The Dreams We Have for Children
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For December 29, 2019:
The Dreams We Have for Children
by Chris Keating
Matthew 2:13-23
Joseph’s dream leads his family to safety, and is a reminder of the power of the dreams God has for all children.
Joseph’s dreams have the habit of becoming living nightmares. As Matthew recounts Joseph’s story, the man hardly gets a good night’s sleep. It was one thing to have an angel announce that Joseph was going to become a foster parent, but quite another to learn the government has put a price on your kid’s head. This time the angel even skips the serene salutation, bypassing the customary assurance that Joseph should not be afraid.
This dream is alarming, even traumatizing. The child is in danger, and there’s no time to waste. “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt,” the angel warns. Even a refugee’s existence is better than waiting to be killed. For Joseph, dreams of family life have suddenly become a nightmare.
On the second Sunday of Christmas, the texts seem less like the script of a Hallmark Channel movie and more like a horror film. It’s more than just Joseph and Mary’s baby that is at risk; no babies near Bethlehem will escape Herod’s ego-fueled rage. As the sweet-smell of frankincense and myrrh trail behind them, Joseph and Mary high-tail it out of town.
This is not the stuff of Christmas plays and pageants. But Joseph’s dreams do underscore the unfolding promises of the incarnation as a sign of God’s presence with those who suffer. Joseph’s dreams are the dreams every parent has but are also reminders that for many those dreams have turned into nightmares.
The nightmares are familiar:
As the sounds of Rachel’s inconsolable cries rise above the Christmas din, so do the promises of one child, sheltered by caring hands who dared to trust in God’s dream. For many children, however, that dream will always be a nightmare.
In the News
Fortunately, a dream leads Jesus’ family out of imminent danger. For other vulnerable children, the pathway is more predictable, and often nothing more than an express lane to suffering. Their dreams of well-being and security frequently resemble the incubus faced by Herod’s victims. The muffled cries of these children are frequently ignored, or even silenced.
Recently, one of the Catholic church’s most secret organizations – The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – has reversed rules which kept details of abusive behavior by priests under wraps. Some of the victims abused by priests may soon be able to dream again, though clerics in the CDF warn that the worst of the crisis is yet to come.
Recently, the Vatican abolished the so-called “pontifical secret” rule in efforts to rebuild trust with disillusioned Catholics. Inside the gates of the Vatican, a small palazzo leads to the offices of the CDF, the Vatican agency charged with reviewing the “tsunami” wave of cases of priests charged with child sexual abuse. Reports of abuse from the United States and Ireland have long dominated headlines, but now the CDF is beginning to see an uptick in reports from other countries such as Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Poland. The head of the CDF’s discipline section recently told the Associated Press that the staggering workload has caused him to understand how people lose faith.
"I suppose if I weren't a priest and if I had a child who were abused, I'd probably stop going to Mass," said Monsignor John Kennedy, a priest from Ireland who has witnessed the church’s loss of credibility over abuse."I'd probably stop having anything to do with the church because I'd say, `Well, if you can't look after children, well, why should I believe you?"
The sounds of Rachel’s weeping for her children can still be heard. Kennedy says the work exacts a toll on him.
“There are times when I am poring over cases that I want to get up and scream, that I want to pack up my things and leave the office and not come back,” Kennedy said.
America’s foster and child welfare systems offer another example of the dangerous paths traveled by vulnerable children. An exhaustive investigation by the Kansas City Star demonstrated the failings of child protective services across the country. Last week, the Kansas City Star published the results of its year-long investigations in a series of six articles. “Throwaway Kids” describes the growing dysfunction of America’s foster care system. It’s a system crumbling under the weight of waves of children entering foster care, budget cuts, lawsuits and mismanagement.
“We are sending more foster kids to prison than college,” said Brent Kent, an Indiana child welfare advocate. “And what do we lose as a result? Generations of young people. I think as a society we view foster children the same way that we might view offenders coming out of prison or addicts in recovery. We forget that they are just children, that they were put in foster care and removed from their families through no fault of their own.”
As the Star’s reporting shows, these are clearly not the dreams we have for children.
The newspaper conducted research on nearly 6,000 inmates in 12 states. About one in four inmates reported that they had been in foster care. Inmates reported years of being shuffled from placement to placement. Sixty percent experienced homelessness, and over half had been convicted of juvenile offenses, while only 16 percent graduated from high school. One female inmate in Kansas who moved homes 21 times in six years reported being told “how worthless I was and no one would ever love me.” She added, “my hopes were always crushed.”
Under the administration of former Kansas governor Sam Brownback, the state imposed policies restricting aid to families in crisis. Numbers of children in foster ballooned during Brownback’s tenure, as did the number of children reported missing in the state. Children who run away from foster homes are particularly vulnerable to sex trafficking.
Efforts to assist vulnerable families are often cut, placing additional burdens on minority and lower income families. Kansas, for example, increased funding for foster care 100 times more than it did for prevention services. More money is spent investigating families than developing proactive services which could prevent abuse.
The Family First Prevention Services act, a bipartisan bill enacted by Congress last year, allows states to earmark money for prevention services. But many states have not signed on to the act, which requires matching funds from states. As a result, kids are shifted through series of foster care placements that negatively impact their brain development.
To be sure, foster care is often the best – and most appropriate – placement. But neglecting preventative care has resulted in a foster care system that is jammed pack and overflowing. Researchers describe nightmarish conditions of children sleeping in child welfare offices or homeless shelters.
But the systems are broken, leaving thousands of children at risk. The long-term effects include inferior education, lingering trauma and poor prospects for transitioning into adulthood. The challenges can seem like Herod’s diabolical reactions to Jesus’ birth.
These forces work like the tyrant’s edict by creating circumstances which turn the dreams of childhood into living nightmares. Michelle Voorhees, a 28-year old inmate at the Topeka, KS Correctional Facility, spent years in foster care situations. She often dreams about how her life might have turned out differently if her mother had received parenting assistance.
“Had my mom just had a little bit of help,” Voorhees told the Kansas City Star, “had she had enough money to buy her own vehicle, had she had enough money to relocate herself from an abusive situation, had she not had to have been dependent on men in the first place for any kind of financial stability, I don’t believe that she would have made some of the decisions that she made.”
“I don’t believe that she would have struggled as a mother,” she continues, “because my mom is a good mom.”
In the Scripture
Matthew scholar Warren Carter aptly captures the evil intent of Herod’s rage by calling these verses “The Empire Strikes Back.” (See Carter, Matthew and the Margins, p. 73). His assessment accurately reflects the way Herod peels back the golden-tinted veneer of Jesus’ birth. The arrival of the magi in Matthew 2 fuels Herod’s narcissistic mania. Matthew drives home that this helpless, vulnerable infant is the true King of the Jews. His rule stands opposed to the would-be King, as Matthew demonstrates in his genealogical account of Jesus’ origins in chapter one.
Herod understands the political threat posed by the child. What he does not understand is that his usual tactics are futile against the power of God. He frightened and anxious response will not prevent God’s plan. His fury at the magi’s deception fuels his determined response to contain the child at all costs.
Matthew’s use of dream imagery is a reminder of how God is at work, despite Herod’s paranoia. The empire seems to be in control, but that is an illusion. But even a rogue despot can cause mayhem, as the insurance commercials regularly remind us. Herod orders the massacre of children, while the hunted one escapes. Eventually it will be that child who will triumph over the powers of the empire by declaring that “all authority and power” have been given to him.
For now, however, the child is under the protective care of his earthly foster father. Joseph receives the dream and embraces his role, even if he does not fully understand what’s at stake.
In the Sermon
Let’s be honest: this week’s text is hardly the stuff of Christmas pageants. Matthew takes us beyond the merriment of the season by reminding his readers that while the Lord of Lords has been born, he remains a threat to the empires of this world.
It takes a dream to keep him safe. Actually, it takes a couple: one to the “wise guys,” to warn them not to play into Herod’s hand, and another to Joseph to once again follow God’s leading. As Anna Case-Winters notes, “Matthews telling of the desperate flight of Jesus a nd family does not lend itself to sweet, sentimentalized renderings we are most accustomed to seeing on Christmas cards. What if our Christmas cards features the faces of these 43.7 million (refugees)?” (Ca)se-Winters, Matthew, p. 29. She points out that the vulnerability of Jesus underscores a salient feature of the God who truly is Emmanuel – God with us.
If our congregations are dreaming of Sunday school rooms filled with children, perhaps the sermon could help us dream differently. Where in the world is God calling the church to be with the scared and vulnerable children this year?
Instead of running away from this sharp-edged text, a sermon could explore the many ways the church can carry the message of Emmanuel into these often-dreary days of January. The tinsel is sagging, and the trees are getting dry. Maybe our dreams of a perfect Christmas have not happened, but that does not mean the dream of God is over.
By paying attention to the inequities and dysfunction of the child welfare system, or by naming the places where vulnerable children still need someone to dream for them, the preacher could open possibilities for new conversations. Alternatively, the sermon might name the positive role played by faithful case managers and compassionate foster families. Imagine the power of a child reading the text this Sunday, or a family choosing the share their adoption experience.
The hope of the gospel arises out of the context of Rachel’s tearful lament.
Matthew wants the church to know that the child who flees the wrath of the emperor is the one who will remain with us. The hopefulness embodied in Joseph’s dream could be the good news we all need to hear, offering an important counter narrative to the empire’s strategies to replace dreams of faith with unending evil nightmares.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Year In Review
by Tom Willadsen
The liturgical calendar says this is the first Sunday of the Season of Christmas, but most of our parishioners left the Christmas season about 3:30 in the afternoon December 25. We have our eyes on the next holiday, though it is hardly a Holy Day. The week between Christmas and New Year is a sort of fallow time. A generation ago stores were filled with people returning unwanted presents and stocking up on sales of Christmas merchandise whose prices had been slashed. It’s hard to get the same feeling of being harried in a crowd now that so much of our purchasing and returning are done with a few clicks of a mouse or a touch of an app. Schools are out. Radio stations often switch abruptly from Christmas music to recounting the biggest hits of the year that will soon pass. Little news is generated so retrospectives of the headlines of the year that is about to end fill broadcasts and “news hole.”
