending. I have, however, tried to suggest its contemporary relevance. One could go farther in that direction. E.g., just as Lincoln at the end of the Civil War indicated to his cabinet that he hoped that Davis and some other Confederates would just be able to slip out of the country, one might suggest that Saddam Hussein might be encouraged to follow the example of some other dictators and live in exile. But I don't know that proposals for political tactics are in place here.
Related Illustrations
This is a true incident that happened at an ecumenical prayer service at Christ Episcopal Church in Lima, Ohio. Rector Scott Franz invited people to begin the healing process. We were deep in the service when a woman, for years confined to a wheelchair, began to speak. Her sister brought her to church every Sunday and cared for her needs. The two women lived together. During the week, the healthy sister worked outside the home, but before leaving for the job, she fixed her handicapped sister breakfast, assisted her in dressing, and did everything that was needed. This had gone on for many years, since the sisters were teenagers.
The healthy woman felt guilty because she believed she was the cause of her sister being an invalid. In an argument over a boyfriend, she had pushed her sister hard and she had sustained an injury. What had gone unnoticed all of these years was that after the sister left for work, the invalid would get up and walk around the house doing what she liked. She did not like the prison she had made for herself over the years, but she didn't know what to do about it. Finally, that night she confessed to her sister and to all of us attending. To the gasps of her sister and others who believed she was wheelchair bound, she actually stood and walked. It was a dramatic moment and the two sisters fell into each other's arms with forgiveness.
Hate can imprison us. We may not feel imprisoned by bin Laden or Hussein, but we are in many ways. (From Wesley Runk)
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Carlos Wilton offers this prayer of confession from his church's 9/11 Remembrance Service:
God, we know you have called us to love you
and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Yet we find it hard to love those who are different:
who belong to another race,
who speak a different language,
who worship in ways we find strange.
We find it especially hard to love our enemies.
Forgive us when we see others as irredeemable,
when we know that in Christ you so loved the world.
Each day, in every way,
make us bearers of your world-embracing gospel:
that through us, others may come to know good news.
In the name of Christ, our redeemer. Amen.
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Self-righteousness kills, not only those who are bludgeoned by it but those who wield it as well. Sometimes it kills them softly with gossip and cruel humor. Sometimes it works systemically, consigning some people to live in grim buildings with broken plumbing while others stroll neighborhoods full of thick green lawns. And sometimes it works violently, getting people in the middle of the night to light torches and break windows. Jesus does not preach humility because modesty is becoming. He preaches it because it is the only cure for the deadly pride and arrogance that make us want to kill each other, whether the murder is as subtle as purging someone from our circle of friends or as bloody as nailing someone to a tree. The only cure is to recognize each other as kin, united by the only one who was ever right. "Why do you call me good?" even he protested. (From Barbara Brown Taylor, "No one is good but God alone," The Living Pulpit, October/December 1992.)
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Here's a story that's made the rounds perhaps, but which still speaks to the topic of love of enemies:
This is about a man named Larry Trapp, of Lincoln, Nebraska. The effects of juvenile diabetes had left Larry blind and confined to a wheelchair. Yet this did not stop him from joining the American Nazi Party. From his wheelchair, Larry single-handedly reorganized the Ku Klux Klan in Nebraska, becoming its "Grand Dragon." He lived for one thing, and one thing only -- harassing racial and religious minorities.
One of Larry Trapp's victims was a Jew by the name of Michael Weisser, the cantor in a local synagogue. Larry sent the cantor and his family threatening letters, inserting in each one a business card that read: "The KKK is watching you." He made anonymous phone calls to their home, spewing out messages of hatred. The Weissers became frightened; they began locking their doors.
One day, out of the blue, Cantor Weisser called Larry, and offered him a ride to the grocery store. In the weeks to come, he followed up with other calls and offers of assistance. When Larry Trapp was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace, Weisser and his congregation prayed for him.
The next evening, Larry Trapp called the cantor and did something no one ever expected: he asked for help. The Weissers brought dinner over to his apartment. While they were there, Larry burst into tears. He pulled off his swastika rings and said, "These rings are the symbols of hatred and evil, and I don't want them in my life anymore."
Larry resigned as Grand Dragon of the Klan, and apologized for his racist comments. Three months later, he even spoke at a worship service in memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Even more incredibly, Larry Trapp converted to Judaism and joined Weisser's congregation. As his illness became worse, he moved into the Weissers' home, where the family cared for him.
Larry died that same year, in the home of the cantor. During his memorial service in the synagogue, Michael Weisser sat quietly off to one side, weeping.
