The Home of God is Right Here / Searching for Shalom
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
For November 4, 2018:
(This installment contains material for All Saints Day and Proper 26 | Ordinary Time 31 | Pentecost 23.)
The Home of God is Right Here
by Mary Austin
Revelation 21:1-6a
On All Saints Sunday, we look backward to the saints of the church who have died in the past year, and to other saints who have blessed us with their lives. When we read Isaiah and Revelation, we’re looking backward to particular times in the life of the faith community, but both authors also draw our vision forward.
The closing of Sears stores, an iconic middle class retailer, also has us looking backward, evaluating its role in American life. Sears not only catered to the American middle class, it structured the business to benefit them. “Half a century ago, a typical Sears salesman could walk out of the store at retirement with a nest egg worth well over a million in today’s dollars, feathered with company stock…The company earmarked 10 percent of pretax earnings for a retirement plan for full-time employees and by the 1950s, the workers owned a quarter of Sears.” The company’s then-success fed one particular version of Isaiah’s vision of abundance for all people.
The vision of John, recorded in Revelation, and the visionary dream of the prophet Isaiah both point us forward to a world where God’s plans for humankind come to life. That vision is harder to achieve in this decade, where America’s current favorite retailer, Amazon, shares the wealth in a much different way.
As we remember the saints, we also look to the kind of world they worked for, and ponder whether we are doing our own part to make God’s vision come alive.
In the News
As we consider the beloved dead on All Saints Sunday, we can’t help but remember the Jewish worshipers massacred at their house of worship over the weekend, and, earlier in the week, two black shoppers killed at a Kroger, after the gunman was unable to get access to a black church. All of their deaths remind us how far we are from Isaiah’s vision of abundance for all people on God’s holy mountain.
The deaths, along with the pipe bombs sent to critics of the President, call us back to the places where people are actively working for God’s reign in the world.
Communities can be those places, and so can schools. Even a for-profit company can choose to embody a particular vision of God’s shalom. In contrast to the Sears workers of the mid-1900’s, retiring with a pension, “A warehouse worker hired now at Amazon who stays until retirement would leave with a fraction of that.” A recent raise to $15 / hour, as Amazon’s minimum wage may not be the gift that it seemed to be. “Yes, Amazon is increasing wages, which will benefit most employees. But it will no longer give out new stock grants and monthly bonuses. Some workers believe that means their total compensation will shrink.” Some employees reacting to the change in compensation were “contemplating a walkout on Black Friday, the big shopping day after Thanksgiving, and others said they were saddened to lose the sense of ownership that the stock compensation provided.” People who once felt that they were invited to the table of Amazon’s prosperity now feel like they’re getting nicely packaged leftovers.
The contrast between Sears, in its heyday, and Amazon, illustrates a shift in how people can enter and stay in the middle class. The change in giving stock to Amazon employees reverses “what had been an unusually broad employee stock ownership program, [and] Amazon’s decision underscores how lower-paid employees across corporate America have been locked out of profit-sharing and stock grants.” Back in the day, the Sears program was “remarkably egalitarian. Contributions were based on years of service, not rank, and the longest-serving workers received nearly $3 for every dollar they contributed. The company phased out the profit-sharing plan beginning in the 1970s. This month, after years of lackluster attempts at revival, the retailer filed for bankruptcy protection. Sears was hardly alone in corporate America, said Prof. Joseph R. Blasi, who directs Rutgers’s Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. Companies like Procter & Gamble, S.C. Johnson, Hallmark Cards and U.S. Steel all embraced profit-sharing and were part of a corporate movement to encourage the practice, he said.” There was a sense that everyone’s work contributed to the profits, and everyone should share in the success. The table was big enough for everyone.
The success of Sears and the middle class were connected, and so is the decline of both. “Retailers that cater to middle-class consumers are finding it increasingly hard to do business, The New York Times reports, largely because the only growth in spending has been among the richest Americans. The calculus isn’t complex: Flat wages means more spending on essentials which means less spending on other things.” For most of the country, wages between 2000 and 2012 were flat, with increases just in the 70th percentile and above. Less money means less to spend at Sears, or Chili’s, or the baseball stadium.
Sears also played a role in bringing Southern black people closer to the fullness that Isaiah imagines, as the opportunity to shop the mail order catalogues undermined the segregated, exploitative shopping of the Jim Crow era. Being able to shop directly went around the established racial hierarchies. Customers could avoid the blatant racism that they faced at small country stores. “What most people don’t know is just how radical the catalogue was in the era of Jim Crow,” Louis Hyman, an associate professor of history at Cornell University, wrote in a Twitter thread that was shared over 7,000 times Monday in the wake of the news of Sears’ demise. By allowing African Americans in southern states to avoid price-gouging and condescending treatment at their local stores, he wrote, the catalog “undermined white supremacy in the rural South.” As historians of the Jim Crow era have documented, purchasing everyday household goods was often an exercise in humiliation for African Americans living in the South. Before the advent of the mail-order catalog, rural black southerners typically only had the option of shopping at white-owned general stores -- often run by the owner of the same farm where they worked as sharecroppers.”
In the Scriptures
Isaiah paints a vivid picture of the world God has in mind. The prophet first reminds God of all that God has done to turn the world upside down, working for justice for the people who are the least and the lost. God, the prophet says, “you have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat. When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm, the noise of aliens like heat in a dry place, you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds; the song of the ruthless was stilled.” God provides a place of rest and safety for those who need it, whether they are fleeing from persecution, anti-Semitism, racism or economic hardship. God is hard at work to level the injustices of the world. And then God goes even further. God isn’t only about the business of balance. God actively overbalances, creating a feast of the finest foods and the choicest wines. For people who would be happy with enough bread, God hosts a banquet beyond what they would imagine for themselves.
And then, the prophet promises, death is defeated forever. Swallowed up, just a like a morsel at the banquet. If there are any tears left, God wipes them away. God goes far, far beyond the reasonable to the extraordinary.
Revelation also brings us an extraordinary vision of God’s presence with humankind. Isaiah’s banquet vision was astounding, and now God is choosing to dwell with humankind. The Divine Source of all decides to make a home here, with us.
In the Sermon
The sermon might look at what we imagine for ourselves and our communities, compared to what God envisions for us. In these days of mail bombs and hate speech, we are hunkered down, just trying to hold on. But what is the God who hosts Isaiah’s banquet imagining for us? What vision does God have for us that is so much bigger than our own?
Or the sermon might look at the exceedingly difficult work of hospitality. In Isaiah’s vision, God has a welcome for all people. The word “all” repeats over and over in these verses, lest we miss it. All people are welcome; the shroud over all people is destroyed. We are all made into one community at God’s banquet. If this is God’s dream for humankind, how do we bring it to life? Where are we reaching out beyond ourselves? Andre Perry, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, says that the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh is the kind of place that Isaiah had in mind. It’s a deliberately inclusive neighborhood, he says, one where he knew he was welcome growing up as a young African-American in Pittsburgh. “The Jewish community has been able to maintain that ethic of inclusion in Squirrel Hill. In 2018, blacks, immigrants and L.G.B.T. people crowd the streets with the same level of comfort I enjoyed as a child. Chatty college students in hoodies sit next to older Jews in skullcaps in coffee shops. When passengers step off the packed city buses along Forbes Avenue, they know they will be able to find whatever they need -- an outfit for the weekend, a bite to eat, flowers for a date -- in any of the shops on nearby Murray Avenue. Squirrel Hill is the draw, and the Tree of Life synagogue is its nucleus. The spirit of inclusivity starts there, and spills out in the rest of neighborhood. You see it in the diversity of people and also in the diversity of businesses and cultural events. They are geared to invite and support all the residents of the city -- past, present and future.” How might our neighborhoods and churches embody that same kind of hospitality, following God’s vision?
The sermon might also look at what the saints of the past worked hard for, and how we honor their legacy. Among the dead in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting was a Holocaust survivor, killed by a hate crime in America. The people who worked hard at Sears, and other places, had a vision of a comfortable life for every worker. How might we honor that legacy, in the ways we organize our work lives, or in the companies we support with our dollars? Are our purchases, and our vocations, supporting Isaiah’s vision, or Wall Street’s? Can those two ideas still line up with each other, or has that day ended?
As we remember the saints, they call us backward with memories, and with their inspiration, but they don’t let us stay there. The saints in our lives, and the beloved dead in Louisville and Pittsburgh, call us forward toward God’s vision for us all.
Searching for Shalom
by Chris Keating
Ruth 1:1-18
Presented with the option of leaving her homeland, Edith Cruz barely blinked.
On October 12th, Cruz was at home in Honduras, scrolling through Facebook on her phone. According to the Washington Post, Cruz had just opened a small tortilla shop with her cousin. But then a gang threatened the women with death if they didn’t start handing over half of their profits. That afternoon Cruz saw a post about a caravan of Hondurans who were starting a caravan to the United States. Three hours later, Cruz’s bags were packed.
Cruz decided that where the caravan was going, she would go as well. Despite claims that the massive exodus from Central American was an election stunt staged by Democrats, or that the group was providing cover for Middle Eastern terrorists, their exodus seems biblical.
Most of the 5,000 or more immigrants are fleeing their homelands in search of safety and security. Like Ruth, they’ve been emptied by life and realize there is no turning back. Pressing forward, taking all sorts of risks, they are yearning for shalom. Ruth’s story follows much of the same contours. She’s an outsider, a refugee fleeing her homeland, a widow.
Ruth clings to her mother in law. The risks she’ll face hardly seem to matter. Instead, with hardly a moment’s consideration, Ruth commits herself to Naomi and Naomi’s people.
Our world scrambles for security. We saw confusion and panic ripple through New York City after the news that a pipe bomb had been delivered to CNN’s headquarters. The mass shooting Saturday at a Pittsburgh, PA synagogue brought new reminders of the threats to shalom. And while the massive caravan headed toward the United States is still weeks away, the administration is already augmenting border security, bracing for either a fight or a photo opp.
Yet the immigrants remain steadfast. They’ve experienced the trauma and pain of loss. They’ve faced fear and know the odds may be against them. They likely understand their presence at the border will not be welcomed. In all of this, their unwavering desire to seek safety and security resonates with Ruth’s emotional response of fidelity despite her mother-in-law Naomi’s pleading: “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you.”
In the News
Of all the possibilities facing Naomi and her daughters-in-law, allowing the younger women to return home may have seemed the most practical. Ruth is resolute in her determination to remain with Naomi, despite her sister-in-law’s decision to remain in Moab. The future is uncertain, but Ruth is determined.
It’s a similar situation in southern Mexico, where groups of approximately 4,000 Central Americans are making their way toward the southern border of the United States. The caravan moves north in hopes of escaping the empty life of gang violence and poverty. Some have elected to remain in Mexico, while others cling to a dream of finding asylum in the United States.
For Gloria Escobar, 33, a single mother of two sons, the dream is to one day make it to Los Angeles. Escobar knows no one in Southern California, yet she clings to the hope of making it across the border. “It’s because in my dreams, God told me that’s where he’s sending me,” she said.
First hand observers of the caravan describe scenes of young children and families making the trek north. In spite of by President Donald Trump and others that the caravan is a disease-ridden, criminal infested mob of terrorists, on scene observers tell a story of that the caravan consists of criminals and terrorists, reporters describe the caravan as a peaceful, generally quiet procession of folks yearning for safety and freedom.
A New York Post story recounted a day walking with Escobar and her children. The young mother had been kidnapped and raped in Honduras. She had managed to escape, but soon fell into a pattern of abusive relationships. Her last partner assaulted her and forced her out of the home she owned.
When she heard about the caravan, she packed clothes for herself and her children, soap and a plastic tarp, and began the journey north.
