Engaging (or Testing) God
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For November 10, 2019:
Engaging (or Testing) God
by Bethany Peerbolte
Luke 20:27-40
In the Scripture
Luke 20:27-40
Resurrection is kind of a big deal to the whole Gospel message. One would think something so central to the theology would be clearly outlined in Jesus’ teachings. Unfortunately there are only a few times Jesus speaks about resurrection. This passage from Luke is one of those moments. Jesus’ answer helps us understand what to expect in the next life.
Jesus is approached by a group of Sadducees and asked about a common theological problem. The problem has to do with wives who lawfully take multiple husbands in their lives and who they belong to in the next life if resurrection is true. Scripture contains a law that says if a man’s brother dies and leaves a widow who has not given the deceased a child the living brother should marry her. This ensures the brother’s bloodline lives on. The Sadducees exaggerate this problem when they seek Jesus’ advice and give her seven hypothetical husbands.
Fun side note: This rule plays an important part in Jesus’ lineage. Tamar enforces this law when she becomes a widow without a child. She seeks out a new husband from her former husband’s family and this begets Perez who remains in the line of Abraham and eventually Jesus is born to the same line. This makes Jesus’ reply even more important since affirming the law affirms his genealogy, and links him to prophecies about the messiah.
Back in the book of Luke, the Sadducees lay out the life of this widow who has had seven husbands, who all die without giving her a child. Then they ask Jesus, if resurrection is truth, whose wife will this woman be in the next life. They believe if a bodily resurrection happens issues like this widow will be impossible to resolve. As so, resurrection cannot be how the afterlife works. The Sadducees hope their scenario will make Jesus realize resurrection is too difficult to work into a theology that upholds the laws of scripture.
The problem of resurrection is hotly debated between Sadducees and Pharisees. With the Sadducees taking the side that resurrection is not how the afterlife will work, and the Pharisees believing it is part of God’s Kingdom. Jesus has gained the status of an influential teacher and so the two sides want to get Jesus to choose sides on big issues such as these. However, Jesus is not firmly in either camp, some teachings help Sadducees, some Pharisees, and more just do not fit into any current theology.
Jesus’ answer is that the time to come will be so unlike the current time that titles like wife and husband will not mean anything. The world they currently operate in has marriages, but the time to come will not. In God’s Kingdom it will not matter who use to be married, every relationship made on earth will look and feel different.
This response is not what the Sadducees hoped. The once confident leaders of the temple are silent and only a scribe is brave enough to reply “well said” to Jesus. It says no one dared ask him anything further. This speaks to the authority with which Jesus spoke. There are plenty of times Jesus asked questions in response to a challenge but this one comes with a sure response. Resurrection is important to the Gospel and Jesus wants to be sure to teach that when the resurrection happens that life will look different than this life. The structures we have now will be different.
It is clear Jesus has given a lot of thought to this issue. He must have spent time in communion with God figuring out exactly what to say about this event. This understanding becomes more than knowledge — it is a part of who Jesus is and the message his life will speak to the world. With such an important message Jesus is careful with his words. He answers calmly but in a way that cannot be misinterpreted. It is obvious he cannot be moved on the issue and he does not rub his superior understanding in ones’ face. His answer declares more than what resurrection will be like, it declares a piece of who Jesus is, at the core of his being.
In the News
Having one’s image, beliefs, and opinions challenged is part of life. The way we choose to respond to those challenges says a lot more about us than the actual stances being pushed against. This week we saw three different responses to a challenge to a core value.
The Catholic church has struggled to know what to do with politicians whose platforms do not concur with 100% of Catholic teaching. If a politician is Catholic but does not vote or speak about a topic the way the church would like, how should they respond? Some priests have advocated for complete excommunication. They believe if a person presents a Catholic image they should advocate for the Catholic stance on all issues. Other priests believe this is a harsh reaction and want a more inclusive response.
This week Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden found himself at the center of this debate. On Sunday, a priest in South Carolina refused to serve communion to Biden. The Priest’s reasoning was that a “public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of church teaching. Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other and the Church. Our actions should reflect that.” Biden is just one of many democratic politicians who have been refuses communion because of their public life.
Biden’s reply was simple and "I'm a practicing Catholic, I practice my faith," adding that he does not "impose" his belief on others. His casual response has defused the news hype and the story has fallen out of the public eye quickly.
Meghan Markle had a slightly more substantial response to British tabloids this week. As she returned from her tour of Africa, news got out that a lawsuit was being brought against Mail on Sunday. They published parts of a personal letter Meghan sent to her father around the time of her wedding. Meghan has been honest about the difficulties she has had with British tabloids. She says when she first started dating Prince Harry her friends warned her that they would ruin her life. Being a celebrity in America she naively thought she understood what being a public figure meant. The media has escalated to the point where she can no longer tolerate their invasions.
The lawsuit is already causing public backlash. Those who side with Meghan agree the press is too invasive, while the majority of Brits feel she signed up for the public royal life. The latter believe the royal family agree to live with a lesser degree of privacy and that their every move reflects the United Kingdom and should be open to analysis. Only time will tell if Meghan’s firm response and push back will help or hurt her.
Another group making a firm response are the House Republicans. This week they stormed into a hearing room as a defense official testified for the impeachment hearings. The demonstration was meant to show objection to the hearings and mistrust of the officials speaking. Late night hosts joked about how many of the people “storming” the room where actually invited to attend and fully allowed to be there. Making the act of chaotically interrupting the proceedings unnecessary and childish.
In the Sermon
For every depiction of Jesus in scripture we can listen to what is said and we can look at his reaction. This week I think the more compelling image is of Jesus as he responds to a challenge to his message. The Sadducees plan to throw him off his game. Whether they think they will throw him a curve ball he hasn’t considered before or whether they want to trap him into one think camp or the other, their motivation for asking the question is unclear.
What is clear is how Jesus responds. It is something he has put a lot of thought into. He has done that because it is central to what he is trying to teach the world. Resurrection needs to be a part of his followers’ vocabulary and they need to know some very key things about it. The words Jesus says will be repeated and eventually written down. Because of its importance, Jesus is ready for the challenge when it is given.
His response is not chaotic. It does not boast about his deep understanding of resurrection. It does not get too complicated or shouty. Jesus does not even challenge the Sadducees back. He simply gives them his understanding as the response. He is confident because he has thought it through, and the crowd can tell his answer is all they will get from him.
Of course, there are times we need to make a show of our convictions, possibly even demonstrate by storming a room. There will be times we need to stand up for ourselves, maybe even with a lawsuit. Hopefully most challenges to our image, beliefs, or opinions will only need a clear response. The more challenges we are prepared for the more time a calm reply will be all that is needed. That means we need to carefully consider our beliefs now when where is not a challenger standing in front of us. Biden is not fazed by the priest challenging his right to communion because Biden knows it is a likely consequence to his beliefs. After carefully thinking about what is more important, Biden’s beliefs on abortion stand.
Preparing for challenges also means we need to be honest when we aren’t as ready as Jesus was. When we aren’t ready, we get defensive and the likelihood of an unnecessary response rises. The Republicans felt trapped and they responded from a defensive place. A little preparation would have saved them ridicule. Meghan may find her lawsuit was not well advised. If we are challenged in a way we are not ready to land solidly on, the response of “I’m just not sure yet” is always a good option.
SECOND THOUGHTS
How Does It Look to You Now?
by Chris Keating
Haggai 1:15b-2:9
Last week — on All Saints Day, to be precise — a beloved colleague died. For 32 years, he served as the senior pastor of a large, multiple-staff suburban congregation, guiding it through decades of expansion. Over the years, it moved from a few hundred members into a corporate-sized, multiple staff congregation of more than 1,500 members.
Its physical plant had ballooned into a sprawling complex with a spacious sanctuary, dozens of classrooms, a preschool wing, multi-purpose room and offices galore. The day he retired 15 years ago, the church was a near-perfect definition of what church growth gurus term a “program church,” with multiple offerings, choirs, organizations and places of connection.
Today the church is just about half of its former membership. It remains a vibrant and dynamic center of ministry but scaled down version of its former self. Its members are fewer, older, and its programs smaller. It is unlikely the church will ever regain the membership it once enjoyed.
The good news is that it’s alive and redefining itself. It’s pastors and leaders are busy discovering new pathways of mission, daring to ask questions similar to the courageous summons Haggai delivers to the dispirited community of faith. Having returned from exile, the community mourns its depleted infrastructure.
Truth be told, my colleague’s former church has fared better than most. Each year, thousands of American churches are shuttered. The exact number varies depending on which statistics are used, but there’s no denying the bottom line that American Christianity is shrinking.
“Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory?” cries Haggai. “How does it look to you now?” Imagine Haggai standing in a musty-smelling fellowship hall outfitted with 1970s linoleum and crowned by a rarely-used commercial kitchen. Like many of our congregations, the temple appears threadbare and worn out. If truth be told, in most congregations it is easier finding an overhead projector than a millennial.