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I've seen too much hate to want to hate, myself, and I've seen hate on the faces of too many sheriffs, too many white citizens-councilors, and too many Klansmen of the South to want to hate, myself; and every time I see it, I say to myself, hate is too great a burden to bear. Somehow we must be able to stand up before our most bitter opponents and say: "We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will and we will still love you.... But be assured that we'll wear you down by our capacity to suffer, and one day we will win our freedom. We will not only win freedom for ourselves; we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory." (from Martin Luther King, Jr., "A Christmas Sermon on Peace," The Trumpet of Conscience, 1967. )
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If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we would find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
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The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less. (Eldridge Cleaver)
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An old grandfather, whose grandson came to him with anger at a schoolmate who had done him an injustice, said, "Let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times."
He continued, "It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way. But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit."
The boy asked, "Which one wins, Grandfather?"
The grandfather solemnly said, "The one I feed."
(From Carlos Wilton)
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On page 37 of the September 23, 2002, issue of Newsweek is a picture of a Kurdish baby killed by Saddam's poison gas. It is a horrible image, one that speaks to Saddam's lack of conscience. Just how strong is God's grace? Can it change people such as Saddam and Osama. Ought we to pray for them, even if they will never change? (from Charles Aaron)
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The love for equals is a human thing -- of friend for friend, brother for brother. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles.
The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing -- the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world.
The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing -- to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor for the rich, of the black man for the white man. The world is always bewildered by its saints.
And then there is the love for the enemy -- love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens and inflicts pain. The tortured's love for the torturer. This is God's love. It conquers the world. (Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat)
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We need a new metaphor, and though I generally do not like medical metaphors to describe conflict, the image of a virus comes to mind because of its ability to enter unperceived, flow with a system, and harm it from within. This is the genius of people like Osama bin Laden. He understood the power of a free and open system, and has used it to his benefit. The enemy is not located in a territory. It has entered our system. And you do not fight this kind of enemy by shooting at it. You respond by strengthening the capacity of the system to prevent the virus and strengthen its immunity. (John Paul Lederach, "The challenge of terror," from a Presbyterian News Service article, release #01389, 10/17/2001)
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Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have.
(Nikolai Velimirovich, a Serbian bishop in the last century who spoke out courageously against Nazism. He was eventually arrested and taken to Dachau.)
Worship Resources
By Chuck Cammarata
CALL TO WORSHIP
LEADER: There he hung
PEOPLE: ON THE CROSS
LEADER: Bleeding
PEOPLE: DYING
LEADER: And with his last breath
PEOPLE: HE SAID
LEADER: Father forgive them
PEOPLE: THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.
LEADER: This is love.
PEOPLE: THAT WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS
LEADER: Enemies of God
PEOPLE: HE LOVED US
LEADER: Suffered for us.
PEOPLE: LET US WORSHIP THE GOD WHO IS LOVE!
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
LEADER: There is this bitter old woman at the nursing home. Constant complaining. The food. The temperature. The nurses. Her family. It is so hard to visit her. I've been making excuses not to go. It is really a waste of time anyway. Do you know anyone like that.
PEOPLE: YES.
LEADER: Father of us all, forgive us
PEOPLE: FOR GIVING UP ON THE DIFFICULT PEOPLE IN OUR LIVES.
LEADER: Forgive us for thinking any are truly hopeless.
PEOPLE: AND REMIND US THAT YOU USED A LIAR
LEADER: Like Abraham
PEOPLE: A MURDERER
LEADER: Like Moses
PEOPLE: AN ADULTERER
LEADER: Like David
PEOPLE: AND A HATEFUL ZEALOT
LEADER: Like Paul
PEOPLE: TO SPEAK YOUR WORD
LEADER: And do your will.
PEOPLE: REMIND US THERE ARE NONE
LEADER: Who are truly hopeless.
PEOPLE: FOR WITH YOU
LEADER: Nothing is impossible.
PEOPLE: AMEN.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
LEADER: All hearts that truly turn to God shall be washed clean. Turn to him and yours shall be made whiter than snow.
PEOPLE: PRAISE GOD FOR HIS FORGIVENESS!
LEADER: Praise God for His Grace.
PEOPLE: PRAISE GOD. AMEN.
PASTORAL PRAYER
God of grace, today we come before you with gratitude for the love that takes away every sin. From the smallest little lie, to the most terrible act. Your grace is sufficient for them all. In these days when our enemies have struck and wounded us, when we have hatred and vengeance in our hearts, turn our eyes upon you -- help us to see as you do. Rather than seeing a Muslim bent on bringing America to her knees, or a Palestinian who loudly proclaims, "Death to America," let us see a child of God in need of the love and grace of the Creator. For there are no other powers but these -- which will truly bring us closer to your kingdom on earth.
