The Giving Back Awards
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
The recent announcements by two of America's richest men, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, that they will be devoting more of their time and assets to philanthropic pursuits has been the focus of a great deal of media attention. Commentators noted that Buffett's action was unusual, as he is donating the bulk of his wealth to an already existing foundation (as opposed to creating one of his own) -- especially noteworthy, given the lack of ego this demonstrated. The willingness to do good works without recognition is a recurrent theme in the gospels -- and in the next installment of The Immediate Word, team member Carter Shelley looks at the efforts of many to use their talents and wealth to for the betterment of society, particularly in light of the week's Gospel Lesson in which Jesus experiences rejection for his efforts and warns his disciples to expect the same treatment. Carlos Wilton talks about -- how much do we really need? -- and how we might travel a littler lighter. As usual, related illustrations, worship resources, and a children's sermon complete the week's material.
The Giving Back Awards
By Carter Shelley
THE WORLD
On June 15, Bill Gates, the billionaire head of Microsoft, announced that in July 2008 he will relinquish his role as chairman and creative head of the company he founded. He will be doing this in order to dedicate his energies and considerable wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and its efforts to seek solutions to ongoing problems in education and global health. Then on June 25, billionaire financier Warren Buffett announced that he would be giving approximately $30 billion of his fortune to the Gates Foundation to support its charitable efforts, and another $7 billion to four other philanthropies. This partnership puts immense assets at the disposal of the Gates Foundation, but Gates and Buffett are hardly unique -- in its July 10, 2006 issue dedicated to "The Giving Back Awards", Newsweek magazine recounts the stories and efforts of Americans who are giving something from their abundance of talent, wealth, or fame to people who need a helping hand. The July 2006 issue of Sojourners also contains an article examining celebrity activists and their effectiveness in drawing attention to areas of crying need most Americans would otherwise overlook.
THE WORD
In Mark 6:1-13 the lectionary pairs two literary units: Jesus teaching in his hometown synagogue, and Jesus sending the twelve disciples out to preach repentance and provide acts of healing and compassion. Rejection is the theme that ties the two incidents together: "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.... And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet for a testimony against them" (vv. 4, 11). In Mark 6:5-6 we learn that Jesus' own ability to heal is impaired by the resistance he encounters among the hometown crowd. Giving back requires insight, creativity, energy, fortitude, imagination, and heart. It also requires faith: "And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled at their unbelief." In order to give back, we must ourselves first have received the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and God's accompanying grace. As Christians we are called upon to give to others what God in Christ has first given to us: faith, hope, love, and charity. This week we will look at and celebrate the giving back efforts identified above and will also examine some of the specific ways we as Christians are called to give back.
"Hey Jesus! I remember when you were a runny-nosed kid. You attended the same synagogue and learned to read the scriptures right along with my boy. Don't put on any theological airs for me. Some say you that you've been sent by God, but they are off their rockers and so are you. A child born on the suspicious side of the blanket has no legitimate claim to kingship as the Lord's anointed! You must be mad!"
Some of the frustration Jesus experiences from the encounter comes through in the description of his response. First, his words acknowledge the rejection. "Prophets are not without honor, except in their own hometown and among their own kin, and in their own house." Second, Jesus' healing powers seem diminished by the inhospitable reception and disbelief he encounters. "And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them." Third, Jesus' reaction to the people's rejection is one of surprise. "And he was amazed at their unbelief." "It's as though Jesus is thinking, 'They know me, yet they don't believe me. If I can't convince my own people of my mission, who can I convince?' " Taking the advice he will next offer his disciples, Jesus shakes "off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them," moves on to teach in other villages.
This dispiriting experience is paired by Mark with Jesus' sending out of the twelve to preach repentance, cast out demons and anoint and heal the sick in 6:6b-13. A momentary setback in Nazareth offers an opportunity for Jesus to prepare his disciples for similar rejection and to also instruct them in appropriate missionary protocols: go "two-by-two ... take nothing for the journey," and "wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place" rather than waiting for a cozier, better offer. Obeying Jesus' guidelines and going out in his name, the disciples are successful in casting out demons and curing many of the sick. In so doing, Jesus offers the disciples and us the fundamentals for evangelism and ministry: to preach, to teach, and to heal.
THE MESSAGE
On July 9, 2006, we, as Christians, live in a world in which Jesus Christ is Lord, but we also live in a world where many continue to reject Christ and his Lordship. Were the kingdom of God fully established on earth, war, pestilence, greed, hunger, persecution, oppression, exploitation, and suffering would be no more. Regrettably, the suffering, the fighting, the hate, the cruelty, and the inequities of access to food, medicine, land, and decent jobs continue. The challenge for us as Christians comes in trying to find ways to defeat those principalities and powers that continue to deny the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
More than 900 million people worldwide suffer from chronic hunger. More than 20 million people will have their lives cut short due to the virulence of the AIDS virus. Tuberculosis, while eradicated from the United States, continues to kill millions in third world countries such as Haiti and continues to spread rapidly among prison populations in second world countries like Brazil and Russia. Meanwhile, the suffering and brutalities of the Sudan region leave us feeling numbed and helpless in the face of ongoing genocide. In our CNN and internet connected international world, we know about and are surrounded by human needs so vast and enormous, that no one denomination, Christian or philanthropist can address.
