Divided We Fall
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
The recent story about the U.S. military's proposal to erect a security barrier isolating a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad (and the Iraqi government's objections to it) provides yet another example of what seems to be a pervasive and regrettable feature of modern life: the building of walls to separate communities from outsiders. Whether it's the security wall between Israel and the Palestinian territories, or the proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, these massive partitions are justified as necessary safety measures -- but they also a feeling of protection from outsiders who are viewed with fear and suspicion. We see this phenomenon at work on a smaller scale in everyday life, with the spread of gated communities and ever-increasing security measures in airports, government buildings, and other public places.
In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Scott Suskovic discusses these and other walls we build in life -- and notes how God would rather we tear down the spiritual walls dividing us, like the wall separating Jew from Gentile referenced in Acts 11:1-18. Jesus also alludes to another barrier in John 13:33 when he says, "Where I am going, you cannot come." That barrier -- the one separating this life and the next -- cannot be breached, except by Christ's promise to tear it down for us.
The recent death of Boris Yeltsin, whose name is forever linked with the demise of the Soviet Union and the early era of post-Communist Russia, reminds us of another wall -- the Berlin Wall, that notorious symbol of the "Iron Curtain" separating Western and Eastern Europe. Team member Barbara Jurgensen provides a fascinating account of her brief experience on the East German side of the Berlin Wall -- and she observes that just as that once-feared monstrosity eventually crumbled, so will the walls between us break down when we love one another as Christ has loved us.
Divided We Fall
by Scott Suskovic
Acts 11:1-18
THE WORLD
What is in our human nature that we love to separate ourselves from one another? In Baghdad, there is talk about putting up a wall separating Sunni neighborhoods from Shiites. In our country, there is talk about erecting a huge wall along our southern border, separating us from Mexico. And not only are there physical walls, there are cultural ones as well. To the Greeks, there are two kinds of people in the world: Greeks and zenos. To the Romans, there are only two kinds of people in the world: Romans and barbarians. To the Americans, there are only two kinds of people in the world: Americans and foreigners. To the Christians, there are only two kinds of people in the world: Christians and pagans. To the Muslims, there are only two kinds of people in the world: Muslims and infidels. And to the Jews, there are only two kinds of people in the world: Jews and the unclean, impure Gentiles.
THE WORD
In Acts 11, there is a wall -- not a physical wall, but a religious one separating Jews and Gentiles. Peter has in his mind that there is a distinct separation between the Jews and Gentiles. However, in this trance he sees God tearing down these walls. Unclean and clean, impure and pure, Jews and Gentiles are side by side, united in a way that Peter thought unimaginable.
This is a pivotal point in the life of the early church. Was the Gospel intended for the Jews only, or were the words of Jesus to be taken seriously into all the world? And if Jesus' words are to be taken seriously then there are no walls, because there is no one that you will lock eyes with today that doesn't matter to God. There is no one that you will lock eyes with today for whom Jesus didn't die. We love to build walls -- God loves to tear down walls.
What wall have you built in your life that you need God to tear down? When I was working at a Bible camp one summer, I had a group of fifth-grade boys for a week. That can be a difficult grade for acceptance. They are no longer young elementary-age children who can play without distinction, and they are not mature enough to be accepting of those who are different.
One week, the camp participated in a program where children who had mental handicaps would be "mainstreamed" into a cabin of ordinary children. As our cabin waited for our "special" camper, I gathered all the boys together and told them about the program and what to expect. As you can imagine, they had a hundred questions: "What's he going to look like?"; "Is he going to be weird?"; "How do we act around him?"; "Are we going to be safe at night?"
I answered all of their questions to help prepare them for the week. One boy in particular, Tommy, was very interested in this "special" camper. He had most of the questions, and he seemed genuinely interested in the boy not as some circus freak but as someone he would like to get to know. After the questions and answers were done, I told them to stay in the cabin and I would go get the camper. One last look at Tommy's eyes assured me it was going to be a good week.
I quickly found the camp director and asked him when I would be receiving the mainstreamed camper. With a puzzled look in his eyes, he checked his clipboard and said, "I don't understand. He should be in your cabin already. His name is Tommy Johnson." I'm not sure what excuse I gave the director, but on the way back to the cabin I thought about how to break this news to the boys.
As I entered the room, the boys quickly asked "Where is he?" So I gathered them together again to break the bad news: "I'm sorry, guys. The director told me that we won't be getting a mainstreamed camper this week." Nobody was more disappointed than Tommy.
And you know what? With that wall torn down, it was a great week. There were no special needs and ordinary kids, no insiders and outsiders. All we had that week was a cabin full of fun, energetic fifth-grade boys.
This story in Acts 11 begins with a word of surprise: "Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God." Can you imagine such a thing? Peter's surprise in Acts 11 centered on his preconceived notion that there is a wall separating the insider from the outsider. The Gospel reminds us that the only wall that separates us is sin... and that wall separates us from God.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Tony Campolo is a great source for stories about tearing down walls. He tells a story of teaching at a conference in Hawaii. Coming from the east coast, the time change did a number on his sleep pattern -- so he found himself wide awake at 3:00 in the morning. Instead of fighting sleep, he got up, walked outside of the hotel, and found a small diner. As he had a cup of coffee, he noticed two women come in who obviously were employed in the world's oldest profession. They were well-known by the 3:00 a.m. regulars in that diner, including the waitress, the host, and the cook. Tony could overhear their conversation. One of the women said, "Hey, it's my birthday tomorrow."
The others chimed in a bit harshly, "What? You wanna party? You wanna cake or something?"
"Naw," she said, "I'm just telling you it's my birthday." And then off they went, back into the night.
Finishing his coffee, Tony went to pay his bill and asked about those women: "Do they come in every night?"
