A big theme in the lectionary passages for Proper 8 is the question of how far we are willing to go to follow God. In the Genesis text, Abraham is put to the ultimate test: is he really willing to go through with the sacrifice of his only son? God doesn’t stop Abraham until he’s demonstrated a readiness to do something that seems utterly horrific. Similarly, Paul tells the Romans that we should be “obedient slaves” to God -- even if that obedience leads to death. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Leah Lonsbury notes that the same all-in for God mentality could be said to be motivating extremist Islamist groups like the ISIS group that is taking over large chunks of Iraq and the Boko Haram in Nigeria. (Not to mention some Christian zealots as well.) That mindset may seem anathema to many of us, yet they would claim that they are following the dictates of their God. But as Leah points out, the ruthlessness and vengeful approach of these fanatics puts the lie to their justification -- and the acid test is revealed in two of our other readings for this week. Jeremiah announces that true prophets of the Lord prophesy peace, while our brief gospel text points up the importance of welcoming strangers... for when we offer comfort to God’s disciples we are offering it to God himself. No matter the justification, Leah concludes, the path of violence, brutality, and destruction is never God’s path -- and that is how we can know for certain that groups like ISIS are false prophets... and examine our own behavior to determine if we are truly following God.
Team member Dean Feldmeyer shares some additional thoughts on this week’s brief gospel text and its call to welcome strangers in the context of the ongoing World Cup, with its ability to bring the world’s soccer fans together in a spirit of peace (similar to the Olympics) while keeping conflict confined to the playing field (“the pitch” in the game’s British parlance). Dean reminds us that the game is bigger than any one team -- and that’s pretty much the same message Jesus is sharing with the disciples.
How Far Would You Go?
by Leah Lonsbury
Genesis 22:1-14; Jeremiah 28:5-9; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:40-42
This week Abraham proves just how far he is willing to go for God. Unless there’s something missing from our text, Abraham doesn’t seem to skip a beat between God suggesting that he sacrifice his son and hitting the road. We learn that he gets up early to be on his way to the sacrificial destination, but we don’t hear anything about an internal struggle or an argument with God about this plan.
Once there, Abraham stretches the truth with the young men who accompany him. “Hang out here,” he says. “We’ll be right back after we take care of this worship thing.”
Once alone, Abraham dodges Isaac’s question about the lamb for the burnt offering, ties Isaac up, and picks up a knife to kill him. Just in the nick of time, an angel of the Lord cries out and stops Abraham -- but not before Isaac knows the feeling of those ropes, the weight of the wood, and the sight of his father prepared to take his life.
How far would you go?
Then there’s Paul. His advice for the struggling Roman community? Now that you’re free from sin... enslave yourselves to God.
How far would you go?
This kind of all-in religious zeal can be powerful, but it can also be dangerous... even deadly.
The radical movement ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) is proving this to be true. Drawing from a younger, disenfranchised base of Sunnis reacting violently to Shiite domination, the group is blazing through the major cities of Iraq on a march to Baghdad. While ISIS is providing some humanitarian aid (for Sunnis only) and even some organized activities for children in the cities it ransacks, it is also inflicting brutal and deadly punishments for those who violate the Sharia law it is imposing. According to the New York Times, the group published a pamphlet in 2007 outlining a vision for Iraq in which “religion is paramount over administering services. Referring to citizens under its control, the pamphlet states, ‘improving their conditions is less important than the condition of their religion.’ ”
While ISIS denounces a Western or worldly influence on its target Muslim audience, it is also posting videos like one that shows movement members beheading an Iraqi police officer while sweet, lilting religious hymns provide the soundtrack to a gruesome attack. They later lay his decapitated head on his back and tweet: “This is our football, it’s made of skin #World Cup.”
How far would you go?
What is the fitting answer or check on our religious zeal? What keeps our passion and fanaticism in line and directs us toward life-giving faithfulness? What can keep our “far” from becoming “too far”?
