Dual Citizenship
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
In this week's Old Testament lectionary passage, the elders of Israel approach a clearly displeased Samuel and implore him to appoint a king to govern them. What they really have in mind, of course, is to set up strong leadership that will allow Israel to take its rightful place at the "grown-up" table of nations. When Samuel tries to outline for the elders why, as the old adage puts it, they ought to "be careful what they wish for because they just might get it," they remain undeterred... and they even admit to their true priorities: "We are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles" (1 Samuel 8:19-20).
In the age of modern democracy, we may have a more uneasy relationship with our leadership -- yet deep down our attitudes aren't all that different from the Hebrews. Like them, we say we want strong leaders -- but as team member Dean Feldmeyer points out in this installment of The Immediate Word, as soon as we get what we ask for, we find all sorts of ways to find fault with it. What we really want is exactly what the Hebrew elders tell Samuel they want -- someone to fight our battles for us -- but we just want it without ceding actual power over our lives. It's as if we want leaders that resemble figurehead monarchs like the British royal family. And when it comes to God, we're all too willing like the Israelites to turn away rather than giving him true power and allegiance over our lives. The Lord understands this, as he points out to Samuel when he tells him that "they have not rejected you [Samuel], but they have rejected me from being king over them" (1 Samuel 8:7b). But Dean reminds us that as Christians we have dual citizenship -- we live not only in this world but in the kingdom as well, and we need to remember which passport comes first and not become overly caught up in the machinations of earthly empires. As Jesus so wisely told us, we need to "give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's" (Mark 12:17).
Team member Mary Austin shares some additional thoughts on the epistle lesson and Paul's comments about "the earthly tent we live in." Mary notes that Paul's imagery is apt, as like tents our bodies also provide temporary shelter. While Paul cautions us to balance the physical and the spiritual, Mary points out that our bodies are the vehicle for God's transformative work and we therefore ought to honor them. Yet judging by a number of health issues that have been in the headlines recently, it's apparent that for many people in our culture having healthy bodies is a difficult struggle. However, Mary suggests that though Paul tells us we have a building from God awaiting us, we still owe the Creator of our "tents" our best effort to preserve and protect them.
Dual Citizenship
by Dean Feldmeyer
1 Samuel 8:4-11 (12-15) 16-20 (11:14-15); 2 Corinthians 4:13--5:1; Mark 3:20-35
"Appoint a King to rule us, just like everybody else." (1 Samuel 8:5b -- Peterson)
Last year it was the royal wedding. This year it's the queen's Diamond Jubilee. We Americans just can't get enough of our British "cousins."
We may wink and smile at the pomp and ritual of the monarchy. We may think it all a bit silly... but we still kinda like it. We are fascinated by it. We are attracted to the tradition, the solidity that it represents. We Americans love monarchy -- as long as it's someone else's monarchy. We like to watch it from afar, but we don't trust it. We don't like anyone having too much power.
Maybe that's what we like about the British monarchy. The queen has lots of authority but not much power. She is the standard bearer for what it means to be properly "British," but she can't impose her "British-ness" on anyone else. She can't enforce her standards; she can only represent them.
Samuel had been an okay leader but he was old, and his sons -- who everyone presumed would inherit the mantle of leadership from Samuel -- were corrupt and unlikable. So the elders came to him and said they wanted to change the way leadership was done. They wanted to be like other countries; they wanted a king.
God responds by giving them what they ask for: a king. Unfortunately, the notion of constitutional monarchy had not yet been invented and their king would have both authority AND power... just like everybody else.
THE WORLD
We say we want strong leaders, but when we get them we are always disappointed. Strong leaders have a disconcerting way of turning out to be human. They have idiosyncrasies and foibles and habits and shortcomings just like other human beings.
Politicians always turn out to be politicians, no matter what they promised before the election. Conservatives complain because Mitt Romney isn't conservative enough. Liberals complain because Barack Obama isn't liberal enough. They both insist on being politicians, playing to the middle, trying to broaden their appeal... when what they should be doing is appealing to ME!
We call pastors, elect presidents of our clubs and organizations, recruit board members for our charities, and hire CEOs for our companies because of their proven and demonstrated leadership skills, but we tend not to trust them. We want to make sure there are checks and balances in place so they don't get carried away with their power.
And checks and balances are often good and appropriate things as long as they don't make us so cynical and jaded that we have lost the ability to trust at all. Our system can work only if at some point we are willing to trust it, and the people we have put in place to serve within it.
I think it was Barry Goldwater who said after his retirement from politics that most of the people he worked with or against in Washington were good people trying to do the right thing. If we lose that perspective or can no longer believe it, then the only leaders we will allow will be figureheads and symbols like the Queen of England.
In his final book, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, Edwin Friedman said: "The resistance that sabotages a leader's initiative usually has less to do with the 'issue' that ensues than with the fact that the leader took initiative."
Often, the last thing we want is for a skilled, capable, charismatic leader to do something without the express permission of those he or she is called to lead.
THE WORD
The people had put up with Samuel, but he was getting old and his sons were a mess -- corrupt, mean, and just plain rotten. Even Samuel knew it.
So the elders came to Samuel and spoke their mind: Israel was no longer an infant nation. It was time they stepped up and took their place among the other nations in the area -- and to do that they were going to need a king, just like all those other people. So, they said to Samuel, you and God put your heads together and appoint a king to rule over us like these other nations.
Samuel's feelings were hurt, but God reminded him that it wasn't Samuel the people were rejecting, it was God. God just wasn't king enough for them. But God would give them one more chance. "Go give them fair and explicit warnings of what monarchy is like," he told Samuel.