Where the hometown crowd rejects Jesus the man and Messiah, our temptation is to reject the possibility that we as Christians actually can transform the world by taking responsibility for the sufferings of our brothers and sisters.
You don't have to be a billionaire or a movie star to make a difference. Along with its description of the way movie stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have donated millions to health and poverty programs in Africa, Newsweek magazine presents the story of Renita Singh and Ruth Degolia, two Yale undergraduates who started a nonprofit business that takes the jewelry and crafts made by women in San Alfonso, Guatemala, and sells them in the United States and online. The results their first year was $600,000 worth of business with the profits converted into decent salaries for the women artisans and scholarships of $50 to $60 to send rural Guatemalan children to school. You don't have to have the charisma and zeal of the Reverend Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life and organizing pastor of the 20,000-member Saddleback Church to promote the kingdom of God. We are surrounded by opportunities to transform the world.
As Christians we are called upon to give to others what God in Christ has first given to us: faith, hope, love, and charity. The publications I cited in the opening paragraph offer excellent examples of ways Americans are giving back. While not all of the people discussed in these news reports and magazine articles are Christians, they are people who refuse to accept the world as it is and are trying to make it better. In Mark 6:1-13 the citizens of Nazareth have the opportunity to see Jesus for who he really is or to reject him because of who they think he should be. May we, like the philanthropists and ordinary citizens described in Newsweek on the AP wires and in Sojourner's magazine, reject the world as it is, in order to help it become the world Christ calls it to be.
ANOTHER VIEW
by Carlos Wilton
Mark 6:1-13
The Gospel Lesson this week presents us with a choice: we can focus on the first part of the passage (Jesus' rejection by the people of Nazareth). Or, we can focus on the second part (Jesus' sending-out of the disciples).
Carter, you've evidently chosen to focus on the first part. I would have chosen the second, myself -- which provides a stronger link (I think) to the story about Warren Buffett's remarkable act of philanthropy, announcing that he's going to give 85 percent of his vast fortune of $44 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. (Of course, the remaining 15 percent amounts to $6.6 billion, which is hardly chump change.)
Jesus sends his disciples out, two by two: "He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics" (Mark 6:8-9). Jesus commands his most faithful followers to travel light, through life. Our Lord's teaching inspires us to ask the question, "How much do we really need?"
In suddenly divesting themselves of large portions of their multi-billion-dollar fortunes, are the two richest people in America -- Bill Gates and Warren Buffett -- suddenly deciding to "travel light"? Well, not exactly. For, unlike Andrew Carnegie -- who, in the latter years of his life, gave away virtually all his money -- these two are hardly putting themselves into the poorhouse. Yet their gesture is significant, all the same, and ought to be celebrated. It is charitable giving on a scale that hasn't been seen since the days of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller.
It may be useful to comment, from the pulpit, on how our present national thinking with respect to the accumulation of wealth is very different than what it was in the days of these earlier philanthropists. Several well-known quotations by Carnegie make this clear:
"The day is not far distant when the man who dies leaving behind him millions of available wealth ... will pass away 'unwept, unhonored and unsung.' Of such as these the public verdict will then be: 'The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.' "
The contemporary ideal, by contrast, is expressed on the bumper sticker that reads, "He who dies with the most toys wins."
Even more radically, Carnegie wrote: "Wealth is not chiefly the product of the individual, but largely the joint product of the community." Carnegie knew he could not claim sole credit for his fortune. Yes, he had been an astute -- and, at times, even ruthless -- businessman. Yet this Scottish-American immigrant also knew he owed a great deal to the free land in which he now lived, and to the society that had provided the security and the rule of law to enable him to build his financial empire. His words call to mind the writing of John Calvin: "Let this, therefore, be our rule for generosity and beneficence: We are the stewards of everything God has conferred on us by which we are able to help our neighbor, and are required to render account of our stewardship" (Institutes III: VII: 5). Like many of the ancient church fathers, Calvin considered the wealth of the church to be "the patrimony of the poor."
Congress has recently been considering the repeal of a Federal estate tax that is now being paid by only the richest of the rich in our land. Those who oppose this tax tend to suspect viewpoints expressed by the likes of Carnegie and Calvin. In the present climate of unapologetic greed, some political pundits might even dismiss them as "communists."
A recent issue of Time magazine (July 3, 2006 issue), bearing the image of Theodore Roosevelt on the cover, makes the point that Teddy continues to be a popular figure across the political spectrum. He's the only twentieth-century president to have his face carved on Mount Rushmore. President Bush keeps a bust of him in his office. Curiously, the don't-tax-but-spend-on-yourself conservatives who cry "foul" at any hint of inheritance tax conveniently forget that the most enthusiastic booster of Federal inheritance taxes was none other than old T.R. himself. Roosevelt -- who came from a wealthy, privileged background -- would have been appalled at the thought that anyone would take a fortune of the magnitude of Buffetts; or the Gates, and seek to pass it on only to their own children.
Yet that's not the way many people think, today. Sadly, Warren Buffett is the exception, rather than the rule. At a news conference he and the Gateses conducted, after announcing their plans to pool their charitable efforts, Buffett had to field reporters' questions about why he was not giving all his money to his children. One reporter joked that "it must have been some curfew violation" that had led this father to direct most of his money away from his offspring. Buffett tersely replied that it has never been his intention to pass all his wealth on to his children. He explained that, in his view, the fact that someone had been born "from a particular womb" ought to have no bearing on how much money he or she is handed in life.