This week we’ll look to the prophet Jeremiah and to Matthew’s gospel for answers. There we’ll find the pathways to zealous peacemaking and compassionate discipleship -- two roads that will surely lead us away from enslavement and questionable sacrifices and toward the love of the One we seek.
In the News
This past weekend, ISIS captured two more border crossings, one along the frontier of Jordan and the other with Syria. This puts this group of radical Sunni militants one step closer to their dream of “carving out a purist Islamic state straddling both Syria and Iraq.”
Fulfilling the zealous dream of these extremists could mean a nightmare for an already embattled and volatile Middle East and create a magnet for like-minded jihadists from across the world. One early effect of the fall of these border crossings reveals the likelihood of this dream/nightmare scenario: the crossing into Syria allows ISIS to supply fellow fighters with weaponry from looted Iraqi warehouses, shoring up its ability to fight the already beleaguered government forces in Syria.
In January of this year, The Huffington Post’s Joop Koopman interviewed a bishop from the predominantly Christian southern half of Nigeria for a piece that took its title from the bishop’s own words of warning: “If Nigeria Falls to Islamic Extremists, All of Africa Will Be at Risk.” During the interview, Koopman led Bishop Hyacinth Egbebo through a series of questions to create a context for the acts of terror perpetrated by Boko Haram (literally “Western education is sinful”), an Islamic extremist group that opposes any kind of Western influence -- which they associate with Christianity. Most recently, the group has been infamously known for its kidnapping of almost 300 Nigerian schoolgirls. The girls have not been recovered, because the government believes it cannot rescue them without risking their lives, and President Goodluck Jonathan is not yet willing to negotiate an exchange of Boko Haram prisoners for the girls.
The girls have been missing for three months now, and there is growing national and international outrage against the government due to their failure to make a successful rescue. The Associated Press reports:
A Boko Haram video shows some of the kidnapped girls reciting Quranic verses in Arabic and two of them explaining why they had converted from Christianity to Islam in captivity. Unverified reports indicate that two may have died of snake bites, that some have been forced to marry their abductors, and that others may have been taken across borders into Chad and Cameroon.
Lest we jump to the conclusion that these extremists are completely “other,” that zealous acts of terror are confined to Islam, it’s important to note that prominent Muslim leaders have spoken out against Boko Haram at their own peril. Many of them have been assassinated as a result. Moderate Muslims in southern Nigeria also regularly guard Christian churches during services and accept Christians into their own families. And some Nigerian Christians have carried out their own extremist and terroristic acts, including revenge killings.
Right here in our own nation we have had Christian zealots picketing poet and national treasure Maya Angelou’s memorial service, doctors murdered by pro-life extremists, two members of a Unitarian Universalist congregation shot and killed by a Christian right sympathizer during a children’s play, and two people killed in two separate bombings by Christian terrorist Eric Rudolph (best known for bombing Atlanta’s Centennial Park during the 1996 Olympics).
How do believers get this far -- too far?
In the Scriptures
Genesis 22:1-14 has been and can be interpreted in a multitude of ways. Kathryn Schifferdecker of Luther Seminary writes of this: “The story named by Christians ‘the sacrifice of Isaac’ and by Jews ‘the akedah’ (the ‘binding’ of Isaac) has engendered heated debate over the centuries. Is it a story of an abusive God, a misguided Abraham, religious violence at its worst? Or is it a story of faith and obedience?”
Schifferdecker goes on to explore the possibility that this is a story about sacrifice, specifically of the beloved son for Christians. What might our faith require of us, and what will our response be? Again from Schifferdecker:
The story of the akedah makes a claim on us: All that we have, even our own lives and those of the ones most dear to us, belong ultimately to God, who gave them to us in the first place. The story of the akedah assures us that God will provide, that God will be present.