How do things look now?
It’s a question worth pondering, especially for churches confronted by the realities of dwindling members, resources, and energy. It’s no secret that churches in the United States are declining in membership. According to the Gallup organization, the number of adults in the United States reporting active membership in a faith community peaked in the 1970s at around 70%.
As the numbers dwindle, building costs rise. Maintenance gets deferred. Problems grow. Realities of death and decay harden like the mortar that vainly struggles to hold bricks in place.
Empty and decaying churches plague older cities and inner-ring suburbs. Aging buildings become money pits that would make a prophet’s eyes spin. Water seeping through leaking roofs stains ceilings and breeds mold. Decades of deferred maintenance multiply quickly, making quick fixes impossible. Buildings designed for the needs of a long-gone generation require expensive modifications. The community of Israel is not alone in feeling lost. The ruins of so many denominational temples make it hard to maintain hopefulness.
In some cases, churches have sensed the prophet’s nudging toward hope. They have been willing to “let goods and kindred go,” so to speak, shedding themselves of obsolete facilities and embarking on journeys of faith which take them to new spaces. For them, Haggai’s words become a hallmark of faith. “My spirit abides in you, do not fear.”
The prophet’s words to beleaguered exiles of all generations remain relevant. Haggai offers encouragement to those who are emotionally and theologically drained, and whose personal and corporate reservoirs of hope depleted. The primary symbols of their religious and national lives are broken and cracked. Sagging beams surround broken dreams.
With piercing clarity, Haggai declares how things are, wiping away layers of denial and lingering nostalgia for the good ol’ days. The situation is made more dire because of the apparent lack of interest in rebuilding the temple. The returning cadre of exiles focused primarily on building their own homes, while all the remaining social supports have collapsed.
The prophet’s words may help church leaders whose ministries are dogged by costs of maintaining buildings no longer needed. How does it look now? Frankly, for many churches things are a mess: Sunday school rooms are empty, roofs are leaking, and HVAC systems are finicky.
Up until recent years, the percentage of church membership in the United States had remained fairly consistent since the Great Depression. But in the past 20 years, church membership has plummeted. A few empty pews quickly becomes empty churches, with upward of 10,000 churches a year closing across the country. Measured in terms of “butts and budgets,” many American churches are failing, as Jonathan Merritt noted in The Atlantic in April.
Merritt notes that many US churches sit on prime real estate favored by developers eager to make money. With mounting debt, churches are often eager to sell to the highest bidder, yet many times the surrounding community is not ready to give up the spiritual landmark. “A church building is more than just walls and windows,” Merritt writes. “It is also a sacred vessel that stores generations of religious memories,” even for those who do not attend church.
Yet the paradox remains: is the building a vestigial monument to faith that no longer resides in a larger community, or is it an expression of God’s glory, a tabernacle of hope for all people?
Haggai offers a stunning reminder that ultimately, we do not own the sites where we worship. All belongs to God, straight down to the communion sets and the red and green shag carpet in the church library. To those willing to grasp that reality, the prophet’s words may become opportunities for defining new patterns for mission. Those who can do that will be the ones who understand “the latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former.”
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
Veterans Day
When the Spirit Comes Home
US Army Private Lori Ann Piestewa was on the front lines of the US war in Iraq, and was killed there in 2003. Since then, “her name — and her legacy — have spread throughout the three mesas of Hopi land in northeastern Arizona. The first American Indian woman to die serving the US Armed Forces, in the first war that allowed women to risk their lives on the front lines, Piestewa has become synonymous with patriotic Native American sacrifice. A mountain has been named in her honor. So has an education initiative for Hopi children and an annual motorcycle ride for fallen soldiers that traverses the Mountain West. Then there are the Lori Piestewa National Native American Games, which bring more than 10,000 Native Americans from 50-plus tribes to her home state of Arizona each year for a multi-day sports competition, the biggest such event of its kind — and a fitting tribute to her athleticism and competitive spirit.”
Piestewa, along with her friend Jessica Lynch, “served in the 507th Maintenance Company, a support unit designated to transporting water, haul supplies and provide non-combative help to combat units. Neither would ever fire a shot. That Piestewa would lose her life serving in a nonviolent unit also aligns with Hopi history and Hopi values, Gilbert says: “Generally speaking, the Hopi have tried to employ the concept of non-confrontation and nonviolence.” In precolonial times, that meant avoiding war with neighboring tribes.” Piestewa died in Iraq after choosing to drive the last truck in a convoy, the most dangerous position. “Piestewa was buried on Hopi land, out in the desert, in a cemetery reached by a dirt road. Her grave was soon covered with flowers, cards, a bottle of her favorite iced tea, a PayDay candy bar and a banner reading: ‘Forever Our Lady Warrior’.”
* * *
Luke 20:27-38
Keep Calm
By his example, as his theological opponents set a trap for him, Jesus invites us to remain calm in the face of provocation, so we can answer from our best selves. Mia Tagano gives us an example of how NOT to do that, and how to recover.
She recounts a time when she was not at her best. She was on her way to a play when a car cut her off. In shock and angry, she pulled up next to the driver at the next light. The other driver was angry, and cursed at her. She says, “I rolled down my window and said, "Really? You're mad at me when YOU cut me off?!" He retorted, "YES!" And then threw what I think was his coffee grande (with cream) in my face! It covered my face, my car and my steering wheel. Thankfully, it was cold.” Angry and tired, she followed him again. She called 911, and they advised her not to follow the driver, but they would follow up if she gave them the license plate number. Then she thought again, and changed her mind.
Still following the car, she continued down an alley. “The car pulled over to the right, a youngish man got out of his car. He didn't look so mean or scary actually — more sad, really. I sensed I didn't have to worry and I wasn't afraid. I pulled over to the left side ahead of him and got out of my car. I shouted at him, "Really?! You are going to throw your coffee on me?" He tried to reason with me as he was approaching. "Stay back," I yelled out. "I won't hurt you," he replied. I could tell that he meant it. I started to sob. He was walking toward me, kindly. "Please don't cry," he said. "I should not have thrown my ice coffee on you. You flipped me off and that made me angry. This is my second job today, I am just delivering pizzas -- that's what I do. I am in a rush, like everyone else."
"This is not who I am. I am not this guy," he added.
"I believe you," I said.
"And, I am not someone who flips people off usually. I am sorry," I say through my tears.
"It has been a hard day. I am not a bad guy," he says. "I am not a bad woman. I am sorry, too. This is not my way," I say. "It is not my way either," he says.
"Please wait here," he says as he goes back to his car to get a towel. He also brought a bottle of water. "Please drink," he says, "It will make you feel better." Then, he proceeded to clean my jacket and my car.
"This is not who I am," he repeats. "I have a son, I am working two jobs, I am just trying to do my best. I am not this person you think I am."
"I am not this person either," I say.
As if to start over, I ask, "My name is Mia. What is your name?" "Mohammed." "I am sorry this happened, Mohammed." "Me too," he says. We both hugged, apologizing to each other. These are turbulent times for our world. "I don't want to add to the darkness," I tell him. "Me too," he says.”
We hugged again. Both crying. "Keep your son safe," I say. "Thank you. You stay safe too."
One last time, we both apologized, hugged, shook hands and parted ways.”
If we can’t react with calm, we can return to it, and find the humanity in each other.
* * *
Luke 20:27-38
Bringing Calm into the World
Author and philosopher Pico Iyer works to deliberately bring more calm into the world. He chooses to live in Japan, far from the rush of big cities, and he also experiences a remote Benedictine hermitage as his second home, retreating there many times each year. In this intimate conversation, we explore the “art of stillness” he practices — not in order to enrich the mountaintop, he writes, “but to bring calm into the motion of the world.” Iyer says, “I got out of my car at this monastery, and the air was pulsing. And it was very silent, but really the silence wasn't the absence of noise, it was almost the presence of these transparent walls that I think the monks had worked very, very hard to make available to us in the world. And somehow, almost immediately, it was as if a huge heaviness fell away from me, and the lens cap came off my eyes. Really almost instantaneously I felt I’ve stepped into a richer, deeper life, a real life that I’d half-forgotten had existed.” Cultivating calm in his own life adds to the serenity in the world.
Still, he doesn’t call it meditation. He says, “I watch — my wife wakes up every morning at 5:00 a.m. and meditates, and I lie in bed, watch her meditating, and then collapse in a heap. I do it vicariously through her. But you mentioned the Dalai Lama, and I think that's part — I spent — I've been lucky enough to know the Dalai Lama since I was a teenager, and I travel with him across Japan every year. And I think spending a lot of time with a man of that degree of spiritual seriousness and devotion has taught me what a serious solemn undertaking it is. And I don't want to be presumptuous and to claim to a religious tradition until I've earned it. And I think seeing somebody like the Dalai Lama or even the sometimes Zen monk, Leonard Cohen, I see what hard work it is and how many years go into their feeling worthy of calling themselves a Buddhist in those instances. And my Catholic monk friends teach me the same lesson.