"Every night, the same time," was the answer.
Tony said, "Hey, if you could bake a cake I'll get streamers and ribbons, and let's surprise her with a birthday party." They were all in.
The next night, right on time, the two women entered the diner and were greeted with a huge "SURPRISE!" and an off-tune rendition of "Happy Birthday." The cook brought out the cake and gave it to her. She was shocked. She didn't know what to say. Then she said, "I've never had a birthday cake before. Can I just bring this home and show my daughter tomorrow morning?" And with that she left with the lit cake in hand.
In that awkward silence, Tony said, "Let's pray!"
Following a short prayer, the cook said, "Hey, are you a preacher?"
Tony said, "Yeah."
"What kind of preacher are you?"
Tony said, "The kind of preacher who throws birthday parties for whores at 3:00 in the morning."
"No, you ain't," the cook protested, "because if there were such a church, I'd go there."
Sometimes God needs to shatter walls. Unfortunately, some of the biggest walls we will ever experience are the religious ones. And prostitutes, Gentiles, sinners -- you name it, they are all on the other side of the wall. Acts 11 tells us: "What God has made clean, you must not call profane."
How do you tear down that wall? Sociologists have told us that there are three phrases that everyone longs and enjoys to hear: "I love you"; "I forgive you"; "Supper's ready."
It is these three phrases that God has used to tear down the wall of sin that separates us from God.
I love you. You are mine. I am yours.
I forgive you. Your sins are forgiven for Jesus' sake.
Supper's ready. This body broken, this blood shed. There is a place at my table for you.
ANOTHER VIEW
by Barbara Jurgensen
On a bright Sunday afternoon in July 1963 -- nearly 44 years ago, when Germany was still divided into two sections -- I was part of a group of six people visiting the city of Berlin, and we had a chance to go behind the famous (or infamous) Berlin Wall.
I can remember walking through the gate in the Berlin Wall single-file; lining up inside Checkpoint Charlie, a drab, colorless little temporary-type military building; and waiting endlessly while uniformed Russian guards checked our papers.
Finally we were all cleared and allowed to go out onto a street in East Berlin. The change from West Berlin was shocking. West Berlin had been full of life: people in colorful clothes strolling along the streets, eating at outdoor restaurants, listening to live music in the park, enjoying life.
In East Berlin, everything seemed gray. The buildings were gray; the few people that were out on the streets were shabbily dressed, and they looked dejected, depressed as they shuffled along.
In West Berlin, buildings that had been damaged by the war, except for those that were being intentionally left as memorials, had been repaired in the 18 years since the war ended. In East Berlin, it looked like the war was still going on, with gray rubble everywhere.
Finally a double-decker bus came down the street with eight or ten passengers on board, and as soon as the six of us got on, a local woman pointed toward the bus's stairs and said in halting English, "You go up. I show you city."
There's no better way to see a city than to have someone who knows it well point out its most interesting places and tell you a few stories about them, so we were happy to take her up on her offer.
But this woman had something else in mind.
When we reached the upper level, we had it all to ourselves. She pointed and said, "Over there is a famous statue." Then she whispered, "You are from America?"
"Yes," we whispered back. As I said, there was no one else on the upper deck, but this was, you remember, East Berlin.
"And there is a famous park," she said, pointing again. Then she whispered, "My son lives in America. Will you take a message to him? I'm not allowed to write to him about the way things really are here."
"Of course," we whispered, and started getting out our pens and note pads.
"No, no!" she whispered. "Do not write; people will see." She pointed to her head. "Just remember."
Now she pointed again: "And there is the university where Einstein studied." And she whispered, "Tell my son the food we have is not good, and we can't get the medical care or medications we need -- nothing is good like it used to be. People are discouraged. I would like to come to him in America, but we can't leave. But tell him I love him. That's the message."
One of our women whispered back, "I'll remember all that and tell him."
Now the East Berlin woman pointed out a few more landmarks, and interspersed this with whispering her son's name, his street address, and his city and state, and three of our group agreed to each memorize one of these items.
Then she said, "My son has been writing that he wants to come and see me, but tell him not to. I miss him so, but if he were to come through Checkpoint Charlie, as you people did, and they saw on his passport that he'd been born here, they probably wouldn't let him leave, and, much as I want to see him, I wouldn't want him to get locked into this -- this awful place."
I whispered that I'd tell him all that.
Then the woman pointed out a large gray government building of some kind, then whispered, "You will contact him, won't you?"
"We will," we all said softly, "as soon as we get home."
She whispered "Thank you" with tears in her eyes, then pointed out another famous building, and slipped quietly back down the stairs.
After she left, we all sat looking at each other. Had people seen her talking with us? Those on the deck below knew she'd come up the stairs with us. Would someone report her to the authorities in order to win a few special privileges for themselves? She'd knowingly taken that risk in order to protect her son.
Walls can be vicious things: the wall of our own wrongdoing can make us feel too guilty to turn to our Lord for help. The wall of others' wrongdoing toward us can make us so angry that we don't want to have anything to do with them. And the walls that we create between ourselves and people of other nationalities, races, and religious groups can keep us locked in fear.
Our Lord needed to send a most unusual vision -- what looked like a large bed sheet filled with an unusual assortment of creatures -- to show Peter that the walls needed to come down -- the walls between people. Our Lord needed to show Peter that all of us -- all people, everywhere -- can be part of God's kingdom.
Years later, President Reagan stood at the Berlin Wall and called out to the leader of the Soviet people: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" And in 1989 the people did tear the wall down, laughing and shouting and singing as the upright slabs of concrete came crashing to the ground.
The good news today is that Jesus Christ, our Lord, by his great love for us, has broken down all the walls that have separated us from ourselves, from others, and from him: "For we are convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).