Our passage from Matthew’s gospel also assures us of that presence and teaches us about welcoming God in one another. It models a radically democratized view of what we are being called do with the Spirit and image of God that dwells within and between us. Stanley Saunders of Columbia Seminary writes of this:
More than any other Gospel, Matthew underlines the ways in which Jesus not only represents divine power and presence, but democratizes this power -- and the responsibilities that come with it -- in ministry with his disciples (e.g., 9:1-8; 10:1, 8; 14:22-33; and 28:18-20). This discourse as a whole makes clear that God’s power is now at work not only in Jesus, but in and through his disciples.
And God’s power in us is the power of a life ruled by grace (Romans 6:13-14). Therefore, we should speak and act only in ways that move us and all those we encounter from enslavement to sin to the freedom to live well and from death to eternal life (vv. 17-18 and 23). With God’s shared power comes a share in God’s responsibilities as well -- to create, re-create, and give life; to care deeply for one another as members of a common Love and life; and to build a just community where everyone from the prophets to the “little ones” are welcomed and valued.
If we have not come this far, then we have not come far enough. Something tells us that none of us have. Let’s keep at it -- together.
That’s together in the way of peace, says the prophet Jeremiah. In this week’s reading, the pluck-up-and-tear-down prophet Jeremiah is arguing with the peacenik Hananiah. When we see peace, then we’ll know Hananiah was right, says Jeremiah. Until then, you’ll have to listen to me. But please, prove me wrong! Straighten out your living and make that peace come to be, so that God may dwell with us again. And then all who have known exile -- of body, heart, and/or mind -- may return and know God’s goodness in their reclaimed home, wherever we can live in peace together.
Go that far, says Jeremiah. Make hippie Hananiah your man. Choose his message of peace -- the kind that is built together in God. I dare you to prove my message of chaos and destruction wrong. Be that zealous -- God’s kind of zealous -- and turn this situation upside-down (which is really right-side-up).
In the Sermon
This week the preacher might consider...
* what kind of checks we have in place that keep us our zealot tendencies in line. What or who reminds us to welcome one another and attend to each other’s well-being? How are we doing on that front? How do we live a life ruled by grace? How are we being responsible as God is responsible? How are we living Hananiah’s vision of peace into being in a Jeremiah world? How are we turning things upside-down and right-side-up?
* how we go too far and how we don’t go far enough for our faith.
* how closely we follow Jesus’ teachings that each one -- whether prophet or “little one” (new disciple) -- holds the presence of God in Jesus. How do our welcomes vary? How well are we living out Jesus’ democratizing teachings and valuing and giving responsibility to each member of the community?
* why we live in such a Jeremiah world full of conflict, estrangement, and injury. How are we choosing to keep others in exile and remain in exile ourselves? What would it take to prove Jeremiah wrong? How will we help Hananiah win the prophet showdown?
SECOND THOUGHTS
Bigger than the Team
by Dean Feldmeyer
Matthew 10:40-42
Soccer is a great game, and the rich variety of styles and passions that come with being truly global makes the World Cup a nonpareil event in the universe of competitive sport. -- Serge Schmemann (writer and editorial page editor of the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of the New York Times)
On the Field
Have you noticed that in the past couple of weeks, soccer has become very popular?
That is to say, it’s become very popular here in the United States. It was already very popular pretty much everywhere else.
In fact, it’s the most popular sport in the world. In 2006, 260 million watched the final match of the World Cup competition compared with a paltry 98 million who watched the Super Bowl that year. About 3.2 billion people -- roughly half the world’s population -- will watch at least some part of the World Cup competition this year.
And why wouldn’t it be so popular? All you need to play soccer is a ball and a flat field. Legend has it that soccer was invented in London’s Newgate Prison in the 1800s by prisoners who had had their hands cut off for stealing, but FIFA (the sport’s international governing body) says there is evidence of people playing a game not unlike soccer as much as 2,000 years ago in ancient China.