So Samuel went back to the elders and told them. "A king will take your sons and put them into the army to fight wars for no reason other than to make himself look good. He'll tax you so he can have a palace. He'll take your best workers and make them work on his projects and his farm and his business affairs. You'll lose 10% of everything you own and you'll have nothing to show for it but a king who couldn't care less about you and your problems."
But the elders insisted. No, we want a king. All the other nations have kings and we want to be like them. We want them to take us seriously.
So Samuel and God put their heads together one more time and picked Saul to be king, not because he was good king material but because he was taller and better-looking than everyone else.
In the epistle (1 Corinthians 4:13--5:1) and the gospel (Mark 3:20-35) lessons this week we are reminded to take a detached posture toward the world in which we live. The "earthly tent" we live in rots in the sun and rain, and even our families cannot know and support us as God does.
If a detached posture is appropriate for our relationship with our own lives and our families, is it not also an appropriate relationship to have toward those whom we choose to lead us?
CRAFTING THE SERMON
As Christians, we have dual citizenship.
We live and participate in the world around us, where we have to elect or choose leaders for ourselves from among the sinful, all too human talent pool. We vote in the elections and serve on call committees. We sit on boards and make decisions and may even run for political office ourselves. But because we are Christians, we never have more than one foot in this world.
The other foot is firmly planted in that kingdom that is from God, "a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." That is not to say that "one day we'll die and won't have to tolerate all of this human stuff," but rather to remind us that our loyalty to this world is always tempered and perfected by our loyalty to that other kingdom.
We are now entering a season of "king making." The rhetoric will be cranked up and the election politicking will call upon us to choose a candidate. Subtle attempts will be made to appeal to our racial or religious prejudices, our lack of tolerance, and our willingness to be gullible and naive for the sake of political loyalty.
We will be tempted to forget that whatever candidate we vote for will be, in the end, a human being. We will be tempted to forget that, no matter how we vote, our first loyalty as Christians is to that other kingdom in which our dual citizenship resides.
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Mary Austin
2 Corinthians 4:13--5:1
Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City made headlines recently when he proposed a ban on sodas and sweetened drinks bigger than 16 ounces. The New York Times reported, in an article by Michael M. Grynbaum, that "Mr. Bloomberg has made public health one of the top priorities of his lengthy tenure, and has championed a series of aggressive regulations, including bans on smoking in restaurants and parks, a prohibition against artificial trans fat in restaurant food, and a requirement for health inspection grades to be posted in restaurant windows." The mayor is committed to taking an active role in helping people make healthier choices, sometimes to public acclaim and other times to public dismay.
The mayor's proposed ban would exempt juices, diet sodas, and sales in grocery stores. The ban would include sales at movie theaters, sports arenas, restaurants, and even food carts in the city. The article quotes the mayor as saying: "Obesity is a nationwide problem, and all over the United States, public health officials are wringing their hands saying, 'Oh, this is terrible.' New York City is not about wringing your hands; it's about doing something. I think that's what the public wants the mayor to do."
The "earthly tent we live in," as Paul calls it, is receiving attention from all sides these days. Experts are concerned about the level of obesity among the population of the U.S., and First Lady Michelle Obama has made healthy eating and fitness for kids her signature issue. In an interview in the New York Times, Dr. Carson Chow says: "I could see the facts on the [obesity] epidemic were quite astounding. Between 1975 and 2005, the average weight of Americans had increased by about 20 pounds. Since the 1970s, the national obesity rate had jumped from around 20% to over 30%."
Dr. Chow is a mathematician who studies obesity, and his contention is that "the epidemic was caused by the overproduction of food in the United States." He adds, "Beginning in the 1970s, there was a change in national agricultural policy. Instead of the government paying farmers not to engage in full production, as was the practice, they were encouraged to grow as much food as they could. At the same time, technological changes and the 'green revolution' made our farms much more productive. The price of food plummeted, while the number of calories available to the average American grew by about 1,000 a day. Well, what do people do when there is extra food around? They eat it! This, of course, is a tremendously controversial idea. However, the model shows that increase in food more than explains the increase in weight."
At the other end of the scale (no pun intended), Vogue magazine announced in May that they would no longer use models under age 16, or models who appeared too thin, in any of their 19 publications. As Samantha Critchell reported for the Associated Press, "Models' health -- and especially their weight -- has been a lightning rod the past few years, especially after the death of two models from apparent complications from eating disorders in 2006-07, but the focus, until now, has been on runway fashion shows." Vogue has set a new standard for health in its print magazines. Conde Nast, publisher of Vogue and other magazines for women, noted in its announcement that models go beyond showcasing clothes to functioning as role models for other women, and the company said it wanted to offer examples of better health.
Apparently, we're not very good at taking care of the earthly tents we live in. Our bodies are too plump or too thin, or we struggle for health in other areas. Paul addresses this balance of physical body and spiritual self in this part of his letter to the Corinthians. Here, he looks beyond the life of the physical body, promising that the afflictions of this life are slight and passing compared to the glory to come. For Paul, the decline and suffering of the physical body reveals our character and strengthens our spirits. This body is limited in its scope and insubstantial, like a tent where we camp until we return home.
The challenges of the embodied life are many -- not just with our weight, but also age's aches and pains, the struggle for the right amount of sleep, and the battle for sobriety, among others. Those who have too little to eat are constantly aware of their bodies, as hunger fills the day. We may live in a tent but caring for it and maintaining it takes a lot of energy in this life.
As people of faith, we look forward to the day that we shed this flawed dwelling place for the place God holds for us. Before that day comes, though, we have the challenge of living in it in a way that honors the Creator who placed us inside this frame. The physical body allows us to hold one another, to see beauty, to hear music, to taste food, and to travel through our lives. The Rev. Bryan Findlayson writes about this passage: "So although we only see the 'wasting away,' within our being there is an unseen, life-giving renewal, progressing day by day. We are being shaped into the image of Christ, and this a work of grace progressed in the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ." That work takes both spirit and body to accomplish.
