Jesus On the Throne, Us In the Pasture
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For November 22, 2020:
Jesus On the Throne, Us In the Pasture
by Bethany Peerbolte
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Matthew 25:31-46
In the Scripture
Ezekiel lays out the image of a good shepherd watching over the flock as similar to God’s way of engaging with humanity. The shepherd makes sure that every animal in the flock is accounted for. Those who have wandered off are brought back personally by the shepherd. Every animal in the flock is well cared for by the shepherd. They are brought to the most lush grass, they have plenty of water, and their safety is closely guarded.
This image is repeated and by doing so Ezekiel emphasizes the care of the shepherd. While the sheep are with the shepherd they do not need to worry about anything. God is the true shepherd. The implication being that if one is not being cared for then they need to observe whose care they are under.
This image is set up against the backdrop of kings ruling Israel. The kings have “protected” them in a very different way than the messiah will. Kings are the ones who send the weak to the outer edge, they horde and store away instead of sharing the best grazing areas with everyone. The kings have let the flock wander away and do not care to leave their comfy thrones to bring the lost back into the fold.
The final line of this pericopy is harsh in comparison to the tender care outlined by the rest of the passage. While the weak are strengthened, the fat and strong will be destroyed. There will be justice within the flock. The weak will not be sent to the outer edge as a sacrifice to the wolves like in other flocks. In this flock the overfed are the ones who are destroyed.
God not only cares for the flock, God pays attention to the individual life of each sheep. If they need food they will be brought to a better field, if water then a stream, if they are too fat they will be judged.
This care for the individual’s life is reflected in Jesus’ message in Matthew. Again the image of the shepherd is held up as the best representation of a just king. Jesus, as king on his throne, will judge the flock based on their individual actions. If those actions lead to the individual getting too “fat” and neglecting to share the pasture with those in need they will be judged. If an individual helped allocate the flock’s resources well and cared for the weaker members they will be rewarded.
Jesus is still in charge of allocation though. Jesus is there to bring the lost members back to the flock, and to bring the flock to lush areas to eat and drink. The flock’s job is to care for their wellbeing and keep an eye out for members who need a little more. After all, if the shepherd is bringing in lost and weak members, he wants them to receive the best the flock has to offer so they can get stronger faster. If the flock is denying them this right, what is the point of the shepherd bringing them back if they will die in the middle of the flock because of greed?
Jesus drives this idea home by leaving no detail of the judgment scene out. We could infer from the first part that those who do not care for the least are also not caring for Jesus’ work and kingship. But Jesus spells it out clearly so there is no confusion. If you do, you are helping, if you do not, you are hurting.
In the News
We are doing a terrible job of sharing the pasture with the flock. Most Americans know this, though. We are aware there is a wealth gap in the country. Unfortunately, we aren’t grasping exactly how severe the gap is. In a study done by Harvard economists, researchers found that the ideal, the expectation, and the reality were vastly different. Economists say the ideal is to have the top 20% of a population only accumulating 30% of the wealth. American’s believe that the top 20% have about 60% of the wealth, when in reality they have 85% of the country's wealth. In comparison the middle class actually have less than 5% of the wealth. Leaving the bottom 20% of people with a sliver that barely makes the chart because it is under 1%.
We have all been anxiously anticipating the Covid vaccine. When the front runners announced their successes three billionaires immediately got $2 billion dollars richer. The discoveries are worth the acclaim and their efforts should be rewarded, but the sudden jump in worth does not line up with Jesus’ message of caring for the sick. They are not the only ones in the top 20% to get richer during this pandemic. Many millionaires and billionaires have been called out for their vast wealth increase. Stories of them using that extra money to help the “least of these” are hard to find.
In contrast, American’s are begging other American’s to wear masks and stay home for the holidays. The rewards for these efforts go unrewarded and often mocked for living “in fear” of the virus. Christians especially have fallen victim to the temptation of equating fear and lack of faith. The image of faith being projected is of a person unabashedly ignoring advice of experts for their own comfort and ease of life. Ignoring the signs that their disregard for safety measures is also disregarding the illness it creates within our flock.
The goat mentality of denying some in our flock their good health has added up to another wave of virus outbreak. As some states see over 7,000 new cases per day and their hospitals fill up again, the non-profits that barely got us through the last spike are preparing. As cases rise the pantries and organizations that have been supporting the bottom 20% through this pandemic are also bracing themselves for a second wave and more shortages. They are doing the sheep’s work of caring for the flock and managing resources so the least of these, and Jesus, can be taken care of.
In the Sermon
I have developed a minor trauma response to any phrase that includes “king.” I keep seeing things like “Christ is King,” “Jesus is King,” etc. cropping up in social media profiles of the most obnoxious Christians. These are people who take it upon themselves to call others to repent or accuse anyone who has a differing Biblical interpretation of being “false” or “lukewarm.” They take on the role of the shepherd. They feel it is their job to go and find the lost sheep or to sort the goats out. It’s ironic really. They say Jesus is on the throne and yet they misunderstand whose work they are doing.
The selections from Ezekiel and Matthew lay out the differences in the workload. God/Jesus is the shepherd/king. That role entails finding those who belong to the flock and bringing them back to the good pasture. They are the ones who make sure there is enough grass and water and space to frolic for the whole flock. They are the ones who call us to repent, they sort us into goats and sheep, and they decide the judgment.
Our role is to be sheep. Which means we enjoy the grass, we savor the water, and we frolic. Our only concern is for our own consumption. If we are the fattest in the flock we need to take a break and fast. If we are the most hydrated we need to step aside and let the next one drink. If we are the most free then we need to help others find the space to frolic. That’s it. It’s an easy ask and yet we can not seem to draw the line clearly enough. The warping leadership style of empire convinces us we have a bigger role, that we need to be in charge of more than ourselves. Christ the King Sunday can remind us that the roles are clearly defined. Jesus beckoning the lost, us sharing resources. Jesus judging, us minding our own lifestyle. Jesus on the throne, us in the pasture.
Then Jesus will come and say to us:
You are blessed to inherit the “kindom” prepared for you for I lived in a food desert and you found a way to lower the price of fresh foods, I was thirsty and you let me choose my beverage without accusing me of being an alcoholic, I came to you from a violent country and you did not put me in a cage, I could only afford sale rack suits and you gave me a job, I was healthy in a pandemic and you wore your mask around me, I was convicted of a felony and you allowed me to vote.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Giving Thanks…From a Distance
by Chris Keating
Ephesians 1:15-23
Face it: it is hard to be the church today. It may be even harder to uphold an image of Christ’s sovereignty in a world filled with quarantines and beset by political stalemate. Paul’s claims of the “immeasurable greatness” of Christ’s power come under direct scrutiny in a world where viruses — both pathological and political — continue to dominate the news.
It’s been more than a week since President-elect Joe Biden was declared the winner of the presidential election, yet President Trump is defiant in his refusal to concede. He is actively blocking the transition efforts by withholding security information, transition funding, and access to information related to the pandemic.
Trump’s failure to admit reality will become a bitter coda to his enduring presidential legacy. “The president threatens to burn down the house on his way out the door,” wrote Dan Batz.
Meanwhile, Covid-19 is spreading more rapidly than ever. There’s encouraging news about vaccines, but those headlines are buried beneath the deaths of more than 1,000 Americans a day. Companies like Moderna and Pfizer have made promising announcements about the efficacy of their vaccines, but experts point to the overwhelming challenges faced in inoculating the world.
“Last week we had 60,000 deaths,” said Edward Kelly, an official from the World Health Organization. “We had 4 million new cases. We will have more of those weeks before the vaccine is out there.”
None of this feels hopeful. A surge of more than a million new cases of Covid last week has led to waves of new restrictions across the country. Lines form early in front of testing centers. But as the stalled presidential transition continues, the government’s response seems muddled and uncertain. President-elect Biden’s coronavirus team say that what they have learned about the government’s plans for distributing vaccine has been limited to information gleaned from news reports and other back channel sources.
Our communities are wrestling with the implications of these dilemmas. Churches that had moved to in person worship are reversing course. Our congregations are looking for words of hope that transcend the divisions of politics and disease — let alone perennial arguments over dressing versus stuffing. Quick readings of Ephesians 1:15-23 focused only on the glories of Christ’s omnipotence seem to do little to allay fears or bolster hope. We are weary, and Paul’s convoluted sentences do not seem to offer much.
But take another look.
Take a deeper dive into Ephesians and discover how this timeless theology has an especially contemporaneous flavor. Paul, or his protégé, fills these dense sentences with images and metaphors that transcend time. He writes — from a distance, of course — to a church mired in tension. Christ has abolished those divisions (2:14). He pushes the Ephesians to know the greater wisdom of God that brings “boldness and confidence,” (3:12) and upholds Jesus’ power in conquering the “powers of this present darkness.” (6:12)
Stitching together metaphors and images, Paul creates a quilt of hope. It is a patchwork of ideas that wraps a lost and distant church in hope. It is a blanket for those who are distanced, cut off from each other, from family, and perhaps even the world.