Today it is ubiquitous -- even in the USA, where about 5 million children play it every year, about 3 million of them in official, organized soccer leagues. In countries where children can’t afford a ball, they fashion one out of rags and even disposable diapers just so they can play the game. The rules are fairly simple (except for “offside,” which hardly anyone understands and even the people who understand it couldn’t explain it to me) and just about anyone can play it, although playing the game very well requires a combination of strength, stamina, resilience, intelligence, and luck that can make it look something like music would look if it was made of people -- poetry in motion.
Anyway, the reason we Americans are suddenly interested in soccer is because we are in the midst of that quadrennial world championship tournament called the FIFA World Cup. FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association, which in English is the International Federation of Association Football. It is the governing body of association football -- known as soccer in the U.S. FIFA organizes and regulates all of the main soccer competitions in the world. It also has control over any rule changes.
Here’s a fun fact: soccer is called “football” (or the Spanish equivalent “futbol”) almost everywhere in the world but in the U.S. and Canada (as well as Australia and New Zealand), where we call it soccer to keep from confusing it with American-style football. But if someone corrects you for calling it soccer instead of football, you can remind them that the original name for this game was “basketball” because the goals were made of baskets.
At any rate, it will take about a month (from June 12 to July 13) to play through the entire tournament, which this year is being played in Brazil. Twelve cities from all over the country will host matches: Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Cuiaba, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and Sao Paulo. Thirty-two national teams from all parts of the globe are participating; 31 of them earning their places through an arduous gauntlet of qualifying matches over the past three years, while the host country’s team automatically qualifies. (This year’s host country, Brazil, has won the World Cup more than any other country: 5 times!) The tournament is comprised of two parts: an initial group stage with eight groups of four teams each, in which teams play a match against each of the other sides in their group, and a knockout stage in which the 16 best teams from the group stage engage in single-elimination matches.
At the time this article was posted Team USA has played in two dramatic matches -- one against Ghana (which they won on a late goal), and one against Portugal (which they tied after conceding a goal on the very last kick of the game). Their final match in the group stage against Germany on Thursday afternoon will determine whether they earn a place in the knockout stage. On the other hand, England -- the mother of soccer -- has already been eliminated and sent packing.
In the Scriptures
This week, in what is probably the shortest gospel pericope of the three-year lectionary cycle (3 verses), Jesus concludes his speech to his disciples with an admonition to hospitality and generosity.
Scholars tell us that even an in-depth study does not fully reveal the identity of the “prophets,” the “righteous ones” that are spoken of here. Probably they are the itinerant leaders, preachers, and teachers in the early Christian communities. Matthew’s advice is that if we are open and generous to them we will share in the spiritual rewards that come to them, just as when we welcome Jesus into our lives we are also welcoming God.
The “little ones” probably refers not to children but to the disciples, the normal, average leaders of the church -- the pastors and the Sunday School teachers and the members of the kitchen committee.
Stepping back to see the broader picture, this passage paints a tableau of welcome and openness, a picture of faith and generosity, a portrait of disparate people drawn together into a community of love and support by their common relationship with Jesus Christ.
In the Pulpit
The movie Invictus (as well as the excellent documentary The 16th Man) tells the story of how Nelson Mandela was able to bring together people who had previously hated and feared each other by using their common love of sport and country -- in that particular case, rugby football and South Africa’s hosting of the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
In the next few weeks we will be given glimpses of something similar, the unifying effect which the love of sport can have on people of different races, languages, countries, and customs.
A video clip posted by The Guardian, showing fans from Ghana and the United States engaging in good-natured ribbing after last week’s American win, offers evidence of that dynamic. A Ghanaian woman allows as how her team gave the victory to the U.S. because they love Obama, then embraces a young American man in a bear hug. We also see an American man standing next to a Ghanaian man while reminding viewers that Ghana had beaten the U.S. in the last two World Cup competitions; instead of gloating, he offers his utmost respect for the people of Ghana and their team.