Preacher, you might consider Isaiah 63:7a, “I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord, the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,” and take stock of 2019, its highpoints, struggles and challenges faced by your congregation, community, perhaps your denomination, or the nation as a whole.
January is named for Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, transitions, doorways and endings. Janus had two faces, one looks ahead and one looks back.
There’s a wonderful picture in Dr. Seuss’s “I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew” in which the main character is whatever the opposite of cross-eyed is, as he tries to look ahead and behind at the same time.
That’s kind of where a lot of our members are today, looking ahead, but also looking back. And there will be those who say, “Big deal, another trip around the Sun,” while others will opine, “A brand new year when I can make a completely fresh start!” Keep your eye on this latter group; they’ll show up Ash Wednesday, seeking a mulligan on their New Year’s Resolutions.
When monologist Spaulding Gray was preparing to appear in “The Killing Fields” he marveled at what he learned about Cambodian culture, “They even knew how to have a good time on New Year’s Eve. I couldn’t believe it.” (“Swimming to Cambodia,” New York: Theatre Communications Group, Inc. 1985) To be fair, I should mention that there are people who are dear to me who embrace New Year’s as their favorite holiday. “You can’t lose,” they reason, “if you had a bad year, celebrate that it’s over. If you can a good year, re-live the happy times.”
It’s fitting that during this in-between sort of week the impeachment proceedings are on hold as Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, awaits word on how the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, plans to conduct the impeachment trial. Their stand-off is in perfect harmony with the lack of news being generated elsewhere in American society.
Now to “salacious deeds” and “cringe-worthy deeds” for 2019 to paraphrase Isaiah.
There is no question that the impeachment of President Trump is the story of 2019. It is only the third time a president has been impeached. While the last impeachment was only 20 years ago, I’m drawing something like comfort in the notion that a president is impeached once a century. Perhaps the current impeachment will buy us a reprieve until the 22nd Century. The vote to impeach was along strict party lines, which not only illustrates the polarization of American political opinion, but also the rigidity with which people hold their political opinions. Few people see the recently passed spending bill that will keep the federal government from shutting down for the rest of the fiscal year, or the recently-negotiated replacement for NAFTA as hopeful signs of bipartisanship. Our divisions are stark and entrenched.
The other tops news stories listed by the Associated Press on December 20, 2019 are not one-time events, like tornadoes, say, but situations that have developed over time:
• Fallout from US immigration policy;
• The Mueller investigation;
• Mass shootings (This year’s were in El Paso; Dayton, OH; Gilroy, CA and Virginia Beach; add the one in New Zealand, another American export?);
• The opioid crisis;
• Climate change;
• Brexit;
• Trade wars, especially the one between the US and China;
• The second crash of a Boeing 737 max, and inquiries about how it was approved as safe; and
• Protests in Hong Kong
It makes you want to cue Anne Murray right about now, doesn’t it? We sure could use a little good news today.
Okay, Isaiah invites us to consider “gracious deeds” and “praiseworthy acts;” some of these might fit that description:
There have been major advances in the treatment of sickle cell disease, also called sickle cell anemia in 2019.
One of the drugs approved by the FDA in November, Oxbryta, treats the underlying cause of the disease, not merely reducing its symptoms.
In March a second patient was found to be free of the AIDS virus following a transplant of AIDS-resistant white blood cells. This had happened before about ten years ago, to the so-called “Berlin patient.” The second instance offers hope for a treatment that can be replicated. The key is transplanting white blood cells that show both mutations that are resistant to the AIDS virus. Research is on-going, but this is a very promising breakthrough that may have profound effects on sub-Saharan nations in particular.
In April, the first visual images of a Black Hole were released by a team of astronomers.
In theory, it should be impossible to photograph a Black Hole. They are so massive light cannot escape their gravitational pull; one would expect there would be nothing to see. In this case, an array of telescopes around the world, coordinated by astronomers, was able to capture images of matter at the “event horizon,” the point at which nothing—not even light--can escape a Black Hole’s gravity.
A series of terrorist attacks targeting Muslims in New Zealand in March horrified the world, but the response of New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, was a model for leaders of how to express empathy and compassion to a nation that was reeling from its largest ever terrorist attack.
Ardern donned a hajib and spoke with fierce courage and conviction that the acts of the Australian man accused of committing these horrific murders would unite New Zealand and be a catalyst for that nation’s being a global model of inclusion and tolerance.
Sadly, the faith-related news stories that got the most attention in 2019 did not put the Christian church in a favorable light. The United Methodist Church is in the middle of a wrenching process discerning the place of LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage in their denomination. Four months after a significant decision in February, it appeared that schism was unavoidable.
While sexual scandals have gotten a lot of attention in the wider press, there have been some important strides by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention as these traditions are confronting the issue of clergy sex abuse with greater honesty, transparency and self-examination.
In the middle of December, the Vatican announced steps they are taking to increase accountability to civil authorities and taking a harder line against child pornography.
The Houston Chronicle published a series of articles in February about sexual abuse in Southern Baptist churches. At its 2019 Convention in June, the SBC acknowledged that one factor contributing to a climate where abuse was prevalent was “Wrong teaching that leads to treatment of women and children as inferior to men in value, intellect, and discernment” and “Misapplication of complementarian teaching, leading to women submitting to headship of all men.” (from the “Caring Well Report”).
While these scandals are embarrassing to the wider Christian church and “organized religion” in general, the faithful responses from church leaders are “gracious deeds” and “praiseworthy acts,” parts of these stories that are often overlooked after the initial shock of their discovery.
One of the year’s most significant topics in religious news came to stunning attention on December 19, just 12 days before the end of the year. Christianity Today, the magazine founded by Billy Graham “help evangelical Christians interpret the news in a manner that reflects their faith,” published an editorial called “ Trump Should Be Removed from Office.”
The editorial, after conceding that “the Democrats have it out for him since day one,” goes on to say
The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president’s moral deficiencies for all to see. This damages the institution of the presidency, damages the reputation of our country, and damages both the spirit and the future of our people. None of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character.
The pushback to CT’s editorial was swift and fierce.
In response to the response, CT’s editor in chief said, “We’ve lost subscribers, but we’ve had three times as many people start to subscribe.”
Perhaps we should end this year (every year?) with a chorus of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.” See you next year!
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Ron Love:
Matthew 2:13
an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said
Angelo went home and prayed. He besought Jesus to make him big and strong. Fervently Angelo continued to petition his Savior for strength. Then one Saturday morning a kindly man, Mr. Davenport, took Angelo to the Brooklyn Museum. There the youth saw a gigantic Grecian statue of a man with bulging muscles. He inquired if there were men really like that? Mr. Davenport replied there were men that muscular. Angelo then asked if he could ever have such a physique, and his mentor replied, “If you try hard, if you love the Lord, you can do anything with yourself.”
Angelo returned home and prayed more fervently than ever. His answer came one morning as he observed his cat. When the cat got up, he stretched, then arched his back, bringing one muscle to bear against another, creating tension. Angelo realized he could build his muscles by doing the same with his body.
In time Angelo became the “Strongest Man in the World,” and changed his name to Charles Atlas. Soon children everywhere were writing Mr. Atlas, asking how they could become as strong as he. In response he developed a course for muscle building; he also told the children they must have Jesus Christ in their hearts.
* * *
Matthew 2:13
an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said
Lou Holtz, the renowned coach of Notre Dame, concluded his autobiography with this message: “God answers prayers.” As a youth he was an altar boy for his church. Each day he would pray that God would make him bigger and quicker and faster so he could be a star football player. Remaining slim and small, each morning he wondered why his prayer went unanswered. When Holtz’s life was directed into coaching, he realized that God had answered his prayer. The Lord directed his life in a way that allowed him to have even a greater impact upon the sport and society. Holtz wrote that God “has more than amply answered all those prayers that I didn’t think he had.” Holtz thought his only contribution could come from physical strength; the Lord intended it to be from wisdom and virtue.
* * *
Matthew 2:13
an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said
Encountering trouble in life we can call upon the blessings and promises of God; we must realize though, that the sanctity of God demands a response on our part: dedication and obedience to the mandates of the Scriptures. In the movie Angel in My Pocket, Andy Griffith portrayed Rev. Samuel Whitehead who accepted the call to serve a church in Wood Falls, Kansas. When he arrived in town, he found feuding among the residents, and a parochialism that made it impossible to implement new ideas. In addition to this, not all of the townspeople were as honest as one would expect. Frustrated that Mayor Sinclair was not properly distributing public funds to the educational institution, Rev. Whitehead removed his three children from school in protest. When the sheriff came to his home, the reverend, in disgust, yelled from the window, “All this town needs is a little shove. That’s all, a little shove.” So, Rev. Whitehead shoved here and pushed there, and finally the man with an angel in his pocket was able to let God rule, bringing reform and restoring harmony.
* * *
Matthew 2:13
an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said
Billy Graham in his book Angels: God’s Secret Agents, affirms the existence of angles servants of the Lord. Graham confirms in his book “that God has countless angels at His command. Furthermore, God has commissioned these angels to aid His children in their struggles against Satan. I am convinced that these heavenly beings exist and that they provide aid on our behalf.” As we confront the evils of society, when we are overcome by the trials and tribulation in life, and unnerved by despair and weakened by a sense of hopelessness, it is comforting to know that God’s angels will empower us and prayer will sustain us.
* * *
Matthew 2:13
an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said
Leonard Staisey, who was born in 1920 and died in 1990, lived his entire life in Pittsburgh. At the age of nine he had a brain tumor that caused him to become blind; though blindness did not hinder him from having a long and distinguished career in law and politics. Staisey served as a Duquesne city councilman, a Pennsylvania state senator, and an Alleghany County commissioner. He sat on the Common Pleas Court. The 69-year-old Judge describes his accomplishments with these words; “I have never been able to walk away from a challenge. I say to myself: ‘Why not?’ I’m one of the ‘why not’ people.” If you truly place your faith in God and summon the power of the Holy Spirit, if you pledge your allegiance to the angels of heaven and trust in the guidance of our Lord, then any of life’s obstacles can be surmounted. Faith in God is the only requirement for being a “why not” person.
