To Judge Is Human, To Forgive Divine
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For February 20, 2022:
To Judge Is Human, To Forgive Divine
by Katy Stenta
Luke 6:27-38, Psalm 37:1-11, 35-38, Genesis 45:3-11, 15
In the Scriptures
We want to take God’s job of judging, but if we are wise, we say “that’s above my pay grade” and leave it to God, who is actually more gracious than we ever know. This is what is indicated in Psalm 37:1-11, 35-38. A good example of this is the story of Joseph’s forgiveness of his brothers. He indicates that judgment and forgiveness is actually from God (Genesis 45:3-11, 15).
Clearly we need that reminder often. Luke calls us out over our anger and frustrated judgmentalism: “But I say to you that listen, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27). Do we have ears to hear this message? We talked about this deeply in my prayer group recently. How can we pray for those people that we disagree with, especially those who seem to be spreading hate or violence ... or Covid? What do we do about those whom we love, and disagree with, who die from Covid? We are stuck loving them, but still judging them.
Then it’s carried even further! Jesus tells us to “do good to those who hate you, bless for those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” First I want to take a moment to say that if you are victim of abuse and need to keep healthy boundaries from your abuser, please do so. No one should weaponize the Bible or Jesus against you to force forgiveness or to perpetuate victimhood. Unfortunately, too often churches take the side of an abuser, and misuse this text to force behaviors from a victim, which is further abuse. Forgiveness cannot be forced.
I feel confident in saying that Jesus would never do this because Jesus says if you are able to listen, this is a message for you when you are ready, not before. However, the need for us to not perpetuate violence against ourselves and others by avoiding the dehumanization of our enemy is paramount to learning how to follow Jesus Christ. This passage is a handbook on how to do that. We avoid dehumanization through love, prayer, and blessing one another.
In the News
In an era where the political divide is historic — let us not forget the era of the Civil War. That can be a whitewashing move. It is a hard time to preach forgiveness. And I admit I want to be judgmental. I want to judge about who is, or isn’t wearing a mask — or worse, who is half-heartedly pretending to wear a mask but doesn’t have it on in any way that is effective. I want to judge the people who are ignoring the pleas of the immunocompromised and want to “get back to normal.” I want to talk seriously to my white middle class friends about what “normal” meant for them, and how that normal was not so great for a lot of people. Because, as I often tell my congregation and children, to judge is a very human thing. We are so ready to judge.
Meanwhile as the United States debates on and on about vaccine and mask mandates, and we all judge one another about what is the right way to legislate or promote equitable healthcare, the worldwide distribution of the Covid vaccine is still lacking. The global roll out is still leaving the entire continent of Africa behind and distribution on the whole is unequal. In some ways, we are too busy judging one another to actually try to root out the problems of what countries want what help.
Through this we not only avoid dehumanizing our enemies, and turning into them, but we also have the hope to teach our enemy that we, too, are human. We should not have to prove that we are human, and yet, here we are. A great illustration of this fact is Horton Hears a Who, which many people think is an indirect apology from Dr. Suess to Japan for his racist political cartoons during the war. This apology casts him and the US in the character of the sour kangaroo — and makes the point that the Whos shouldn’t have to scream their existence to be acknowledged.
Finally, death by guns continues to rise. This shows that violence and the lack of love for one another is certainly an issue. The CDC wants to launch a full study as the causes of gun violence in the United States, one that is not based on feelings or suppositions, but instead on socio-economics and data. Because of the strength of the gun lobby there has not been such research in over twenty years, so it has been hard to stop gun violence. There is not only a lack of love, but also an ongoing dehumanization when we try to name the causes. We blame mental illness, gangs, or poverty, but seem to ignore the real human problems that might be at the root of gun violence.
In the Sermon
“Let’s just love and forgive one another” seems like almost too simple a thing to say, and an almost impossible thing to do. These words need concrete actions put behind them. How are we not going to judge the person who does not get it about Covid? How are we going to love the country of Russia who is even, as we speak, building up borders for a potential war and doping their minor athletes to cheat in the Olympics? How do we face the reality of gun violence in a real and tenable way without dismissing it as “not our problem” because it only happens “over there” or “to those people” or the incident “was domestic?”
Fred Rogers put it best “Love isn't a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.” How are we going to do that today and every day?
Let us love and forgive one another, or in the very least, not dehumanize one another, as best as we are able. And in the meantime, may God give us the ears to hear the grace God has for us.
SECOND THOUGHTS
God’s Next Chapter
by Mary Austin
Genesis 45:3-11, 15
In this week’s story from Genesis 45:3-15, we find Joseph on the other side of life-changing loss, and he’s no longer the thoughtless, aggravating youngster he once was. During his years in Egypt, he’s made his way through false accusations that land him in prison, through a rise at Pharaoh’s court, gaining his confidence, and then through the process of organizing the nation to save grain for the coming famine. When his brothers appear, he cries his tears in private.
Calm in the face of pressure is a hallmark of people who already know sorrow. Skater Nathan Chen failed to meet people’s expectations at the 2018 Olympics, and he has more than compensated for it this year. Someone watching him skate to the gold medal said, “Sometimes you can want something so much that when it finally happens the moment is drained of emotion. For four years, the 22-year-old Chen has tried to distance himself from the disaster of his first Olympic Games, never able to forget a horrific short program in which he failed to fully land any of his jumps and was never in contention for a medal he seemed sure to win in PyeongChang. He has rebounded with a fierce, focused, almost robotic zeal, winning all but one of his events since his 2018 failure.”
Perhaps this level of calm also carried snowboarder and five time Olympian Lindsey Jacobellis toward her gold medal in this year’s Olympics. “In 2006, Lindsey Jacobellis was one jump away from securing the gold medal in snowboard cross. With a sizable lead between her and the next-closest competitor, it looked like all but a guarantee. And then the unthinkable happened — she attempted a trick and fell.” Jacobellis ended up with the silver medal — and a lot of second guessing.
She went to the next three Olympic games, and was never able to win a medal. This year, at the age of 36, “and likely participating in her final Olympics, Jacobellis wasn't a favorite to medal in 2022. But she took the lead early in the final — and never relinquished it. She crossed the finish line to win her first gold medal, and the first for Team USA in Beijing. She became the oldest US woman athlete to win a medal of any kind at the Winter Olympics. Three days later, she won a second gold medal — with teammate Nick Baumgartner in the Olympic debut of mixed snowboard cross.”