For his part, Bill Gates has remained largely silent on the estate-tax debate -- although his own father is one of the leading advocates of a high inheritance tax, so many suspect his views are similar.
News of the Buffett-Gates gifts transports us directly back to an earlier era of philanthropy, when we can see -- for a change -- a clearly articulated moral ideal of generosity. Thank God for their philanthropic witness, I say. As we twenty-first century Americans reflect on this moral ideal, in the context of the sheer meanness and self-centeredness of our contemporary culture, we ought to hang our heads in shame. Warren Buffett, and Bill and Melinda Gates, remind us that our culture lost moral ground in the last hundred years, rather than gained it. While the amounts of their giving may be hard for most of us to fathom, the fact of their generosity is a potent example for all of us.
ILLUSTRATIONS
"The three middle-aged children of Warren E. Buffett watched along with the rest of the country last week as their father, the celebrated investor, told the world that he would pass the bulk of his $40 billion personal fortune to the charitable foundation of Bill Gates, a fellow billionaire, and his wife, Melinda.
"But Susie, Howard and Peter Buffett ... spent the week focusing not on what they might have received. Instead, the siblings said in interviews, they were already at work trying to figure out how to manage a gift from their father valued at about $1 billion each that will go to their own charitable foundations.
"The Buffet children have long been aware of their father's contempt for inherited wealth ... Indeed, Howard Buffett said, "It was always clear we were not going to get a lot of money. If my dad said, 'either you can have $50 million a year personally or $50 million a year for the foundation,' I'd put it in the foundation. What would you do with $50 million if you didn't give it away?"
-- Jeff Bailey, the New York Times, 7/2/3006
* * *
At a church meeting, a very wealthy man rose to tell the rest of those present about his Christian faith. "I'm a millionaire," he said, "and I attribute it all to the rich blessings of God in my life. I remember that turning point in my faith. I had just earned my first dollar and I went to a church meeting that night. The speaker was a missionary who told about his work. I know that I only had a dollar bill and had to either given it all to God's work or nothing at all. So at that moment I decided to give my whole dollar to God. I believe that God has blessed that decision, and that is why I am a rich man today.
He finished and there was an awed silence at his testimony as he moved toward his seat. As he sat down a little old lady sitting in the same pew leaned over and said to him, "I dare you to do it again."
-- James S. Hewett, ed. "Illustrations Unlimited" p. 458
* * *
There is a simple rule about the mathematics of generosity: the more we give, the more we are able to give!
-- unknown
* * *
Larry was a second-career candidate for ministry who presented himself to our presbytery's Committee on Preparation for Ministry some years ago. What was unusual about him was the first career from which he had come. In his early 50s, Larry was vice-president, in charge of investments, at one of the largest banks in the country. As a young man he had been a war hero, a decorated Marine fighter pilot in Vietnam. When he had left military service, he took one step onto the bank's career ladder, and shot right up to the top. He'd been the quintessential "fast-tracker." It was not hard to imagine that he might become CEO one day.
Yet, Larry felt something in his life was missing. Having experienced life in the executive suite, he found it wanting. Unbeknownst to his co-workers, he had been running from God's call for many years, and decided it was time to give in.
When Larry announced his decision to quit his job and enroll in seminary, his bosses were mostly supportive. Some even admitted, privately, that they wished they'd had the courage to make such a bold change in their lives. The people who were really upset, he told our committee, were those occupying the rungs below him on the career ladder. Many of these people had looked up to Larry as the golden boy, their ideal. For him to shake off society's expectations of success and chart a new course led them to question the meaning of their own lives.
Reflecting on the experience, later, Larry told us his decision "sent shock waves through the entire organization chart."
-- Carlos Wilton
***
(Henry David Thoreau wrote these words in a letter, after an incident, widely reported in the newspapers, of some wealthy people who had drowned while trying to retrieve their gold from a sinking steamboat.)
Men will tell you sometimes "money's hard." That shows it was not made to eat, I say. Only think of a man in this new world, in his log cabin, in the midst of a corn and potato patch, with a sheepfold on one side, talking about money being hard! So are flints hard; there is no alloy in them. What has that to do with his raising his food, cutting his wood (or breaking it), keeping in-doors when it rains, and, if need be, spinning and weaving his clothes? Some of those who sank with the steamer the other day found out that money was heavy too. Think of a man's priding himself on this kind of wealth, as if it greatly enriched him. As if one struggling in mid-ocean with a bag of gold on his back should gasp out, "I am worth a hundred thousand dollars." I see them struggling just as ineffectually on dry land, nay, even more hopelessly, in the former case, rather than sink, they will finally let the bag go; but in the latter they are pretty sure to hold and go down with it. I see them swimming about in their greatcoats, collecting their rents, really getting their dues, drinking bitter draughts, which only increase their thirst, becoming more and more waterlogged, till finally they sink plumb down to the bottom.
