Love, Love Is The Answer
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
In the primary gospel text selected by the lectionary for this week, Jesus prepares his disciples for his departure. After briefly discussing the Holy Spirit, Jesus tells them: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” But then he pointedly contrasts his peace with that of the world. At first glance that may seem enigmatic -- but in this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Robin Lostetter suggests that the healing story contained in this week’s secondary gospel selection may shed some important light on the differentiation Jesus makes between his peace and the world’s peace. When Jesus confronts a paralytic man lying by a Jerusalem pool, he asks him: “Do you want to be made well?” The man responds by listing reasons he hasn’t been able to avail himself of the pool’s reputed healing powers, and Jesus implicitly dismisses the man’s excuses by telling him: “Stand up, take your mat, and walk” -- after which the man does so. Robin suggests that if we really want to achieve peace in the world, we need to emulate the paralytic man after his encounter with Jesus. She notes that we need to ask ourselves a direct question about whether we really want healing (as Jesus does); we also need to stop the excuses that have contributed to keeping us unwell for a proverbial 38 years; and finally, we need to be open to the blessings and healing that Jesus offers... and to act on them accordingly. The way we can do that while keeping worldly cynicism at bay, Robin tells us, is by acting with love.
Team member Mary Austin shares some additional thoughts on this same theme of finding peace -- and she notes that we in the church need to ask ourselves the same question that Jesus poses to the man lying by the pool: “Do we want to be made well?” Mary observes that like that man, many in the church may not know whether they really want to be healed -- especially because it may change our lives in inconvenient and uncomfortable ways. Thus, Mary suggests, this is the true task of the church -- to reach out and offer Christ’s peace and healing to others who may not even realize that is what they truly need.
Love, Love Is the Answer
by Robin Lostetter
John 5:1-9; John 14:23-29; Revelation 21:10, 22--22:5
As we wake to news of eight members of an Ohio family murdered, of a shooting outside a Wisconsin high school prom, and of North Korea’s submarine-launched ballistic missile test -- just the latest headlines amid a milieu of national and global reports of suicide bombings, racial conflicts, police brutality, and violence against police -- one might ask of our society the same question Jesus asked in John 5:6: “Do we want to be made well?” In fact, we are so inured to such violence, both personal and international, that one might wonder if we would recognize peace if we were to experience it. And whether it would seem so foreign to us that we might immediately revert to the comfort of discord and violence.
In John 14:27-29, Jesus describes the peace that he leaves with the disciples, and tells them of his departure “before it occurs, so that when it does occur, [they] may believe.” We have been given the prophets’ descriptions of the peaceable kingdom and the New Testament metaphors for the inbreaking of the Reign of God... but do we still prefer the evil that we’re comfortable with over the peace that we’re promised? Do we want to be made well?
In the News
Human depravity seems to hit new lows day by day. At the scene of the eight murdered family members in Ohio, authorities have now found not only farmed marijuana, but also evidence of cockfighting. These things do not necessarily show a causal pattern, but only point to local entrepreneurship in a poverty-stricken area, as well as the continued human fascination with violence as a spectator sport. Do we want to be made well?
Greed enters the picture where compassion leaves a void. Smugglers, in an attempt to maximize their profits, transferred too many refugees from a smaller boat to a larger one, filling it beyond its capacity. Instead they maximized the loss of life -- nearly 500 drowned, and the 41 survivors weren’t welcomed into warm accommodations but are rather being kept in “a stadium in Kalamata, where they’re being housed by local authorities while they undergo police procedures.” No country has stepped forward to accept these refugees. Do we want to be made well?
The death of a six-year-old boy finally illuminated the recklessness of some Louisiana authorities and their rival “peace-keeping” forces: “For years, people in the tiny Louisiana town of Marksville watched the feud between their mayor and local judge like some kind of daytime soap opera, with varying degrees of frustration and amusement. Then came the Nov. 3 shooting that killed a 6-year-old boy. Suddenly, the petty small-town bickering began looking more tragically sinister.” Do we want to be made well, or would we rather run the risks of self-indulgent, often violent, behavior better suited to adolescents than to adults?
The headlines we awaken to, the media “spin,” and the unveiling of stories and information previously not released to the public has also led to eroded trust -- not only in government, but even in some charities and long-trusted public figures who have been looked on as models of moral behavior. The danger of any of our bank accounts or electronics (phones, computers, even automobiles) being hacked has made us anxious and mistrustful. The numerous sports figures arrested for violent behavior or sexual misconduct has become nearly humdrum -- but the cases against Bill Cosby , the formerly family-oriented comic and model TV dad, has shaken our ability to trust the integrity of even our most obvious moral figures. And now we learn that even our video games may be government propaganda! If we had peace today, would we recognize or trust it? Would the media bother to report it?
In the Scriptures
In Revelation 22:2, we read that the leaves of the tree lining the River of Life are for the healing of the nations. We know that God’s intention is a world freed from violence, pain, and tears. These leaves may not be available in this life. What do we have for now?
In John 14:27, Jesus assures the disciples that he is giving us his peace, a peace unlike that of the world. Geoffrey M. St. J. Hoare has observed: “Anxiety, fear, and troubled hearts are much on Jesus’ mind (v. 27b). The antidote to such fear is the peace given by Jesus, and not peace as the world gives (v. 27a). Many people yearn for peace in the world’s terms: cessation of conflict, whether psychological tension or warfare; a sense of calm or serenity of spirit. The peace that Jesus promises as he takes leave might include such things, but the peace that Jesus gives is nothing less than the consequence of the presence of God” (“Pastoral Perspective,” in Feasting on the Word [Year C: Vol. 3]).
If we want to be made well from anxiety and fear, Christ’s peace may well be an antidote.
But what about love? Love is the real antidote to cynicism, to hate, to fear, to all that evil can produce in the world: “In the absence of a physically present Christ, our daily practice makes real the living presence and love of God. Love in action is the route to experiencing Love’s grace-filled indwelling. Love in action is the closest we come to evidence of God” (Peter J.B. Carman, “Theological Perspective,” in Feasting on the Word [Year C: Vol. 3]).
In the Sermon
Worldly wisdom doesn’t always choose love. Violence is used to fight violence, and sometimes it may be necessary, but it also increases our anxiety while calming the anxiety of others.
And yet, even in this imperfect world, we can find moments of enlightened behavior. Amid all the fear recently generated by the police and for the police, a new playbook for dealing with conflict with the mentally ill has arisen: “The Portland Police Bureau... has spent years putting in place an intensive training program and protocols for how officers deal with people with mental illness.... In response to public outcry, many police departments have, like Portland, turned to more training for their officers, in many cases adopting some version of a model pioneered in Memphis almost three decades ago and known as crisis intervention team training.” And in a surprise turn of events, there has even been a small step in making amends in one of the cases of race-related police violence: the Tamir Rice family has received a civil settlement, though it is certainly not equal to the loss they suffered.
The advantage of using love as an antidote to fear, cynicism, anxiety, and violence is that you can find everyday examples to lift up from your own congregation, your own community, even your own life. One of my own confirmands just posted this on Facebook -- a cry for peace, for justice, for love and fairness:
I wanna protest on Capitol Hill because of all the hateful and unfair things that happen in the country we live in but... there’s so many things to protest, how could I choose just one? I’m proud to be an American and what America REALLY stands for. I’m not proud of what we have become and what we THINK we represent as a nation.