Jacobellis’ story, like Joseph’s, is more complicated than it seems at first. Jacobellis says, “I’m sure we can go into everyone’s past…and pick out something that they coulda, shoulda, woulda done. It’s just mine was on a world stage that people have a hard time forgetting, or they just think that’s the only thing that’s happened or that it defined me as an athlete.” She hired a mental fitness coach to help her with her dread of the Olympic games, and the scrutiny they bring about her past. “Between the Olympics disappointments, Jacobellis spent years winning World Cup trophies, X Games titles and world championships. She became a role model in her sport, revered for her work ethic and her consistency. Outside the sport’s bubble, though, the questions about the Olympics kept coming, relentlessly, every four years.”
Years before this scene, when his brothers get angry and sell Joseph away from the family, Joseph is a spoiled, annoying brat. Through decades of hardship and hard work, he transforms himself into someone who can be trusted. He creates a new family for himself. Whatever sorrow he holds about his brothers, he’s not mired in anger. When they reappear, he’s ready to take a step toward them — after he tests who they are.
Joseph first accuses his brothers of being spies, and puts them in jail. We overhear them talking to each other, and they understand this to be a punishment for the wrong they did to Joseph years ago. From this conversation, we can imagine the guilt and regret that have weighed on them every day since. They have to look at their father and know that they caused him grief, and also told a terrible lie. They also have to leave their brother Simeon behind. Later, when Joseph frames his younger brother and makes him look guilty of stealing a valuable cup, the older brothers won’t leave him behind. They have learned the depth of their father’s existing grief, and they announce that this new sorrow will kill him.
When Joseph reveals himself to them, we see that he has changed, and they have, too.
Joseph explains that he has found God’s hand at work in the ups and downs of his life. He tells his brothers, “do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.” He sees that his life has a purpose in God’s plans, and his purpose is not just for his own family, but also for the people of Egypt. Ironically, the people he’s now saving will come to oppress his descendants.
Curiously, the Joseph who once overstated his importance to his brothers now undersells his own role in God’s plans. God was able to use him because he was always faithful to God, and because he worked hard on God’s behalf. He takes all of the pain and fear of the past, all of the sorrow and injustice, and uses them in service first to God, then to the people of his adopted country, and finally to his original family. He has already lived through so much upheaval that he's ready for the challenges that come, and he’s prepared to be a different man when his family arrives.
We talk about redemption stories as if winning a gold medal is the mark of redemption. Joseph, and our Olympic athletes, reminds us that redemption happens on the inside before it ever shows on the outside. Joseph has grown enough to see a much bigger picture, and to say to his brothers, “So it was not you who sent me here, but God.”
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
Luke 6:27-38
The (Universal) Golden Rule
The Golden Rule or a version of it appears in nearly every major religion and philosophy in the world. Here are a few examples:
Bahá'í Faith:
• "Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not." "Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself."
• Baha'u'llah — "And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself." Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. 1
Brahmanism:
• "This is the sum of Dharma [duty]: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you." Mahabharata, 5:1517 "
Buddhism:
• "...a state that is not pleasing or delightful to me, how could I inflict that upon another?" Samyutta NIkaya v. 353
• "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." Udana-Varga 5:18
Christianity:
• • "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Matthew 7:12, King James Version.
• • "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise" Luke 6:31, King James Version.
• • "...and don't do what you hate...", Gospel of Thomas 6. The Gospel of Thomas is one of about 40 gospels that circulated among the early Christian movement, but which never made it into the Christian Scriptures (New Testament).
Confucianism:
• "Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you" Analects 15:23
• "Tse-kung asked, 'Is there one word that can serve as a principle of conduct for life?' Confucius replied, 'It is the word 'shu' -- reciprocity. Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.'" Doctrine of the Mean 13.3
• "Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence." Mencius VII.A.4
Ancient Egyptian:
• "Do for one who may do for you, that you may cause him thus to do." The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, 109-110 Translated by R.B. Parkinson. The original dates to circa 1800 BCE and may be the earliest version of the Epic of Reciprocity ever written.
Hinduism:
• This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you. Mahabharata 5:1517
Islam:
• "None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." Number 13 of Imam "Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths."
Jainism:
• "Therefore, neither does he [a sage] cause violence to others nor does he make others do so." Acarangasutra 5.101-2.
• "In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self." Lord Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara
• "A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated." Sutrakritanga 1.11.33
Judaism:
• "...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."$25 Leviticus 19:18
• "What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. This is the law: all the rest is commentary." Talmud, Shabbat 31a.
• "And what you hate, do not do to anyone." Tobit 4:1
* * *
Luke 6:27-38, Genesis 45:3-11, 15
The Prodigal Paco
There's a Spanish parable of a father and son who had a violent argument after which the son ran away. After a few months, the father set off to find him. He searched for more than a year but came up empty. Finally, in a desperate final effort to find him, the father put an ad in a big city newspaper: Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father.
On Saturday 800 Pacos showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.
* * *
Luke 6:27-38, Genesis 45:3-11, 15
A forgiveness too far?
True forgiveness always demands something of the forgiver. Without the willingness to give up something — hate, resentment, revenge, etc. — forgiveness is simply an empty gesture.
Marie de Medicis, the Italian-born wife of King Henri IV of France, reigned as regent for their son Louis after her husband's death in 1610. After Louis came of age her relationship with him soured and they lived in a state of ongoing hostility. Marie also came to resent, even hate, Cardinal Richelieu, whom she had helped in his rise to political power when he went over to her son's side.
While on her deathbed, Marie was visited by Fabio Chigi, who was papal nuncio of France. Marie vowed to forgive all of her enemies, including Cardinal Richelieu. "Madam," asked Chigi, "as a mark of reconciliation, will you send him the bracelet you wear on your arm?"
"No," she replied firmly, "that would be too much."
* * *
Luke 6:27-38, Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Prelude To Forgiveness (Humor)
A Sunday school teacher was trying to explain the concept of grace to her class of first graders and was having a hard time of it. Finally, to see if her message had gotten across, she asked them, “So, what do you have to do before you can obtain forgiveness?”
After a long silence, one of the children offered, “Something bad?”
* * *
Luke 6:27-38, Genesis 45:3-11, 15
A 39 Year Injustice
Ricky Jackson was convicted in 1975, at the age of 19, along with two friends, of the murder of a man named Harold Franks. The evidence against Jackson was all based on the witness statement of a thirteen-year-old boy, on a school bus that was a block away from the scene.
The boy, Eddie Vernon, was challenged by classmates who were with him on the bus at the time, all of them claiming that it would have been impossible for him to have seen the murder from where the bus was.
There was no further evidence presented to the jury in Cleveland, Ohio, to back up the unreliable witness statement, but it was enough to see Jackson sentenced to death. Jackson and his friends only avoided execution because of a paperwork error.