In a June 13th entry on his blog, Jonathan Sacks, England’s former chief rabbi reflects upon the unifying potential of the World Cup and sport in general:
Football [soccer] is, of course, more than just a game. It has at least some similarities with religion. It involves ritual. It’s about moments where we merge our identity with something larger than ourselves. It’s about loyalty, about supporting your team even when it tests your faith to the limit. And when the winning goal is scored, and you rise to cheer with the crowd, you come as close as a secular moment can to a sense of transcendence, what Hobbes called “sudden glory.”
...the game is bigger than the team. That is a very deep truth indeed. We are tribal creatures. That’s why humans fight wars. The more we can find symbolic substitutes for conflict the better. And they might just remind us of the even deeper truth that our shared humanity ultimately matters more than our religious differences.
Yes, FIFA may be corrupt and subject to bribes and the influence of corporate dollars. Yes, Brazil could have spent some of the millions of dollars they spent preparing for the World Cup on reducing the suffering of their poor. And yes, there are prima donna millionaires, cheaters, bullies, and despots in professional soccer, as there are in any professional sport where billions of dollars are at stake.
George Orwell said that serious sport is “war minus the shooting.” But as Brendan Gallagher wrote in the Telegraph back in 2004, those were “the words of a man who never played competitive sport -- a perplexed observer. A solitary, introvert man who had no concept of teamwork and no comprehension of the passion which motivates sportsmen and women.”
As anyone who has ever seriously competed in an athletic endeavor can attest, the game, the game itself, is bigger than any one team, any one owner, any one country, any one corrupt official, bigger even than FIFA.
This is also some of what Matthew teaches us in the conclusion of Jesus’ speech to his disciples.
The game itself -- be it football, soccer, or Christianity -- is bigger than any one player, indeed bigger than any one team.
We could do worse than to let it enfold us in its embrace along with our disparate brothers and sisters.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Chris Keating:
Genesis 22:1-14
Spaced-Out Trust
Isaac wondered where his dad would find a lamb to sacrifice. Similarly, the United States may soon be wondering where its astronauts will find a ride to the International Space Station.
Russia has denied the U.S. use of the space station beginning in 2020, as a result of the sanctions imposed over the Ukraine crisis. Russian Soyuz spacecraft are currently the only way NASA can ferry astronauts into space.
The broken relationship is another sign of worsening relations between Russia and the United States. But a former manager of operations for the International Space Station recalls a time when the two nations worked hard to overcome bitter divides. Jim Van Laak recently recounted how the U.S. and the Soviet Union came together to create the space station -- even as both sides were prepared to pounce on each other. Van Laak believes the space alliance is still solid, despite the current political climate.
He described the amount of trust involved in overcoming differences -- a depth of trust similar to Abraham’s trust in God’s provision.
“I grew up in the Cold War,” Van Laak said in a presentation recently. “My colleagues grew up in the Cold War.... Getting people to trust each other, to open up and share and communicate with each other, those were critical things that had to be done if we were going to build the team that we needed in order to operate this ship.”
Keeping the space station running involved taking risks and building trust. In one encounter, Van Laak asked his Russian counterpart if he wanted his children to grow up in a world where both nations were pointing weapons at each other. When the Russian said nyet, Van Laak took another risk. “We’ve been given this opportunity to make this constructive, cooperative relationship. I don’t want to hurt your spaceship, but I do want to do this experiment. Can we please find a way to do it?”
*****
Genesis 22:1-14
Freedom Summer
Fifty years ago, hundreds of college students traveled to Mississippi to help African-Americans register to vote. Organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the largely white group of students entered into a dangerous, life-threatening thicket of racism. A PBS documentary (also available on DVD) records the risks undertaken by the students. The movie tells the story of Abraham-like courage that dared to trust in God’s desire for justice -- the organizers indeed believed God would provide, and that injustice would be overcome. A murderous, violent summer ensued -- including the disappearance and deaths of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. But as reviewer Ed McNulty points out, the summer was also marked by radical hospitality by those who welcomed the students into their homes, and by courageous acts of witness of those who responded to violence by singing “We Shall Overcome” even in the face of staggering attacks. Like Abraham taking his son to be sacrificed, the story of Freedom Summer is riddled with violence and horrific sacrifice. Yet many continued to believe “The Lord will provide.”