* * * * * *
From team member Mary Austin:
Isaiah 63:7-9
Saved by God, Reunited by Grace
After the catastrophic 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Nadine Devilme had an experience much like Isaiah describes. It is God’s presence who saves, this mother knows. Her baby, Jenny Alexis, spent four days in the rubble, and wasn’t expected to live when she was taken out. After Jenny Alexis recovered, Nadine Devilme praised God often, and also wanted to thank the doctor who treated the baby. “There was one problem: Devilme never knew the doctor's name, never knew exactly whom to thank for treating her daughter's fractured skull and crushed chest and then arranging for her to be airlifted to a hospital in Miami. Meanwhile, the physician who saved Jenny, Dr. Karen Schneider” was also wondering how the baby was doing. "I want to know, is she walking, starting to talk, is she playing, because when she first came to me, I didn't think she'd be able to do any of those things," Schneider said. "I didn't think she would live."
“When the earthquake struck, Devilme was in one part of her home in Port-au-Prince, and Jenny was in another part with her baby sitter. Devilme was injured and taken to a local hospital, and her husband, Junior Alexis, who was unharmed in the quake, returned to their ruined home to search for Jenny in the rubble. He couldn't find her, but four days later, someone else found Jenny amid the concrete and flagged down a journalist who was driving nearby, who took the baby to a makeshift hospital…Schneider, the head of pediatrics at the hospital, had been up for 30 hours straight and had finally lain down for a nap when a nurse woke her up to take care of Jenny. "She wasn't conscious, and she had head trauma -- she had an indentation in her skull," Schneider told Devilme on Monday. "And another thing that terrified me was her chest was completely caved in and everything was pushed to one side." But Schneider's biggest concern was after four days without any liquids, Jenny was so dehydrated she couldn't even get an IV into her veins. With no other choice, she delivered fluids directly into Jenny's leg bones, a risky procedure. Once Jenny was stabilized, Project Medishare paid for a private jet to fly her to Miami.”
A year later, during a layover in Miami, Schneider asked to meet with the family, who had received visas to remain in the U.S. "Oh my gosh, she's so big! So big!" Schneider exclaimed when she saw Jenny. "Marche? Marche?" she asked, using the Creole word for "walk." "Is she walking?" "Yes, yes!" Devilme told her. "Her smile, it goes up on both sides? Or does it droop on one side?" Schneider asked, concerned that trauma to Jenny's head during the earthquake might have damaged the baby's facial nerves.” Devilme reassured the doctor that Jenny had a typical smile. “Devilme called over an interpreter to translate from Creole to English.
"I would like to say thank you for saving my daughter, because I always wanted to meet you and I never had the opportunity," Devilme told Schneider. "For me, it's just a great thing to be able to say thank you to you." "You're welcome," Schneider said as she hugged Devilme. "It's such a gift to be able to see this baby."
Dr. Schneider also agreed to be Jenny’s godmother, maintaining the connection that started after the earthquake. As the prophet Isaiah tells us, it is God who saves.
* * *
Matthew 2:13-23
People on the Move
In this time when we’re thinking so deeply about the millions of people around the world who are now refugees, the story of Joseph fleeing with his family has countless modern counterparts. Sister Marilyn Lacey has spent her life working with displaced people, like Mary, Joseph and Jesus. She writes about meeting people with much the same terror and stress that the Holy Family knows. “When I first set out, I might as well have been Indiana Jones. Each day was sheer adventure. I’d never been out of the United States before, and now here I was flying off on my own to Bangkok…my initial calling to this ministry had been through a dream in which it was quite clear that the refugees would be teaching me many things, above all “a new way of loving,” but I’m afraid I lost sight of that humble perspective shortly after the wheels of the nearly empty 747 lifted off from the runway at the San Francisco Airport. Besides the crew, the charter plane carried only ten passengers, all headed for work in refugee camps. The plane was heading to Thailand in order to pick up a full load of Southeast Asian refugees destined for permanent resettlement in the United States. In the company of nine seasoned refugee workers, I managed to transform myself, within the space of a twenty-two hour flight, into a grand emissary of mercy, an agent of God who would do great things, able to leap tall oceans in a single bound, sent to rescue beleaguered exiles. I was overjoyed to be on my way. Never mind that I didn’t care for rice (or camping, for that matter), spoke no foreign language, knew next to nothing about the refugee camps, had only a six-week visa (though I planned to stay a year), and had absolutely no idea where I would be working…”
She ended up staying in a refugee camp for a year, where “living quarters were eighteen inches of space per person on six-foot deep bamboo shelves in long, thatched barracks, with a flimsy fabric curtain hung to separate the compartments. A family of four, for example, lived on a platform six feet square. It was raised a few inches above the dirt ground to provide some protection from scorpion and snakes, of which there were plenty. Water was strictly rationed.” The routine was of “hypnotic sameness. The heat, the dust, the pervasive poverty, the unchanging pattern of the refugees’ confined, artificial existence, all forged a strange sense of near-normalcy to the situation. Occasionally, however, I witnessed things that shook me deeply. A three-year-old girl singing to herself while she played with her newfound toy: a dead rat on a string. Newlyweds who had nothing to serve to their wedding guests but watermelon seeds (until the local Sisters saved the day with a bottle of whiskey). The drowning death of a refugee child in one of the camp ponds: “We couldn’t have prevented it,” the grieving parents explained. “That pond is haunted.”
My adult students were, compared to most of the American teens I had taught, positively zealous in their pursuit of learning. In the Lao culture, teachers are revered; accordingly, the refugees treated me like near-royalty. They were accustomed only to rote learning. Teacher says a sentence; students repeat it in unison. I, however, taught American-style. We engaged in spontaneous conversations, we did role plays, we invented grammar games; we read short stories and then discussed them, In their eyes, I was the world’s most creative teacher. They greeted my simplest lesson plans with rapt attention. No one was ever absent. One morning Sourasith came to class shivering, sweating, and flushed. I asked if he was sick. “Oh yes, I have malaria; but I didn’t want to miss class!”
When she returned to the states, she found herself disoriented. “The refugees I'd grown so close to were now in the austerity camp. They didn’t have enough to eat. They didn’t ever expect to be released or resettled elsewhere. They were cut off from the outside world. Meanwhile, I was back in the United States, where my friends were eager to celebrate my homecoming and take me out to dinner to hear all about my adventures. Sitting in a restaurant, facing a full plate of food, I would see only the refugees’ meager rations. I knew that the amount on my plate could feed an entire family, The food stuck in my throat. Hiking with friends in the California foothills, surrounded by the beauty of open fields and wildflowers, I would visualize the confinement of the refugees who had no freedom of movement, their days circumscribed by double rows of barbed wire fencing. My choice to spend ten dollars seeing a movie with a friend weighed on me; that money, if sent instead to the camp, could have purchased medicine for Somchai’s sick child.”
Whether as a refugee, or as a companion, the experience never leaves. We can imagine Mary and Joseph as forever changed by their experience of going to Egypt, and then coming back.
* * *
Matthew 2:13-23
Moved by a Dream
Sister Marilyn Lacey, who tells about her time living with refugees, recalls her anger when she returned home to the United States. Feeling helpless to do anything for the people she had known, she raged at God. Perhaps Joseph voiced some of the same frustration to God. She called out to God: Which God are you? And why don’t you answer these tears? I have always wanted to love you.
In reply, she says, “God chose not to respond on my timeline. Nevertheless, the act of venting provided me some relief, and so I plowed back into academia with anger simmering on the back burner. God and I were now at a stand-off. Then one day I experienced something like a waking dream. I was not praying, but merely sitting in a garden near the university, mulling over the mess in which I felt so mired. Without intending to, I suddenly found myself in dialog with the God whom I’d shunted aside for so many weeks…And much to my surprise, God replied:
I'm glad you've noticed them. Go ahead; be angry, but please don’t hate me. I am with you in this, more than you could ever realize. And I am with your brothers and sisters in the camps, too, even as I am blamed for the burdens they now bear. Come now, let your tears flow. See, I am weeping with you.
Our stand-off ended right then and there, as God and I wept together in that Berkeley garden. Since that moment, I have understood God differently. No matter what the theologians may say to the contrary, | know that God is not All-Powerful, at least not as most of us understand power. Why not? Because those who love never exert control over others. Because loving makes us utterly vulnerable, as C.S. Lewis described in his book The Four Loves:
To love at all is to become vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safely in the casket or coffin of your selfishness, But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless space, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.”
Sister Marilyn Lacey adds that she discovered what Joseph came to know, too. “Despite our persistent and stubborn expectations to the contrary, God never promises to take away our pain, but rather pledges to remain close to us in the midst of it. The prophets invite us to “call his name Emmanuel, which means, God With Us” (Is 7:14).”
* * *
Psalm 148
Praise
The Psalmist invites us to end the old year and begin a new year with praise. Everything in the universe is called to praise God. We might think this only applies to the perfect creations among us, but blogger Patty de Llosa says it's the crooked things that call to her. She tells us, “Nature moves in curves and curlicues. Perhaps that’s why I love the many crooked trees even more than the few arrow-straight ones. They look like they’ve fought for survival in a tough world. Like me. Like you. Notice how they grow both up and sideways, twisted and curved from battling the wind, the storms, or a gardener’s pruning sheers. And how about those gnarly bushes I passed the other day on the road through the park? Balanced on top of a huge rock, their roots twisted every which way down its side to sink deep into a narrow crevasse at the bottom. How I admire the struggle of those roots down the rocky slope, actively in search of earth so they can nourish themselves, while their branches reach toward heaven, stretching up to the sun.”