This emerges from the heart of prayer, a prayer that provides the church today with details on what it means to live out its calling in Jesus Christ. Theologian Allen Verhey says that the issues addressed by Ephesians offer a “script to be performed by the church today.” (Verhey, Ephesians, Westminster/John Knox Press, 2011). Indeed, read against the backdrop of a stalled presidential transition and rising rates of infection, Ephesians 1:15-23 might just be the prayer the church needs today.
Decoding Paul is never easy, and the prayer in verses 15-23 is no exception. It is a long-worded run on sentence that might drive even the sturdiest English teacher into early retirement. But Paul is not worried about getting marked down for sentence structure. Instead, he pushes forward with his challenge for the Ephesians to discern what it means to be the church.
Do not ignore that Paul does this work from a distance. From a distance, he gives thanks for the congregation’s expressions of love to the saints (1:15). He reminds them that their community is bathed in the words of his own ongoing prayers. He encourages them to have hope built on the wisdom that surpasses all human knowledge. He raises their heads above their current circumstances, pointing them instead to the heavenly places of Christ’s reign. All of this finds its full expression in the body of Christ — the church.
The church Paul describes is gathered even when it is apart. This is the heartbeat pulsing through the epistle. Emperors or presidents do not have the last word. Pandemics may bring discouragement, but they do not, ultimately, bring defeat. From a distance, Paul prays for the church — not his church, but the church of Jesus Christ, the church that is entrusted with a message of hope.
This is the church that will gather — at a distance — on Reign of Christ Sunday. This church yearns to join the apostle in prayer, so that with their eyes enlightened, they may know the hope of their calling. This is the church of quarantines, and the church of social quandaries. It is the church divided, even by something as silly as arguments over dressing versus stuffing. But this is the church where the immeasurable greatness of Christ is revealed.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
Matthew 25:31-46
Kindness Triumphs
Matthew’s vision of the judgement of humankind, where Jesus reigns, turns on surprisingly small actions. Both the sheep and the goats have the same opportunities to show kindness in small ways, and they choose differently, neither group thinking much about it. One act of kindness can change a whole life, as Jessica Laplante learned. She says, “It was a typical winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005: While most people were warming up their cars, my husband got up early to ride his bike the four kilometres to his job at Mr. Lube. When my husband arrived at work, he parked his bike outside the back doors as he usually does. After putting in 10 solid hours of labour, he returned to find his bike was gone — stolen. The bike, a purple Kona 18 speed, was our only source of transportation. Trevor used that bike to get to both his jobs, putting in 60-hour weeks to support his young family. But the bike was not only used for work. It was also used to get groceries, saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live. I was so upset that someone would steal his bike that I wrote to the local newspaper and told them our story. They ran an article, and shortly afterward, several people in our community offered to replace the bike. One wonderful stranger simply went out and bought a bike, then called my husband to come pick it up. Once again my husband has a way to get to and from his jobs. It really is an honour that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before, all because they heard our story and wanted to help. People say that a smile is contagious, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so.”
She adds, “This experience has had a rippling effect in our lives because it has restored our faith in humanity as a whole. And it has influenced my husband and I to be more mindful of ways we, too, can share with others. For example, I recently made a thank-you card for the employment centre that helped me get back into the work force after being a stay-at-home mom for 2 years. No matter how big or how small, an act of kindness tells the recipient that someone cares. And the results can be everlasting.”
* * *
Matthew 25:31-46
A Parade of Kind Acts
As he comes to judge humankind, Jesus would have been thrilled if he could have seen the experience Chicago resident Jahmal Cole had. On a snowy weekend in 2018, “Jahmal Cole’s inbox blew up with requests from elderly neighbors: They needed help shoveling in front of their homes. Some had to get relatives to a hospital. Others had oxygen tanks and were afraid of being trapped. So Cole sent out a tweet Friday night asking for 10 volunteers to come to his neighborhood, Chatham, on the South Side of Chicago, to shovel the foot of snow that was accumulating. Chatham is a community that’s largely elderly and African American. When he went to the train station Saturday morning to see whether anyone had showed up to help, he couldn’t believe what he saw. About 120 people stood on the platform, many with shovels, ready to work. They came from all backgrounds and all parts of the city. “The people who showed up, they showed that whether people have privilege or don’t have privilege, everyone recognizes a need,” said Cole, a community organizer. One man had taken a bus from Indiana, Cole said. A 70-year-old woman came with her own shovel, ready to dig in.”
* * *
Matthew 25:31-46
Ripples of Kindness
As he separates the sheep from the goats, sorting out those who have seen the sorrows of the world and taken action, Jesus would surely have been pleased by Niki Flow's mother. Niki remembers, “My mother was a single mom, and I was her only child. We lived in the ’60s in the city in a tiny apartment. My Aunt Rose and cousins lived next-door. Every December my mom spread the word to anyone alone on Christmas Eve that she would be having an open house. My mom believed that no one should be alone during the holidays. If she could, she probably would have put an ad in the paper inviting the world. As it was, our tiny apartment was stuffed, every room but my bedroom filled with partying adults on Christmas Eve. Sleep was impossible, but I tried to fall asleep anyway because Santa would not leave gifts for little girls who were awake (so I was told). As I lay in bed, I wondered how Santa would even know I was asleep amid all the noise and how he could sneak in and leave gifts with all those people around. The adults in my life explained this too. The grown-ups all knew Santa, it seemed. Only children weren’t supposed to peek. Every year at midnight, my mom brought me out to the living room to open the gifts Santa left and then the gifts from friends gathered around. It was a Christmas tradition and quite magical and exciting. I was possibly the luckiest kid in the city.”
The tradition continued when they moved to the suburbs, and continued again when they moved to a larger apartment in the suburbs. From her mother, Niki also learned the habit of kindness. “When I was a freshman in high school, we moved into a two-bedroom apartment in the same complex. It was lovely to have my own room now. Not long after we moved in, a new neighbor moved in next door. His name was George, and he was an older gentleman. He always nodded a greeting when he saw us. It was around Thanksgiving when we saw him park in his space near ours. We were bringing in groceries, and my mom asked him if he had plans for the holiday. When he said no, that he would spend it alone, my mom mentioned her open house on Christmas Eve. ‘Please join us,’ she said. He was already shaking his head no. ‘I won’t be good company, I’m afraid,’ he said. ‘I lost my wife a few months ago.’ His eyes filled with tears and he turned away. ‘Thank you anyway!’ he called…I decided right then and there that, from that day on, I would do whatever I could to make this dapper older gentleman named George happy. Over the next few months on the way home from school, I would often find a flower or an interesting plant to leave on his doorstep. Once I found the skin shed by a cicada and left that. I don’t actually know whether he appreciated the bug skin, but I found it fascinating. I never told George the gifts were from me. I dropped them on his step and then hurried inside to my apartment next-door. I found all sorts of things to leave on the way home from school…I really thought I was being sly. I really didn’t think he knew it was me. Then one beautiful spring day toward the end of the school year, I was about to leave a wild rose on George’s doorstep when the door opened. “Hello my dear,” he said. He smiled. I was embarrassed and startled.
“Hello,” I said shyly.
“I know you’ve been leaving me little notes and gifts,” he said. “It means so much to me. I find myself looking forward to these little gifts. You have no idea how much happiness you have given me over the past several months.” Kindness is never wasted — it travels out from us and touches people in surprising ways.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Schooled in Hope
Senator Cory Booker tells about being schooled in hope by Miss Virginia Jones, an organizer in Newark, NJ, where he was once mayor. Booker says, “What we say about other people says more about who we are than who they are. And it was that moment when I first started on Martin Luther King Boulevard, with Miss Jones, where she checked me, hard, and she said, “Describe the neighborhood.” And I described it like I did to you — the drug dealing, the projects, the abandoned building. And she just said to me in a very curt way, “Boy, you need to understand that the world you see outside of you is a reflection of what you have inside of you, and if you’re one of those people who only sees darkness, despair, that’s all there’s ever gonna be. But if you see hope, opportunity, if you’re stubborn enough to, every time you open your eyes, see love and the face of God, then you can be a change agent here. Then you can make a difference.” It was this monumental moment for me, at the beginning of my life: that you have choices.”
Booker adds, about this calling to hope, “it’s often during the darkest times or in the darkest places that if you look with not a cynical eye, which is a spiritually toxic state, cynicism, but if you see with the hopeful eye, which is a choice, which is a muscle; hope, you can actually start to discern incredible light.”