“And as you know, the Dalai Lama, in response to the global times that you and I have been discussing, when he comes to this country, will always tell people, “Please don't become a Buddhist. Stay within your own traditions where your roots are deepest. You can learn some things from Buddhists, Buddhists can learn something from you. But don't too hastily abandon the centuries of tradition sent down you and grab something you don't perhaps imperfectly understand. And I think he brings us back to that wonderful truth, which is also maybe a feature of this age, which is that when a Buddhist and a Christian have a really deep conversation, the Buddhist becomes a better Buddhist the Christian becomes a better Christian.”
His journey began with an event of great sorrow, when his house burned down. “I've always traveled a lot, and even in my 30s, I noticed I’d already accumulated one million miles on a single United States airline. So I realized I have a lot of movement in my life, but not maybe enough stillness. And around that same time, our family house in Santa Barbara burned to the ground, and I lost everything I had in the world. I bought a toothbrush from an all-night supermarket that evening, and that was the only thing I had the next day. And so I was unusually footloose. And a friend who was a school teacher recommended that I go and spend a few days in a Catholic hermitage. And although I am not Catholic, and although I am not a hermit, he told me that he always took his classes there and even the most distracted, restless, testosterone-addled adolescent boy felt calmer and clearer when he went there. So I thought anything that works for an adolescent boy ought to work for me.
“And I got in my car, and I drove north along the coast following the sea, and the road got narrower and narrower, and then I came to an even narrower barely paved road that snaked up for two miles to the top of a mountain. And I got out of my car at this monastery, and the air was pulsing. And it was very silent, but really the silence wasn't the absence of noise, it was almost the presence of these transparent walls that I think the monks had worked very, very hard to make available to us in the world. And I stepped into the little room where I was going to stay, and it was simple. But there was a bed and a long desk, and above the desk a long picture window, and outside it a walled garden with a chair, and beyond that just this great blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean.
“And somehow, almost immediately, it was as if a huge heaviness fell away from me, and the lens cap came off my eyes. And suddenly, I was seeing everything from great immediacy and it was almost as if little Pico had disappeared and the whole world had come in to me instead.”
* * *
Haggai 1:15b--2:9
Take Courage
The prophet Haggai calls the people to an active faith, saying, “take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt.”
One such example of courage is Pastor Samuel Lamb, who is “one of China’s well-known house church leaders. I had traveled to Guangzhou, a city of more than three million, where he lived in a tiny apartment under house arrest. He endured more than 21 years in prison for his faith all because he refused to register his church with the Chinese government. Fifteen of those years, he did hard physical labor in a coal mine as punishment for trying to make a copy of the New Testament.”
As Christianity Today tells his story, “Pastor Lamb was short; I towered over him. With a contagious smile, he invited me to come in. The first thing I remember seeing was a long table with about 20 young Chinese people writing feverishly. Nearly 80 percent of the pastor’s congregation was comprised of young people who were hungry for the Word of God and eager to share it with their friends. I asked Pastor Lamb what they were doing. He matter-of-factly explained, ‘They are making handwritten copies of the Gospel of John to give to their friends at school tomorrow. We only have one Bible at this time, so we must make copies.’”
His apartment is full of wooden benches, with only a bed, a tiny refrigerator, and a hot plate, which comprises all of Pastor Lamb’s living space. The rest of the apartment is for the church meeting space. “Pastor Lamb said that he started preaching again when he was released from prison, and his house church started growing. One day, concerned authorities stormed into the meeting and arrested Pastor Lamb again. They confiscated all of the Bibles and hymnals. For three days, he was interrogated, beaten, and tortured. He was told to go back and close the Da Ma Zhan house church.” The next week, he was there again preaching.
Vernon Brewer recalls, on “one of my visits, Pastor Lamb said the Public Security Bureau — the secret police — questioned him about my visit. They asked, “Why are you meeting with foreigners?” “I am not,” he said. “He is my brother.” I was blessed to call Pastor Lamb my friend. He endured more persecution than anyone I know. He was beaten and tortured for his faith, and his faith never wavered. Every time I was with him, he had a smile on his face and a song in his heart. He was God’s gift to the underground church in China.”
Take heart, have courage, and work, says God.
* * * * * *
From team member Dean Feldmeyer
Luke 20:27-38
Avoiding the Feud
In this morning’s Gospel lesson Jesus refuses to be drawn into an argument that is bound to produce no winner. It was a wise choice on his part, as American history will attest.
Most of us have heard of the famous feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys. But the one between the Tewksburys and the Grahams, a lesser known feud, was even more tragic.
Known as the Pleasant Valley War, a years-long vendetta between two ranch families in Arizona started in the 1880s, and became the inspiration for countless western dime novels and movies. It all started when differences arose between the Tewksburys, a family of sheepherders, and the cattle-raising Grahams. The two families regularly argued over the borders of their two properties, and both claimed that the other’s animals tore up their land and left it useless for grazing.
Eventually, the conflict escalated into an outright war that claimed the lives of as many as 20 people. Locals from all around the area were drawn into the conflict, and both families are believed to have employed mercenaries as killers for hire, among them the infamous gunslinger Tom Horn.
The fight reached its height in September of 1887, when the Grahams surrounded the Tewksbury’s cabin and killed two men during a lengthy gunfight. A local lawman named Perry Owens found out about the ambush, and he later killed three members of the Graham faction after a gunfight broke out when he tried to make an arrest. But even the intervention of the law didn’t slow down the feuding families and over the years the two continued fighting until there were only two men left standing: Ed Tewksbury and Tom Graham. Graham was murdered under mysterious circumstances in 1892, and though he was a prime suspect, Ed Tewksbury was never proven to be the killer. He was set free and lived until 1904, the only surviving participant in a years-long cycle of retaliatory violence that had managed to drive both families into extinction.
* * *
Luke 20:27-38
A Hymn Born of Discord
Many are the Methodists who stand on Sunday and robustly sing the old hymn, “Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me” without recognizing the irony that such singing exemplifies.
Before it was a song, “Rock of Ages” was a poem penned by one Alexander Augustus Toplady, an Anglican priest and contemporary of John Wesley with whom he carried on a years-long public feud over theological arguments that most lay people would consider esoteric and obscure to the point of absurdity.
Without getting buried too deep in the debate between them, it is helpful to realize that while both were Anglican priests, when it came to their doctrines of grace, Toplady was a Calvinist and Wesley was an Arminian. The difference: Wesley believed that faith and good works were a necessary human response to God’s grace without which grace was cheap and without efficacy. Toplady, well, did not. “Rock of Ages” was originally meant to be a satirical criticism of Wesleyanism.
Their debate became acrimonious to the extreme until other clergy begged them to discontinue it for the sake of the church but neither was willing to back away until Toplady died from tuberculosis at the age of 37.
In an article entitled “A Hymn Born of Discord,” Al Maxey quotes theologian Fred Sanders: "So what's going on here? If you belong to an evangelical church that gladly and wholeheartedly sings the songs of Wesley and Toplady side by side, are you a dupe who can't tell when two things disagree? Not at all. The churches that sing Toplady's anti-Wesleyan Rock of Ages right alongside of Wesley's anti-Calvinist Love Divine, All Loves Excelling are acting on a sound instinct. They can see clearly what Toplady and Wesley in the heat of battle did not always discern: that we have the most important things, the things we want to sing about, in common. This is why, if you look in any good collection of worship songs, you can find songs written by Catholics and Lutherans, Methodists and Presbyterians, Calvinists and Arminians, Anglicans and Dissenters, Baptists and Charismatics and Pentecostals. Sure, there are some major differences in their doctrine that aren't going away any time soon. But those aren't the things we want to sing about. When we talk theology, we talk about complementarianism and creationism and Calvinism and dispensationalism and universalism and all the other -isms that have caused so much division and contention. When we worship, we sing about God's grace, about Jesus, about Christmas and the Incarnation and the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. We sing about our love for God, about God's love for us, about the joy of being forgiven and redeemed. We sing about comfort and encouragement in Christ. We sing about the most important things. And we agree on those. Maybe we don't need to restore unity. Maybe we've had it all along. Maybe we just couldn't see it because we were looking at the things we want to argue about instead of the things we want to sing about!!"
* * *
Haggai 1:15b--2:9
The Art of Restoration of Art
Leonardo da Vinci completed the “Mona Lisa” in the 16th century and The Louvre has housed the painting in Paris since 1797, but varnishes applied to the painting began to darken its look soon after the it was completed. Although the painting has been well-maintained — it was immediately considered to be valuable — the work has changed hands a number of times between the rich and the careful, even hanging in the bedroom of Napoleon Bonaparte.
A quote from Giorgio Vasari, who viewed the “Mona Lisa” mere decades after its completion gives insight into how significantly the colors have been distorted over the years: “The eyes had that luster and watery sheen always seen in life ... the nostrils, rosy and tender, seemed to be alive ... The opening of the mouth seemed to be not colored but living flesh.”
