Fourth Of July?!
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
In America, this Sunday comes in the middle of a holiday weekend as the country will be awash in the patriotic celebration of Independence Day. That will certainly affect attendance but for those who do come to worship there may also be the expectation that the occasion will be observed with the singing of patriotic hymns or acknowledged in some other fashion. That can pose a dilemma for preachers who want to keep the focus on the gospel -- particularly on this weekend. It is all too easy to give in to the temptation to let a strain of American exceptionalism bleed into our proclamation. So how can we best address this issue? In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member George Reed notes that the lectionary gospel passage for this week provides an intriguing possibility. It's noteworthy that the most familiar verse of this text -- "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest" -- bears a striking resemblance to the line we most associate with the Statue of Liberty and with the image America presents to the world: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." At its best, America fulfills something of the same role that Matthew describes... but therein lies the rub, for that can often be a very mixed blessing. In reality, modern America is much more like the Roman empire of Jesus' day than the Lord's Kingdom. There are both good and bad aspects to America's role in the world -- a paradox we were powerfully reminded of this past week with President Obama's speech reassessing our military obligations in Afghanistan. In his main article this week, George offers some interesting approaches that highlight the similarities and the differences between the American kingdom and God's Kingdom, and he notes how God always welcomes us without engaging in the internecine squabbling that seems endemic to human affairs.
That's not the only paradox this week -- team member Dean Feldmeyer shares some additional thoughts on the range of paradoxes we deal with in our daily behavior, which leads to the internal struggles that Paul so powerfully identified when he wrote that "I do not understand my own actions." That dynamic seems especially true in our world of relative privilege and luxury with all of its attendant temptations; Paul describes the essence of the most pervasive disease of our time -- addiction -- when he says that "I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." But as Dean points out, it's not just our wealth that's the issue -- it's really more a matter of our basic human nature, as evidenced by the countless silly contradictions in our everyday lives. So what can we do? (Or as Paul rather melodramatically puts it, "Who will rescue me from this body of death?") The answer, Dean tells us, is that God's grace rescues us from the paradoxes of our lives -- both personal and national.
Fourth of July?!
by George Reed
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
This week we will be preparing for a worship service that falls on July 3 and most of our people will be more focused on the Fourth of July than on anything else. They may be taking it seriously as a celebration of the birth of our country or taking it merrily as a long holiday weekend. Whatever the case, it will be on their minds. What is the preacher to do? For some of us it is a no-brainer. We will give them what they want to hear and what we (perhaps) want to say... and it will be a patriotic event. For others of us, we will struggle. We are Americans and gladly so -- but we are also preachers who feel the need to preach the gospel.
So this week we will take a look at two icons, one America and the other the Church. We will look at the Statue of Liberty, an image which we will see everywhere this weekend, and we will look at the teaching of Jesus in the gospel reading.
THE WORLD
Okay, maybe not the whole world, but here in the United States we will be focused on the Fourth of July with its fireworks and American flags and images of the Statue of Liberty. We may even hear part of the sonnet that Emma Lazarus wrote, which is inscribed on a tablet within the pedestal on which the statue stands:
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Then there is the partisan bickering that goes on constantly. Does "the common good" mean anything anymore? Is consistently staying with your stated ethics and morals a value we still hold in common? Concern for these things seems to have been banished from Washington DC and from many of the state capitols. It often seems that the only question is whether or not our team is going to win. If that means the country as a whole loses in the midst of that win, then it is chalked up as just the cost of political victory. Add to this squabbling the discussions (?) the country is having about immigration, legal and illegal, and the two or three wars we are fighting. We can't even agree on whether or not what we are doing in Lybia is a war.
When the president announced last week a reduction in our troops in Afghanistan, the reaction on Capitol Hill seemed to be a mishmash of partisan rhetoric devoid of even the slightest bit of agreement with the president or with each other.
THE WORD
Into this mix comes Jesus in our gospel text, with his comparison of the religious community as acting like children at play. When it is suggested that they play "wedding," no one will join in the dancing and when they play "funeral," no one will mourn. They criticize John the Baptist as possessed because he refuses to drink wine, while they characterize Jesus as a drunken glutton because he dines with sinners and partakes of the wine. The passage for this week ends when Jesus calls for the weary to come to him and find rest.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
If we take Jesus seriously as our example, the work of the Church is not to extol or condemn this or any nation. Our job is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ -- and then to call our people, and the nation, to respond in an appropriate way to the gospel. We may also offer our assessment of where we see ourselves as a nation following or deserting the way of Christ. This should be done with care and the preacher might want to preface that assessment by making it clear that as a fellow Christian this is what the preacher sees and that others may differ in their assessment.
One could start by referencing back to the playground image and talking about how typical that is of children and how some of us never outgrow that kind of behavior. The question could be asked if anyone ever sees that kind of behavior in our elected officials. Some of us, even politicians, just don't grow up in some respects. The text seems to suggest that we could honor the gospel of Jesus more and be better citizens at the same time -- if we would grow up and stop the mindless squabbling that we engage in. John the Baptist didn't drink for a reason; Jesus drank for a reason. They both had good reasons and were honoring God. We might choose one lifestyle over the other but that doesn't mean we need to ridicule or condemn those who choose differently.