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Finding Hope in the Water
In this letter, Paul prays that the people of the church might be enlightened enough to understand the hope they have in Jesus. Teacher Sharon Salzberg, paralleling Paul, notes that we often have to be recalled to hope. We need to be lifted out of our stresses, and returned to hope. She tells this story: “My friend Willow just started her new year with a commitment to swim five times a week to reduce stress. It’s still a struggle, but often what draws her there is the big Jacuzzi right next to the pool. It can hold twenty people but there are usually only two or three lazing there, letting the underwater jets massage away their aches. Sometimes she dreams about it, she said, and there is relief in having this luxury so close at hand. Last week…in the Jacuzzi, she found three people talking about the exact topic that dominated her mind during her swim: her aging dad. All of the others were caring for elderly relatives in various states of decline. Willow at first was too shy to join the discussion. Eventually, the water worked its magic and she felt comfortable enough to speak. “I feel terrible about him all the time,” she told her companions. “I feel like I’m doing so much and also that I’m not doing enough.” One of the women shook her head kindly. “No, don’t think that. You’re doing exactly the right thing,” she told Willow. “You come here every day and you leave it in the water.” In order to work for change — in our personal lives or in the world — we need to find the ordinary things that can help us sustain our energy and optimism. The idea of leaving what we can’t control in the water spoke to my idea of hope. What Willow experienced was the buoyancy of hope, not the burden.”
Willow was returned to hope through a moment of community with people carrying the same stress. Paul prays that the same movement toward hope will happen for us.
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From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
It’s All In The Verbs
In this week’s passage from Ezekiel, the prophet describes the relationship between YHWH and the people of God in an extended metaphor of shepherd and sheep. The metaphor rides on the use of 29 verbs (not counting the verb “to be”). Note how 25 are verbs of grace and only three are verbs of judgment.
Grace: Feed (7), Seek (5), Bring (3), Set up (2), Gather (2), Bind up/bandage (2), Save (2), Judge (2), Rescue (1), Strengthen (1)
Judgment: Judge (2), Destroy (1)
* * *
Psalm 100, Psalm 95
Joyful Noise In 1812
In September of 1812, the army of Tsar Alexander I met the army of Napoleon at the Field of Borodino just outside Moscow in the bloodiest battle in human history (68,000 total casualties) up to that time. The Russian’s didn’t exactly win the battle but neither did they lose. What they managed to do was slow Napoleon’s advance so that by the time the French army occupied the city of Moscow in October, they were out of food and the winter was setting in. They had no option but to retreat back to France and a bloody and horrible retreat it was, resulting in a total of over 30,000 French casualties.
Fast forward to the year 1880. The Battle of Borodino, the 70th anniversary of which is coming up in two years, is now remembered in Russia as a grand and glorious victory signaling the end of the French occupation. The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, commissioned in 1812 by Tsar Alexander I to commemorate the Russian victory, is nearing completion in Moscow; the 25th anniversary of the coronation of Alexander II is at hand; and the 1882 All-Russia Arts and Industry Exhibition at Moscow is in the planning stage.
Pianist/composer Nikolai Rubinstein went to his close friend, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and suggested that he write a grand commemorative piece to kick off all of the festivities that would happen in and around 1882. Tchaikovsky agreed and began work on the project on October 12, 1880, finishing it six weeks later.
He called it The Year 1812 Solemn Overture, Op. 49. We know it as the 1812 Overture.
It took Tchaikovsky six weeks to write the piece, which takes about 15 minutes to perform and includes church bells, cannons, and a brass band as well as an orchestra. He was not fond of it and considered it a mere “festival piece,” beneath his stature and abilities as a serious composer of symphonies, ballets, and chamber music. He never understood its popularity in Russia and, soon, the entire world.
ClassicFM.com concludes its celebration of the overture: “There’s nothing ambiguous about the 1812 Overture of course; could that be why Tchaikovsky couldn’t comprehend the forces he had unleashed? For the rest of us, the 1812 is to be enjoyed in all its noisy, vulgar splendor.”
The piece is not just music, it is “joyful noise.”
* * *
Matthew 25:31-46
Doing The Right Thing
In Matthew 25, Jesus identifies two kinds of people: 1.) Those who do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do and, in doing so, meet Jesus, and 2.) Those who don’t do the right thing at all until they realize that in doing so they might meet Jesus.
In 1985, Good Housekeeping magazine offered its female readership six ways to learn what kind of man they might be considering as husband material: 1) Watch him drive in heavy traffic. 2) Play tennis with him. 3) Listen to him talk to his mother. 4) See how he treats those who serve him (waiters, maids). 5) Notice what he's willing to spend his money on. 6) Look at his friends. If after all that you still can't make up your mind, they said, then look at his shoes. A man who keeps his shoes in good repair generally tends to the rest of his life too.
* * *
Matthew 25:31-46
Defeating Zeta
Tropical storm Zeta left devastation throughout a big part of the state of Georgia, but as quicky as reports of damage came into the newsrooms, other reports of people helping other people came in, too.
Near Marietta, trees were down blocking the roadway and had landed on at least one occupied car! The driver was okay, but the roadway was totally blocked. A power crew working in the area had completed their work and were ready to move on but were stopped by the trees. They began the laborious task of clearing the road but it was slow going.
The operations manager from nearby Superior Distribution saw the need, knew he had a solution and volunteered his employees and forklift trucks to finish clearing and cleaning the roadway, freeing the power crew to move on to others in need of their help.
In Paulding County, Jason Cory of Dogwood Landscaping used his landscaping equipment to help the Sheriff’s department remove a massive tree from the middle of GA 92.
In Smyrna, Lt. Copeland of the Smyrna P.D., brought his personal chain saw to work and spent the morning clearing trees and limbs from city streets with the help of Sgt. Stephens, MPO Hanson and a couple of other officers, freeing public works and Smyrna Fire to take other, more urgent calls.
In Lumpkin County, the residents and volunteers joined the Lumpkin County sheriff’s office to pick up trees that were downed by the storm. And in Woodstock, police who were working long shifts to cover all the emergencies got a tasty surprise when a local pizza shop donated pies to the force. "Huge thank you to Gondoliers pizza for feeding Bravo Shift, Special Operations Group, Command Staff, and city personnel with this pizza after working through the storms," Woodstock Police wrote in a Facebook post.
They were hungry and Gondoliers Pizza gave them something to eat.
* * *
Matthew 25:31-46
I Was Unemployed And You Gave Me A Chance
Not all pro-football players are multi-millionaires. Let’s start with some numbers:
The average annual income for an NFL player is $860,000 gross. (Take home pay, about $500,000) The average NFL player’s career lasts 3.3 years. They have to have played at least 3 years to receive a pension. The average age of “retirement” for an NFL player is 29.
With numbers like that it would be a good idea for NFL players to have some long-term financial planning to prepare for those lean years. But, the average age of NFL players is 26 and rare is the player at that age who is thinking about retirement.
So, the average player plays about 3 years, takes home about $1.5 million, spends, let’s say, half of that, and retires with about $750,000 in the bank. Most players don’t have endorsement deals or signing bonuses. Even if they are very frugal, and invest wisely, that 750 large is going to last them only about 10 years.
The average NFL player is going to need a job after retirement. That’s why see them on local TV commercials plugging their restaurants, car lots, furniture stores, and other business ventures. All former footballers aren’t businessmen, however. Many do not have college degrees or work experience outside of football. What’s a person to do?
Enter the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship and the Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship Program.
The Bill Walsh Fellowship is now in its fourth decade of providing opportunities for minorities. The fellowship program’s objective is to use NFL clubs’ training camps, offseason workout programs and minicamps to give coaches opportunities to observe, participate, gain experience and, ultimately, get a full-time NFL coaching position. All 32 NFL clubs participate each year. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and former NFL head coaches Lovie Smith and Marvin Lewis came out of the program
The Nunn-Wooten Fellowship has served to expose former NFL players, as well as college recruiting and personnel staff, to careers in pro football scouting. The fellowship provides participants access to NFL club business and the skills needed for a career in NFL scouting. RJ Webb, a scouting assistant at the Buffalo Bills’ offices, and Keith Jennings, the team’s representative in the BLESTO scouting service are both recipients of the Nunn-Wooten scholarships.
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From team member Chris Keating:
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
God & the ASPCA
Rescuing the lost dogs: Ezekiel 34 has wonderful images of God rescuing the lost sheep of Israel, as well as the promises of God to gather, feed, protect and heal the lost sheep. God’s acts of salvation/rescue are a predominant image in the Reign of Christ texts.
It’s a potent expression of love that many animal lovers can appreciate. “Who rescued whom?” they like to say, which is something that President-elect Joe Biden might know a bit about. When Biden moves into the White House in January, his two year old German Shepherd, Major, will become the first rescue dog owned by a sitting president.
Well, sort of. President Lyndon Johnson’s daughter, Luci, adopted a rescue pup named Yuki, and President Bill Clinton owned a rescue cat named “Socks.”
Major will be joined in the White House by the Biden’s older German Shepherd, Champ. The Bidens adopted Major from the Delaware Humane Association in 2018.
* * *
Psalm 100, Psalm 95
Make a joyful silence to God
This week’s psalms are both familiar psalms of praise which reinforce the community’s role in singing to God. The faithful have always gathered in praise to God — until the realities of Covid-19 appeared. The pandemic has made congregations aware that singing can become a “super spreader” situation. As one author said, “churchgoers aren’t able to lift every voice and sing.”
Singing has been shown to be a high-risk activity in terms of spreading the coronavirus.
So how is the church responding to the dilemma? Donna Cox, a professor of music at the University of Dayton, revealed some insights:
Conversations I have had with church music directors around the country reveal the creativity employed to keep the music going: utilizing solo performers, prerecorded music, reducing the amount of music to the essential in liturgical services and creating virtual choirs.