An unvarnished copy of the painting, believed to have been painted by an apprentice of da Vinci at the same time he was working on his “Mona Lisa” is full of vibrant color. And the copy is not intended to be exact— the smile and eyes are particularly different — the coloring gives decent insight into what da Vinci’s work could have originally looked like.
The Art Newspaper has a picture of a digital “virtual” cleaning of da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” that also shows brighter colors while maintaining the signature face.
* * *
Haggai 1:15b--2:9
From Death to Life, Restored
J. Stuart Holden tells of an old Scottish mansion close to where he had his little summer home. The walls of one room were filled with sketches made by distinguished artists. The practice began after a pitcher of soda water was accidentally spilled on a freshly decorated wall and left an unsightly stain. At the time, a noted artist, Lord Landseer, was a guest in the house. One day when the family went out to the moors, he stayed behind. With a few masterful strokes of a piece of charcoal, that ugly spot became the outline of a beautiful waterfall, bordered by trees and wildlife. He turned that disfigured wall into one of his most successful depictions of Highland life.
* * *
Haggai 1:15b--2:9
Restoring Relationships the Jewish Way
The 10 days between Rosh Hoshannah and Yom Kippur, known as the Days of Awe or the Days of Atonement, are usually thought of as a time of repentance but many Jews also think of them as a chance to repair and restore our relationships with the people we have hurt or harmed.
We begin on Yom Kippur, by expressing our regret and asking divine forgiveness for our hurtful actions toward others.
The Jewish philosopher, Maimonides said: “On Yom Kippur… there is no forgiveness for offenses against one’s neighbor such as assault or injury or theft and so forth, until the wrong done is put right… [and forgiveness is sought from that person]”
Echoing this, Tracey R. Rich, writing for the website, Judaism 101 says: “Among the customs of this time, it is common to seek reconciliation with people you may have wronged during the course of the year… righting the wrongs you committed against them if possible.”
This process, known as teshuva, is often translated as repentance. Though teshuva is open to us all year round, during this special week of reconciliation with ourselves, our God and our community, teshuva can play a particularly vital role in renewing our lives.
According to Rabbi Emanuel Feldman of Torah.org: “Teshuva literally means to turn around, to return, to start all over again… The process has to begin with us, with a sense of true regret, with contrition for past misdeeds, and with a serious resolution not to repeat them… The overarching theme of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is “change:” to change from what we were before and to become new individuals. The motif behind it all is accountability. We are responsible for our actions. We do not live in a vacuum. What we do or say has an impact and a resonance in the world…”
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WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: We will extol you, our God and King.
People: We will bless your name forever and ever.
Leader: Great is God, and greatly to be praised.
People: God’s greatness is unsearchable.
Leader: Our mouth will speak the praise of God.
People: All flesh will bless God’s holy name forever.
OR
Leader: God calls us together to become a new creation.
People: We gather to open our lives to God’s renewing Spirit.
Leader: Sometimes the things do not change as we would hope.
People: We will trust in God’s love to overcome all obstacles.
Leader: Have patience with yourselves and with others.
People: We seek grace for ourselves and for others.
Hymns and Songs:
From All That Dwell Below the Skies
UMH: 101
H82: 380
PH: 229
NCH: 27
CH: 49
LBW: 550
AMEC: 69
STLT: 381
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
UMH: 103
H82: 423
PH: 263
NCH: 1
CH: 66
LBW: 526
ELA: 834
W&P: 48
AMEC: 71
STLT: 273
Renew: 46
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
UMH: 127
H82: 690
PH: 281
AAHH: 138/139/140
NNBH: 232
NCH: 18/19
CH: 622
LBW: 343
ELA: 618
W&P: 501
AMEC: 52/53/65
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
UMH: 133
AAHH: 371
NNBH: 262
NCH: 471
CH: 560
ELA: 774
W&P: 496
AMEC: 525
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
UMH: 139
H82: 390
AAHH: 117
NNBH: 2
NCH: 22
CH: 25
ELA: 858/859
AMEC: 3
STLT: 278
Renew: 57
Out of the Depths, I Cry to You
UMH: 515
H82: 666
PH: 240
NCH: 483
CH: 510
LBW: 295
ELA: 600
How Firm a Foundation
UMH: 529
H82: 636/637
PH: 361
AAHH: 146
NNBH: 48
NCH: 407
CH: 618
LBW: 507
ELA: 796
W&P: 411
AMEC: 433
Be Still, My Soul
UMH: 534
AAHH: 135
NNBH: 263
NCH: 488
CH: 566
W&P: 451
AMEC: 426
Give Thanks
CCB: 92
Renew: 266
Shine, Jesus, Shine
CCB: 81
Renew: 247
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
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 patiently calls all creation to its fulfillment:
Grant us the grace to patiently deal with one another
and with the frustrations that come our way;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise and adore you, O God, because you call all of creation into its fullness with patience and grace. You tenderly work with us as we frantically try to make everything happen at once. Give us the calmness of your Spirit that we may graciously deal with other and the situations of our lives. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially lack of patience and grace with our sisters and brothers.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have failed to reflect your patience and grace in our dealings with others. We get frustrated with others and with many situations in our lives when they do not work out as we had envisioned. Renew us with your Spirit that we may show others the same grace we have received from you. Amen.
Leader: God’s grace is patient and kind. Receive God’s forgiveness and the power of God’s Spirit to live into your creation.
Prayers of the People
Praise and glory are yours, O God, because you are the Creator who continues bring all into its completion.
(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 have failed to reflect your patience and grace in our dealings with others. We get frustrated with others and with many situations in our lives when they do not work out as we had envisioned. Renew us with your Spirit that we may show others the same grace we have received from you.
We give you thanks for the wonders of creation as they unfold before us. We thank you for the ways we see that coming about in our lives and the lives of others. We thank you for those who have nurtured us with patience and grace.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all creation and all your children. Many struggle in this life and find it difficult to believe in your goodness and care. Help us to be your presence that brings hope to their lives.
(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
Sometimes when we want to do some fun activity with our friends they don’t cooperate. Either they want to do something different or they aren’t available to play with us. It takes patience, that is, we have to wait and not get all upset. It isn’t easy but it makes our friendship work better. God is also patient with us. God wants us to be the best we can be but God doesn’t get angry when we fail to do what we should. God just loves us and invites us to try again.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Make A Joyful Noise to The Lord
by Tom Willadsen
Psalm 98
(You might want to call on Psalm 114:4 — “The mountains skipped like rams/the hills like lambs.”)
You do not need any props, just willing participants.
Let the sea roar and all that fills it/
the world and those who live in it.
Let the floods clap their hands/
Let the hills sing together for joy.
Ask the kids if they’re ready to help you understand something in the Bible. The psalm is about how wonderful and marvelous the Lord is, that all of creation sings the Lord’s praises. Everything in the whole world is happy that God created it. Not just people, not just animals, not just birds.
Ask the kids if they can clap their hands. You can invite the whole congregation to clap their hands.
Ask the kids if they can sing. If you’re comfortable with your voice, you can lead them in a simple song, perhaps one they have learned in Sunday school or Vacation Bible School.
Ask the kids if they know how to skip. Let them skip back and forth. Some of them may gallop; I was a delayed skipper, and remember the stigma of being a mere galloper. Skipping or galloping are both acceptable. (You gain huge credibility if you can get an adult seated in the congregation to skip or gallop, maybe tip one off, or skip yourself.)
Ask the kids if they can name something that roars. You’ll probably hear that lions roar; other animals also roar. Ask the kids if they can roar. It’s okay to be loud. Today’s psalm is one of several that say “Make a joyful noise to the Lord.” Ask them to roar joyfully.
Good. People, even young people, can skip, clap, sing and roar.
Ask the kids to imagine the ocean clapping its hands. What would that look like? What would that sound like?
Ask the kids to imagine hills and mountains skipping like lambs. What would that look like? If you have the technology, show a part of this video of the jumping sheep.
They’ve seen what a lamb looks like skipping, what would mountains looks like skipping?
Ask the kids to imagine the ocean singing. What would that look like? What would that sound like?
Ask them to imagine the sea roaring. What would that look like? What would that sound like?
Why are all these different things skipping, singing & clapping? They are delighted that the Lord made them.
And every one of us should also be glad the Lord made us!
You can close with a prayer like this:
Loving God, thank you for everything! For nature and people and being together and feeling joy, and expressing joy. Help us remember that it is from You that all blessings flow. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, November 10, 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.
- Engaging (or Testing) God by Bethany Peerbolte — Resurrection is kind of a big deal to the whole Gospel message. One would think something so central to the theology would be clearly outlined in Jesus’ teachings.
- Second Thoughts: How Does It Look to You Now? by Chris Keating — Haggai’s words to beleaguered exiles of all generations remain relevant. He offers encouragement to those who are emotionally and theologically drained, and whose personal and corporate reservoirs of hope depleted.