As we enter a New Year, we can apply the same lessons to our own lives, finding and embracing the crooked places. She suggests, “Does a secret desire to be perfect lurk half-submerged in your unconscious? If so, you’re like me. I’ll bet even when you succeed you’re often disappointed. What are your “upward” aims? Write them down. How many of your big plans succeeded? What was the cost of success when they did? What did you accuse yourself of if you failed?” Or, we may not see the places where our thoughts have become crooked, and fail to give God praise. “From early childhood on, we’ve been influenced by a lot of opinions. We collect them, often automatically, stuff them in the closet of our mind, and bring them out whenever they seem appropriate or when we need a quick point of view to win an argument. Can you separate your principles from your opinions? Make one list for the principles, another for the borrowed opinions.”
In all of that, when we see it clearly, we can give our fullest praise to God, as the Psalmist calls us to do.
* * * * * *
From team member Bethany Peerbolte
Isaiah 63:7-9
Saving Presence
Presence is powerful. Militaries monitor the presence of other countries closely. Any uptick in presence could mean a fight is brewing. When police have a heavy presence we feel it on the road. Just seeing a cop car can cause drivers to be more careful and make the roads safer.
There is motto I have heard repeated this Holiday season in a number of different ways, but the basis is that “presence” is better than “presents.” As a news report in Wisconsin points out, the holidays can be very isolating. Some people are miles from family, and their friends all leave town for the holidays. Some people do not feel welcome even if they have family nearby they could visit. Even in a crowded living room a person can feel isolated if the conversation shifts to a topic they feel very differently about than their family.
In Isaiah this week verse 9 says “his presence saved them.” As we continue on in the Christmas season God’s presence with us in Jesus is a great focus for the sermon. The power of what it means to have God here, present on earth, patrolling our roads, preparing for the fight against sin. It’s a power that Kings make kings tremble. Herod won’t even attempt to meet or get to know Jesus, he just wants him dead. The “powerful” on earth continue to have this reaction to Jesus’s presence, until Good Friday.
* * *
Psalm 148
Making a List
Well, hopefully all our congregants made it onto Santa’s “nice” list this year and they are joining us this Sunday with happy hearts. Now that we are done singing and worrying about Santa’s lists we have in Psalm 148 an even better list. This is a list answering the question “who should praise God.” The short answer is all of creation. From angels to the dirt of the earth, everything should praise God.
Santa’s lists result in us receiving gifts or coal, but we often miss what we get from this list of praise. When was the last time we saw beauty as praise for God. I usually see a beautiful sunset and think “good work God” but to see it and think “the sky is praising God” changes the view.
If everything around us is praising God by doing the things they were created to do than we are urged to praise God with every action we take as well. Not just in a church praising in song and prayer but working, playing, making resolutions. Everything we do with our gifts and resources is a praise to God.
* * *
Matthew 2:13-23
Dreaming for a Future
These final few days of 2019 will be spent by many thinking about where they were a year ago, and where they want to be this time next year. Some of us with high hopes will make resolutions to help us reach our 2020 goals. Some of us who are realists will gently suggest we try something new. We all hope to somehow influence the future we will be living shortly.
Getting a peak into the future is titillating. Psychics can make a good wage giving people a peak into the future. Books helping people decipher their dreams take up multiple pages on an amazon search. In this week’s text from Matthew, we have a very successful dream influencing how Mary and Joseph see their future. Joseph trusts what he has seen is true and moves his family accordingly. It isn’t just our own dreams that can shape our future though.
15 scientists who have worked for organizations like Stanford, NASA, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, and Apple dream of children falling in love with science. Their dream has created workshops for kindergarteners to get early practice at being scientists. As students learn about the different areas of science they hope to inspire the next generation to make science their future. A future much like the one in a picture taken on an old plantation last week. 15 medical school students, all descendants of American slaves, took an inspiring picture in front of a cabin that once houses slaves. They wore their white lab coats with pride, to tip the scales of representation and show more African-American’s in professional careers like medicine. The dreams of these scientists and medical professionals help us all see a safer and more exciting future.
* * * * * *
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: Praise God! Praise God from the heavens.
People: Praise God, wild animals, creeping things and flying birds!
Leader: Praise God, fire and hail, snow and frost, and stormy wind.
People: Praise God, sun and moon; and all you shining stars!
Leader: Praise the exalted name of our God.
People: Praise our God whose glory is over all creation.
OR
Leader: Come, let us celebrate the ways in which God has been with us.
People: Our God has truly been our help and our guide.
Leader: God has great dreams for the wholeness of all creation.
People: Let us dream these dreams with God today.
Leader: God not only dreams but acts to fulfill the dreams.
People: We will join God in dreaming and acting for hope.
Hymns and Songs:
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
UMH: 117
H82: 680
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
ELA: 632
W&P: 84
AMEC: 61
STLT: 281
Hymn of Promise
UMH: 707
NCH: 433
CH: 638
W&P: 515
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
ELA: 733
W&P: 72
AMEC: 84
Renew: 249
What Child Is This
UMH: 219
H82: 115
PH: 53
AAHH: 220
NNBH: 86
NCH: 148
CH: 162
LBW: 40
ELA: 296
W&P: 184
Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
UMH: 229
PH: 37
CH: 163
LBW: 44
ELA: 276
W&P: 221
To God Be the Glory
UMH: 98
PH: 485
AAHH: 157
NNBH: 17
CH: 39
W&P: 66
AMEC: 21
CCB: 91
Renew: 258
From All That Dwell Below the Skies
UMH: 101
H82: 380
PH: 229
NCH: 27
CH: 49
LBW: 550
AMEC: 69
STLT: 381
Now Thank We All Our God
UMH: 102
H82: 396/397
PH: 555
NNBH: 330
NCH: 419
CH: 715
LBW: 533/534
ELA: 839/840
W&P: 14
AMEC: 573
STLT: 32
Sing Unto the Lord a New Song
CCB: 16
Renew: 99
Our God Reigns
CCB: 33
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who is ever present and ever active in creation:
Grant us the grace to see where you have been at work
and to see where you are dreaming new dreams for us;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are always actively with us. You have been present in the whole of our lives. Help us to see where you have been with us so that we may dream with you the things you desire for the future of all creation. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially when we think that you have abandoned us.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have been with us from the first moment of creation. You have never withdrawn from us or given up on us and yet we act as if we are all alone in this life. When things happen we don’t like or don’t understand we ask where you have been as if you have deserted us. While you foresee a new and healed creation, we are focused on the past hurts and disappointments. Open our eyes to the wonderful news that you are our incarnate God who is always and forever part of our lives. Help us to live out of that reality. Amen.
Leader: God is with us then, now, and forever. Receive God’s grace and love and spread the good news to all.
Prayers of the People
We praise you and adore you, O God of creation and incarnation. You brought forth creation so that you could dwell within it with us.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have been with us from the first moment of creation. You have never withdrawn from us or given up on us and yet we act as if we are all alone in this life. When things happen we don’t like or don’t understand we ask where you have been as if you have deserted us. While you foresee a new and healed creation, we are focused on the past hurts and disappointments. Open our eyes to the wonderful news that you are our incarnate God who is always and forever part of our lives. Help us to live out of that reality.
We thank you for your constant love and presence in our lives. We thank you that where ever we go, you are there. We thank you for those in our lives who have allowed you to be present to us through their care and love for us and for others.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all who are in need. We pray for those who find it difficult to believe that you are here with them. As you continue to enfold them in your grace, help us to be physical signs of your presence and care.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Do you ever have dreams at night? Most of us do. Usually they are good dreams. But we also talk about dreams as those things that we really, really want to happen. We talk about dreams where no one is hungry or alone or afraid. God shares these dreams with us. They are God’s dreams, too. If we look back maybe we can think of times when God’s dreams came true for us. Where we felt really loved and cared for. We can celebrate these times and look for more in the future.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Siblings, All
by Dean Feldmeyer
Hebrews 2:10-18
You will need:
Nothing. Just the kids who come forward for the children’s message.
Say:
Good morning, boys and girls.
This morning one of our Bible lessons talks about brothers and sisters or, what we sometimes call, our siblings. How many of you have siblings, or brothers or sisters? Well, in fact, Jesus says that we can all raise our hands because, in the church, we are all brothers and sisters.
Okay, so let’s see those hands again. How many of you having siblings at home? So, what’s that like? Do you get along well with your brothers and sisters? All the time? Most of the time? Sometimes? Do you sometimes disagree about things and maybe even get into arguments? Do you ever get angry with each other?
How many of you would say that you get along pretty well with your siblings? Okay, what would you say is the key to getting along well? What do you do when you want to get along with each other? Share? Listen? Be kind? Those kinds of things?
Okay, now this is for all of you: Is there anyone, here, who is an only child? Who doesn’t have any brothers or sisters?
(Acknowledge the only’s in the group without making a big deal out of it or embarrassing them.)
There are all kinds of families, aren’t there? Big families with lots of brothers and sisters and little families with just a couple or maybe no brothers and sisters. Churches are like that, too, you know? Some churches are BIG and we have lots of siblings. Some are small with just a few siblings.
And in small families we never have to share but we also never get to share. Sometimes that can be nice but sometimes it isn’t so great.
Well, whether we have no brothers and sisters or lots of siblings, in today’s lesson, the author of the letter to the Hebrews reminds us that we always have each other as brothers and sisters. The church is our family and all these people here are our brothers and sisters and they love us and we love them, they take care of us and we take care of them, they teach us and we teach them.
That’s what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ. Isn’t it great to be part of that family? It sure is!
(End the message with a prayer, thanking God for our brothers and sisters in Christ, the church, and asking God to help us be good siblings with each other.)
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, December 29, 2019 issue.
Copyright 2019 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
- The Dreams We Have for Children by Chris Keating — Like Joseph, we have dreams for children. The problem has become many of these dreams have turned into nightmares, especially for children who have been abused or who are in foster care.
- Second Thoughts: Year In Review by Tom Willadsen — Tom approaches Isaiah's "recounting of the gracious deeds of the Lord," by examining the way this last Sunday of the year is a time for looking back while looking forward.
- Sermon illustrations by Ron Love, Mary Austin, and Bethany Peerbolte.
- Worship resources by George Reed that focus on the God moments of the past year; extending the dreams we have for children amidst abuse, poverty, and violence.
- Children’s sermon: Siblings, All by Dean Feldmeyer — The author of the letter to the Hebrews reminds us that we always have each other as brothers and sisters.