I know that she reaches out with love. I hope that her acts of love and kindness protect her from becoming cynical. I hope they convey the presence of God in and through her. And I hope that she is one who will help others answer in the positive to the question “Do you want to be made well?”
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Mary Austin
John 5:1-9
Jesus may be asking churches the same question he asks the man lying by the pool: “Do you want to be made well?”
Jesus embodies truth, and in his presence people see the truth about themselves. Meeting up with his complete clarity, they stumble over themselves, explaining what he already knows. In the hall of fame of silly comments people make to Jesus (“Can we sit at your right and left hand?” and “Well, just who is my neighbor exactly?”) this man is right up there. Jesus asks if he wants to be healed, and the man begins to explain why he’s been an invalid for so long. Instead of saying, “Yes, of course, thank you, Jesus,” the man has a long list of reasons why he’s still in the same place he’s been for almost four decades.
In our church lives, we have plenty of answers just like the man by the pool. We would love to be a healthier church -- but we don’t have any young members to do things, and people are tired, and our building is old, and annual giving is down. The bishop/executive presbyter/denomination doesn’t seem to want to help us. What can we do? As soon as we get our next pastor, he will play the guitar, attract youth, reach out to young families, and then everything will be just like it used to be.
Like the man by the pool, we often look to the past in our congregational life instead of to the future. Jesus offers the man an invitation into something new, but his answers all look back to what has been. We have a similar mindset when we look back all the time.
In fact, it’s not even clear that the man does want to be made well. He never answers Jesus, and Jesus doesn’t wait around to hear. Jesus just heals him, and tells him to get moving into his new life. After he’s healed, he has to re-create his routines, his way of making a living, and his closest relationships. The healing may be a very unwanted gift!
Anthony B. Robinson says that this kind of unwanted gift is an important part of church life too. People may come to church for the coffee, the youth program, or the great music, and then it’s our job to add to their spiritual health by giving them something they don’t know they need. Robinson says, “the task of the church is, in the words of Alban consultant Dan Hotchkiss, ‘to teach people to want things that they don’t want.’ People may come our way looking for a great youth program for their teens or for a ‘spiritual experience’ that is satisfying to them. It’s a place to start. But from that starting point, a healthy church, one that takes the gospel and Christ’s call to discipleship seriously, will teach people to want things that they don’t -- or didn’t know to -- want.”
“Do you want to be made well?” Jesus asks the man. It seems that he doesn’t know.
Our churches have plenty of people who don’t know -- yet. Ministering in Jesus’ name, we can help people see what they want. As Anthony Robinson says, “Over time, our task is to reframe the expectation that worship will be an entertainment experience, to teach people the particular nature of worship, of encounter with God, of going deeper. Through this deeper experience, people who didn’t know to want such worship may discover that they cannot live without it -- indeed, that they cannot live without the God they encounter in worship.”
The man doesn’t know what he wants, and so Jesus meets him and moves him forward. Robinson suggests that we can meet people like this man, people who are in limbo, in our own chosen “in-between” places. He calls such places a kind of spiritual “front porch,” adding: “I like the metaphor of the front porch, an intermediate space between street and interior, a place for casual interaction that might grow. How can churches build the front porch, creating a space where people can develop relationships before coming inside?” A coffee shop can be a front porch, or a community garden, or a shared service project. These are places where we meet people and begin to hear how they want to be made well.
At the end of the story, the narrator says, “At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath.” Noting that it’s the sabbath starts the story of Jesus’ conflict with the religious authorities, but there’s a another link between the healing and the sabbath. The sabbath is the day when we’re reminded of our creation-deep ties to God, and the healing re-creates the man’s life (whether he wants it that way or not). There is a sense that the narrator is saying that “Then it was really the sabbath, because the man was made new. Then it was really the sabbath, because there was reason to celebrate.” We have the same call to celebration when our churches, and the people in them, move toward greater wholeness. Whether we are wise enough to know we need to be healed or not, the gift comes, and God moves us into something new.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
John 5:1-9
Do You Want to Be Made Well?
Thanks to the comic exploits of the Pink Panther films’ Inspector Clouseau, most of us have heard of the Sûreté Nationale (the French national police), usually just referred to as the Sûreté.
What most of don’t know is that the Sûreté was originally founded and headed by an ex-convict.
Eugène-François Vidocq was a petty criminal who was charged and jailed for a variety of crimes, including theft and assuming false identities. Eventually, Vidocq offered his assistance to the police and worked as a spy in the criminal underworld. He became so effective in apprehending criminals and solving complex cases that authorities soon created the Brigade de la Sûreté (Security Brigade) to assist him. (It was later expanded nationwide by Napoleon and renamed Sûreté Nationale.) Under Vidocq’s leadership, the police reduced crime rates significantly. He was the first to employ some of our modern methods of investigation, such as a forensics laboratory.
Although Vidocq would ultimately resign from the police to create his own private detective agency, he continued to solve such complex crimes that his exploits later became the basis for popular fictional detectives, including Edgar Allan Poe’s Dupin and Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.
*****
John 5:1-9
Reality Therapy
Do you want to be made well?
In the early 1960s, Dr. William Glasser was working in the VA hospital in Los Angeles when he developed a kind of therapy and a style of counseling which he came to call “reality therapy,” a form of psychotherapy that does not dwell on the past but instead focuses on the future and places its emphasis upon the patient’s ability to make choices that will determine his or her future. He published his method in the 1965 book Reality Therapy (Harper & Row, 1965).
Boiled down to its essence, reality therapy consists of a series of questions which patients are encouraged to ask themselves when they find that they are unhappy or dysfunctional:
1. What do you want?
2. What are you doing to get what you want?
3. Is it working?
a. If it is working, then you are getting what you want; so why are you unhappy?
b. If it isn’t working let’s find out why, and see if together we can come up with a solution to the problem.
*****
John 5:1-9
Pick Up Your Bed and Walk
The paralyzed man was lying by the pool of Bethesda for 38 years, getting shoved aside every time a healing presence stirred the water -- so he never got healed. He must have given up on himself, on other people, on life itself.
Clint Salter is an award-winning entrepreneur. By the age of 28 he had created and sold three businesses, and also spent five years working as a senior celebrity agent managing some of Australia’s leading media and television personalities. He offers the following advice for times when we feel like giving up:
1. Go Back to “Why.” Occasionally we start with one vision in mind, and end up moving so far away from why we started a business, job, or relationship in the first place that we end up lost and questioning our decisions and actions. Go back to the beginning, the “love you had at first,” and start again from that point.
2. Learn to Feel Uncomfortable. Life is not easy, nor is it meant to be. We are always facing hurdles and obstacles that we must overcome, which is all part of the journey. The secret is to get comfortable with discomfort -- to accept that this is occasionally how life is, and that you can deal with it as you have in the past.
3. Win Through Persistence. Winston Churchill said, “If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a piledriver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time -- a tremendous whack.”
4. Share Your Goals. Find an “accountability buddy” to keep you on track. Sure, this is scary, but it ensures that you deliver on your promise to yourself. Make sure the other person will show you some tough love.
5. Acknowledge Challenges. You knew there would be tough times. Acknowledge the challenge, embrace it, learn what you can, and power on.
6. Get Happy. We all get in a funk every now and again, but you can actually become happy by acting happy. Fake it ’til you make it. Remember the old saying “We do not dance because we are happy; we are happy because we dance.”