Those walls are down, and will not separate us, ever again. We are then called to share this love with a hurting world. Jesus says to each of us: "Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
That's a big order, one that we can't fill very well on our own. But we can call on our Lord each day: "Lead me, guide me, Lord. Walk with me each day."
Jesus Christ has broken down all the walls that have kept us from living the kind of life that he's prepared for us. He has broken down all the walls! Amen! Alleluia!
ILLUSTRATIONS
Raymond Macdonald Alden tells a parable of a large island that contained seven kingdoms, which were always at odds with each other over water rights. The kingdoms had been warring among themselves as the supply of water grew ever more scarce. Each kingdom constructed huge, defensive walls around its borders.
Finally, one young man had enough. At great risk to himself, he journeyed through all seven kingdoms, discovering that all the peoples were essentially alike. Searching into the ancient writings of his people, he discovered that at one time all the people of the island had been unified. He also learned of a legend of a single, underground spring at the place where all seven walls came together.
Although he was suspicious of his fellow monarchs, one of the kings finally invited all the other kings to send teams of workers to search for the hidden spring. The men stood there with picks and shovels as explosive charges were laid at the foundations of the seven walls. When they were detonated, a great shout went up and a fountain of water shot skyward.
The young man explained that in ancient times that one great spring had supplied water to all the island. Under each of the walls there were hidden watercourses that could easily be used to supply water to the seven kingdoms. Knock down the walls, he instructed, and the hidden streams would be revealed.
The people of the island did so, and discovered that the source of life-giving water was present after all -- if only they could trust each other enough to live without walls.
-- paraphrased from a story posted on the former website of the Bruderhof communities
***
In one of his most famous poems, "Mending Wall," Robert Frost reflects upon the low, fieldstone walls that separate his rural New England farm from that of his nearest neighbor. Whenever he should notice that winter freeze and spring thaw have toppled one stone from another, there's something he feels duty-bound to do:
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
"Stay where you are until our backs are turned!"
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side...
Whenever Frost suggests to his neighbor that perhaps they don't really need a wall, the neighbor replies with an old adage he learned from his father (and probably from his father before him), "Good fences make good neighbors."
Perhaps there's some wisdom in that, but in our society we've probably taken that advice to extremes. We've built our personal fences so secure and so high that many of us are aching with loneliness.
***
After a visit to New York City some years back, Mother Teresa of Calcutta picked up on the many divisions among us in our culture. She wrote:
"The spiritual poverty of the Western world is much greater than the physical poverty of our people. You in the West have millions of people who suffer such terrible loneliness and emptiness. They feel unloved and unwanted. These people are not hungry in the physical sense but they are in another way. They know they need something more than money, yet they don't know what it is. What they are missing really is a living relationship with God."
-- from Love: A Fruit Always in Season (Ignatius Press, 1987), p. 226
***
The discovery that God had included the Gentiles in his love makes way for one of the most beautiful things about the Church in the world today -- its variety in Unity.
When the World Methodist Conference meets every five years, drawing together several thousand Christians from almost every country and language on earth, a wonderful thing happens. In the services of worship, the participants are often invited to pray the Lord's Prayer together, each praying in his or her language. The sound is something like thunder. It has a rhythm like ocean waves breaking upon the shores of a continent. And those who participate know that they are part of something very beautiful and very powerful.
***
Walls do sometimes have a function -- and they can represent something that is sometimes necessary in our relationships. In the slum of San Martine in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, there is a church mission school. It stands among acres of tiny houses made of blocks and corrugated metal, many so small that the family members have to take turns sleeping. The school is there to serve the people of San Martine -- but it is surrounded by a high cinder-block wall with a heavy iron gate and a barrier of broken glass set in concrete around the top. The school exists to serve, but it has to keep itself from being overrun so that it can carry out its loving mission. Likewise, people who love must sometimes maintain boundaries that will protect their integrity.
***
However, when it is possible, there is a better way to preserve integrity for the sake of relationship. Once the city of Vienna was surrounded by a great medieval wall, just as many old European cities were. But in 1857, Emperor Franz Joseph I ordered the destruction of the antiquated fortifications and sold the land to businesspeople and merchants along the street that is presently known as the Ringstrasse. He incorporated the suburbs into the city and invited the world to come and go. Vienna retained its integrity by becoming a great center of commerce and culture. Wouldn't it be great if persons and families and groups and nations could gain enough "centeredness" and integrity through their own vital character and their own central commitments that they could afford to tear down their defenses and invite the world to come and go?
***
It was a new generation that came to the Jordan River, preparing to actually enter the Promised Land. The barrier that stood between them and the land promised by their faith was a flood-swollen river (Joshua 3:15) that surely posed as formidable a barrier to this generation as the Red (or Reed) Sea had posed for their ancestors. They had heard the stories of how their ancestors had left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, but now it was their time to act in faith. The priests led them to the banks of the river, and as they set their feet in the Jordan the water backed up, forming a wall and providing a path for the people to walk across to the other side. We continually face barriers between us and the actualizing of our faith. Each generation and each person has to take that step that is based on the promise of God in order to experience God's saving power.
***
Outwitted
He drew a circle that shut me out --
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win;
We drew a circle that took him in.
-- Edwin Markham
***
Sometimes there is a false way to remove the wall between us that is merely to make us feel better about ourselves. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: "When I have attempted to join myself to others by services, it proved an intellectual trick -- no more. They eat your service like apples, and leave you out. But love them, and they feel you, and delight in you all the time."
***
While separating ourselves from others for a time has its benefits and its appeal, we need to be concerned about its long-term effect. Yet joining together has its dangers as well. The Baal Shem Tov said: "There are two ways to serve God. One is to separate yourself from people and from the world's affairs, and to devote yourself wholly to a study of religious books. That is the safe way. The other way is to mingle with people, to engage in the affairs of the world, and, at the same time, to try to be an example of godliness. This way has it dangers, but it is far the more worthy."