One could also work from the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World) and the Emma Lazarus sonnet. If so, it would probably be good to read the entire poem as it is short and most of us know only the last few lines. One could note the similarities of the open kindness that the sonnet shows and the open arms of Jesus who invites all to come to him. One could, if one thought it would be helpful, draw some comparisons between ancient Rome and modern America (use of force to keep peace, extended rule, and so forth). Either way, the point would be to call ourselves to take the gospel seriously and to use it as the benchmark for our decisions about what is right and wrong.
A word would always be appropriate for how this makes us better citizens (not worse ones). Parents sometimes have to call their children on their behavior not because they hate their offspring but precisely because of how much they love them. As American Christians we sometimes need to speak a word of encouragement when we as a people are doing well, and sometimes we need to speak a word of correction so that God's reign might be furthered and, as a consequence, our nation might step up to a new stature in its role as a beacon for the world.
The preacher will, of course, direct the sermon toward the nation as much as seems appropriate. Some may prefer to speak the word only to the Church. One could then draw on examples in the church where there have been mindless squabbles. If you have never witnessed any of these in your ministry let me know and I will share some examples with you! I hope this approach helps you to be faithful to the gospel as you address your people where they are likely to be on this holiday weekend.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Living the Christian Paradox
by Dean Feldmeyer
Romans 7:15-25a; Matthew 11:25-30
"I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate" (Romans 7:15 NRSV). With this single verse, Paul reveals himself to be as contemporary a Christian as any who ever lived -- for not one of us is unfamiliar with the frustration he expresses at living in the midst of the human paradox.
We are living, breathing paradoxes, are we not?
We laugh at funerals and we cry at weddings. We age quickly so we worship at the altar of youth. We take dry tea and soak it in water to make it wet. The water we use is hot so we pour it over ice to make it cold. It is bitter so we put sugar in it to make it sweet, and then we put lemon in it to make it bitter again.
We spend thousands of dollars on health care -- and then we drive too fast, eat fatty foods, and find a dozen ways to use tobacco... all of which cause cancer. We tell our children to "say no to drugs," while we can't get through the morning without a dose of caffeine.
We are paradoxes in the singular and we are no less so in the plural. As George Reed rightly points out above, one of the icons of our cultural identity, the Statue of Liberty, welcomes the tired, the poor, and the miserable people of the world. While those wretched masses read Emma Lazarus's poem, we urge our congressional representatives to slam the doors on them because we want the jobs that they might take.
We claim to value education while we lay off teachers rather than pass tax levies. We argue that life is innately valuable while we tolerate capital punishment. We call ourselves Christians who live by Jesus' admonition to love our enemies and we dance on their graves when Navy SEALs kill them on our behalf.
We understand, as did Ebenezer Scrooge, that people judge with equal disdain both those with much money and those with not enough.
We are paradoxes living paradoxical lives -- and we are, like Paul, as disgusted with ourselves as we are exhausted by this life we live. But how do we get out of it? How do we escape the paradox? "Wretched man that I am!" cries Paul in the same letter, "Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24).
Then he answers his own question: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (7:25a).
Matthew, quoting Jesus, answers the same question in our gospel lesson: "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).
The answer to the problem of paradoxical living is not will but grace. We are saved, rescued, and renewed by God's grace as it comes to us in Jesus Christ.
Have fun with this sermon. Self-effacing humor is always the most effective and should be used liberally with a subject such as this. Invite the congregation to laugh with you about the silly paradoxes you have discovered in your own life and then invite them to laugh about the ones in their lives.
Once we have discovered and confessed, by humor and irony, the paradoxes that make up our lives, we will be able to open ourselves to and celebrate the grace of God that delivers us from the paradoxes -- and this is as true for nations as it is for individuals.
ILLUSTRATIONS
A man could not help but overhear a young mother, who was pushing a grocery cart with a young child on board down the candy aisle, say, "Now Rebecca, be good. We're not going to get anything today. We're almost to the end of the aisle." The older gentleman bumped into the young mother on the pastry aisle and then on the ice cream aisle, only to hear her say the same thing: "Now Rebecca, be good. We're not going to get anything today. We're almost to the end of the aisle."
In the checkout line the man happened to be standing behind the young mother. He could not help but compliment her with these words: "I must say, I admire the way you disciplined your daughter Rebecca not to buy any candy, cookies, and ice cream." To which the young mother exclaimed, "I'm Rebecca! This is my daughter Sarah."
To keep from doing those things which we do not want -- it does take self-discipline.
* * *
A Methodist pastor and a Baptist pastor happened to be sitting next to each other at a conference. The Methodist preacher inquired, "If you take a convert into the lake up to his knees, is he baptized?"
The Baptist replied, "No."
The Methodist then asked, "How about if you take him up to his shoulders?"
To which the Baptist again replied, "No."
The Methodist once more asked, "How about up to his chin?"
To which the Baptist again replied, "No."
The Methodist once more inquired, "If you take the convert into the lake and dip him so that it covers his head, then does it count?"
To which the Baptist joyfully replied, "Yes, then he is baptized."
The Methodist then answered, "I knew it all along. It is only the top of the head that matters."