We pray these things in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
HYMNS
Amazing Grace
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Pass It On
Freely, Freely
Rescue the Perishing
CHORUSES
At the Cross
Shout to the North
The Nails In His Hands
SUGGESTIONS
1. I used this to great effect at a youth conference recently. Tell the group you are going to give them a chance to do some venting, to work out some anger or aggression against another. Ask the group to think of a person they really want to get. Someone who has hurt them or someone they love and they have a desire to get back at. Now have them imagine this person's face in the middle of the bull's eye on the large dartboard you have prepared for this activity. Place the dartboard in the center of the sanctuary and ask for volunteers who would like to throw some darts. Go first yourself. When you have allowed a number of people to throw the darts and have talked about how good that feels, remove the bull's eye from the dart board to reveal, beneath the bull's eye, a picture of Jesus -- now full of holes made by darts thrown in anger. Not much commentary is needed on this as people are shocked to see the wounded Jesus.
2. Have parishioners write down the names of people they really despise. Then ask for those who are willing to raise their hand and promise to go forth and try to begin the process of reconciliation, the act of forgiveness, the shared prayer.
A Related Children's Sermon
By Wesley Runk
Philippians 2:1-13
Text: "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others." (vv. 3-4)
Object: a ball of yarn and a sweater knitted from the same color of yarn
Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to talk about change. How many of you know about change? (let them answer) Lots of things change, don't they?
Can you think of some things that change? (let them answer) The day changes from morning to afternoon to evening to night. The leaves on the trees change from green to colors of red, orange, yellow and even purple in the fall. The sky changes from gray to blue and sometimes to streaks of red. People change too, don't they? I have a picture of me when I was young. Then I was thinner; now I weigh more. Then I had brown hair and now my hair is gray. Maybe you have seen pictures of you when you were a baby. Do you look different today? (let them answer)
The Bible teaches us that we can change in many ways but it always teaches us that we should change for the better. Has anyone ever told you that you were selfish? (let them answer) Being selfish means that you think more about yourself than you do of others, even your own best friend. You are selfish when you will not share with your sister or brother or best friend. The Bible teaches us that we should share and that we should not be selfish. Think first about others and everyone will be happier. When you think of others first, then they will think of you. It is a better world.
I brought along with me a very beautiful ball of yarn. (show them the yarn) Is this pretty? (let them answer) A ball of yarn is only pretty. What can a ball of yarn do? (let them answer) Not much. But what happens when the ball of yarn disappears while someone is knitting it into a beautiful sweater or scarf? The ball is gone but it was only a pretty ball. It did not have real worth. But now we have changed the ball of yarn into a sweater. The yarn is better as a sweater for everyone than it was as a ball.
That is what God wants to happen to us. God wants us to change. We can change and the best part is that when we change we also change others. Let's see what this could mean.
God teaches us that when we share our gifts instead of trying to keep them all to ourselves we make friends and we are filled with love. God tells us that when we pray for others and ask that God will care for people who need help that God answers those prayers. So we pray for people to change and become filled with love. We pray that God will get rid of hate and replace it with love. We want you to be like the ball of yarn that was changed into a sweater. Now you are more than pretty; you are also very useful.
The next time you see a ball of yarn I hope that you ask God to change you into one of his best helpers so that you can help change other people into people of love.
The Immediate Word, September 29, 2002, issue.
Copyright 2002 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
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With all the talk of going to war with Iraq, an appropriate question for Christians is "Should we pray for Saddam Hussein?" For this week's installment of The Immediate Word (TIW), we've asked TIW team member George Murphy, a pastor on the staff of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Akron, Ohio, to think about that question and address it based on Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32 and Philippians 2:1-13. (The Ezekiel text is the alternate Old Testament reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for this week and the Philippians passage is the epistle reading from the Lectionary.)
We also included responses from team members, related illustrations, worship resources by Chuck Cammarata and a children's sermon by Wesley Runk.
This week's installment is the last one you will receive free. Beginning next week, The Immediate Word will be available by subscription only. We will continue to provide great resources based on things in the current life of our country as viewed from a Christian perspective. We believe you will find great value in signing on with us.
Dead or Alive
By George L. Murphy
Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
Philippians 2:1-13
Just after the terrorist attacks on the United States last year, the president announced that Osama bin Laden was wanted "dead or alive." We may not be comfortable with the Old West language, but we can probably all understand the feeling he expressed. We want evildoers put out of commission, unable to kill and destroy.
And now, as we seem to be moving closer to war with Iraq, we may have similar thoughts. Whether we're opposed to military action or for it, we know the crimes of Saddam Hussein and the danger he poses. Many Americans would say that we want him dead or alive as well, and some might add, "Preferably dead."
God's Word today through the prophet Ezekiel should come then as something of a shock. He has been talking about the possibilities for sin and righteousness, and appealing to sinners to repent and turn from their evil ways. Our reading ends with what is almost a plea from God: "Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the LORD God. Turn, then, and live."