If this physical body is the vehicle for that transformation, we owe it the honor of a teacher and may feel led to treat it with more respect and reverence.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Charles Taylor, guerrilla leader and former Liberian president, was recently sentenced by the International Criminal Court to 50 years in prison. A panel of international judges at The Hague, unable to impose a sentence of death or life in prison, sentenced Taylor to the maximum penalty allowed. There was only one country that was willing to incarcerate the 64-year-old dictator, and that was the United Kingdom.
In his time in power Taylor officiated over many crimes against humanity; the most serious he was charged with was supplying rebels in the neighboring country of Sierra Leone with weapons in exchange for "blood diamonds." During the sentencing, Judge Richard Lussik noted, "As president of Liberia, Mr. Taylor held a position of public trust with inherent authority, which he abused."
The people of Israel wanted a king to be like other nations. Samuel warned them that the kings of other nations were not givers and protectors like God, but were takers. Unwilling to heed the advice of Samuel, the Old Testament repeatedly demonstrates that too many Charles Taylors ruled over the Israelites.
* * *
A group of oddballs got together to form a professional cycling team. None of them were famous. None of them were household names. But they did have ability. Knowing they weren't the ribbon-breakers in the sport of cycling, they organized for a different purpose -- to detoxify the sport. They declared complete transparency in a sport that has been tainted with the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs. They test internally for drugs and allow outside testers -- with all results immediately being made public.
The oddballs -- whose founder, Jonathan Vaughters, has become their lead cyclist -- have won enough races to establish a name. And the amazing thing about all this is that not only is the Garmin-Barracuda team winning races but that other cycling teams are following their example. But there is no confusion about the team's prime directive -- after each race Vaughters reiterates Garmin-Barracuda's mission: "Anti-doping is first. Winning races is second. That's always going to be the case."
It is sad that the Israelites did not see that adhering to the prophets of Judaism was first and that the need for a king was a far distant second.
* * *
There is an online revolution in higher education, and it is called "edX". The best universities in the nation, those that have the leading professors in a particular field of study, provide lectures for smaller institutions that could not afford the salary and lack the prestige that these professors demand. The courses are purchased by the smaller college, but offered to the students for free. Thus students who attend the smaller colleges are able to receive some lectures from the most famous professors in the country while still paying tuition for courses taken in a smaller classroom setting. The use of technology has created a "blended educational world." In this world millions of students have access to the leading lectures in a field of study, while still tailoring their studies in the college or university in which they are enrolled.
The people of Israel could not comprehend that through the prophets they had access to the greatest lecturer of truth of all -- God. This was their religious "edX." Instead, they demanded a king, incompetent in most areas of leadership, to lead them. In fact, their first king was selected not on knowledge or leadership ability, but because he was taller and better looking than all the other candidates.
* * *
C.S. Lewis writes in the Chronicles of Narnia series of the need to follow the path God sets before us. In one story Aslan, the God figure of the series, instructs young Lucy and her brother to follow the way he will show them. He also tells them that at times there will be roads that seem easier, but they won't be. He tells them to always go the way he will show them. They readily agree. But after Aslan is gone there comes a time when the road Aslan has pointed out seems to be too difficult, and Lucy and her brother decide that it won't hurt to take what appears to be an easier path. It is not long until the supposed shortcut has led them far astray and Aslan must come and save them.
* * *
When Jesus began doing and saying unusual things, almost nobody understood him. Those who knew him best, his neighbors from Nazareth, said, "He is out of his mind." And those who knew him least, the teachers of the law from Jerusalem, said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub." Both groups sought to explain him and both failed dismally. They didn't understand. Do we? It was H. G. Wells who said, "This pale Galilean is too much for our small hearts." Perhaps he is. There is, however, a great affirmation: While we may not be able to know all about him, we can know him -- and that is the important thing.
S.D. Gordon told the story of an elderly woman who began to lose her memory. Once she had known much of the Bible by heart, but the time came when she could recall only one verse: "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him." Then little by little parts of this verse began to slip away, until she could weakly repeat only this much: "... I have committed to him." As she neared death, her memory was limited to one word: him. She repeated this word over and over. It was all she had -- but she had the essential thing.
* * *
There is a story about a man who went to see an extraordinary art exhibition that included several great masterpieces. At the conclusion of his tour, the man happened to cross paths with the museum's curator. "I've seen your exhibit," the man told him, "and frankly I was not impressed by your pictures." The curator replied, "Sir, it is not those paintings which are being judged today." By his inability to appreciate great works of art, this man demonstrated his lack of artistic discernment and brought judgment upon himself.
The scribes who questioned Jesus over his casting out of demons were face-to-face with the spirit of holiness and righteousness, and they judged it to be evil. In essence, Jesus' response to them was to say, "It is not the Holy Spirit which is being judged today." (Similarly, God tells Samuel that the people "have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.") By their inability to appreciate the unadulterated goodness of the spirit that moved Christ to perform his acts of kindness and mercy, the scribes demonstrated their lack of spiritual discernment -- and they brought judgment upon themselves.
* * *
The late Bishop Richard C. Raines once said that a vital religious faith ought to have two important aspects: 1) it should be intellectually respectable, and 2) it should be spiritually dynamic. When the Pharisees accused Jesus of doing his mighty works because he was possessed by a devil, he sought to reason with them. "How can Satan drive out Satan?" he asked. Jesus did not outrage reason, although sometimes he did outrun it. Likewise, he appealed for a commitment that counted the cost, had no reservations, and freely took up the cross. The half-hearted need not apply. The spiritual life, like a fruit tree, is to bear fruit -- or else drastic pruning is called for.