At an appeal hearing in 2014, Eddie Vernon finally admitted that it had in fact been impossible for him to witness the crime from his position on the bus and he was coerced by police into lying. Jackson won the appeal and was released after spending 39 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
Clive Stafford-Smith, the head of Reprieve, a London-based human rights charity, concluded that much of what sent Ricky Jackson to death row was common: a witness coached by the police into a version of events that would gain an easy conviction; a woeful lack of reliable evidence linking him to the crime; inept lawyering, especially for poor people; a jury or judge not willing to countenance doubt; and a ‘justice’ system where, once convicted, it becomes nearly impossible to overturn a sentence.’
Thanks to his team of lawyers, Jackson will now receive $2 million in compensation. However, no matter how high the sum of money is it can never adequately compensate for taking away nearly forty years of his life and preventing him from living a normal life.
Faced with such a tragic situation, it would be understandable for Jackson to be bitter and angry. But, when he was asked if he felt angry about his incarceration after his release, he said, “A lot of people will want me to hate that person and carry animosity toward him but I don’t,” he said. “As far as that young man is concerned, I don’t hate him, I just wish he has a good life… it took a lot of courage to say he lied. In the end, he came through for me and I’m grateful.”
* * * * * *
From team member Chris Keating:
Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Looking beyond silver linings
Joseph makes a surprise entrance this week — both in the lectionary and in Egypt. It may be hard preaching this story without the benefit of the larger context of the entire saga of Joseph’s history with his brothers. This is much more than a surprise reunion! (“Bruh, it’s you!”)
Reading this pericope in isolation from Joseph’s arduous growth and transformation out of suffering while in Egypt runs the risk of trivializing the text. The challenge is to keep the story from becoming a version of a certain televangelist’s commercial for miracle water, or other varieties of North American prosperity theology that promise “your best life now.”
Author, theologian and cancer survivor Kate Bowler has focused her professional career on researching the prosperity Gospel while navigating stage IV incurable cancer. Her recent memoir, No Cure for Being Human tells of Bowler visiting the hospital gift shop soon after her first surgery. Inside the store, Bowler finds a carousel stocked with copies of recent Christian bestsellers, all books authored by popular preachers. As Bowler plucks the books from their shelf, the store manager approaches and ask if she can help with something.
“But I am coming in hot,” writes Bowler. “Yes! Thank you,” she tells the manager. “I need you to know these books are not suitable to be sold in a hospital.” She continues, telling the confused manager that, as a scholar of prosperity theology and a cancer patient, she finds such titles as Joel Osteen’s Finding Your Best Life Now especially painful. “Normally, okay. I can handle this. But you can’t sell this in a hospital. You can’t sell this to me,” she adds, sharing that it sounds as if the hospital might be blaming their patients for their own diseases (pp. 12 ff.)
This is not to say that Bowler — or Joseph — live without hope, or a belief that God is somehow present in times of struggle. Instead, she points to the enduring providence of God’s solidarity with those who suffer. Toward the end of the book, Bowler describes the nature of this hope. “Someday we won’t need courage. Time itself will be wrapped up with a bow, and God will draw us all into the eternal moment where there will be no suffering, no pain, no email…in the meantime, we are stuck with our beautiful, terrible finitude.” (p.191) That may be akin to running into the very brothers who sold you into slavery.
* * *
Luke 6:27-38
Judge not, lest you be burned on Twitter
Last week, Japanese Olympic snowboarder Ayumu Hirano completed what one commentator called “the best run that’s ever been done in the halfpipe.”
Apparently, the judges didn’t agree. Hirano scored just a bit lower than first place contender Scotty James from Australia. Hirano’s score did not sit well with social media. Fans bombarded Twitter with complaints about the judges. As it happens, the same judges were also criticized for their decisions in the men’s slopestyle final. In that event, judges failed to deduct points from Max Parrot for grabbing his knee and not his snowboard during a jump.
For his part, Hirano was more closely aligned with Jesus’ admonition to persevere in moments of trial. He insisted that the judge’s original score stand, only to come back with a near-perfect execution during finals to clinch the gold medal.
One can only imagine how Jesus would have performed in the halfpipe.
* * *
Luke 6:27-38
Facing enemies
As fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine continuing to mount, Cabinet officials and senior White House administration members are weighing options and planning strategies. According to the officials cited by The Washington Post, national security officials have been quietly staging tabletop exercises and assembling a playbook of options in case Vladimir Putin moves troops into Ukraine. They’re not planning on turning the other cheek, but are instead creating a path of viable options should they become necessary.
“Our hope is still that there’s a diplomatic path to avoiding all of this so we never have to use the playbook,” said Jonathan Finer, a member of President Biden’s national security team. “But this is all about making sure we are ready to go if and when we have to be.”
* * *
Luke 6:27-38
Practicing forgiveness
While Washington determines strike-force capability, others are embracing the moral ground of Jesus’ sermon on the plain by honing the difficult work of forgiveness. In 1965, Edward David White, an 18-year-old father in Philadelphia, was shot and left to die in the street. More than fifty years later, White’s children and family members met face to face with his murderer recently and received his apology and plans for restitution.
At the time he shot White, Larry Miller was a teenage gang member who was drunk and looking to kill the first person he met. Today, after serving time in prison for that and other crimes, Miller is chairman of Nike’s Michael Jordan brand, and former president of the Portland Trail Blazers. His pathway from the penitentiary to the board room, kept secret for many years, has now been detailed in an autobiography penned with the help of his daughter.
While White’s name is not mentioned in Miller’s book, family members read about it in an Sports Illustrated article, which did identify White as the victim. Prompted by a New York Times article that described the family as feeling “blindsided” by Miller’s book, Miller arranged a meeting with the family in December, 2021.
White’s 84-year old sister attended the emotional meeting. She told Miller she had forgiven him, because “if I didn’t forgive him, God wouldn’t forgive me.” She reported that Miller kept apologizing as she read a letter describing her brother as being a hard worker who had a sense of style and a love for The Temptations. When she finished, Miller asked if he could hug her, and she agreed. But she also told him, “If I was 30 years younger, I would have been across the table at you.”
During a second meeting, Miller presented a plan to establish a permanent scholarship fund in White’s memory to assist his descendants in attending college or trade school.
Miller hopes that his book will help change people’s views on mass incarceration. For her part, White’s sister says that she’s not “100 percent forgiving” of Miller, but she is working toward it because “I can’t live in a space of hardness and hate; that won’t do me or my spirit any good.”
* * * * * *
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship
One: Trust in God, and do good. Take delight in God.
All: It is from God that we receive the desires of our hearts.
One: Be still before God, and wait patiently for God’s presence.
All: Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath.
One: The salvation of the righteous is from God.
All: Our God is our refuge in the time of trouble.
OR
One: God comes among us even in our sinfulness.
All: We tremble in fear at the holiness of God.
One: Do not fear but rejoice for God comes in grace.
All: We are thankful for God’s grace and forgiveness.