"I have no pleasure in the death of anyone," God says. The Hebrew is literally "I have no pleasure in the death of the dying," and one Old Testament scholar renders it as "I take no pleasure in the death of him who is worthy of death."1 God's desire is not for the death of bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, or even the latest serial killer to make the headlines.
Make no mistake: Evildoers are evil and pose a danger to those who try to lead decent lives. They are said here to be "worthy of death." Moreover, the prophet doesn't say that they won't receive the ultimate penalty for their deeds. But that is not God's deepest desire and purpose for them. God's will is rather that they turn and live.
How the Almighty God who loves his whole creation can allow evil to take place contrary to his own will is a deep mystery of the Christian faith. But rather than try to solve that problem, it will be more helpful for us to think about what scripture does make clear to us: God does something about the problem of evil and calls us to be in accord with his will for our enemies.
If we look honestly into our own hearts we realize that without the grace of God we are at best only quantitatively different from the most notorious criminals. We have to struggle with the same desires to put ourselves first, to do what's necessary to get what we want and justify our actions in doing so, and we can be successful in that struggle only by the mercy of God. The Letter to the Ephesians says that without God's grace in Christ we are all "dead in trespasses and sins."
But as the prophet said, God does not desire our death. The heart of the Christian message is that in Jesus Christ, God bears the consequences of our sin. That is what the cross means -- that God's desire for our life is so great that it leads him to take our deathlike condition and our dying upon himself. "Though he was in the form of God," our Second Lesson says, "he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross."
And because of that we are given the possibility of new life, a life patterned after that of Christ. The reason that Paul says what he does about Christ's emptying and humbling himself is to explain what he means when he exhorts us: "Let each of you look not to his own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus."
That is what lies behind those passages in the New Testament where we are told to forgive others, to love our enemies and persecutors, and to pray for them. Those are not just arbitrary rules laid down for us. They are a call to follow God's own example. God does not insist on holding on to the rights and privileges of Number One, and we are not to either. God does not take vengeance every time he is "disrespected," so we aren't to either. "We love because he first loved us." We forgive because we have been forgiven. We pray for our enemies because Jesus prayed for those who crucified him.
This does not mean that we're to pretend that evildoers aren't really evil, or that we shouldn't do what is necessary to protect the innocent from them. For them to continue along the path of sin means ultimately death for them -- physical and spiritual death. God's will for them -- and it is to be our will as well -- is that they "turn" -- that they repent -- "and live." We should have no illusions about what's in the hearts and minds of terrorists and dictators, but we are to pray that their hearts and minds be changed. Both George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein can make decisions that would avert war.
And prayer can make a difference. We're able to believe that God hears and acts when we pray for friends, family, and members of the church. It seems harder to believe that our prayers can have any effect for our enemies. But when Jesus tells us to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," he must have meant that it was worth doing. And in any case he did tell us to do it. He didn't just propose it as an option.
The prayer "For our Enemies" in The Book of Common Prayer reminds us that ultimately we all share in the same human condition, and are all in need of the mercy of God to transform our lives.
O God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 2
But when all is said and done we may still feel that the world would be a better place if evildoers were gotten rid of. They ought to be destroyed. But there are two ways of thinking about that. The first, our natural human way, is the most obvious: Wipe them out. The second, God's way, was hinted at by an earlier American president, and ought to be remembered by our leaders today.
Abraham Lincoln was a consummate politician who had few illusions about the evils that people were capable of. He was willing to fight a bloody war for what he believed was right. At the same time he could be very generous to his enemies. Once another politician took him to task for this generosity. "You shouldn't try to befriend your enemies," he told the president. "You ought to be trying to destroy them." Lincoln replied, "When I make my enemy my friend, do I not destroy my enemy?"
The picture of God in Ezekiel as one who does not desire the death of the sinner is, of course, consistent with the picture we are given in Jesus and in many other parts of scripture. At the same time we have to recognize that there are passages in which God seems to be bent on the destruction of sinners, in which war against other nations is commanded, and so forth. The image of God that many people have may be much more one of this sort of vengeful deity than of the God who is "gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love." And the question may occur, can these pictures be reconciled, and if so, how?
There are several ways of responding to this question. First, there is a diversity of theologies within scripture. No one biblical writer gives us a complete understanding of God and God's relationship with the world. So while we can say, e.g., that Philippians 2:5-11 give us a deeper insight into the character of God than do the instructions for holy war in the Book of Joshua, we cannot simply ignore all the texts which give a rather harsh picture of God.
Second, there was some moral and ethical development of God's people under the divine guidance. It should not be surprising if there was some corresponding development of their understanding of God's character and their ability to express God's will.