* * *
It was as though all the evil forces in the world had combined their opposition to the ministry of Jesus -- the crowds were so demanding that they would not even let him eat. His friends said, "He's out of his mind." His family pleaded with him to give up his mission and come home. Yet through it all, Jesus gently but firmly refused to be turned aside from the course he knew he must follow.
The great English composer Sir Edward Elgar spent three years working on his magnificent oratorio The Dream of Gerontius. At the end of the original score he wrote: "This is the best of me. For the rest, I ate and drank and slept and loved and hated, like another; my life was as the vapor, and is not, but this I saw and knew; this, if anything of mine, is worth your memory." That was a composer's testimony to a musical work that he felt was given by divine inspiration, which had laid hold on him and driven him to complete it.
Elgar's words of commitment echo those of Jesus when he spoke to Nicodemus, who came to him by night: "We speak what we do know and testify to what we have seen."
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Let us give thanks to God with our whole heart.
People: We give thanks for God's steadfast love and faithfulness.
Leader: Though we walk in the midst of trouble, God preserves us.
People: God's right hand delivers us.
Leader: Your steadfast love, O God, endures forever.
People: Do not forsake the work of your hands.
OR
Leader: Come, let us bow down to our God.
People: We come to offer our worship and praise.
Leader: Come, let us pledge our allegiance to our God.
People: We offer ourselves to our Savior God.
Leader: Come, let us enter fully into God's realm.
People: It is in God alone that we find salvation.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"Come, Thou Almighty King"
found in:
UMH: 61
H82: 365
PH: 139
AAHH: 327
NNBH: 38
NCH: 275
CH: 27
LBW: 522
ELA: 408
"Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty"
found in:
UMH: 64
H82: 362
PH: 138
AAHH: 329
NNBH: 14
NCH: 277
CH: 4
LBW: 165
ELA: 413
Renew: 204
"Source and Sovereign, Rock and Cloud"
found in:
UMH: 113
CH: 12
"I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light"
found in:
UMH: 206
H82: 409
ELA: 815
Renew: 152
"I Am Thine, O Lord"
found in:
UMH: 419
AAHH: 387
NNBH: 202
NCH: 455
CH: 601
"O God of Every Nation"
found in:
UMH: 435
H82: 607
PH: 289
CH: 680
LBW: 416
ELA: 713
"This Is My Song"
found in:
UMH: 437
NCH: 591
CH: 722
ELA: 887
"O God Who Shaped Creation"
found in:
UMH: 443
"Make Me a Servant"
found in:
CCB: 90
"Shine, Jesus, Shine"
found in:
CCB: 81
Renew: 247
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
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
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who calls us into your own realm: Grant us the wisdom to work in this world, knowing we are ultimately citizens of your world; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come, O God, to worship you and to listen for your voice. Help us to respond with faithfulness as you call us into your realm. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our tendency to place ultimate importance in worldly things.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We know that our allegiance is really to you, O God, and yet we tend to think that human ideas and ideals will lead us into the Promised Land. Help us to remember that our loyalty is to you and your realm. Help us to work always to allow your reign to be complete in our lives and in our world. Amen.
Leader: God welcomes us into the realm of peace and light. God's Spirit is given us to help us be faithful disciples of the Christ.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We praise and worship you, O God, for you are the one who reigns over all creation. We thank you for your goodness and kindness to us as you woo us into your realm.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We know that our allegiance is really to you, O God, and yet we tend to think that human ideas and ideals will lead us into the Promised Land. Help us to remember that our loyalty is to you and your realm. Help us to work always to allow your reign to be complete in our lives and in our world.
We give you thanks for all the blessings you have given us and especially for the gift of being citizens of your realm. We thank you for those who have helped us learn how to live as your people, and we thank you for those we have been able to invite to join us.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We are aware that much of the suffering in this world comes when we are not loyal to the reign and ways of you, O God. We pray for those who are abused instead of being loved, those who are confined when they need to be set free, and those who suffer want when you desire to provide for all their needs. We pray for ourselves as your people that we may be loyal citizens of your realm who reach out in love to others.
(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 Lord's Prayer 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
Set up a game of "Simon Says" with the children but have two people be "Simon." After a bit of hilarious confusion, talk with the children about how difficult it can be to follow two different leaders. At some point we have to choose who we are going to follow. Today we hear about the people wanting a king like other countries, but that meant they could no longer really follow God.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Related to Jesus
Mark 3:20-35
Object: a birth certificate (an interesting option would be to create birth certificates that say "[name] is a child of God and brother/sister of Jesus")
Good morning, boys and girls! A birth certificate says a lot about a person. My birth certificate says that I was born in such and such a place and that my parents are so and so. It says where I was born and when. It says some important things about the day I entered this world.
But for all my birth certificate says, there is something very important that it does not say. One thing it does not say is who else I am related to. You see, I am related to Jesus! I am Jesus' brother [sister]!
I am not Jesus' brother [sister] like a birth brother [sister] -- someone I am related to by blood. No, I am Jesus' brother [sister] because of my spiritual relationship to him. And you are his brothers and sisters as well. Anyone who seeks to do God's will is a brother or sister to Jesus!
How do I know that you and I are related? (let the children answer) I know this because Jesus said it. One day when his mother and brothers and sisters came looking for him, he looked around at those who sat there with him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!" And he finished by saying, "Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."
So any of us who do God's will are related to Jesus. That is how Jesus is so close to us.
[Optional: Here is a new birth certificate showing that you are God's child and sister or brother to Jesus. (Pass them out so that each child receives one.) By God's grace we can call Jesus our brother. Isn't it neat being related to God's son? Isn't it great to be God's own child?]