Whatever form of baptism one accepts, from sprinkling to immersion, we do need to confess that "sin dwells within me," and that we need to be cleansed of that sin. It is only then that we will not do the things that we want, but only that which Jesus wants.
* * *
In his Confessions, Augustine tells of a boyhood incident when he decided to steal pears from a nearby orchard. One night he and "a group of young scoundrels" went into the orchard to shake the trees and rob the pears. They carried off a huge load of pears, not to eat for themselves, but to dump among the hogs. They committed the crime simply because it was forbidden. Augustine exclaimed: "It was foul, and I loved it."
The apostle Paul could not overcome his own inner tensions and contradictions, proclaiming: "For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do" (Romans 7:19).
Like Paul, Augustine discovered that he could not resolve the issue himself -- only God's grace could enable him to do it. In Paul's words, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
* * *
John Donne, the renowned English poet of the Elizabethan era, captures the complexity of our struggle against sin in his famous poem "Holy Sonnet XIV: Batter My Heart, Three-Person'd God":
Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow mee, and bend
Your force, to breake, blow, burn, and make mee new.
Donne ends his poem by saying:
Divorce mee, untie, or breake that knot againe,
Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I
Except you enthrall mee, never shall be free,
Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.
(Spoken like a man who knows from experience what it's like to "do the very thing I hate.")
* * *
In one of Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes comic strips, perennial bad boy Calvin poses a theological dilemma to his tiger friend, Hobbes. If heaven is a place that's good, Calvin wants to know, and he likes to be bad, then how is he supposed to be happy there?
Hobbes agrees this could be a problem: "How will you get to heaven if you like to be bad?"
Calvin replies, "Let's say I didn't do what I wanted to do. Suppose I led a blameless life! Suppose I denied my true dark nature!"
"I'm not sure I have that much imagination," reflects Hobbes.
Then a wicked grin appears upon Calvin's face as he grasps the full extent of his dark vision: "Maybe heaven is a place where you're allowed to be bad!"
Well, Calvin is wrong about heaven, but he's right about humanity's dark nature.
* * *
We often forget the life-and-death struggle our nation engaged in to reach independence from Great Britain. In August 1776, Dr. Benjamin Rush wrote a letter to his friend John Adams about America's newly formed nation. Dr. Rush was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and an early social reformer. He wrote:
The 4th of July has been celebrated in Philadelphia in the manner I expected. The military men, and particularly one of them, ran away with all the glory of the day. Scarcely a word was said of the solitude and labors and fears and sorrows and sleepless nights of the men who projected, proposed, defended, and subscribed the Declaration of Independence. Do you recollect your memorable speech upon the day on which the vote was taken? Do you recollect the pensive and awful silence which pervaded the house when we were called up, one after another, to the table of the President of Congress to subscribe what we believed by many at that time to be our own death warrants?
There was a great risk and danger to take the radical step toward independence.
The apostle Paul wrote to the Romans to encourage and inspire greater faith. But he also shared his personal struggles when he admitted that "I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do." Paul knew the risks of faith -- but also the benefits.
* * *
As an armored personnel carrier was passing under a bridge in Afghanistan, a member of the Taliban dropped a grenade through the open hatch. The grenade exploded next to Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Kapacziewski. His injuries were horrific -- the soldier's right leg was shattered, there was nerve damage that left his left arm useless, and all the flesh from his upper thigh to his hip was burned away. As Kapacziewski was placed on the stretcher, all the Army Ranger had to say was, "Is this going to ruin my chances of being a squad leader?"
It was thought that Kapacziewski would never walk again. Kapacziewski had different plans; he was going to return to his unit as a fighting soldier. As he regained his mobility he found that the pins in his leg kept shearing as he exercised. So he voluntarily had his right leg amputated. On a prosthesis, Kapacziewski was able to complete all the requirements to be a combat Ranger and was able to return to his unit. Kapacziewski is the only amputee who is a combat-qualified Army Ranger.
Kapacziewski shuns the notoriety, saying, "I really worked hard to be a good soldier. I'm afraid now everyone thinks of me as an amputee."
As we celebrate Independence Day, let us remember and respect the courage and valor of our soldiers.
* * *
A study, officially titled "Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force," was commissioned in 1967 by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. The Secretary wanted to know how we became involved in the Vietnam conflict and the reasons for our escalating military presence.
Daniel Ellsberg was a part of the study group. He discovered that each administration repeatedly lied to the public -- that each president said he wanted to get out of Vietnam and lower the country's military involvement, even as they were sending more troops to Vietnam and bombing Cambodia and Laos absent of congressional approval and the public's knowledge.
Ellsberg believed that the voting citizens in a democracy needed to know the truth. Each night he would take a ream of pages of the classified report from the safe, secretly photocopy them, and place them back into the safe the next morning. When he accumulated enough information, he took the pages to the New York Times, where they were published in June 1971. The printing was quickly dubbed the "Pentagon Papers." The Supreme Court ruled that the New York Times was protected under the First Amendment to publish the report.
This June, on the fortieth anniversary of the leak to the press, the National Archives, along with the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon Presidential Libraries, has released the complete report. The 48 boxes in this series contain a complete copy of the 7,000 page report. They were released on June 13, 2011, the same date that they first appeared in the New York Times .
The Pentagon Papers should be a reminder that we are to love our country -- but we are not to love it unquestionably.