The Dreams We Have for Childrenby Chris Keating
Matthew 2:13-23
Joseph’s dream leads his family to safety, and is a reminder of the power of the dreams God has for all children.
Joseph’s dreams have the habit of becoming living nightmares. As Matthew recounts Joseph’s story, the man hardly gets a good night’s sleep. It was one thing to have an angel announce that Joseph was going to become a foster parent, but quite another to learn the government has put a price on your kid’s head. This time the angel even skips the serene salutation, bypassing the customary assurance that Joseph should not be afraid.
This dream is alarming, even traumatizing. The child is in danger, and there’s no time to waste. “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt,” the angel warns. Even a refugee’s existence is better than waiting to be killed. For Joseph, dreams of family life have suddenly become a nightmare.
On the second Sunday of Christmas, the texts seem less like the script of a Hallmark Channel movie and more like a horror film. It’s more than just Joseph and Mary’s baby that is at risk; no babies near Bethlehem will escape Herod’s ego-fueled rage. As the sweet-smell of frankincense and myrrh trail behind them, Joseph and Mary high-tail it out of town.
This is not the stuff of Christmas plays and pageants. But Joseph’s dreams do underscore the unfolding promises of the incarnation as a sign of God’s presence with those who suffer. Joseph’s dreams are the dreams every parent has but are also reminders that for many those dreams have turned into nightmares.
The nightmares are familiar:
- Last month the Vatican reported a “tsunami” of new reports of child sexual abuse, particularly from countries where allegations have never been made before;
- Investigations by the Kansas City Star newspaper found that states spend more money on removing children from homes than helping them stay in their families. Over the past five years in Kansas, for example, foster care spending increased 100 times more than spending on abuse prevention.
- The Star also found that for many families, government separation is a result of poverty and racial factors. Black children enter foster care at rates significantly higher than white children. One attorney claims families are more often “ripped apart for poverty and not abuse.”
- On any given day in the United States, about 443,000 children are in foster care. Most live in private homes, but at least 11 percent are living in institutions or group facilities.
- Rates of PTSD among foster children are higher than rates of Iraqi war vets.
As the sounds of Rachel’s inconsolable cries rise above the Christmas din, so do the promises of one child, sheltered by caring hands who dared to trust in God’s dream. For many children, however, that dream will always be a nightmare.
In the News
Fortunately, a dream leads Jesus’ family out of imminent danger. For other vulnerable children, the pathway is more predictable, and often nothing more than an express lane to suffering. Their dreams of well-being and security frequently resemble the incubus faced by Herod’s victims. The muffled cries of these children are frequently ignored, or even silenced.
Recently, one of the Catholic church’s most secret organizations – The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – has reversed rules which kept details of abusive behavior by priests under wraps. Some of the victims abused by priests may soon be able to dream again, though clerics in the CDF warn that the worst of the crisis is yet to come.
Recently, the Vatican abolished the so-called “pontifical secret” rule in efforts to rebuild trust with disillusioned Catholics. Inside the gates of the Vatican, a small palazzo leads to the offices of the CDF, the Vatican agency charged with reviewing the “tsunami” wave of cases of priests charged with child sexual abuse. Reports of abuse from the United States and Ireland have long dominated headlines, but now the CDF is beginning to see an uptick in reports from other countries such as Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Poland. The head of the CDF’s discipline section recently told the Associated Press that the staggering workload has caused him to understand how people lose faith.
"I suppose if I weren't a priest and if I had a child who were abused, I'd probably stop going to Mass," said Monsignor John Kennedy, a priest from Ireland who has witnessed the church’s loss of credibility over abuse."I'd probably stop having anything to do with the church because I'd say, `Well, if you can't look after children, well, why should I believe you?"
The sounds of Rachel’s weeping for her children can still be heard. Kennedy says the work exacts a toll on him.
“There are times when I am poring over cases that I want to get up and scream, that I want to pack up my things and leave the office and not come back,” Kennedy said.
America’s foster and child welfare systems offer another example of the dangerous paths traveled by vulnerable children. An exhaustive investigation by the Kansas City Star demonstrated the failings of child protective services across the country. Last week, the Kansas City Star published the results of its year-long investigations in a series of six articles. “Throwaway Kids” describes the growing dysfunction of America’s foster care system. It’s a system crumbling under the weight of waves of children entering foster care, budget cuts, lawsuits and mismanagement.
“We are sending more foster kids to prison than college,” said Brent Kent, an Indiana child welfare advocate. “And what do we lose as a result? Generations of young people. I think as a society we view foster children the same way that we might view offenders coming out of prison or addicts in recovery. We forget that they are just children, that they were put in foster care and removed from their families through no fault of their own.”
As the Star’s reporting shows, these are clearly not the dreams we have for children.
The newspaper conducted research on nearly 6,000 inmates in 12 states. About one in four inmates reported that they had been in foster care. Inmates reported years of being shuffled from placement to placement. Sixty percent experienced homelessness, and over half had been convicted of juvenile offenses, while only 16 percent graduated from high school. One female inmate in Kansas who moved homes 21 times in six years reported being told “how worthless I was and no one would ever love me.” She added, “my hopes were always crushed.”
Under the administration of former Kansas governor Sam Brownback, the state imposed policies restricting aid to families in crisis. Numbers of children in foster ballooned during Brownback’s tenure, as did the number of children reported missing in the state. Children who run away from foster homes are particularly vulnerable to sex trafficking.
Efforts to assist vulnerable families are often cut, placing additional burdens on minority and lower income families. Kansas, for example, increased funding for foster care 100 times more than it did for prevention services. More money is spent investigating families than developing proactive services which could prevent abuse.
The Family First Prevention Services act, a bipartisan bill enacted by Congress last year, allows states to earmark money for prevention services. But many states have not signed on to the act, which requires matching funds from states. As a result, kids are shifted through series of foster care placements that negatively impact their brain development.
To be sure, foster care is often the best – and most appropriate – placement. But neglecting preventative care has resulted in a foster care system that is jammed pack and overflowing. Researchers describe nightmarish conditions of children sleeping in child welfare offices or homeless shelters.
But the systems are broken, leaving thousands of children at risk. The long-term effects include inferior education, lingering trauma and poor prospects for transitioning into adulthood. The challenges can seem like Herod’s diabolical reactions to Jesus’ birth.
These forces work like the tyrant’s edict by creating circumstances which turn the dreams of childhood into living nightmares. Michelle Voorhees, a 28-year old inmate at the Topeka, KS Correctional Facility, spent years in foster care situations. She often dreams about how her life might have turned out differently if her mother had received parenting assistance.
“Had my mom just had a little bit of help,” Voorhees told the Kansas City Star, “had she had enough money to buy her own vehicle, had she had enough money to relocate herself from an abusive situation, had she not had to have been dependent on men in the first place for any kind of financial stability, I don’t believe that she would have made some of the decisions that she made.”
“I don’t believe that she would have struggled as a mother,” she continues, “because my mom is a good mom.”
In the Scripture
Matthew scholar Warren Carter aptly captures the evil intent of Herod’s rage by calling these verses “The Empire Strikes Back.” (See Carter, Matthew and the Margins, p. 73). His assessment accurately reflects the way Herod peels back the golden-tinted veneer of Jesus’ birth. The arrival of the magi in Matthew 2 fuels Herod’s narcissistic mania. Matthew drives home that this helpless, vulnerable infant is the true King of the Jews. His rule stands opposed to the would-be King, as Matthew demonstrates in his genealogical account of Jesus’ origins in chapter one.
Herod understands the political threat posed by the child. What he does not understand is that his usual tactics are futile against the power of God. He frightened and anxious response will not prevent God’s plan. His fury at the magi’s deception fuels his determined response to contain the child at all costs.
Matthew’s use of dream imagery is a reminder of how God is at work, despite Herod’s paranoia. The empire seems to be in control, but that is an illusion. But even a rogue despot can cause mayhem, as the insurance commercials regularly remind us. Herod orders the massacre of children, while the hunted one escapes. Eventually it will be that child who will triumph over the powers of the empire by declaring that “all authority and power” have been given to him.
For now, however, the child is under the protective care of his earthly foster father. Joseph receives the dream and embraces his role, even if he does not fully understand what’s at stake.
In the Sermon
Let’s be honest: this week’s text is hardly the stuff of Christmas pageants. Matthew takes us beyond the merriment of the season by reminding his readers that while the Lord of Lords has been born, he remains a threat to the empires of this world.
It takes a dream to keep him safe. Actually, it takes a couple: one to the “wise guys,” to warn them not to play into Herod’s hand, and another to Joseph to once again follow God’s leading. As Anna Case-Winters notes, “Matthews telling of the desperate flight of Jesus a nd family does not lend itself to sweet, sentimentalized renderings we are most accustomed to seeing on Christmas cards. What if our Christmas cards features the faces of these 43.7 million (refugees)?” (Ca)se-Winters, Matthew, p. 29. She points out that the vulnerability of Jesus underscores a salient feature of the God who truly is Emmanuel – God with us.
If our congregations are dreaming of Sunday school rooms filled with children, perhaps the sermon could help us dream differently. Where in the world is God calling the church to be with the scared and vulnerable children this year?
Instead of running away from this sharp-edged text, a sermon could explore the many ways the church can carry the message of Emmanuel into these often-dreary days of January. The tinsel is sagging, and the trees are getting dry. Maybe our dreams of a perfect Christmas have not happened, but that does not mean the dream of God is over.
By paying attention to the inequities and dysfunction of the child welfare system, or by naming the places where vulnerable children still need someone to dream for them, the preacher could open possibilities for new conversations. Alternatively, the sermon might name the positive role played by faithful case managers and compassionate foster families. Imagine the power of a child reading the text this Sunday, or a family choosing the share their adoption experience.
The hope of the gospel arises out of the context of Rachel’s tearful lament.
Matthew wants the church to know that the child who flees the wrath of the emperor is the one who will remain with us. The hopefulness embodied in Joseph’s dream could be the good news we all need to hear, offering an important counter narrative to the empire’s strategies to replace dreams of faith with unending evil nightmares.