One: God brings grace to us and for us to share.
All: We rejoice in God’s grace for us and will share it with others.
Hymns and Songs
All People That on Earth Do Dwell
UMH: 75
H82: 377/378
PH: 220/221
NNBH: 36
NCH: 7
CH: 18
LBW: 245
ELW: 883
W&P: 661
AMEC: 73
STLT: 370
From All That Dwell Below the Skies
UMH: 101
H82: 380
PH: 229
NCH: 27
CH: 49
LBW: 550
AMEC: 69
STLT: 381
Help Us Accept Each Other
UMH: 560
PH: 358
NCH: 388
CH: 487
W&P: 596
AMEC: 558
Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive
UMH: 390
H82: 674
PH: 347
LBW: 307
ELW: 605
W&P: 382
Renew: 184
Take My Life, and Let It Be
UMH: 399
H82: 707
PH: 391
NNBH: 213
NCH: 448
CH: 609
LBW: 406
ELW: 583/685
W&P: 466
AMEC: 292
Renew: 150
Breathe on Me, Breath of God
UMH: 420
H82: 508
PH: 316
AAHH: 317
NNBH: 126
NCH: 292
CH: 254
LBW: 488
W&P: 461
AMEC: 192
O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee
UMH: 430
H82: 659/66
PH: 357
NNBH: 445
NCH: 503
CH: 602
LBW: 492
ELW: 818
W&P: 589
AMEC: 299
Let There Be Peace on Earth
UMH: 431
CH: 667
W&P: 614
Where Charity and Love Prevail
UMH: 549
H82: 581
NCH: 396
LBW: 126
ELW: 359
In Christ There is No East or West
UMH: 548
H82: 529
PH: 439/440
AAHH: 398/399
NNBH: 299
NCH: 394/395
CH: 687
LBW: 259
ELW: 650
W&P: 600/603
AMEC: 557
Walk with Me
CCB: 88
Humble Yourself in the Sight of the Lord
CCB: 72
Renew: 188
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 formed us from the same earth
and breathed into us the same Spirit:
Grant us the wisdom and courage to accept each other
refraining from judging and condemning others;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are the creator of all. Out of the same earth you formed us and with your own Spirit you breathed life into us all. Help us to accept each other and to not condemn but to bless all. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially when we condemn others.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have so graciously offered forgiveness and redemption to all your children and yet we continue to sit in judgement on them. We are grateful for the forgiveness you offer us but we are loath to offer it to others. We are quick to judge and just as quick to condemn. In our judging of others we offend against your love, harm our own souls, and warp the unity that you bestow on all creation. Forgive us and renew us in your love that we may truly act as your children. Amen.
One: God’s love is always wrapped in unending grace. Receive God’s forgiveness and grace and share it liberally with others.
Prayers of the People
Praise and glory to you, O God who is love eternal. Your love sustains all creation in your endless grace.
(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 have so graciously offered forgiveness and redemption to all your children and yet we continue to sit in judgement on them. We are grateful for the forgiveness you offer us but we are loath to offer it to others. We are quick to judge and just as quick to condemn. In our judging of others we offend against your love, harm our own souls, and warp the unity that you bestow on all creation. Forgive us and renew us in your love that we may truly act as your children.
We thank you for all the ways you shower us with your grace and acceptance. We thank you for those who radiate your love and show us how to live in your grace. We thank you for the unity of humanity and how you created us all from the same earth and filled us all with the same breath.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We pray for those who are close and dear to us, for those we do not know, and for those who we see as our enemies. We pray for healing and wholeness for all creation. Help us to speak and act in ways that bring your gracious presence to others.
(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
Trying On Shoes
by Chris Keating
Luke 6:27-38
Gather ahead of time: a variety of sizes and types of shoes (sneakers, uniform shoes, work boots, rain boots, dress shoes, etc.)
“Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31, NRSV).
This week’s lengthy Gospel lesson offers several prospects for a scripture conversation with children. Older children might connect with Jesus’ teaching on loving our enemies. This could be an especially timely (though sensitive) topic with the current tensions between Russia and Ukraine, though children experience scaled-down versions of tensions with other children every day. If you go this route, plan ahead and consider reading one of the many excellent children’s books about dealing with enemies such as Desmond and the Very Mean Word, written by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams, or Enemy Pie by Derek Munson.
Another suggestion would be to help children practice empathy by thinking about Jesus’ words in 6:31. They may have heard these referred to as the “Golden Rule,” and may not immediately identify them as words of Jesus. For some, “doing to others” means punching first or getting even. But couched inside Jesus’ teachings on the plain, these words offer disciples an instruction on how to love others. Explain that this is difficult work because it involves us trying to see things from another person’s perspective.
Learning the “golden rule” means developing our sense of empathy, which may seem harder than it sounds.
Ask the kids if they are familiar with the saying, “You cannot understand a person until you have walked a mile in their shoes.” Have they ever tried to walk around in someone else’s shoes? That is sometimes hard, and can even look humorous! But different shoes can tell us a lot about different people’s experiences. Hold up one of the shoes and ask the children if they can imagine who might wear those sorts of shoes — a child? An adult, a baby, and so forth. Hold up a pair of work boots and ask them to wonder what sort of things a person who wears work boots might do all day. What might it be like to spend an entire day working outside? Imagine if they were firefighter boots, or astronaut shoes. Maybe we have seen people wearing old shoes that are beat up and worn. Our first impression might be to say, “They need to buy new shoes,” but we may not know that they are actually trying the best they can. Our experience of the world changes as we consider things from another’s point of view.
Learning about the experiences of others humbles us so that we can see the world is just a bit bigger than we may have imagined. Making quick judgments about others is very easy, but sometimes we do not know everything about that person.
When I was growing up, there was a man in our church whose face had been disfigured by polio. Because of this paralysis, speaking was especially hard for him. Many people avoided talking with him because they wrongly judged him to not enjoy speaking or because they were uncomfortable around him. What we did not know was that he was a retired minister. One day, he preached the sermon for our pastor. He talked about his life, but also about his faith — and we learned he was an amazing, caring man whose empathy for others had led him to work with homeless persons.
We didn’t actually “walk” in his shoes, but were given a chance to learn about his faith. It was humbling for many people who had previously judged him because of his condition.
Jesus asks his disciples to avoid judging. He invites us to live with grace and mercy, accepting others as God has accepted us. That is a good rule for everyone, of course, but for Christians it takes on special meaning because Jesus has called us to love as God loves.
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The Immediate Word, February 20, 2022 issue.
Copyright 2022 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.
- To Judge Is Human, To Forgive Divine by Katy Stenta based on Luke 6:27-38, Psalm 37:1-11, 35-38, Genesis 45:3-11, 15.