* * *
A farmer from the "Show Me" state of Missouri was sitting in his easy chair reading the evening paper. He was big and burly, his skin leathered from working the farm in uncompromising weather. His wife of 30 years came in and, taking her usual spot in the room, sat down on the couch across from him. Quietly she said, "Honey, you never tell me that you love me."
The man put down his paper and looked up stoically. Then, without any hesitation, he replied, "I told you that I love you on the day I married you. If I ever change my mind I will let you know."
Isaac and Rebekah -- a love story.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
People: God is good to all, and God's compassion is over all creation.
Leader: All your works shall give thanks to you, O God,
People: and all your faithful shall bless you.
Leader: God upholds all who are falling,
People: and raises up all who are bowed down.
OR
Leader: Come and worship the God who is One.
People: We come to worship knowing we are fragmented.
Leader: God knows our frame, that we are weak.
People: We know what we want to do, but we don't get it done.
Leader: Come to Jesus and learn to let God live through you.
People: We are weary of failing. We offer ourselves to our saving God.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"
found in:
UMH: 110
H82: 687, 688
PH: 260
AAHH: 124
NNBH: 37
NCH: 439, 440
CH: 65
LBW: 228, 229
ELA: 503, 504, 505
"Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise"
found in:
UMH: 103
H82: 423
PH: 263
NCH: 1
CH: 66
LBW: 526
ELA: 834
Renew: 46
"Rock of Ages"
UMH: 361
H82: 685
AAHH: 559
NNBH: 254
NCH: 596
CH: 214
LBW: 327
ELA: 623
"O God, Our Help in Ages Past"
found in:
UMH: 117
H82: 686
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
ELA: 632
"Lord, I Want to Be a Christian"
found in:
UMH: 402
PH: 372
AAHH: 463
NNBH: 156
NCH: 454
CH: 589
"I Need Thee Every Hour"
found in:
UMH: 397
AAHH: 451
NNBH: 303
NCH: 517
CH: 578
"Help Us Accept Each Other"
found in:
UMH: 560
PH: 358
NCH: 388
CH: 487
"Make Me a Captive, Lord"
found in:
UMH: 421
PH: 378
"Refiner's Fire"
found in:
CCB: 79
"Change My Heart, O God"
found in:
CCB: 56
Renew: 143
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 is loving kindness: Grant us the grace to quit our bickering and do the things you would have us to do; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We have come to worship you, O God, and we are in awe of your constancy in intention and action. Grant that we might be so filled with your Spirit that we will reflect your constancy in all we do. Amen.
Prayer of Illumination
Send, O God, we pray the light of your Spirit upon us so that we may see Christ so clearly that we allow his life to flood our lives and direct us to act as your children. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our inclination to bicker with one another and give in to our selfish desires.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We look at others and are quick to judge their actions and even their motives. We see their weakness and lack of resolve. We forget how prone we are to act out of wrong desires. We know you and we know what we need to do. Yet we fail to act in right ways and are quick to act in hurtful ways. Forgive us and renew your Spirit within us that we may truly follow Jesus. Amen.
Leader: God in love created us and God in love redeems us. May God's forgiveness and Spirit make us bold to follow Jesus with wholeheartedness.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
Praise, glory, worship, and honor are yours, O God, for you have created us and all that we need or could desire. Your constant love is awesome.
(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 look at others and are quick to judge their actions and even their motives. We see their weakness and lack of resolve. We forget how prone we are to act out of wrong desires. We know you and we know what we need to do. Yet we fail to act in right ways and are quick to act in hurtful ways. Forgive us and renew your Spirit within us that we may truly follow Jesus.
We give you thanks for your loving kindness that we encounter every day. We thank you for creation and all that it provides for us. We are grateful for those faithful souls who have served as examples to us of how to live fully in your presence. Most of all we thank you for Jesus, who shines as a lighthouse beacon guiding us in our lives.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for your world that groans for release from the tethers of sin and for the wholeness of your salvation. We pray for those individuals who continue to struggle with their own actions and find themselves unable to conquer their wayward desires. We include ourselves with them.
(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
Talk to the children about arguing over what games to play. You can begin by telling what that was like for you as a child, or you can ask them to tell their experiences with arguing. Ask them whether it is more fun to play games or argue about them. Tell them a secret: sometimes adults act that way too. Tell them that adults need their help -- the children need to set a good example for the adults in the congregation by trying to get along with each other and working together for Jesus.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
A Wise Nation Is a Godly Nation
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Object: a copy of the Declaration of Independence
Good morning, boys and girls! Who can tell me what we will celebrate tomorrow? Why is it a special day for our country? (let the children answer) Yes, it's the Fourth of July, the birthday of our country. It was on that day in 1776 that we declared our independence from England and became a separate country. Here is a copy of the document that made us a new country. It's called the Declaration of Independence. (show the document)
Now, I want to concentrate on just one part of this document. Will somebody read this part for me? (Point to the part that says, "We are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights," and let them read it.) What does that mean when it says we are "endowed by our creator"? It means that God has given us certain rights as human beings. Now, do you think our founding fathers were smart to put that in there? Was that a wise thing to do? (let them answer) Yes, it really was because it got our country off to the right start. We became a nation that honored God and God has blessed our nation over many years because of that.