7. Be Proud. Don’t forget to celebrate the victories your efforts have created. Be proud of where you have come from and what you’ve achieved.
*****
Acts 16:9-15
The Rich Man’s Hospitality
The first thing Lydia does after becoming a Christian is to invite Peter and his six Christian brothers to stay at her house. Her first act of Christian charity is an act of hospitality.
The rich man in the following story could take a lesson from Lydia.
For many years the two saintly brothers, Rabbi Elimelech and Rabbi Zusha, wandered the back roads of Galicia disguised as simple beggars. As they went they shared simple wisdom with those they met.
One evening they saw a lighted window in a large, well-appointed home, so they knocked on the door and asked for a place to stay the night. “I don’t run a hotel,” was the irate response of its large, well-appointed resident. “There’s a poorhouse near the synagogue for wandering beggars. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding accommodations there.”
The heavy door all but slammed in their faces, and Rabbi Elimelech and Rabbi Zusha walked on. Soon they came upon another lighted home, whose resident, the town scribe, welcomed them in and put his humble hut and resources at their disposal.
Several years later, the two brothers again visited the town, but this time they were official guests of the community, which had requested that the now-famous rabbis come for a Shabbat to grace the town with their presence and teachings. At the welcoming reception held in their honor and attended by the entire town, a wealthy gentleman approached them. “Rabbis!” he announced, “the town council has granted me the honor of hosting you during your stay. I’ve already explained to your coachman how to find my residence, though he’s sure not to miss it -- everyone knows where ‘Reb Feivel’ lives.”
The gathering dispersed, and Rabbi Elimelech and Rabbi Zusha went to pay their respects to the town rabbi and meet with the scholars in the local study hall. The rich man went home to supervise the final arrangements for the rabbis’ stay. Soon the coachman arrived with the brothers’ coach and luggage. The horses were placed in the stables, the luggage in the rabbis’ rooms, and the coachman settled in the servants’ quarters.
Hours passed, but there was still no sign of the two visitors. Growing anxious, the host sought out their coachman. “What happened?” he asked. “When are they going to come here?”
“They’re not coming,” said the coachman. “Rabbi Elimelech and Rabbi Zusha are staying at the scribe’s home.”
Reb Feivel rushed to the scribe’s hut and fairly knocked down the door. “Honored rabbis,” he cried, “it was agreed that I would host you. You must tell me what I have done to deserve such humiliation!”
“But you are hosting us,” said Rabbi Elimelech, “at least, that part of us that you desire to host. Last time we were here, but without a coach, horses, coachman, and bundles of pressed clothes, you turned us away from your door. So it is not us you want in your home, but our coachman, horses, and luggage -- which are currently enjoying your hospitality.”
*****
Acts 16:9-15
Hospitality, Japanese-Style
In a 2014 Wall Street Journal article, Oliver Strand described the extreme lengths to which Japanese businesses and/or organizations will go in order to extend hospitality to their guests and customers. Here’s his description of the end of one dinner he consumed at a three-star restaurant:
“At the end of the meal the waitress, Ishikawa (the owner and chef), and what seemed like the rest of the staff escorted me to the sidewalk. They stood in a line and bowed. At the end of the block, I glanced over my shoulder. They were still in formation, and when they saw me turn they bowed again.”
*****
Acts 16:9-15
The Hospitality Code
In this short, short story, Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, tells of Bedouin hospitality in the desert and how it is misunderstood by two travelers.
Two men were crossing the desert when they saw a Bedouin’s tent and asked him for shelter. Even though he did not know them, he welcomed them. A camel was killed and its meat served in a sumptuous dinner.
The next day, as the guests were still there, the Bedouin had another camel killed. Astonished, they protested that they had not yet finished eating the one killed the day before. “It would be a disgrace to serve old meat to my guests,” was the answer.
On the third day, the two strangers woke early and decided to continue on their journey. As the Bedouin was not at home they gave his wife a hundred dinars, apologizing for not being able to wait, because if they spent any more time there the sun would become too strong for them to travel.
They had traveled for four hours when they heard a voice calling out to them. They looked back and saw the Bedouin following them. As soon as he caught up with them, he threw the money to the ground. “I gave you such a warm welcome! Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves?” In surprise, the strangers said that the camels were surely worth far more than that, but that they did not have much money.
“I am not talking about the amount,” the Bedouin said. “The desert welcomes Bedouins wherever they go, and never asks anything in return. If we had to pay, how could we live? Welcoming you to my tent is like paying back a fraction of what life has given to us.”
***************
From team member Ron Love:
John 5:1-9
Leonard Sax, a psychologist and practicing medical physician in West Chester, Pennsylvania, discussed in the New York Times why girls tend to have more anxiety than boys. One reason cited by Sax is that adolescent girls are more affected by social media than boys. A girl will sit in her room and scroll through other girls’ Instagram and Snapchat feeds. She will see that one looks better in a bikini. She will see another at a party having a great time, while she is sitting in her room. She will see that another just got an adorable new puppy. Suddenly she feels inferior and becomes anxious. A boy, on the other hand, usually doesn’t post something of himself, but rather something he has done such as a trophy he was awarded for sports or hunting. The solution for the adolescent girl, according to Dr. Sax and the American Academy of Pediatrics, is not to allow the adolescent girl to sit alone in her room with a connection to social media.
Application: Often before we can ask if someone wants to be healed, we have to understand both the illness and the solution.
*****
John 5:1-9
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts recently learned sign language. He did this so he could communicate to the 12 deaf and hard-of-hearing lawyers who were just granted permission to argue before the Supreme Court. After they took their oath, Roberts spoke to them with his hands, saying, “Your motion is granted.”
Application: In order to heal someone, we must take the time to learn how to be a healer.
*****
John 5:1-9
On the night of February 7, Marques Gaines finished work at the downtown Chicago Marriott, where he worked as a bartender. He then went for drinks with a few of his friends. Then around 4:15 a.m. he bought some potato chips at the corner 7-Eleven. The 32-year-old left the convenience store, only to be attacked and left unconscious in the street. Bystanders came and went, but no one stopped to help. Taxicabs turned the corner, but no one moved the body. Then a taxicab ran over Gaines, and he died four hours later in the hospital.
Application: Jesus did not walk pass the man at the side of the pool, and never should we.
*****
John 5:1-9
Washington Post movie and theater critic Ann Hornaday recently penned an article discussing why we irrationally don’t like some actors. Hornaday noted that this extends to her as well, for not liking an actor for any unknown and undefined reason can affect her review. Hornaday asks: “What if it’s their face, their body, their very being that, inexplicably and unquantifiably, offends?... for reasons far beyond my powers of explanation...” Hornaday says that the answer to this prejudice is to develop the ability to listen to an actor as opposed to judging him or her.
Application: Jesus did not judge the man at the side of the pool, but stopped to listen and then heal.
*****
John 5:1-9
Virginia McLaurin, who recently turned 107, made headlines last February when she met President Obama and his wife at the White House and danced with them. The video of that event has gone viral, being viewed more than 66 million times. From that public exposure McLaurin has received invitations to make appearances across the nation. But though her face is recognized everywhere from that public exposure, the problem is that she does not have a photo ID and therefore cannot get permission to fly. Born over 100 years ago in Chesterfield, South Carolina, by a midwife, McLaurin does not have a birth certificate -- and without a birth certificate, she cannot get a photo ID.