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Thom M. Shuman
Call to Worship
Leader: Praise God, all people!
People: Praise the Lord, all creation!
Leader: Whales doing backflips in the air,
squid and octopi dancing on the ocean floor;
People: Giant redwoods stretching to the sky,
tomato vines cuddling around a stake.
Leader: Mountains blocking the sunrise,
moles tunneling through our front lawns;
People: Five-year-olds sitting in a story-time circle,
grandparents singing "their song";
Leader: Redbuds decorating our backyard,
grass growing faster than our children;
People: Seals getting a suntan on the rocks,
teenagers knotted together at church.
Leader: Praise the Lord, all creation!
People: Praise God, all people!
Prayer of the Day
Vision-Giving God,
when you put band-aids on skinned knees;
when you hold the hand of a teenager grieving unrequited love;
when you wipe the tears of parents at graduation day:
you show us your new creation.
Brother to little children,
when you hang out with the world's outcasts;
when you stay a little longer with those we rush past;
when you will not take sides in our petty little games:
you show us the new earth.
Holy Spirit,
when you turn on the "no vacancy" sign as death comes our way;
when mourning becomes a distant memory;
when pain is found only in dusty history books:
you show us the new heaven.
God in Community, Holy in One,
make us new,
as we pray as Jesus teaches, saying,
Our Father . . .
Call to Reconciliation
We show others who we are by the lives we lead,
the words we speak, the actions we undertake.
Let us confess how we have not been God's little children,
when we fail to love as we have been loved.
(Unison) Prayer of Confession
Who are we to get in your way, Holy God?
We put people into neat, little boxes,
but you rip them open, so folks can dance in your joy.
We imprison others with our unmet expectations,
and you set them free with a Word.
We build walls around those we don't know,
and you tear them down, so they can run wild in the kingdom.
Who are we to get in your way, Saving Power,
especially in the way of your forgiveness offered to all!
Give us your vision that sees everyone as equal -- forgiven, graced, loved --
even as we seek to follow our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
(silent prayers may be offered)
Assurance of Pardon
Leader: We know who God is by the love shown to us in Christ Jesus.
People: We will show others who we are -- and Whose we are --
by the loved poured out by our lives.
Thanks be to God, we are forgiven! Amen.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
Leader: May God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Little children, lift your hearts to God.
People: We lift them to the One who loves us forever.
Leader: Let us glorify the One who has raised Jesus to new life.
People: We sing praises to God, who makes all things new.
You commanded, Holy God, and chaos yielded to your Word,
so all that is beautiful and good might be created by your grace.
The sun and moon were shaped
so we would have days and nights in which to praise you,
but we spent our time denying your dreams for us,
living each moment for ourselves.
You fixed the boundaries for your Garden,
where we could have life and joy with you,
but we chose to play on the garbage dumps of sin.
You told the prophets to "Go!"
and bring your vision of healing and restoration,
but we thought them to be fools, standing on the edges of our lives.
When we had decided to have nothing to do with you,
you chose to become one of us,
living, calling, creating once again through Jesus the Christ.
Therefore, with those around the Throne,
and with those in every time and place,
we sing our praises to you:
Sanctus
Holy are you, Creator of the Universe,
and blessed is Jesus, your Son, our Lord.
When he could have left us to deal with sin and death on our own,
he came to live with us;
when he could have chosen the path to power and fame,
he walked the deadly road to Calvary;
when he could have called down the angels to save him,
he cried out for forgiveness for all your children.
When you could have left him alone and forsaken in the grave,
you graced him with new life.
So as we sing our Easter Alleluias,
we proclaim that mystery we call faith:
Memorial Acclamation
Pour out your Spirit upon this Bread and this Cup, O God,
that they might become your grace and peace for us,
so we might become your servants of hope and joy to our world.
As we come to your Table, remind us of your promises:
that when the sea is no more,
you will flood us with your grace;
that when the earth is a hollow husk,
you will walk with us through the streets of the New Jerusalem;
that when the sun, moon, and stars have burned out in space,
the Light of your love will shine for us forever.
And when we sit down at the Feast of the Lamb,
receiving grace from those we loved,
and passing it on to those we feared until all people are served,
we will sing with one heart and voice:
"Glory to the One who makes all things new -- even us;
Glory to the One who comes in the name of the Lord -- for us;
Glory to the One who makes no distinction -- among us!"
Glory to God in Three Persons,
now and forever. Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Agape
John 13:31-35
Object: candy
Jesus once gave a very special message to his disciples and to us. He says we should love each other in the same way he loved us. The Greek word that is used in the Bible is agape. Does anybody know what kind of love he is talking about? (Let them answer.)
Well, this kind of love is the kind of love he showed us when he went to the cross and died for us. It's a love that puts the needs of others ahead of our own. We call it "sacrificial love," being willing to give up something for the sake of others.
Now, since Jesus wants us to love each other that way, I'd like to see if any of you will practice this kind of love. There are __________ of you here this morning, and I have a problem. There are __________ of you, but I have only __________ pieces of candy (one less than the number of children). How are we going to solve this problem? (Let them answer. It may be that one will volunteer to be skipped in order that the others will get one. If that happens, use the first response. If not, use the second response.)
First response: Hey, that's great! __________ is willing to be skipped on the candy today so that the rest of you can have one. That's real agape love! He/she is willing to sacrifice for the rest of you.
Second response: Well, there's only two ways to do this. We can forget the candy today and not pass out any... or... if somebody would volunteer to be skipped, then the rest of you could have one. Do we have any volunteers? (If nobody volunteers, you can use it as a demonstration of the need for sacrificial love for the benefit of all and give no candy. It is very doubtful, however, that nobody will volunteer.)