Finally, the distinction that Luther made between God's "proper work" and God's "alien work" (E.g., Luther's Works Vol.14, p.335.) The former is the work characteristic of God's true nature -- in a sense "what God really wants to do" -- works of love, mercy, and blessing. God's "alien work" of judgment and punishment is done for the sake of his proper work, and is necessary only because of the reality of sin and evil. The condemnation of the law is ultimately to drive people to the grace of the gospel.
Notes
1 Walther Eichrodt, Ezekiel (Westminster, Philadelphia, 1970), 233.
2 The Book of Common Prayer, 816.
Team Comments
Charles Aaron responds: You push us theologically to carry our beliefs to their true limit, forgiving even our worst enemies. I think your piece could be strengthened in a couple of ways, however.
First, I wonder if you should not make clear in the beginning of the sermon that you want us to pray for Saddam and bin Laden. You don't really get around to prayer until near the end. Calling for prayer early on would get our attention and help us understand your theological rationale more clearly.
Second, I believe that part of what we accomplish by praying for our enemies is that we keep ourselves from succumbing to hate. Journalist Leonard Pitts wrote a recent column in the Miami Herald about a group of men who killed a gang member in a residential neighborhood. The residents of the neighborhood were understandably relieved at his death. Their relief devolved into celebration, with children in tow. Pitts' conclusion was that in their crass celebration at the death of a human being, ordinary people had begun to lose their humanity. We pray for our enemies so that we do not lose our own humanity, or our capacity to give and receive love and grace.
Stan Purdum responds: This is good theology and a helpful response to the present situation. But I wish you would linger longer with the present day issue of our feelings about current enemies, which I think is the point that helps worshipers get into these texts. It seems to me that today's audiences start to wander mentally rather quickly when we are giving them straight theology, no matter how good and to the point it is.
Second, regarding this statement: "If we look honestly into our own hearts we realize that without the grace of God we are at best only quantitatively different from the most notorious criminals" -- That's theologically correct, I guess, but do you think people who have been trying to live Christian lives really see themselves similar but for quantity to bin Laden and Hussein? My own reaction as a reader/listener at that point was to start to argue the point, which interfered with subsequent listening.
Larry Hard responds: I would hope that in every church, listeners agree that we are to pray for our enemies, including Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, since that is what Jesus taught us. The question is, WHAT are we to pray? You may wish to include suggestions about what we are to pray when we pray for Hussein. I would think we would not pray for his success if that means developing weapons of mass destruction, or to pray for health and long life if he really is planning to destroy others. You may want to elaborate on your sentence about how we should pray for "hearts and minds be changed." Does that mean to pray for conversion to Christian faith and living, or to be good Muslims, or to be respectful of life no matter the faith? If the sermon is really calling me to pray for Hussein, then I want to know what words you would use in praying for him. Maybe including a prayer specific to this situation would be very helpful.
I have always liked Lincoln's response to those after the Civil War who wanted former enemies to continue to be treated as enemies. As a listener, I would be thinking about the difference between political generosity and reconciliation and that of generosity toward someone who continues to order the killing of even his own people when they are a threat to him. I would also be remembering how Lincoln took a stand and felt it was right to take up arms. As Lincoln said, "Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong." Also, we live in a time (unlike Lincoln's) when there are weapons that can destroy life as we know it on this planet. Lincoln also said, "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew." What I am suggesting is that though I like Lincoln's words you quote, I'm not certain that it is a good closing summary since it is in the context of another time and situation.
Though I raise these concerns, I thank you for the good ways you open up a very important issue for our time. The ethical dimensions are very complicated. I think of Bonhoeffer in feeling he had to take a strong stand against Hitler even to the extent of joining a plot to kill Hitler. On the other hand, I have a difficult time thinking of bin Laden, Hussein or any enemy as beyond redemption, and thus I do pray for Hussein to see others and the world in ways that lead him to open his nation to UN inspectors and live at peace with all people. At least your piece raises many questions in my mind. A sermon based on your work could include an invitation for listeners to remain after the service for discussion.
Carlos Wilton responds: I'm a little uncomfortable with the speed of your jump, in the opening paragraphs, from saying "all" of us want Osama bin Laden dead or alive, to saying "many" of us want the same treatment for Saddam Hussein. Not all listeners will catch the difference between "all" and "many," as quickly as it goes by. Global (and near-global) terms like "all" and "many" are tricky. It's clear, from the intensity of the present debate on Capitol Hill, that there's nowhere near the unanimity among Americans for invading Iraq as there was for invading Afghanistan. Some may feel that by using phrases like "all of us" or "most of us," you're dragging them along to a place they don't want to go.
"Dead or alive" is a colorful term, but it also has unpleasant connotations of lynch mobs and vigilante justice.
I like what you do with the Ezekiel passage, particularly God's statement, "I have no pleasure in the death of anyone." If it does come to pass that our nation invades Iraq, I'd be a lot less worried if I could hear our commander-in-chief and our generals saying something similar ahead of time. (Without such a statement, I'd fear that any invasion that might ensue is more about vengeance than justice.)