Application: Jesus did recognize the man at the side of the pool, and Jesus did not allow bureaucracy to prevent him from helping.
*****
John 5:1-9
David Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law, a website covering all aspects of the legal profession. When the site first went online, Lat found readers’ comments to be very helpful and insightful. But as time went on, according to Lat, the comments “succumbed to abuse and insult.” For this reason he had to discontinue the comment section on his site. This was done particularly because with bad comments following an article, readers began to question the truth of the posting. Researchers have called this the “nasty effect.”
Application: Jesus was not critical but supportive of the man by the side of the pool. There was no “nasty effect” in how Jesus approached the man.
*****
Acts 16:9-15
Roman Catholic Bishop Aegidius Zsifkokvics has refused to allow the Austrian government to build a fence on church property. Officials want to build a fence along the Hungarian border to keep out the refugees coming from Syria and Africa, and the fence would have to be placed on two parcels of land owned by the church. Zsifkokvics said a fence “would contradict the spirit of the Gospel... and particularly in a diocese that was in the shadow of the Iron Curtain for decades.”
Application: Paul did not see any fence keeping him from visiting Macedonia.
*****
Acts 16:9-15
Singer Bono of the rock band U2, a Christian who is renowned for his humanitarian work, has teamed up with Eugene Peterson (known for The Message, his contemporary translation of the Bible) to make a film on the Psalms. The promotional video shows Bono walking up to Peterson’s Montana lake house, greeting him and his wife. The message of the video is one of solidarity and evangelism.
Application: Paul understood the message of solidarity and teamwork as he worshiped in Macedonia.
*****
Acts 16:9-15
Melissa Gilbert -- who as a child played Laura Ingalls Wilder in the television program Little Hose on the Prairie, and who as an adult served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild -- is now campaigning to be elected to Congress from Michigan’s Eighth District. Interviewed by the New York Times regarding her political ambitions, Gilbert was asked if she had any role model as entertainer-turned-politician. Gilbert answered, “Because I am a woman doing this, I don’t know that there is anyone else out there like me.”
Application: Paul did not have any role models, only a vison.
*****
Revelation 21:10, 22--22:5
There is a big stir on the set of Live with Kelly and Michael, caused by co-host Michael Strahan’s sudden announcement that he was leaving Live to be on Good Morning America full-time. His co-host Kelly Ripa was only informed of the decision a few minutes before news of the move broke publicly. Infuriated that she was not consulted, Ripa did not appear on the show for several days. Fueling her anger was that when Strahan started appearing on GMA part-time, Ripa knew that it would eventually lead to his departure. This is why she screamed at the meeting where she was informed of Strahan’s departure, “Didn’t I tell you this was going to happen? I told you two years ago this was going to happen.”
Application: We all can look forward to the day when we will have no need for sun or moon, for the light of God will be sufficient. We all can look forward to the day when there will be no strife.
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: Let your way be known upon earth, O God.
People: Let your saving power be known among all nations.
Leader: Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, our God.
People: You judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
OR
Leader: The wholeness of God is reflected in creation.
People: The whole universe proclaims God’s good work.
Leader: The unity of God’s work has been marred.
People: We see the brokenness of creation all around us.
Leader: God works each day to bring healing to all.
People: As God’s people, we will join God’s mission.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”
found in:
UMH: 103
H82: 423
PH: 263
NCH: 1
CH: 66
LBW: 526
ELA: 834
W&P: 48
AMEC: 71
STLT: 273
Renew: 46
“God Hath Spoken by the Prophets”
found in:
UMH: 108
LBW: 238
W&P: 667
“Heal Me, Hands of Jesus”
found in:
UMH: 262
CH: 504
W&P: 636
“For the Healing of the Nations”
found in:
UMH: 428
NCH: 576
CH: 668
W&P: 621
“Let There Be Peace on Earth”
found in:
UMH: 431
CH: 677
W&P: 614
“Be Thou My Vision”
found in:
UMH: 451
H82: 488
PH: 339
NCH: 451
CH: 595
ELA: 793
W&P: 502
AMEC: 281
STLT: 20
Renew: 151
“Open My Eyes, That I May See”
found in:
UMH: 454
PH: 324
NNBH: 218
CH: 586
W&P: 480
AMEC: 285
“Lord, Speak to Me”
found in:
UMH: 463
PH: 426
NCH: 531
ELA: 676
W&P: 593
“We Are His Hands”
found in:
CCB: 85
“The Steadfast Love of the Lord”
found in:
CCB: 28
Renew: 23
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God, who created us to live together in peace and harmony: Grant us the wisdom to see the folly of hatred and violence, and to seek your healing for ourselves and for all; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, for you are the one who created us to live in peace and harmony with one another. Send your Spirit upon us and help us to see beyond the folly of hatred which destroys us and all creation. Help us to be open to the healing you offer your world. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our failure to catch the vision God has for our world.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have failed to heed the prophets, who saw the wonders of what creation was meant to become. We have failed to listen to Jesus as he taught us about your coming reign. Instead of helping to bring about a new earth, we have given in to the idea that things cannot get better. Call us back to our faith. Help us to see once again what you wish for us, and give us the grace to work for it. Amen.
Leader: God does intend good for us and for all creation. Be renewed in God’s love and grace, and join God in this vision.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise you, O God, for all the glories of your being. We praise you for the unity and peace with which you created this world.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have failed to heed the prophets, who saw the wonders of what creation was meant to become. We have failed to listen to Jesus as he taught us about your coming reign. Instead of helping to bring about a new earth, we have given in to the idea that things cannot get better. Call us back to our faith. Help us to see once again what you wish for us, and give us the grace to work for it.
We give you thanks for those who have witnessed to your vision for our world. We thank you for prophets and the psalmist, for evangelists and epistle writers. We thank you for family and friends and others who have shared your way of living with us so that we might know blessing and wholeness.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for this broken world. We pray for those who suffer from the brokenness around them. As you move among your creation to bring healing, help us to be your healing presence wherever we go.
(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
What if you were really sick and there was a medicine that would make you better? It would be silly not to take the medicine, wouldn’t it? But sometimes we are almost that silly. God tells us how to get along with others and make a better world. God has shown us the way of love. We need to be smart and follow God’s path of caring for others and loving them.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Holy Purple Pineapple, Paul!
by Chris Keating
Acts 16:9-15
Gather ahead of time:
* A whole pineapple (you can substitute a picture of a pineapple if you wish); alternative option: you can also get pineapple chunks in small cups for children to try.
* Pieces of purple paper folded in half; on the outside, write or print “You’re Invited.” On the inside, print “Come to our church to meet new friends!” (This is a perfect opportunity to advertise an upcoming church event.)
* A map showing Paul’s travels from Troas to Macedonia.
You might call this chapter part of the “flyover” material in the book of Acts. With so many names and places, it becomes tricky keeping up with where Paul is headed next! Resist the temptation to skip this story, however, and instead tell it in a way that helps children learn an important lesson about Christian hospitality and evangelism.
Ahead of time read through Acts 16, making notes of places, images, or words which are striking. What images of hospitality are present? Consult a Bible commentary or dictionary to check the meaning or importance of places and words.