- Second Thoughts: God’s Next Chapter by Mary Austin based on Genesis 45:3-11, 15.
- Sermon illustrations by Dean Feldmeyer, Chris Keating.
- Worship resources by George Reed.
- Children's sermon: Trying On Shoes by Chris Keating based on Luke 6:27-38.
To Judge Is Human, To Forgive Divine
by Katy Stenta
Luke 6:27-38, Psalm 37:1-11, 35-38, Genesis 45:3-11, 15
In the Scriptures
We want to take God’s job of judging, but if we are wise, we say “that’s above my pay grade” and leave it to God, who is actually more gracious than we ever know. This is what is indicated in Psalm 37:1-11, 35-38. A good example of this is the story of Joseph’s forgiveness of his brothers. He indicates that judgment and forgiveness is actually from God (Genesis 45:3-11, 15).
Clearly we need that reminder often. Luke calls us out over our anger and frustrated judgmentalism: “But I say to you that listen, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27). Do we have ears to hear this message? We talked about this deeply in my prayer group recently. How can we pray for those people that we disagree with, especially those who seem to be spreading hate or violence ... or Covid? What do we do about those whom we love, and disagree with, who die from Covid? We are stuck loving them, but still judging them.
Then it’s carried even further! Jesus tells us to “do good to those who hate you, bless for those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” First I want to take a moment to say that if you are victim of abuse and need to keep healthy boundaries from your abuser, please do so. No one should weaponize the Bible or Jesus against you to force forgiveness or to perpetuate victimhood. Unfortunately, too often churches take the side of an abuser, and misuse this text to force behaviors from a victim, which is further abuse. Forgiveness cannot be forced.
I feel confident in saying that Jesus would never do this because Jesus says if you are able to listen, this is a message for you when you are ready, not before. However, the need for us to not perpetuate violence against ourselves and others by avoiding the dehumanization of our enemy is paramount to learning how to follow Jesus Christ. This passage is a handbook on how to do that. We avoid dehumanization through love, prayer, and blessing one another.
In the News
In an era where the political divide is historic — let us not forget the era of the Civil War. That can be a whitewashing move. It is a hard time to preach forgiveness. And I admit I want to be judgmental. I want to judge about who is, or isn’t wearing a mask — or worse, who is half-heartedly pretending to wear a mask but doesn’t have it on in any way that is effective. I want to judge the people who are ignoring the pleas of the immunocompromised and want to “get back to normal.” I want to talk seriously to my white middle class friends about what “normal” meant for them, and how that normal was not so great for a lot of people. Because, as I often tell my congregation and children, to judge is a very human thing. We are so ready to judge.
Meanwhile as the United States debates on and on about vaccine and mask mandates, and we all judge one another about what is the right way to legislate or promote equitable healthcare, the worldwide distribution of the Covid vaccine is still lacking. The global roll out is still leaving the entire continent of Africa behind and distribution on the whole is unequal. In some ways, we are too busy judging one another to actually try to root out the problems of what countries want what help.
Through this we not only avoid dehumanizing our enemies, and turning into them, but we also have the hope to teach our enemy that we, too, are human. We should not have to prove that we are human, and yet, here we are. A great illustration of this fact is Horton Hears a Who, which many people think is an indirect apology from Dr. Suess to Japan for his racist political cartoons during the war. This apology casts him and the US in the character of the sour kangaroo — and makes the point that the Whos shouldn’t have to scream their existence to be acknowledged.
Finally, death by guns continues to rise. This shows that violence and the lack of love for one another is certainly an issue. The CDC wants to launch a full study as the causes of gun violence in the United States, one that is not based on feelings or suppositions, but instead on socio-economics and data. Because of the strength of the gun lobby there has not been such research in over twenty years, so it has been hard to stop gun violence. There is not only a lack of love, but also an ongoing dehumanization when we try to name the causes. We blame mental illness, gangs, or poverty, but seem to ignore the real human problems that might be at the root of gun violence.
In the Sermon
“Let’s just love and forgive one another” seems like almost too simple a thing to say, and an almost impossible thing to do. These words need concrete actions put behind them. How are we not going to judge the person who does not get it about Covid? How are we going to love the country of Russia who is even, as we speak, building up borders for a potential war and doping their minor athletes to cheat in the Olympics? How do we face the reality of gun violence in a real and tenable way without dismissing it as “not our problem” because it only happens “over there” or “to those people” or the incident “was domestic?”
Fred Rogers put it best “Love isn't a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.” How are we going to do that today and every day?
Let us love and forgive one another, or in the very least, not dehumanize one another, as best as we are able. And in the meantime, may God give us the ears to hear the grace God has for us.
SECOND THOUGHTSGod’s Next Chapter
by Mary Austin
Genesis 45:3-11, 15
In this week’s story from Genesis 45:3-15, we find Joseph on the other side of life-changing loss, and he’s no longer the thoughtless, aggravating youngster he once was. During his years in Egypt, he’s made his way through false accusations that land him in prison, through a rise at Pharaoh’s court, gaining his confidence, and then through the process of organizing the nation to save grain for the coming famine. When his brothers appear, he cries his tears in private.
Calm in the face of pressure is a hallmark of people who already know sorrow. Skater Nathan Chen failed to meet people’s expectations at the 2018 Olympics, and he has more than compensated for it this year. Someone watching him skate to the gold medal said, “Sometimes you can want something so much that when it finally happens the moment is drained of emotion. For four years, the 22-year-old Chen has tried to distance himself from the disaster of his first Olympic Games, never able to forget a horrific short program in which he failed to fully land any of his jumps and was never in contention for a medal he seemed sure to win in PyeongChang. He has rebounded with a fierce, focused, almost robotic zeal, winning all but one of his events since his 2018 failure.”
Perhaps this level of calm also carried snowboarder and five time Olympian Lindsey Jacobellis toward her gold medal in this year’s Olympics. “In 2006, Lindsey Jacobellis was one jump away from securing the gold medal in snowboard cross. With a sizable lead between her and the next-closest competitor, it looked like all but a guarantee. And then the unthinkable happened — she attempted a trick and fell.” Jacobellis ended up with the silver medal — and a lot of second guessing.
She went to the next three Olympic games, and was never able to win a medal. This year, at the age of 36, “and likely participating in her final Olympics, Jacobellis wasn't a favorite to medal in 2022. But she took the lead early in the final — and never relinquished it. She crossed the finish line to win her first gold medal, and the first for Team USA in Beijing. She became the oldest US woman athlete to win a medal of any kind at the Winter Olympics. Three days later, she won a second gold medal — with teammate Nick Baumgartner in the Olympic debut of mixed snowboard cross.”