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus: We thank you so much for loving us enough to sacrifice your life on the cross for us. Help us to learn that we need to learn how to sacrifice for others. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, May 6, 2007, issue.
Copyright 2007 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., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Scott Suskovic discusses these and other walls we build in life -- and notes how God would rather we tear down the spiritual walls dividing us, like the wall separating Jew from Gentile referenced in Acts 11:1-18. Jesus also alludes to another barrier in John 13:33 when he says, "Where I am going, you cannot come." That barrier -- the one separating this life and the next -- cannot be breached, except by Christ's promise to tear it down for us.
The recent death of Boris Yeltsin, whose name is forever linked with the demise of the Soviet Union and the early era of post-Communist Russia, reminds us of another wall -- the Berlin Wall, that notorious symbol of the "Iron Curtain" separating Western and Eastern Europe. Team member Barbara Jurgensen provides a fascinating account of her brief experience on the East German side of the Berlin Wall -- and she observes that just as that once-feared monstrosity eventually crumbled, so will the walls between us break down when we love one another as Christ has loved us.
Divided We Fall
by Scott Suskovic
Acts 11:1-18
THE WORLD
What is in our human nature that we love to separate ourselves from one another? In Baghdad, there is talk about putting up a wall separating Sunni neighborhoods from Shiites. In our country, there is talk about erecting a huge wall along our southern border, separating us from Mexico. And not only are there physical walls, there are cultural ones as well. To the Greeks, there are two kinds of people in the world: Greeks and zenos. To the Romans, there are only two kinds of people in the world: Romans and barbarians. To the Americans, there are only two kinds of people in the world: Americans and foreigners. To the Christians, there are only two kinds of people in the world: Christians and pagans. To the Muslims, there are only two kinds of people in the world: Muslims and infidels. And to the Jews, there are only two kinds of people in the world: Jews and the unclean, impure Gentiles.
THE WORD
In Acts 11, there is a wall -- not a physical wall, but a religious one separating Jews and Gentiles. Peter has in his mind that there is a distinct separation between the Jews and Gentiles. However, in this trance he sees God tearing down these walls. Unclean and clean, impure and pure, Jews and Gentiles are side by side, united in a way that Peter thought unimaginable.
This is a pivotal point in the life of the early church. Was the Gospel intended for the Jews only, or were the words of Jesus to be taken seriously into all the world? And if Jesus' words are to be taken seriously then there are no walls, because there is no one that you will lock eyes with today that doesn't matter to God. There is no one that you will lock eyes with today for whom Jesus didn't die. We love to build walls -- God loves to tear down walls.
What wall have you built in your life that you need God to tear down? When I was working at a Bible camp one summer, I had a group of fifth-grade boys for a week. That can be a difficult grade for acceptance. They are no longer young elementary-age children who can play without distinction, and they are not mature enough to be accepting of those who are different.
One week, the camp participated in a program where children who had mental handicaps would be "mainstreamed" into a cabin of ordinary children. As our cabin waited for our "special" camper, I gathered all the boys together and told them about the program and what to expect. As you can imagine, they had a hundred questions: "What's he going to look like?"; "Is he going to be weird?"; "How do we act around him?"; "Are we going to be safe at night?"
I answered all of their questions to help prepare them for the week. One boy in particular, Tommy, was very interested in this "special" camper. He had most of the questions, and he seemed genuinely interested in the boy not as some circus freak but as someone he would like to get to know. After the questions and answers were done, I told them to stay in the cabin and I would go get the camper. One last look at Tommy's eyes assured me it was going to be a good week.
I quickly found the camp director and asked him when I would be receiving the mainstreamed camper. With a puzzled look in his eyes, he checked his clipboard and said, "I don't understand. He should be in your cabin already. His name is Tommy Johnson." I'm not sure what excuse I gave the director, but on the way back to the cabin I thought about how to break this news to the boys.
As I entered the room, the boys quickly asked "Where is he?" So I gathered them together again to break the bad news: "I'm sorry, guys. The director told me that we won't be getting a mainstreamed camper this week." Nobody was more disappointed than Tommy.
And you know what? With that wall torn down, it was a great week. There were no special needs and ordinary kids, no insiders and outsiders. All we had that week was a cabin full of fun, energetic fifth-grade boys.
This story in Acts 11 begins with a word of surprise: "Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God." Can you imagine such a thing? Peter's surprise in Acts 11 centered on his preconceived notion that there is a wall separating the insider from the outsider. The Gospel reminds us that the only wall that separates us is sin... and that wall separates us from God.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Tony Campolo is a great source for stories about tearing down walls. He tells a story of teaching at a conference in Hawaii. Coming from the east coast, the time change did a number on his sleep pattern -- so he found himself wide awake at 3:00 in the morning. Instead of fighting sleep, he got up, walked outside of the hotel, and found a small diner. As he had a cup of coffee, he noticed two women come in who obviously were employed in the world's oldest profession. They were well-known by the 3:00 a.m. regulars in that diner, including the waitress, the host, and the cook. Tony could overhear their conversation. One of the women said, "Hey, it's my birthday tomorrow."
The others chimed in a bit harshly, "What? You wanna party? You wanna cake or something?"
"Naw," she said, "I'm just telling you it's my birthday." And then off they went, back into the night.
Finishing his coffee, Tony went to pay his bill and asked about those women: "Do they come in every night?"
"Every night, the same time," was the answer.
Tony said, "Hey, if you could bake a cake I'll get streamers and ribbons, and let's surprise her with a birthday party." They were all in.