SECOND THOUGHTSYear In Review
by Tom Willadsen
The liturgical calendar says this is the first Sunday of the Season of Christmas, but most of our parishioners left the Christmas season about 3:30 in the afternoon December 25. We have our eyes on the next holiday, though it is hardly a Holy Day. The week between Christmas and New Year is a sort of fallow time. A generation ago stores were filled with people returning unwanted presents and stocking up on sales of Christmas merchandise whose prices had been slashed. It’s hard to get the same feeling of being harried in a crowd now that so much of our purchasing and returning are done with a few clicks of a mouse or a touch of an app. Schools are out. Radio stations often switch abruptly from Christmas music to recounting the biggest hits of the year that will soon pass. Little news is generated so retrospectives of the headlines of the year that is about to end fill broadcasts and “news hole.”
Preacher, you might consider Isaiah 63:7a, “I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord, the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,” and take stock of 2019, its highpoints, struggles and challenges faced by your congregation, community, perhaps your denomination, or the nation as a whole.
January is named for Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, transitions, doorways and endings. Janus had two faces, one looks ahead and one looks back.
There’s a wonderful picture in Dr. Seuss’s “I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew” in which the main character is whatever the opposite of cross-eyed is, as he tries to look ahead and behind at the same time.
That’s kind of where a lot of our members are today, looking ahead, but also looking back. And there will be those who say, “Big deal, another trip around the Sun,” while others will opine, “A brand new year when I can make a completely fresh start!” Keep your eye on this latter group; they’ll show up Ash Wednesday, seeking a mulligan on their New Year’s Resolutions.
When monologist Spaulding Gray was preparing to appear in “The Killing Fields” he marveled at what he learned about Cambodian culture, “They even knew how to have a good time on New Year’s Eve. I couldn’t believe it.” (“Swimming to Cambodia,” New York: Theatre Communications Group, Inc. 1985) To be fair, I should mention that there are people who are dear to me who embrace New Year’s as their favorite holiday. “You can’t lose,” they reason, “if you had a bad year, celebrate that it’s over. If you can a good year, re-live the happy times.”
It’s fitting that during this in-between sort of week the impeachment proceedings are on hold as Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, awaits word on how the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, plans to conduct the impeachment trial. Their stand-off is in perfect harmony with the lack of news being generated elsewhere in American society.
Now to “salacious deeds” and “cringe-worthy deeds” for 2019 to paraphrase Isaiah.
There is no question that the impeachment of President Trump is the story of 2019. It is only the third time a president has been impeached. While the last impeachment was only 20 years ago, I’m drawing something like comfort in the notion that a president is impeached once a century. Perhaps the current impeachment will buy us a reprieve until the 22nd Century. The vote to impeach was along strict party lines, which not only illustrates the polarization of American political opinion, but also the rigidity with which people hold their political opinions. Few people see the recently passed spending bill that will keep the federal government from shutting down for the rest of the fiscal year, or the recently-negotiated replacement for NAFTA as hopeful signs of bipartisanship. Our divisions are stark and entrenched.
The other tops news stories listed by the Associated Press on December 20, 2019 are not one-time events, like tornadoes, say, but situations that have developed over time:
• Fallout from US immigration policy;
• The Mueller investigation;
• Mass shootings (This year’s were in El Paso; Dayton, OH; Gilroy, CA and Virginia Beach; add the one in New Zealand, another American export?);
• The opioid crisis;
• Climate change;
• Brexit;
• Trade wars, especially the one between the US and China;
• The second crash of a Boeing 737 max, and inquiries about how it was approved as safe; and
• Protests in Hong Kong
It makes you want to cue Anne Murray right about now, doesn’t it? We sure could use a little good news today.
Okay, Isaiah invites us to consider “gracious deeds” and “praiseworthy acts;” some of these might fit that description:
There have been major advances in the treatment of sickle cell disease, also called sickle cell anemia in 2019.
One of the drugs approved by the FDA in November, Oxbryta, treats the underlying cause of the disease, not merely reducing its symptoms.
In March a second patient was found to be free of the AIDS virus following a transplant of AIDS-resistant white blood cells. This had happened before about ten years ago, to the so-called “Berlin patient.” The second instance offers hope for a treatment that can be replicated. The key is transplanting white blood cells that show both mutations that are resistant to the AIDS virus. Research is on-going, but this is a very promising breakthrough that may have profound effects on sub-Saharan nations in particular.
In April, the first visual images of a Black Hole were released by a team of astronomers.
In theory, it should be impossible to photograph a Black Hole. They are so massive light cannot escape their gravitational pull; one would expect there would be nothing to see. In this case, an array of telescopes around the world, coordinated by astronomers, was able to capture images of matter at the “event horizon,” the point at which nothing—not even light--can escape a Black Hole’s gravity.
A series of terrorist attacks targeting Muslims in New Zealand in March horrified the world, but the response of New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, was a model for leaders of how to express empathy and compassion to a nation that was reeling from its largest ever terrorist attack.
Ardern donned a hajib and spoke with fierce courage and conviction that the acts of the Australian man accused of committing these horrific murders would unite New Zealand and be a catalyst for that nation’s being a global model of inclusion and tolerance.
Sadly, the faith-related news stories that got the most attention in 2019 did not put the Christian church in a favorable light. The United Methodist Church is in the middle of a wrenching process discerning the place of LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage in their denomination. Four months after a significant decision in February, it appeared that schism was unavoidable.
While sexual scandals have gotten a lot of attention in the wider press, there have been some important strides by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention as these traditions are confronting the issue of clergy sex abuse with greater honesty, transparency and self-examination.
In the middle of December, the Vatican announced steps they are taking to increase accountability to civil authorities and taking a harder line against child pornography.
The Houston Chronicle published a series of articles in February about sexual abuse in Southern Baptist churches. At its 2019 Convention in June, the SBC acknowledged that one factor contributing to a climate where abuse was prevalent was “Wrong teaching that leads to treatment of women and children as inferior to men in value, intellect, and discernment” and “Misapplication of complementarian teaching, leading to women submitting to headship of all men.” (from the “Caring Well Report”).
While these scandals are embarrassing to the wider Christian church and “organized religion” in general, the faithful responses from church leaders are “gracious deeds” and “praiseworthy acts,” parts of these stories that are often overlooked after the initial shock of their discovery.
One of the year’s most significant topics in religious news came to stunning attention on December 19, just 12 days before the end of the year. Christianity Today, the magazine founded by Billy Graham “help evangelical Christians interpret the news in a manner that reflects their faith,” published an editorial called “ Trump Should Be Removed from Office.”
The editorial, after conceding that “the Democrats have it out for him since day one,” goes on to say
The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president’s moral deficiencies for all to see. This damages the institution of the presidency, damages the reputation of our country, and damages both the spirit and the future of our people. None of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character.
The pushback to CT’s editorial was swift and fierce.
In response to the response, CT’s editor in chief said, “We’ve lost subscribers, but we’ve had three times as many people start to subscribe.”
Perhaps we should end this year (every year?) with a chorus of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.” See you next year!
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Ron Love:Matthew 2:13
an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said
Angelo went home and prayed. He besought Jesus to make him big and strong. Fervently Angelo continued to petition his Savior for strength. Then one Saturday morning a kindly man, Mr. Davenport, took Angelo to the Brooklyn Museum. There the youth saw a gigantic Grecian statue of a man with bulging muscles. He inquired if there were men really like that? Mr. Davenport replied there were men that muscular. Angelo then asked if he could ever have such a physique, and his mentor replied, “If you try hard, if you love the Lord, you can do anything with yourself.”
Angelo returned home and prayed more fervently than ever. His answer came one morning as he observed his cat. When the cat got up, he stretched, then arched his back, bringing one muscle to bear against another, creating tension. Angelo realized he could build his muscles by doing the same with his body.
In time Angelo became the “Strongest Man in the World,” and changed his name to Charles Atlas. Soon children everywhere were writing Mr. Atlas, asking how they could become as strong as he. In response he developed a course for muscle building; he also told the children they must have Jesus Christ in their hearts.
* * *
Matthew 2:13
an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said
Lou Holtz, the renowned coach of Notre Dame, concluded his autobiography with this message: “God answers prayers.” As a youth he was an altar boy for his church. Each day he would pray that God would make him bigger and quicker and faster so he could be a star football player. Remaining slim and small, each morning he wondered why his prayer went unanswered. When Holtz’s life was directed into coaching, he realized that God had answered his prayer. The Lord directed his life in a way that allowed him to have even a greater impact upon the sport and society. Holtz wrote that God “has more than amply answered all those prayers that I didn’t think he had.” Holtz thought his only contribution could come from physical strength; the Lord intended it to be from wisdom and virtue.
* * *
Matthew 2:13
an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said
Encountering trouble in life we can call upon the blessings and promises of God; we must realize though, that the sanctity of God demands a response on our part: dedication and obedience to the mandates of the Scriptures. In the movie Angel in My Pocket, Andy Griffith portrayed Rev. Samuel Whitehead who accepted the call to serve a church in Wood Falls, Kansas. When he arrived in town, he found feuding among the residents, and a parochialism that made it impossible to implement new ideas. In addition to this, not all of the townspeople were as honest as one would expect. Frustrated that Mayor Sinclair was not properly distributing public funds to the educational institution, Rev. Whitehead removed his three children from school in protest. When the sheriff came to his home, the reverend, in disgust, yelled from the window, “All this town needs is a little shove. That’s all, a little shove.” So, Rev. Whitehead shoved here and pushed there, and finally the man with an angel in his pocket was able to let God rule, bringing reform and restoring harmony.
* * *
Matthew 2:13
an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said
Billy Graham in his book Angels: God’s Secret Agents, affirms the existence of angles servants of the Lord. Graham confirms in his book “that God has countless angels at His command. Furthermore, God has commissioned these angels to aid His children in their struggles against Satan. I am convinced that these heavenly beings exist and that they provide aid on our behalf.” As we confront the evils of society, when we are overcome by the trials and tribulation in life, and unnerved by despair and weakened by a sense of hopelessness, it is comforting to know that God’s angels will empower us and prayer will sustain us.