Those with praise teams and bands that lead the congregation in song found it easier to provide music in online services – with fewer people, social distancing was easier to maintain. As a result, they continued to rehearse and perform in livestreamed or prerecorded services.
* * *
Matthew 25:31-46
Jesus’ final parable of the kingdom in Matthew 25 includes bold images of God’s power, judgment and actions. It’s verses offer a searing indictment of those who have failed to provide comfort and mercy to those in need, while upholding the Beatitudes’ promise that the meek shall inherit the earth.
Christians continue discussing whether “kingdom” may be the most appropriate image of expressing the reign of Christ. Some have proposed “kin-dom” of God as an alternative. (I can tell you spell check routinely rejects that selection, and Google-search does not like it, either.)
Consider what “kingdoms” mean in terms of contemporary usage:
• In the latest season of Netflix’ series, “The Crown,” newly elected Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher comes face to face with the realities of royal life. Invited to Balmoral Castle by the Queen, Thatcher and her husband, Denis, suddenly realize the depth of the social divide. Thatcher, who came from a working class family, crashes against the Royal family’s view of the world. But the divide goes even further as the conservative prime minister gets resistance from established politicians of her own party — who inhabit a very different sort of kingdom.
• President Trump’s refusal to concede the election points to a different sort of kingdom. His behavior has been described as “anti-democratic,” and “authoritarian.” David Leonhardt asks us to imagine this scenario in another country:
– Imagine that a president of another country lost an election and refused to concede defeat. Instead, he lied about the vote count. He then filed lawsuits to have ballots thrown out, put pressure on other officials to back him up and used the power of government to prevent a transition of power from starting.
– One scholar responded, “I never would have imagined seeing something like this in America.
• Finally, consider the power yielded by one Marina Udgodskaya, a resident of Povalikhino, Russia. Ms. Udogskaya worked at cleaning the city hall of this log-cabin village some 300 miles east of Moscow. With a mayoral election looming, the incumbent needed an opponent. Like most elections in Russia, the outcome was already known. The incumbent would win, but he needed a “foil” to make it appear as though the election wasn’t rigged.
That was the plan. But then Ms. Udgodskaya won. Her election sent the Russian media into a frenzy as it bumped into the sort of “managed democracy” that typically occurs in the country. The problem in this system is finding supposed opponents who want to be losers — afterall, who wants to volunteer to be a goat?
She was elected, townspeople said, because they knew her and could trust her.
As it turns out, the outgoing mayor of the village was not too keen about being mayor in the first place. His wife told reporters that while the loss was a painful topic, he never really wanted to be mayor. “He always said you got me into this,” she said.
* * * * * *
WORSHIP
by George Reed
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: Let us make a joyful noise to our God.
People: We will worship God with gladness.
Leader: Know that our God is God.
People: God made us and we are God’s.
Leader: Enter God’s gates with thanksgiving and praise.
People: God is good and God’s love endures for ever.
OR
Leader: Let us celebrate the Reign of our Christ.
People: We rejoice that Jesus rules over all creation.
Leader: The Christ does not rule as human rulers do.
People: Our Christ rules in love and compassion for all.
Leader: Let us be faithful members of Christ’ realm.
People: We will love God and all God’s people.
Hymns and Songs:
Come, Thou Almighty King
UMH: 61
H82: 365
PH: 139
AAHH: 327
NNBH: 38
NCH: 275
CH: 27
LBW: 522
ELW: 408
W&P: 148
AMEC: 7
All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
UMH: 154/155
H82: 450/451
PH: 142/143
AAHH: 292/293/294
NNBH: 3/5
NCH: 304
CH: 91/92
LBW: 328/329
ELW: 634
W&P: 100/106
AMEC: 4/5/6
Renew: 45
Jesus Shall Reign
UMH: 157
H82: 544
PH: 423
NNBH: 10
NCH: 300
CH: 95
LBW: 530
ELW: 434
W&P: 341
AMEC: 96
Renew: 296
All Praise to Thee, for Thou, O King Divine
(Although not in most hymnals this hymn fits so well with both the day and the theme of the main article that I thought it was worth including. It is not well known but is set to a well known tune.)
UMH: 166
H82: 477
Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies
UMH: 173
H82: 6/7
PH: 462/463
LBW: 265
ELW: 553
W&P: 91
Now Thank We All Our God
UMH: 102
H82: 396/397
PH: 555
NNBH: 330
NCH: 419
CH: 715
LBW: 533/534
ELW: 839/840
W&P: 14
AMEC: 573
STLT: 32
For the Fruits of This Creation
UMH: 97
H82: 424
PH: 553
NCH: 425
CH: 714
LBW: 563
ELW: 679
W&P: 723
We Gather Together
UMH: 131
H82: 433
PH: 559
NNBH: 326
NCH: 421
CH: 276
ELW: 449
W&P: 81
AMEC: 576
STLT: 349
Jesus’ Hands Were Kind Hands
UMH: 273
W&P: 634
Jesu, Jesu
UMH: 432
H82: 602
PH: 367
NCH: 498
CH: 600
LBW:
ELW: 708
W&P: 273
Renew: 289
All Hail King Jesus
CCB: 29
Renew: 35
He Is Exalted
CCB: 30
Renew: 238
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
ELW: 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 rules over all creation:
Grant us the wisdom to see the Christ as our ruler
that we may learn how to live
loving you and one another;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you rule over all creation. You have given us your Christ to rule over your realm here on earth. Help us learn how to be true citizens of your realm as we love you and love one another. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our failure to live faithfully in the realm of the Christ.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You are our creator and our ruler and yet we offer our allegiance to others. You call us to live in your realm under the rule of love and we choose to live under the rule of this world with its hatred, greed, and selfishness. We claim to be disciples of your Christ but we are poor disciples with split loyalties. Forgive us and renew us in your Spirit that we may truly follow your Christ into the fullness of your reign. Amen.
Leader: God rules over us in love and calls us lovingly to enter into the peaceful realm of the Christ. Heed that call and learn to love God and God’s people more completely.
Prayers of the People
Glory and honor are yours, O God, because you are our creator and our ruler. In love you reign over all of your creation.
(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 are our creator and our ruler and yet we offer our allegiance to others. You call us to live in your realm under the rule of love and we choose to live under the rule of this world with its hatred, greed, and selfishness. We claim to be disciples of your Christ but we are poor disciples with split loyalties. Forgive us and renew us in your Spirit that we may truly follow your Christ into the fullness of your reign.
We give you thanks for the love with which you reign over us. You provide for all our needs and bless us with beauty and wonders. You send your love to us in countless ways and we are grateful. We thank you for those who have learned to share your love with us and with others.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all your children in our need. We pray for those who do not know you are a ruler of love and compassion. We pray for those who because of the ways in which they are treated or the circumstances of their lives find it difficult to think of you as a loving God. We pray for the courage and the will to live more fully as your citizens.
(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 belong. We belong to a family. We belong to a congregation. We might belong to a sports team or to a school. If we belong to a soccer team we are expected to play soccer. If we are in a choir we are expected to sing. If we are part of a family we are expected to be a helpful part of that family (pick up our things, eat together, do chores, etc). Today we celebrate the fact that we belong to Jesus’ family and Jesus is our leader. All through the year we learn how to live as part of Jesus’ realm. So while we celebrate Jesus’ rule today, we are his followers every day.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Joyful Noises
by Tom Willadsen
Psalm 100
Props: Get a crown, perhaps pick one up at Burger King, or get into the costume closet a little early find one the magi wore for last year’s Christmas pageant.
Today is Christ the King Sunday. The lectionary passages are filled with images of sheep and shepherds. Of course, God is conceived of as a good, faithful shepherd who protects and cares for the flock.
After the kids gather together read the first verse of the psalm: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.” Ask them “what noises sound joyful?”
If they get stuck, be ready with the verse 2: “Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing.” Singing can be a joyful noise. Ask “What other joyful noises can you think of?”
Ask, “Would you make a joyful noise if you were queen or if you were king?” Tell the kids that you want them to think of one thing they would do if they were queen or king. Putting the crown on their heads will help them think.
Give every kid at least one chance to wear the crown and say something they would want or do if they became the ruling monarch.
Be ready with your own idea. They may ask you, or you might think of something.
Two memories from this idea: I first did this in the early 1990s and my wish was for a longer baseball season. Since then the Wild Card game and the Division Series have been added to the Major League Baseball season. Be careful what you wish for.
Another time after a little girl put the crown on, she leaned over and hugged her older sister and said, “I just want to keep loving my sister.” There was not a dry eye in the sanctuary.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, November 22, 2020 issue.
Copyright 2020 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.
- Jesus On the Throne, Us In the Pasture by Bethany Peerbolte — Christ the King Sunday can remind us that the roles are clearly defined. Jesus beckoning the lost, us sharing resources.
- Second Thoughts: Giving Thanks…From a Distance by Chris Keating — Paul›s prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23 leads the church to a socially-distanced discovery of hope on Christ the King Sunday.