The next night, right on time, the two women entered the diner and were greeted with a huge "SURPRISE!" and an off-tune rendition of "Happy Birthday." The cook brought out the cake and gave it to her. She was shocked. She didn't know what to say. Then she said, "I've never had a birthday cake before. Can I just bring this home and show my daughter tomorrow morning?" And with that she left with the lit cake in hand.
In that awkward silence, Tony said, "Let's pray!"
Following a short prayer, the cook said, "Hey, are you a preacher?"
Tony said, "Yeah."
"What kind of preacher are you?"
Tony said, "The kind of preacher who throws birthday parties for whores at 3:00 in the morning."
"No, you ain't," the cook protested, "because if there were such a church, I'd go there."
Sometimes God needs to shatter walls. Unfortunately, some of the biggest walls we will ever experience are the religious ones. And prostitutes, Gentiles, sinners -- you name it, they are all on the other side of the wall. Acts 11 tells us: "What God has made clean, you must not call profane."
How do you tear down that wall? Sociologists have told us that there are three phrases that everyone longs and enjoys to hear: "I love you"; "I forgive you"; "Supper's ready."
It is these three phrases that God has used to tear down the wall of sin that separates us from God.
I love you. You are mine. I am yours.
I forgive you. Your sins are forgiven for Jesus' sake.
Supper's ready. This body broken, this blood shed. There is a place at my table for you.
ANOTHER VIEW
by Barbara Jurgensen
On a bright Sunday afternoon in July 1963 -- nearly 44 years ago, when Germany was still divided into two sections -- I was part of a group of six people visiting the city of Berlin, and we had a chance to go behind the famous (or infamous) Berlin Wall.
I can remember walking through the gate in the Berlin Wall single-file; lining up inside Checkpoint Charlie, a drab, colorless little temporary-type military building; and waiting endlessly while uniformed Russian guards checked our papers.
Finally we were all cleared and allowed to go out onto a street in East Berlin. The change from West Berlin was shocking. West Berlin had been full of life: people in colorful clothes strolling along the streets, eating at outdoor restaurants, listening to live music in the park, enjoying life.
In East Berlin, everything seemed gray. The buildings were gray; the few people that were out on the streets were shabbily dressed, and they looked dejected, depressed as they shuffled along.
In West Berlin, buildings that had been damaged by the war, except for those that were being intentionally left as memorials, had been repaired in the 18 years since the war ended. In East Berlin, it looked like the war was still going on, with gray rubble everywhere.
Finally a double-decker bus came down the street with eight or ten passengers on board, and as soon as the six of us got on, a local woman pointed toward the bus's stairs and said in halting English, "You go up. I show you city."
There's no better way to see a city than to have someone who knows it well point out its most interesting places and tell you a few stories about them, so we were happy to take her up on her offer.
But this woman had something else in mind.
When we reached the upper level, we had it all to ourselves. She pointed and said, "Over there is a famous statue." Then she whispered, "You are from America?"
"Yes," we whispered back. As I said, there was no one else on the upper deck, but this was, you remember, East Berlin.
"And there is a famous park," she said, pointing again. Then she whispered, "My son lives in America. Will you take a message to him? I'm not allowed to write to him about the way things really are here."
"Of course," we whispered, and started getting out our pens and note pads.
"No, no!" she whispered. "Do not write; people will see." She pointed to her head. "Just remember."
Now she pointed again: "And there is the university where Einstein studied." And she whispered, "Tell my son the food we have is not good, and we can't get the medical care or medications we need -- nothing is good like it used to be. People are discouraged. I would like to come to him in America, but we can't leave. But tell him I love him. That's the message."
One of our women whispered back, "I'll remember all that and tell him."
Now the East Berlin woman pointed out a few more landmarks, and interspersed this with whispering her son's name, his street address, and his city and state, and three of our group agreed to each memorize one of these items.
Then she said, "My son has been writing that he wants to come and see me, but tell him not to. I miss him so, but if he were to come through Checkpoint Charlie, as you people did, and they saw on his passport that he'd been born here, they probably wouldn't let him leave, and, much as I want to see him, I wouldn't want him to get locked into this -- this awful place."
I whispered that I'd tell him all that.
Then the woman pointed out a large gray government building of some kind, then whispered, "You will contact him, won't you?"
"We will," we all said softly, "as soon as we get home."
She whispered "Thank you" with tears in her eyes, then pointed out another famous building, and slipped quietly back down the stairs.
After she left, we all sat looking at each other. Had people seen her talking with us? Those on the deck below knew she'd come up the stairs with us. Would someone report her to the authorities in order to win a few special privileges for themselves? She'd knowingly taken that risk in order to protect her son.
Walls can be vicious things: the wall of our own wrongdoing can make us feel too guilty to turn to our Lord for help. The wall of others' wrongdoing toward us can make us so angry that we don't want to have anything to do with them. And the walls that we create between ourselves and people of other nationalities, races, and religious groups can keep us locked in fear.
Our Lord needed to send a most unusual vision -- what looked like a large bed sheet filled with an unusual assortment of creatures -- to show Peter that the walls needed to come down -- the walls between people. Our Lord needed to show Peter that all of us -- all people, everywhere -- can be part of God's kingdom.
Years later, President Reagan stood at the Berlin Wall and called out to the leader of the Soviet people: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" And in 1989 the people did tear the wall down, laughing and shouting and singing as the upright slabs of concrete came crashing to the ground.
The good news today is that Jesus Christ, our Lord, by his great love for us, has broken down all the walls that have separated us from ourselves, from others, and from him: "For we are convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).
Those walls are down, and will not separate us, ever again. We are then called to share this love with a hurting world. Jesus says to each of us: "Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
That's a big order, one that we can't fill very well on our own. But we can call on our Lord each day: "Lead me, guide me, Lord. Walk with me each day."