* * *
Matthew 2:13
an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said
Leonard Staisey, who was born in 1920 and died in 1990, lived his entire life in Pittsburgh. At the age of nine he had a brain tumor that caused him to become blind; though blindness did not hinder him from having a long and distinguished career in law and politics. Staisey served as a Duquesne city councilman, a Pennsylvania state senator, and an Alleghany County commissioner. He sat on the Common Pleas Court. The 69-year-old Judge describes his accomplishments with these words; “I have never been able to walk away from a challenge. I say to myself: ‘Why not?’ I’m one of the ‘why not’ people.” If you truly place your faith in God and summon the power of the Holy Spirit, if you pledge your allegiance to the angels of heaven and trust in the guidance of our Lord, then any of life’s obstacles can be surmounted. Faith in God is the only requirement for being a “why not” person.
* * * * * *
From team member Mary Austin:Isaiah 63:7-9
Saved by God, Reunited by Grace
After the catastrophic 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Nadine Devilme had an experience much like Isaiah describes. It is God’s presence who saves, this mother knows. Her baby, Jenny Alexis, spent four days in the rubble, and wasn’t expected to live when she was taken out. After Jenny Alexis recovered, Nadine Devilme praised God often, and also wanted to thank the doctor who treated the baby. “There was one problem: Devilme never knew the doctor's name, never knew exactly whom to thank for treating her daughter's fractured skull and crushed chest and then arranging for her to be airlifted to a hospital in Miami. Meanwhile, the physician who saved Jenny, Dr. Karen Schneider” was also wondering how the baby was doing. "I want to know, is she walking, starting to talk, is she playing, because when she first came to me, I didn't think she'd be able to do any of those things," Schneider said. "I didn't think she would live."
“When the earthquake struck, Devilme was in one part of her home in Port-au-Prince, and Jenny was in another part with her baby sitter. Devilme was injured and taken to a local hospital, and her husband, Junior Alexis, who was unharmed in the quake, returned to their ruined home to search for Jenny in the rubble. He couldn't find her, but four days later, someone else found Jenny amid the concrete and flagged down a journalist who was driving nearby, who took the baby to a makeshift hospital…Schneider, the head of pediatrics at the hospital, had been up for 30 hours straight and had finally lain down for a nap when a nurse woke her up to take care of Jenny. "She wasn't conscious, and she had head trauma -- she had an indentation in her skull," Schneider told Devilme on Monday. "And another thing that terrified me was her chest was completely caved in and everything was pushed to one side." But Schneider's biggest concern was after four days without any liquids, Jenny was so dehydrated she couldn't even get an IV into her veins. With no other choice, she delivered fluids directly into Jenny's leg bones, a risky procedure. Once Jenny was stabilized, Project Medishare paid for a private jet to fly her to Miami.”
A year later, during a layover in Miami, Schneider asked to meet with the family, who had received visas to remain in the U.S. "Oh my gosh, she's so big! So big!" Schneider exclaimed when she saw Jenny. "Marche? Marche?" she asked, using the Creole word for "walk." "Is she walking?" "Yes, yes!" Devilme told her. "Her smile, it goes up on both sides? Or does it droop on one side?" Schneider asked, concerned that trauma to Jenny's head during the earthquake might have damaged the baby's facial nerves.” Devilme reassured the doctor that Jenny had a typical smile. “Devilme called over an interpreter to translate from Creole to English.
"I would like to say thank you for saving my daughter, because I always wanted to meet you and I never had the opportunity," Devilme told Schneider. "For me, it's just a great thing to be able to say thank you to you." "You're welcome," Schneider said as she hugged Devilme. "It's such a gift to be able to see this baby."
Dr. Schneider also agreed to be Jenny’s godmother, maintaining the connection that started after the earthquake. As the prophet Isaiah tells us, it is God who saves.
* * *
Matthew 2:13-23
People on the Move
In this time when we’re thinking so deeply about the millions of people around the world who are now refugees, the story of Joseph fleeing with his family has countless modern counterparts. Sister Marilyn Lacey has spent her life working with displaced people, like Mary, Joseph and Jesus. She writes about meeting people with much the same terror and stress that the Holy Family knows. “When I first set out, I might as well have been Indiana Jones. Each day was sheer adventure. I’d never been out of the United States before, and now here I was flying off on my own to Bangkok…my initial calling to this ministry had been through a dream in which it was quite clear that the refugees would be teaching me many things, above all “a new way of loving,” but I’m afraid I lost sight of that humble perspective shortly after the wheels of the nearly empty 747 lifted off from the runway at the San Francisco Airport. Besides the crew, the charter plane carried only ten passengers, all headed for work in refugee camps. The plane was heading to Thailand in order to pick up a full load of Southeast Asian refugees destined for permanent resettlement in the United States. In the company of nine seasoned refugee workers, I managed to transform myself, within the space of a twenty-two hour flight, into a grand emissary of mercy, an agent of God who would do great things, able to leap tall oceans in a single bound, sent to rescue beleaguered exiles. I was overjoyed to be on my way. Never mind that I didn’t care for rice (or camping, for that matter), spoke no foreign language, knew next to nothing about the refugee camps, had only a six-week visa (though I planned to stay a year), and had absolutely no idea where I would be working…”
She ended up staying in a refugee camp for a year, where “living quarters were eighteen inches of space per person on six-foot deep bamboo shelves in long, thatched barracks, with a flimsy fabric curtain hung to separate the compartments. A family of four, for example, lived on a platform six feet square. It was raised a few inches above the dirt ground to provide some protection from scorpion and snakes, of which there were plenty. Water was strictly rationed.” The routine was of “hypnotic sameness. The heat, the dust, the pervasive poverty, the unchanging pattern of the refugees’ confined, artificial existence, all forged a strange sense of near-normalcy to the situation. Occasionally, however, I witnessed things that shook me deeply. A three-year-old girl singing to herself while she played with her newfound toy: a dead rat on a string. Newlyweds who had nothing to serve to their wedding guests but watermelon seeds (until the local Sisters saved the day with a bottle of whiskey). The drowning death of a refugee child in one of the camp ponds: “We couldn’t have prevented it,” the grieving parents explained. “That pond is haunted.”
My adult students were, compared to most of the American teens I had taught, positively zealous in their pursuit of learning. In the Lao culture, teachers are revered; accordingly, the refugees treated me like near-royalty. They were accustomed only to rote learning. Teacher says a sentence; students repeat it in unison. I, however, taught American-style. We engaged in spontaneous conversations, we did role plays, we invented grammar games; we read short stories and then discussed them, In their eyes, I was the world’s most creative teacher. They greeted my simplest lesson plans with rapt attention. No one was ever absent. One morning Sourasith came to class shivering, sweating, and flushed. I asked if he was sick. “Oh yes, I have malaria; but I didn’t want to miss class!”
When she returned to the states, she found herself disoriented. “The refugees I'd grown so close to were now in the austerity camp. They didn’t have enough to eat. They didn’t ever expect to be released or resettled elsewhere. They were cut off from the outside world. Meanwhile, I was back in the United States, where my friends were eager to celebrate my homecoming and take me out to dinner to hear all about my adventures. Sitting in a restaurant, facing a full plate of food, I would see only the refugees’ meager rations. I knew that the amount on my plate could feed an entire family, The food stuck in my throat. Hiking with friends in the California foothills, surrounded by the beauty of open fields and wildflowers, I would visualize the confinement of the refugees who had no freedom of movement, their days circumscribed by double rows of barbed wire fencing. My choice to spend ten dollars seeing a movie with a friend weighed on me; that money, if sent instead to the camp, could have purchased medicine for Somchai’s sick child.”
Whether as a refugee, or as a companion, the experience never leaves. We can imagine Mary and Joseph as forever changed by their experience of going to Egypt, and then coming back.
* * *
Matthew 2:13-23
Moved by a Dream
Sister Marilyn Lacey, who tells about her time living with refugees, recalls her anger when she returned home to the United States. Feeling helpless to do anything for the people she had known, she raged at God. Perhaps Joseph voiced some of the same frustration to God. She called out to God: Which God are you? And why don’t you answer these tears? I have always wanted to love you.
In reply, she says, “God chose not to respond on my timeline. Nevertheless, the act of venting provided me some relief, and so I plowed back into academia with anger simmering on the back burner. God and I were now at a stand-off. Then one day I experienced something like a waking dream. I was not praying, but merely sitting in a garden near the university, mulling over the mess in which I felt so mired. Without intending to, I suddenly found myself in dialog with the God whom I’d shunted aside for so many weeks…And much to my surprise, God replied:
I'm glad you've noticed them. Go ahead; be angry, but please don’t hate me. I am with you in this, more than you could ever realize. And I am with your brothers and sisters in the camps, too, even as I am blamed for the burdens they now bear. Come now, let your tears flow. See, I am weeping with you.
Our stand-off ended right then and there, as God and I wept together in that Berkeley garden. Since that moment, I have understood God differently. No matter what the theologians may say to the contrary, | know that God is not All-Powerful, at least not as most of us understand power. Why not? Because those who love never exert control over others. Because loving makes us utterly vulnerable, as C.S. Lewis described in his book The Four Loves:
To love at all is to become vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safely in the casket or coffin of your selfishness, But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless space, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.”
Sister Marilyn Lacey adds that she discovered what Joseph came to know, too. “Despite our persistent and stubborn expectations to the contrary, God never promises to take away our pain, but rather pledges to remain close to us in the midst of it. The prophets invite us to “call his name Emmanuel, which means, God With Us” (Is 7:14).”
* * *
Psalm 148
Praise
The Psalmist invites us to end the old year and begin a new year with praise. Everything in the universe is called to praise God. We might think this only applies to the perfect creations among us, but blogger Patty de Llosa says it's the crooked things that call to her. She tells us, “Nature moves in curves and curlicues. Perhaps that’s why I love the many crooked trees even more than the few arrow-straight ones. They look like they’ve fought for survival in a tough world. Like me. Like you. Notice how they grow both up and sideways, twisted and curved from battling the wind, the storms, or a gardener’s pruning sheers. And how about those gnarly bushes I passed the other day on the road through the park? Balanced on top of a huge rock, their roots twisted every which way down its side to sink deep into a narrow crevasse at the bottom. How I admire the struggle of those roots down the rocky slope, actively in search of earth so they can nourish themselves, while their branches reach toward heaven, stretching up to the sun.”