*****
Psalm 13
Discovering Hope in Darkness
Barbara Brown Taylor, the acclaimed preacher and writer, is on a mission to lead people into the dark. Well, sort of.
In her latest book, Learning to Walk in the Dark, Taylor challenges the notion that darkness is antithetical to faith. She summarized her views in a sermon preached during the recent Festival of Homiletics in Minneapolis, and reprinted on Time.com:
The only positive associations I have heard with any regularity are “dark chocolate” and “dark beer.” Maybe you can help me lengthen that list later, but for now it may be enough to say that no one asks God for more darkness, please. Please God, come to me in a dark cloud. Give me a dark vision. Put out my lights so I can see what I need to see. Then send me a dark angel on the worst night of my life. Please?
She continues, “It’s not a popular truth, but there it is: God dwells in deep darkness,” and notes that it is within the cloud of unknowing that we are prepared to encounter God. Like the psalmist, within the darkness we pose deep questions: “Will you forget me forever?” “How long will you hide your face from me?” Taylor argues that if we allow ourselves the ability to slow down and move deliberately through darkness, we may well discover the place where God dwells -- and our hearts may be able to once again rejoice in God’s salvation.
*****
Matthew 10:40-42
Offering Little Ones Cups of Water
For thousands of little ones entering the United States, the welcome has been anything but warm. In some cases, not even a cup of cold water has been offered.
United States officials are scrambling to handle the tens of thousands of undocumented and unaccompanied children crossing the border -- and reports of abuse are growing.
More than 100 allegations of abuse have been reported by human rights groups. The allegations include physical abuse, sexual assaults, and such inhumane treatment as being forced to drink toilet water. The influx of children has caught the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency off guard, and it has begun shipping children to makeshift processing centers across the southwest.
A report in The Daily Beast describes the trauma faced by children fleeing extreme poverty in their homelands -- only to encounter sexual harassment, verbal threats, and even torture. In other cases, reporters seem to encounter more moderate treatment, such as a center in Nogales, Texas, which holds more than 900 children in a fenced and locked warehouse. In Nogales, reporters described a clean facility and a genuine sense of compassion and care on the part of the CBP agents.
However, wrote Michael Kiefer of the Arizona Republic, “they are still children in cages, not gangsters, not delinquents. Just children, 900 of them, in a makeshift border-town processing center that is larger than a football field. They pass the day sitting on benches or lying side by side on tiny blue mattresses pressed up against each other on nearly every square inch of the floor in the fenced areas.”
Some groups are attempting to solicit volunteer legal assistance for the children, or donations for legal assistance, since there is no public defender system for immigration.
It is indeed a far cry from Jesus’ injunction to the disciples: “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”
***************
From team member Ron Love:
Genesis 22:1-14
The community of Florence, South Carolina, is in the process of raising money for a memorial to be placed in Veterans Park. The memorial will be a brick wall with a bomb crater showing through its side. In the opening there will be a young solder sitting, rifle resting on his knee, writing a letter of condolence to the parents of his friend who died in battle.
Application: Faith and sacrifice will always be a part of our Christian calling.
*****
Genesis 22:1-14
George H. W. Bush, the 41st president, recently celebrated his 90th birthday by parachuting out of a helicopter from 6,000 feet. As he no longer has the use of his legs because of Parkinson’s disease, he was harnessed to an Army Golden Knight. The first time Bush parachuted was when his plane was shot down over the Pacific Ocean during World War II.