- Sermon illustrations by Mary Austin, Dean Feldmeyer and Chris Keating.
- Worship resources by George Reed.
- Children's sermon: Joyful Noise by Tom Willadsen — The lectionary passages are filled with images of sheep and shepherds. Of course, God is conceived of as a good, faithful shepherd who protects and cares for the flock.
Jesus On the Throne, Us In the Pastureby Bethany Peerbolte
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Matthew 25:31-46
In the Scripture
Ezekiel lays out the image of a good shepherd watching over the flock as similar to God’s way of engaging with humanity. The shepherd makes sure that every animal in the flock is accounted for. Those who have wandered off are brought back personally by the shepherd. Every animal in the flock is well cared for by the shepherd. They are brought to the most lush grass, they have plenty of water, and their safety is closely guarded.
This image is repeated and by doing so Ezekiel emphasizes the care of the shepherd. While the sheep are with the shepherd they do not need to worry about anything. God is the true shepherd. The implication being that if one is not being cared for then they need to observe whose care they are under.
This image is set up against the backdrop of kings ruling Israel. The kings have “protected” them in a very different way than the messiah will. Kings are the ones who send the weak to the outer edge, they horde and store away instead of sharing the best grazing areas with everyone. The kings have let the flock wander away and do not care to leave their comfy thrones to bring the lost back into the fold.
The final line of this pericopy is harsh in comparison to the tender care outlined by the rest of the passage. While the weak are strengthened, the fat and strong will be destroyed. There will be justice within the flock. The weak will not be sent to the outer edge as a sacrifice to the wolves like in other flocks. In this flock the overfed are the ones who are destroyed.
God not only cares for the flock, God pays attention to the individual life of each sheep. If they need food they will be brought to a better field, if water then a stream, if they are too fat they will be judged.
This care for the individual’s life is reflected in Jesus’ message in Matthew. Again the image of the shepherd is held up as the best representation of a just king. Jesus, as king on his throne, will judge the flock based on their individual actions. If those actions lead to the individual getting too “fat” and neglecting to share the pasture with those in need they will be judged. If an individual helped allocate the flock’s resources well and cared for the weaker members they will be rewarded.
Jesus is still in charge of allocation though. Jesus is there to bring the lost members back to the flock, and to bring the flock to lush areas to eat and drink. The flock’s job is to care for their wellbeing and keep an eye out for members who need a little more. After all, if the shepherd is bringing in lost and weak members, he wants them to receive the best the flock has to offer so they can get stronger faster. If the flock is denying them this right, what is the point of the shepherd bringing them back if they will die in the middle of the flock because of greed?
Jesus drives this idea home by leaving no detail of the judgment scene out. We could infer from the first part that those who do not care for the least are also not caring for Jesus’ work and kingship. But Jesus spells it out clearly so there is no confusion. If you do, you are helping, if you do not, you are hurting.
In the News
We are doing a terrible job of sharing the pasture with the flock. Most Americans know this, though. We are aware there is a wealth gap in the country. Unfortunately, we aren’t grasping exactly how severe the gap is. In a study done by Harvard economists, researchers found that the ideal, the expectation, and the reality were vastly different. Economists say the ideal is to have the top 20% of a population only accumulating 30% of the wealth. American’s believe that the top 20% have about 60% of the wealth, when in reality they have 85% of the country's wealth. In comparison the middle class actually have less than 5% of the wealth. Leaving the bottom 20% of people with a sliver that barely makes the chart because it is under 1%.
We have all been anxiously anticipating the Covid vaccine. When the front runners announced their successes three billionaires immediately got $2 billion dollars richer. The discoveries are worth the acclaim and their efforts should be rewarded, but the sudden jump in worth does not line up with Jesus’ message of caring for the sick. They are not the only ones in the top 20% to get richer during this pandemic. Many millionaires and billionaires have been called out for their vast wealth increase. Stories of them using that extra money to help the “least of these” are hard to find.
In contrast, American’s are begging other American’s to wear masks and stay home for the holidays. The rewards for these efforts go unrewarded and often mocked for living “in fear” of the virus. Christians especially have fallen victim to the temptation of equating fear and lack of faith. The image of faith being projected is of a person unabashedly ignoring advice of experts for their own comfort and ease of life. Ignoring the signs that their disregard for safety measures is also disregarding the illness it creates within our flock.
The goat mentality of denying some in our flock their good health has added up to another wave of virus outbreak. As some states see over 7,000 new cases per day and their hospitals fill up again, the non-profits that barely got us through the last spike are preparing. As cases rise the pantries and organizations that have been supporting the bottom 20% through this pandemic are also bracing themselves for a second wave and more shortages. They are doing the sheep’s work of caring for the flock and managing resources so the least of these, and Jesus, can be taken care of.
In the Sermon
I have developed a minor trauma response to any phrase that includes “king.” I keep seeing things like “Christ is King,” “Jesus is King,” etc. cropping up in social media profiles of the most obnoxious Christians. These are people who take it upon themselves to call others to repent or accuse anyone who has a differing Biblical interpretation of being “false” or “lukewarm.” They take on the role of the shepherd. They feel it is their job to go and find the lost sheep or to sort the goats out. It’s ironic really. They say Jesus is on the throne and yet they misunderstand whose work they are doing.
The selections from Ezekiel and Matthew lay out the differences in the workload. God/Jesus is the shepherd/king. That role entails finding those who belong to the flock and bringing them back to the good pasture. They are the ones who make sure there is enough grass and water and space to frolic for the whole flock. They are the ones who call us to repent, they sort us into goats and sheep, and they decide the judgment.
Our role is to be sheep. Which means we enjoy the grass, we savor the water, and we frolic. Our only concern is for our own consumption. If we are the fattest in the flock we need to take a break and fast. If we are the most hydrated we need to step aside and let the next one drink. If we are the most free then we need to help others find the space to frolic. That’s it. It’s an easy ask and yet we can not seem to draw the line clearly enough. The warping leadership style of empire convinces us we have a bigger role, that we need to be in charge of more than ourselves. Christ the King Sunday can remind us that the roles are clearly defined. Jesus beckoning the lost, us sharing resources. Jesus judging, us minding our own lifestyle. Jesus on the throne, us in the pasture.
Then Jesus will come and say to us:
You are blessed to inherit the “kindom” prepared for you for I lived in a food desert and you found a way to lower the price of fresh foods, I was thirsty and you let me choose my beverage without accusing me of being an alcoholic, I came to you from a violent country and you did not put me in a cage, I could only afford sale rack suits and you gave me a job, I was healthy in a pandemic and you wore your mask around me, I was convicted of a felony and you allowed me to vote.
SECOND THOUGHTSGiving Thanks…From a Distance
by Chris Keating
Ephesians 1:15-23
Face it: it is hard to be the church today. It may be even harder to uphold an image of Christ’s sovereignty in a world filled with quarantines and beset by political stalemate. Paul’s claims of the “immeasurable greatness” of Christ’s power come under direct scrutiny in a world where viruses — both pathological and political — continue to dominate the news.
It’s been more than a week since President-elect Joe Biden was declared the winner of the presidential election, yet President Trump is defiant in his refusal to concede. He is actively blocking the transition efforts by withholding security information, transition funding, and access to information related to the pandemic.
Trump’s failure to admit reality will become a bitter coda to his enduring presidential legacy. “The president threatens to burn down the house on his way out the door,” wrote Dan Batz.
Meanwhile, Covid-19 is spreading more rapidly than ever. There’s encouraging news about vaccines, but those headlines are buried beneath the deaths of more than 1,000 Americans a day. Companies like Moderna and Pfizer have made promising announcements about the efficacy of their vaccines, but experts point to the overwhelming challenges faced in inoculating the world.
“Last week we had 60,000 deaths,” said Edward Kelly, an official from the World Health Organization. “We had 4 million new cases. We will have more of those weeks before the vaccine is out there.”
None of this feels hopeful. A surge of more than a million new cases of Covid last week has led to waves of new restrictions across the country. Lines form early in front of testing centers. But as the stalled presidential transition continues, the government’s response seems muddled and uncertain. President-elect Biden’s coronavirus team say that what they have learned about the government’s plans for distributing vaccine has been limited to information gleaned from news reports and other back channel sources.
Our communities are wrestling with the implications of these dilemmas. Churches that had moved to in person worship are reversing course. Our congregations are looking for words of hope that transcend the divisions of politics and disease — let alone perennial arguments over dressing versus stuffing. Quick readings of Ephesians 1:15-23 focused only on the glories of Christ’s omnipotence seem to do little to allay fears or bolster hope. We are weary, and Paul’s convoluted sentences do not seem to offer much.
But take another look.
Take a deeper dive into Ephesians and discover how this timeless theology has an especially contemporaneous flavor. Paul, or his protégé, fills these dense sentences with images and metaphors that transcend time. He writes — from a distance, of course — to a church mired in tension. Christ has abolished those divisions (2:14). He pushes the Ephesians to know the greater wisdom of God that brings “boldness and confidence,” (3:12) and upholds Jesus’ power in conquering the “powers of this present darkness.” (6:12)
Stitching together metaphors and images, Paul creates a quilt of hope. It is a patchwork of ideas that wraps a lost and distant church in hope. It is a blanket for those who are distanced, cut off from each other, from family, and perhaps even the world.