What are some of the blessings we have in this country? (let them answer) Yes, we have all those blessings and many more but if we are wise, we will continue to honor God just as the people who founded our nation honored him. If we don't, we may not continue to have his blessing. Aren't you glad you live in a country that was founded by people who knew how important God is? (let them answer)
Let's thank God now for our nation.
Prayer: Dear Father in Heaven, we are so grateful that we live in a nation that honors you and allows us to go to church whenever we want to. We ask that you continue to bless our country and give us leaders who have the wisdom to know you and honor you. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, July 3, 2011, issue.
Copyright 2011 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.
That's not the only paradox this week -- team member Dean Feldmeyer shares some additional thoughts on the range of paradoxes we deal with in our daily behavior, which leads to the internal struggles that Paul so powerfully identified when he wrote that "I do not understand my own actions." That dynamic seems especially true in our world of relative privilege and luxury with all of its attendant temptations; Paul describes the essence of the most pervasive disease of our time -- addiction -- when he says that "I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." But as Dean points out, it's not just our wealth that's the issue -- it's really more a matter of our basic human nature, as evidenced by the countless silly contradictions in our everyday lives. So what can we do? (Or as Paul rather melodramatically puts it, "Who will rescue me from this body of death?") The answer, Dean tells us, is that God's grace rescues us from the paradoxes of our lives -- both personal and national.
Fourth of July?!
by George Reed
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
This week we will be preparing for a worship service that falls on July 3 and most of our people will be more focused on the Fourth of July than on anything else. They may be taking it seriously as a celebration of the birth of our country or taking it merrily as a long holiday weekend. Whatever the case, it will be on their minds. What is the preacher to do? For some of us it is a no-brainer. We will give them what they want to hear and what we (perhaps) want to say... and it will be a patriotic event. For others of us, we will struggle. We are Americans and gladly so -- but we are also preachers who feel the need to preach the gospel.
So this week we will take a look at two icons, one America and the other the Church. We will look at the Statue of Liberty, an image which we will see everywhere this weekend, and we will look at the teaching of Jesus in the gospel reading.
THE WORLD
Okay, maybe not the whole world, but here in the United States we will be focused on the Fourth of July with its fireworks and American flags and images of the Statue of Liberty. We may even hear part of the sonnet that Emma Lazarus wrote, which is inscribed on a tablet within the pedestal on which the statue stands:
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Then there is the partisan bickering that goes on constantly. Does "the common good" mean anything anymore? Is consistently staying with your stated ethics and morals a value we still hold in common? Concern for these things seems to have been banished from Washington DC and from many of the state capitols. It often seems that the only question is whether or not our team is going to win. If that means the country as a whole loses in the midst of that win, then it is chalked up as just the cost of political victory. Add to this squabbling the discussions (?) the country is having about immigration, legal and illegal, and the two or three wars we are fighting. We can't even agree on whether or not what we are doing in Lybia is a war.
When the president announced last week a reduction in our troops in Afghanistan, the reaction on Capitol Hill seemed to be a mishmash of partisan rhetoric devoid of even the slightest bit of agreement with the president or with each other.
THE WORD
Into this mix comes Jesus in our gospel text, with his comparison of the religious community as acting like children at play. When it is suggested that they play "wedding," no one will join in the dancing and when they play "funeral," no one will mourn. They criticize John the Baptist as possessed because he refuses to drink wine, while they characterize Jesus as a drunken glutton because he dines with sinners and partakes of the wine. The passage for this week ends when Jesus calls for the weary to come to him and find rest.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
If we take Jesus seriously as our example, the work of the Church is not to extol or condemn this or any nation. Our job is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ -- and then to call our people, and the nation, to respond in an appropriate way to the gospel. We may also offer our assessment of where we see ourselves as a nation following or deserting the way of Christ. This should be done with care and the preacher might want to preface that assessment by making it clear that as a fellow Christian this is what the preacher sees and that others may differ in their assessment.
One could start by referencing back to the playground image and talking about how typical that is of children and how some of us never outgrow that kind of behavior. The question could be asked if anyone ever sees that kind of behavior in our elected officials. Some of us, even politicians, just don't grow up in some respects. The text seems to suggest that we could honor the gospel of Jesus more and be better citizens at the same time -- if we would grow up and stop the mindless squabbling that we engage in. John the Baptist didn't drink for a reason; Jesus drank for a reason. They both had good reasons and were honoring God. We might choose one lifestyle over the other but that doesn't mean we need to ridicule or condemn those who choose differently.
One could also work from the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World) and the Emma Lazarus sonnet. If so, it would probably be good to read the entire poem as it is short and most of us know only the last few lines. One could note the similarities of the open kindness that the sonnet shows and the open arms of Jesus who invites all to come to him. One could, if one thought it would be helpful, draw some comparisons between ancient Rome and modern America (use of force to keep peace, extended rule, and so forth). Either way, the point would be to call ourselves to take the gospel seriously and to use it as the benchmark for our decisions about what is right and wrong.