As you greet the children, show them the pineapple or the picture of the pineapple. You might share with them that a pineapple is not something you typically see in church. Historically, however, the pineapple has been a symbol of hospitality. Help the children know that “hospitality” means welcoming friends old and new into our homes. In colonial times, serving a guest pineapple meant you were serving them something very special, especially since there were no refrigerators and the fruit can spoil quickly. According to several websites, when Native Americans placed a pineapple outside of their huts it was a sign that they were receiving visitors. Sometimes we see pineapples carved into chairs or on signs of inns as a way of saying “you’re welcomed here!”
If acceptable to parents, you may consider sharing some pineapple chunks for the children to taste. As these go around, tell them the brief story of Paul’s trip to Macedonia. Show the map, and tell them it is part of what we call Greece today. One sabbath day, the day when people worshiped God, Paul and his friends went outside the city gates looking for a place where he had been told people gathered to pray. There he met a very special woman named Lydia.
Lydia was a successful businesswoman who believed in God. She traded purple cloth, which was very expensive to make. Purple dye was hard to make because it came from sea snails. According to Wikipedia, it could take up to 12,000 snails to make a gallon of dye! Many important people wanted purple clothes, which is why we know Lydia was probably successful.
But there is also something else interesting about Lydia. Acts reminds us that she became a friend to Paul, and that she was eager to hear all that he had to say about Jesus. Just like people who shared pineapple, Lydia shared her house with Paul. She gave his friends a place to stay and eat. She became Paul’s friend. She told them, “You’re welcome to stay with me!”
As you pass around the purple invitations, suggest that perhaps we can learn something from Lydia. We can be “pineapple people.” (No, not like SpongeBob SquarePants who “lives in a pineapple under the sea”!) We can be people who welcome others, who make new friends, and who offer hospitality to others. Suggest that they pretend to be Lydia! They can share their purple invitations with others so that more people can learn about God’s love. How can we be more like Lydia, who was faithful and had her heart opened to God?
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, May 1, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2016 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 Mary Austin shares some additional thoughts on this same theme of finding peace -- and she notes that we in the church need to ask ourselves the same question that Jesus poses to the man lying by the pool: “Do we want to be made well?” Mary observes that like that man, many in the church may not know whether they really want to be healed -- especially because it may change our lives in inconvenient and uncomfortable ways. Thus, Mary suggests, this is the true task of the church -- to reach out and offer Christ’s peace and healing to others who may not even realize that is what they truly need.
Love, Love Is the Answer
by Robin Lostetter
John 5:1-9; John 14:23-29; Revelation 21:10, 22--22:5
As we wake to news of eight members of an Ohio family murdered, of a shooting outside a Wisconsin high school prom, and of North Korea’s submarine-launched ballistic missile test -- just the latest headlines amid a milieu of national and global reports of suicide bombings, racial conflicts, police brutality, and violence against police -- one might ask of our society the same question Jesus asked in John 5:6: “Do we want to be made well?” In fact, we are so inured to such violence, both personal and international, that one might wonder if we would recognize peace if we were to experience it. And whether it would seem so foreign to us that we might immediately revert to the comfort of discord and violence.
In John 14:27-29, Jesus describes the peace that he leaves with the disciples, and tells them of his departure “before it occurs, so that when it does occur, [they] may believe.” We have been given the prophets’ descriptions of the peaceable kingdom and the New Testament metaphors for the inbreaking of the Reign of God... but do we still prefer the evil that we’re comfortable with over the peace that we’re promised? Do we want to be made well?
In the News
Human depravity seems to hit new lows day by day. At the scene of the eight murdered family members in Ohio, authorities have now found not only farmed marijuana, but also evidence of cockfighting. These things do not necessarily show a causal pattern, but only point to local entrepreneurship in a poverty-stricken area, as well as the continued human fascination with violence as a spectator sport. Do we want to be made well?
Greed enters the picture where compassion leaves a void. Smugglers, in an attempt to maximize their profits, transferred too many refugees from a smaller boat to a larger one, filling it beyond its capacity. Instead they maximized the loss of life -- nearly 500 drowned, and the 41 survivors weren’t welcomed into warm accommodations but are rather being kept in “a stadium in Kalamata, where they’re being housed by local authorities while they undergo police procedures.” No country has stepped forward to accept these refugees. Do we want to be made well?
The death of a six-year-old boy finally illuminated the recklessness of some Louisiana authorities and their rival “peace-keeping” forces: “For years, people in the tiny Louisiana town of Marksville watched the feud between their mayor and local judge like some kind of daytime soap opera, with varying degrees of frustration and amusement. Then came the Nov. 3 shooting that killed a 6-year-old boy. Suddenly, the petty small-town bickering began looking more tragically sinister.” Do we want to be made well, or would we rather run the risks of self-indulgent, often violent, behavior better suited to adolescents than to adults?
The headlines we awaken to, the media “spin,” and the unveiling of stories and information previously not released to the public has also led to eroded trust -- not only in government, but even in some charities and long-trusted public figures who have been looked on as models of moral behavior. The danger of any of our bank accounts or electronics (phones, computers, even automobiles) being hacked has made us anxious and mistrustful. The numerous sports figures arrested for violent behavior or sexual misconduct has become nearly humdrum -- but the cases against Bill Cosby , the formerly family-oriented comic and model TV dad, has shaken our ability to trust the integrity of even our most obvious moral figures. And now we learn that even our video games may be government propaganda! If we had peace today, would we recognize or trust it? Would the media bother to report it?
In the Scriptures
In Revelation 22:2, we read that the leaves of the tree lining the River of Life are for the healing of the nations. We know that God’s intention is a world freed from violence, pain, and tears. These leaves may not be available in this life. What do we have for now?
In John 14:27, Jesus assures the disciples that he is giving us his peace, a peace unlike that of the world. Geoffrey M. St. J. Hoare has observed: “Anxiety, fear, and troubled hearts are much on Jesus’ mind (v. 27b). The antidote to such fear is the peace given by Jesus, and not peace as the world gives (v. 27a). Many people yearn for peace in the world’s terms: cessation of conflict, whether psychological tension or warfare; a sense of calm or serenity of spirit. The peace that Jesus promises as he takes leave might include such things, but the peace that Jesus gives is nothing less than the consequence of the presence of God” (“Pastoral Perspective,” in Feasting on the Word [Year C: Vol. 3]).
If we want to be made well from anxiety and fear, Christ’s peace may well be an antidote.
But what about love? Love is the real antidote to cynicism, to hate, to fear, to all that evil can produce in the world: “In the absence of a physically present Christ, our daily practice makes real the living presence and love of God. Love in action is the route to experiencing Love’s grace-filled indwelling. Love in action is the closest we come to evidence of God” (Peter J.B. Carman, “Theological Perspective,” in Feasting on the Word [Year C: Vol. 3]).
In the Sermon
Worldly wisdom doesn’t always choose love. Violence is used to fight violence, and sometimes it may be necessary, but it also increases our anxiety while calming the anxiety of others.
And yet, even in this imperfect world, we can find moments of enlightened behavior. Amid all the fear recently generated by the police and for the police, a new playbook for dealing with conflict with the mentally ill has arisen: “The Portland Police Bureau... has spent years putting in place an intensive training program and protocols for how officers deal with people with mental illness.... In response to public outcry, many police departments have, like Portland, turned to more training for their officers, in many cases adopting some version of a model pioneered in Memphis almost three decades ago and known as crisis intervention team training.” And in a surprise turn of events, there has even been a small step in making amends in one of the cases of race-related police violence: the Tamir Rice family has received a civil settlement, though it is certainly not equal to the loss they suffered.