-- Henry David Thoreau, "Letter to Harrison Blake," November 16, 1857
***
Three years ago one of my parishioners confronted me with the story of Jesus directing the rich young ruler to "take all you have and give it to the poor." A world-beating Wall Street whiz kid, Bart Harvey had begun to question what the fast track meant. Looking for deeper meaning out of life, he came into my study and said, "I've been reading the Bible. I'm thinking of giving everything I have to the poor. I know it sounds crazy, but according to Jesus that is the only way I can be saved."
He happened to be one of my leading parishioners: a major giver; treasurer of the board; young, handsome; a vital and important member of our church. I remember how pleased I was when he joined All Souls. He was appealing, generous and, unlike the majority of our members, very well off.
"You are doing so much already," I said. "By tithing here through your support of our social ministries and other social programs, you are giving as much to the poor as almost anyone I know."
He didn't buy it. Instead, he quit his job, went mountain climbing in Nepal, and spent several weeks walking through India. When he returned to New York, his brokerage firm offered him his old job back, with a major raise. Bart turned down the offer, choosing instead to assist James Rouse (the developer of Columbia, Maryland, Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston, and the South Street Seaport in New York), who now devotes his creative efforts to facilitate housing for he poor. Had it not been for Bart's lobbying efforts, Congress would likely have canceled the tax credit program that makes much private-sector low-cost housing possible. Fortunately, when I told him that he didn't need to take Jesus seriously, Bart didn't listen to me.
He came back to see me recently. Two things struck me about him. First, he was doing more good than almost anyone I know. Second, he had lost his need to be virtuous, better than his neighbors. As he grew in service, Bart also grew in humility. Jesus would have understood that also.
-- F. Forrester Church, God and Other Famous Liberals: Reclaiming the Liberal Spirit of America (Simon & Schuster, 1991), pp. 24ff
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Thom M. Shuman
Call To Worship
Leader: You awaken the sun, O God,
to guide us into the new day:
People: Your name, O God, like your praise,
sings in every person.
Leader: You speak your Word, O God,
to guide us into your kingdom:
People: Your hope, O God, like your joy,
echoes in every soul.
Leader: You guide us to those who are
looking for you:
People: Your love, O God, like your name,
fills the emptiness of every heart.
Prayer Of The Day
The rumbling of thunder in the distance,
the shade of an oak tree in the backyard,
the laughter of children splashing in the pool,
the stars glittering on a moonless night:
all the gifts of the universe
fill us with delight in every moment.
Great is your imagination,
Creation's Joy!
Broken,
you touch us to make us whole;
tear-stained,
you share our pain and struggles;
gifter of peace,
you replace our bitterness with hope;
teacher of gentle words,
you transform our unbelief into service.
Great is your love,
Christ, Companion of all people!
Making hardened hearts
as soft as a baby's breath;
turning stiffened necks
so we can see the poor;
placing wandering feet
back on the path of discipleship.
Great is your compassion,
Spirit of grace.
God in Community, Holy in One,
hear us, as we pray as we have been taught,
Our Father . . .
Call To Reconciliation
When we look at the relationships we hope to have
with one another, and with God, we must admit
how broken we are. But, as we gather in the presence
of God, we are promised forgiveness and healing, if
we will confess our sins. Please join me, as we pray
to the One who never ceases to love us,
(Unison) Prayer Of Confession
You know how stubborn we can be, Holy God. You
call us to serve others, and we stay in the coolness
of our own homes. You would send us to where the
hopeless live, but we are reluctant to leave the comfort
of our complacency. You would feed us on the peace
and joy of your word, but we pull our chairs up to the
tables of those who serve false promises.
Forgive us, Guiding God. Transform our defiance
into discipleship, and our rejection of others into the
resurrection of welcoming all people as sisters
and brothers in Christ. Help us to love as faithfully
as you have always loved us, and send us forth to
take the good news of Jesus Christ to everyone
we meet.
(silent prayers may be offered)
Assurance Of Pardon
Leader: We open our lips and confess our hearts. God
hears our words and make us new, sending us
our to bring hope and joy to all the world.
People: We hear the good news, we believe the good
news, we will live out the good news. Thanks
be to God. Amen!
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Traveling light
Object: a walking stick
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you like to travel? (let them answer) When you go away on vacation, what do you take with you? (let them answer) You take a suitcase, some toys, and some books to read in the car. When your father goes away on business, what does he take with him? (let them answer) He also takes a suitcase, maybe a hang-up bag with his suit in it, and his brief case. The brief case is for important papers. That's the way we travel.
Did I ever tell you about the time Jesus sent his disciples out to do some work? (let them answer) Jesus gathered his disciples together and told them that he wanted them to travel to cities and villages in the area. It was their first business trip and the disciples were a little scared. Jesus told them he wanted them to go into these villages and tell the people about the good news that the kingdom of God had come and everyone was invited to be a part of it.
When you are going away for a couple of days, what do you need? (let them answer) That's right, you need clean clothes, a toothbrush and toothpaste, some money to pay for a hotel or motel, a comb or brush, and a few other things that you want to have with you just in case. Isn't that the way you would travel? (let them answer)
Imagine how surprised you would be if you were told that the only thing you could take besides the clothing on your back and the sandals on your feet was a walking stick. That was it. A walking stick and nothing else!
Jesus told his disciples to go into the villages and make friends with the people, heal the sick, and tell them about the "good news." They were not to take any extra clothes or any money but just a walking stick.