A word would always be appropriate for how this makes us better citizens (not worse ones). Parents sometimes have to call their children on their behavior not because they hate their offspring but precisely because of how much they love them. As American Christians we sometimes need to speak a word of encouragement when we as a people are doing well, and sometimes we need to speak a word of correction so that God's reign might be furthered and, as a consequence, our nation might step up to a new stature in its role as a beacon for the world.
The preacher will, of course, direct the sermon toward the nation as much as seems appropriate. Some may prefer to speak the word only to the Church. One could then draw on examples in the church where there have been mindless squabbles. If you have never witnessed any of these in your ministry let me know and I will share some examples with you! I hope this approach helps you to be faithful to the gospel as you address your people where they are likely to be on this holiday weekend.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Living the Christian Paradox
by Dean Feldmeyer
Romans 7:15-25a; Matthew 11:25-30
"I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate" (Romans 7:15 NRSV). With this single verse, Paul reveals himself to be as contemporary a Christian as any who ever lived -- for not one of us is unfamiliar with the frustration he expresses at living in the midst of the human paradox.
We are living, breathing paradoxes, are we not?
We laugh at funerals and we cry at weddings. We age quickly so we worship at the altar of youth. We take dry tea and soak it in water to make it wet. The water we use is hot so we pour it over ice to make it cold. It is bitter so we put sugar in it to make it sweet, and then we put lemon in it to make it bitter again.
We spend thousands of dollars on health care -- and then we drive too fast, eat fatty foods, and find a dozen ways to use tobacco... all of which cause cancer. We tell our children to "say no to drugs," while we can't get through the morning without a dose of caffeine.
We are paradoxes in the singular and we are no less so in the plural. As George Reed rightly points out above, one of the icons of our cultural identity, the Statue of Liberty, welcomes the tired, the poor, and the miserable people of the world. While those wretched masses read Emma Lazarus's poem, we urge our congressional representatives to slam the doors on them because we want the jobs that they might take.
We claim to value education while we lay off teachers rather than pass tax levies. We argue that life is innately valuable while we tolerate capital punishment. We call ourselves Christians who live by Jesus' admonition to love our enemies and we dance on their graves when Navy SEALs kill them on our behalf.
We understand, as did Ebenezer Scrooge, that people judge with equal disdain both those with much money and those with not enough.
We are paradoxes living paradoxical lives -- and we are, like Paul, as disgusted with ourselves as we are exhausted by this life we live. But how do we get out of it? How do we escape the paradox? "Wretched man that I am!" cries Paul in the same letter, "Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24).
Then he answers his own question: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (7:25a).
Matthew, quoting Jesus, answers the same question in our gospel lesson: "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).
The answer to the problem of paradoxical living is not will but grace. We are saved, rescued, and renewed by God's grace as it comes to us in Jesus Christ.
Have fun with this sermon. Self-effacing humor is always the most effective and should be used liberally with a subject such as this. Invite the congregation to laugh with you about the silly paradoxes you have discovered in your own life and then invite them to laugh about the ones in their lives.
Once we have discovered and confessed, by humor and irony, the paradoxes that make up our lives, we will be able to open ourselves to and celebrate the grace of God that delivers us from the paradoxes -- and this is as true for nations as it is for individuals.
ILLUSTRATIONS
A man could not help but overhear a young mother, who was pushing a grocery cart with a young child on board down the candy aisle, say, "Now Rebecca, be good. We're not going to get anything today. We're almost to the end of the aisle." The older gentleman bumped into the young mother on the pastry aisle and then on the ice cream aisle, only to hear her say the same thing: "Now Rebecca, be good. We're not going to get anything today. We're almost to the end of the aisle."
In the checkout line the man happened to be standing behind the young mother. He could not help but compliment her with these words: "I must say, I admire the way you disciplined your daughter Rebecca not to buy any candy, cookies, and ice cream." To which the young mother exclaimed, "I'm Rebecca! This is my daughter Sarah."
To keep from doing those things which we do not want -- it does take self-discipline.
* * *
A Methodist pastor and a Baptist pastor happened to be sitting next to each other at a conference. The Methodist preacher inquired, "If you take a convert into the lake up to his knees, is he baptized?"
The Baptist replied, "No."
The Methodist then asked, "How about if you take him up to his shoulders?"
To which the Baptist again replied, "No."
The Methodist once more asked, "How about up to his chin?"
To which the Baptist again replied, "No."
The Methodist once more inquired, "If you take the convert into the lake and dip him so that it covers his head, then does it count?"
To which the Baptist joyfully replied, "Yes, then he is baptized."
The Methodist then answered, "I knew it all along. It is only the top of the head that matters."
Whatever form of baptism one accepts, from sprinkling to immersion, we do need to confess that "sin dwells within me," and that we need to be cleansed of that sin. It is only then that we will not do the things that we want, but only that which Jesus wants.
* * *
In his Confessions, Augustine tells of a boyhood incident when he decided to steal pears from a nearby orchard. One night he and "a group of young scoundrels" went into the orchard to shake the trees and rob the pears. They carried off a huge load of pears, not to eat for themselves, but to dump among the hogs. They committed the crime simply because it was forbidden. Augustine exclaimed: "It was foul, and I loved it."
The apostle Paul could not overcome his own inner tensions and contradictions, proclaiming: "For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do" (Romans 7:19).