The advantage of using love as an antidote to fear, cynicism, anxiety, and violence is that you can find everyday examples to lift up from your own congregation, your own community, even your own life. One of my own confirmands just posted this on Facebook -- a cry for peace, for justice, for love and fairness:
I wanna protest on Capitol Hill because of all the hateful and unfair things that happen in the country we live in but... there’s so many things to protest, how could I choose just one? I’m proud to be an American and what America REALLY stands for. I’m not proud of what we have become and what we THINK we represent as a nation.
I know that she reaches out with love. I hope that her acts of love and kindness protect her from becoming cynical. I hope they convey the presence of God in and through her. And I hope that she is one who will help others answer in the positive to the question “Do you want to be made well?”
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Mary Austin
John 5:1-9
Jesus may be asking churches the same question he asks the man lying by the pool: “Do you want to be made well?”
Jesus embodies truth, and in his presence people see the truth about themselves. Meeting up with his complete clarity, they stumble over themselves, explaining what he already knows. In the hall of fame of silly comments people make to Jesus (“Can we sit at your right and left hand?” and “Well, just who is my neighbor exactly?”) this man is right up there. Jesus asks if he wants to be healed, and the man begins to explain why he’s been an invalid for so long. Instead of saying, “Yes, of course, thank you, Jesus,” the man has a long list of reasons why he’s still in the same place he’s been for almost four decades.
In our church lives, we have plenty of answers just like the man by the pool. We would love to be a healthier church -- but we don’t have any young members to do things, and people are tired, and our building is old, and annual giving is down. The bishop/executive presbyter/denomination doesn’t seem to want to help us. What can we do? As soon as we get our next pastor, he will play the guitar, attract youth, reach out to young families, and then everything will be just like it used to be.
Like the man by the pool, we often look to the past in our congregational life instead of to the future. Jesus offers the man an invitation into something new, but his answers all look back to what has been. We have a similar mindset when we look back all the time.
In fact, it’s not even clear that the man does want to be made well. He never answers Jesus, and Jesus doesn’t wait around to hear. Jesus just heals him, and tells him to get moving into his new life. After he’s healed, he has to re-create his routines, his way of making a living, and his closest relationships. The healing may be a very unwanted gift!
Anthony B. Robinson says that this kind of unwanted gift is an important part of church life too. People may come to church for the coffee, the youth program, or the great music, and then it’s our job to add to their spiritual health by giving them something they don’t know they need. Robinson says, “the task of the church is, in the words of Alban consultant Dan Hotchkiss, ‘to teach people to want things that they don’t want.’ People may come our way looking for a great youth program for their teens or for a ‘spiritual experience’ that is satisfying to them. It’s a place to start. But from that starting point, a healthy church, one that takes the gospel and Christ’s call to discipleship seriously, will teach people to want things that they don’t -- or didn’t know to -- want.”
“Do you want to be made well?” Jesus asks the man. It seems that he doesn’t know.
Our churches have plenty of people who don’t know -- yet. Ministering in Jesus’ name, we can help people see what they want. As Anthony Robinson says, “Over time, our task is to reframe the expectation that worship will be an entertainment experience, to teach people the particular nature of worship, of encounter with God, of going deeper. Through this deeper experience, people who didn’t know to want such worship may discover that they cannot live without it -- indeed, that they cannot live without the God they encounter in worship.”
The man doesn’t know what he wants, and so Jesus meets him and moves him forward. Robinson suggests that we can meet people like this man, people who are in limbo, in our own chosen “in-between” places. He calls such places a kind of spiritual “front porch,” adding: “I like the metaphor of the front porch, an intermediate space between street and interior, a place for casual interaction that might grow. How can churches build the front porch, creating a space where people can develop relationships before coming inside?” A coffee shop can be a front porch, or a community garden, or a shared service project. These are places where we meet people and begin to hear how they want to be made well.
At the end of the story, the narrator says, “At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath.” Noting that it’s the sabbath starts the story of Jesus’ conflict with the religious authorities, but there’s a another link between the healing and the sabbath. The sabbath is the day when we’re reminded of our creation-deep ties to God, and the healing re-creates the man’s life (whether he wants it that way or not). There is a sense that the narrator is saying that “Then it was really the sabbath, because the man was made new. Then it was really the sabbath, because there was reason to celebrate.” We have the same call to celebration when our churches, and the people in them, move toward greater wholeness. Whether we are wise enough to know we need to be healed or not, the gift comes, and God moves us into something new.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
John 5:1-9
Do You Want to Be Made Well?
Thanks to the comic exploits of the Pink Panther films’ Inspector Clouseau, most of us have heard of the Sûreté Nationale (the French national police), usually just referred to as the Sûreté.
What most of don’t know is that the Sûreté was originally founded and headed by an ex-convict.
Eugène-François Vidocq was a petty criminal who was charged and jailed for a variety of crimes, including theft and assuming false identities. Eventually, Vidocq offered his assistance to the police and worked as a spy in the criminal underworld. He became so effective in apprehending criminals and solving complex cases that authorities soon created the Brigade de la Sûreté (Security Brigade) to assist him. (It was later expanded nationwide by Napoleon and renamed Sûreté Nationale.) Under Vidocq’s leadership, the police reduced crime rates significantly. He was the first to employ some of our modern methods of investigation, such as a forensics laboratory.
Although Vidocq would ultimately resign from the police to create his own private detective agency, he continued to solve such complex crimes that his exploits later became the basis for popular fictional detectives, including Edgar Allan Poe’s Dupin and Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.
*****
John 5:1-9
Reality Therapy
Do you want to be made well?
In the early 1960s, Dr. William Glasser was working in the VA hospital in Los Angeles when he developed a kind of therapy and a style of counseling which he came to call “reality therapy,” a form of psychotherapy that does not dwell on the past but instead focuses on the future and places its emphasis upon the patient’s ability to make choices that will determine his or her future. He published his method in the 1965 book Reality Therapy (Harper & Row, 1965).
Boiled down to its essence, reality therapy consists of a series of questions which patients are encouraged to ask themselves when they find that they are unhappy or dysfunctional:
1. What do you want?
2. What are you doing to get what you want?
3. Is it working?
a. If it is working, then you are getting what you want; so why are you unhappy?
b. If it isn’t working let’s find out why, and see if together we can come up with a solution to the problem.
*****
John 5:1-9
Pick Up Your Bed and Walk
The paralyzed man was lying by the pool of Bethesda for 38 years, getting shoved aside every time a healing presence stirred the water -- so he never got healed. He must have given up on himself, on other people, on life itself.
Clint Salter is an award-winning entrepreneur. By the age of 28 he had created and sold three businesses, and also spent five years working as a senior celebrity agent managing some of Australia’s leading media and television personalities. He offers the following advice for times when we feel like giving up:
1. Go Back to “Why.” Occasionally we start with one vision in mind, and end up moving so far away from why we started a business, job, or relationship in the first place that we end up lost and questioning our decisions and actions. Go back to the beginning, the “love you had at first,” and start again from that point.
2. Learn to Feel Uncomfortable. Life is not easy, nor is it meant to be. We are always facing hurdles and obstacles that we must overcome, which is all part of the journey. The secret is to get comfortable with discomfort -- to accept that this is occasionally how life is, and that you can deal with it as you have in the past.