Prayer: Dearest Lord God, we belong to your family. We thank you for loving us and making us your own. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, June 10, 2012, issue.
Copyright 2012 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.
In the age of modern democracy, we may have a more uneasy relationship with our leadership -- yet deep down our attitudes aren't all that different from the Hebrews. Like them, we say we want strong leaders -- but as team member Dean Feldmeyer points out in this installment of The Immediate Word, as soon as we get what we ask for, we find all sorts of ways to find fault with it. What we really want is exactly what the Hebrew elders tell Samuel they want -- someone to fight our battles for us -- but we just want it without ceding actual power over our lives. It's as if we want leaders that resemble figurehead monarchs like the British royal family. And when it comes to God, we're all too willing like the Israelites to turn away rather than giving him true power and allegiance over our lives. The Lord understands this, as he points out to Samuel when he tells him that "they have not rejected you [Samuel], but they have rejected me from being king over them" (1 Samuel 8:7b). But Dean reminds us that as Christians we have dual citizenship -- we live not only in this world but in the kingdom as well, and we need to remember which passport comes first and not become overly caught up in the machinations of earthly empires. As Jesus so wisely told us, we need to "give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's" (Mark 12:17).
Team member Mary Austin shares some additional thoughts on the epistle lesson and Paul's comments about "the earthly tent we live in." Mary notes that Paul's imagery is apt, as like tents our bodies also provide temporary shelter. While Paul cautions us to balance the physical and the spiritual, Mary points out that our bodies are the vehicle for God's transformative work and we therefore ought to honor them. Yet judging by a number of health issues that have been in the headlines recently, it's apparent that for many people in our culture having healthy bodies is a difficult struggle. However, Mary suggests that though Paul tells us we have a building from God awaiting us, we still owe the Creator of our "tents" our best effort to preserve and protect them.
Dual Citizenship
by Dean Feldmeyer
1 Samuel 8:4-11 (12-15) 16-20 (11:14-15); 2 Corinthians 4:13--5:1; Mark 3:20-35
"Appoint a King to rule us, just like everybody else." (1 Samuel 8:5b -- Peterson)
Last year it was the royal wedding. This year it's the queen's Diamond Jubilee. We Americans just can't get enough of our British "cousins."
We may wink and smile at the pomp and ritual of the monarchy. We may think it all a bit silly... but we still kinda like it. We are fascinated by it. We are attracted to the tradition, the solidity that it represents. We Americans love monarchy -- as long as it's someone else's monarchy. We like to watch it from afar, but we don't trust it. We don't like anyone having too much power.
Maybe that's what we like about the British monarchy. The queen has lots of authority but not much power. She is the standard bearer for what it means to be properly "British," but she can't impose her "British-ness" on anyone else. She can't enforce her standards; she can only represent them.
Samuel had been an okay leader but he was old, and his sons -- who everyone presumed would inherit the mantle of leadership from Samuel -- were corrupt and unlikable. So the elders came to him and said they wanted to change the way leadership was done. They wanted to be like other countries; they wanted a king.
God responds by giving them what they ask for: a king. Unfortunately, the notion of constitutional monarchy had not yet been invented and their king would have both authority AND power... just like everybody else.
THE WORLD
We say we want strong leaders, but when we get them we are always disappointed. Strong leaders have a disconcerting way of turning out to be human. They have idiosyncrasies and foibles and habits and shortcomings just like other human beings.
Politicians always turn out to be politicians, no matter what they promised before the election. Conservatives complain because Mitt Romney isn't conservative enough. Liberals complain because Barack Obama isn't liberal enough. They both insist on being politicians, playing to the middle, trying to broaden their appeal... when what they should be doing is appealing to ME!
We call pastors, elect presidents of our clubs and organizations, recruit board members for our charities, and hire CEOs for our companies because of their proven and demonstrated leadership skills, but we tend not to trust them. We want to make sure there are checks and balances in place so they don't get carried away with their power.
And checks and balances are often good and appropriate things as long as they don't make us so cynical and jaded that we have lost the ability to trust at all. Our system can work only if at some point we are willing to trust it, and the people we have put in place to serve within it.
I think it was Barry Goldwater who said after his retirement from politics that most of the people he worked with or against in Washington were good people trying to do the right thing. If we lose that perspective or can no longer believe it, then the only leaders we will allow will be figureheads and symbols like the Queen of England.
In his final book, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, Edwin Friedman said: "The resistance that sabotages a leader's initiative usually has less to do with the 'issue' that ensues than with the fact that the leader took initiative."
Often, the last thing we want is for a skilled, capable, charismatic leader to do something without the express permission of those he or she is called to lead.
THE WORD
The people had put up with Samuel, but he was getting old and his sons were a mess -- corrupt, mean, and just plain rotten. Even Samuel knew it.
So the elders came to Samuel and spoke their mind: Israel was no longer an infant nation. It was time they stepped up and took their place among the other nations in the area -- and to do that they were going to need a king, just like all those other people. So, they said to Samuel, you and God put your heads together and appoint a king to rule over us like these other nations.
Samuel's feelings were hurt, but God reminded him that it wasn't Samuel the people were rejecting, it was God. God just wasn't king enough for them. But God would give them one more chance. "Go give them fair and explicit warnings of what monarchy is like," he told Samuel.
So Samuel went back to the elders and told them. "A king will take your sons and put them into the army to fight wars for no reason other than to make himself look good. He'll tax you so he can have a palace. He'll take your best workers and make them work on his projects and his farm and his business affairs. You'll lose 10% of everything you own and you'll have nothing to show for it but a king who couldn't care less about you and your problems."