- Sermon illustrations by Mary Austin, Ron Love, and Dean Feldmeyer
- Worship resources by George Reed focusing on response to turbulent times; finding hope when the ‘temple’ doesn’t come together like we think it should.
- Children’s sermon: Make A Joyful Noise to The Lord by Tom Willadsen — Psalm 98 is about how wonderful and marvelous the Lord is, that all of creation sings the Lord’s praises.
Engaging (or Testing) Godby Bethany Peerbolte
Luke 20:27-40
In the Scripture
Luke 20:27-40
Resurrection is kind of a big deal to the whole Gospel message. One would think something so central to the theology would be clearly outlined in Jesus’ teachings. Unfortunately there are only a few times Jesus speaks about resurrection. This passage from Luke is one of those moments. Jesus’ answer helps us understand what to expect in the next life.
Jesus is approached by a group of Sadducees and asked about a common theological problem. The problem has to do with wives who lawfully take multiple husbands in their lives and who they belong to in the next life if resurrection is true. Scripture contains a law that says if a man’s brother dies and leaves a widow who has not given the deceased a child the living brother should marry her. This ensures the brother’s bloodline lives on. The Sadducees exaggerate this problem when they seek Jesus’ advice and give her seven hypothetical husbands.
Fun side note: This rule plays an important part in Jesus’ lineage. Tamar enforces this law when she becomes a widow without a child. She seeks out a new husband from her former husband’s family and this begets Perez who remains in the line of Abraham and eventually Jesus is born to the same line. This makes Jesus’ reply even more important since affirming the law affirms his genealogy, and links him to prophecies about the messiah.
Back in the book of Luke, the Sadducees lay out the life of this widow who has had seven husbands, who all die without giving her a child. Then they ask Jesus, if resurrection is truth, whose wife will this woman be in the next life. They believe if a bodily resurrection happens issues like this widow will be impossible to resolve. As so, resurrection cannot be how the afterlife works. The Sadducees hope their scenario will make Jesus realize resurrection is too difficult to work into a theology that upholds the laws of scripture.
The problem of resurrection is hotly debated between Sadducees and Pharisees. With the Sadducees taking the side that resurrection is not how the afterlife will work, and the Pharisees believing it is part of God’s Kingdom. Jesus has gained the status of an influential teacher and so the two sides want to get Jesus to choose sides on big issues such as these. However, Jesus is not firmly in either camp, some teachings help Sadducees, some Pharisees, and more just do not fit into any current theology.
Jesus’ answer is that the time to come will be so unlike the current time that titles like wife and husband will not mean anything. The world they currently operate in has marriages, but the time to come will not. In God’s Kingdom it will not matter who use to be married, every relationship made on earth will look and feel different.
This response is not what the Sadducees hoped. The once confident leaders of the temple are silent and only a scribe is brave enough to reply “well said” to Jesus. It says no one dared ask him anything further. This speaks to the authority with which Jesus spoke. There are plenty of times Jesus asked questions in response to a challenge but this one comes with a sure response. Resurrection is important to the Gospel and Jesus wants to be sure to teach that when the resurrection happens that life will look different than this life. The structures we have now will be different.
It is clear Jesus has given a lot of thought to this issue. He must have spent time in communion with God figuring out exactly what to say about this event. This understanding becomes more than knowledge — it is a part of who Jesus is and the message his life will speak to the world. With such an important message Jesus is careful with his words. He answers calmly but in a way that cannot be misinterpreted. It is obvious he cannot be moved on the issue and he does not rub his superior understanding in ones’ face. His answer declares more than what resurrection will be like, it declares a piece of who Jesus is, at the core of his being.
In the News
Having one’s image, beliefs, and opinions challenged is part of life. The way we choose to respond to those challenges says a lot more about us than the actual stances being pushed against. This week we saw three different responses to a challenge to a core value.
The Catholic church has struggled to know what to do with politicians whose platforms do not concur with 100% of Catholic teaching. If a politician is Catholic but does not vote or speak about a topic the way the church would like, how should they respond? Some priests have advocated for complete excommunication. They believe if a person presents a Catholic image they should advocate for the Catholic stance on all issues. Other priests believe this is a harsh reaction and want a more inclusive response.
This week Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden found himself at the center of this debate. On Sunday, a priest in South Carolina refused to serve communion to Biden. The Priest’s reasoning was that a “public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of church teaching. Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other and the Church. Our actions should reflect that.” Biden is just one of many democratic politicians who have been refuses communion because of their public life.
Biden’s reply was simple and "I'm a practicing Catholic, I practice my faith," adding that he does not "impose" his belief on others. His casual response has defused the news hype and the story has fallen out of the public eye quickly.
Meghan Markle had a slightly more substantial response to British tabloids this week. As she returned from her tour of Africa, news got out that a lawsuit was being brought against Mail on Sunday. They published parts of a personal letter Meghan sent to her father around the time of her wedding. Meghan has been honest about the difficulties she has had with British tabloids. She says when she first started dating Prince Harry her friends warned her that they would ruin her life. Being a celebrity in America she naively thought she understood what being a public figure meant. The media has escalated to the point where she can no longer tolerate their invasions.
The lawsuit is already causing public backlash. Those who side with Meghan agree the press is too invasive, while the majority of Brits feel she signed up for the public royal life. The latter believe the royal family agree to live with a lesser degree of privacy and that their every move reflects the United Kingdom and should be open to analysis. Only time will tell if Meghan’s firm response and push back will help or hurt her.
Another group making a firm response are the House Republicans. This week they stormed into a hearing room as a defense official testified for the impeachment hearings. The demonstration was meant to show objection to the hearings and mistrust of the officials speaking. Late night hosts joked about how many of the people “storming” the room where actually invited to attend and fully allowed to be there. Making the act of chaotically interrupting the proceedings unnecessary and childish.
In the Sermon
For every depiction of Jesus in scripture we can listen to what is said and we can look at his reaction. This week I think the more compelling image is of Jesus as he responds to a challenge to his message. The Sadducees plan to throw him off his game. Whether they think they will throw him a curve ball he hasn’t considered before or whether they want to trap him into one think camp or the other, their motivation for asking the question is unclear.
What is clear is how Jesus responds. It is something he has put a lot of thought into. He has done that because it is central to what he is trying to teach the world. Resurrection needs to be a part of his followers’ vocabulary and they need to know some very key things about it. The words Jesus says will be repeated and eventually written down. Because of its importance, Jesus is ready for the challenge when it is given.
His response is not chaotic. It does not boast about his deep understanding of resurrection. It does not get too complicated or shouty. Jesus does not even challenge the Sadducees back. He simply gives them his understanding as the response. He is confident because he has thought it through, and the crowd can tell his answer is all they will get from him.
Of course, there are times we need to make a show of our convictions, possibly even demonstrate by storming a room. There will be times we need to stand up for ourselves, maybe even with a lawsuit. Hopefully most challenges to our image, beliefs, or opinions will only need a clear response. The more challenges we are prepared for the more time a calm reply will be all that is needed. That means we need to carefully consider our beliefs now when where is not a challenger standing in front of us. Biden is not fazed by the priest challenging his right to communion because Biden knows it is a likely consequence to his beliefs. After carefully thinking about what is more important, Biden’s beliefs on abortion stand.
Preparing for challenges also means we need to be honest when we aren’t as ready as Jesus was. When we aren’t ready, we get defensive and the likelihood of an unnecessary response rises. The Republicans felt trapped and they responded from a defensive place. A little preparation would have saved them ridicule. Meghan may find her lawsuit was not well advised. If we are challenged in a way we are not ready to land solidly on, the response of “I’m just not sure yet” is always a good option.
SECOND THOUGHTSHow Does It Look to You Now?
by Chris Keating
Haggai 1:15b-2:9
Last week — on All Saints Day, to be precise — a beloved colleague died. For 32 years, he served as the senior pastor of a large, multiple-staff suburban congregation, guiding it through decades of expansion. Over the years, it moved from a few hundred members into a corporate-sized, multiple staff congregation of more than 1,500 members.
Its physical plant had ballooned into a sprawling complex with a spacious sanctuary, dozens of classrooms, a preschool wing, multi-purpose room and offices galore. The day he retired 15 years ago, the church was a near-perfect definition of what church growth gurus term a “program church,” with multiple offerings, choirs, organizations and places of connection.
Today the church is just about half of its former membership. It remains a vibrant and dynamic center of ministry but scaled down version of its former self. Its members are fewer, older, and its programs smaller. It is unlikely the church will ever regain the membership it once enjoyed.
The good news is that it’s alive and redefining itself. It’s pastors and leaders are busy discovering new pathways of mission, daring to ask questions similar to the courageous summons Haggai delivers to the dispirited community of faith. Having returned from exile, the community mourns its depleted infrastructure.
Truth be told, my colleague’s former church has fared better than most. Each year, thousands of American churches are shuttered. The exact number varies depending on which statistics are used, but there’s no denying the bottom line that American Christianity is shrinking.
“Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory?” cries Haggai. “How does it look to you now?” Imagine Haggai standing in a musty-smelling fellowship hall outfitted with 1970s linoleum and crowned by a rarely-used commercial kitchen. Like many of our congregations, the temple appears threadbare and worn out. If truth be told, in most congregations it is easier finding an overhead projector than a millennial.
How do things look now?
It’s a question worth pondering, especially for churches confronted by the realities of dwindling members, resources, and energy. It’s no secret that churches in the United States are declining in membership. According to the Gallup organization, the number of adults in the United States reporting active membership in a faith community peaked in the 1970s at around 70%.
As the numbers dwindle, building costs rise. Maintenance gets deferred. Problems grow. Realities of death and decay harden like the mortar that vainly struggles to hold bricks in place.
Empty and decaying churches plague older cities and inner-ring suburbs. Aging buildings become money pits that would make a prophet’s eyes spin. Water seeping through leaking roofs stains ceilings and breeds mold. Decades of deferred maintenance multiply quickly, making quick fixes impossible. Buildings designed for the needs of a long-gone generation require expensive modifications. The community of Israel is not alone in feeling lost. The ruins of so many denominational temples make it hard to maintain hopefulness.
In some cases, churches have sensed the prophet’s nudging toward hope. They have been willing to “let goods and kindred go,” so to speak, shedding themselves of obsolete facilities and embarking on journeys of faith which take them to new spaces. For them, Haggai’s words become a hallmark of faith. “My spirit abides in you, do not fear.”
The prophet’s words to beleaguered exiles of all generations remain relevant. Haggai offers encouragement to those who are emotionally and theologically drained, and whose personal and corporate reservoirs of hope depleted. The primary symbols of their religious and national lives are broken and cracked. Sagging beams surround broken dreams.
With piercing clarity, Haggai declares how things are, wiping away layers of denial and lingering nostalgia for the good ol’ days. The situation is made more dire because of the apparent lack of interest in rebuilding the temple. The returning cadre of exiles focused primarily on building their own homes, while all the remaining social supports have collapsed.
The prophet’s words may help church leaders whose ministries are dogged by costs of maintaining buildings no longer needed. How does it look now? Frankly, for many churches things are a mess: Sunday school rooms are empty, roofs are leaking, and HVAC systems are finicky.
Up until recent years, the percentage of church membership in the United States had remained fairly consistent since the Great Depression. But in the past 20 years, church membership has plummeted. A few empty pews quickly becomes empty churches, with upward of 10,000 churches a year closing across the country. Measured in terms of “butts and budgets,” many American churches are failing, as Jonathan Merritt noted in The Atlantic in April.
Merritt notes that many US churches sit on prime real estate favored by developers eager to make money. With mounting debt, churches are often eager to sell to the highest bidder, yet many times the surrounding community is not ready to give up the spiritual landmark. “A church building is more than just walls and windows,” Merritt writes. “It is also a sacred vessel that stores generations of religious memories,” even for those who do not attend church.
Yet the paradox remains: is the building a vestigial monument to faith that no longer resides in a larger community, or is it an expression of God’s glory, a tabernacle of hope for all people?
Haggai offers a stunning reminder that ultimately, we do not own the sites where we worship. All belongs to God, straight down to the communion sets and the red and green shag carpet in the church library. To those willing to grasp that reality, the prophet’s words may become opportunities for defining new patterns for mission. Those who can do that will be the ones who understand “the latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former.”
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:Veterans Day
When the Spirit Comes Home
US Army Private Lori Ann Piestewa was on the front lines of the US war in Iraq, and was killed there in 2003. Since then, “her name — and her legacy — have spread throughout the three mesas of Hopi land in northeastern Arizona. The first American Indian woman to die serving the US Armed Forces, in the first war that allowed women to risk their lives on the front lines, Piestewa has become synonymous with patriotic Native American sacrifice. A mountain has been named in her honor. So has an education initiative for Hopi children and an annual motorcycle ride for fallen soldiers that traverses the Mountain West. Then there are the Lori Piestewa National Native American Games, which bring more than 10,000 Native Americans from 50-plus tribes to her home state of Arizona each year for a multi-day sports competition, the biggest such event of its kind — and a fitting tribute to her athleticism and competitive spirit.”
Piestewa, along with her friend Jessica Lynch, “served in the 507th Maintenance Company, a support unit designated to transporting water, haul supplies and provide non-combative help to combat units. Neither would ever fire a shot. That Piestewa would lose her life serving in a nonviolent unit also aligns with Hopi history and Hopi values, Gilbert says: “Generally speaking, the Hopi have tried to employ the concept of non-confrontation and nonviolence.” In precolonial times, that meant avoiding war with neighboring tribes.” Piestewa died in Iraq after choosing to drive the last truck in a convoy, the most dangerous position. “Piestewa was buried on Hopi land, out in the desert, in a cemetery reached by a dirt road. Her grave was soon covered with flowers, cards, a bottle of her favorite iced tea, a PayDay candy bar and a banner reading: ‘Forever Our Lady Warrior’.”
* * *
Luke 20:27-38
Keep Calm
By his example, as his theological opponents set a trap for him, Jesus invites us to remain calm in the face of provocation, so we can answer from our best selves. Mia Tagano gives us an example of how NOT to do that, and how to recover.
She recounts a time when she was not at her best. She was on her way to a play when a car cut her off. In shock and angry, she pulled up next to the driver at the next light. The other driver was angry, and cursed at her. She says, “I rolled down my window and said, "Really? You're mad at me when YOU cut me off?!" He retorted, "YES!" And then threw what I think was his coffee grande (with cream) in my face! It covered my face, my car and my steering wheel. Thankfully, it was cold.” Angry and tired, she followed him again. She called 911, and they advised her not to follow the driver, but they would follow up if she gave them the license plate number. Then she thought again, and changed her mind.
Still following the car, she continued down an alley. “The car pulled over to the right, a youngish man got out of his car. He didn't look so mean or scary actually — more sad, really. I sensed I didn't have to worry and I wasn't afraid. I pulled over to the left side ahead of him and got out of my car. I shouted at him, "Really?! You are going to throw your coffee on me?" He tried to reason with me as he was approaching. "Stay back," I yelled out. "I won't hurt you," he replied. I could tell that he meant it. I started to sob. He was walking toward me, kindly. "Please don't cry," he said. "I should not have thrown my ice coffee on you. You flipped me off and that made me angry. This is my second job today, I am just delivering pizzas -- that's what I do. I am in a rush, like everyone else."
"This is not who I am. I am not this guy," he added.
"I believe you," I said.
"And, I am not someone who flips people off usually. I am sorry," I say through my tears.
"It has been a hard day. I am not a bad guy," he says. "I am not a bad woman. I am sorry, too. This is not my way," I say. "It is not my way either," he says.
"Please wait here," he says as he goes back to his car to get a towel. He also brought a bottle of water. "Please drink," he says, "It will make you feel better." Then, he proceeded to clean my jacket and my car.
"This is not who I am," he repeats. "I have a son, I am working two jobs, I am just trying to do my best. I am not this person you think I am."
"I am not this person either," I say.
As if to start over, I ask, "My name is Mia. What is your name?" "Mohammed." "I am sorry this happened, Mohammed." "Me too," he says. We both hugged, apologizing to each other. These are turbulent times for our world. "I don't want to add to the darkness," I tell him. "Me too," he says.”
We hugged again. Both crying. "Keep your son safe," I say. "Thank you. You stay safe too."
One last time, we both apologized, hugged, shook hands and parted ways.”
If we can’t react with calm, we can return to it, and find the humanity in each other.
* * *
Luke 20:27-38
Bringing Calm into the World
Author and philosopher Pico Iyer works to deliberately bring more calm into the world. He chooses to live in Japan, far from the rush of big cities, and he also experiences a remote Benedictine hermitage as his second home, retreating there many times each year. In this intimate conversation, we explore the “art of stillness” he practices — not in order to enrich the mountaintop, he writes, “but to bring calm into the motion of the world.” Iyer says, “I got out of my car at this monastery, and the air was pulsing. And it was very silent, but really the silence wasn't the absence of noise, it was almost the presence of these transparent walls that I think the monks had worked very, very hard to make available to us in the world. And somehow, almost immediately, it was as if a huge heaviness fell away from me, and the lens cap came off my eyes. Really almost instantaneously I felt I’ve stepped into a richer, deeper life, a real life that I’d half-forgotten had existed.” Cultivating calm in his own life adds to the serenity in the world.