Like Paul, Augustine discovered that he could not resolve the issue himself -- only God's grace could enable him to do it. In Paul's words, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
* * *
John Donne, the renowned English poet of the Elizabethan era, captures the complexity of our struggle against sin in his famous poem "Holy Sonnet XIV: Batter My Heart, Three-Person'd God":
Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow mee, and bend
Your force, to breake, blow, burn, and make mee new.
Donne ends his poem by saying:
Divorce mee, untie, or breake that knot againe,
Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I
Except you enthrall mee, never shall be free,
Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.
(Spoken like a man who knows from experience what it's like to "do the very thing I hate.")
* * *
In one of Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes comic strips, perennial bad boy Calvin poses a theological dilemma to his tiger friend, Hobbes. If heaven is a place that's good, Calvin wants to know, and he likes to be bad, then how is he supposed to be happy there?
Hobbes agrees this could be a problem: "How will you get to heaven if you like to be bad?"
Calvin replies, "Let's say I didn't do what I wanted to do. Suppose I led a blameless life! Suppose I denied my true dark nature!"
"I'm not sure I have that much imagination," reflects Hobbes.
Then a wicked grin appears upon Calvin's face as he grasps the full extent of his dark vision: "Maybe heaven is a place where you're allowed to be bad!"
Well, Calvin is wrong about heaven, but he's right about humanity's dark nature.
* * *
We often forget the life-and-death struggle our nation engaged in to reach independence from Great Britain. In August 1776, Dr. Benjamin Rush wrote a letter to his friend John Adams about America's newly formed nation. Dr. Rush was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and an early social reformer. He wrote:
The 4th of July has been celebrated in Philadelphia in the manner I expected. The military men, and particularly one of them, ran away with all the glory of the day. Scarcely a word was said of the solitude and labors and fears and sorrows and sleepless nights of the men who projected, proposed, defended, and subscribed the Declaration of Independence. Do you recollect your memorable speech upon the day on which the vote was taken? Do you recollect the pensive and awful silence which pervaded the house when we were called up, one after another, to the table of the President of Congress to subscribe what we believed by many at that time to be our own death warrants?
There was a great risk and danger to take the radical step toward independence.
The apostle Paul wrote to the Romans to encourage and inspire greater faith. But he also shared his personal struggles when he admitted that "I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do." Paul knew the risks of faith -- but also the benefits.
* * *
As an armored personnel carrier was passing under a bridge in Afghanistan, a member of the Taliban dropped a grenade through the open hatch. The grenade exploded next to Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Kapacziewski. His injuries were horrific -- the soldier's right leg was shattered, there was nerve damage that left his left arm useless, and all the flesh from his upper thigh to his hip was burned away. As Kapacziewski was placed on the stretcher, all the Army Ranger had to say was, "Is this going to ruin my chances of being a squad leader?"
It was thought that Kapacziewski would never walk again. Kapacziewski had different plans; he was going to return to his unit as a fighting soldier. As he regained his mobility he found that the pins in his leg kept shearing as he exercised. So he voluntarily had his right leg amputated. On a prosthesis, Kapacziewski was able to complete all the requirements to be a combat Ranger and was able to return to his unit. Kapacziewski is the only amputee who is a combat-qualified Army Ranger.
Kapacziewski shuns the notoriety, saying, "I really worked hard to be a good soldier. I'm afraid now everyone thinks of me as an amputee."
As we celebrate Independence Day, let us remember and respect the courage and valor of our soldiers.
* * *
A study, officially titled "Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force," was commissioned in 1967 by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. The Secretary wanted to know how we became involved in the Vietnam conflict and the reasons for our escalating military presence.
Daniel Ellsberg was a part of the study group. He discovered that each administration repeatedly lied to the public -- that each president said he wanted to get out of Vietnam and lower the country's military involvement, even as they were sending more troops to Vietnam and bombing Cambodia and Laos absent of congressional approval and the public's knowledge.
Ellsberg believed that the voting citizens in a democracy needed to know the truth. Each night he would take a ream of pages of the classified report from the safe, secretly photocopy them, and place them back into the safe the next morning. When he accumulated enough information, he took the pages to the New York Times, where they were published in June 1971. The printing was quickly dubbed the "Pentagon Papers." The Supreme Court ruled that the New York Times was protected under the First Amendment to publish the report.
This June, on the fortieth anniversary of the leak to the press, the National Archives, along with the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon Presidential Libraries, has released the complete report. The 48 boxes in this series contain a complete copy of the 7,000 page report. They were released on June 13, 2011, the same date that they first appeared in the New York Times .
The Pentagon Papers should be a reminder that we are to love our country -- but we are not to love it unquestionably.
* * *
A farmer from the "Show Me" state of Missouri was sitting in his easy chair reading the evening paper. He was big and burly, his skin leathered from working the farm in uncompromising weather. His wife of 30 years came in and, taking her usual spot in the room, sat down on the couch across from him. Quietly she said, "Honey, you never tell me that you love me."
The man put down his paper and looked up stoically. Then, without any hesitation, he replied, "I told you that I love you on the day I married you. If I ever change my mind I will let you know."
Isaac and Rebekah -- a love story.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
People: God is good to all, and God's compassion is over all creation.
Leader: All your works shall give thanks to you, O God,
People: and all your faithful shall bless you.