On Sunday, the young family was up before dawn, holding hands as they traipsed across dark roads. Along the way, they have eaten food offered by churches and residents, but those provisions have been infrequent. Assisted by a Mexican migrant rights coalition, the caravan sometimes finds safe places to sleep.
Escobar has been offered jobs and resettlement help along the way. Instead, she clings to the dream like Ruth clutching her mother-in-law. “The United States is better,” she said, “for everything.”
For everything except a warm welcome.
Those opposing the caravan argue Trump’s claims are not exaggerations. In response, the administration is deploying upwards of 5,000 troops across the border, and the President has talked about shutting down the border. Arguments over illegal immigration raise fears among Americans and add to ongoing political tensions.
The facts do not seem to matter. The caravan is not an example of illegal immigration -- not yet -- as most intend to seek legal asylum in the United States. Since they are still thousands of miles away from the border, no one in the caravan has broken U.S. laws. Nor are they an enormous band unruly of protestors. Compared to the actual numbers of immigrants to the United States, the caravan hardly resembles a surging mob of invaders. Many expect the caravan to continue to winnow in size.
No matter how many arrive, the reality is that immigrants clutching to dreams of shalom will likely be met with waves of fear-fueled anger and anxiety.
Vice President Mike Pence tweeted that he had delivered a “strong message” to the Honduran President from Trump: “no more aid if caravan is not stopped. Told him U.S. will not tolerate this blatant disregard for our border & sovereignty.” Pence told Fox News that Americans understand that “this is not a spontaneous caravan of vulnerable people.”
No evidence supporting those claims has been offered, but the claims have encouraged volatile responses. As the arguments continue, push back against immigrants continues, even creating rage among some Americans. That rage transformed into a series of deadly events last week, including a racially motivated shooting in a Louisville, KY grocery store, a series of bombs mailed to critics of President Trump, and Saturday’s massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Fear, tragedy and uncertainty are all foes of hope. Even Naomi experienced this. She urged her friends to call her Mara, or “bitter,” and not Naomi, or “pleasant.” Unsure of how her native land would take to her foreign born daughter-in-law, Naomi urges Ruth to stay in Moab.
Yet Ruth clings to hope.
In the Scriptures
In a world of fear, Ruth’s story is a reminder of what Kathleen O’Connor calls the “fierce inclusivity” of God. (Feasting on the Word, Year B, Vol. 4, Proper 26). God doesn’t occupy much space in Ruth, yet the work’s subtle theology stands as a reminder of the way God works through the courageous actions of ordinary women and men.
A decade after immigrating to Moab, Elimelech’s family struggles to cope with the losses they’ve endured. Now a widow and a refugee, Naomi elects to return to Bethlehem, urging Ruth and Orpah to remain with their own. Like many of us, Naomi remains uncertain about the ways God might work through the life of a childless foreign-born widow. “Why call me Naomi?” she pleads with her friends from Bethlehem. It almost appears as Naomi may harbor her own bias against Ruth’s status.
While Orpah takes her mother in law’s advice, Ruth remains. The lyrical exchange between Ruth and Naomi is reason enough to preach from this story: “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” It is a bold act of courageous faith.
Ultimately Ruth’s actions will bring an end to Israel’s barrenness. Here is where we see the daring, courageous hope of God which emerges out of vulnerability. Ruth, the despised Moabite, overcomes the barriers of nationalism by clinging to her mother in law. By the end of the story, she becomes the bearer of life-giving seed -- first barley, and later the seed of Israel’s future.
God is not named but is certainly present in the risks Ruth undertakes. Like those in the Central American caravan, she steps forward, placing her welfare in an uncertain future.
In the Sermon
Ruth may seem like an unlikely tale to tell this week. A week away from the midterm elections, a week after the deadliest attack on a Jewish house of worship in United States history, and in a time of ever-hardening political divisions may send preachers to the relative comfort zone of other texts. But perhaps it is for such a time as this that the story of Ruth emerges in the lectionary.
The crossfire of heat-blazed political rhetoric and loud campaign ads makes it difficult to hear God’s voice. Like the story of Ruth, God may seem a bit distant to our congregations. Perhaps we are also uncertain of where God resides in our current turmoil. It may, indeed, be a season of famine and hopelessness.
On the other hand, it may also be a time when we yearn for a word of hope. Whatever their motivations, the immigrants fleeing their homelands in pursuit of an uncertain future provide an opportunity to consider the risks associated with hope. Viewing the images of children clinging to their mother as they make their way north evokes comparisons with Ruth’s determined fidelity. But even more it reminds us of God’s grace in healing dislocation and hopelessness.
God breaks into the world through the efforts of a foreign widow. Ruth -- immigrant, female, powerless -- becomes the bearer of new life. It is, as Kathleen O’Connor says, the outsider who keeps the nation from extinction. As xenophobic fear rages around us, this could be the most important word we offer.
The kindness and loving relationship shared between two otherwise destitute and hopeless women makes Israel great again.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Ron Love:
Ruth 1:16; Deuteronomy 6:6; Psalm 119:1,8; Mark 12:28-34
Discipleship / Commandments / Obedience
Vice President Calvin Coolidge was visiting his father at his farm in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. After working on the farm all day, he went to bed early, not knowing that the President Warren Harding had suddenly died of a heart attack in San Francisco. Because there were no telephone lines to the Coolidge home, the news came across the wire. The vice president’s stenographer, his chauffer and a reporter delivered the message to the Coolidge household. John Calvin Coolidge Sr., was awakened first, who then woke up his son, John Calvin Coolidge Jr., with the news. The vice president dressed, prayed with his wife, and then went downstairs. It was decided that Coolidge needed to take the oath of office immediately, and that the oath should be administered by a local justice of the peace and notary. The senior Coolidge was both, and administered the oath of office to his son. It was the first time in history a father gave his son the presidential oath of office. Having been duly sworn in as the President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge went upstairs and back to bed. On August 2, 1923, Calvin Coolidge became the 30th President of the United States.
* * *
Ruth 1:16; Deuteronomy 6:6; Psalm 119:1,8; Mark 12:28-34
Discipleship / Commandments / Obedience
President Warren Harding, after giving a speech at the University of Washington on July 27, 1923, complained of upper abdominal pain. As the pain continued the next day he was rushed by train to San Francisco for further treatment. By the afternoon of August 2, 1923, doctors allowed Harding to sit up in bed. That evening, at about 7:30 pm, he was listening to his wife read him a flattering article about him from The Saturday Evening Post, “A Calm Review of a Calm Man.” When she paused to plump his pillows, he said, “That’s good, read some more.” These were his last words. As Florence Harding resumed, her husband suddenly twisted convulsively and collapsed back in his bed. He was 57-years -old when he died of a heart attack.
* * *
Ruth 1:16; Deuteronomy 6:6; Psalm 119:1,8; Mark 12:28-34
Discipleship / Commandments / Obedience
Dan Schutte was a 31-year-old Jesuit studying theology in Berkeley, Calif., when one of his friends asked him to write a song for an upcoming diaconate ordination mass. The request came on Wednesday, and the ordination service was on Saturday. On top of the short notice, Mr. Schutte had been suffering from the flu for several days. He sat at his desk with his guitar and a blank sheet of staff paper in front of him, praying, “God, if I’m going to do this for my friend, you’re going to have to help me.”
Mr. Schutte said he often uses scripture as the basis of his songs, so as he thought about the idea of vocation for the ordination mass, he turned to the stories of the prophets, like Jeremiah, who asked God to give him the right words to say. “In all those stories, all of those people God was calling to be prophets have expressed in one way or another their humanness or their self-doubt,” Mr. Schutte said. Because of the self-doubt that was often expressed by the prophets, Schutte changed the biblical passage from one of confidence “Here I am, Lord; here I stand, Lord” to the self-doubting final version: “Here I am, Lord; is it I, Lord?”
Mr. Schutte sketched out “Here I Am, Lord” over the course of two days. On Friday evening, he walked to his friend’s house to deliver the song, pencil in hand, scribbling edits along the way.
When Schutte receives letters on how the song has helped an individual on his or her spiritual journey, he expresses his feelings with these words, “There’s a whole constellation of feelings that surround it for me,” he said. “I feel so grateful that God seems to have chosen that song to accompany people through so many moments of their life…. I didn’t plan that. I didn’t know that the song was going to be special. I’m very aware that God is doing something beyond me when I get those letters from people…. It’s also very humbling because it’s something way, way far beyond what I can do.”
What makes the hymn so powerful and inspiring is the change in point of view that the singer makes between the stanzas and the refrain. The stanzas speak from the perspective of God in the first person singular, while the refrain, though remaining in first person, is from the perspective of the singers of the hymn offering their lives to God.
Each stanza reflects a paradox. The powerful God, creator of “sea and sky,” “snow and rain” and “wind and flame” is also the God who hears the “people cry,” bears the “people’s pain” and “tend the poor and lame.”
This is a hymn of transformation. God transforms the darkness into light in stanza one, melts “hearts of stone” with love in stanza two and nourishes the “poor and lame” with the “finest bread” -- a clear Eucharistic reference.
Each stanza ends with the question, “Whom shall I send?” The refrain immediately offers the response, “Here I am, Lord.”
I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard My people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin,
My hand will save.
I who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear My light to them?
Whom shall I send?
Here I am Lord,
Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.
I, the Lord of snow and rain,
I have born my peoples pain.
I have wept for love of them,
They turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone,
Give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak My word to them,
Whom shall I send?
Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.
I, the Lord of wind and flame,
I will tend the poor and lame.
I will set a feast for them,
My hand will save
Finest bread I will provide,
Till their hearts be satisfied.
I will give My life to them,
Whom shall I send?
Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.
* * *
Deuteronomy 6; Psalm 119; Mark 12:28-34
Truth / Commandments
Roseanne was a television sitcom with the star role being played by Roseanne Barr. The show revolved around the fictional Conner family. The Conner’s were a working-class American family, who lived at 714 Delaware Street in the drab fictional mid-state exurb of Lanford, Illinois. The show was on ABC from 1988 to 1997. It had brief revival in 2018.
ABC canceled Roseanne on May 29, 2018 after Barr tweeted a profane and racist comment about the former Obama administration official Valerie Jarrett. On June 21, 2018, ABC announced plans to re-tool the show as a spin-off involving the Conner family without Roseanne Barr. The new show would be called The Conners.
John Goodman plays Dan on both shows. Goodman was in his kitchen when his wife told him about Barr’s tweet. Goodman said, “It just didn’t seem true. Then it got true.” He went on to say, “I was just constantly trying to accept it.”
* * *
Ruth 1:1-18
Faith / Hope / Family
Sandra Lee is the star of Food Network’s Semi-Homemade Cooking, which was first aired in 2003. In her recipes Lee describes using 70 percent pre-packaged products and 30 percent fresh items. She learned in March 2015 that she had breast cancer. Because of her notoriety a friend suggested that she document her cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery.
At first she refused, but then it was suggested that it be filmed with a small single camera, as old documentaries would be filmed. Lee agreed and an HBO documentary was made called RX: Early Detection -- A Cancer Journey with Sandra Lee. The film followed her nine-month journey, including graphic footage of her double mastectomy. Throughout the ordeal Lee, who was 52 when diagnosed, was supported by her partner of 13 years, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Lee shared this as the reason for doing the documentary, “My goal is to give everyone who goes through cancer a complete reference from a patient’s point of view.” She went on to say, “No doctor can tell you everything you need to know. The biggest thing I can do is really show people what it looks like to go through this so they can walk in with open eyes -- which I did not have.”