Would you be brave enough to take a trip to (mention a city or town near you and one further away) with just a walking stick? (let them answer) Are you good at making friends with strangers? (let them answer) Do you think you know enough about the love of Jesus and how good it is to be a member of God's kingdom? (let them answer)
Maybe someday Jesus will ask you to do something like he asked his disciples. Then all you will need is a walking stick, and you will be filled with the love of Jesus.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, July 9, 2006, issue.
Copyright 2006 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
The Giving Back Awards
By Carter Shelley
THE WORLD
On June 15, Bill Gates, the billionaire head of Microsoft, announced that in July 2008 he will relinquish his role as chairman and creative head of the company he founded. He will be doing this in order to dedicate his energies and considerable wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and its efforts to seek solutions to ongoing problems in education and global health. Then on June 25, billionaire financier Warren Buffett announced that he would be giving approximately $30 billion of his fortune to the Gates Foundation to support its charitable efforts, and another $7 billion to four other philanthropies. This partnership puts immense assets at the disposal of the Gates Foundation, but Gates and Buffett are hardly unique -- in its July 10, 2006 issue dedicated to "The Giving Back Awards", Newsweek magazine recounts the stories and efforts of Americans who are giving something from their abundance of talent, wealth, or fame to people who need a helping hand. The July 2006 issue of Sojourners also contains an article examining celebrity activists and their effectiveness in drawing attention to areas of crying need most Americans would otherwise overlook.
THE WORD
In Mark 6:1-13 the lectionary pairs two literary units: Jesus teaching in his hometown synagogue, and Jesus sending the twelve disciples out to preach repentance and provide acts of healing and compassion. Rejection is the theme that ties the two incidents together: "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.... And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet for a testimony against them" (vv. 4, 11). In Mark 6:5-6 we learn that Jesus' own ability to heal is impaired by the resistance he encounters among the hometown crowd. Giving back requires insight, creativity, energy, fortitude, imagination, and heart. It also requires faith: "And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled at their unbelief." In order to give back, we must ourselves first have received the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and God's accompanying grace. As Christians we are called upon to give to others what God in Christ has first given to us: faith, hope, love, and charity. This week we will look at and celebrate the giving back efforts identified above and will also examine some of the specific ways we as Christians are called to give back.
"Hey Jesus! I remember when you were a runny-nosed kid. You attended the same synagogue and learned to read the scriptures right along with my boy. Don't put on any theological airs for me. Some say you that you've been sent by God, but they are off their rockers and so are you. A child born on the suspicious side of the blanket has no legitimate claim to kingship as the Lord's anointed! You must be mad!"
Some of the frustration Jesus experiences from the encounter comes through in the description of his response. First, his words acknowledge the rejection. "Prophets are not without honor, except in their own hometown and among their own kin, and in their own house." Second, Jesus' healing powers seem diminished by the inhospitable reception and disbelief he encounters. "And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them." Third, Jesus' reaction to the people's rejection is one of surprise. "And he was amazed at their unbelief." "It's as though Jesus is thinking, 'They know me, yet they don't believe me. If I can't convince my own people of my mission, who can I convince?' " Taking the advice he will next offer his disciples, Jesus shakes "off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them," moves on to teach in other villages.
This dispiriting experience is paired by Mark with Jesus' sending out of the twelve to preach repentance, cast out demons and anoint and heal the sick in 6:6b-13. A momentary setback in Nazareth offers an opportunity for Jesus to prepare his disciples for similar rejection and to also instruct them in appropriate missionary protocols: go "two-by-two ... take nothing for the journey," and "wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place" rather than waiting for a cozier, better offer. Obeying Jesus' guidelines and going out in his name, the disciples are successful in casting out demons and curing many of the sick. In so doing, Jesus offers the disciples and us the fundamentals for evangelism and ministry: to preach, to teach, and to heal.
THE MESSAGE
On July 9, 2006, we, as Christians, live in a world in which Jesus Christ is Lord, but we also live in a world where many continue to reject Christ and his Lordship. Were the kingdom of God fully established on earth, war, pestilence, greed, hunger, persecution, oppression, exploitation, and suffering would be no more. Regrettably, the suffering, the fighting, the hate, the cruelty, and the inequities of access to food, medicine, land, and decent jobs continue. The challenge for us as Christians comes in trying to find ways to defeat those principalities and powers that continue to deny the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
More than 900 million people worldwide suffer from chronic hunger. More than 20 million people will have their lives cut short due to the virulence of the AIDS virus. Tuberculosis, while eradicated from the United States, continues to kill millions in third world countries such as Haiti and continues to spread rapidly among prison populations in second world countries like Brazil and Russia. Meanwhile, the suffering and brutalities of the Sudan region leave us feeling numbed and helpless in the face of ongoing genocide. In our CNN and internet connected international world, we know about and are surrounded by human needs so vast and enormous, that no one denomination, Christian or philanthropist can address.
Where the hometown crowd rejects Jesus the man and Messiah, our temptation is to reject the possibility that we as Christians actually can transform the world by taking responsibility for the sufferings of our brothers and sisters.
