Jump In... The Water's Fine
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
Here at The Immediate Word, we think that the alternate gospel text assigned by the lectionary for the Sixth Sunday of Easter offers some very intriguing preaching points. John 5:1-9 tells the curious story of a man who has been waiting by the pool of Bethesda to be healed for the astounding period of 38 years. Despite his lengthy wait (or perhaps because of it), when Jesus confronts the man and pointedly asks him if he wants to be well, he responds with excuses for why he hasn't been able to get in the pool by himself. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Mary Austin suggests that Jesus' simple question and the man's answer are indicative of deep-seated attitudes about many aspects of our lives. There are so many things we want and/or need to be healed of -- physical maladies, destructive behavior, wrongheaded beliefs, malice toward our fellow human beings -- and yet, Mary observes, we are adept at coming up with endless rationalizations for why we can't or won't take the scary step of jumping into the pool and changing our lives. Mary identifies several different levels where this is at work -- in our personal lives, in our communities, in the public square, and even in the world at large -- and notes that Jesus cuts through all of our excuses and asks us if we want healing enough to let go of the things we cling to... if we are willing, like the man at the pool, to stand up, take our mats, and walk.
Team member Leah Lonsbury offers some additional thoughts on the Ascension, which many congregations will be celebrating on this Sunday. She points out that if we focus on the fantastical nature of Jesus' earthly exit, we may be distracted and miss the real thrust of the story -- not unlike how the media's focus on certain high-profile aspects of the "sequestration" federal budget cuts (airport delays, cancellation of White House tours) is obscuring the draconian nature of its effects on basic social welfare programs for the needy. Leah reminds us that if we look deeper into the scripture texts, we'll see that what the Ascension is truly about is Jesus' preparation for us to continue his mission of preaching, teaching, and caring.
Jump In... the Water's Fine
by Mary Austin
John 5:1-9
"Do you want to be made well?" Jesus asks the man by the pool. At first glance, the answer has to be yes -- the man has been waiting there a long time. Or does he? Illness, even with all of its pain and separation from other people, becomes familiar, and getting well changes our routines, relationships, and even our identity. Even the most welcome gift reshapes our lives. Part of us might like to stay where we are.
Jesus asks us the same question about our own lives. Do we want to be made well?
In the Scriptures
We find Jesus fresh from his compassionate encounter with the woman at the well, where he seemed to know all about her life without her telling him. Jesus comes to this pool, which will become another place of living water, although in a different way. Just as Jesus saw into the life of the woman at the well, he seems to know the life of this sick man, and somehow "knew he had been there a long time." Is the ill man too poor or too isolated to have anyone in his life to help out? Or has he grown attached to staying at the pool, waiting for the future instead of living in the present? Has anything changed for him in the last 38 years?
The man doesn't ask Jesus for healing, and it's Jesus who begins the conversation. "Do you want to be made well?" he asks the man. We might think that the answer would be "Duh!" or an excited "Yes!" -- but instead the man begins to explain why he hasn't been healed yet. His list of excuses feels well-rehearsed, as if he's repeated it often. Jesus asks him about the future, and his response is about the past.
If the man has been sick for so long, the healing could probably wait until sundown when the sabbath will be over. Jesus never wastes a chance to teach by doing, and he heals the man to show where true sabbath can be found. He also sets up a conflict with the religious rulers that will play out through the rest of John's gospel.
In the News
Like the sick man, we have familiar ways of acting and thinking. Each of us has patterns in our lives, responses that follow familiar paths. We have particular ways of seeing the world, and beliefs we don't question any more.
In our personal lives, we may reach for the ice cream or the wine after a stressful day. Certain personalities call up old habits of behavior. Bossy people, or bullies, or people full of rage evoke past chapters, and we respond to them with anxiety or stress or our own rage.
As communities, we respond in familiar ways too. We have habits of thought and language that come in response to stress and sorrow. The recent bombings in Boston have raised the question of why we call it "terrorism" when people have international connections, but "violence" when Americans are the perpetrators. For example, shooting worshipers at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin or people at the Fort Hood Army base is referred to as "gun violence," while the equally dreadful killings in Boston are "terrorism." John Cassidy of the New Yorker ponders the question of what would have happened if the Tsarnaev brothers had opened fire at the Boston finish line with assault rifles instead of leaving bombs.
In the same way, the use of the word "refugees" after people were displaced from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina was controversial. "What do you call people who have been driven from their homes with only the clothes on their backs, unsure if they will ever be able to return, and forced to build a new life in a strange place? News organizations are struggling for the right word," the Associated Press noted, concluding that these people were refugees. But Rev. Jesse Jackson contended that this was racist, implying that we were treating people like second-class citizens. We're so accustomed to refugees being from other countries that the word gives us pause when applied to our fellow citizens.
A similar conversation about the proper use of drones began when a man posted a vision of an alternate ending to the search for the suspects in the Boston bombings. As the Huffington Post reports: "A Facebook post related to the Boston Marathon bombing surprised its American author by going viral in Pakistan this weekend. On Saturday, Micah Daigle, who grew up in Rhode Island and now lives in San Francisco, composed and posted an alternative narrative of the final moments of the hunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev."
Daigle, musing about the use of drones to hunt suspected terrorists overseas, posted: "On Friday at 7:05 p.m. Eastern Time, Boston Police received a report that suspected terrorist Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was hiding in a boat in Watertown. At 7:15 p.m., the low buzz of a drone was heard overheard. Seconds later, an enormous explosion engulfed the area, destroying the boat and several nearby homes. Sources say 46 Watertown residents were killed in the missile strike, including 12 children." Similar scenes happen overseas, but are unthinkable here.
The article reports that Daigle was surprised to find his post shared widely in Pakistan. The article says that Pakistanis "thanked Daigle for seeing the world from their perspective." Daigle's post ended with:
Of course, that's not what happened. But if it did, wouldn't we find it unconscionable?
If so, then why are Americans okay with our government doing this to people in other countries?
In Pakistan alone, the U.S. government has killed more than 3,000 people with drone strikes... and only 1 out of 50 were suspected terrorists. The rest were bystanders, rescue workers, and children.
Let's stop this madness now.
One people. One planet.
One person who commented on the post was John Swain, who said he was a Navy veteran and wrote: "When enemies hide amongst women and children when they're fighting their holy jihad against us I have less sympathy. Perhaps we should go back to the Vietnam days when we carpet-bombed. You declare war against us and then hide amongst women and children in between murders and mayhem? No, the drones are effective and necessary." Swain found himself invited to Pakistan to meet the people being bombed and appeared to be stunned by the level of generosity and hospitality he found in the conversation. He later wrote: "I wish our countries showed as much respect to each other as you all have shown me here.... Thank you for your courtesy to me and feel free to contact me again. I can change my mind about some things, and who knows, I could be beginning to change some of my beliefs already. Good night, and take care."
We can all change our minds -- and be healed of familiar patterns that don't serve us, or a community of people, well anymore.
In the Sermon
Do we want to be healed? Jesus might well be asking us too.