Jacobellis’ story, like Joseph’s, is more complicated than it seems at first. Jacobellis says, “I’m sure we can go into everyone’s past…and pick out something that they coulda, shoulda, woulda done. It’s just mine was on a world stage that people have a hard time forgetting, or they just think that’s the only thing that’s happened or that it defined me as an athlete.” She hired a mental fitness coach to help her with her dread of the Olympic games, and the scrutiny they bring about her past. “Between the Olympics disappointments, Jacobellis spent years winning World Cup trophies, X Games titles and world championships. She became a role model in her sport, revered for her work ethic and her consistency. Outside the sport’s bubble, though, the questions about the Olympics kept coming, relentlessly, every four years.”
Years before this scene, when his brothers get angry and sell Joseph away from the family, Joseph is a spoiled, annoying brat. Through decades of hardship and hard work, he transforms himself into someone who can be trusted. He creates a new family for himself. Whatever sorrow he holds about his brothers, he’s not mired in anger. When they reappear, he’s ready to take a step toward them — after he tests who they are.
Joseph first accuses his brothers of being spies, and puts them in jail. We overhear them talking to each other, and they understand this to be a punishment for the wrong they did to Joseph years ago. From this conversation, we can imagine the guilt and regret that have weighed on them every day since. They have to look at their father and know that they caused him grief, and also told a terrible lie. They also have to leave their brother Simeon behind. Later, when Joseph frames his younger brother and makes him look guilty of stealing a valuable cup, the older brothers won’t leave him behind. They have learned the depth of their father’s existing grief, and they announce that this new sorrow will kill him.
When Joseph reveals himself to them, we see that he has changed, and they have, too.
Joseph explains that he has found God’s hand at work in the ups and downs of his life. He tells his brothers, “do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.” He sees that his life has a purpose in God’s plans, and his purpose is not just for his own family, but also for the people of Egypt. Ironically, the people he’s now saving will come to oppress his descendants.
Curiously, the Joseph who once overstated his importance to his brothers now undersells his own role in God’s plans. God was able to use him because he was always faithful to God, and because he worked hard on God’s behalf. He takes all of the pain and fear of the past, all of the sorrow and injustice, and uses them in service first to God, then to the people of his adopted country, and finally to his original family. He has already lived through so much upheaval that he's ready for the challenges that come, and he’s prepared to be a different man when his family arrives.
We talk about redemption stories as if winning a gold medal is the mark of redemption. Joseph, and our Olympic athletes, reminds us that redemption happens on the inside before it ever shows on the outside. Joseph has grown enough to see a much bigger picture, and to say to his brothers, “So it was not you who sent me here, but God.”
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:Luke 6:27-38
The (Universal) Golden Rule
The Golden Rule or a version of it appears in nearly every major religion and philosophy in the world. Here are a few examples:
Bahá'í Faith:
• "Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not." "Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself."
• Baha'u'llah — "And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself." Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. 1
Brahmanism:
• "This is the sum of Dharma [duty]: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you." Mahabharata, 5:1517 "
Buddhism:
• "...a state that is not pleasing or delightful to me, how could I inflict that upon another?" Samyutta NIkaya v. 353
• "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." Udana-Varga 5:18
Christianity:
• • "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Matthew 7:12, King James Version.
• • "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise" Luke 6:31, King James Version.
• • "...and don't do what you hate...", Gospel of Thomas 6. The Gospel of Thomas is one of about 40 gospels that circulated among the early Christian movement, but which never made it into the Christian Scriptures (New Testament).
Confucianism:
• "Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you" Analects 15:23
• "Tse-kung asked, 'Is there one word that can serve as a principle of conduct for life?' Confucius replied, 'It is the word 'shu' -- reciprocity. Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.'" Doctrine of the Mean 13.3
• "Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence." Mencius VII.A.4
Ancient Egyptian:
• "Do for one who may do for you, that you may cause him thus to do." The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, 109-110 Translated by R.B. Parkinson. The original dates to circa 1800 BCE and may be the earliest version of the Epic of Reciprocity ever written.
Hinduism:
• This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you. Mahabharata 5:1517
Islam:
• "None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." Number 13 of Imam "Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths."
Jainism:
• "Therefore, neither does he [a sage] cause violence to others nor does he make others do so." Acarangasutra 5.101-2.
• "In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self." Lord Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara
• "A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated." Sutrakritanga 1.11.33
Judaism:
• "...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."$25 Leviticus 19:18
• "What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. This is the law: all the rest is commentary." Talmud, Shabbat 31a.
• "And what you hate, do not do to anyone." Tobit 4:1
* * *
Luke 6:27-38, Genesis 45:3-11, 15
The Prodigal Paco
There's a Spanish parable of a father and son who had a violent argument after which the son ran away. After a few months, the father set off to find him. He searched for more than a year but came up empty. Finally, in a desperate final effort to find him, the father put an ad in a big city newspaper: Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father.
On Saturday 800 Pacos showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.
* * *
Luke 6:27-38, Genesis 45:3-11, 15
A forgiveness too far?
True forgiveness always demands something of the forgiver. Without the willingness to give up something — hate, resentment, revenge, etc. — forgiveness is simply an empty gesture.
Marie de Medicis, the Italian-born wife of King Henri IV of France, reigned as regent for their son Louis after her husband's death in 1610. After Louis came of age her relationship with him soured and they lived in a state of ongoing hostility. Marie also came to resent, even hate, Cardinal Richelieu, whom she had helped in his rise to political power when he went over to her son's side.
While on her deathbed, Marie was visited by Fabio Chigi, who was papal nuncio of France. Marie vowed to forgive all of her enemies, including Cardinal Richelieu. "Madam," asked Chigi, "as a mark of reconciliation, will you send him the bracelet you wear on your arm?"
"No," she replied firmly, "that would be too much."
* * *
Luke 6:27-38, Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Prelude To Forgiveness (Humor)
A Sunday school teacher was trying to explain the concept of grace to her class of first graders and was having a hard time of it. Finally, to see if her message had gotten across, she asked them, “So, what do you have to do before you can obtain forgiveness?”
After a long silence, one of the children offered, “Something bad?”
* * *
Luke 6:27-38, Genesis 45:3-11, 15
A 39 Year Injustice
Ricky Jackson was convicted in 1975, at the age of 19, along with two friends, of the murder of a man named Harold Franks. The evidence against Jackson was all based on the witness statement of a thirteen-year-old boy, on a school bus that was a block away from the scene.
The boy, Eddie Vernon, was challenged by classmates who were with him on the bus at the time, all of them claiming that it would have been impossible for him to have seen the murder from where the bus was.
There was no further evidence presented to the jury in Cleveland, Ohio, to back up the unreliable witness statement, but it was enough to see Jackson sentenced to death. Jackson and his friends only avoided execution because of a paperwork error.