* * *
Ruth 1:1-18
Hope / Faith
In the newspaper comic Ziggy, written by Tom Wilson, we have this non-descript character with a big nose, no pants, who represents everyone and everybody who struggles with the daily adversities of life. Though Ziggy might be an ordinary sort of guy, he does possess an uncanny wisdom regarding life. In an episode published in October 2018 we see Ziggy standing, facing us, hands clasped behind his back and a nice smile on his face. He then offers this insight on life, “…if you give up on getting what you want…you get used to wanting what you get!”
* * *
Hebrews 9:11-14; Mark 12:28-34
Discipleship / Obedience / Commandments
March 25, 1965. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a procession of 25,000 demonstrators into Montgomery, Alabama. Solemnly, the cortege passed the Jefferson Davis Hotel, which had a huge Rebel flag draped across its front. Quietly they stood at Confederate Square, where negroes had been auctioned off in the days of servitude. Spontaneously, the multitude sang “Deep in my heart, I do believe; we have overcome -- today.”
The cavalcade lurched forward, proceeding up Dexter Avenue, following the same path as Jefferson Davis’ inaugural parade. These descendants of slaves freely strode to the portico of the capital; the place where Davis had taken his oath of office as President of the Confederate States. Governor George Corley Wallace refused to meet with the Freedom Marchers, nor would he receive their petition demanding the right to vote. The crowd milled in front of the statehouse, as the governor peered anxiously from behind his cracked office blinds.
Positioned below the governor’s window, King stood on the flatbed of a trailer, readying himself to address the gathering. With television cameras focused on his intense face, and his body silhouetted against the setting sun, King intoned: “We are on the move now. The burning of our churches will not deter us. We are on the move now. The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us. We are on the move now. The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. We are on the move now. The arrest and release of known murderers will not discourage us. We are on the move now. Like an idea whose time has come, not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us. We are moving to the land of freedom.”
* * *
Mark 12:28-34
Commandments / Discipleship
When Melinda Gates returned from Bangladesh in January 2012, she shared what she learned about the humanitarian work being performed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Melinda said, “The one thing that touched me the most when I travel is the fact that so many women I meet don’t have a voice -- not in their government, often not even in their own household.” In order to empower these women, Melinda said those living in the developed world “can use our voices.”
Bill Gates is the principle founder of the Microsoft Corporation. As of August 2018, Gates had a net worth of $95.4 billion, making him the second-richest person in the world. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was established in 2000. The foundation is organized into four program areas: Global Development Division, Global Health Division, United States Division, and Global Policy & Advocacy Division. Bill and Melinda were married in 1994.
* * *
Mark 12:28-34
Commandments / Discipleship
On Memorial Day 2016, President Obama solemnly laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arrington National Cemetery. This ceremony came during the revelation of how veterans were being mistreated at Veteran’s facilities and hospitals. There were countless reports of inadequate treatment, the need to travel long distances for treatment, and waiting lists that stretched to months. This is why in his speech he said we must support the families of the fallen and still injured “not just with words but with our actions.” The President noted that over one million Americans had died in battle and that we have a responsibility not only to honor them, but care for their loved ones. Obama said, “The Americans who rest here, and their families -- the best of us, those from whom we asked everything -- ask of us today only one thing in return: that we remember them.”
* * *
Mark 12:28-34
Commandments / Discipleship
With a word spoken and the sweep of his hand, Herod sent soldiers to the town of Bethlehem to murder every child two years old and younger. Bethlehem was a small town, and the one- and two-year-old’s would not have numbered more than 20 or 30, not unlike the 20 children shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School, on December 14, 2012.
In the wake of this shooting, numerous strong editorials have been written on the need for stronger gun control legislation by influential newspapers like The New York Times and Washington Post. This position has been confirmed by the mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, who said, “We have not seen leadership -- not from the White House and not from Congress.” The reason for this outcry is that the guns used in the shooting spree were a semi-automatic Bushmaster rifle, whose projectiles travel at 3,000 feet per second; a semi-automatic Glock 9mm handgun that fires five bullets per second at a velocity of 1,200 feet per second; and a 9mm SIG pistol that fires five bullets per second at a velocity of 1,200 feet per second. Could stricter gun laws prevent this? Possibly. But I do not think the Roman soldiers would have been hindered in their task if they had used clubs instead of swords.
People say only the deranged cause such mayhem. This could also be true. And we know our mental health facilities need to be completely revitalized. But let’s be honest, a Herod, as well as an Adam Lanza, will always be able to slip through the bars.
The Comforter-in-Chief, President Barack Obama, came to Newtown, Connecticut, the affluent town of 27,000 residents, to grieve with its residents. It is interesting that our country has become so secularized that the Commander-in-Chief, the only person who has access to the “football” -- the briefcase that contains the codes to launch our weapons of mass destruction -- is now our national comforter. At the time, President Obama said: “The majority of those who died today were children, beautiful little kids between the ages of five and ten years old,” and then he wiped a tear from his eye, pausing for twelve seconds to gain his composure before continuing. Having the president be a consoler is as it should be, but the Constitution does not delegate the one who can make war as the one who brings solace. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution reserves comforting to the church and the clergy. If the issue of gun control has lost its way, perhaps it’s because we cannot distinguish between the roles of those who have access to the codes of violence and those who have access to the codes of scripture.
Many journalists and politicians have assumed the mantle of moralists. In editorials, they have written that this is a part of God’s plan or that at the gates of heaven there will be no tears. In commentaries they have asked these questions: Is there a God? How can God allow this? Where is God to be found? If they would have taken the time to look, God would have been found in a Christmas manger.
Connecticut Governor Daniel P. Malloy may have said it best with these words: “Evil visited this community today.” This is what makes Herod’s story and the slaughter of the innocents the real Christmas story. This day and every day evil visits our world, our nation, our communities, our churches, and our lives. Evil is inescapable. Pass more laws... build more prisons... invest in our metal health system. And after all this, there will still be an Adam Lanza.
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From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
Ruth 1:1-18
Fun facts about the caravan (Refugees & Migrants)
In his most recent offering, New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristoff offers these sobering figures to give some perspective:
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All Saints
Eugene Peterson, R.I.P.
Christian evangelical pastor, speaker, and writer, Eugene Peterson died last week.
Most of us who know or know of Eugene Peterson do so by way of his magnum opus, The Message, a modern language paraphrase of the entire Bible.
Like many things in his life, however, The Message was not without its detractors. Progressives generally accepted it as a paraphrase and did not fault it for its less than studious translation. Conservatives, however, tended to think that it contained too much Peterson and too little Holy Spirit. Some Christian bookstores refused to sell it and some churches banned it.
Be that as it may, it was something he said recently that got him in the hottest hot water with his fellow evangelicals. It was just one, little, three-letter word: In a 2017 interview, writer Jonathan Merritt asked Peterson if he would perform a same-sex marriage and Peterson answered, simply, “Yes.”
Merritt continues the story: “The moment the article published by the Religion News Service, Christian internet lost its mind. Peterson’s name was trending nationally on Twitter, and many progressives lauded his courage to address such a contentious issue. But the conservative Christian aristocracy mobilized to denounce the octogenarian they claimed to respect just moments earlier.
Andrew Walker, director of policy studies at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission…wrote: “How sad that a creative voice like Eugene Peterson would forsake the Scriptures and the Tradition that he so eloquently wrote of.” Walker’s boss, Russell Moore, head of policy for the Southern Baptist Convention, also expressed his disappointment and penned an article asking whether Peterson’s books were now unworthy of being read. The American Family Association published a fiery article condemning him titled, “The Sad, Disturbing Case of Eugene Peterson.” And a popular Christian satirical site mocked him, suggesting everyone already knew Peterson “didn’t hold the highest view of the Scriptures.”
“A top leader at NavPress, the small evangelical publisher dependent on sales of The Message to stay afloat, phoned my publisher and claimed Peterson never made the reported statement. Then I submitted the audio recording and transcript to verify the quote. The publisher then claimed Peterson must have been not of sound mind. Then I explained there was not a whiff of mental instability, and he was totally lucid during the interview.
“Amid the furor, LifeWay Christian Stores, America’s largest religious retailer, said it was preparing to ban all of his books from their shelves, even though none of them addressed the topic of same-sex marriage. Money was now on the line. Within one day, Peterson’s literary agent released a statement asserting that the author had now changed his mind and would not perform a same-sex wedding -- though it left the question of his views about same-sex relationships noticeably ambiguous.
“Regardless, it was enough to quell the furor…Fans who had become haters in a blink miraculously morphed into fans once more.”
Merritt concludes: “The modern church is often a movement that will love you -- so long as you behave according to its rules. It is a movement that can propel you to fame and fortune -- so long as you do not lean on its sacred cows. It is a movement that will wipe out brother or sister in the name of culture-war victory.
“Eugene Peterson lived his life as an agent of transformation. His storied career -- the whole story -- has the power to change us still. If we have ears to hear.”
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Ruth 1:1-18
4000 of our closest friends (Refugees & Migrants)
In 2015 Fethullah Üzümcüoğlu and Esra Polat, got married in their Turkish home province near the Syrian border and decided that keeping the fun and happiness of the occasion to themselves would be selfish. So, they invited 4,000 Syrian refugees to the reception to eat with them and celebrate in the southern Turkish city of Kilis.
Turkey has welcomed nearly two million Syrian refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war and in Kilis, there are 4,000 that Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There?), a Turkish charity which provides help to millions across the world, is responsible for providing food to.
In total, there are four million Syrian refugees who had fled the country.
The idea for sharing their special day with those less fortunate was that of the groom’s father, Ali Üzümcüoğlu. He told Serhat Kilis newspaper that he hoped others would do the same and share their wedding celebrations with their Syrian neighbors.
"We thought that on such a happy day, we would share the wedding party with our Syrian brothers and sisters. We thought this was best done with Kimse Yok Mu who could provide a truck. God willing, this will lead to others doing the same and giving food to our Syrian brothers and sisters. For us, it was an interesting wedding dinner.”
The father also said he was glad that the couple began a new life “with such a selfless action.” Wedding guests shared food using trucks and those providing meals included the bride and groom themselves.
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Ruth 1:1-18
That’S niiiiiice (Refugees & Migrants)
Film maker Sasha Barron Cohen’s films have often been described as crude and hard to watch, sometimes because they make no apologies for tearing away the genteel, cultural curtains that hide racism, sexism, and nationalism.
What wasn’t so hard to watch, however, was a gift of $500,000 he and his wife donated to Save the Children to pay for measles vaccinations for kids in northern Syria, and the equal amount they gave to International Rescue Committee (IRC) to help Syrian refugees (and those in neighboring countries) with healthcare, shelter, and sanitation.
More than four million refugees have fled conflict in Syria for the relative safety of the neighboring countries, according to the United Nations. Millions more have been forced to leave their homes for other parts of the country.
Justin Forsyth, chief executive of Save the Children, said the money would “save many thousands of lives and protect some of the most vulnerable children…By allowing us to make their generous donation to Syrian children public, Sacha and Isla are helping highlight the tragedy of the issue today,” he added.
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All Saints
Strange Memorials
It’s not uncommon for people to memorialize those they loved or who loved them with gigantic monuments and memorials which pay tribute to extraordinary lives or special events. Some, however, cause us to pause and scratch our heads and wonder if we would like to be remembered.
• Pat Tillman Statue Pat Tillman, you will recall, was the former football player who left the NFL and joined the US Army after the 9/11 attacks. He tragically died from friendly fire in April 2004. A statue memorializing him at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, shows him in a football uniform, screaming and running with his hair on fire.
• Carhenage A remarkable monument located near the town of Alliance, Nebraska, cleverly mimics the prehistoric Stonehenge monument using junk automobiles. In fact, it is accurately proportional to the English site. The idea of creating this strange monument was conceived by Jim Reindersas a memorial to his father.