Surely most of us would love to be healed of our physical ailments. Some people in any congregation, as you preach on this story, will be ill. Some will be cured and others will not. The story reminds us of the places where healing and curing are the same, and where they differ. We may be cured of an illness and not healed of our selfishness or prejudice or any other spiritual ailment. Or we may never be cured in a physical sense, but may have our spirits touched and made more whole. Or the two may travel together, as physical illness opens the door to wholeness of the spirit.
As a community too, we have places that need healing.
We might want to be healed of our assumptions or judgments about people. We might want to be healed of waiting for someone to come along and fix things. We might want to be healed of our blind spots, so we can see each other as clearly as Jesus sees all of us.
The lectionary ends the story with "Now that day was a sabbath." We can hear it as John explaining that Jesus had just done work on the sabbath, and challenged the sabbath rules. But the sabbath also comes as a result of Jesus making the man whole. The man wasn't just healed on the sabbath; the healing contributed to the sabbath. Because the man is healed, the day truly becomes a sabbath. When old assumptions and habits fall away in service to a new thing God is doing, that day is a sabbath from business as usual. When wholeness comes, that day is a sabbath from illness and pain. When we glimpse the realm of God among us that day is always a sabbath.
ANOTHER VIEW
Ascension Day
by Leah Lonsbury
Acts 1:1-11; Luke 24:44-53
While long lines at airports and cancelled White House tours have dominated national news coverage on the effects of sequestration, the real hurt of these cuts has been absorbed in local communities, both urban and rural. Journalists Amanda Terkel and Sam Stein set out to document this in their article "Sequestration Effects: Cuts Sting Communities Nationwide". They write:
The Huffington Post set out to do an extensive review of sequestration stories from the past week, with the goal of finding 100. What seemed like a daunting task was completed in hours. No one region of the country has been immune. Rural towns in Alaska, missile test sites in the Marshall Islands, military bases in Virginia, university towns across the country, and housing agencies in inner cities are all beginning to feel the cuts.
Terkel and Stein also document a food pantry site being forced to close in Murray, Utah; Medicare patients being turned away in Manchester, Connecticut; almost 5,000 low-income tenants at risk of losing their housing vouchers in Sacramento; as many as 182 children set to lose their placements in a Head Start program in Cincinnati, Ohio; no new projects being launched this year and workers in limbo for VISTA, a poverty-reducing program in West Virginia; 11,000 fewer meals being served through the Senior Nutrition Program and 630 fewer people being helped through the Employment Service Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and many other stories of loss felt locally.
While any number of "failure to launch" jokes could be made by pastor-types should Jesus have found himself ready to ascend in contemporary Fredericksburg, Maryland, where sequestration cuts have closed the aviation tower (#46 on Terkel and Stein's list), or in Lewiston, Idaho, where the entire airport has been shut down (#72), perhaps the Ascension/sequestration tie could be made more effectively by looking at where our attention has been drawn with these two events and where their impact will ultimately be felt.
Cancelled White House tours create lots of national media chatter and draw our attention away from what's happening in the everyday lives of people in communities throughout the country.
According to our Ascension texts, Jesus is lifted up and taken away by a cloud (Acts 1:9) and carried away into heaven (Luke 24:51). In Luke, the disciples return to Jerusalem where "they were continually in the temple blessing God" (Luke 24:53). In Acts, the apostles stand staring up at the sky after Jesus, dumbfounded and with mouths agape.
In both books, the attention of Jesus' followers remains where the spotlight has been, probably because the national media couldn't resist such a juicy a story -- "Religious pot-stirrer crucified, raised from the dead and into the sky." These Ascension stories can do the same for us. We can get caught up in the theatrical sensationalism of these stories and in the power and glory of their main character, Jesus. There is a place for that kind of awe, but if we remain there we miss what Jesus was up to as he exited (really) upstage.
What if our Ascension reaction and focus was less on the guy being lifted into heaven and more on the local folks left behind (not Left Behind)? What if the disciples weren't continuously in the temple blessing God and spent more of their time on the streets blessing God's people? And what if we spent less time honoring God in our sanctuaries and more time honoring God's beloved in our neighborhoods and cities? What if we stopped our sky-gazing, shut our gaping mouths, and really listened to what the angels in Acts have to say?
Let's listen...
"Why are you still standing there looking up toward heaven?" they say. "Jesus will come again in the way you saw him go" (Acts 1:11).
Now, upon first hearing that sounds a little mean, because the text says that Jesus was lifted up in a cloud. So, one might assume that they/we could look to the heavens to find him. But the angel is in the details in Luke/Acts.
Listen to how the angels address the disciples...
"People of Galilee..."
In other words, the angels recall for the disciples who they are and remind them of the years they have spent on the road with Jesus ministering throughout Galilee. The angels bring to mind the dust of the road, the sound of the crowds, and the gentle, healing touch of Jesus. Galilee was where Jesus healed the blind man. The recollection of its name and Jesus' work there has the potential to give the disciples sight as well. This is how they saw Jesus "go" every day -- to the people, to meet their needs with the tangible love of God.
"He will come again in the way he came before," they say.
He came in Galilee. He came healing, teaching, liberating, welcoming, breaking down barriers, raising the dead, living and loving radically, and overturning the powers that be. His mother Mary sang out, before she could even feel his movement in her body: "God has looked upon me in my lowly estate and called me beloved and blessed. God has shown mercy to the downtrodden and scattered the proud. God has brought the powerful down from their thrones, lifted up the lowly, filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away hungry" (Luke 1:48-53).
"He will come again in the way he came before," they say.
Remember Jesus' first public teaching and act of ministry? In the synagogue he says to those gathered, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18-19).
The disciples saw Jesus go out on the dusty roads, in the noisy crowds, and amongst the people hungry for a healing touch in Galilee. Jesus is coming back in those same ways in our own cities, in our own lives -- not on some elevated cloud, but on the way of love that goes to God's people who are hungry, who need healing, who need community, who need connection, who need to be empowered, who need the abundant life God offers us all. Jesus is coming as we choose to "go" on the path he cut for us.
We hear about the effects of sequestration on tourists who can't tour the White House as planned, but we feel its effects when our children's education suffers because of teacher cuts (#67), our most vulnerable neighbors are refused medical care (#34), and our unemployed and homeless sisters and brothers (#63 and #87) see assistance they rely upon cut or taken away.
We get caught up in the magic of Jesus floating off into the clouds on Ascension Day, but we know the real magic happens when we discover our own power as Theophilus, friend(s) of God, who remain on the ground feeding, healing, and liberating God's people -- walking the same dusty roads Jesus did.
Our attention is drawn to the flashy elements of the story, but the real scoop is to be found on the ground, in the ordinary details of life right where we are.
Rowan Williams, recently retired from his post as the Archbishop of Canterbury, thinks the need for refocusing is what the Ascension story is all about after all. He writes of this moment using the analogy of turning on the light when you awake. Joseph H. Britton interprets Williams in this way for Feasting on the Word [Year C, Vol. 2]:
Imagine what it is like when you first wake up in the morning, when you put on the light, all you are conscious of is the brightness of the light itself. Only gradually do your eyes adjust sufficiently to the light that you are able to make out other objects. After a few moments, however, you cease to be conscious of the light itself, and start to see what else is in the room, as it is illumined by the light (pp. 510-514).