Still, he doesn’t call it meditation. He says, “I watch — my wife wakes up every morning at 5:00 a.m. and meditates, and I lie in bed, watch her meditating, and then collapse in a heap. I do it vicariously through her. But you mentioned the Dalai Lama, and I think that's part — I spent — I've been lucky enough to know the Dalai Lama since I was a teenager, and I travel with him across Japan every year. And I think spending a lot of time with a man of that degree of spiritual seriousness and devotion has taught me what a serious solemn undertaking it is. And I don't want to be presumptuous and to claim to a religious tradition until I've earned it. And I think seeing somebody like the Dalai Lama or even the sometimes Zen monk, Leonard Cohen, I see what hard work it is and how many years go into their feeling worthy of calling themselves a Buddhist in those instances. And my Catholic monk friends teach me the same lesson.
“And as you know, the Dalai Lama, in response to the global times that you and I have been discussing, when he comes to this country, will always tell people, “Please don't become a Buddhist. Stay within your own traditions where your roots are deepest. You can learn some things from Buddhists, Buddhists can learn something from you. But don't too hastily abandon the centuries of tradition sent down you and grab something you don't perhaps imperfectly understand. And I think he brings us back to that wonderful truth, which is also maybe a feature of this age, which is that when a Buddhist and a Christian have a really deep conversation, the Buddhist becomes a better Buddhist the Christian becomes a better Christian.”
His journey began with an event of great sorrow, when his house burned down. “I've always traveled a lot, and even in my 30s, I noticed I’d already accumulated one million miles on a single United States airline. So I realized I have a lot of movement in my life, but not maybe enough stillness. And around that same time, our family house in Santa Barbara burned to the ground, and I lost everything I had in the world. I bought a toothbrush from an all-night supermarket that evening, and that was the only thing I had the next day. And so I was unusually footloose. And a friend who was a school teacher recommended that I go and spend a few days in a Catholic hermitage. And although I am not Catholic, and although I am not a hermit, he told me that he always took his classes there and even the most distracted, restless, testosterone-addled adolescent boy felt calmer and clearer when he went there. So I thought anything that works for an adolescent boy ought to work for me.
“And I got in my car, and I drove north along the coast following the sea, and the road got narrower and narrower, and then I came to an even narrower barely paved road that snaked up for two miles to the top of a mountain. And I got out of my car at this monastery, and the air was pulsing. And it was very silent, but really the silence wasn't the absence of noise, it was almost the presence of these transparent walls that I think the monks had worked very, very hard to make available to us in the world. And I stepped into the little room where I was going to stay, and it was simple. But there was a bed and a long desk, and above the desk a long picture window, and outside it a walled garden with a chair, and beyond that just this great blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean.
“And somehow, almost immediately, it was as if a huge heaviness fell away from me, and the lens cap came off my eyes. And suddenly, I was seeing everything from great immediacy and it was almost as if little Pico had disappeared and the whole world had come in to me instead.”
* * *
Haggai 1:15b--2:9
Take Courage
The prophet Haggai calls the people to an active faith, saying, “take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt.”
One such example of courage is Pastor Samuel Lamb, who is “one of China’s well-known house church leaders. I had traveled to Guangzhou, a city of more than three million, where he lived in a tiny apartment under house arrest. He endured more than 21 years in prison for his faith all because he refused to register his church with the Chinese government. Fifteen of those years, he did hard physical labor in a coal mine as punishment for trying to make a copy of the New Testament.”
As Christianity Today tells his story, “Pastor Lamb was short; I towered over him. With a contagious smile, he invited me to come in. The first thing I remember seeing was a long table with about 20 young Chinese people writing feverishly. Nearly 80 percent of the pastor’s congregation was comprised of young people who were hungry for the Word of God and eager to share it with their friends. I asked Pastor Lamb what they were doing. He matter-of-factly explained, ‘They are making handwritten copies of the Gospel of John to give to their friends at school tomorrow. We only have one Bible at this time, so we must make copies.’”
His apartment is full of wooden benches, with only a bed, a tiny refrigerator, and a hot plate, which comprises all of Pastor Lamb’s living space. The rest of the apartment is for the church meeting space. “Pastor Lamb said that he started preaching again when he was released from prison, and his house church started growing. One day, concerned authorities stormed into the meeting and arrested Pastor Lamb again. They confiscated all of the Bibles and hymnals. For three days, he was interrogated, beaten, and tortured. He was told to go back and close the Da Ma Zhan house church.” The next week, he was there again preaching.
Vernon Brewer recalls, on “one of my visits, Pastor Lamb said the Public Security Bureau — the secret police — questioned him about my visit. They asked, “Why are you meeting with foreigners?” “I am not,” he said. “He is my brother.” I was blessed to call Pastor Lamb my friend. He endured more persecution than anyone I know. He was beaten and tortured for his faith, and his faith never wavered. Every time I was with him, he had a smile on his face and a song in his heart. He was God’s gift to the underground church in China.”
Take heart, have courage, and work, says God.
* * * * * *
From team member Dean FeldmeyerLuke 20:27-38
Avoiding the Feud
In this morning’s Gospel lesson Jesus refuses to be drawn into an argument that is bound to produce no winner. It was a wise choice on his part, as American history will attest.
Most of us have heard of the famous feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys. But the one between the Tewksburys and the Grahams, a lesser known feud, was even more tragic.
Known as the Pleasant Valley War, a years-long vendetta between two ranch families in Arizona started in the 1880s, and became the inspiration for countless western dime novels and movies. It all started when differences arose between the Tewksburys, a family of sheepherders, and the cattle-raising Grahams. The two families regularly argued over the borders of their two properties, and both claimed that the other’s animals tore up their land and left it useless for grazing.
Eventually, the conflict escalated into an outright war that claimed the lives of as many as 20 people. Locals from all around the area were drawn into the conflict, and both families are believed to have employed mercenaries as killers for hire, among them the infamous gunslinger Tom Horn.
The fight reached its height in September of 1887, when the Grahams surrounded the Tewksbury’s cabin and killed two men during a lengthy gunfight. A local lawman named Perry Owens found out about the ambush, and he later killed three members of the Graham faction after a gunfight broke out when he tried to make an arrest. But even the intervention of the law didn’t slow down the feuding families and over the years the two continued fighting until there were only two men left standing: Ed Tewksbury and Tom Graham. Graham was murdered under mysterious circumstances in 1892, and though he was a prime suspect, Ed Tewksbury was never proven to be the killer. He was set free and lived until 1904, the only surviving participant in a years-long cycle of retaliatory violence that had managed to drive both families into extinction.
* * *
Luke 20:27-38
A Hymn Born of Discord
Many are the Methodists who stand on Sunday and robustly sing the old hymn, “Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me” without recognizing the irony that such singing exemplifies.
Before it was a song, “Rock of Ages” was a poem penned by one Alexander Augustus Toplady, an Anglican priest and contemporary of John Wesley with whom he carried on a years-long public feud over theological arguments that most lay people would consider esoteric and obscure to the point of absurdity.
Without getting buried too deep in the debate between them, it is helpful to realize that while both were Anglican priests, when it came to their doctrines of grace, Toplady was a Calvinist and Wesley was an Arminian. The difference: Wesley believed that faith and good works were a necessary human response to God’s grace without which grace was cheap and without efficacy. Toplady, well, did not. “Rock of Ages” was originally meant to be a satirical criticism of Wesleyanism.
Their debate became acrimonious to the extreme until other clergy begged them to discontinue it for the sake of the church but neither was willing to back away until Toplady died from tuberculosis at the age of 37.
In an article entitled “A Hymn Born of Discord,” Al Maxey quotes theologian Fred Sanders: "So what's going on here? If you belong to an evangelical church that gladly and wholeheartedly sings the songs of Wesley and Toplady side by side, are you a dupe who can't tell when two things disagree? Not at all. The churches that sing Toplady's anti-Wesleyan Rock of Ages right alongside of Wesley's anti-Calvinist Love Divine, All Loves Excelling are acting on a sound instinct. They can see clearly what Toplady and Wesley in the heat of battle did not always discern: that we have the most important things, the things we want to sing about, in common. This is why, if you look in any good collection of worship songs, you can find songs written by Catholics and Lutherans, Methodists and Presbyterians, Calvinists and Arminians, Anglicans and Dissenters, Baptists and Charismatics and Pentecostals. Sure, there are some major differences in their doctrine that aren't going away any time soon. But those aren't the things we want to sing about. When we talk theology, we talk about complementarianism and creationism and Calvinism and dispensationalism and universalism and all the other -isms that have caused so much division and contention. When we worship, we sing about God's grace, about Jesus, about Christmas and the Incarnation and the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. We sing about our love for God, about God's love for us, about the joy of being forgiven and redeemed. We sing about comfort and encouragement in Christ. We sing about the most important things. And we agree on those. Maybe we don't need to restore unity. Maybe we've had it all along. Maybe we just couldn't see it because we were looking at the things we want to argue about instead of the things we want to sing about!!"
* * *
Haggai 1:15b--2:9
The Art of Restoration of Art
Leonardo da Vinci completed the “Mona Lisa” in the 16th century and The Louvre has housed the painting in Paris since 1797, but varnishes applied to the painting began to darken its look soon after the it was completed. Although the painting has been well-maintained — it was immediately considered to be valuable — the work has changed hands a number of times between the rich and the careful, even hanging in the bedroom of Napoleon Bonaparte.