• Crazy Horse Memorial This memorial, located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, depicting Crazy Horse (a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota ) riding a horse and pointing to a distance, has been under construction for more than 60 years (construction began in 1948) now and still its date of completion is not clear. It is planned to be about 641 feet wide and 563 feet high. This complex monument is being carved out of the sacred Thunderhead Mountain.
• Giant Steve Jobs Memorial Monument In St. Petersburg, Russia, there is a six-foot-tall iPhone-shaped monument to honor the memory of Steve Jobs. It has a video screen that plays the highlights of key moments of his life and inspirational quotes taken from his speeches.
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All Saints
Epitaphs
These epitaphs are culled from the Ripley’s Believe it Or Not columns. Ripley allows that they may or may not be real but they do suggest that if you want your epitaph to say something flattering you’d better write it yourself rather than leave it up to others after you’re gone.
Here lies the body of Johnny Haskell,
A lying, thieving, cheating rascal;
He always lied, and now he lies,
He has no soul and cannot rise.
Beneath this stone a lump of clay,
Lies Arabella Young;
Who on the 24th of May,
Began to hold her tongue.
Reader, pass on I -- don’t waste your time
On bad biography and bitter rhyme;
For what I am, this crumbling clay insures.
And what I was, is no affair of yours
Mrs. Ann Jennings
Some have children, some have none;
Here lies the mother of twenty-one.
Ruth Sprague, Daughter of Gibson and Elizabeth Sprague.
Died June 11, 1846, aged 9 years, 4 months, and 3 days.
She was stolen from the grave by Roderick R. Clow, dissected at Dr. P. M. Armstrong’s office, in Hoosick, N. Y., from which place her mutilated remains were obtained and deposited here.
Her body dissected by fiendish man,
Her bones anatomized,
Her soul, we trust, has risen to God,
Where few physicians rise.
Here I lie, and no wonder I am dead,
For the wheel of a wagon went over my head.
Tread softly mortals o’er the bones
Of this world’s wonder, Captain Jones,
Who told his glorious deeds to many
Yet never was believed by any.
Posterity let this suffice
He swore all’s true, yet here he lies.
This is all that remains of poor Ben Hough
He had forty-nine years and that was enough.
Of worldly goods he had his share,
And now he’s gone to the Devil’s snare.
Here lies the body of Henry Round
Who went to sea and never was found.
Here lies the body of Jonathan Stout.
He fell in the water and never got out,
And still is supposed to be floating about
At threescore winters’ end I died,
A cheerless being, sole and sad;
The nuptial knot I never tied,
And wish my father never had.
This spot is the sweetest I’ve seen in my life,
For it raises my flowers and covers my wife.
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: The earth is God’s and all that is in it.
People: The world and those who live in it belong to God.
Leader: For God has founded it on the seas.
People: God has established it on the rivers.
Leader: Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
People: Let the King of glory come in.
OR
Leader: Praise God! Praise God, O my soul!
People: We will praise God as long as we live.
Leader: God watches over the strangers.
People: God upholds the orphan and the widow.
Leader: Praise God! God will reign forever.
People: Our God we reign for all generations. Praise God!
OR
Leader: We come to remember the saints who have gone before us.
People: We honor their memory and learn from them.
Leader: We celebrate the past that we might understand the future.
People: With God’s help we will learn and move forward.
Leader: We remember the past and see the future.
People: Together these help us live for today.
Hymns and Songs:
For All the Saints
UMH: 711
H82: 287
PH: 526
AAHH: 339
NNBH: 301
NCH: 299
CH: 637
LBW: 174
ELA: 422
W&P: 529
AMEC: 476
STLT: 103
All Creatures of Our God and King
UMH: 62
H82: 400
PH: 455
AAHH: 147
NNBH: 33
NCH: 17
CH: 22
LBW: 527
ELA: 835
W&P: 23
AMEC: 50
STLT: 203
Renew: 47
All People That on Earth Do Dwell
UMH: 75
H82: 377/378
PH: 220/221
NNBH: 36
NCH: 7
CH: 18
LBW: 245
ELA: 883
W&P: 661
AMEC: 73
STLT: 370
Jesus, Remember Me
UMH: 488
PH: 599
CH: 569
ELA: 616
W&P: 285
CCB: 68
Renew: 227
How Firm a Foundation
UMH: 529
H82: 636/637
PH: 361
AAHH: 146
NNBH: 48
NCH: 407
CH: 618
LBW: 507
ELA: 796
W&P: 411
AMEC: 433
O God of Every Nation
UMH: 435
H82: 607
PH: 289
CH: 680
LBW: 416
ELA: 713
W&P: 626
For the Healing of the Nations
UMH: 428
NCH: 576
CH: 668
W&P: 621
Hope of the World
UMH: 178
H82: 472
PH: 360
NCH: 46
CH: 538
LBW: 493
W&P: 404
Saranam, Saranam, (Refuge)
CCB: 73
UMH: 523
Jesus, Name Above All Names
CCB: 35
Renew: 26
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who executes justice and feeds the hungry:
Grant us the grace to be your true children
as we care for those who are in need
and fight for the powerless;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, of justice and mercy. You feed the hungry and bring justice to the oppressed. Help us to be your true children as we care for the needy and fight for the powerless. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our failure to remember which leads us to forget who we are becoming.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are in such a hurry to rush into the future that we do not take the time to remember the past. We fail to call to mind all those who have gone before us in faith. Without those memories we miss the lessons their lives could have taught us. Without these memory lessons we are adrift in the world without a clear course to our goal. Bring us back to our right minds that we might set our feet firmly in the stories of our faith that we might enter into your glorious reign. Amen.
Leader: God delights in our remembrance of those have lived the faith and desires to strengthen us as we remember. Receive God’s grace and share the good news with all.
Prayers of the People
We praise you, O God, in the glory of your righteousness. You alone are holy and true.
(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 are in such a hurry to rush into the future that we do not take the time to remember the past. We fail to call to mind all those who have gone before us in faith. Without those memories we miss the lessons their lives could have taught us. Without these memory lessons we are adrift in the world without a clear course to our goal. Bring us back to our right minds that we might set our feet firmly in the stories of our faith that we might enter into your glorious reign.
We give you thanks for all the blessings you have showered upon us. We thank you for those who lived the life of faith before us. (Today we remember, especially....) We thank you for those known only to us in story and history and those faithful ones who are known only to you.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our several needs. We pray for those who feel disconnected from you and your people. We pray for those who struggle in this life. We pray for those who bravely live faithfully for the benefit of others against great resistance.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Talk to the children about Naomi and Ruth being refugees. They traveled a long way through strange lands. Soon it will be Thanksgiving and we will be remembering the Pilgrims traveling so far over a huge ocean. It is a little while until Christmas but then we will remember Joseph, Mary, and Jesus having to travel to Egypt. It must be scary to have to leave you home and go someplace you don’t know -- to leave a lot of family and friends behind. Even today people all over the world are refugees. But God is with them and we can be with them in our prayers.
CHILDREN’S SERMON(S)
Wiping Away the Tears (All Saints)
by Tom Willadsen
Psalm 24, John 11:32-44, Isaiah 25:6-9, Revelation 21:1-6a
For these readings I do not have any “props” to suggest, just two different sets of questions.
I like to ask the kids what kind of food they would want at the best party of all time. Depending on the audience, chicken nuggets, macaroni & cheese, ice cream, pizza…then read Isaiah 25:6 to the kids.
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
Of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
Which party do you think the little ones would prefer?
You might instead want to pivot and ask what makes them cry. Little children are more likely to cry because of physical pain, older kids and certainly adults, are more likely to cry because of sadness, or emotional pain. Jesus cried after his friend died.
All the readings for All Saints’ Day, except the psalm, mention wiping away or erasing tears. Lead the little ones -- and the older ones who remain back in the pews -- to envision what a world from which tears have been wiped away would look and feel like. It’s striking to me that in Isaiah 25:9 it says that “(the Lord of Hosts) will swallow up death forever.” The reason that’s striking is that the bad side in the Harry Potter books was called “The Death Eaters.” That never made sense to me, it seems to me that our God who, in Christ, swallows up death should really have been on Harry Potter’s side in those stories.
Two First Commandments (Proper 26 | OT 31 | Pentecost 24)
by Tom Willadsen
Mark 12:26-34, Deuteronomy 6:1-9
The conversation Jesus has with the scribe is unique. It is the only place in Mark’s gospel where the scribes are shown in a positive light. This time Jesus does not turn the question back to the asker, but answers directly…and shows that he knows scripture. Jesus even gives two first commandments. Modern Jews call the first commandment Jesus gave in reply, “the Shema:” “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord, is one.”
These words are so important that in the Hebrew text the third letter in the first word, and the last letter in the last word are printed in a larger font than the other letters. This calls the reader’s attention to the significance of this verse.
Jesus, in his conversation with the scribe, does not, however, stop at the end of the Shema, he recites a few more verses from Deuteronomy, with a small addition. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Jesus adds “with all your mind” to the text found in Deuteronomy.
You may want to explore with the kids the different ways we can love God -- ask how they might love the Lord their God with all their strength, for example.
The rest of Jesus’ answer also comes straight from Deuteronomy. Many faiths have beliefs like this, commonly called “The Golden Rule.” Jewish tradition has it that Rabbi Hillel was once asked by a scoffing wise guy (love that term) to teach him the Torah while the scoffer stood on one foot, presumably because one cannot stand on one foot for very long. Hillel replied, (here I’m citing The Union Orthodox website, which brings the legend into modern times) “No problem! The main idea of the Torah is ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Everything else is commentary. Now, if you’re really interested, go and study the commentary.”
That might be too wordy for the young ones to grasp, but you can certainly see how long they can stand on one foot.
Circling back to the “first” first commandment, you might want to show the children a mezuzah. Observant Jews put them on the door posts of their houses; some put them on interior doorways between the rooms in their homes. Inside mezuzot (plural for mezuzah, but you might want to stick to “mezuzahs”) there is a tiny scroll of parchment that some verses of the Bible have been written on. The Shema is one of the passages on the parchment, another is Deuteronomy 11:13-21, part of which reads, “You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul…Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates…”
Tradition has it that Jews put a mezuzah on the right side of the door frame as one enters the house. There are a variety of reasons that vary among traditions for why it should be on the right as opposed to the left. Most mezuzahs I’ve seen in the United States have their tops tilted facing into the home, again, there are many different explanations for this custom.
If you have a mezuzah, by all means bring one to show the kids. I’ve added pictures of my mezuzah, the first showing it open, with the scroll, the second with the mezuzah closed, the parchment having been replaced.
The second photo shows it’s about 3 inches long. You can go online and lots of other cool designs for mezuzot.
You can close by telling the kids that many Jews touch their mezuzah every time they enter and leave their homes. It is a sign of respect to the Lord our God. Maybe they can brainstorm about ways that we can show respect to God everyday.
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The Immediate Word, November 4, 2018, issue.
Copyright 2018 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
- The Home of God is Right Here by Mary Austin -- The saints aren’t content just to be remembered on All Saints weekend. They call us to live up to their legacy, and to God’s vision.
- Searching for Shalom by Chris Keating -- Often it takes an immigrant to help open the ways of courageous, life-giving hope.
- Sermon illustrations by Ron Love, Dean Feldmeyer and Bethany Peerbolte.
- Worship resources by George Reed that focus on memory as an aid to looking ahead; migrants and refugees.
- Wiping Away the Tears / Two First Commandments Children’s sermons by Tom Willadsen -- One children’s sermon for All Saints Day and one for Proper 26 | OT 31 | Pentecost 24.