The gospel accounts of Jesus' resurrection, says Williams, show him to have been like that initial morning light: at first, Jesus' resurrected self was so blinding that the disciples, worn out with grief and disorientation, could only be conscious of him. The Ascension, then, is that moment when the light itself recedes into the background, so that Jesus becomes the one through whom we see the rest of the world. Williams writes, "He is the light we see by; we see the world in a new way because we see it through him, see it with his eyes."
This is what Jesus was preparing the disciples for all along. This is why he taught and reassured and blessed them -- so he could get out of the way and watch their love, his love, spread all over the world. With these new eyes the disciples see, we can see, the world as a place where Jesus has promised to be and where we are committed to be as followers of Jesus. The Ascension then, is not so much about Jesus' flashy exit but more about him making room for and shedding light on the birth of the disciples' mission, our mission of love for the world.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
John 5:1-9
Do You Want to Be Healed?
There's an old story about a man who one day discovered a loud ringing in his ears. Upon looking in the mirror, he discovered that his face was beet red and his eyes had begun to bulge out.
Sorely distressed, the man went to see his doctor. The doctor put him through a series of tests but could find no cause for the symptoms, which by this time had begun to come and go. The doctor told his patient: "The tests show nothing, but there is obviously something very wrong with you. If I were you I'd begin to get my affairs in order, because, frankly, you may be dying."
Convinced that he was not long for this world, the man began checking things off of his bucket list as quickly as possible. He quit his job, sold his house and gave the money to charity, and distributed most of his possessions to his children -- so finally the only thing left to do was to buy the suit that he would be buried in.
Having never owned a really good suit, he went to a tailor who agreed to make him a real fine suit at a reasonable price. He took all the man's measurements, as tailors do: 42 long for the jacket, 38-inch waist and 33-inch inseam, 17?-inch neck.
The man stopped the tailor and told him to remeasure his neck. "I've always worn a size 17 shirt," he said. The tailor refused to remeasure. He knew what he was doing, he said, and the man's neck size was clearly a 17?. Again, the man insisted that he had worn a size 17 his entire adult life.
"Fine," said the tailor, "I'll make you a size 17 shirt. But if you wear it for more than an hour it'll make your face red, your ears ring, and your eyes bulge out."
* * *
John 5:1-9
Reality therapy is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy not unlike that which Jesus practiced at the Bethesda Pool. It treats patients with dysfunctional behavior by educating them about more effective, functional ways of behaving.
Developed by Dr. William Glasser in the 1960s, reality therapy concerns itself with the here and now. Unlike other psychotherapeutic methods, it does not deal with the patient's subconscious or past. Boiled down to its essence, reality therapy guides the patient through an exploration of three basic questions:
-- What do you want/need?
-- What are you doing to get what you want/need?
-- Is that working?
If patients discover that their behavior is not leading to what they want/need or is even leading them further away from it, they are then invited to enter into a covenant with the therapist to seek more effective behaviors that will lead them to their goal.
* * *
John 5:1-9
A farmer's son ran away from the labor and drudgery of the farm and joined the circus. Years later when the circus came to town, the farmer sought out his son and asked him how his life was going. The young man launched into a flood of complaints: "Most of my work consists of mucking out horse stalls and the elephants' tent. The trailer I sleep in is cold in the winter and hot in the summer. The food is greasy and unhealthy. The pay is horrible. The people are indifferent to me and still think of me as a newcomer. The ringmaster is mean. Even the clowns are haughty and hard to live with."
The father, saddened by his son's unhappiness, remembered the story of the prodigal son and opened his arms. "Welcome home, son," he said. "Your room is still as it was. If you want to leave the circus and come back to the farm you will always be welcome."
The young man stepped back, a shocked look on his face. "What? Are you nuts? And leave show business?"
Some people don't want their problems to be solved -- they just like to complain about them.
* * *
John 5:1-9; Psalm 67
It was probably psychologist William James who first observed that "we do not laugh because we are happy; we are happy because we laugh." But it was anthropologist Margaret Mead who discovered a similar axiom at work in the lives of a primitive people.
According to Mead, she came upon another anthropologist who was observing primitive people living in the South Pacific on a small island. He had been watching and studying them for years. They were miserably poor with barely enough food and water to survive, and they had lived that way for generations. Yet on a certain day every week they would all gather on the beach for a party. They would make a bonfire and then sing and dance around it.
The anthropologist watched this happen every week for months and finally had to ask one of the village elders why the people did this. "Why do you have this party every week? What have you got to be so happy about?"
The elder replied: "We do not dance because we are happy; we are happy because we dance."
(Psalm 67 -- We praise God not because God needs to be praised, but because we need to praise.)
* * *
Psalm 67
Praise Balloons
The story is told of a Presbyterian pastor who became impatient with his stoic congregation because they simply refused to express even the slightest bit of emotion during the worship service. No one would say "Amen," no matter how moved they were. No one would raise their hands to heaven. No one would sing any louder than their neighbor.
So one Sunday the pastor had the ushers hand out helium balloons to the congregants as they entered the sanctuary -- and before the service began he told the worshipers to hold the balloons on their laps and release them whenever they felt moved to give thanks and/or praise to God or to express the joy that was in their hearts.
Throughout the service balloons ascended one by one, but at the conclusion one third of the balloons were still in people's laps.
* * *
John 14:23-29
One of the best-selling novels on the market today is Max Brooks' World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. In it, years after a zombie apocalypse nearly wipes out the population of Earth, the survivors are invited to contribute their stories. One of the contributors is a retired soldier who is still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder:
It's fear, dude. You don't have to be Sun freakin' Tzu to know that real fighting isn't about killing or even hurting the other guy, it's about scaring him enough to call it a day. Break their spirit, that's what every successful army goes for, from tribal facepaint to "blitzkrieg" to... what did we call the first round of Gulf War Two, "Shock and Awe"? Perfect name, "Shock and Awe"! But what if the enemy can't be shocked and awed? Not just won't, but biologically can't! That's what happened that day outside New York City, that's the failure that almost lost us the whole... war. They are not afraid! No matter what we do, no matter how many we kill, they will never ever be afraid!
Fortunately, for Christians, Jesus offers a cure for fear that doesn't require us to become zombies.
* * *
From team member Ron Love:
John 5:1-9
Mike and Charisse Reichenbach paid for a full-page of print in their hometown newspaper (Florence [South Carolina] Morning News, April 3, 2013) to instruct the reading public on why they believe God allowed the Boston Marathon bombings. The article comes with a color photo of the happy, smiling couple embracing. Their reasoning is that the nation (and particularly Christians) has drifted too far from God, and thus the bombing became a test of our faith. They wrote: "We're neither preachers nor pastors, but we do think that part of the reason why God allows 'unfairness' in life is because it can be tough to fully rely on Him when everything is going well. If life never tested our conviction to follow Jesus, we can't say we would easily and consistently rely on Him."
Application: It is hard to comprehend that a man laid at the side of the pool for 38 years as a testing of his faith.