Jesus Christ has broken down all the walls that have kept us from living the kind of life that he's prepared for us. He has broken down all the walls! Amen! Alleluia!
ILLUSTRATIONS
Raymond Macdonald Alden tells a parable of a large island that contained seven kingdoms, which were always at odds with each other over water rights. The kingdoms had been warring among themselves as the supply of water grew ever more scarce. Each kingdom constructed huge, defensive walls around its borders.
Finally, one young man had enough. At great risk to himself, he journeyed through all seven kingdoms, discovering that all the peoples were essentially alike. Searching into the ancient writings of his people, he discovered that at one time all the people of the island had been unified. He also learned of a legend of a single, underground spring at the place where all seven walls came together.
Although he was suspicious of his fellow monarchs, one of the kings finally invited all the other kings to send teams of workers to search for the hidden spring. The men stood there with picks and shovels as explosive charges were laid at the foundations of the seven walls. When they were detonated, a great shout went up and a fountain of water shot skyward.
The young man explained that in ancient times that one great spring had supplied water to all the island. Under each of the walls there were hidden watercourses that could easily be used to supply water to the seven kingdoms. Knock down the walls, he instructed, and the hidden streams would be revealed.
The people of the island did so, and discovered that the source of life-giving water was present after all -- if only they could trust each other enough to live without walls.
-- paraphrased from a story posted on the former website of the Bruderhof communities
***
In one of his most famous poems, "Mending Wall," Robert Frost reflects upon the low, fieldstone walls that separate his rural New England farm from that of his nearest neighbor. Whenever he should notice that winter freeze and spring thaw have toppled one stone from another, there's something he feels duty-bound to do:
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
"Stay where you are until our backs are turned!"
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side...
Whenever Frost suggests to his neighbor that perhaps they don't really need a wall, the neighbor replies with an old adage he learned from his father (and probably from his father before him), "Good fences make good neighbors."
Perhaps there's some wisdom in that, but in our society we've probably taken that advice to extremes. We've built our personal fences so secure and so high that many of us are aching with loneliness.
***
After a visit to New York City some years back, Mother Teresa of Calcutta picked up on the many divisions among us in our culture. She wrote:
"The spiritual poverty of the Western world is much greater than the physical poverty of our people. You in the West have millions of people who suffer such terrible loneliness and emptiness. They feel unloved and unwanted. These people are not hungry in the physical sense but they are in another way. They know they need something more than money, yet they don't know what it is. What they are missing really is a living relationship with God."
-- from Love: A Fruit Always in Season (Ignatius Press, 1987), p. 226
***
The discovery that God had included the Gentiles in his love makes way for one of the most beautiful things about the Church in the world today -- its variety in Unity.
When the World Methodist Conference meets every five years, drawing together several thousand Christians from almost every country and language on earth, a wonderful thing happens. In the services of worship, the participants are often invited to pray the Lord's Prayer together, each praying in his or her language. The sound is something like thunder. It has a rhythm like ocean waves breaking upon the shores of a continent. And those who participate know that they are part of something very beautiful and very powerful.
***
Walls do sometimes have a function -- and they can represent something that is sometimes necessary in our relationships. In the slum of San Martine in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, there is a church mission school. It stands among acres of tiny houses made of blocks and corrugated metal, many so small that the family members have to take turns sleeping. The school is there to serve the people of San Martine -- but it is surrounded by a high cinder-block wall with a heavy iron gate and a barrier of broken glass set in concrete around the top. The school exists to serve, but it has to keep itself from being overrun so that it can carry out its loving mission. Likewise, people who love must sometimes maintain boundaries that will protect their integrity.
***
However, when it is possible, there is a better way to preserve integrity for the sake of relationship. Once the city of Vienna was surrounded by a great medieval wall, just as many old European cities were. But in 1857, Emperor Franz Joseph I ordered the destruction of the antiquated fortifications and sold the land to businesspeople and merchants along the street that is presently known as the Ringstrasse. He incorporated the suburbs into the city and invited the world to come and go. Vienna retained its integrity by becoming a great center of commerce and culture. Wouldn't it be great if persons and families and groups and nations could gain enough "centeredness" and integrity through their own vital character and their own central commitments that they could afford to tear down their defenses and invite the world to come and go?
***
It was a new generation that came to the Jordan River, preparing to actually enter the Promised Land. The barrier that stood between them and the land promised by their faith was a flood-swollen river (Joshua 3:15) that surely posed as formidable a barrier to this generation as the Red (or Reed) Sea had posed for their ancestors. They had heard the stories of how their ancestors had left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, but now it was their time to act in faith. The priests led them to the banks of the river, and as they set their feet in the Jordan the water backed up, forming a wall and providing a path for the people to walk across to the other side. We continually face barriers between us and the actualizing of our faith. Each generation and each person has to take that step that is based on the promise of God in order to experience God's saving power.
***
Outwitted
He drew a circle that shut me out --
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win;
We drew a circle that took him in.
-- Edwin Markham
***
Sometimes there is a false way to remove the wall between us that is merely to make us feel better about ourselves. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: "When I have attempted to join myself to others by services, it proved an intellectual trick -- no more. They eat your service like apples, and leave you out. But love them, and they feel you, and delight in you all the time."
***
While separating ourselves from others for a time has its benefits and its appeal, we need to be concerned about its long-term effect. Yet joining together has its dangers as well. The Baal Shem Tov said: "There are two ways to serve God. One is to separate yourself from people and from the world's affairs, and to devote yourself wholly to a study of religious books. That is the safe way. The other way is to mingle with people, to engage in the affairs of the world, and, at the same time, to try to be an example of godliness. This way has it dangers, but it is far the more worthy."
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Thom M. Shuman
Call to Worship
Leader: Praise God, all people!
People: Praise the Lord, all creation!