You don't have to be a billionaire or a movie star to make a difference. Along with its description of the way movie stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have donated millions to health and poverty programs in Africa, Newsweek magazine presents the story of Renita Singh and Ruth Degolia, two Yale undergraduates who started a nonprofit business that takes the jewelry and crafts made by women in San Alfonso, Guatemala, and sells them in the United States and online. The results their first year was $600,000 worth of business with the profits converted into decent salaries for the women artisans and scholarships of $50 to $60 to send rural Guatemalan children to school. You don't have to have the charisma and zeal of the Reverend Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life and organizing pastor of the 20,000-member Saddleback Church to promote the kingdom of God. We are surrounded by opportunities to transform the world.
As Christians we are called upon to give to others what God in Christ has first given to us: faith, hope, love, and charity. The publications I cited in the opening paragraph offer excellent examples of ways Americans are giving back. While not all of the people discussed in these news reports and magazine articles are Christians, they are people who refuse to accept the world as it is and are trying to make it better. In Mark 6:1-13 the citizens of Nazareth have the opportunity to see Jesus for who he really is or to reject him because of who they think he should be. May we, like the philanthropists and ordinary citizens described in Newsweek on the AP wires and in Sojourner's magazine, reject the world as it is, in order to help it become the world Christ calls it to be.
ANOTHER VIEW
by Carlos Wilton
Mark 6:1-13
The Gospel Lesson this week presents us with a choice: we can focus on the first part of the passage (Jesus' rejection by the people of Nazareth). Or, we can focus on the second part (Jesus' sending-out of the disciples).
Carter, you've evidently chosen to focus on the first part. I would have chosen the second, myself -- which provides a stronger link (I think) to the story about Warren Buffett's remarkable act of philanthropy, announcing that he's going to give 85 percent of his vast fortune of $44 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. (Of course, the remaining 15 percent amounts to $6.6 billion, which is hardly chump change.)
Jesus sends his disciples out, two by two: "He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics" (Mark 6:8-9). Jesus commands his most faithful followers to travel light, through life. Our Lord's teaching inspires us to ask the question, "How much do we really need?"
In suddenly divesting themselves of large portions of their multi-billion-dollar fortunes, are the two richest people in America -- Bill Gates and Warren Buffett -- suddenly deciding to "travel light"? Well, not exactly. For, unlike Andrew Carnegie -- who, in the latter years of his life, gave away virtually all his money -- these two are hardly putting themselves into the poorhouse. Yet their gesture is significant, all the same, and ought to be celebrated. It is charitable giving on a scale that hasn't been seen since the days of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller.
It may be useful to comment, from the pulpit, on how our present national thinking with respect to the accumulation of wealth is very different than what it was in the days of these earlier philanthropists. Several well-known quotations by Carnegie make this clear:
"The day is not far distant when the man who dies leaving behind him millions of available wealth ... will pass away 'unwept, unhonored and unsung.' Of such as these the public verdict will then be: 'The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.' "
The contemporary ideal, by contrast, is expressed on the bumper sticker that reads, "He who dies with the most toys wins."
Even more radically, Carnegie wrote: "Wealth is not chiefly the product of the individual, but largely the joint product of the community." Carnegie knew he could not claim sole credit for his fortune. Yes, he had been an astute -- and, at times, even ruthless -- businessman. Yet this Scottish-American immigrant also knew he owed a great deal to the free land in which he now lived, and to the society that had provided the security and the rule of law to enable him to build his financial empire. His words call to mind the writing of John Calvin: "Let this, therefore, be our rule for generosity and beneficence: We are the stewards of everything God has conferred on us by which we are able to help our neighbor, and are required to render account of our stewardship" (Institutes III: VII: 5). Like many of the ancient church fathers, Calvin considered the wealth of the church to be "the patrimony of the poor."
Congress has recently been considering the repeal of a Federal estate tax that is now being paid by only the richest of the rich in our land. Those who oppose this tax tend to suspect viewpoints expressed by the likes of Carnegie and Calvin. In the present climate of unapologetic greed, some political pundits might even dismiss them as "communists."
A recent issue of Time magazine (July 3, 2006 issue), bearing the image of Theodore Roosevelt on the cover, makes the point that Teddy continues to be a popular figure across the political spectrum. He's the only twentieth-century president to have his face carved on Mount Rushmore. President Bush keeps a bust of him in his office. Curiously, the don't-tax-but-spend-on-yourself conservatives who cry "foul" at any hint of inheritance tax conveniently forget that the most enthusiastic booster of Federal inheritance taxes was none other than old T.R. himself. Roosevelt -- who came from a wealthy, privileged background -- would have been appalled at the thought that anyone would take a fortune of the magnitude of Buffetts; or the Gates, and seek to pass it on only to their own children.
Yet that's not the way many people think, today. Sadly, Warren Buffett is the exception, rather than the rule. At a news conference he and the Gateses conducted, after announcing their plans to pool their charitable efforts, Buffett had to field reporters' questions about why he was not giving all his money to his children. One reporter joked that "it must have been some curfew violation" that had led this father to direct most of his money away from his offspring. Buffett tersely replied that it has never been his intention to pass all his wealth on to his children. He explained that, in his view, the fact that someone had been born "from a particular womb" ought to have no bearing on how much money he or she is handed in life.
For his part, Bill Gates has remained largely silent on the estate-tax debate -- although his own father is one of the leading advocates of a high inheritance tax, so many suspect his views are similar.