* * *
John 5:1-9
For some of the most influential doctors in the fight against cancer, it has finally become time to push back against what they see as profiteering by pharmaceutical companies. More than 100 cancer specialists from 15 countries on five continents have banded together to protest the price of cancer drugs like Gleevec, which costs a patient $100,000 a year. The physicians went so far as to declare the cost "immoral." The pharmaceutical companies have defended their pricing, noting that it reflects the cost of research and (most interestingly) "the value of the drug to patients."
Application: The invalid beside the pool during his 38 years of seclusion must have contemplated the immorality of his position and station in life.
* * *
Acts 11:1-18
A research study has just been completed on the college drinking game "beer pong". For those of you unfamiliar with it, the game is played with two teams. If a tossed ping-pong ball lands in your opponent's cup, then that team has to drink the cup of beer. The cup is refilled, so the game can continue endlessly. The only problem is contestants have been frequently coming down with "pong flu." Researchers from Clemson University discovered that this is because each ping-pong ball can have as many as 3 million tiny organisms on it, including dangerous bacteria such as salmonella, listeria, e. Coli, and staph.
Application: Peter's vision is that all things are clean to eat, which means there is equality among all people. Peter did not say all things are healthy to eat.
* * *
Acts 11:1-18
The "walk-up" song is a familiar part of the contemporary experience at major league ballparks, as many of the players have songs they have chosen played in the stadium as they walk up to bat. Upon hearing their theme song, fans (and the players themselves as well) are inspired and encouraged, hopefully resulting in them being better hitters.
The practice of personalized songs has now filtered down to high school teams, with one player saying, "A walk-up is supposed to exemplify who we are." Another observed, "It's kind of cool because major league players get to do it."
Application: Peter's vision was not to see any one of us being exemplified, but rather treated as equal servants of the Lord.
* * *
Acts 11:1-18
Author E.L. Konigsburg, known for her accomplished work as a writer of books for young adults, recently died. In the course of her writing career she twice received the Newbery Medal, awarded annually for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. It was said that in her books she strove to write literature "that tackles the basic problem of who am I? What makes me the same as everyone else? What makes me different?"
Application: Peter's vision was one that said we are different as much as we are the same.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: May God be gracious to us and bless us.
People: May God's face shine upon us.
Leader: May God's way be known upon earth,
People: and God's saving power among all nations.
Leader: Let the peoples praise you, O God;
People: let all the peoples praise you.
OR
Leader: Let us come into the presence of our God.
People: But we are broken and scarred.
Leader: God comes not to condemn us but to heal us.
People: We are weary and seek God's healing.
Leader: The God who creates us also makes us whole.
People: With gratitude we receive God's healing and share it with others.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"Fairest Lord Jesus"
found in:
UMH: 189
H82: 383/384
PH: 306
NNBH: 75
NCH: 44
CH: 97
W&P: 123
AMEC: 95
Renew: 166
"Great Is Thy Faithfulness"
found in:
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
ELA: 733
W&P: 72
AMEC: 84
Renew: 249
"Spirit Song"
found in:
UMH: 347
AAHH: 321
CH: 352
W&P: 352
CCB: 51
Renew: 248
"Pues Si Vivimos" ("When We Are Living")
found in:
UMH: 356
PH: 400
NCH: 499
CH: 536
ELA: 639
W&P: 415
"For the Healing of the Nations"
found in:
UMH: 428
NCH: 576
CH: 668
W&P: 621
"Near to the Heart of God"
found in:
UMH: 472
PH: 527
NNBH: 316
CH: 581
AMEC: 322
"Be Still, My Soul"
found in:
UMH: 534
AAHH: 135
NNBH: 263
NCH: 488
CH: 566
W&P: 451
AMEC: 426
"Help Us Accept Each Other"
found in:
UMH: 560
PH: 358
NCH: 288
CH: 487
W&P: 596
AMEC: 558
"Refiner's Fire"
found in:
CCB: 79
"Something Beautiful"
found in:
CCB: 84
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God, who comes to heal us and make us whole, give us the faith to trust ourselves into your hands that all of our broken places may be made whole, even those that we cherish; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We offer you our praise this day, O God, and ask that as we center our thoughts and hearts on you, we may find wholeness and healing in our lives. Then help us to be a healing presence to others. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways we refuse to be healed.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. There are places in our lives where we are broken. We have relationships that divide rather than bring together. We have attitudes that keep us from reflecting your image. We have habits that are unhealthy. In our selfishness we do things that harm your good earth. Some of these are uncomfortable enough that we are willing to be healed of them. Others we take comfort in and hold on to tightly even though they hurt us and others. Forgive us our foolish ways and help us to offer all of our brokenness into your loving care. Amen.
Leader: God is the great healer who desires for us to be completely whole. Receive the forgiveness and healing of our God.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
All praise and glory to you, O God of love and majesty. You are the compassionate one who comes to heal your people.
(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. There are places in our lives where we are broken. We have relationships that divide rather than bring together. We have attitudes that keep us from reflecting your image. We have habits that are unhealthy. In our selfishness we do things that harm your good earth. Some of these are uncomfortable enough that we are willing to be healed of them. Others we take comfort in and hold on to tightly even though they hurt us and others. Forgive us our foolish ways and help us to offer all of our brokenness into your loving care.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which you bring healing and wholeness to creation. We thank you for the wonders of creation and how our bodies and our earth renew and heal themselves. We thank you for the knowledge that allows others to help this healing process. We thank you for your love that we experience in our relationship with you and with your people as it touches our lives and makes us whole.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We are painfully aware of the broken nature of creation. We are part of that brokenness. As you move among your children with your healing presence, help us to be a part of your work. Inspire us to reach out in love to others so that they and we may be made whole.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
You can ask the children if they have ever gotten hurt (fallen off a bike, skinned their knee, and so forth). Did they ever try to keep their parent from trying to clean and fix their wound? Sometimes even when it is for the best, we are scared of being helped. We are afraid it will hurt. God loves us and created a wonderful world, but sometimes things are not so good. We hurt each other. God wants to make it better, but sometimes we are too afraid to allow it to happen. God loves us and wants us to be better. God does not want bad things to happen and for us to be scared or hurt.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
When Jesus Left His Friends
John 14:23-29
Object: a will
Good morning, boys and girls! I brought something to show you today that you may not have seen before. It's called a will. Does anyone know what a will is? (let the children answer) A will is a set of papers that tell what you own and who you would like to have each thing you own after you die. Usually people have to go to a lawyer to have these papers typed and signed. What kinds of things do you think people put in wills? (let them answer) They make a list of everything they own: their house, their car, their furniture, their dishes, their jewelry, and anything that is worth money. Then they decide who they want to have each thing in the will. If people are married, they usually want their husband or wife to have everything. Do you know anyone who has died and left someone in your family something? (let the children share stories) Sometimes people give away their things before they die. Sometimes they just mark everything with a piece of tape and say, "When I'm gone, I want you to have this."