3. Win Through Persistence. Winston Churchill said, “If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a piledriver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time -- a tremendous whack.”
4. Share Your Goals. Find an “accountability buddy” to keep you on track. Sure, this is scary, but it ensures that you deliver on your promise to yourself. Make sure the other person will show you some tough love.
5. Acknowledge Challenges. You knew there would be tough times. Acknowledge the challenge, embrace it, learn what you can, and power on.
6. Get Happy. We all get in a funk every now and again, but you can actually become happy by acting happy. Fake it ’til you make it. Remember the old saying “We do not dance because we are happy; we are happy because we dance.”
7. Be Proud. Don’t forget to celebrate the victories your efforts have created. Be proud of where you have come from and what you’ve achieved.
*****
Acts 16:9-15
The Rich Man’s Hospitality
The first thing Lydia does after becoming a Christian is to invite Peter and his six Christian brothers to stay at her house. Her first act of Christian charity is an act of hospitality.
The rich man in the following story could take a lesson from Lydia.
For many years the two saintly brothers, Rabbi Elimelech and Rabbi Zusha, wandered the back roads of Galicia disguised as simple beggars. As they went they shared simple wisdom with those they met.
One evening they saw a lighted window in a large, well-appointed home, so they knocked on the door and asked for a place to stay the night. “I don’t run a hotel,” was the irate response of its large, well-appointed resident. “There’s a poorhouse near the synagogue for wandering beggars. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding accommodations there.”
The heavy door all but slammed in their faces, and Rabbi Elimelech and Rabbi Zusha walked on. Soon they came upon another lighted home, whose resident, the town scribe, welcomed them in and put his humble hut and resources at their disposal.
Several years later, the two brothers again visited the town, but this time they were official guests of the community, which had requested that the now-famous rabbis come for a Shabbat to grace the town with their presence and teachings. At the welcoming reception held in their honor and attended by the entire town, a wealthy gentleman approached them. “Rabbis!” he announced, “the town council has granted me the honor of hosting you during your stay. I’ve already explained to your coachman how to find my residence, though he’s sure not to miss it -- everyone knows where ‘Reb Feivel’ lives.”
The gathering dispersed, and Rabbi Elimelech and Rabbi Zusha went to pay their respects to the town rabbi and meet with the scholars in the local study hall. The rich man went home to supervise the final arrangements for the rabbis’ stay. Soon the coachman arrived with the brothers’ coach and luggage. The horses were placed in the stables, the luggage in the rabbis’ rooms, and the coachman settled in the servants’ quarters.
Hours passed, but there was still no sign of the two visitors. Growing anxious, the host sought out their coachman. “What happened?” he asked. “When are they going to come here?”
“They’re not coming,” said the coachman. “Rabbi Elimelech and Rabbi Zusha are staying at the scribe’s home.”
Reb Feivel rushed to the scribe’s hut and fairly knocked down the door. “Honored rabbis,” he cried, “it was agreed that I would host you. You must tell me what I have done to deserve such humiliation!”
“But you are hosting us,” said Rabbi Elimelech, “at least, that part of us that you desire to host. Last time we were here, but without a coach, horses, coachman, and bundles of pressed clothes, you turned us away from your door. So it is not us you want in your home, but our coachman, horses, and luggage -- which are currently enjoying your hospitality.”
*****
Acts 16:9-15
Hospitality, Japanese-Style
In a 2014 Wall Street Journal article, Oliver Strand described the extreme lengths to which Japanese businesses and/or organizations will go in order to extend hospitality to their guests and customers. Here’s his description of the end of one dinner he consumed at a three-star restaurant:
“At the end of the meal the waitress, Ishikawa (the owner and chef), and what seemed like the rest of the staff escorted me to the sidewalk. They stood in a line and bowed. At the end of the block, I glanced over my shoulder. They were still in formation, and when they saw me turn they bowed again.”
*****
Acts 16:9-15
The Hospitality Code
In this short, short story, Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, tells of Bedouin hospitality in the desert and how it is misunderstood by two travelers.
Two men were crossing the desert when they saw a Bedouin’s tent and asked him for shelter. Even though he did not know them, he welcomed them. A camel was killed and its meat served in a sumptuous dinner.
The next day, as the guests were still there, the Bedouin had another camel killed. Astonished, they protested that they had not yet finished eating the one killed the day before. “It would be a disgrace to serve old meat to my guests,” was the answer.
On the third day, the two strangers woke early and decided to continue on their journey. As the Bedouin was not at home they gave his wife a hundred dinars, apologizing for not being able to wait, because if they spent any more time there the sun would become too strong for them to travel.
They had traveled for four hours when they heard a voice calling out to them. They looked back and saw the Bedouin following them. As soon as he caught up with them, he threw the money to the ground. “I gave you such a warm welcome! Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves?” In surprise, the strangers said that the camels were surely worth far more than that, but that they did not have much money.
“I am not talking about the amount,” the Bedouin said. “The desert welcomes Bedouins wherever they go, and never asks anything in return. If we had to pay, how could we live? Welcoming you to my tent is like paying back a fraction of what life has given to us.”
***************
From team member Ron Love:
John 5:1-9
Leonard Sax, a psychologist and practicing medical physician in West Chester, Pennsylvania, discussed in the New York Times why girls tend to have more anxiety than boys. One reason cited by Sax is that adolescent girls are more affected by social media than boys. A girl will sit in her room and scroll through other girls’ Instagram and Snapchat feeds. She will see that one looks better in a bikini. She will see another at a party having a great time, while she is sitting in her room. She will see that another just got an adorable new puppy. Suddenly she feels inferior and becomes anxious. A boy, on the other hand, usually doesn’t post something of himself, but rather something he has done such as a trophy he was awarded for sports or hunting. The solution for the adolescent girl, according to Dr. Sax and the American Academy of Pediatrics, is not to allow the adolescent girl to sit alone in her room with a connection to social media.
Application: Often before we can ask if someone wants to be healed, we have to understand both the illness and the solution.
*****
John 5:1-9
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts recently learned sign language. He did this so he could communicate to the 12 deaf and hard-of-hearing lawyers who were just granted permission to argue before the Supreme Court. After they took their oath, Roberts spoke to them with his hands, saying, “Your motion is granted.”
Application: In order to heal someone, we must take the time to learn how to be a healer.
*****
John 5:1-9
On the night of February 7, Marques Gaines finished work at the downtown Chicago Marriott, where he worked as a bartender. He then went for drinks with a few of his friends. Then around 4:15 a.m. he bought some potato chips at the corner 7-Eleven. The 32-year-old left the convenience store, only to be attacked and left unconscious in the street. Bystanders came and went, but no one stopped to help. Taxicabs turned the corner, but no one moved the body. Then a taxicab ran over Gaines, and he died four hours later in the hospital.
Application: Jesus did not walk pass the man at the side of the pool, and never should we.
*****
John 5:1-9
Washington Post movie and theater critic Ann Hornaday recently penned an article discussing why we irrationally don’t like some actors. Hornaday noted that this extends to her as well, for not liking an actor for any unknown and undefined reason can affect her review. Hornaday asks: “What if it’s their face, their body, their very being that, inexplicably and unquantifiably, offends?... for reasons far beyond my powers of explanation...” Hornaday says that the answer to this prejudice is to develop the ability to listen to an actor as opposed to judging him or her.
Application: Jesus did not judge the man at the side of the pool, but stopped to listen and then heal.