Wesley Runk responds: Here's how I think many people may hear this piece: "How can I talk about praying for Laden or Hussein when I cannot pray for the scumbags that live in my own community? How can I pray for them when I cannot forgive the guy who cheated me with my blacktop? I can't face a two-timing wife, a drug-using child, a shoplifting employee, a selfish, egotistic neighbor. I can't even forgive the coach of my son's little league team who never let's my son play. What do I say to the childcare assistant who abused my child or the priest who fondled my son?"
We want to change the world, we want to have Hussein destroy his weapons of mass destruction, and yet we are not functional enough Christians to do any one of the above acts of prayer or forgiveness.
We need to look our members in the eyes and preach that kind of prayer and see if it advances to Laden and Hussein. Am I wrong? Are we looking for words that describe the ugliness of our situations as well as the totality of Christ's forgiveness and hate of death?
George Murphy responds to the team: There is some tension between Stan's statement that it's "over-theologized" and Larry's that the difference between the Ezekiel passage and other OT passages might raise questions. Addressing the latter concern would require yet more theologizing (diversity within the canon, the evolution of ethics, and perhaps Luther's distinction between God's "proper work" and his "alien work.)
As Carlos suggests, getting nuances in a text across in actual delivery is important. In the prayer "For our Enemies," e.g., one of my colleagues at St. Paul did this well by saying,"Lead them -- and us -- from prejudice to truth; deliver them -- and us -- from hatred, cruelty and revenge...." (and, by the way, that is an example, albeit general, of what we should be praying for our enemies).
We have a difference of opinion on the strength of the Lincoln quote as an ending. I have, however, tried to suggest its contemporary relevance. One could go farther in that direction. E.g., just as Lincoln at the end of the Civil War indicated to his cabinet that he hoped that Davis and some other Confederates would just be able to slip out of the country, one might suggest that Saddam Hussein might be encouraged to follow the example of some other dictators and live in exile. But I don't know that proposals for political tactics are in place here.
Related Illustrations
This is a true incident that happened at an ecumenical prayer service at Christ Episcopal Church in Lima, Ohio. Rector Scott Franz invited people to begin the healing process. We were deep in the service when a woman, for years confined to a wheelchair, began to speak. Her sister brought her to church every Sunday and cared for her needs. The two women lived together. During the week, the healthy sister worked outside the home, but before leaving for the job, she fixed her handicapped sister breakfast, assisted her in dressing, and did everything that was needed. This had gone on for many years, since the sisters were teenagers.
The healthy woman felt guilty because she believed she was the cause of her sister being an invalid. In an argument over a boyfriend, she had pushed her sister hard and she had sustained an injury. What had gone unnoticed all of these years was that after the sister left for work, the invalid would get up and walk around the house doing what she liked. She did not like the prison she had made for herself over the years, but she didn't know what to do about it. Finally, that night she confessed to her sister and to all of us attending. To the gasps of her sister and others who believed she was wheelchair bound, she actually stood and walked. It was a dramatic moment and the two sisters fell into each other's arms with forgiveness.
Hate can imprison us. We may not feel imprisoned by bin Laden or Hussein, but we are in many ways. (From Wesley Runk)
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Carlos Wilton offers this prayer of confession from his church's 9/11 Remembrance Service:
God, we know you have called us to love you
and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Yet we find it hard to love those who are different:
who belong to another race,
who speak a different language,
who worship in ways we find strange.
We find it especially hard to love our enemies.
Forgive us when we see others as irredeemable,
when we know that in Christ you so loved the world.
Each day, in every way,
make us bearers of your world-embracing gospel:
that through us, others may come to know good news.
In the name of Christ, our redeemer. Amen.
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Self-righteousness kills, not only those who are bludgeoned by it but those who wield it as well. Sometimes it kills them softly with gossip and cruel humor. Sometimes it works systemically, consigning some people to live in grim buildings with broken plumbing while others stroll neighborhoods full of thick green lawns. And sometimes it works violently, getting people in the middle of the night to light torches and break windows. Jesus does not preach humility because modesty is becoming. He preaches it because it is the only cure for the deadly pride and arrogance that make us want to kill each other, whether the murder is as subtle as purging someone from our circle of friends or as bloody as nailing someone to a tree. The only cure is to recognize each other as kin, united by the only one who was ever right. "Why do you call me good?" even he protested. (From Barbara Brown Taylor, "No one is good but God alone," The Living Pulpit, October/December 1992.)
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Here's a story that's made the rounds perhaps, but which still speaks to the topic of love of enemies:
This is about a man named Larry Trapp, of Lincoln, Nebraska. The effects of juvenile diabetes had left Larry blind and confined to a wheelchair. Yet this did not stop him from joining the American Nazi Party. From his wheelchair, Larry single-handedly reorganized the Ku Klux Klan in Nebraska, becoming its "Grand Dragon." He lived for one thing, and one thing only -- harassing racial and religious minorities.