(This installment contains material for All Saints Day and Proper 26 | Ordinary Time 31 | Pentecost 23.)
The Home of God is Right Here
by Mary Austin
Revelation 21:1-6a
On All Saints Sunday, we look backward to the saints of the church who have died in the past year, and to other saints who have blessed us with their lives. When we read Isaiah and Revelation, we’re looking backward to particular times in the life of the faith community, but both authors also draw our vision forward.
The closing of Sears stores, an iconic middle class retailer, also has us looking backward, evaluating its role in American life. Sears not only catered to the American middle class, it structured the business to benefit them. “Half a century ago, a typical Sears salesman could walk out of the store at retirement with a nest egg worth well over a million in today’s dollars, feathered with company stock…The company earmarked 10 percent of pretax earnings for a retirement plan for full-time employees and by the 1950s, the workers owned a quarter of Sears.” The company’s then-success fed one particular version of Isaiah’s vision of abundance for all people.
The vision of John, recorded in Revelation, and the visionary dream of the prophet Isaiah both point us forward to a world where God’s plans for humankind come to life. That vision is harder to achieve in this decade, where America’s current favorite retailer, Amazon, shares the wealth in a much different way.
As we remember the saints, we also look to the kind of world they worked for, and ponder whether we are doing our own part to make God’s vision come alive.
In the News
As we consider the beloved dead on All Saints Sunday, we can’t help but remember the Jewish worshipers massacred at their house of worship over the weekend, and, earlier in the week, two black shoppers killed at a Kroger, after the gunman was unable to get access to a black church. All of their deaths remind us how far we are from Isaiah’s vision of abundance for all people on God’s holy mountain.
The deaths, along with the pipe bombs sent to critics of the President, call us back to the places where people are actively working for God’s reign in the world.
Communities can be those places, and so can schools. Even a for-profit company can choose to embody a particular vision of God’s shalom. In contrast to the Sears workers of the mid-1900’s, retiring with a pension, “A warehouse worker hired now at Amazon who stays until retirement would leave with a fraction of that.” A recent raise to $15 / hour, as Amazon’s minimum wage may not be the gift that it seemed to be. “Yes, Amazon is increasing wages, which will benefit most employees. But it will no longer give out new stock grants and monthly bonuses. Some workers believe that means their total compensation will shrink.” Some employees reacting to the change in compensation were “contemplating a walkout on Black Friday, the big shopping day after Thanksgiving, and others said they were saddened to lose the sense of ownership that the stock compensation provided.” People who once felt that they were invited to the table of Amazon’s prosperity now feel like they’re getting nicely packaged leftovers.
The contrast between Sears, in its heyday, and Amazon, illustrates a shift in how people can enter and stay in the middle class. The change in giving stock to Amazon employees reverses “what had been an unusually broad employee stock ownership program, [and] Amazon’s decision underscores how lower-paid employees across corporate America have been locked out of profit-sharing and stock grants.” Back in the day, the Sears program was “remarkably egalitarian. Contributions were based on years of service, not rank, and the longest-serving workers received nearly $3 for every dollar they contributed. The company phased out the profit-sharing plan beginning in the 1970s. This month, after years of lackluster attempts at revival, the retailer filed for bankruptcy protection. Sears was hardly alone in corporate America, said Prof. Joseph R. Blasi, who directs Rutgers’s Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. Companies like Procter & Gamble, S.C. Johnson, Hallmark Cards and U.S. Steel all embraced profit-sharing and were part of a corporate movement to encourage the practice, he said.” There was a sense that everyone’s work contributed to the profits, and everyone should share in the success. The table was big enough for everyone.
The success of Sears and the middle class were connected, and so is the decline of both. “Retailers that cater to middle-class consumers are finding it increasingly hard to do business, The New York Times reports, largely because the only growth in spending has been among the richest Americans. The calculus isn’t complex: Flat wages means more spending on essentials which means less spending on other things.” For most of the country, wages between 2000 and 2012 were flat, with increases just in the 70th percentile and above. Less money means less to spend at Sears, or Chili’s, or the baseball stadium.
Sears also played a role in bringing Southern black people closer to the fullness that Isaiah imagines, as the opportunity to shop the mail order catalogues undermined the segregated, exploitative shopping of the Jim Crow era. Being able to shop directly went around the established racial hierarchies. Customers could avoid the blatant racism that they faced at small country stores. “What most people don’t know is just how radical the catalogue was in the era of Jim Crow,” Louis Hyman, an associate professor of history at Cornell University, wrote in a Twitter thread that was shared over 7,000 times Monday in the wake of the news of Sears’ demise. By allowing African Americans in southern states to avoid price-gouging and condescending treatment at their local stores, he wrote, the catalog “undermined white supremacy in the rural South.” As historians of the Jim Crow era have documented, purchasing everyday household goods was often an exercise in humiliation for African Americans living in the South. Before the advent of the mail-order catalog, rural black southerners typically only had the option of shopping at white-owned general stores -- often run by the owner of the same farm where they worked as sharecroppers.”
In the Scriptures
Isaiah paints a vivid picture of the world God has in mind. The prophet first reminds God of all that God has done to turn the world upside down, working for justice for the people who are the least and the lost. God, the prophet says, “you have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat. When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm, the noise of aliens like heat in a dry place, you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds; the song of the ruthless was stilled.” God provides a place of rest and safety for those who need it, whether they are fleeing from persecution, anti-Semitism, racism or economic hardship. God is hard at work to level the injustices of the world. And then God goes even further. God isn’t only about the business of balance. God actively overbalances, creating a feast of the finest foods and the choicest wines. For people who would be happy with enough bread, God hosts a banquet beyond what they would imagine for themselves.
And then, the prophet promises, death is defeated forever. Swallowed up, just a like a morsel at the banquet. If there are any tears left, God wipes them away. God goes far, far beyond the reasonable to the extraordinary.
Revelation also brings us an extraordinary vision of God’s presence with humankind. Isaiah’s banquet vision was astounding, and now God is choosing to dwell with humankind. The Divine Source of all decides to make a home here, with us.
In the Sermon
The sermon might look at what we imagine for ourselves and our communities, compared to what God envisions for us. In these days of mail bombs and hate speech, we are hunkered down, just trying to hold on. But what is the God who hosts Isaiah’s banquet imagining for us? What vision does God have for us that is so much bigger than our own?
Or the sermon might look at the exceedingly difficult work of hospitality. In Isaiah’s vision, God has a welcome for all people. The word “all” repeats over and over in these verses, lest we miss it. All people are welcome; the shroud over all people is destroyed. We are all made into one community at God’s banquet. If this is God’s dream for humankind, how do we bring it to life? Where are we reaching out beyond ourselves? Andre Perry, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, says that the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh is the kind of place that Isaiah had in mind. It’s a deliberately inclusive neighborhood, he says, one where he knew he was welcome growing up as a young African-American in Pittsburgh. “The Jewish community has been able to maintain that ethic of inclusion in Squirrel Hill. In 2018, blacks, immigrants and L.G.B.T. people crowd the streets with the same level of comfort I enjoyed as a child. Chatty college students in hoodies sit next to older Jews in skullcaps in coffee shops. When passengers step off the packed city buses along Forbes Avenue, they know they will be able to find whatever they need -- an outfit for the weekend, a bite to eat, flowers for a date -- in any of the shops on nearby Murray Avenue. Squirrel Hill is the draw, and the Tree of Life synagogue is its nucleus. The spirit of inclusivity starts there, and spills out in the rest of neighborhood. You see it in the diversity of people and also in the diversity of businesses and cultural events. They are geared to invite and support all the residents of the city -- past, present and future.” How might our neighborhoods and churches embody that same kind of hospitality, following God’s vision?
The sermon might also look at what the saints of the past worked hard for, and how we honor their legacy. Among the dead in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting was a Holocaust survivor, killed by a hate crime in America. The people who worked hard at Sears, and other places, had a vision of a comfortable life for every worker. How might we honor that legacy, in the ways we organize our work lives, or in the companies we support with our dollars? Are our purchases, and our vocations, supporting Isaiah’s vision, or Wall Street’s? Can those two ideas still line up with each other, or has that day ended?
As we remember the saints, they call us backward with memories, and with their inspiration, but they don’t let us stay there. The saints in our lives, and the beloved dead in Louisville and Pittsburgh, call us forward toward God’s vision for us all.
Searching for Shalom
by Chris Keating
Ruth 1:1-18
Presented with the option of leaving her homeland, Edith Cruz barely blinked.
On October 12th, Cruz was at home in Honduras, scrolling through Facebook on her phone. According to the Washington Post, Cruz had just opened a small tortilla shop with her cousin. But then a gang threatened the women with death if they didn’t start handing over half of their profits. That afternoon Cruz saw a post about a caravan of Hondurans who were starting a caravan to the United States. Three hours later, Cruz’s bags were packed.
Cruz decided that where the caravan was going, she would go as well. Despite claims that the massive exodus from Central American was an election stunt staged by Democrats, or that the group was providing cover for Middle Eastern terrorists, their exodus seems biblical.
Most of the 5,000 or more immigrants are fleeing their homelands in search of safety and security. Like Ruth, they’ve been emptied by life and realize there is no turning back. Pressing forward, taking all sorts of risks, they are yearning for shalom. Ruth’s story follows much of the same contours. She’s an outsider, a refugee fleeing her homeland, a widow.
Ruth clings to her mother in law. The risks she’ll face hardly seem to matter. Instead, with hardly a moment’s consideration, Ruth commits herself to Naomi and Naomi’s people.
Our world scrambles for security. We saw confusion and panic ripple through New York City after the news that a pipe bomb had been delivered to CNN’s headquarters. The mass shooting Saturday at a Pittsburgh, PA synagogue brought new reminders of the threats to shalom. And while the massive caravan headed toward the United States is still weeks away, the administration is already augmenting border security, bracing for either a fight or a photo opp.
Yet the immigrants remain steadfast. They’ve experienced the trauma and pain of loss. They’ve faced fear and know the odds may be against them. They likely understand their presence at the border will not be welcomed. In all of this, their unwavering desire to seek safety and security resonates with Ruth’s emotional response of fidelity despite her mother-in-law Naomi’s pleading: “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you.”
In the News
Of all the possibilities facing Naomi and her daughters-in-law, allowing the younger women to return home may have seemed the most practical. Ruth is resolute in her determination to remain with Naomi, despite her sister-in-law’s decision to remain in Moab. The future is uncertain, but Ruth is determined.
It’s a similar situation in southern Mexico, where groups of approximately 4,000 Central Americans are making their way toward the southern border of the United States. The caravan moves north in hopes of escaping the empty life of gang violence and poverty. Some have elected to remain in Mexico, while others cling to a dream of finding asylum in the United States.
For Gloria Escobar, 33, a single mother of two sons, the dream is to one day make it to Los Angeles. Escobar knows no one in Southern California, yet she clings to the hope of making it across the border. “It’s because in my dreams, God told me that’s where he’s sending me,” she said.
First hand observers of the caravan describe scenes of young children and families making the trek north. In spite of by President Donald Trump and others that the caravan is a disease-ridden, criminal infested mob of terrorists, on scene observers tell a story of that the caravan consists of criminals and terrorists, reporters describe the caravan as a peaceful, generally quiet procession of folks yearning for safety and freedom.
A New York Post story recounted a day walking with Escobar and her children. The young mother had been kidnapped and raped in Honduras. She had managed to escape, but soon fell into a pattern of abusive relationships. Her last partner assaulted her and forced her out of the home she owned.
When she heard about the caravan, she packed clothes for herself and her children, soap and a plastic tarp, and began the journey north.