News of the Buffett-Gates gifts transports us directly back to an earlier era of philanthropy, when we can see -- for a change -- a clearly articulated moral ideal of generosity. Thank God for their philanthropic witness, I say. As we twenty-first century Americans reflect on this moral ideal, in the context of the sheer meanness and self-centeredness of our contemporary culture, we ought to hang our heads in shame. Warren Buffett, and Bill and Melinda Gates, remind us that our culture lost moral ground in the last hundred years, rather than gained it. While the amounts of their giving may be hard for most of us to fathom, the fact of their generosity is a potent example for all of us.
ILLUSTRATIONS
"The three middle-aged children of Warren E. Buffett watched along with the rest of the country last week as their father, the celebrated investor, told the world that he would pass the bulk of his $40 billion personal fortune to the charitable foundation of Bill Gates, a fellow billionaire, and his wife, Melinda.
"But Susie, Howard and Peter Buffett ... spent the week focusing not on what they might have received. Instead, the siblings said in interviews, they were already at work trying to figure out how to manage a gift from their father valued at about $1 billion each that will go to their own charitable foundations.
"The Buffet children have long been aware of their father's contempt for inherited wealth ... Indeed, Howard Buffett said, "It was always clear we were not going to get a lot of money. If my dad said, 'either you can have $50 million a year personally or $50 million a year for the foundation,' I'd put it in the foundation. What would you do with $50 million if you didn't give it away?"
-- Jeff Bailey, the New York Times, 7/2/3006
* * *
At a church meeting, a very wealthy man rose to tell the rest of those present about his Christian faith. "I'm a millionaire," he said, "and I attribute it all to the rich blessings of God in my life. I remember that turning point in my faith. I had just earned my first dollar and I went to a church meeting that night. The speaker was a missionary who told about his work. I know that I only had a dollar bill and had to either given it all to God's work or nothing at all. So at that moment I decided to give my whole dollar to God. I believe that God has blessed that decision, and that is why I am a rich man today.
He finished and there was an awed silence at his testimony as he moved toward his seat. As he sat down a little old lady sitting in the same pew leaned over and said to him, "I dare you to do it again."
-- James S. Hewett, ed. "Illustrations Unlimited" p. 458
* * *
There is a simple rule about the mathematics of generosity: the more we give, the more we are able to give!
-- unknown
* * *
Larry was a second-career candidate for ministry who presented himself to our presbytery's Committee on Preparation for Ministry some years ago. What was unusual about him was the first career from which he had come. In his early 50s, Larry was vice-president, in charge of investments, at one of the largest banks in the country. As a young man he had been a war hero, a decorated Marine fighter pilot in Vietnam. When he had left military service, he took one step onto the bank's career ladder, and shot right up to the top. He'd been the quintessential "fast-tracker." It was not hard to imagine that he might become CEO one day.
Yet, Larry felt something in his life was missing. Having experienced life in the executive suite, he found it wanting. Unbeknownst to his co-workers, he had been running from God's call for many years, and decided it was time to give in.
When Larry announced his decision to quit his job and enroll in seminary, his bosses were mostly supportive. Some even admitted, privately, that they wished they'd had the courage to make such a bold change in their lives. The people who were really upset, he told our committee, were those occupying the rungs below him on the career ladder. Many of these people had looked up to Larry as the golden boy, their ideal. For him to shake off society's expectations of success and chart a new course led them to question the meaning of their own lives.
Reflecting on the experience, later, Larry told us his decision "sent shock waves through the entire organization chart."
-- Carlos Wilton
***
(Henry David Thoreau wrote these words in a letter, after an incident, widely reported in the newspapers, of some wealthy people who had drowned while trying to retrieve their gold from a sinking steamboat.)
Men will tell you sometimes "money's hard." That shows it was not made to eat, I say. Only think of a man in this new world, in his log cabin, in the midst of a corn and potato patch, with a sheepfold on one side, talking about money being hard! So are flints hard; there is no alloy in them. What has that to do with his raising his food, cutting his wood (or breaking it), keeping in-doors when it rains, and, if need be, spinning and weaving his clothes? Some of those who sank with the steamer the other day found out that money was heavy too. Think of a man's priding himself on this kind of wealth, as if it greatly enriched him. As if one struggling in mid-ocean with a bag of gold on his back should gasp out, "I am worth a hundred thousand dollars." I see them struggling just as ineffectually on dry land, nay, even more hopelessly, in the former case, rather than sink, they will finally let the bag go; but in the latter they are pretty sure to hold and go down with it. I see them swimming about in their greatcoats, collecting their rents, really getting their dues, drinking bitter draughts, which only increase their thirst, becoming more and more waterlogged, till finally they sink plumb down to the bottom.
-- Henry David Thoreau, "Letter to Harrison Blake," November 16, 1857
***
Three years ago one of my parishioners confronted me with the story of Jesus directing the rich young ruler to "take all you have and give it to the poor." A world-beating Wall Street whiz kid, Bart Harvey had begun to question what the fast track meant. Looking for deeper meaning out of life, he came into my study and said, "I've been reading the Bible. I'm thinking of giving everything I have to the poor. I know it sounds crazy, but according to Jesus that is the only way I can be saved."
He happened to be one of my leading parishioners: a major giver; treasurer of the board; young, handsome; a vital and important member of our church. I remember how pleased I was when he joined All Souls. He was appealing, generous and, unlike the majority of our members, very well off.