One of Larry Trapp's victims was a Jew by the name of Michael Weisser, the cantor in a local synagogue. Larry sent the cantor and his family threatening letters, inserting in each one a business card that read: "The KKK is watching you." He made anonymous phone calls to their home, spewing out messages of hatred. The Weissers became frightened; they began locking their doors.
One day, out of the blue, Cantor Weisser called Larry, and offered him a ride to the grocery store. In the weeks to come, he followed up with other calls and offers of assistance. When Larry Trapp was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace, Weisser and his congregation prayed for him.
The next evening, Larry Trapp called the cantor and did something no one ever expected: he asked for help. The Weissers brought dinner over to his apartment. While they were there, Larry burst into tears. He pulled off his swastika rings and said, "These rings are the symbols of hatred and evil, and I don't want them in my life anymore."
Larry resigned as Grand Dragon of the Klan, and apologized for his racist comments. Three months later, he even spoke at a worship service in memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Even more incredibly, Larry Trapp converted to Judaism and joined Weisser's congregation. As his illness became worse, he moved into the Weissers' home, where the family cared for him.
Larry died that same year, in the home of the cantor. During his memorial service in the synagogue, Michael Weisser sat quietly off to one side, weeping.
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I've seen too much hate to want to hate, myself, and I've seen hate on the faces of too many sheriffs, too many white citizens-councilors, and too many Klansmen of the South to want to hate, myself; and every time I see it, I say to myself, hate is too great a burden to bear. Somehow we must be able to stand up before our most bitter opponents and say: "We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will and we will still love you.... But be assured that we'll wear you down by our capacity to suffer, and one day we will win our freedom. We will not only win freedom for ourselves; we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory." (from Martin Luther King, Jr., "A Christmas Sermon on Peace," The Trumpet of Conscience, 1967. )
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If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we would find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
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The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less. (Eldridge Cleaver)
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An old grandfather, whose grandson came to him with anger at a schoolmate who had done him an injustice, said, "Let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times."
He continued, "It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way. But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit."
The boy asked, "Which one wins, Grandfather?"
The grandfather solemnly said, "The one I feed."
(From Carlos Wilton)
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On page 37 of the September 23, 2002, issue of Newsweek is a picture of a Kurdish baby killed by Saddam's poison gas. It is a horrible image, one that speaks to Saddam's lack of conscience. Just how strong is God's grace? Can it change people such as Saddam and Osama. Ought we to pray for them, even if they will never change? (from Charles Aaron)
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The love for equals is a human thing -- of friend for friend, brother for brother. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles.
The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing -- the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world.
The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing -- to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor for the rich, of the black man for the white man. The world is always bewildered by its saints.
And then there is the love for the enemy -- love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens and inflicts pain. The tortured's love for the torturer. This is God's love. It conquers the world. (Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat)
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We need a new metaphor, and though I generally do not like medical metaphors to describe conflict, the image of a virus comes to mind because of its ability to enter unperceived, flow with a system, and harm it from within. This is the genius of people like Osama bin Laden. He understood the power of a free and open system, and has used it to his benefit. The enemy is not located in a territory. It has entered our system. And you do not fight this kind of enemy by shooting at it. You respond by strengthening the capacity of the system to prevent the virus and strengthen its immunity. (John Paul Lederach, "The challenge of terror," from a Presbyterian News Service article, release #01389, 10/17/2001)
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Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have.
(Nikolai Velimirovich, a Serbian bishop in the last century who spoke out courageously against Nazism. He was eventually arrested and taken to Dachau.)
Worship Resources
By Chuck Cammarata
CALL TO WORSHIP
LEADER: There he hung
PEOPLE: ON THE CROSS
LEADER: Bleeding
PEOPLE: DYING
LEADER: And with his last breath
PEOPLE: HE SAID
LEADER: Father forgive them
PEOPLE: THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.
LEADER: This is love.
PEOPLE: THAT WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS
LEADER: Enemies of God
PEOPLE: HE LOVED US
LEADER: Suffered for us.
PEOPLE: LET US WORSHIP THE GOD WHO IS LOVE!
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
LEADER: There is this bitter old woman at the nursing home. Constant complaining. The food. The temperature. The nurses. Her family. It is so hard to visit her. I've been making excuses not to go. It is really a waste of time anyway. Do you know anyone like that.
PEOPLE: YES.
LEADER: Father of us all, forgive us
PEOPLE: FOR GIVING UP ON THE DIFFICULT PEOPLE IN OUR LIVES.
LEADER: Forgive us for thinking any are truly hopeless.