Leader: God upholds all who are falling,
People: and raises up all who are bowed down.
OR
Leader: Come and worship the God who is One.
People: We come to worship knowing we are fragmented.
Leader: God knows our frame, that we are weak.
People: We know what we want to do, but we don't get it done.
Leader: Come to Jesus and learn to let God live through you.
People: We are weary of failing. We offer ourselves to our saving God.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"
found in:
UMH: 110
H82: 687, 688
PH: 260
AAHH: 124
NNBH: 37
NCH: 439, 440
CH: 65
LBW: 228, 229
ELA: 503, 504, 505
"Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise"
found in:
UMH: 103
H82: 423
PH: 263
NCH: 1
CH: 66
LBW: 526
ELA: 834
Renew: 46
"Rock of Ages"
UMH: 361
H82: 685
AAHH: 559
NNBH: 254
NCH: 596
CH: 214
LBW: 327
ELA: 623
"O God, Our Help in Ages Past"
found in:
UMH: 117
H82: 686
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
ELA: 632
"Lord, I Want to Be a Christian"
found in:
UMH: 402
PH: 372
AAHH: 463
NNBH: 156
NCH: 454
CH: 589
"I Need Thee Every Hour"
found in:
UMH: 397
AAHH: 451
NNBH: 303
NCH: 517
CH: 578
"Help Us Accept Each Other"
found in:
UMH: 560
PH: 358
NCH: 388
CH: 487
"Make Me a Captive, Lord"
found in:
UMH: 421
PH: 378
"Refiner's Fire"
found in:
CCB: 79
"Change My Heart, O God"
found in:
CCB: 56
Renew: 143
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 is loving kindness: Grant us the grace to quit our bickering and do the things you would have us to do; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We have come to worship you, O God, and we are in awe of your constancy in intention and action. Grant that we might be so filled with your Spirit that we will reflect your constancy in all we do. Amen.
Prayer of Illumination
Send, O God, we pray the light of your Spirit upon us so that we may see Christ so clearly that we allow his life to flood our lives and direct us to act as your children. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our inclination to bicker with one another and give in to our selfish desires.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We look at others and are quick to judge their actions and even their motives. We see their weakness and lack of resolve. We forget how prone we are to act out of wrong desires. We know you and we know what we need to do. Yet we fail to act in right ways and are quick to act in hurtful ways. Forgive us and renew your Spirit within us that we may truly follow Jesus. Amen.
Leader: God in love created us and God in love redeems us. May God's forgiveness and Spirit make us bold to follow Jesus with wholeheartedness.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
Praise, glory, worship, and honor are yours, O God, for you have created us and all that we need or could desire. Your constant love is awesome.
(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 look at others and are quick to judge their actions and even their motives. We see their weakness and lack of resolve. We forget how prone we are to act out of wrong desires. We know you and we know what we need to do. Yet we fail to act in right ways and are quick to act in hurtful ways. Forgive us and renew your Spirit within us that we may truly follow Jesus.
We give you thanks for your loving kindness that we encounter every day. We thank you for creation and all that it provides for us. We are grateful for those faithful souls who have served as examples to us of how to live fully in your presence. Most of all we thank you for Jesus, who shines as a lighthouse beacon guiding us in our lives.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for your world that groans for release from the tethers of sin and for the wholeness of your salvation. We pray for those individuals who continue to struggle with their own actions and find themselves unable to conquer their wayward desires. We include ourselves with them.
(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
Talk to the children about arguing over what games to play. You can begin by telling what that was like for you as a child, or you can ask them to tell their experiences with arguing. Ask them whether it is more fun to play games or argue about them. Tell them a secret: sometimes adults act that way too. Tell them that adults need their help -- the children need to set a good example for the adults in the congregation by trying to get along with each other and working together for Jesus.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
A Wise Nation Is a Godly Nation
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Object: a copy of the Declaration of Independence
Good morning, boys and girls! Who can tell me what we will celebrate tomorrow? Why is it a special day for our country? (let the children answer) Yes, it's the Fourth of July, the birthday of our country. It was on that day in 1776 that we declared our independence from England and became a separate country. Here is a copy of the document that made us a new country. It's called the Declaration of Independence. (show the document)
Now, I want to concentrate on just one part of this document. Will somebody read this part for me? (Point to the part that says, "We are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights," and let them read it.) What does that mean when it says we are "endowed by our creator"? It means that God has given us certain rights as human beings. Now, do you think our founding fathers were smart to put that in there? Was that a wise thing to do? (let them answer) Yes, it really was because it got our country off to the right start. We became a nation that honored God and God has blessed our nation over many years because of that.
What are some of the blessings we have in this country? (let them answer) Yes, we have all those blessings and many more but if we are wise, we will continue to honor God just as the people who founded our nation honored him. If we don't, we may not continue to have his blessing. Aren't you glad you live in a country that was founded by people who knew how important God is? (let them answer)
Let's thank God now for our nation.
Prayer: Dear Father in Heaven, we are so grateful that we live in a nation that honors you and allows us to go to church whenever we want to. We ask that you continue to bless our country and give us leaders who have the wisdom to know you and honor you. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, July 3, 2011, issue.
Copyright 2011 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.