Leader: Whales doing backflips in the air,
squid and octopi dancing on the ocean floor;
People: Giant redwoods stretching to the sky,
tomato vines cuddling around a stake.
Leader: Mountains blocking the sunrise,
moles tunneling through our front lawns;
People: Five-year-olds sitting in a story-time circle,
grandparents singing "their song";
Leader: Redbuds decorating our backyard,
grass growing faster than our children;
People: Seals getting a suntan on the rocks,
teenagers knotted together at church.
Leader: Praise the Lord, all creation!
People: Praise God, all people!
Prayer of the Day
Vision-Giving God,
when you put band-aids on skinned knees;
when you hold the hand of a teenager grieving unrequited love;
when you wipe the tears of parents at graduation day:
you show us your new creation.
Brother to little children,
when you hang out with the world's outcasts;
when you stay a little longer with those we rush past;
when you will not take sides in our petty little games:
you show us the new earth.
Holy Spirit,
when you turn on the "no vacancy" sign as death comes our way;
when mourning becomes a distant memory;
when pain is found only in dusty history books:
you show us the new heaven.
God in Community, Holy in One,
make us new,
as we pray as Jesus teaches, saying,
Our Father . . .
Call to Reconciliation
We show others who we are by the lives we lead,
the words we speak, the actions we undertake.
Let us confess how we have not been God's little children,
when we fail to love as we have been loved.
(Unison) Prayer of Confession
Who are we to get in your way, Holy God?
We put people into neat, little boxes,
but you rip them open, so folks can dance in your joy.
We imprison others with our unmet expectations,
and you set them free with a Word.
We build walls around those we don't know,
and you tear them down, so they can run wild in the kingdom.
Who are we to get in your way, Saving Power,
especially in the way of your forgiveness offered to all!
Give us your vision that sees everyone as equal -- forgiven, graced, loved --
even as we seek to follow our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
(silent prayers may be offered)
Assurance of Pardon
Leader: We know who God is by the love shown to us in Christ Jesus.
People: We will show others who we are -- and Whose we are --
by the loved poured out by our lives.
Thanks be to God, we are forgiven! Amen.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
Leader: May God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Little children, lift your hearts to God.
People: We lift them to the One who loves us forever.
Leader: Let us glorify the One who has raised Jesus to new life.
People: We sing praises to God, who makes all things new.
You commanded, Holy God, and chaos yielded to your Word,
so all that is beautiful and good might be created by your grace.
The sun and moon were shaped
so we would have days and nights in which to praise you,
but we spent our time denying your dreams for us,
living each moment for ourselves.
You fixed the boundaries for your Garden,
where we could have life and joy with you,
but we chose to play on the garbage dumps of sin.
You told the prophets to "Go!"
and bring your vision of healing and restoration,
but we thought them to be fools, standing on the edges of our lives.
When we had decided to have nothing to do with you,
you chose to become one of us,
living, calling, creating once again through Jesus the Christ.
Therefore, with those around the Throne,
and with those in every time and place,
we sing our praises to you:
Sanctus
Holy are you, Creator of the Universe,
and blessed is Jesus, your Son, our Lord.
When he could have left us to deal with sin and death on our own,
he came to live with us;
when he could have chosen the path to power and fame,
he walked the deadly road to Calvary;
when he could have called down the angels to save him,
he cried out for forgiveness for all your children.
When you could have left him alone and forsaken in the grave,
you graced him with new life.
So as we sing our Easter Alleluias,
we proclaim that mystery we call faith:
Memorial Acclamation
Pour out your Spirit upon this Bread and this Cup, O God,
that they might become your grace and peace for us,
so we might become your servants of hope and joy to our world.
As we come to your Table, remind us of your promises:
that when the sea is no more,
you will flood us with your grace;
that when the earth is a hollow husk,
you will walk with us through the streets of the New Jerusalem;
that when the sun, moon, and stars have burned out in space,
the Light of your love will shine for us forever.
And when we sit down at the Feast of the Lamb,
receiving grace from those we loved,
and passing it on to those we feared until all people are served,
we will sing with one heart and voice:
"Glory to the One who makes all things new -- even us;
Glory to the One who comes in the name of the Lord -- for us;
Glory to the One who makes no distinction -- among us!"
Glory to God in Three Persons,
now and forever. Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Agape
John 13:31-35
Object: candy
Jesus once gave a very special message to his disciples and to us. He says we should love each other in the same way he loved us. The Greek word that is used in the Bible is agape. Does anybody know what kind of love he is talking about? (Let them answer.)
Well, this kind of love is the kind of love he showed us when he went to the cross and died for us. It's a love that puts the needs of others ahead of our own. We call it "sacrificial love," being willing to give up something for the sake of others.
Now, since Jesus wants us to love each other that way, I'd like to see if any of you will practice this kind of love. There are __________ of you here this morning, and I have a problem. There are __________ of you, but I have only __________ pieces of candy (one less than the number of children). How are we going to solve this problem? (Let them answer. It may be that one will volunteer to be skipped in order that the others will get one. If that happens, use the first response. If not, use the second response.)
First response: Hey, that's great! __________ is willing to be skipped on the candy today so that the rest of you can have one. That's real agape love! He/she is willing to sacrifice for the rest of you.
Second response: Well, there's only two ways to do this. We can forget the candy today and not pass out any... or... if somebody would volunteer to be skipped, then the rest of you could have one. Do we have any volunteers? (If nobody volunteers, you can use it as a demonstration of the need for sacrificial love for the benefit of all and give no candy. It is very doubtful, however, that nobody will volunteer.)
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus: We thank you so much for loving us enough to sacrifice your life on the cross for us. Help us to learn that we need to learn how to sacrifice for others. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, May 6, 2007, issue.
Copyright 2007 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., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