Our lesson today is about someone who gave people things before he left. It was Jesus. Did Jesus have a fancy house and a car and lots of dishes and jewelry to leave someone? (let them answer) No, Jesus didn't have a wife and he didn't have any possessions to leave to anyone. He didn't have any money either, but Jesus told his friends that he was going to die, live again, and then leave them to go back to God. He said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you." Could Jesus put that in a will? (let them answer) No, because peace doesn't have a price like a house or a car. Peace is like love. It isn't something that you can buy or sell. Peace is something you can only give away. That's what Jesus left his disciples. Think back to the Christmas story. God sent peace on earth. The angels sang it -- "peace on earth." Jesus' whole life was teaching us God's peace and how to find it. That's what we come to church for -- to learn about the peace Jesus lived and left to all of us. Peace can't be put in a will. It can only be put into our hearts.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, May 5, 2013, issue.
Copyright 2013 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.
Team member Leah Lonsbury offers some additional thoughts on the Ascension, which many congregations will be celebrating on this Sunday. She points out that if we focus on the fantastical nature of Jesus' earthly exit, we may be distracted and miss the real thrust of the story -- not unlike how the media's focus on certain high-profile aspects of the "sequestration" federal budget cuts (airport delays, cancellation of White House tours) is obscuring the draconian nature of its effects on basic social welfare programs for the needy. Leah reminds us that if we look deeper into the scripture texts, we'll see that what the Ascension is truly about is Jesus' preparation for us to continue his mission of preaching, teaching, and caring.
Jump In... the Water's Fine
by Mary Austin
John 5:1-9
"Do you want to be made well?" Jesus asks the man by the pool. At first glance, the answer has to be yes -- the man has been waiting there a long time. Or does he? Illness, even with all of its pain and separation from other people, becomes familiar, and getting well changes our routines, relationships, and even our identity. Even the most welcome gift reshapes our lives. Part of us might like to stay where we are.
Jesus asks us the same question about our own lives. Do we want to be made well?
In the Scriptures
We find Jesus fresh from his compassionate encounter with the woman at the well, where he seemed to know all about her life without her telling him. Jesus comes to this pool, which will become another place of living water, although in a different way. Just as Jesus saw into the life of the woman at the well, he seems to know the life of this sick man, and somehow "knew he had been there a long time." Is the ill man too poor or too isolated to have anyone in his life to help out? Or has he grown attached to staying at the pool, waiting for the future instead of living in the present? Has anything changed for him in the last 38 years?
The man doesn't ask Jesus for healing, and it's Jesus who begins the conversation. "Do you want to be made well?" he asks the man. We might think that the answer would be "Duh!" or an excited "Yes!" -- but instead the man begins to explain why he hasn't been healed yet. His list of excuses feels well-rehearsed, as if he's repeated it often. Jesus asks him about the future, and his response is about the past.
If the man has been sick for so long, the healing could probably wait until sundown when the sabbath will be over. Jesus never wastes a chance to teach by doing, and he heals the man to show where true sabbath can be found. He also sets up a conflict with the religious rulers that will play out through the rest of John's gospel.
In the News
Like the sick man, we have familiar ways of acting and thinking. Each of us has patterns in our lives, responses that follow familiar paths. We have particular ways of seeing the world, and beliefs we don't question any more.
In our personal lives, we may reach for the ice cream or the wine after a stressful day. Certain personalities call up old habits of behavior. Bossy people, or bullies, or people full of rage evoke past chapters, and we respond to them with anxiety or stress or our own rage.
As communities, we respond in familiar ways too. We have habits of thought and language that come in response to stress and sorrow. The recent bombings in Boston have raised the question of why we call it "terrorism" when people have international connections, but "violence" when Americans are the perpetrators. For example, shooting worshipers at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin or people at the Fort Hood Army base is referred to as "gun violence," while the equally dreadful killings in Boston are "terrorism." John Cassidy of the New Yorker ponders the question of what would have happened if the Tsarnaev brothers had opened fire at the Boston finish line with assault rifles instead of leaving bombs.
In the same way, the use of the word "refugees" after people were displaced from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina was controversial. "What do you call people who have been driven from their homes with only the clothes on their backs, unsure if they will ever be able to return, and forced to build a new life in a strange place? News organizations are struggling for the right word," the Associated Press noted, concluding that these people were refugees. But Rev. Jesse Jackson contended that this was racist, implying that we were treating people like second-class citizens. We're so accustomed to refugees being from other countries that the word gives us pause when applied to our fellow citizens.
A similar conversation about the proper use of drones began when a man posted a vision of an alternate ending to the search for the suspects in the Boston bombings. As the Huffington Post reports: "A Facebook post related to the Boston Marathon bombing surprised its American author by going viral in Pakistan this weekend. On Saturday, Micah Daigle, who grew up in Rhode Island and now lives in San Francisco, composed and posted an alternative narrative of the final moments of the hunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev."
Daigle, musing about the use of drones to hunt suspected terrorists overseas, posted: "On Friday at 7:05 p.m. Eastern Time, Boston Police received a report that suspected terrorist Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was hiding in a boat in Watertown. At 7:15 p.m., the low buzz of a drone was heard overheard. Seconds later, an enormous explosion engulfed the area, destroying the boat and several nearby homes. Sources say 46 Watertown residents were killed in the missile strike, including 12 children." Similar scenes happen overseas, but are unthinkable here.
The article reports that Daigle was surprised to find his post shared widely in Pakistan. The article says that Pakistanis "thanked Daigle for seeing the world from their perspective." Daigle's post ended with:
Of course, that's not what happened. But if it did, wouldn't we find it unconscionable?
If so, then why are Americans okay with our government doing this to people in other countries?
In Pakistan alone, the U.S. government has killed more than 3,000 people with drone strikes... and only 1 out of 50 were suspected terrorists. The rest were bystanders, rescue workers, and children.
Let's stop this madness now.
One people. One planet.
One person who commented on the post was John Swain, who said he was a Navy veteran and wrote: "When enemies hide amongst women and children when they're fighting their holy jihad against us I have less sympathy. Perhaps we should go back to the Vietnam days when we carpet-bombed. You declare war against us and then hide amongst women and children in between murders and mayhem? No, the drones are effective and necessary." Swain found himself invited to Pakistan to meet the people being bombed and appeared to be stunned by the level of generosity and hospitality he found in the conversation. He later wrote: "I wish our countries showed as much respect to each other as you all have shown me here.... Thank you for your courtesy to me and feel free to contact me again. I can change my mind about some things, and who knows, I could be beginning to change some of my beliefs already. Good night, and take care."
We can all change our minds -- and be healed of familiar patterns that don't serve us, or a community of people, well anymore.
In the Sermon
Do we want to be healed? Jesus might well be asking us too.
Surely most of us would love to be healed of our physical ailments. Some people in any congregation, as you preach on this story, will be ill. Some will be cured and others will not. The story reminds us of the places where healing and curing are the same, and where they differ. We may be cured of an illness and not healed of our selfishness or prejudice or any other spiritual ailment. Or we may never be cured in a physical sense, but may have our spirits touched and made more whole. Or the two may travel together, as physical illness opens the door to wholeness of the spirit.
As a community too, we have places that need healing.
We might want to be healed of our assumptions or judgments about people. We might want to be healed of waiting for someone to come along and fix things. We might want to be healed of our blind spots, so we can see each other as clearly as Jesus sees all of us.