On Sunday, the young family was up before dawn, holding hands as they traipsed across dark roads. Along the way, they have eaten food offered by churches and residents, but those provisions have been infrequent. Assisted by a Mexican migrant rights coalition, the caravan sometimes finds safe places to sleep.
Escobar has been offered jobs and resettlement help along the way. Instead, she clings to the dream like Ruth clutching her mother-in-law. “The United States is better,” she said, “for everything.”
For everything except a warm welcome.
Those opposing the caravan argue Trump’s claims are not exaggerations. In response, the administration is deploying upwards of 5,000 troops across the border, and the President has talked about shutting down the border. Arguments over illegal immigration raise fears among Americans and add to ongoing political tensions.
The facts do not seem to matter. The caravan is not an example of illegal immigration -- not yet -- as most intend to seek legal asylum in the United States. Since they are still thousands of miles away from the border, no one in the caravan has broken U.S. laws. Nor are they an enormous band unruly of protestors. Compared to the actual numbers of immigrants to the United States, the caravan hardly resembles a surging mob of invaders. Many expect the caravan to continue to winnow in size.
No matter how many arrive, the reality is that immigrants clutching to dreams of shalom will likely be met with waves of fear-fueled anger and anxiety.
Vice President Mike Pence tweeted that he had delivered a “strong message” to the Honduran President from Trump: “no more aid if caravan is not stopped. Told him U.S. will not tolerate this blatant disregard for our border & sovereignty.” Pence told Fox News that Americans understand that “this is not a spontaneous caravan of vulnerable people.”
No evidence supporting those claims has been offered, but the claims have encouraged volatile responses. As the arguments continue, push back against immigrants continues, even creating rage among some Americans. That rage transformed into a series of deadly events last week, including a racially motivated shooting in a Louisville, KY grocery store, a series of bombs mailed to critics of President Trump, and Saturday’s massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Fear, tragedy and uncertainty are all foes of hope. Even Naomi experienced this. She urged her friends to call her Mara, or “bitter,” and not Naomi, or “pleasant.” Unsure of how her native land would take to her foreign born daughter-in-law, Naomi urges Ruth to stay in Moab.
Yet Ruth clings to hope.
In the Scriptures
In a world of fear, Ruth’s story is a reminder of what Kathleen O’Connor calls the “fierce inclusivity” of God. (Feasting on the Word, Year B, Vol. 4, Proper 26). God doesn’t occupy much space in Ruth, yet the work’s subtle theology stands as a reminder of the way God works through the courageous actions of ordinary women and men.
A decade after immigrating to Moab, Elimelech’s family struggles to cope with the losses they’ve endured. Now a widow and a refugee, Naomi elects to return to Bethlehem, urging Ruth and Orpah to remain with their own. Like many of us, Naomi remains uncertain about the ways God might work through the life of a childless foreign-born widow. “Why call me Naomi?” she pleads with her friends from Bethlehem. It almost appears as Naomi may harbor her own bias against Ruth’s status.
While Orpah takes her mother in law’s advice, Ruth remains. The lyrical exchange between Ruth and Naomi is reason enough to preach from this story: “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” It is a bold act of courageous faith.
Ultimately Ruth’s actions will bring an end to Israel’s barrenness. Here is where we see the daring, courageous hope of God which emerges out of vulnerability. Ruth, the despised Moabite, overcomes the barriers of nationalism by clinging to her mother in law. By the end of the story, she becomes the bearer of life-giving seed -- first barley, and later the seed of Israel’s future.
God is not named but is certainly present in the risks Ruth undertakes. Like those in the Central American caravan, she steps forward, placing her welfare in an uncertain future.
In the Sermon
Ruth may seem like an unlikely tale to tell this week. A week away from the midterm elections, a week after the deadliest attack on a Jewish house of worship in United States history, and in a time of ever-hardening political divisions may send preachers to the relative comfort zone of other texts. But perhaps it is for such a time as this that the story of Ruth emerges in the lectionary.
The crossfire of heat-blazed political rhetoric and loud campaign ads makes it difficult to hear God’s voice. Like the story of Ruth, God may seem a bit distant to our congregations. Perhaps we are also uncertain of where God resides in our current turmoil. It may, indeed, be a season of famine and hopelessness.
On the other hand, it may also be a time when we yearn for a word of hope. Whatever their motivations, the immigrants fleeing their homelands in pursuit of an uncertain future provide an opportunity to consider the risks associated with hope. Viewing the images of children clinging to their mother as they make their way north evokes comparisons with Ruth’s determined fidelity. But even more it reminds us of God’s grace in healing dislocation and hopelessness.
God breaks into the world through the efforts of a foreign widow. Ruth -- immigrant, female, powerless -- becomes the bearer of new life. It is, as Kathleen O’Connor says, the outsider who keeps the nation from extinction. As xenophobic fear rages around us, this could be the most important word we offer.
The kindness and loving relationship shared between two otherwise destitute and hopeless women makes Israel great again.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Ron Love:
Ruth 1:16; Deuteronomy 6:6; Psalm 119:1,8; Mark 12:28-34
Discipleship / Commandments / Obedience
Vice President Calvin Coolidge was visiting his father at his farm in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. After working on the farm all day, he went to bed early, not knowing that the President Warren Harding had suddenly died of a heart attack in San Francisco. Because there were no telephone lines to the Coolidge home, the news came across the wire. The vice president’s stenographer, his chauffer and a reporter delivered the message to the Coolidge household. John Calvin Coolidge Sr., was awakened first, who then woke up his son, John Calvin Coolidge Jr., with the news. The vice president dressed, prayed with his wife, and then went downstairs. It was decided that Coolidge needed to take the oath of office immediately, and that the oath should be administered by a local justice of the peace and notary. The senior Coolidge was both, and administered the oath of office to his son. It was the first time in history a father gave his son the presidential oath of office. Having been duly sworn in as the President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge went upstairs and back to bed. On August 2, 1923, Calvin Coolidge became the 30th President of the United States.
* * *
Ruth 1:16; Deuteronomy 6:6; Psalm 119:1,8; Mark 12:28-34
Discipleship / Commandments / Obedience
President Warren Harding, after giving a speech at the University of Washington on July 27, 1923, complained of upper abdominal pain. As the pain continued the next day he was rushed by train to San Francisco for further treatment. By the afternoon of August 2, 1923, doctors allowed Harding to sit up in bed. That evening, at about 7:30 pm, he was listening to his wife read him a flattering article about him from The Saturday Evening Post, “A Calm Review of a Calm Man.” When she paused to plump his pillows, he said, “That’s good, read some more.” These were his last words. As Florence Harding resumed, her husband suddenly twisted convulsively and collapsed back in his bed. He was 57-years -old when he died of a heart attack.
* * *
Ruth 1:16; Deuteronomy 6:6; Psalm 119:1,8; Mark 12:28-34
Discipleship / Commandments / Obedience
Dan Schutte was a 31-year-old Jesuit studying theology in Berkeley, Calif., when one of his friends asked him to write a song for an upcoming diaconate ordination mass. The request came on Wednesday, and the ordination service was on Saturday. On top of the short notice, Mr. Schutte had been suffering from the flu for several days. He sat at his desk with his guitar and a blank sheet of staff paper in front of him, praying, “God, if I’m going to do this for my friend, you’re going to have to help me.”
Mr. Schutte said he often uses scripture as the basis of his songs, so as he thought about the idea of vocation for the ordination mass, he turned to the stories of the prophets, like Jeremiah, who asked God to give him the right words to say. “In all those stories, all of those people God was calling to be prophets have expressed in one way or another their humanness or their self-doubt,” Mr. Schutte said. Because of the self-doubt that was often expressed by the prophets, Schutte changed the biblical passage from one of confidence “Here I am, Lord; here I stand, Lord” to the self-doubting final version: “Here I am, Lord; is it I, Lord?”
Mr. Schutte sketched out “Here I Am, Lord” over the course of two days. On Friday evening, he walked to his friend’s house to deliver the song, pencil in hand, scribbling edits along the way.
When Schutte receives letters on how the song has helped an individual on his or her spiritual journey, he expresses his feelings with these words, “There’s a whole constellation of feelings that surround it for me,” he said. “I feel so grateful that God seems to have chosen that song to accompany people through so many moments of their life…. I didn’t plan that. I didn’t know that the song was going to be special. I’m very aware that God is doing something beyond me when I get those letters from people…. It’s also very humbling because it’s something way, way far beyond what I can do.”
What makes the hymn so powerful and inspiring is the change in point of view that the singer makes between the stanzas and the refrain. The stanzas speak from the perspective of God in the first person singular, while the refrain, though remaining in first person, is from the perspective of the singers of the hymn offering their lives to God.
Each stanza reflects a paradox. The powerful God, creator of “sea and sky,” “snow and rain” and “wind and flame” is also the God who hears the “people cry,” bears the “people’s pain” and “tend the poor and lame.”
This is a hymn of transformation. God transforms the darkness into light in stanza one, melts “hearts of stone” with love in stanza two and nourishes the “poor and lame” with the “finest bread” -- a clear Eucharistic reference.
Each stanza ends with the question, “Whom shall I send?” The refrain immediately offers the response, “Here I am, Lord.”
I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard My people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin,
My hand will save.
I who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear My light to them?
Whom shall I send?
Here I am Lord,
Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.
I, the Lord of snow and rain,
I have born my peoples pain.
I have wept for love of them,
They turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone,
Give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak My word to them,
Whom shall I send?
Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.
I, the Lord of wind and flame,
I will tend the poor and lame.
I will set a feast for them,
My hand will save
Finest bread I will provide,
Till their hearts be satisfied.
I will give My life to them,
Whom shall I send?
Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.
* * *
Deuteronomy 6; Psalm 119; Mark 12:28-34
Truth / Commandments
Roseanne was a television sitcom with the star role being played by Roseanne Barr. The show revolved around the fictional Conner family. The Conner’s were a working-class American family, who lived at 714 Delaware Street in the drab fictional mid-state exurb of Lanford, Illinois. The show was on ABC from 1988 to 1997. It had brief revival in 2018.
ABC canceled Roseanne on May 29, 2018 after Barr tweeted a profane and racist comment about the former Obama administration official Valerie Jarrett. On June 21, 2018, ABC announced plans to re-tool the show as a spin-off involving the Conner family without Roseanne Barr. The new show would be called The Conners.
John Goodman plays Dan on both shows. Goodman was in his kitchen when his wife told him about Barr’s tweet. Goodman said, “It just didn’t seem true. Then it got true.” He went on to say, “I was just constantly trying to accept it.”
* * *
Ruth 1:1-18
Faith / Hope / Family
Sandra Lee is the star of Food Network’s Semi-Homemade Cooking, which was first aired in 2003. In her recipes Lee describes using 70 percent pre-packaged products and 30 percent fresh items. She learned in March 2015 that she had breast cancer. Because of her notoriety a friend suggested that she document her cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery.
At first she refused, but then it was suggested that it be filmed with a small single camera, as old documentaries would be filmed. Lee agreed and an HBO documentary was made called RX: Early Detection -- A Cancer Journey with Sandra Lee. The film followed her nine-month journey, including graphic footage of her double mastectomy. Throughout the ordeal Lee, who was 52 when diagnosed, was supported by her partner of 13 years, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Lee shared this as the reason for doing the documentary, “My goal is to give everyone who goes through cancer a complete reference from a patient’s point of view.” She went on to say, “No doctor can tell you everything you need to know. The biggest thing I can do is really show people what it looks like to go through this so they can walk in with open eyes -- which I did not have.”