But the elders insisted. No, we want a king. All the other nations have kings and we want to be like them. We want them to take us seriously.
So Samuel and God put their heads together one more time and picked Saul to be king, not because he was good king material but because he was taller and better-looking than everyone else.
In the epistle (1 Corinthians 4:13--5:1) and the gospel (Mark 3:20-35) lessons this week we are reminded to take a detached posture toward the world in which we live. The "earthly tent" we live in rots in the sun and rain, and even our families cannot know and support us as God does.
If a detached posture is appropriate for our relationship with our own lives and our families, is it not also an appropriate relationship to have toward those whom we choose to lead us?
CRAFTING THE SERMON
As Christians, we have dual citizenship.
We live and participate in the world around us, where we have to elect or choose leaders for ourselves from among the sinful, all too human talent pool. We vote in the elections and serve on call committees. We sit on boards and make decisions and may even run for political office ourselves. But because we are Christians, we never have more than one foot in this world.
The other foot is firmly planted in that kingdom that is from God, "a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." That is not to say that "one day we'll die and won't have to tolerate all of this human stuff," but rather to remind us that our loyalty to this world is always tempered and perfected by our loyalty to that other kingdom.
We are now entering a season of "king making." The rhetoric will be cranked up and the election politicking will call upon us to choose a candidate. Subtle attempts will be made to appeal to our racial or religious prejudices, our lack of tolerance, and our willingness to be gullible and naive for the sake of political loyalty.
We will be tempted to forget that whatever candidate we vote for will be, in the end, a human being. We will be tempted to forget that, no matter how we vote, our first loyalty as Christians is to that other kingdom in which our dual citizenship resides.
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Mary Austin
2 Corinthians 4:13--5:1
Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City made headlines recently when he proposed a ban on sodas and sweetened drinks bigger than 16 ounces. The New York Times reported, in an article by Michael M. Grynbaum, that "Mr. Bloomberg has made public health one of the top priorities of his lengthy tenure, and has championed a series of aggressive regulations, including bans on smoking in restaurants and parks, a prohibition against artificial trans fat in restaurant food, and a requirement for health inspection grades to be posted in restaurant windows." The mayor is committed to taking an active role in helping people make healthier choices, sometimes to public acclaim and other times to public dismay.
The mayor's proposed ban would exempt juices, diet sodas, and sales in grocery stores. The ban would include sales at movie theaters, sports arenas, restaurants, and even food carts in the city. The article quotes the mayor as saying: "Obesity is a nationwide problem, and all over the United States, public health officials are wringing their hands saying, 'Oh, this is terrible.' New York City is not about wringing your hands; it's about doing something. I think that's what the public wants the mayor to do."
The "earthly tent we live in," as Paul calls it, is receiving attention from all sides these days. Experts are concerned about the level of obesity among the population of the U.S., and First Lady Michelle Obama has made healthy eating and fitness for kids her signature issue. In an interview in the New York Times, Dr. Carson Chow says: "I could see the facts on the [obesity] epidemic were quite astounding. Between 1975 and 2005, the average weight of Americans had increased by about 20 pounds. Since the 1970s, the national obesity rate had jumped from around 20% to over 30%."
Dr. Chow is a mathematician who studies obesity, and his contention is that "the epidemic was caused by the overproduction of food in the United States." He adds, "Beginning in the 1970s, there was a change in national agricultural policy. Instead of the government paying farmers not to engage in full production, as was the practice, they were encouraged to grow as much food as they could. At the same time, technological changes and the 'green revolution' made our farms much more productive. The price of food plummeted, while the number of calories available to the average American grew by about 1,000 a day. Well, what do people do when there is extra food around? They eat it! This, of course, is a tremendously controversial idea. However, the model shows that increase in food more than explains the increase in weight."
At the other end of the scale (no pun intended), Vogue magazine announced in May that they would no longer use models under age 16, or models who appeared too thin, in any of their 19 publications. As Samantha Critchell reported for the Associated Press, "Models' health -- and especially their weight -- has been a lightning rod the past few years, especially after the death of two models from apparent complications from eating disorders in 2006-07, but the focus, until now, has been on runway fashion shows." Vogue has set a new standard for health in its print magazines. Conde Nast, publisher of Vogue and other magazines for women, noted in its announcement that models go beyond showcasing clothes to functioning as role models for other women, and the company said it wanted to offer examples of better health.
Apparently, we're not very good at taking care of the earthly tents we live in. Our bodies are too plump or too thin, or we struggle for health in other areas. Paul addresses this balance of physical body and spiritual self in this part of his letter to the Corinthians. Here, he looks beyond the life of the physical body, promising that the afflictions of this life are slight and passing compared to the glory to come. For Paul, the decline and suffering of the physical body reveals our character and strengthens our spirits. This body is limited in its scope and insubstantial, like a tent where we camp until we return home.
The challenges of the embodied life are many -- not just with our weight, but also age's aches and pains, the struggle for the right amount of sleep, and the battle for sobriety, among others. Those who have too little to eat are constantly aware of their bodies, as hunger fills the day. We may live in a tent but caring for it and maintaining it takes a lot of energy in this life.
As people of faith, we look forward to the day that we shed this flawed dwelling place for the place God holds for us. Before that day comes, though, we have the challenge of living in it in a way that honors the Creator who placed us inside this frame. The physical body allows us to hold one another, to see beauty, to hear music, to taste food, and to travel through our lives. The Rev. Bryan Findlayson writes about this passage: "So although we only see the 'wasting away,' within our being there is an unseen, life-giving renewal, progressing day by day. We are being shaped into the image of Christ, and this a work of grace progressed in the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ." That work takes both spirit and body to accomplish.