PEOPLE: AND REMIND US THAT YOU USED A LIAR
LEADER: Like Abraham
PEOPLE: A MURDERER
LEADER: Like Moses
PEOPLE: AN ADULTERER
LEADER: Like David
PEOPLE: AND A HATEFUL ZEALOT
LEADER: Like Paul
PEOPLE: TO SPEAK YOUR WORD
LEADER: And do your will.
PEOPLE: REMIND US THERE ARE NONE
LEADER: Who are truly hopeless.
PEOPLE: FOR WITH YOU
LEADER: Nothing is impossible.
PEOPLE: AMEN.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
LEADER: All hearts that truly turn to God shall be washed clean. Turn to him and yours shall be made whiter than snow.
PEOPLE: PRAISE GOD FOR HIS FORGIVENESS!
LEADER: Praise God for His Grace.
PEOPLE: PRAISE GOD. AMEN.
PASTORAL PRAYER
God of grace, today we come before you with gratitude for the love that takes away every sin. From the smallest little lie, to the most terrible act. Your grace is sufficient for them all. In these days when our enemies have struck and wounded us, when we have hatred and vengeance in our hearts, turn our eyes upon you -- help us to see as you do. Rather than seeing a Muslim bent on bringing America to her knees, or a Palestinian who loudly proclaims, "Death to America," let us see a child of God in need of the love and grace of the Creator. For there are no other powers but these -- which will truly bring us closer to your kingdom on earth.
We pray these things in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
HYMNS
Amazing Grace
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Pass It On
Freely, Freely
Rescue the Perishing
CHORUSES
At the Cross
Shout to the North
The Nails In His Hands
SUGGESTIONS
1. I used this to great effect at a youth conference recently. Tell the group you are going to give them a chance to do some venting, to work out some anger or aggression against another. Ask the group to think of a person they really want to get. Someone who has hurt them or someone they love and they have a desire to get back at. Now have them imagine this person's face in the middle of the bull's eye on the large dartboard you have prepared for this activity. Place the dartboard in the center of the sanctuary and ask for volunteers who would like to throw some darts. Go first yourself. When you have allowed a number of people to throw the darts and have talked about how good that feels, remove the bull's eye from the dart board to reveal, beneath the bull's eye, a picture of Jesus -- now full of holes made by darts thrown in anger. Not much commentary is needed on this as people are shocked to see the wounded Jesus.
2. Have parishioners write down the names of people they really despise. Then ask for those who are willing to raise their hand and promise to go forth and try to begin the process of reconciliation, the act of forgiveness, the shared prayer.
A Related Children's Sermon
By Wesley Runk
Philippians 2:1-13
Text: "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others." (vv. 3-4)
Object: a ball of yarn and a sweater knitted from the same color of yarn
Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to talk about change. How many of you know about change? (let them answer) Lots of things change, don't they?
Can you think of some things that change? (let them answer) The day changes from morning to afternoon to evening to night. The leaves on the trees change from green to colors of red, orange, yellow and even purple in the fall. The sky changes from gray to blue and sometimes to streaks of red. People change too, don't they? I have a picture of me when I was young. Then I was thinner; now I weigh more. Then I had brown hair and now my hair is gray. Maybe you have seen pictures of you when you were a baby. Do you look different today? (let them answer)
The Bible teaches us that we can change in many ways but it always teaches us that we should change for the better. Has anyone ever told you that you were selfish? (let them answer) Being selfish means that you think more about yourself than you do of others, even your own best friend. You are selfish when you will not share with your sister or brother or best friend. The Bible teaches us that we should share and that we should not be selfish. Think first about others and everyone will be happier. When you think of others first, then they will think of you. It is a better world.
I brought along with me a very beautiful ball of yarn. (show them the yarn) Is this pretty? (let them answer) A ball of yarn is only pretty. What can a ball of yarn do? (let them answer) Not much. But what happens when the ball of yarn disappears while someone is knitting it into a beautiful sweater or scarf? The ball is gone but it was only a pretty ball. It did not have real worth. But now we have changed the ball of yarn into a sweater. The yarn is better as a sweater for everyone than it was as a ball.
That is what God wants to happen to us. God wants us to change. We can change and the best part is that when we change we also change others. Let's see what this could mean.
God teaches us that when we share our gifts instead of trying to keep them all to ourselves we make friends and we are filled with love. God tells us that when we pray for others and ask that God will care for people who need help that God answers those prayers. So we pray for people to change and become filled with love. We pray that God will get rid of hate and replace it with love. We want you to be like the ball of yarn that was changed into a sweater. Now you are more than pretty; you are also very useful.
The next time you see a ball of yarn I hope that you ask God to change you into one of his best helpers so that you can help change other people into people of love.
The Immediate Word, September 29, 2002, issue.
Copyright 2002 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