At an appeal hearing in 2014, Eddie Vernon finally admitted that it had in fact been impossible for him to witness the crime from his position on the bus and he was coerced by police into lying. Jackson won the appeal and was released after spending 39 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
Clive Stafford-Smith, the head of Reprieve, a London-based human rights charity, concluded that much of what sent Ricky Jackson to death row was common: a witness coached by the police into a version of events that would gain an easy conviction; a woeful lack of reliable evidence linking him to the crime; inept lawyering, especially for poor people; a jury or judge not willing to countenance doubt; and a ‘justice’ system where, once convicted, it becomes nearly impossible to overturn a sentence.’
Thanks to his team of lawyers, Jackson will now receive $2 million in compensation. However, no matter how high the sum of money is it can never adequately compensate for taking away nearly forty years of his life and preventing him from living a normal life.
Faced with such a tragic situation, it would be understandable for Jackson to be bitter and angry. But, when he was asked if he felt angry about his incarceration after his release, he said, “A lot of people will want me to hate that person and carry animosity toward him but I don’t,” he said. “As far as that young man is concerned, I don’t hate him, I just wish he has a good life… it took a lot of courage to say he lied. In the end, he came through for me and I’m grateful.”
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From team member Chris Keating:Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Looking beyond silver linings
Joseph makes a surprise entrance this week — both in the lectionary and in Egypt. It may be hard preaching this story without the benefit of the larger context of the entire saga of Joseph’s history with his brothers. This is much more than a surprise reunion! (“Bruh, it’s you!”)
Reading this pericope in isolation from Joseph’s arduous growth and transformation out of suffering while in Egypt runs the risk of trivializing the text. The challenge is to keep the story from becoming a version of a certain televangelist’s commercial for miracle water, or other varieties of North American prosperity theology that promise “your best life now.”
Author, theologian and cancer survivor Kate Bowler has focused her professional career on researching the prosperity Gospel while navigating stage IV incurable cancer. Her recent memoir, No Cure for Being Human tells of Bowler visiting the hospital gift shop soon after her first surgery. Inside the store, Bowler finds a carousel stocked with copies of recent Christian bestsellers, all books authored by popular preachers. As Bowler plucks the books from their shelf, the store manager approaches and ask if she can help with something.
“But I am coming in hot,” writes Bowler. “Yes! Thank you,” she tells the manager. “I need you to know these books are not suitable to be sold in a hospital.” She continues, telling the confused manager that, as a scholar of prosperity theology and a cancer patient, she finds such titles as Joel Osteen’s Finding Your Best Life Now especially painful. “Normally, okay. I can handle this. But you can’t sell this in a hospital. You can’t sell this to me,” she adds, sharing that it sounds as if the hospital might be blaming their patients for their own diseases (pp. 12 ff.)
This is not to say that Bowler — or Joseph — live without hope, or a belief that God is somehow present in times of struggle. Instead, she points to the enduring providence of God’s solidarity with those who suffer. Toward the end of the book, Bowler describes the nature of this hope. “Someday we won’t need courage. Time itself will be wrapped up with a bow, and God will draw us all into the eternal moment where there will be no suffering, no pain, no email…in the meantime, we are stuck with our beautiful, terrible finitude.” (p.191) That may be akin to running into the very brothers who sold you into slavery.
* * *
Luke 6:27-38
Judge not, lest you be burned on Twitter
Last week, Japanese Olympic snowboarder Ayumu Hirano completed what one commentator called “the best run that’s ever been done in the halfpipe.”
Apparently, the judges didn’t agree. Hirano scored just a bit lower than first place contender Scotty James from Australia. Hirano’s score did not sit well with social media. Fans bombarded Twitter with complaints about the judges. As it happens, the same judges were also criticized for their decisions in the men’s slopestyle final. In that event, judges failed to deduct points from Max Parrot for grabbing his knee and not his snowboard during a jump.
For his part, Hirano was more closely aligned with Jesus’ admonition to persevere in moments of trial. He insisted that the judge’s original score stand, only to come back with a near-perfect execution during finals to clinch the gold medal.
One can only imagine how Jesus would have performed in the halfpipe.
* * *
Luke 6:27-38
Facing enemies
As fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine continuing to mount, Cabinet officials and senior White House administration members are weighing options and planning strategies. According to the officials cited by The Washington Post, national security officials have been quietly staging tabletop exercises and assembling a playbook of options in case Vladimir Putin moves troops into Ukraine. They’re not planning on turning the other cheek, but are instead creating a path of viable options should they become necessary.
“Our hope is still that there’s a diplomatic path to avoiding all of this so we never have to use the playbook,” said Jonathan Finer, a member of President Biden’s national security team. “But this is all about making sure we are ready to go if and when we have to be.”
* * *
Luke 6:27-38
Practicing forgiveness
While Washington determines strike-force capability, others are embracing the moral ground of Jesus’ sermon on the plain by honing the difficult work of forgiveness. In 1965, Edward David White, an 18-year-old father in Philadelphia, was shot and left to die in the street. More than fifty years later, White’s children and family members met face to face with his murderer recently and received his apology and plans for restitution.
At the time he shot White, Larry Miller was a teenage gang member who was drunk and looking to kill the first person he met. Today, after serving time in prison for that and other crimes, Miller is chairman of Nike’s Michael Jordan brand, and former president of the Portland Trail Blazers. His pathway from the penitentiary to the board room, kept secret for many years, has now been detailed in an autobiography penned with the help of his daughter.
While White’s name is not mentioned in Miller’s book, family members read about it in an Sports Illustrated article, which did identify White as the victim. Prompted by a New York Times article that described the family as feeling “blindsided” by Miller’s book, Miller arranged a meeting with the family in December, 2021.
White’s 84-year old sister attended the emotional meeting. She told Miller she had forgiven him, because “if I didn’t forgive him, God wouldn’t forgive me.” She reported that Miller kept apologizing as she read a letter describing her brother as being a hard worker who had a sense of style and a love for The Temptations. When she finished, Miller asked if he could hug her, and she agreed. But she also told him, “If I was 30 years younger, I would have been across the table at you.”
During a second meeting, Miller presented a plan to establish a permanent scholarship fund in White’s memory to assist his descendants in attending college or trade school.
Miller hopes that his book will help change people’s views on mass incarceration. For her part, White’s sister says that she’s not “100 percent forgiving” of Miller, but she is working toward it because “I can’t live in a space of hardness and hate; that won’t do me or my spirit any good.”
* * * * * *
WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship
One: Trust in God, and do good. Take delight in God.
All: It is from God that we receive the desires of our hearts.
One: Be still before God, and wait patiently for God’s presence.
All: Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath.
One: The salvation of the righteous is from God.
All: Our God is our refuge in the time of trouble.
OR
One: God comes among us even in our sinfulness.