If this physical body is the vehicle for that transformation, we owe it the honor of a teacher and may feel led to treat it with more respect and reverence.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Charles Taylor, guerrilla leader and former Liberian president, was recently sentenced by the International Criminal Court to 50 years in prison. A panel of international judges at The Hague, unable to impose a sentence of death or life in prison, sentenced Taylor to the maximum penalty allowed. There was only one country that was willing to incarcerate the 64-year-old dictator, and that was the United Kingdom.
In his time in power Taylor officiated over many crimes against humanity; the most serious he was charged with was supplying rebels in the neighboring country of Sierra Leone with weapons in exchange for "blood diamonds." During the sentencing, Judge Richard Lussik noted, "As president of Liberia, Mr. Taylor held a position of public trust with inherent authority, which he abused."
The people of Israel wanted a king to be like other nations. Samuel warned them that the kings of other nations were not givers and protectors like God, but were takers. Unwilling to heed the advice of Samuel, the Old Testament repeatedly demonstrates that too many Charles Taylors ruled over the Israelites.
* * *
A group of oddballs got together to form a professional cycling team. None of them were famous. None of them were household names. But they did have ability. Knowing they weren't the ribbon-breakers in the sport of cycling, they organized for a different purpose -- to detoxify the sport. They declared complete transparency in a sport that has been tainted with the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs. They test internally for drugs and allow outside testers -- with all results immediately being made public.
The oddballs -- whose founder, Jonathan Vaughters, has become their lead cyclist -- have won enough races to establish a name. And the amazing thing about all this is that not only is the Garmin-Barracuda team winning races but that other cycling teams are following their example. But there is no confusion about the team's prime directive -- after each race Vaughters reiterates Garmin-Barracuda's mission: "Anti-doping is first. Winning races is second. That's always going to be the case."
It is sad that the Israelites did not see that adhering to the prophets of Judaism was first and that the need for a king was a far distant second.
* * *
There is an online revolution in higher education, and it is called "edX". The best universities in the nation, those that have the leading professors in a particular field of study, provide lectures for smaller institutions that could not afford the salary and lack the prestige that these professors demand. The courses are purchased by the smaller college, but offered to the students for free. Thus students who attend the smaller colleges are able to receive some lectures from the most famous professors in the country while still paying tuition for courses taken in a smaller classroom setting. The use of technology has created a "blended educational world." In this world millions of students have access to the leading lectures in a field of study, while still tailoring their studies in the college or university in which they are enrolled.
The people of Israel could not comprehend that through the prophets they had access to the greatest lecturer of truth of all -- God. This was their religious "edX." Instead, they demanded a king, incompetent in most areas of leadership, to lead them. In fact, their first king was selected not on knowledge or leadership ability, but because he was taller and better looking than all the other candidates.
* * *
C.S. Lewis writes in the Chronicles of Narnia series of the need to follow the path God sets before us. In one story Aslan, the God figure of the series, instructs young Lucy and her brother to follow the way he will show them. He also tells them that at times there will be roads that seem easier, but they won't be. He tells them to always go the way he will show them. They readily agree. But after Aslan is gone there comes a time when the road Aslan has pointed out seems to be too difficult, and Lucy and her brother decide that it won't hurt to take what appears to be an easier path. It is not long until the supposed shortcut has led them far astray and Aslan must come and save them.
* * *
When Jesus began doing and saying unusual things, almost nobody understood him. Those who knew him best, his neighbors from Nazareth, said, "He is out of his mind." And those who knew him least, the teachers of the law from Jerusalem, said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub." Both groups sought to explain him and both failed dismally. They didn't understand. Do we? It was H. G. Wells who said, "This pale Galilean is too much for our small hearts." Perhaps he is. There is, however, a great affirmation: While we may not be able to know all about him, we can know him -- and that is the important thing.
S.D. Gordon told the story of an elderly woman who began to lose her memory. Once she had known much of the Bible by heart, but the time came when she could recall only one verse: "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him." Then little by little parts of this verse began to slip away, until she could weakly repeat only this much: "... I have committed to him." As she neared death, her memory was limited to one word: him. She repeated this word over and over. It was all she had -- but she had the essential thing.
* * *
There is a story about a man who went to see an extraordinary art exhibition that included several great masterpieces. At the conclusion of his tour, the man happened to cross paths with the museum's curator. "I've seen your exhibit," the man told him, "and frankly I was not impressed by your pictures." The curator replied, "Sir, it is not those paintings which are being judged today." By his inability to appreciate great works of art, this man demonstrated his lack of artistic discernment and brought judgment upon himself.
The scribes who questioned Jesus over his casting out of demons were face-to-face with the spirit of holiness and righteousness, and they judged it to be evil. In essence, Jesus' response to them was to say, "It is not the Holy Spirit which is being judged today." (Similarly, God tells Samuel that the people "have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.") By their inability to appreciate the unadulterated goodness of the spirit that moved Christ to perform his acts of kindness and mercy, the scribes demonstrated their lack of spiritual discernment -- and they brought judgment upon themselves.
* * *
The late Bishop Richard C. Raines once said that a vital religious faith ought to have two important aspects: 1) it should be intellectually respectable, and 2) it should be spiritually dynamic. When the Pharisees accused Jesus of doing his mighty works because he was possessed by a devil, he sought to reason with them. "How can Satan drive out Satan?" he asked. Jesus did not outrage reason, although sometimes he did outrun it. Likewise, he appealed for a commitment that counted the cost, had no reservations, and freely took up the cross. The half-hearted need not apply. The spiritual life, like a fruit tree, is to bear fruit -- or else drastic pruning is called for.