* * *
Ruth 1:1-18
Hope / Faith
In the newspaper comic Ziggy, written by Tom Wilson, we have this non-descript character with a big nose, no pants, who represents everyone and everybody who struggles with the daily adversities of life. Though Ziggy might be an ordinary sort of guy, he does possess an uncanny wisdom regarding life. In an episode published in October 2018 we see Ziggy standing, facing us, hands clasped behind his back and a nice smile on his face. He then offers this insight on life, “…if you give up on getting what you want…you get used to wanting what you get!”
* * *
Hebrews 9:11-14; Mark 12:28-34
Discipleship / Obedience / Commandments
March 25, 1965. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a procession of 25,000 demonstrators into Montgomery, Alabama. Solemnly, the cortege passed the Jefferson Davis Hotel, which had a huge Rebel flag draped across its front. Quietly they stood at Confederate Square, where negroes had been auctioned off in the days of servitude. Spontaneously, the multitude sang “Deep in my heart, I do believe; we have overcome -- today.”
The cavalcade lurched forward, proceeding up Dexter Avenue, following the same path as Jefferson Davis’ inaugural parade. These descendants of slaves freely strode to the portico of the capital; the place where Davis had taken his oath of office as President of the Confederate States. Governor George Corley Wallace refused to meet with the Freedom Marchers, nor would he receive their petition demanding the right to vote. The crowd milled in front of the statehouse, as the governor peered anxiously from behind his cracked office blinds.
Positioned below the governor’s window, King stood on the flatbed of a trailer, readying himself to address the gathering. With television cameras focused on his intense face, and his body silhouetted against the setting sun, King intoned: “We are on the move now. The burning of our churches will not deter us. We are on the move now. The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us. We are on the move now. The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. We are on the move now. The arrest and release of known murderers will not discourage us. We are on the move now. Like an idea whose time has come, not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us. We are moving to the land of freedom.”
* * *
Mark 12:28-34
Commandments / Discipleship
When Melinda Gates returned from Bangladesh in January 2012, she shared what she learned about the humanitarian work being performed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Melinda said, “The one thing that touched me the most when I travel is the fact that so many women I meet don’t have a voice -- not in their government, often not even in their own household.” In order to empower these women, Melinda said those living in the developed world “can use our voices.”
Bill Gates is the principle founder of the Microsoft Corporation. As of August 2018, Gates had a net worth of $95.4 billion, making him the second-richest person in the world. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was established in 2000. The foundation is organized into four program areas: Global Development Division, Global Health Division, United States Division, and Global Policy & Advocacy Division. Bill and Melinda were married in 1994.
* * *
Mark 12:28-34
Commandments / Discipleship
On Memorial Day 2016, President Obama solemnly laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arrington National Cemetery. This ceremony came during the revelation of how veterans were being mistreated at Veteran’s facilities and hospitals. There were countless reports of inadequate treatment, the need to travel long distances for treatment, and waiting lists that stretched to months. This is why in his speech he said we must support the families of the fallen and still injured “not just with words but with our actions.” The President noted that over one million Americans had died in battle and that we have a responsibility not only to honor them, but care for their loved ones. Obama said, “The Americans who rest here, and their families -- the best of us, those from whom we asked everything -- ask of us today only one thing in return: that we remember them.”
* * *
Mark 12:28-34
Commandments / Discipleship
With a word spoken and the sweep of his hand, Herod sent soldiers to the town of Bethlehem to murder every child two years old and younger. Bethlehem was a small town, and the one- and two-year-old’s would not have numbered more than 20 or 30, not unlike the 20 children shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School, on December 14, 2012.
In the wake of this shooting, numerous strong editorials have been written on the need for stronger gun control legislation by influential newspapers like The New York Times and Washington Post. This position has been confirmed by the mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, who said, “We have not seen leadership -- not from the White House and not from Congress.” The reason for this outcry is that the guns used in the shooting spree were a semi-automatic Bushmaster rifle, whose projectiles travel at 3,000 feet per second; a semi-automatic Glock 9mm handgun that fires five bullets per second at a velocity of 1,200 feet per second; and a 9mm SIG pistol that fires five bullets per second at a velocity of 1,200 feet per second. Could stricter gun laws prevent this? Possibly. But I do not think the Roman soldiers would have been hindered in their task if they had used clubs instead of swords.
People say only the deranged cause such mayhem. This could also be true. And we know our mental health facilities need to be completely revitalized. But let’s be honest, a Herod, as well as an Adam Lanza, will always be able to slip through the bars.
The Comforter-in-Chief, President Barack Obama, came to Newtown, Connecticut, the affluent town of 27,000 residents, to grieve with its residents. It is interesting that our country has become so secularized that the Commander-in-Chief, the only person who has access to the “football” -- the briefcase that contains the codes to launch our weapons of mass destruction -- is now our national comforter. At the time, President Obama said: “The majority of those who died today were children, beautiful little kids between the ages of five and ten years old,” and then he wiped a tear from his eye, pausing for twelve seconds to gain his composure before continuing. Having the president be a consoler is as it should be, but the Constitution does not delegate the one who can make war as the one who brings solace. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution reserves comforting to the church and the clergy. If the issue of gun control has lost its way, perhaps it’s because we cannot distinguish between the roles of those who have access to the codes of violence and those who have access to the codes of scripture.
Many journalists and politicians have assumed the mantle of moralists. In editorials, they have written that this is a part of God’s plan or that at the gates of heaven there will be no tears. In commentaries they have asked these questions: Is there a God? How can God allow this? Where is God to be found? If they would have taken the time to look, God would have been found in a Christmas manger.
Connecticut Governor Daniel P. Malloy may have said it best with these words: “Evil visited this community today.” This is what makes Herod’s story and the slaughter of the innocents the real Christmas story. This day and every day evil visits our world, our nation, our communities, our churches, and our lives. Evil is inescapable. Pass more laws... build more prisons... invest in our metal health system. And after all this, there will still be an Adam Lanza.
* * * * * * * * *
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
Ruth 1:1-18
Fun facts about the caravan (Refugees & Migrants)
In his most recent offering, New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristoff offers these sobering figures to give some perspective:
- More than 1.4 million foreigners immigrate to the United States each year. If, say, half the caravan reaches the border, and half of those people actually enter the U.S., they would represent less than one-tenth of 1 percent of this year’s immigrants.
- If the caravan proceeds by foot, during the period of its journey 16,800 Americans will die from drugs.
- In the period of the caravan’s journey, perhaps 690,000 Americans will become homeless, including 267,000 children.
- In the period of the caravan’s journey, 8,850 Americans will die from guns, including suicides and murders.
- In the period of the caravan’s journey, perhaps 9,000 Americans will die from lack of health insurance (people die at higher rates when they’re uninsured, although there’s disagreement about how much higher).
* * *
All Saints
Eugene Peterson, R.I.P.
Christian evangelical pastor, speaker, and writer, Eugene Peterson died last week.
Most of us who know or know of Eugene Peterson do so by way of his magnum opus, The Message, a modern language paraphrase of the entire Bible.
Like many things in his life, however, The Message was not without its detractors. Progressives generally accepted it as a paraphrase and did not fault it for its less than studious translation. Conservatives, however, tended to think that it contained too much Peterson and too little Holy Spirit. Some Christian bookstores refused to sell it and some churches banned it.
Be that as it may, it was something he said recently that got him in the hottest hot water with his fellow evangelicals. It was just one, little, three-letter word: In a 2017 interview, writer Jonathan Merritt asked Peterson if he would perform a same-sex marriage and Peterson answered, simply, “Yes.”
Merritt continues the story: “The moment the article published by the Religion News Service, Christian internet lost its mind. Peterson’s name was trending nationally on Twitter, and many progressives lauded his courage to address such a contentious issue. But the conservative Christian aristocracy mobilized to denounce the octogenarian they claimed to respect just moments earlier.
Andrew Walker, director of policy studies at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission…wrote: “How sad that a creative voice like Eugene Peterson would forsake the Scriptures and the Tradition that he so eloquently wrote of.” Walker’s boss, Russell Moore, head of policy for the Southern Baptist Convention, also expressed his disappointment and penned an article asking whether Peterson’s books were now unworthy of being read. The American Family Association published a fiery article condemning him titled, “The Sad, Disturbing Case of Eugene Peterson.” And a popular Christian satirical site mocked him, suggesting everyone already knew Peterson “didn’t hold the highest view of the Scriptures.”
“A top leader at NavPress, the small evangelical publisher dependent on sales of The Message to stay afloat, phoned my publisher and claimed Peterson never made the reported statement. Then I submitted the audio recording and transcript to verify the quote. The publisher then claimed Peterson must have been not of sound mind. Then I explained there was not a whiff of mental instability, and he was totally lucid during the interview.
“Amid the furor, LifeWay Christian Stores, America’s largest religious retailer, said it was preparing to ban all of his books from their shelves, even though none of them addressed the topic of same-sex marriage. Money was now on the line. Within one day, Peterson’s literary agent released a statement asserting that the author had now changed his mind and would not perform a same-sex wedding -- though it left the question of his views about same-sex relationships noticeably ambiguous.
“Regardless, it was enough to quell the furor…Fans who had become haters in a blink miraculously morphed into fans once more.”
Merritt concludes: “The modern church is often a movement that will love you -- so long as you behave according to its rules. It is a movement that can propel you to fame and fortune -- so long as you do not lean on its sacred cows. It is a movement that will wipe out brother or sister in the name of culture-war victory.
“Eugene Peterson lived his life as an agent of transformation. His storied career -- the whole story -- has the power to change us still. If we have ears to hear.”
* * *
Ruth 1:1-18
4000 of our closest friends (Refugees & Migrants)
In 2015 Fethullah Üzümcüoğlu and Esra Polat, got married in their Turkish home province near the Syrian border and decided that keeping the fun and happiness of the occasion to themselves would be selfish. So, they invited 4,000 Syrian refugees to the reception to eat with them and celebrate in the southern Turkish city of Kilis.
Turkey has welcomed nearly two million Syrian refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war and in Kilis, there are 4,000 that Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There?), a Turkish charity which provides help to millions across the world, is responsible for providing food to.
In total, there are four million Syrian refugees who had fled the country.
The idea for sharing their special day with those less fortunate was that of the groom’s father, Ali Üzümcüoğlu. He told Serhat Kilis newspaper that he hoped others would do the same and share their wedding celebrations with their Syrian neighbors.
"We thought that on such a happy day, we would share the wedding party with our Syrian brothers and sisters. We thought this was best done with Kimse Yok Mu who could provide a truck. God willing, this will lead to others doing the same and giving food to our Syrian brothers and sisters. For us, it was an interesting wedding dinner.”
The father also said he was glad that the couple began a new life “with such a selfless action.” Wedding guests shared food using trucks and those providing meals included the bride and groom themselves.
* * *
Ruth 1:1-18
That’S niiiiiice (Refugees & Migrants)
Film maker Sasha Barron Cohen’s films have often been described as crude and hard to watch, sometimes because they make no apologies for tearing away the genteel, cultural curtains that hide racism, sexism, and nationalism.
What wasn’t so hard to watch, however, was a gift of $500,000 he and his wife donated to Save the Children to pay for measles vaccinations for kids in northern Syria, and the equal amount they gave to International Rescue Committee (IRC) to help Syrian refugees (and those in neighboring countries) with healthcare, shelter, and sanitation.
More than four million refugees have fled conflict in Syria for the relative safety of the neighboring countries, according to the United Nations. Millions more have been forced to leave their homes for other parts of the country.
Justin Forsyth, chief executive of Save the Children, said the money would “save many thousands of lives and protect some of the most vulnerable children…By allowing us to make their generous donation to Syrian children public, Sacha and Isla are helping highlight the tragedy of the issue today,” he added.