This emerges from the heart of prayer, a prayer that provides the church today with details on what it means to live out its calling in Jesus Christ. Theologian Allen Verhey says that the issues addressed by Ephesians offer a “script to be performed by the church today.” (Verhey, Ephesians, Westminster/John Knox Press, 2011). Indeed, read against the backdrop of a stalled presidential transition and rising rates of infection, Ephesians 1:15-23 might just be the prayer the church needs today.
Decoding Paul is never easy, and the prayer in verses 15-23 is no exception. It is a long-worded run on sentence that might drive even the sturdiest English teacher into early retirement. But Paul is not worried about getting marked down for sentence structure. Instead, he pushes forward with his challenge for the Ephesians to discern what it means to be the church.
Do not ignore that Paul does this work from a distance. From a distance, he gives thanks for the congregation’s expressions of love to the saints (1:15). He reminds them that their community is bathed in the words of his own ongoing prayers. He encourages them to have hope built on the wisdom that surpasses all human knowledge. He raises their heads above their current circumstances, pointing them instead to the heavenly places of Christ’s reign. All of this finds its full expression in the body of Christ — the church.
The church Paul describes is gathered even when it is apart. This is the heartbeat pulsing through the epistle. Emperors or presidents do not have the last word. Pandemics may bring discouragement, but they do not, ultimately, bring defeat. From a distance, Paul prays for the church — not his church, but the church of Jesus Christ, the church that is entrusted with a message of hope.
This is the church that will gather — at a distance — on Reign of Christ Sunday. This church yearns to join the apostle in prayer, so that with their eyes enlightened, they may know the hope of their calling. This is the church of quarantines, and the church of social quandaries. It is the church divided, even by something as silly as arguments over dressing versus stuffing. But this is the church where the immeasurable greatness of Christ is revealed.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:Matthew 25:31-46
Kindness Triumphs
Matthew’s vision of the judgement of humankind, where Jesus reigns, turns on surprisingly small actions. Both the sheep and the goats have the same opportunities to show kindness in small ways, and they choose differently, neither group thinking much about it. One act of kindness can change a whole life, as Jessica Laplante learned. She says, “It was a typical winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005: While most people were warming up their cars, my husband got up early to ride his bike the four kilometres to his job at Mr. Lube. When my husband arrived at work, he parked his bike outside the back doors as he usually does. After putting in 10 solid hours of labour, he returned to find his bike was gone — stolen. The bike, a purple Kona 18 speed, was our only source of transportation. Trevor used that bike to get to both his jobs, putting in 60-hour weeks to support his young family. But the bike was not only used for work. It was also used to get groceries, saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live. I was so upset that someone would steal his bike that I wrote to the local newspaper and told them our story. They ran an article, and shortly afterward, several people in our community offered to replace the bike. One wonderful stranger simply went out and bought a bike, then called my husband to come pick it up. Once again my husband has a way to get to and from his jobs. It really is an honour that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before, all because they heard our story and wanted to help. People say that a smile is contagious, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so.”
She adds, “This experience has had a rippling effect in our lives because it has restored our faith in humanity as a whole. And it has influenced my husband and I to be more mindful of ways we, too, can share with others. For example, I recently made a thank-you card for the employment centre that helped me get back into the work force after being a stay-at-home mom for 2 years. No matter how big or how small, an act of kindness tells the recipient that someone cares. And the results can be everlasting.”
* * *
Matthew 25:31-46
A Parade of Kind Acts
As he comes to judge humankind, Jesus would have been thrilled if he could have seen the experience Chicago resident Jahmal Cole had. On a snowy weekend in 2018, “Jahmal Cole’s inbox blew up with requests from elderly neighbors: They needed help shoveling in front of their homes. Some had to get relatives to a hospital. Others had oxygen tanks and were afraid of being trapped. So Cole sent out a tweet Friday night asking for 10 volunteers to come to his neighborhood, Chatham, on the South Side of Chicago, to shovel the foot of snow that was accumulating. Chatham is a community that’s largely elderly and African American. When he went to the train station Saturday morning to see whether anyone had showed up to help, he couldn’t believe what he saw. About 120 people stood on the platform, many with shovels, ready to work. They came from all backgrounds and all parts of the city. “The people who showed up, they showed that whether people have privilege or don’t have privilege, everyone recognizes a need,” said Cole, a community organizer. One man had taken a bus from Indiana, Cole said. A 70-year-old woman came with her own shovel, ready to dig in.”
* * *
Matthew 25:31-46
Ripples of Kindness
As he separates the sheep from the goats, sorting out those who have seen the sorrows of the world and taken action, Jesus would surely have been pleased by Niki Flow's mother. Niki remembers, “My mother was a single mom, and I was her only child. We lived in the ’60s in the city in a tiny apartment. My Aunt Rose and cousins lived next-door. Every December my mom spread the word to anyone alone on Christmas Eve that she would be having an open house. My mom believed that no one should be alone during the holidays. If she could, she probably would have put an ad in the paper inviting the world. As it was, our tiny apartment was stuffed, every room but my bedroom filled with partying adults on Christmas Eve. Sleep was impossible, but I tried to fall asleep anyway because Santa would not leave gifts for little girls who were awake (so I was told). As I lay in bed, I wondered how Santa would even know I was asleep amid all the noise and how he could sneak in and leave gifts with all those people around. The adults in my life explained this too. The grown-ups all knew Santa, it seemed. Only children weren’t supposed to peek. Every year at midnight, my mom brought me out to the living room to open the gifts Santa left and then the gifts from friends gathered around. It was a Christmas tradition and quite magical and exciting. I was possibly the luckiest kid in the city.”
The tradition continued when they moved to the suburbs, and continued again when they moved to a larger apartment in the suburbs. From her mother, Niki also learned the habit of kindness. “When I was a freshman in high school, we moved into a two-bedroom apartment in the same complex. It was lovely to have my own room now. Not long after we moved in, a new neighbor moved in next door. His name was George, and he was an older gentleman. He always nodded a greeting when he saw us. It was around Thanksgiving when we saw him park in his space near ours. We were bringing in groceries, and my mom asked him if he had plans for the holiday. When he said no, that he would spend it alone, my mom mentioned her open house on Christmas Eve. ‘Please join us,’ she said. He was already shaking his head no. ‘I won’t be good company, I’m afraid,’ he said. ‘I lost my wife a few months ago.’ His eyes filled with tears and he turned away. ‘Thank you anyway!’ he called…I decided right then and there that, from that day on, I would do whatever I could to make this dapper older gentleman named George happy. Over the next few months on the way home from school, I would often find a flower or an interesting plant to leave on his doorstep. Once I found the skin shed by a cicada and left that. I don’t actually know whether he appreciated the bug skin, but I found it fascinating. I never told George the gifts were from me. I dropped them on his step and then hurried inside to my apartment next-door. I found all sorts of things to leave on the way home from school…I really thought I was being sly. I really didn’t think he knew it was me. Then one beautiful spring day toward the end of the school year, I was about to leave a wild rose on George’s doorstep when the door opened. “Hello my dear,” he said. He smiled. I was embarrassed and startled.
“Hello,” I said shyly.
“I know you’ve been leaving me little notes and gifts,” he said. “It means so much to me. I find myself looking forward to these little gifts. You have no idea how much happiness you have given me over the past several months.” Kindness is never wasted — it travels out from us and touches people in surprising ways.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Schooled in Hope
Senator Cory Booker tells about being schooled in hope by Miss Virginia Jones, an organizer in Newark, NJ, where he was once mayor. Booker says, “What we say about other people says more about who we are than who they are. And it was that moment when I first started on Martin Luther King Boulevard, with Miss Jones, where she checked me, hard, and she said, “Describe the neighborhood.” And I described it like I did to you — the drug dealing, the projects, the abandoned building. And she just said to me in a very curt way, “Boy, you need to understand that the world you see outside of you is a reflection of what you have inside of you, and if you’re one of those people who only sees darkness, despair, that’s all there’s ever gonna be. But if you see hope, opportunity, if you’re stubborn enough to, every time you open your eyes, see love and the face of God, then you can be a change agent here. Then you can make a difference.” It was this monumental moment for me, at the beginning of my life: that you have choices.”
Booker adds, about this calling to hope, “it’s often during the darkest times or in the darkest places that if you look with not a cynical eye, which is a spiritually toxic state, cynicism, but if you see with the hopeful eye, which is a choice, which is a muscle; hope, you can actually start to discern incredible light.”