* * *
It was as though all the evil forces in the world had combined their opposition to the ministry of Jesus -- the crowds were so demanding that they would not even let him eat. His friends said, "He's out of his mind." His family pleaded with him to give up his mission and come home. Yet through it all, Jesus gently but firmly refused to be turned aside from the course he knew he must follow.
The great English composer Sir Edward Elgar spent three years working on his magnificent oratorio The Dream of Gerontius. At the end of the original score he wrote: "This is the best of me. For the rest, I ate and drank and slept and loved and hated, like another; my life was as the vapor, and is not, but this I saw and knew; this, if anything of mine, is worth your memory." That was a composer's testimony to a musical work that he felt was given by divine inspiration, which had laid hold on him and driven him to complete it.
Elgar's words of commitment echo those of Jesus when he spoke to Nicodemus, who came to him by night: "We speak what we do know and testify to what we have seen."
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Let us give thanks to God with our whole heart.
People: We give thanks for God's steadfast love and faithfulness.
Leader: Though we walk in the midst of trouble, God preserves us.
People: God's right hand delivers us.
Leader: Your steadfast love, O God, endures forever.
People: Do not forsake the work of your hands.
OR
Leader: Come, let us bow down to our God.
People: We come to offer our worship and praise.
Leader: Come, let us pledge our allegiance to our God.
People: We offer ourselves to our Savior God.
Leader: Come, let us enter fully into God's realm.
People: It is in God alone that we find salvation.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"Come, Thou Almighty King"
found in:
UMH: 61
H82: 365
PH: 139
AAHH: 327
NNBH: 38
NCH: 275
CH: 27
LBW: 522
ELA: 408
"Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty"
found in:
UMH: 64
H82: 362
PH: 138
AAHH: 329
NNBH: 14
NCH: 277
CH: 4
LBW: 165
ELA: 413
Renew: 204
"Source and Sovereign, Rock and Cloud"
found in:
UMH: 113
CH: 12
"I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light"
found in:
UMH: 206
H82: 409
ELA: 815
Renew: 152
"I Am Thine, O Lord"
found in:
UMH: 419
AAHH: 387
NNBH: 202
NCH: 455
CH: 601
"O God of Every Nation"
found in:
UMH: 435
H82: 607
PH: 289
CH: 680
LBW: 416
ELA: 713
"This Is My Song"
found in:
UMH: 437
NCH: 591
CH: 722
ELA: 887
"O God Who Shaped Creation"
found in:
UMH: 443
"Make Me a Servant"
found in:
CCB: 90
"Shine, Jesus, Shine"
found in:
CCB: 81
Renew: 247
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
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
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who calls us into your own realm: Grant us the wisdom to work in this world, knowing we are ultimately citizens of your world; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come, O God, to worship you and to listen for your voice. Help us to respond with faithfulness as you call us into your realm. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our tendency to place ultimate importance in worldly things.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We know that our allegiance is really to you, O God, and yet we tend to think that human ideas and ideals will lead us into the Promised Land. Help us to remember that our loyalty is to you and your realm. Help us to work always to allow your reign to be complete in our lives and in our world. Amen.
Leader: God welcomes us into the realm of peace and light. God's Spirit is given us to help us be faithful disciples of the Christ.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We praise and worship you, O God, for you are the one who reigns over all creation. We thank you for your goodness and kindness to us as you woo us into your realm.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We know that our allegiance is really to you, O God, and yet we tend to think that human ideas and ideals will lead us into the Promised Land. Help us to remember that our loyalty is to you and your realm. Help us to work always to allow your reign to be complete in our lives and in our world.
We give you thanks for all the blessings you have given us and especially for the gift of being citizens of your realm. We thank you for those who have helped us learn how to live as your people, and we thank you for those we have been able to invite to join us.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We are aware that much of the suffering in this world comes when we are not loyal to the reign and ways of you, O God. We pray for those who are abused instead of being loved, those who are confined when they need to be set free, and those who suffer want when you desire to provide for all their needs. We pray for ourselves as your people that we may be loyal citizens of your realm who reach out in love to others.
(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 Lord's Prayer 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
Set up a game of "Simon Says" with the children but have two people be "Simon." After a bit of hilarious confusion, talk with the children about how difficult it can be to follow two different leaders. At some point we have to choose who we are going to follow. Today we hear about the people wanting a king like other countries, but that meant they could no longer really follow God.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Related to Jesus
Mark 3:20-35
Object: a birth certificate (an interesting option would be to create birth certificates that say "[name] is a child of God and brother/sister of Jesus")
Good morning, boys and girls! A birth certificate says a lot about a person. My birth certificate says that I was born in such and such a place and that my parents are so and so. It says where I was born and when. It says some important things about the day I entered this world.
But for all my birth certificate says, there is something very important that it does not say. One thing it does not say is who else I am related to. You see, I am related to Jesus! I am Jesus' brother [sister]!
I am not Jesus' brother [sister] like a birth brother [sister] -- someone I am related to by blood. No, I am Jesus' brother [sister] because of my spiritual relationship to him. And you are his brothers and sisters as well. Anyone who seeks to do God's will is a brother or sister to Jesus!
How do I know that you and I are related? (let the children answer) I know this because Jesus said it. One day when his mother and brothers and sisters came looking for him, he looked around at those who sat there with him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!" And he finished by saying, "Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."
So any of us who do God's will are related to Jesus. That is how Jesus is so close to us.
[Optional: Here is a new birth certificate showing that you are God's child and sister or brother to Jesus. (Pass them out so that each child receives one.) By God's grace we can call Jesus our brother. Isn't it neat being related to God's son? Isn't it great to be God's own child?]
Prayer: Dearest Lord God, we belong to your family. We thank you for loving us and making us your own. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, June 10, 2012, issue.
Copyright 2012 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.