The lectionary ends the story with "Now that day was a sabbath." We can hear it as John explaining that Jesus had just done work on the sabbath, and challenged the sabbath rules. But the sabbath also comes as a result of Jesus making the man whole. The man wasn't just healed on the sabbath; the healing contributed to the sabbath. Because the man is healed, the day truly becomes a sabbath. When old assumptions and habits fall away in service to a new thing God is doing, that day is a sabbath from business as usual. When wholeness comes, that day is a sabbath from illness and pain. When we glimpse the realm of God among us that day is always a sabbath.
ANOTHER VIEW
Ascension Day
by Leah Lonsbury
Acts 1:1-11; Luke 24:44-53
While long lines at airports and cancelled White House tours have dominated national news coverage on the effects of sequestration, the real hurt of these cuts has been absorbed in local communities, both urban and rural. Journalists Amanda Terkel and Sam Stein set out to document this in their article "Sequestration Effects: Cuts Sting Communities Nationwide". They write:
The Huffington Post set out to do an extensive review of sequestration stories from the past week, with the goal of finding 100. What seemed like a daunting task was completed in hours. No one region of the country has been immune. Rural towns in Alaska, missile test sites in the Marshall Islands, military bases in Virginia, university towns across the country, and housing agencies in inner cities are all beginning to feel the cuts.
Terkel and Stein also document a food pantry site being forced to close in Murray, Utah; Medicare patients being turned away in Manchester, Connecticut; almost 5,000 low-income tenants at risk of losing their housing vouchers in Sacramento; as many as 182 children set to lose their placements in a Head Start program in Cincinnati, Ohio; no new projects being launched this year and workers in limbo for VISTA, a poverty-reducing program in West Virginia; 11,000 fewer meals being served through the Senior Nutrition Program and 630 fewer people being helped through the Employment Service Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and many other stories of loss felt locally.
While any number of "failure to launch" jokes could be made by pastor-types should Jesus have found himself ready to ascend in contemporary Fredericksburg, Maryland, where sequestration cuts have closed the aviation tower (#46 on Terkel and Stein's list), or in Lewiston, Idaho, where the entire airport has been shut down (#72), perhaps the Ascension/sequestration tie could be made more effectively by looking at where our attention has been drawn with these two events and where their impact will ultimately be felt.
Cancelled White House tours create lots of national media chatter and draw our attention away from what's happening in the everyday lives of people in communities throughout the country.
According to our Ascension texts, Jesus is lifted up and taken away by a cloud (Acts 1:9) and carried away into heaven (Luke 24:51). In Luke, the disciples return to Jerusalem where "they were continually in the temple blessing God" (Luke 24:53). In Acts, the apostles stand staring up at the sky after Jesus, dumbfounded and with mouths agape.
In both books, the attention of Jesus' followers remains where the spotlight has been, probably because the national media couldn't resist such a juicy a story -- "Religious pot-stirrer crucified, raised from the dead and into the sky." These Ascension stories can do the same for us. We can get caught up in the theatrical sensationalism of these stories and in the power and glory of their main character, Jesus. There is a place for that kind of awe, but if we remain there we miss what Jesus was up to as he exited (really) upstage.
What if our Ascension reaction and focus was less on the guy being lifted into heaven and more on the local folks left behind (not Left Behind)? What if the disciples weren't continuously in the temple blessing God and spent more of their time on the streets blessing God's people? And what if we spent less time honoring God in our sanctuaries and more time honoring God's beloved in our neighborhoods and cities? What if we stopped our sky-gazing, shut our gaping mouths, and really listened to what the angels in Acts have to say?
Let's listen...
"Why are you still standing there looking up toward heaven?" they say. "Jesus will come again in the way you saw him go" (Acts 1:11).
Now, upon first hearing that sounds a little mean, because the text says that Jesus was lifted up in a cloud. So, one might assume that they/we could look to the heavens to find him. But the angel is in the details in Luke/Acts.
Listen to how the angels address the disciples...
"People of Galilee..."
In other words, the angels recall for the disciples who they are and remind them of the years they have spent on the road with Jesus ministering throughout Galilee. The angels bring to mind the dust of the road, the sound of the crowds, and the gentle, healing touch of Jesus. Galilee was where Jesus healed the blind man. The recollection of its name and Jesus' work there has the potential to give the disciples sight as well. This is how they saw Jesus "go" every day -- to the people, to meet their needs with the tangible love of God.
"He will come again in the way he came before," they say.
He came in Galilee. He came healing, teaching, liberating, welcoming, breaking down barriers, raising the dead, living and loving radically, and overturning the powers that be. His mother Mary sang out, before she could even feel his movement in her body: "God has looked upon me in my lowly estate and called me beloved and blessed. God has shown mercy to the downtrodden and scattered the proud. God has brought the powerful down from their thrones, lifted up the lowly, filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away hungry" (Luke 1:48-53).
"He will come again in the way he came before," they say.
Remember Jesus' first public teaching and act of ministry? In the synagogue he says to those gathered, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18-19).
The disciples saw Jesus go out on the dusty roads, in the noisy crowds, and amongst the people hungry for a healing touch in Galilee. Jesus is coming back in those same ways in our own cities, in our own lives -- not on some elevated cloud, but on the way of love that goes to God's people who are hungry, who need healing, who need community, who need connection, who need to be empowered, who need the abundant life God offers us all. Jesus is coming as we choose to "go" on the path he cut for us.
We hear about the effects of sequestration on tourists who can't tour the White House as planned, but we feel its effects when our children's education suffers because of teacher cuts (#67), our most vulnerable neighbors are refused medical care (#34), and our unemployed and homeless sisters and brothers (#63 and #87) see assistance they rely upon cut or taken away.
We get caught up in the magic of Jesus floating off into the clouds on Ascension Day, but we know the real magic happens when we discover our own power as Theophilus, friend(s) of God, who remain on the ground feeding, healing, and liberating God's people -- walking the same dusty roads Jesus did.
Our attention is drawn to the flashy elements of the story, but the real scoop is to be found on the ground, in the ordinary details of life right where we are.
Rowan Williams, recently retired from his post as the Archbishop of Canterbury, thinks the need for refocusing is what the Ascension story is all about after all. He writes of this moment using the analogy of turning on the light when you awake. Joseph H. Britton interprets Williams in this way for Feasting on the Word [Year C, Vol. 2]:
Imagine what it is like when you first wake up in the morning, when you put on the light, all you are conscious of is the brightness of the light itself. Only gradually do your eyes adjust sufficiently to the light that you are able to make out other objects. After a few moments, however, you cease to be conscious of the light itself, and start to see what else is in the room, as it is illumined by the light (pp. 510-514).
The gospel accounts of Jesus' resurrection, says Williams, show him to have been like that initial morning light: at first, Jesus' resurrected self was so blinding that the disciples, worn out with grief and disorientation, could only be conscious of him. The Ascension, then, is that moment when the light itself recedes into the background, so that Jesus becomes the one through whom we see the rest of the world. Williams writes, "He is the light we see by; we see the world in a new way because we see it through him, see it with his eyes."