A quote from Giorgio Vasari, who viewed the “Mona Lisa” mere decades after its completion gives insight into how significantly the colors have been distorted over the years: “The eyes had that luster and watery sheen always seen in life ... the nostrils, rosy and tender, seemed to be alive ... The opening of the mouth seemed to be not colored but living flesh.”
An unvarnished copy of the painting, believed to have been painted by an apprentice of da Vinci at the same time he was working on his “Mona Lisa” is full of vibrant color. And the copy is not intended to be exact— the smile and eyes are particularly different — the coloring gives decent insight into what da Vinci’s work could have originally looked like.
The Art Newspaper has a picture of a digital “virtual” cleaning of da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” that also shows brighter colors while maintaining the signature face.
* * *
Haggai 1:15b--2:9
From Death to Life, Restored
J. Stuart Holden tells of an old Scottish mansion close to where he had his little summer home. The walls of one room were filled with sketches made by distinguished artists. The practice began after a pitcher of soda water was accidentally spilled on a freshly decorated wall and left an unsightly stain. At the time, a noted artist, Lord Landseer, was a guest in the house. One day when the family went out to the moors, he stayed behind. With a few masterful strokes of a piece of charcoal, that ugly spot became the outline of a beautiful waterfall, bordered by trees and wildlife. He turned that disfigured wall into one of his most successful depictions of Highland life.
* * *
Haggai 1:15b--2:9
Restoring Relationships the Jewish Way
The 10 days between Rosh Hoshannah and Yom Kippur, known as the Days of Awe or the Days of Atonement, are usually thought of as a time of repentance but many Jews also think of them as a chance to repair and restore our relationships with the people we have hurt or harmed.
We begin on Yom Kippur, by expressing our regret and asking divine forgiveness for our hurtful actions toward others.
The Jewish philosopher, Maimonides said: “On Yom Kippur… there is no forgiveness for offenses against one’s neighbor such as assault or injury or theft and so forth, until the wrong done is put right… [and forgiveness is sought from that person]”
Echoing this, Tracey R. Rich, writing for the website, Judaism 101 says: “Among the customs of this time, it is common to seek reconciliation with people you may have wronged during the course of the year… righting the wrongs you committed against them if possible.”
This process, known as teshuva, is often translated as repentance. Though teshuva is open to us all year round, during this special week of reconciliation with ourselves, our God and our community, teshuva can play a particularly vital role in renewing our lives.
According to Rabbi Emanuel Feldman of Torah.org: “Teshuva literally means to turn around, to return, to start all over again… The process has to begin with us, with a sense of true regret, with contrition for past misdeeds, and with a serious resolution not to repeat them… The overarching theme of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is “change:” to change from what we were before and to become new individuals. The motif behind it all is accountability. We are responsible for our actions. We do not live in a vacuum. What we do or say has an impact and a resonance in the world…”
* * * * * *
WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: We will extol you, our God and King.
People: We will bless your name forever and ever.
Leader: Great is God, and greatly to be praised.
People: God’s greatness is unsearchable.
Leader: Our mouth will speak the praise of God.
People: All flesh will bless God’s holy name forever.
OR
Leader: God calls us together to become a new creation.
People: We gather to open our lives to God’s renewing Spirit.
Leader: Sometimes the things do not change as we would hope.
People: We will trust in God’s love to overcome all obstacles.
Leader: Have patience with yourselves and with others.
People: We seek grace for ourselves and for others.
Hymns and Songs:
From All That Dwell Below the Skies
UMH: 101
H82: 380
PH: 229
NCH: 27
CH: 49
LBW: 550
AMEC: 69
STLT: 381
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
UMH: 103
H82: 423
PH: 263
NCH: 1
CH: 66
LBW: 526
ELA: 834
W&P: 48
AMEC: 71
STLT: 273
Renew: 46
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
UMH: 127
H82: 690
PH: 281
AAHH: 138/139/140
NNBH: 232
NCH: 18/19
CH: 622
LBW: 343
ELA: 618
W&P: 501
AMEC: 52/53/65
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
UMH: 133
AAHH: 371
NNBH: 262
NCH: 471
CH: 560
ELA: 774
W&P: 496
AMEC: 525
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
UMH: 139
H82: 390
AAHH: 117
NNBH: 2
NCH: 22
CH: 25
ELA: 858/859
AMEC: 3
STLT: 278
Renew: 57
Out of the Depths, I Cry to You
UMH: 515
H82: 666
PH: 240
NCH: 483
CH: 510
LBW: 295
ELA: 600
How Firm a Foundation
UMH: 529
H82: 636/637
PH: 361
AAHH: 146
NNBH: 48
NCH: 407
CH: 618
LBW: 507
ELA: 796
W&P: 411
AMEC: 433
Be Still, My Soul
UMH: 534
AAHH: 135
NNBH: 263
NCH: 488
CH: 566
W&P: 451
AMEC: 426
Give Thanks
CCB: 92
Renew: 266
Shine, Jesus, Shine
CCB: 81
Renew: 247
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
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 patiently calls all creation to its fulfillment:
Grant us the grace to patiently deal with one another
and with the frustrations that come our way;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise and adore you, O God, because you call all of creation into its fullness with patience and grace. You tenderly work with us as we frantically try to make everything happen at once. Give us the calmness of your Spirit that we may graciously deal with other and the situations of our lives. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially lack of patience and grace with our sisters and brothers.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have failed to reflect your patience and grace in our dealings with others. We get frustrated with others and with many situations in our lives when they do not work out as we had envisioned. Renew us with your Spirit that we may show others the same grace we have received from you. Amen.
Leader: God’s grace is patient and kind. Receive God’s forgiveness and the power of God’s Spirit to live into your creation.
Prayers of the People
Praise and glory are yours, O God, because you are the Creator who continues bring all into its completion.
(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 have failed to reflect your patience and grace in our dealings with others. We get frustrated with others and with many situations in our lives when they do not work out as we had envisioned. Renew us with your Spirit that we may show others the same grace we have received from you.
We give you thanks for the wonders of creation as they unfold before us. We thank you for the ways we see that coming about in our lives and the lives of others. We thank you for those who have nurtured us with patience and grace.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all creation and all your children. Many struggle in this life and find it difficult to believe in your goodness and care. Help us to be your presence that brings hope to their lives.
(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
Sometimes when we want to do some fun activity with our friends they don’t cooperate. Either they want to do something different or they aren’t available to play with us. It takes patience, that is, we have to wait and not get all upset. It isn’t easy but it makes our friendship work better. God is also patient with us. God wants us to be the best we can be but God doesn’t get angry when we fail to do what we should. God just loves us and invites us to try again.
CHILDREN'S SERMONMake A Joyful Noise to The Lord
by Tom Willadsen
Psalm 98
(You might want to call on Psalm 114:4 — “The mountains skipped like rams/the hills like lambs.”)
You do not need any props, just willing participants.
Let the sea roar and all that fills it/
the world and those who live in it.
Let the floods clap their hands/
Let the hills sing together for joy.
Ask the kids if they’re ready to help you understand something in the Bible. The psalm is about how wonderful and marvelous the Lord is, that all of creation sings the Lord’s praises. Everything in the whole world is happy that God created it. Not just people, not just animals, not just birds.
Ask the kids if they can clap their hands. You can invite the whole congregation to clap their hands.
Ask the kids if they can sing. If you’re comfortable with your voice, you can lead them in a simple song, perhaps one they have learned in Sunday school or Vacation Bible School.
Ask the kids if they know how to skip. Let them skip back and forth. Some of them may gallop; I was a delayed skipper, and remember the stigma of being a mere galloper. Skipping or galloping are both acceptable. (You gain huge credibility if you can get an adult seated in the congregation to skip or gallop, maybe tip one off, or skip yourself.)
Ask the kids if they can name something that roars. You’ll probably hear that lions roar; other animals also roar. Ask the kids if they can roar. It’s okay to be loud. Today’s psalm is one of several that say “Make a joyful noise to the Lord.” Ask them to roar joyfully.
Good. People, even young people, can skip, clap, sing and roar.
Ask the kids to imagine the ocean clapping its hands. What would that look like? What would that sound like?
Ask the kids to imagine hills and mountains skipping like lambs. What would that look like? If you have the technology, show a part of this video of the jumping sheep.
They’ve seen what a lamb looks like skipping, what would mountains looks like skipping?
Ask the kids to imagine the ocean singing. What would that look like? What would that sound like?
Ask them to imagine the sea roaring. What would that look like? What would that sound like?
Why are all these different things skipping, singing & clapping? They are delighted that the Lord made them.
And every one of us should also be glad the Lord made us!
You can close with a prayer like this:
Loving God, thank you for everything! For nature and people and being together and feeling joy, and expressing joy. Help us remember that it is from You that all blessings flow. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, November 10, 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.