As we enter a New Year, we can apply the same lessons to our own lives, finding and embracing the crooked places. She suggests, “Does a secret desire to be perfect lurk half-submerged in your unconscious? If so, you’re like me. I’ll bet even when you succeed you’re often disappointed. What are your “upward” aims? Write them down. How many of your big plans succeeded? What was the cost of success when they did? What did you accuse yourself of if you failed?” Or, we may not see the places where our thoughts have become crooked, and fail to give God praise. “From early childhood on, we’ve been influenced by a lot of opinions. We collect them, often automatically, stuff them in the closet of our mind, and bring them out whenever they seem appropriate or when we need a quick point of view to win an argument. Can you separate your principles from your opinions? Make one list for the principles, another for the borrowed opinions.”
In all of that, when we see it clearly, we can give our fullest praise to God, as the Psalmist calls us to do.
* * * * * *
From team member Bethany PeerbolteIsaiah 63:7-9
Saving Presence
Presence is powerful. Militaries monitor the presence of other countries closely. Any uptick in presence could mean a fight is brewing. When police have a heavy presence we feel it on the road. Just seeing a cop car can cause drivers to be more careful and make the roads safer.
There is motto I have heard repeated this Holiday season in a number of different ways, but the basis is that “presence” is better than “presents.” As a news report in Wisconsin points out, the holidays can be very isolating. Some people are miles from family, and their friends all leave town for the holidays. Some people do not feel welcome even if they have family nearby they could visit. Even in a crowded living room a person can feel isolated if the conversation shifts to a topic they feel very differently about than their family.
In Isaiah this week verse 9 says “his presence saved them.” As we continue on in the Christmas season God’s presence with us in Jesus is a great focus for the sermon. The power of what it means to have God here, present on earth, patrolling our roads, preparing for the fight against sin. It’s a power that Kings make kings tremble. Herod won’t even attempt to meet or get to know Jesus, he just wants him dead. The “powerful” on earth continue to have this reaction to Jesus’s presence, until Good Friday.
* * *
Psalm 148
Making a List
Well, hopefully all our congregants made it onto Santa’s “nice” list this year and they are joining us this Sunday with happy hearts. Now that we are done singing and worrying about Santa’s lists we have in Psalm 148 an even better list. This is a list answering the question “who should praise God.” The short answer is all of creation. From angels to the dirt of the earth, everything should praise God.
Santa’s lists result in us receiving gifts or coal, but we often miss what we get from this list of praise. When was the last time we saw beauty as praise for God. I usually see a beautiful sunset and think “good work God” but to see it and think “the sky is praising God” changes the view.
If everything around us is praising God by doing the things they were created to do than we are urged to praise God with every action we take as well. Not just in a church praising in song and prayer but working, playing, making resolutions. Everything we do with our gifts and resources is a praise to God.
* * *
Matthew 2:13-23
Dreaming for a Future
These final few days of 2019 will be spent by many thinking about where they were a year ago, and where they want to be this time next year. Some of us with high hopes will make resolutions to help us reach our 2020 goals. Some of us who are realists will gently suggest we try something new. We all hope to somehow influence the future we will be living shortly.
Getting a peak into the future is titillating. Psychics can make a good wage giving people a peak into the future. Books helping people decipher their dreams take up multiple pages on an amazon search. In this week’s text from Matthew, we have a very successful dream influencing how Mary and Joseph see their future. Joseph trusts what he has seen is true and moves his family accordingly. It isn’t just our own dreams that can shape our future though.
15 scientists who have worked for organizations like Stanford, NASA, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, and Apple dream of children falling in love with science. Their dream has created workshops for kindergarteners to get early practice at being scientists. As students learn about the different areas of science they hope to inspire the next generation to make science their future. A future much like the one in a picture taken on an old plantation last week. 15 medical school students, all descendants of American slaves, took an inspiring picture in front of a cabin that once houses slaves. They wore their white lab coats with pride, to tip the scales of representation and show more African-American’s in professional careers like medicine. The dreams of these scientists and medical professionals help us all see a safer and more exciting future.
* * * * * *
WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: Praise God! Praise God from the heavens.
People: Praise God, wild animals, creeping things and flying birds!
Leader: Praise God, fire and hail, snow and frost, and stormy wind.
People: Praise God, sun and moon; and all you shining stars!
Leader: Praise the exalted name of our God.
People: Praise our God whose glory is over all creation.
OR
Leader: Come, let us celebrate the ways in which God has been with us.
People: Our God has truly been our help and our guide.
Leader: God has great dreams for the wholeness of all creation.
People: Let us dream these dreams with God today.
Leader: God not only dreams but acts to fulfill the dreams.
People: We will join God in dreaming and acting for hope.
Hymns and Songs:
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
UMH: 117
H82: 680
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
ELA: 632
W&P: 84
AMEC: 61
STLT: 281
Hymn of Promise
UMH: 707
NCH: 433
CH: 638
W&P: 515
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
ELA: 733
W&P: 72
AMEC: 84
Renew: 249
What Child Is This
UMH: 219
H82: 115
PH: 53
AAHH: 220
NNBH: 86
NCH: 148
CH: 162
LBW: 40
ELA: 296
W&P: 184
Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
UMH: 229
PH: 37
CH: 163
LBW: 44
ELA: 276
W&P: 221
To God Be the Glory
UMH: 98
PH: 485
AAHH: 157
NNBH: 17
CH: 39
W&P: 66
AMEC: 21
CCB: 91
Renew: 258
From All That Dwell Below the Skies
UMH: 101
H82: 380
PH: 229
NCH: 27
CH: 49
LBW: 550
AMEC: 69
STLT: 381
Now Thank We All Our God
UMH: 102
H82: 396/397
PH: 555
NNBH: 330
NCH: 419
CH: 715
LBW: 533/534
ELA: 839/840
W&P: 14
AMEC: 573
STLT: 32
Sing Unto the Lord a New Song
CCB: 16
Renew: 99
Our God Reigns
CCB: 33
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who is ever present and ever active in creation:
Grant us the grace to see where you have been at work
and to see where you are dreaming new dreams for us;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are always actively with us. You have been present in the whole of our lives. Help us to see where you have been with us so that we may dream with you the things you desire for the future of all creation. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially when we think that you have abandoned us.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have been with us from the first moment of creation. You have never withdrawn from us or given up on us and yet we act as if we are all alone in this life. When things happen we don’t like or don’t understand we ask where you have been as if you have deserted us. While you foresee a new and healed creation, we are focused on the past hurts and disappointments. Open our eyes to the wonderful news that you are our incarnate God who is always and forever part of our lives. Help us to live out of that reality. Amen.
Leader: God is with us then, now, and forever. Receive God’s grace and love and spread the good news to all.
Prayers of the People
We praise you and adore you, O God of creation and incarnation. You brought forth creation so that you could dwell within it with us.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have been with us from the first moment of creation. You have never withdrawn from us or given up on us and yet we act as if we are all alone in this life. When things happen we don’t like or don’t understand we ask where you have been as if you have deserted us. While you foresee a new and healed creation, we are focused on the past hurts and disappointments. Open our eyes to the wonderful news that you are our incarnate God who is always and forever part of our lives. Help us to live out of that reality.
We thank you for your constant love and presence in our lives. We thank you that where ever we go, you are there. We thank you for those in our lives who have allowed you to be present to us through their care and love for us and for others.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all who are in need. We pray for those who find it difficult to believe that you are here with them. As you continue to enfold them in your grace, help us to be physical signs of your presence and care.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Do you ever have dreams at night? Most of us do. Usually they are good dreams. But we also talk about dreams as those things that we really, really want to happen. We talk about dreams where no one is hungry or alone or afraid. God shares these dreams with us. They are God’s dreams, too. If we look back maybe we can think of times when God’s dreams came true for us. Where we felt really loved and cared for. We can celebrate these times and look for more in the future.
CHILDREN'S SERMONSiblings, All
by Dean Feldmeyer
Hebrews 2:10-18
You will need:
Nothing. Just the kids who come forward for the children’s message.
Say:
Good morning, boys and girls.
This morning one of our Bible lessons talks about brothers and sisters or, what we sometimes call, our siblings. How many of you have siblings, or brothers or sisters? Well, in fact, Jesus says that we can all raise our hands because, in the church, we are all brothers and sisters.
Okay, so let’s see those hands again. How many of you having siblings at home? So, what’s that like? Do you get along well with your brothers and sisters? All the time? Most of the time? Sometimes? Do you sometimes disagree about things and maybe even get into arguments? Do you ever get angry with each other?
How many of you would say that you get along pretty well with your siblings? Okay, what would you say is the key to getting along well? What do you do when you want to get along with each other? Share? Listen? Be kind? Those kinds of things?
Okay, now this is for all of you: Is there anyone, here, who is an only child? Who doesn’t have any brothers or sisters?
(Acknowledge the only’s in the group without making a big deal out of it or embarrassing them.)
There are all kinds of families, aren’t there? Big families with lots of brothers and sisters and little families with just a couple or maybe no brothers and sisters. Churches are like that, too, you know? Some churches are BIG and we have lots of siblings. Some are small with just a few siblings.
And in small families we never have to share but we also never get to share. Sometimes that can be nice but sometimes it isn’t so great.
Well, whether we have no brothers and sisters or lots of siblings, in today’s lesson, the author of the letter to the Hebrews reminds us that we always have each other as brothers and sisters. The church is our family and all these people here are our brothers and sisters and they love us and we love them, they take care of us and we take care of them, they teach us and we teach them.
That’s what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ. Isn’t it great to be part of that family? It sure is!
(End the message with a prayer, thanking God for our brothers and sisters in Christ, the church, and asking God to help us be good siblings with each other.)
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The Immediate Word, December 29, 2019 issue.
Copyright 2019 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