This is what Jesus was preparing the disciples for all along. This is why he taught and reassured and blessed them -- so he could get out of the way and watch their love, his love, spread all over the world. With these new eyes the disciples see, we can see, the world as a place where Jesus has promised to be and where we are committed to be as followers of Jesus. The Ascension then, is not so much about Jesus' flashy exit but more about him making room for and shedding light on the birth of the disciples' mission, our mission of love for the world.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
John 5:1-9
Do You Want to Be Healed?
There's an old story about a man who one day discovered a loud ringing in his ears. Upon looking in the mirror, he discovered that his face was beet red and his eyes had begun to bulge out.
Sorely distressed, the man went to see his doctor. The doctor put him through a series of tests but could find no cause for the symptoms, which by this time had begun to come and go. The doctor told his patient: "The tests show nothing, but there is obviously something very wrong with you. If I were you I'd begin to get my affairs in order, because, frankly, you may be dying."
Convinced that he was not long for this world, the man began checking things off of his bucket list as quickly as possible. He quit his job, sold his house and gave the money to charity, and distributed most of his possessions to his children -- so finally the only thing left to do was to buy the suit that he would be buried in.
Having never owned a really good suit, he went to a tailor who agreed to make him a real fine suit at a reasonable price. He took all the man's measurements, as tailors do: 42 long for the jacket, 38-inch waist and 33-inch inseam, 17?-inch neck.
The man stopped the tailor and told him to remeasure his neck. "I've always worn a size 17 shirt," he said. The tailor refused to remeasure. He knew what he was doing, he said, and the man's neck size was clearly a 17?. Again, the man insisted that he had worn a size 17 his entire adult life.
"Fine," said the tailor, "I'll make you a size 17 shirt. But if you wear it for more than an hour it'll make your face red, your ears ring, and your eyes bulge out."
* * *
John 5:1-9
Reality therapy is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy not unlike that which Jesus practiced at the Bethesda Pool. It treats patients with dysfunctional behavior by educating them about more effective, functional ways of behaving.
Developed by Dr. William Glasser in the 1960s, reality therapy concerns itself with the here and now. Unlike other psychotherapeutic methods, it does not deal with the patient's subconscious or past. Boiled down to its essence, reality therapy guides the patient through an exploration of three basic questions:
-- What do you want/need?
-- What are you doing to get what you want/need?
-- Is that working?
If patients discover that their behavior is not leading to what they want/need or is even leading them further away from it, they are then invited to enter into a covenant with the therapist to seek more effective behaviors that will lead them to their goal.
* * *
John 5:1-9
A farmer's son ran away from the labor and drudgery of the farm and joined the circus. Years later when the circus came to town, the farmer sought out his son and asked him how his life was going. The young man launched into a flood of complaints: "Most of my work consists of mucking out horse stalls and the elephants' tent. The trailer I sleep in is cold in the winter and hot in the summer. The food is greasy and unhealthy. The pay is horrible. The people are indifferent to me and still think of me as a newcomer. The ringmaster is mean. Even the clowns are haughty and hard to live with."
The father, saddened by his son's unhappiness, remembered the story of the prodigal son and opened his arms. "Welcome home, son," he said. "Your room is still as it was. If you want to leave the circus and come back to the farm you will always be welcome."
The young man stepped back, a shocked look on his face. "What? Are you nuts? And leave show business?"
Some people don't want their problems to be solved -- they just like to complain about them.
* * *
John 5:1-9; Psalm 67
It was probably psychologist William James who first observed that "we do not laugh because we are happy; we are happy because we laugh." But it was anthropologist Margaret Mead who discovered a similar axiom at work in the lives of a primitive people.
According to Mead, she came upon another anthropologist who was observing primitive people living in the South Pacific on a small island. He had been watching and studying them for years. They were miserably poor with barely enough food and water to survive, and they had lived that way for generations. Yet on a certain day every week they would all gather on the beach for a party. They would make a bonfire and then sing and dance around it.
The anthropologist watched this happen every week for months and finally had to ask one of the village elders why the people did this. "Why do you have this party every week? What have you got to be so happy about?"
The elder replied: "We do not dance because we are happy; we are happy because we dance."
(Psalm 67 -- We praise God not because God needs to be praised, but because we need to praise.)
* * *
Psalm 67
Praise Balloons
The story is told of a Presbyterian pastor who became impatient with his stoic congregation because they simply refused to express even the slightest bit of emotion during the worship service. No one would say "Amen," no matter how moved they were. No one would raise their hands to heaven. No one would sing any louder than their neighbor.
So one Sunday the pastor had the ushers hand out helium balloons to the congregants as they entered the sanctuary -- and before the service began he told the worshipers to hold the balloons on their laps and release them whenever they felt moved to give thanks and/or praise to God or to express the joy that was in their hearts.
Throughout the service balloons ascended one by one, but at the conclusion one third of the balloons were still in people's laps.
* * *
John 14:23-29
One of the best-selling novels on the market today is Max Brooks' World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. In it, years after a zombie apocalypse nearly wipes out the population of Earth, the survivors are invited to contribute their stories. One of the contributors is a retired soldier who is still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder:
It's fear, dude. You don't have to be Sun freakin' Tzu to know that real fighting isn't about killing or even hurting the other guy, it's about scaring him enough to call it a day. Break their spirit, that's what every successful army goes for, from tribal facepaint to "blitzkrieg" to... what did we call the first round of Gulf War Two, "Shock and Awe"? Perfect name, "Shock and Awe"! But what if the enemy can't be shocked and awed? Not just won't, but biologically can't! That's what happened that day outside New York City, that's the failure that almost lost us the whole... war. They are not afraid! No matter what we do, no matter how many we kill, they will never ever be afraid!
Fortunately, for Christians, Jesus offers a cure for fear that doesn't require us to become zombies.
* * *
From team member Ron Love:
John 5:1-9
Mike and Charisse Reichenbach paid for a full-page of print in their hometown newspaper (Florence [South Carolina] Morning News, April 3, 2013) to instruct the reading public on why they believe God allowed the Boston Marathon bombings. The article comes with a color photo of the happy, smiling couple embracing. Their reasoning is that the nation (and particularly Christians) has drifted too far from God, and thus the bombing became a test of our faith. They wrote: "We're neither preachers nor pastors, but we do think that part of the reason why God allows 'unfairness' in life is because it can be tough to fully rely on Him when everything is going well. If life never tested our conviction to follow Jesus, we can't say we would easily and consistently rely on Him."
Application: It is hard to comprehend that a man laid at the side of the pool for 38 years as a testing of his faith.
* * *
John 5:1-9
For some of the most influential doctors in the fight against cancer, it has finally become time to push back against what they see as profiteering by pharmaceutical companies. More than 100 cancer specialists from 15 countries on five continents have banded together to protest the price of cancer drugs like Gleevec, which costs a patient $100,000 a year. The physicians went so far as to declare the cost "immoral." The pharmaceutical companies have defended their pricing, noting that it reflects the cost of research and (most interestingly) "the value of the drug to patients."
Application: The invalid beside the pool during his 38 years of seclusion must have contemplated the immorality of his position and station in life.