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Ephesians 1:15-23
Finding Hope in the Water
In this letter, Paul prays that the people of the church might be enlightened enough to understand the hope they have in Jesus. Teacher Sharon Salzberg, paralleling Paul, notes that we often have to be recalled to hope. We need to be lifted out of our stresses, and returned to hope. She tells this story: “My friend Willow just started her new year with a commitment to swim five times a week to reduce stress. It’s still a struggle, but often what draws her there is the big Jacuzzi right next to the pool. It can hold twenty people but there are usually only two or three lazing there, letting the underwater jets massage away their aches. Sometimes she dreams about it, she said, and there is relief in having this luxury so close at hand. Last week…in the Jacuzzi, she found three people talking about the exact topic that dominated her mind during her swim: her aging dad. All of the others were caring for elderly relatives in various states of decline. Willow at first was too shy to join the discussion. Eventually, the water worked its magic and she felt comfortable enough to speak. “I feel terrible about him all the time,” she told her companions. “I feel like I’m doing so much and also that I’m not doing enough.” One of the women shook her head kindly. “No, don’t think that. You’re doing exactly the right thing,” she told Willow. “You come here every day and you leave it in the water.” In order to work for change — in our personal lives or in the world — we need to find the ordinary things that can help us sustain our energy and optimism. The idea of leaving what we can’t control in the water spoke to my idea of hope. What Willow experienced was the buoyancy of hope, not the burden.”
Willow was returned to hope through a moment of community with people carrying the same stress. Paul prays that the same movement toward hope will happen for us.
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From team member Dean Feldmeyer:Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
It’s All In The Verbs
In this week’s passage from Ezekiel, the prophet describes the relationship between YHWH and the people of God in an extended metaphor of shepherd and sheep. The metaphor rides on the use of 29 verbs (not counting the verb “to be”). Note how 25 are verbs of grace and only three are verbs of judgment.
Grace: Feed (7), Seek (5), Bring (3), Set up (2), Gather (2), Bind up/bandage (2), Save (2), Judge (2), Rescue (1), Strengthen (1)
Judgment: Judge (2), Destroy (1)
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Psalm 100, Psalm 95
Joyful Noise In 1812
In September of 1812, the army of Tsar Alexander I met the army of Napoleon at the Field of Borodino just outside Moscow in the bloodiest battle in human history (68,000 total casualties) up to that time. The Russian’s didn’t exactly win the battle but neither did they lose. What they managed to do was slow Napoleon’s advance so that by the time the French army occupied the city of Moscow in October, they were out of food and the winter was setting in. They had no option but to retreat back to France and a bloody and horrible retreat it was, resulting in a total of over 30,000 French casualties.
Fast forward to the year 1880. The Battle of Borodino, the 70th anniversary of which is coming up in two years, is now remembered in Russia as a grand and glorious victory signaling the end of the French occupation. The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, commissioned in 1812 by Tsar Alexander I to commemorate the Russian victory, is nearing completion in Moscow; the 25th anniversary of the coronation of Alexander II is at hand; and the 1882 All-Russia Arts and Industry Exhibition at Moscow is in the planning stage.
Pianist/composer Nikolai Rubinstein went to his close friend, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and suggested that he write a grand commemorative piece to kick off all of the festivities that would happen in and around 1882. Tchaikovsky agreed and began work on the project on October 12, 1880, finishing it six weeks later.
He called it The Year 1812 Solemn Overture, Op. 49. We know it as the 1812 Overture.
It took Tchaikovsky six weeks to write the piece, which takes about 15 minutes to perform and includes church bells, cannons, and a brass band as well as an orchestra. He was not fond of it and considered it a mere “festival piece,” beneath his stature and abilities as a serious composer of symphonies, ballets, and chamber music. He never understood its popularity in Russia and, soon, the entire world.
ClassicFM.com concludes its celebration of the overture: “There’s nothing ambiguous about the 1812 Overture of course; could that be why Tchaikovsky couldn’t comprehend the forces he had unleashed? For the rest of us, the 1812 is to be enjoyed in all its noisy, vulgar splendor.”
The piece is not just music, it is “joyful noise.”
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Matthew 25:31-46
Doing The Right Thing
In Matthew 25, Jesus identifies two kinds of people: 1.) Those who do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do and, in doing so, meet Jesus, and 2.) Those who don’t do the right thing at all until they realize that in doing so they might meet Jesus.
In 1985, Good Housekeeping magazine offered its female readership six ways to learn what kind of man they might be considering as husband material: 1) Watch him drive in heavy traffic. 2) Play tennis with him. 3) Listen to him talk to his mother. 4) See how he treats those who serve him (waiters, maids). 5) Notice what he's willing to spend his money on. 6) Look at his friends. If after all that you still can't make up your mind, they said, then look at his shoes. A man who keeps his shoes in good repair generally tends to the rest of his life too.
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Matthew 25:31-46
Defeating Zeta
Tropical storm Zeta left devastation throughout a big part of the state of Georgia, but as quicky as reports of damage came into the newsrooms, other reports of people helping other people came in, too.
Near Marietta, trees were down blocking the roadway and had landed on at least one occupied car! The driver was okay, but the roadway was totally blocked. A power crew working in the area had completed their work and were ready to move on but were stopped by the trees. They began the laborious task of clearing the road but it was slow going.
The operations manager from nearby Superior Distribution saw the need, knew he had a solution and volunteered his employees and forklift trucks to finish clearing and cleaning the roadway, freeing the power crew to move on to others in need of their help.
In Paulding County, Jason Cory of Dogwood Landscaping used his landscaping equipment to help the Sheriff’s department remove a massive tree from the middle of GA 92.
In Smyrna, Lt. Copeland of the Smyrna P.D., brought his personal chain saw to work and spent the morning clearing trees and limbs from city streets with the help of Sgt. Stephens, MPO Hanson and a couple of other officers, freeing public works and Smyrna Fire to take other, more urgent calls.
In Lumpkin County, the residents and volunteers joined the Lumpkin County sheriff’s office to pick up trees that were downed by the storm. And in Woodstock, police who were working long shifts to cover all the emergencies got a tasty surprise when a local pizza shop donated pies to the force. "Huge thank you to Gondoliers pizza for feeding Bravo Shift, Special Operations Group, Command Staff, and city personnel with this pizza after working through the storms," Woodstock Police wrote in a Facebook post.
They were hungry and Gondoliers Pizza gave them something to eat.
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Matthew 25:31-46
I Was Unemployed And You Gave Me A Chance
Not all pro-football players are multi-millionaires. Let’s start with some numbers:
The average annual income for an NFL player is $860,000 gross. (Take home pay, about $500,000) The average NFL player’s career lasts 3.3 years. They have to have played at least 3 years to receive a pension. The average age of “retirement” for an NFL player is 29.
With numbers like that it would be a good idea for NFL players to have some long-term financial planning to prepare for those lean years. But, the average age of NFL players is 26 and rare is the player at that age who is thinking about retirement.
So, the average player plays about 3 years, takes home about $1.5 million, spends, let’s say, half of that, and retires with about $750,000 in the bank. Most players don’t have endorsement deals or signing bonuses. Even if they are very frugal, and invest wisely, that 750 large is going to last them only about 10 years.
The average NFL player is going to need a job after retirement. That’s why see them on local TV commercials plugging their restaurants, car lots, furniture stores, and other business ventures. All former footballers aren’t businessmen, however. Many do not have college degrees or work experience outside of football. What’s a person to do?
Enter the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship and the Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship Program.
The Bill Walsh Fellowship is now in its fourth decade of providing opportunities for minorities. The fellowship program’s objective is to use NFL clubs’ training camps, offseason workout programs and minicamps to give coaches opportunities to observe, participate, gain experience and, ultimately, get a full-time NFL coaching position. All 32 NFL clubs participate each year. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and former NFL head coaches Lovie Smith and Marvin Lewis came out of the program
The Nunn-Wooten Fellowship has served to expose former NFL players, as well as college recruiting and personnel staff, to careers in pro football scouting. The fellowship provides participants access to NFL club business and the skills needed for a career in NFL scouting. RJ Webb, a scouting assistant at the Buffalo Bills’ offices, and Keith Jennings, the team’s representative in the BLESTO scouting service are both recipients of the Nunn-Wooten scholarships.
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From team member Chris Keating:Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
God & the ASPCA
Rescuing the lost dogs: Ezekiel 34 has wonderful images of God rescuing the lost sheep of Israel, as well as the promises of God to gather, feed, protect and heal the lost sheep. God’s acts of salvation/rescue are a predominant image in the Reign of Christ texts.
It’s a potent expression of love that many animal lovers can appreciate. “Who rescued whom?” they like to say, which is something that President-elect Joe Biden might know a bit about. When Biden moves into the White House in January, his two year old German Shepherd, Major, will become the first rescue dog owned by a sitting president.
Well, sort of. President Lyndon Johnson’s daughter, Luci, adopted a rescue pup named Yuki, and President Bill Clinton owned a rescue cat named “Socks.”
Major will be joined in the White House by the Biden’s older German Shepherd, Champ. The Bidens adopted Major from the Delaware Humane Association in 2018.
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Psalm 100, Psalm 95
Make a joyful silence to God
This week’s psalms are both familiar psalms of praise which reinforce the community’s role in singing to God. The faithful have always gathered in praise to God — until the realities of Covid-19 appeared. The pandemic has made congregations aware that singing can become a “super spreader” situation. As one author said, “churchgoers aren’t able to lift every voice and sing.”