"You are doing so much already," I said. "By tithing here through your support of our social ministries and other social programs, you are giving as much to the poor as almost anyone I know."
He didn't buy it. Instead, he quit his job, went mountain climbing in Nepal, and spent several weeks walking through India. When he returned to New York, his brokerage firm offered him his old job back, with a major raise. Bart turned down the offer, choosing instead to assist James Rouse (the developer of Columbia, Maryland, Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston, and the South Street Seaport in New York), who now devotes his creative efforts to facilitate housing for he poor. Had it not been for Bart's lobbying efforts, Congress would likely have canceled the tax credit program that makes much private-sector low-cost housing possible. Fortunately, when I told him that he didn't need to take Jesus seriously, Bart didn't listen to me.
He came back to see me recently. Two things struck me about him. First, he was doing more good than almost anyone I know. Second, he had lost his need to be virtuous, better than his neighbors. As he grew in service, Bart also grew in humility. Jesus would have understood that also.
-- F. Forrester Church, God and Other Famous Liberals: Reclaiming the Liberal Spirit of America (Simon & Schuster, 1991), pp. 24ff
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Thom M. Shuman
Call To Worship
Leader: You awaken the sun, O God,
to guide us into the new day:
People: Your name, O God, like your praise,
sings in every person.
Leader: You speak your Word, O God,
to guide us into your kingdom:
People: Your hope, O God, like your joy,
echoes in every soul.
Leader: You guide us to those who are
looking for you:
People: Your love, O God, like your name,
fills the emptiness of every heart.
Prayer Of The Day
The rumbling of thunder in the distance,
the shade of an oak tree in the backyard,
the laughter of children splashing in the pool,
the stars glittering on a moonless night:
all the gifts of the universe
fill us with delight in every moment.
Great is your imagination,
Creation's Joy!
Broken,
you touch us to make us whole;
tear-stained,
you share our pain and struggles;
gifter of peace,
you replace our bitterness with hope;
teacher of gentle words,
you transform our unbelief into service.
Great is your love,
Christ, Companion of all people!
Making hardened hearts
as soft as a baby's breath;
turning stiffened necks
so we can see the poor;
placing wandering feet
back on the path of discipleship.
Great is your compassion,
Spirit of grace.
God in Community, Holy in One,
hear us, as we pray as we have been taught,
Our Father . . .
Call To Reconciliation
When we look at the relationships we hope to have
with one another, and with God, we must admit
how broken we are. But, as we gather in the presence
of God, we are promised forgiveness and healing, if
we will confess our sins. Please join me, as we pray
to the One who never ceases to love us,
(Unison) Prayer Of Confession
You know how stubborn we can be, Holy God. You
call us to serve others, and we stay in the coolness
of our own homes. You would send us to where the
hopeless live, but we are reluctant to leave the comfort
of our complacency. You would feed us on the peace
and joy of your word, but we pull our chairs up to the
tables of those who serve false promises.
Forgive us, Guiding God. Transform our defiance
into discipleship, and our rejection of others into the
resurrection of welcoming all people as sisters
and brothers in Christ. Help us to love as faithfully
as you have always loved us, and send us forth to
take the good news of Jesus Christ to everyone
we meet.
(silent prayers may be offered)
Assurance Of Pardon
Leader: We open our lips and confess our hearts. God
hears our words and make us new, sending us
our to bring hope and joy to all the world.
People: We hear the good news, we believe the good
news, we will live out the good news. Thanks
be to God. Amen!
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Traveling light
Object: a walking stick
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you like to travel? (let them answer) When you go away on vacation, what do you take with you? (let them answer) You take a suitcase, some toys, and some books to read in the car. When your father goes away on business, what does he take with him? (let them answer) He also takes a suitcase, maybe a hang-up bag with his suit in it, and his brief case. The brief case is for important papers. That's the way we travel.
Did I ever tell you about the time Jesus sent his disciples out to do some work? (let them answer) Jesus gathered his disciples together and told them that he wanted them to travel to cities and villages in the area. It was their first business trip and the disciples were a little scared. Jesus told them he wanted them to go into these villages and tell the people about the good news that the kingdom of God had come and everyone was invited to be a part of it.
When you are going away for a couple of days, what do you need? (let them answer) That's right, you need clean clothes, a toothbrush and toothpaste, some money to pay for a hotel or motel, a comb or brush, and a few other things that you want to have with you just in case. Isn't that the way you would travel? (let them answer)
Imagine how surprised you would be if you were told that the only thing you could take besides the clothing on your back and the sandals on your feet was a walking stick. That was it. A walking stick and nothing else!
Jesus told his disciples to go into the villages and make friends with the people, heal the sick, and tell them about the "good news." They were not to take any extra clothes or any money but just a walking stick.
Would you be brave enough to take a trip to (mention a city or town near you and one further away) with just a walking stick? (let them answer) Are you good at making friends with strangers? (let them answer) Do you think you know enough about the love of Jesus and how good it is to be a member of God's kingdom? (let them answer)
Maybe someday Jesus will ask you to do something like he asked his disciples. Then all you will need is a walking stick, and you will be filled with the love of Jesus.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, July 9, 2006, issue.
Copyright 2006 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