Application: We can learn from Abraham that we are never too old to be obedient to the Lord and go forth on new ventures, even accepting those that will test our faith.
*****
Genesis 22:1-14
Brazil has the largest soccer following of any country in the world -- and it all began 120 years ago when Charles Miller stepped off a boat from London in Sao Paulo, carrying two footballs, a pump to fill them, his football boots, and a rulebook. He helped organize informal teams, and soon industries were sponsoring organized teams made up of their workers that competed with other industrial teams. From there professional teams eventually evolved.
Application: With the faith of one person, an entire movement can begin.
*****
Genesis 22:1-14
In recognition of the 25th anniversary of the movie Field of Dreams, some of the actors returned to the Iowa farm where it was filmed. Kevin Costner starred in the picture, playing the role of Ray Kinsella who heard a voice telling him, “If you build it, he will come.” It is a line that has become a common part of the lexicon.
Application: Powerful stories with an equally powerful message, such as the story of Abraham and Isaac, remain with us.
*****
Genesis 22:1-14
Willie McRae began as a caddie at the age of 10, and now at the age of 71 he is still at it. He has caddied for golfing legends Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, and Sam Snead, and has also been the caddie at Pinehurst for four presidents: Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford. In talking about carrying the bag of a president, McRae said: “I mean, you are caddying for somebody who is the head of the United States. There ain’t but one man ahead of him, and that’s God.”
Application: Abraham understood the supremacy of God.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: How long, O God? Will you forget us forever?
People: How long will you hide your face from us?
Leader: Consider and answer us, O God my God!
People: Give light to our eyes, or we will sleep the sleep of death.
Leader: But we trust in your steadfast love.
People: Therefore, our hearts shall rejoice in your salvation.
OR
Leader: Come and let us offer to God all of our worship and praise.
People: To you, O God, we offer our adoration.
Leader: Let us bring to God the offering of our lives.
People: The life we received from God, we offer back to God.
Leader: Let us learn the ways of Jesus, that we may follow him.
People: We will learn from our Master, that we may be his disciples.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“Trust and Obey”
found in:
UMH: 467
AAHH: 380
NNBH: 322
CH: 556
W&P: 443
AMEC: 377
“I Surrender All”
found in:
UMH: 354
AAHH: 396
NNBH: 198
W&P: 474
AMEC: 251
“Have Thine Own Way, Lord”
found in:
UMH: 382
AAHH: 449
NNBH: 206
CH: 588
W&P: 486
AMEC: 345
“Make Me a Captive, Lord”
found in:
UMH: 421
PH: 378
“Here I Am, Lord”
found in:
UMH: 593
PH: 525
AAHH: 567
CH: 452
ELA: 574
W&P: 559
Renew: 149
“O Master, Let Me Walk With Thee”
found in:
UMH: 430
H82: 659, 660
PH: 357
NNBH: 445
NCH: 503
CH: 602
LBW: 492
ELA: 818
W&P: 589
AMEC: 299
“At the Name of Jesus”
found in:
UMH: 168
H82: 435
PH: 148
LBW: 179
ELA: 416
W&P: 321
Renew: 133, 279
“Jesus Shall Reign”
found in:
UMH: 157
H82: 544
PH: 423
NNBH: 10
NCH: 300
CH: 95
LBW: 530
ELA: 434
W&P: 341
AMEC: 96
Renew: 296
“Make Me a Servant”
found in:
CCB: 90
“Refiner’s Fire”
found in:
CCB: 79
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who calls us to give you all our heart, mind, and strength: Grant us the grace to understand what that means for our lives. Help us to follow Jesus with our entire beings but to avoid the pitfalls of fanaticism; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We worship and adore you, O God, for you have created us and call us to give ourselves entirely back to yourself. Open us to your presence this day, so that we may be empowered to offer our lives to you without falling into the trap of fanaticism. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our tendency to either be lukewarm or completely over the top in our commitment to God.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You call us to commit our lives to you and to one another in the manner of Jesus of Nazareth. But sometimes we just hear you asking us to be good people. You call us to love you with our entire being and to love others as we love ourselves. Yet we hear you asking us to sit quietly in church and be nice to the people we like. At other times we hear your call, but we totally misunderstand it. We devote ourselves fanatically to what we believe, but we forget all about love. We begin to resemble the religious folks that Jesus had so much conflict with instead of looking like him. Forgive us, and help us to commit our lives to you and to align our lives with the loving life of Jesus. Amen.