* * *
Acts 11:1-18
A research study has just been completed on the college drinking game "beer pong". For those of you unfamiliar with it, the game is played with two teams. If a tossed ping-pong ball lands in your opponent's cup, then that team has to drink the cup of beer. The cup is refilled, so the game can continue endlessly. The only problem is contestants have been frequently coming down with "pong flu." Researchers from Clemson University discovered that this is because each ping-pong ball can have as many as 3 million tiny organisms on it, including dangerous bacteria such as salmonella, listeria, e. Coli, and staph.
Application: Peter's vision is that all things are clean to eat, which means there is equality among all people. Peter did not say all things are healthy to eat.
* * *
Acts 11:1-18
The "walk-up" song is a familiar part of the contemporary experience at major league ballparks, as many of the players have songs they have chosen played in the stadium as they walk up to bat. Upon hearing their theme song, fans (and the players themselves as well) are inspired and encouraged, hopefully resulting in them being better hitters.
The practice of personalized songs has now filtered down to high school teams, with one player saying, "A walk-up is supposed to exemplify who we are." Another observed, "It's kind of cool because major league players get to do it."
Application: Peter's vision was not to see any one of us being exemplified, but rather treated as equal servants of the Lord.
* * *
Acts 11:1-18
Author E.L. Konigsburg, known for her accomplished work as a writer of books for young adults, recently died. In the course of her writing career she twice received the Newbery Medal, awarded annually for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. It was said that in her books she strove to write literature "that tackles the basic problem of who am I? What makes me the same as everyone else? What makes me different?"
Application: Peter's vision was one that said we are different as much as we are the same.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: May God be gracious to us and bless us.
People: May God's face shine upon us.
Leader: May God's way be known upon earth,
People: and God's saving power among all nations.
Leader: Let the peoples praise you, O God;
People: let all the peoples praise you.
OR
Leader: Let us come into the presence of our God.
People: But we are broken and scarred.
Leader: God comes not to condemn us but to heal us.
People: We are weary and seek God's healing.
Leader: The God who creates us also makes us whole.
People: With gratitude we receive God's healing and share it with others.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"Fairest Lord Jesus"
found in:
UMH: 189
H82: 383/384
PH: 306
NNBH: 75
NCH: 44
CH: 97
W&P: 123
AMEC: 95
Renew: 166
"Great Is Thy Faithfulness"
found in:
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
ELA: 733
W&P: 72
AMEC: 84
Renew: 249
"Spirit Song"
found in:
UMH: 347
AAHH: 321
CH: 352
W&P: 352
CCB: 51
Renew: 248
"Pues Si Vivimos" ("When We Are Living")
found in:
UMH: 356
PH: 400
NCH: 499
CH: 536
ELA: 639
W&P: 415
"For the Healing of the Nations"
found in:
UMH: 428
NCH: 576
CH: 668
W&P: 621
"Near to the Heart of God"
found in:
UMH: 472
PH: 527
NNBH: 316
CH: 581
AMEC: 322
"Be Still, My Soul"
found in:
UMH: 534
AAHH: 135
NNBH: 263
NCH: 488
CH: 566
W&P: 451
AMEC: 426
"Help Us Accept Each Other"
found in:
UMH: 560
PH: 358
NCH: 288
CH: 487
W&P: 596
AMEC: 558
"Refiner's Fire"
found in:
CCB: 79
"Something Beautiful"
found in:
CCB: 84
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God, who comes to heal us and make us whole, give us the faith to trust ourselves into your hands that all of our broken places may be made whole, even those that we cherish; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We offer you our praise this day, O God, and ask that as we center our thoughts and hearts on you, we may find wholeness and healing in our lives. Then help us to be a healing presence to others. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways we refuse to be healed.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. There are places in our lives where we are broken. We have relationships that divide rather than bring together. We have attitudes that keep us from reflecting your image. We have habits that are unhealthy. In our selfishness we do things that harm your good earth. Some of these are uncomfortable enough that we are willing to be healed of them. Others we take comfort in and hold on to tightly even though they hurt us and others. Forgive us our foolish ways and help us to offer all of our brokenness into your loving care. Amen.
Leader: God is the great healer who desires for us to be completely whole. Receive the forgiveness and healing of our God.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
All praise and glory to you, O God of love and majesty. You are the compassionate one who comes to heal your people.
(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. There are places in our lives where we are broken. We have relationships that divide rather than bring together. We have attitudes that keep us from reflecting your image. We have habits that are unhealthy. In our selfishness we do things that harm your good earth. Some of these are uncomfortable enough that we are willing to be healed of them. Others we take comfort in and hold on to tightly even though they hurt us and others. Forgive us our foolish ways and help us to offer all of our brokenness into your loving care.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which you bring healing and wholeness to creation. We thank you for the wonders of creation and how our bodies and our earth renew and heal themselves. We thank you for the knowledge that allows others to help this healing process. We thank you for your love that we experience in our relationship with you and with your people as it touches our lives and makes us whole.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We are painfully aware of the broken nature of creation. We are part of that brokenness. As you move among your children with your healing presence, help us to be a part of your work. Inspire us to reach out in love to others so that they and we may be made whole.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
You can ask the children if they have ever gotten hurt (fallen off a bike, skinned their knee, and so forth). Did they ever try to keep their parent from trying to clean and fix their wound? Sometimes even when it is for the best, we are scared of being helped. We are afraid it will hurt. God loves us and created a wonderful world, but sometimes things are not so good. We hurt each other. God wants to make it better, but sometimes we are too afraid to allow it to happen. God loves us and wants us to be better. God does not want bad things to happen and for us to be scared or hurt.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
When Jesus Left His Friends
John 14:23-29
Object: a will
Good morning, boys and girls! I brought something to show you today that you may not have seen before. It's called a will. Does anyone know what a will is? (let the children answer) A will is a set of papers that tell what you own and who you would like to have each thing you own after you die. Usually people have to go to a lawyer to have these papers typed and signed. What kinds of things do you think people put in wills? (let them answer) They make a list of everything they own: their house, their car, their furniture, their dishes, their jewelry, and anything that is worth money. Then they decide who they want to have each thing in the will. If people are married, they usually want their husband or wife to have everything. Do you know anyone who has died and left someone in your family something? (let the children share stories) Sometimes people give away their things before they die. Sometimes they just mark everything with a piece of tape and say, "When I'm gone, I want you to have this."
Our lesson today is about someone who gave people things before he left. It was Jesus. Did Jesus have a fancy house and a car and lots of dishes and jewelry to leave someone? (let them answer) No, Jesus didn't have a wife and he didn't have any possessions to leave to anyone. He didn't have any money either, but Jesus told his friends that he was going to die, live again, and then leave them to go back to God. He said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you." Could Jesus put that in a will? (let them answer) No, because peace doesn't have a price like a house or a car. Peace is like love. It isn't something that you can buy or sell. Peace is something you can only give away. That's what Jesus left his disciples. Think back to the Christmas story. God sent peace on earth. The angels sang it -- "peace on earth." Jesus' whole life was teaching us God's peace and how to find it. That's what we come to church for -- to learn about the peace Jesus lived and left to all of us. Peace can't be put in a will. It can only be put into our hearts.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, May 5, 2013, issue.
Copyright 2013 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.