Singing has been shown to be a high-risk activity in terms of spreading the coronavirus.
So how is the church responding to the dilemma? Donna Cox, a professor of music at the University of Dayton, revealed some insights:
Conversations I have had with church music directors around the country reveal the creativity employed to keep the music going: utilizing solo performers, prerecorded music, reducing the amount of music to the essential in liturgical services and creating virtual choirs.
Those with praise teams and bands that lead the congregation in song found it easier to provide music in online services – with fewer people, social distancing was easier to maintain. As a result, they continued to rehearse and perform in livestreamed or prerecorded services.
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Matthew 25:31-46
Jesus’ final parable of the kingdom in Matthew 25 includes bold images of God’s power, judgment and actions. It’s verses offer a searing indictment of those who have failed to provide comfort and mercy to those in need, while upholding the Beatitudes’ promise that the meek shall inherit the earth.
Christians continue discussing whether “kingdom” may be the most appropriate image of expressing the reign of Christ. Some have proposed “kin-dom” of God as an alternative. (I can tell you spell check routinely rejects that selection, and Google-search does not like it, either.)
Consider what “kingdoms” mean in terms of contemporary usage:
• In the latest season of Netflix’ series, “The Crown,” newly elected Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher comes face to face with the realities of royal life. Invited to Balmoral Castle by the Queen, Thatcher and her husband, Denis, suddenly realize the depth of the social divide. Thatcher, who came from a working class family, crashes against the Royal family’s view of the world. But the divide goes even further as the conservative prime minister gets resistance from established politicians of her own party — who inhabit a very different sort of kingdom.
• President Trump’s refusal to concede the election points to a different sort of kingdom. His behavior has been described as “anti-democratic,” and “authoritarian.” David Leonhardt asks us to imagine this scenario in another country:
– Imagine that a president of another country lost an election and refused to concede defeat. Instead, he lied about the vote count. He then filed lawsuits to have ballots thrown out, put pressure on other officials to back him up and used the power of government to prevent a transition of power from starting.
– One scholar responded, “I never would have imagined seeing something like this in America.
• Finally, consider the power yielded by one Marina Udgodskaya, a resident of Povalikhino, Russia. Ms. Udogskaya worked at cleaning the city hall of this log-cabin village some 300 miles east of Moscow. With a mayoral election looming, the incumbent needed an opponent. Like most elections in Russia, the outcome was already known. The incumbent would win, but he needed a “foil” to make it appear as though the election wasn’t rigged.
That was the plan. But then Ms. Udgodskaya won. Her election sent the Russian media into a frenzy as it bumped into the sort of “managed democracy” that typically occurs in the country. The problem in this system is finding supposed opponents who want to be losers — afterall, who wants to volunteer to be a goat?
She was elected, townspeople said, because they knew her and could trust her.
As it turns out, the outgoing mayor of the village was not too keen about being mayor in the first place. His wife told reporters that while the loss was a painful topic, he never really wanted to be mayor. “He always said you got me into this,” she said.
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WORSHIPby George Reed
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: Let us make a joyful noise to our God.
People: We will worship God with gladness.
Leader: Know that our God is God.
People: God made us and we are God’s.
Leader: Enter God’s gates with thanksgiving and praise.
People: God is good and God’s love endures for ever.
OR
Leader: Let us celebrate the Reign of our Christ.
People: We rejoice that Jesus rules over all creation.
Leader: The Christ does not rule as human rulers do.
People: Our Christ rules in love and compassion for all.
Leader: Let us be faithful members of Christ’ realm.
People: We will love God and all God’s people.
Hymns and Songs:
Come, Thou Almighty King
UMH: 61
H82: 365
PH: 139
AAHH: 327
NNBH: 38
NCH: 275
CH: 27
LBW: 522
ELW: 408
W&P: 148
AMEC: 7
All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
UMH: 154/155
H82: 450/451
PH: 142/143
AAHH: 292/293/294
NNBH: 3/5
NCH: 304
CH: 91/92
LBW: 328/329
ELW: 634
W&P: 100/106
AMEC: 4/5/6
Renew: 45
Jesus Shall Reign
UMH: 157
H82: 544
PH: 423
NNBH: 10
NCH: 300
CH: 95
LBW: 530
ELW: 434
W&P: 341
AMEC: 96
Renew: 296
All Praise to Thee, for Thou, O King Divine
(Although not in most hymnals this hymn fits so well with both the day and the theme of the main article that I thought it was worth including. It is not well known but is set to a well known tune.)
UMH: 166
H82: 477
Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies
UMH: 173
H82: 6/7
PH: 462/463
LBW: 265
ELW: 553
W&P: 91
Now Thank We All Our God
UMH: 102
H82: 396/397
PH: 555
NNBH: 330
NCH: 419
CH: 715
LBW: 533/534
ELW: 839/840
W&P: 14
AMEC: 573
STLT: 32
For the Fruits of This Creation
UMH: 97
H82: 424
PH: 553
NCH: 425
CH: 714
LBW: 563
ELW: 679
W&P: 723
We Gather Together
UMH: 131
H82: 433
PH: 559
NNBH: 326
NCH: 421
CH: 276
ELW: 449
W&P: 81
AMEC: 576
STLT: 349
Jesus’ Hands Were Kind Hands
UMH: 273
W&P: 634
Jesu, Jesu
UMH: 432
H82: 602
PH: 367
NCH: 498
CH: 600
LBW:
ELW: 708
W&P: 273
Renew: 289
All Hail King Jesus
CCB: 29
Renew: 35
He Is Exalted
CCB: 30
Renew: 238
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
ELW: 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 rules over all creation:
Grant us the wisdom to see the Christ as our ruler
that we may learn how to live
loving you and one another;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you rule over all creation. You have given us your Christ to rule over your realm here on earth. Help us learn how to be true citizens of your realm as we love you and love one another. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our failure to live faithfully in the realm of the Christ.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You are our creator and our ruler and yet we offer our allegiance to others. You call us to live in your realm under the rule of love and we choose to live under the rule of this world with its hatred, greed, and selfishness. We claim to be disciples of your Christ but we are poor disciples with split loyalties. Forgive us and renew us in your Spirit that we may truly follow your Christ into the fullness of your reign. Amen.
Leader: God rules over us in love and calls us lovingly to enter into the peaceful realm of the Christ. Heed that call and learn to love God and God’s people more completely.
Prayers of the People
Glory and honor are yours, O God, because you are our creator and our ruler. In love you reign over all of your creation.
(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 are our creator and our ruler and yet we offer our allegiance to others. You call us to live in your realm under the rule of love and we choose to live under the rule of this world with its hatred, greed, and selfishness. We claim to be disciples of your Christ but we are poor disciples with split loyalties. Forgive us and renew us in your Spirit that we may truly follow your Christ into the fullness of your reign.
We give you thanks for the love with which you reign over us. You provide for all our needs and bless us with beauty and wonders. You send your love to us in countless ways and we are grateful. We thank you for those who have learned to share your love with us and with others.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all your children in our need. We pray for those who do not know you are a ruler of love and compassion. We pray for those who because of the ways in which they are treated or the circumstances of their lives find it difficult to think of you as a loving God. We pray for the courage and the will to live more fully as your citizens.
(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 belong. We belong to a family. We belong to a congregation. We might belong to a sports team or to a school. If we belong to a soccer team we are expected to play soccer. If we are in a choir we are expected to sing. If we are part of a family we are expected to be a helpful part of that family (pick up our things, eat together, do chores, etc). Today we celebrate the fact that we belong to Jesus’ family and Jesus is our leader. All through the year we learn how to live as part of Jesus’ realm. So while we celebrate Jesus’ rule today, we are his followers every day.
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CHILDREN'S SERMONJoyful Noises
by Tom Willadsen
Psalm 100
Props: Get a crown, perhaps pick one up at Burger King, or get into the costume closet a little early find one the magi wore for last year’s Christmas pageant.
Today is Christ the King Sunday. The lectionary passages are filled with images of sheep and shepherds. Of course, God is conceived of as a good, faithful shepherd who protects and cares for the flock.
After the kids gather together read the first verse of the psalm: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.” Ask them “what noises sound joyful?”
If they get stuck, be ready with the verse 2: “Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing.” Singing can be a joyful noise. Ask “What other joyful noises can you think of?”
Ask, “Would you make a joyful noise if you were queen or if you were king?” Tell the kids that you want them to think of one thing they would do if they were queen or king. Putting the crown on their heads will help them think.
Give every kid at least one chance to wear the crown and say something they would want or do if they became the ruling monarch.
Be ready with your own idea. They may ask you, or you might think of something.
Two memories from this idea: I first did this in the early 1990s and my wish was for a longer baseball season. Since then the Wild Card game and the Division Series have been added to the Major League Baseball season. Be careful what you wish for.
Another time after a little girl put the crown on, she leaned over and hugged her older sister and said, “I just want to keep loving my sister.” There was not a dry eye in the sanctuary.
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The Immediate Word, November 22, 2020 issue.
Copyright 2020 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.