Leader: God loves us and knows our weaknesses. God forgives us and invites us to a life of loving commitment.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise you, O God, for you have created us out of your great love; and so we can only be fully alive when we live in your love.
(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. You call us to commit our lives to you and to one another in the manner of Jesus of Nazareth. But sometimes we just hear you asking us to be good people. You call us to love you with our entire being and to love others as we love ourselves. Yet we hear you asking us to sit quietly in church and be nice to the people we like. At other times we hear your call, but we totally misunderstand it. We devote ourselves fanatically to what we believe, but we forget all about love. We begin to resemble the religious folks that Jesus had so much conflict with instead of looking like him. Forgive us, and help us to commit our lives to you and to align our lives with the loving life of Jesus.
We give you thanks for all the many gifts you have given us. You have created this wonderful universe with all of its beauty and diversity. You have created us and filled us with your own breath of life. You have instructed us and guided us so that we can find abundant life in you. Most of all, we thank you for Jesus who has shown us how to live into the fullness of your life.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all your creation, and especially for those who are in need this day. Some of them are very close to us and some are totally unknown to us, but all are known to you. As you seek to bring your creation to wholeness, help us to dedicate ourselves wholly to that task as well. Help us to allow your Spirit to work in and through us, that all may know your healing presence.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Do a variation of the “What would you do for a Klondike bar?” commercial. What would you do for a pickled egg? What would you do for a plate of spinach? What would you do for a cookie? What would you do for an ice cream cone? What we would do depends on how much we value the item. God showed us that we are valued so much that Jesus was even willing to die to show us God’s love. God wants us to be totally loving as well.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Welcome!
Matthew 10:40-42
Object: a “welcome” mat
Have you ever seen one of these? (Show the mat and let the children answer.) Where have you seen one of these? (Let them answer.) Usually we see these in front of homes or businesses. They are used for two purposes. Can you tell me what those purposes are? (Let them answer.) They are for people to wipe their feet so that they do not get the house or business dirty, and they are a sign for people to know that they are welcome.
What does “welcome” mean? (Let them answer.) I guess it means that we are friendly people and we invite YOU in to our house or business.
Jesus says that whoever welcomes people, whoever is friendly to people, is welcoming or friendly to him and God as well. Why do you suppose he would say that? (Let them answer.) Perhaps it is so because God loves all people and welcomes them in God’s kingdom.
Are people always welcome in our homes? (Let them answer.) Are they always welcome in businesses? (Let them answer.) Probably not. We don’t usually let strangers into our homes. Businesses don’t want people coming in after the business is closed. Sometimes people don’t dress properly or have enough money and so they are not welcomed into businesses. There are many times when there may be a “welcome mat” in front, but that welcome is not always for everyone.
Do you think there are people who don’t have enough money for God? (Let them answer.) What about people coming to God at the wrong time? Are there people who are not dressed well enough for God? Is anyone a stranger to God? I think we know the answer. God wants all people. God welcomes all people. We in the church want to be friendly because we know that God wants all people to come and worship and be disciples like we are God’s followers.
Any person coming through the doors of our church is welcome because every person is important to God. It doesn’t matter how they look or how much money they have or don’t have, because God loves all people.
Prayer: Dear God: Thank you for welcoming us. Help us welcome others. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, June 29, 2014, issue.
Copyright 2014 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.