All: We tremble in fear at the holiness of God.
One: Do not fear but rejoice for God comes in grace.
All: We are thankful for God’s grace and forgiveness.
One: God brings grace to us and for us to share.
All: We rejoice in God’s grace for us and will share it with others.
Hymns and Songs
All People That on Earth Do Dwell
UMH: 75
H82: 377/378
PH: 220/221
NNBH: 36
NCH: 7
CH: 18
LBW: 245
ELW: 883
W&P: 661
AMEC: 73
STLT: 370
From All That Dwell Below the Skies
UMH: 101
H82: 380
PH: 229
NCH: 27
CH: 49
LBW: 550
AMEC: 69
STLT: 381
Help Us Accept Each Other
UMH: 560
PH: 358
NCH: 388
CH: 487
W&P: 596
AMEC: 558
Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive
UMH: 390
H82: 674
PH: 347
LBW: 307
ELW: 605
W&P: 382
Renew: 184
Take My Life, and Let It Be
UMH: 399
H82: 707
PH: 391
NNBH: 213
NCH: 448
CH: 609
LBW: 406
ELW: 583/685
W&P: 466
AMEC: 292
Renew: 150
Breathe on Me, Breath of God
UMH: 420
H82: 508
PH: 316
AAHH: 317
NNBH: 126
NCH: 292
CH: 254
LBW: 488
W&P: 461
AMEC: 192
O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee
UMH: 430
H82: 659/66
PH: 357
NNBH: 445
NCH: 503
CH: 602
LBW: 492
ELW: 818
W&P: 589
AMEC: 299
Let There Be Peace on Earth
UMH: 431
CH: 667
W&P: 614
Where Charity and Love Prevail
UMH: 549
H82: 581
NCH: 396
LBW: 126
ELW: 359
In Christ There is No East or West
UMH: 548
H82: 529
PH: 439/440
AAHH: 398/399
NNBH: 299
NCH: 394/395
CH: 687
LBW: 259
ELW: 650
W&P: 600/603
AMEC: 557
Walk with Me
CCB: 88
Humble Yourself in the Sight of the Lord
CCB: 72
Renew: 188
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 formed us from the same earth
and breathed into us the same Spirit:
Grant us the wisdom and courage to accept each other
refraining from judging and condemning others;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are the creator of all. Out of the same earth you formed us and with your own Spirit you breathed life into us all. Help us to accept each other and to not condemn but to bless all. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially when we condemn others.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have so graciously offered forgiveness and redemption to all your children and yet we continue to sit in judgement on them. We are grateful for the forgiveness you offer us but we are loath to offer it to others. We are quick to judge and just as quick to condemn. In our judging of others we offend against your love, harm our own souls, and warp the unity that you bestow on all creation. Forgive us and renew us in your love that we may truly act as your children. Amen.
One: God’s love is always wrapped in unending grace. Receive God’s forgiveness and grace and share it liberally with others.
Prayers of the People
Praise and glory to you, O God who is love eternal. Your love sustains all creation in your endless grace.
(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 have so graciously offered forgiveness and redemption to all your children and yet we continue to sit in judgement on them. We are grateful for the forgiveness you offer us but we are loath to offer it to others. We are quick to judge and just as quick to condemn. In our judging of others we offend against your love, harm our own souls, and warp the unity that you bestow on all creation. Forgive us and renew us in your love that we may truly act as your children.
We thank you for all the ways you shower us with your grace and acceptance. We thank you for those who radiate your love and show us how to live in your grace. We thank you for the unity of humanity and how you created us all from the same earth and filled us all with the same breath.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We pray for those who are close and dear to us, for those we do not know, and for those who we see as our enemies. We pray for healing and wholeness for all creation. Help us to speak and act in ways that bring your gracious presence to others.
(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.
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CHILDREN'S SERMONTrying On Shoes
by Chris Keating
Luke 6:27-38
Gather ahead of time: a variety of sizes and types of shoes (sneakers, uniform shoes, work boots, rain boots, dress shoes, etc.)
“Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31, NRSV).
This week’s lengthy Gospel lesson offers several prospects for a scripture conversation with children. Older children might connect with Jesus’ teaching on loving our enemies. This could be an especially timely (though sensitive) topic with the current tensions between Russia and Ukraine, though children experience scaled-down versions of tensions with other children every day. If you go this route, plan ahead and consider reading one of the many excellent children’s books about dealing with enemies such as Desmond and the Very Mean Word, written by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams, or Enemy Pie by Derek Munson.
Another suggestion would be to help children practice empathy by thinking about Jesus’ words in 6:31. They may have heard these referred to as the “Golden Rule,” and may not immediately identify them as words of Jesus. For some, “doing to others” means punching first or getting even. But couched inside Jesus’ teachings on the plain, these words offer disciples an instruction on how to love others. Explain that this is difficult work because it involves us trying to see things from another person’s perspective.
Learning the “golden rule” means developing our sense of empathy, which may seem harder than it sounds.
Ask the kids if they are familiar with the saying, “You cannot understand a person until you have walked a mile in their shoes.” Have they ever tried to walk around in someone else’s shoes? That is sometimes hard, and can even look humorous! But different shoes can tell us a lot about different people’s experiences. Hold up one of the shoes and ask the children if they can imagine who might wear those sorts of shoes — a child? An adult, a baby, and so forth. Hold up a pair of work boots and ask them to wonder what sort of things a person who wears work boots might do all day. What might it be like to spend an entire day working outside? Imagine if they were firefighter boots, or astronaut shoes. Maybe we have seen people wearing old shoes that are beat up and worn. Our first impression might be to say, “They need to buy new shoes,” but we may not know that they are actually trying the best they can. Our experience of the world changes as we consider things from another’s point of view.
Learning about the experiences of others humbles us so that we can see the world is just a bit bigger than we may have imagined. Making quick judgments about others is very easy, but sometimes we do not know everything about that person.
When I was growing up, there was a man in our church whose face had been disfigured by polio. Because of this paralysis, speaking was especially hard for him. Many people avoided talking with him because they wrongly judged him to not enjoy speaking or because they were uncomfortable around him. What we did not know was that he was a retired minister. One day, he preached the sermon for our pastor. He talked about his life, but also about his faith — and we learned he was an amazing, caring man whose empathy for others had led him to work with homeless persons.
We didn’t actually “walk” in his shoes, but were given a chance to learn about his faith. It was humbling for many people who had previously judged him because of his condition.
Jesus asks his disciples to avoid judging. He invites us to live with grace and mercy, accepting others as God has accepted us. That is a good rule for everyone, of course, but for Christians it takes on special meaning because Jesus has called us to love as God loves.
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The Immediate Word, February 20, 2022 issue.
Copyright 2022 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.