* * *
All Saints
Strange Memorials
It’s not uncommon for people to memorialize those they loved or who loved them with gigantic monuments and memorials which pay tribute to extraordinary lives or special events. Some, however, cause us to pause and scratch our heads and wonder if we would like to be remembered.
• Pat Tillman Statue Pat Tillman, you will recall, was the former football player who left the NFL and joined the US Army after the 9/11 attacks. He tragically died from friendly fire in April 2004. A statue memorializing him at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, shows him in a football uniform, screaming and running with his hair on fire.
• Carhenage A remarkable monument located near the town of Alliance, Nebraska, cleverly mimics the prehistoric Stonehenge monument using junk automobiles. In fact, it is accurately proportional to the English site. The idea of creating this strange monument was conceived by Jim Reindersas a memorial to his father.
• Crazy Horse Memorial This memorial, located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, depicting Crazy Horse (a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota ) riding a horse and pointing to a distance, has been under construction for more than 60 years (construction began in 1948) now and still its date of completion is not clear. It is planned to be about 641 feet wide and 563 feet high. This complex monument is being carved out of the sacred Thunderhead Mountain.
• Giant Steve Jobs Memorial Monument In St. Petersburg, Russia, there is a six-foot-tall iPhone-shaped monument to honor the memory of Steve Jobs. It has a video screen that plays the highlights of key moments of his life and inspirational quotes taken from his speeches.
* * *
All Saints
Epitaphs
These epitaphs are culled from the Ripley’s Believe it Or Not columns. Ripley allows that they may or may not be real but they do suggest that if you want your epitaph to say something flattering you’d better write it yourself rather than leave it up to others after you’re gone.
Here lies the body of Johnny Haskell,
A lying, thieving, cheating rascal;
He always lied, and now he lies,
He has no soul and cannot rise.
Beneath this stone a lump of clay,
Lies Arabella Young;
Who on the 24th of May,
Began to hold her tongue.
Reader, pass on I -- don’t waste your time
On bad biography and bitter rhyme;
For what I am, this crumbling clay insures.
And what I was, is no affair of yours
Mrs. Ann Jennings
Some have children, some have none;
Here lies the mother of twenty-one.
Ruth Sprague, Daughter of Gibson and Elizabeth Sprague.
Died June 11, 1846, aged 9 years, 4 months, and 3 days.
She was stolen from the grave by Roderick R. Clow, dissected at Dr. P. M. Armstrong’s office, in Hoosick, N. Y., from which place her mutilated remains were obtained and deposited here.
Her body dissected by fiendish man,
Her bones anatomized,
Her soul, we trust, has risen to God,
Where few physicians rise.
Here I lie, and no wonder I am dead,
For the wheel of a wagon went over my head.
Tread softly mortals o’er the bones
Of this world’s wonder, Captain Jones,
Who told his glorious deeds to many
Yet never was believed by any.
Posterity let this suffice
He swore all’s true, yet here he lies.
This is all that remains of poor Ben Hough
He had forty-nine years and that was enough.
Of worldly goods he had his share,
And now he’s gone to the Devil’s snare.
Here lies the body of Henry Round
Who went to sea and never was found.
Here lies the body of Jonathan Stout.
He fell in the water and never got out,
And still is supposed to be floating about
At threescore winters’ end I died,
A cheerless being, sole and sad;
The nuptial knot I never tied,
And wish my father never had.
This spot is the sweetest I’ve seen in my life,
For it raises my flowers and covers my wife.
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: The earth is God’s and all that is in it.
People: The world and those who live in it belong to God.
Leader: For God has founded it on the seas.
People: God has established it on the rivers.
Leader: Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
People: Let the King of glory come in.
OR
Leader: Praise God! Praise God, O my soul!
People: We will praise God as long as we live.
Leader: God watches over the strangers.
People: God upholds the orphan and the widow.
Leader: Praise God! God will reign forever.
People: Our God we reign for all generations. Praise God!
OR
Leader: We come to remember the saints who have gone before us.
People: We honor their memory and learn from them.
Leader: We celebrate the past that we might understand the future.
People: With God’s help we will learn and move forward.
Leader: We remember the past and see the future.
People: Together these help us live for today.
Hymns and Songs:
For All the Saints
UMH: 711
H82: 287
PH: 526
AAHH: 339
NNBH: 301
NCH: 299
CH: 637
LBW: 174
ELA: 422
W&P: 529
AMEC: 476
STLT: 103
All Creatures of Our God and King
UMH: 62
H82: 400
PH: 455
AAHH: 147
NNBH: 33
NCH: 17
CH: 22
LBW: 527
ELA: 835
W&P: 23
AMEC: 50
STLT: 203
Renew: 47
All People That on Earth Do Dwell
UMH: 75
H82: 377/378
PH: 220/221
NNBH: 36
NCH: 7
CH: 18
LBW: 245
ELA: 883
W&P: 661
AMEC: 73
STLT: 370
Jesus, Remember Me
UMH: 488
PH: 599
CH: 569
ELA: 616
W&P: 285
CCB: 68
Renew: 227
How Firm a Foundation
UMH: 529
H82: 636/637
PH: 361
AAHH: 146
NNBH: 48
NCH: 407
CH: 618
LBW: 507
ELA: 796
W&P: 411
AMEC: 433
O God of Every Nation
UMH: 435
H82: 607
PH: 289
CH: 680
LBW: 416
ELA: 713
W&P: 626
For the Healing of the Nations
UMH: 428
NCH: 576
CH: 668
W&P: 621
Hope of the World
UMH: 178
H82: 472
PH: 360
NCH: 46
CH: 538
LBW: 493
W&P: 404
Saranam, Saranam, (Refuge)
CCB: 73
UMH: 523
Jesus, Name Above All Names
CCB: 35
Renew: 26
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who executes justice and feeds the hungry:
Grant us the grace to be your true children
as we care for those who are in need
and fight for the powerless;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, of justice and mercy. You feed the hungry and bring justice to the oppressed. Help us to be your true children as we care for the needy and fight for the powerless. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our failure to remember which leads us to forget who we are becoming.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are in such a hurry to rush into the future that we do not take the time to remember the past. We fail to call to mind all those who have gone before us in faith. Without those memories we miss the lessons their lives could have taught us. Without these memory lessons we are adrift in the world without a clear course to our goal. Bring us back to our right minds that we might set our feet firmly in the stories of our faith that we might enter into your glorious reign. Amen.
Leader: God delights in our remembrance of those have lived the faith and desires to strengthen us as we remember. Receive God’s grace and share the good news with all.
Prayers of the People
We praise you, O God, in the glory of your righteousness. You alone are holy and true.
(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 are in such a hurry to rush into the future that we do not take the time to remember the past. We fail to call to mind all those who have gone before us in faith. Without those memories we miss the lessons their lives could have taught us. Without these memory lessons we are adrift in the world without a clear course to our goal. Bring us back to our right minds that we might set our feet firmly in the stories of our faith that we might enter into your glorious reign.
We give you thanks for all the blessings you have showered upon us. We thank you for those who lived the life of faith before us. (Today we remember, especially....) We thank you for those known only to us in story and history and those faithful ones who are known only to you.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our several needs. We pray for those who feel disconnected from you and your people. We pray for those who struggle in this life. We pray for those who bravely live faithfully for the benefit of others against great resistance.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Talk to the children about Naomi and Ruth being refugees. They traveled a long way through strange lands. Soon it will be Thanksgiving and we will be remembering the Pilgrims traveling so far over a huge ocean. It is a little while until Christmas but then we will remember Joseph, Mary, and Jesus having to travel to Egypt. It must be scary to have to leave you home and go someplace you don’t know -- to leave a lot of family and friends behind. Even today people all over the world are refugees. But God is with them and we can be with them in our prayers.
CHILDREN’S SERMON(S)
Wiping Away the Tears (All Saints)
by Tom Willadsen
Psalm 24, John 11:32-44, Isaiah 25:6-9, Revelation 21:1-6a
For these readings I do not have any “props” to suggest, just two different sets of questions.
I like to ask the kids what kind of food they would want at the best party of all time. Depending on the audience, chicken nuggets, macaroni & cheese, ice cream, pizza…then read Isaiah 25:6 to the kids.
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
Of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
Which party do you think the little ones would prefer?
You might instead want to pivot and ask what makes them cry. Little children are more likely to cry because of physical pain, older kids and certainly adults, are more likely to cry because of sadness, or emotional pain. Jesus cried after his friend died.
All the readings for All Saints’ Day, except the psalm, mention wiping away or erasing tears. Lead the little ones -- and the older ones who remain back in the pews -- to envision what a world from which tears have been wiped away would look and feel like. It’s striking to me that in Isaiah 25:9 it says that “(the Lord of Hosts) will swallow up death forever.” The reason that’s striking is that the bad side in the Harry Potter books was called “The Death Eaters.” That never made sense to me, it seems to me that our God who, in Christ, swallows up death should really have been on Harry Potter’s side in those stories.
Two First Commandments (Proper 26 | OT 31 | Pentecost 24)
by Tom Willadsen
Mark 12:26-34, Deuteronomy 6:1-9
The conversation Jesus has with the scribe is unique. It is the only place in Mark’s gospel where the scribes are shown in a positive light. This time Jesus does not turn the question back to the asker, but answers directly…and shows that he knows scripture. Jesus even gives two first commandments. Modern Jews call the first commandment Jesus gave in reply, “the Shema:” “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord, is one.”
These words are so important that in the Hebrew text the third letter in the first word, and the last letter in the last word are printed in a larger font than the other letters. This calls the reader’s attention to the significance of this verse.
Jesus, in his conversation with the scribe, does not, however, stop at the end of the Shema, he recites a few more verses from Deuteronomy, with a small addition. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Jesus adds “with all your mind” to the text found in Deuteronomy.
You may want to explore with the kids the different ways we can love God -- ask how they might love the Lord their God with all their strength, for example.
The rest of Jesus’ answer also comes straight from Deuteronomy. Many faiths have beliefs like this, commonly called “The Golden Rule.” Jewish tradition has it that Rabbi Hillel was once asked by a scoffing wise guy (love that term) to teach him the Torah while the scoffer stood on one foot, presumably because one cannot stand on one foot for very long. Hillel replied, (here I’m citing The Union Orthodox website, which brings the legend into modern times) “No problem! The main idea of the Torah is ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Everything else is commentary. Now, if you’re really interested, go and study the commentary.”
That might be too wordy for the young ones to grasp, but you can certainly see how long they can stand on one foot.
Circling back to the “first” first commandment, you might want to show the children a mezuzah. Observant Jews put them on the door posts of their houses; some put them on interior doorways between the rooms in their homes. Inside mezuzot (plural for mezuzah, but you might want to stick to “mezuzahs”) there is a tiny scroll of parchment that some verses of the Bible have been written on. The Shema is one of the passages on the parchment, another is Deuteronomy 11:13-21, part of which reads, “You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul…Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates…”
Tradition has it that Jews put a mezuzah on the right side of the door frame as one enters the house. There are a variety of reasons that vary among traditions for why it should be on the right as opposed to the left. Most mezuzahs I’ve seen in the United States have their tops tilted facing into the home, again, there are many different explanations for this custom.
If you have a mezuzah, by all means bring one to show the kids. I’ve added pictures of my mezuzah, the first showing it open, with the scroll, the second with the mezuzah closed, the parchment having been replaced.
The second photo shows it’s about 3 inches long. You can go online and lots of other cool designs for mezuzot.
You can close by telling the kids that many Jews touch their mezuzah every time they enter and leave their homes. It is a sign of respect to the Lord our God. Maybe they can brainstorm about ways that we can show respect to God everyday.
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The Immediate Word, November 4, 2018, issue.
Copyright 2018 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.