*****
John 5:1-9
Virginia McLaurin, who recently turned 107, made headlines last February when she met President Obama and his wife at the White House and danced with them. The video of that event has gone viral, being viewed more than 66 million times. From that public exposure McLaurin has received invitations to make appearances across the nation. But though her face is recognized everywhere from that public exposure, the problem is that she does not have a photo ID and therefore cannot get permission to fly. Born over 100 years ago in Chesterfield, South Carolina, by a midwife, McLaurin does not have a birth certificate -- and without a birth certificate, she cannot get a photo ID.
Application: Jesus did recognize the man at the side of the pool, and Jesus did not allow bureaucracy to prevent him from helping.
*****
John 5:1-9
David Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law, a website covering all aspects of the legal profession. When the site first went online, Lat found readers’ comments to be very helpful and insightful. But as time went on, according to Lat, the comments “succumbed to abuse and insult.” For this reason he had to discontinue the comment section on his site. This was done particularly because with bad comments following an article, readers began to question the truth of the posting. Researchers have called this the “nasty effect.”
Application: Jesus was not critical but supportive of the man by the side of the pool. There was no “nasty effect” in how Jesus approached the man.
*****
Acts 16:9-15
Roman Catholic Bishop Aegidius Zsifkokvics has refused to allow the Austrian government to build a fence on church property. Officials want to build a fence along the Hungarian border to keep out the refugees coming from Syria and Africa, and the fence would have to be placed on two parcels of land owned by the church. Zsifkokvics said a fence “would contradict the spirit of the Gospel... and particularly in a diocese that was in the shadow of the Iron Curtain for decades.”
Application: Paul did not see any fence keeping him from visiting Macedonia.
*****
Acts 16:9-15
Singer Bono of the rock band U2, a Christian who is renowned for his humanitarian work, has teamed up with Eugene Peterson (known for The Message, his contemporary translation of the Bible) to make a film on the Psalms. The promotional video shows Bono walking up to Peterson’s Montana lake house, greeting him and his wife. The message of the video is one of solidarity and evangelism.
Application: Paul understood the message of solidarity and teamwork as he worshiped in Macedonia.
*****
Acts 16:9-15
Melissa Gilbert -- who as a child played Laura Ingalls Wilder in the television program Little Hose on the Prairie, and who as an adult served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild -- is now campaigning to be elected to Congress from Michigan’s Eighth District. Interviewed by the New York Times regarding her political ambitions, Gilbert was asked if she had any role model as entertainer-turned-politician. Gilbert answered, “Because I am a woman doing this, I don’t know that there is anyone else out there like me.”
Application: Paul did not have any role models, only a vison.
*****
Revelation 21:10, 22--22:5
There is a big stir on the set of Live with Kelly and Michael, caused by co-host Michael Strahan’s sudden announcement that he was leaving Live to be on Good Morning America full-time. His co-host Kelly Ripa was only informed of the decision a few minutes before news of the move broke publicly. Infuriated that she was not consulted, Ripa did not appear on the show for several days. Fueling her anger was that when Strahan started appearing on GMA part-time, Ripa knew that it would eventually lead to his departure. This is why she screamed at the meeting where she was informed of Strahan’s departure, “Didn’t I tell you this was going to happen? I told you two years ago this was going to happen.”
Application: We all can look forward to the day when we will have no need for sun or moon, for the light of God will be sufficient. We all can look forward to the day when there will be no strife.
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: Let your way be known upon earth, O God.
People: Let your saving power be known among all nations.
Leader: Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, our God.
People: You judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
OR
Leader: The wholeness of God is reflected in creation.
People: The whole universe proclaims God’s good work.
Leader: The unity of God’s work has been marred.
People: We see the brokenness of creation all around us.
Leader: God works each day to bring healing to all.
People: As God’s people, we will join God’s mission.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”
found in:
UMH: 103
H82: 423
PH: 263
NCH: 1
CH: 66
LBW: 526
ELA: 834
W&P: 48
AMEC: 71
STLT: 273
Renew: 46
“God Hath Spoken by the Prophets”
found in:
UMH: 108
LBW: 238
W&P: 667
“Heal Me, Hands of Jesus”
found in:
UMH: 262
CH: 504
W&P: 636
“For the Healing of the Nations”
found in:
UMH: 428
NCH: 576
CH: 668
W&P: 621
“Let There Be Peace on Earth”
found in:
UMH: 431
CH: 677
W&P: 614
“Be Thou My Vision”
found in:
UMH: 451
H82: 488
PH: 339
NCH: 451
CH: 595
ELA: 793
W&P: 502
AMEC: 281
STLT: 20
Renew: 151
“Open My Eyes, That I May See”
found in:
UMH: 454
PH: 324
NNBH: 218
CH: 586
W&P: 480
AMEC: 285
“Lord, Speak to Me”
found in:
UMH: 463
PH: 426
NCH: 531
ELA: 676
W&P: 593
“We Are His Hands”
found in:
CCB: 85
“The Steadfast Love of the Lord”
found in:
CCB: 28
Renew: 23
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God, who created us to live together in peace and harmony: Grant us the wisdom to see the folly of hatred and violence, and to seek your healing for ourselves and for all; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, for you are the one who created us to live in peace and harmony with one another. Send your Spirit upon us and help us to see beyond the folly of hatred which destroys us and all creation. Help us to be open to the healing you offer your world. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our failure to catch the vision God has for our world.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have failed to heed the prophets, who saw the wonders of what creation was meant to become. We have failed to listen to Jesus as he taught us about your coming reign. Instead of helping to bring about a new earth, we have given in to the idea that things cannot get better. Call us back to our faith. Help us to see once again what you wish for us, and give us the grace to work for it. Amen.
Leader: God does intend good for us and for all creation. Be renewed in God’s love and grace, and join God in this vision.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise you, O God, for all the glories of your being. We praise you for the unity and peace with which you created this world.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have failed to heed the prophets, who saw the wonders of what creation was meant to become. We have failed to listen to Jesus as he taught us about your coming reign. Instead of helping to bring about a new earth, we have given in to the idea that things cannot get better. Call us back to our faith. Help us to see once again what you wish for us, and give us the grace to work for it.
We give you thanks for those who have witnessed to your vision for our world. We thank you for prophets and the psalmist, for evangelists and epistle writers. We thank you for family and friends and others who have shared your way of living with us so that we might know blessing and wholeness.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for this broken world. We pray for those who suffer from the brokenness around them. As you move among your creation to bring healing, help us to be your healing presence wherever we go.
(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
What if you were really sick and there was a medicine that would make you better? It would be silly not to take the medicine, wouldn’t it? But sometimes we are almost that silly. God tells us how to get along with others and make a better world. God has shown us the way of love. We need to be smart and follow God’s path of caring for others and loving them.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Holy Purple Pineapple, Paul!
by Chris Keating
Acts 16:9-15
Gather ahead of time:
* A whole pineapple (you can substitute a picture of a pineapple if you wish); alternative option: you can also get pineapple chunks in small cups for children to try.
* Pieces of purple paper folded in half; on the outside, write or print “You’re Invited.” On the inside, print “Come to our church to meet new friends!” (This is a perfect opportunity to advertise an upcoming church event.)
* A map showing Paul’s travels from Troas to Macedonia.
You might call this chapter part of the “flyover” material in the book of Acts. With so many names and places, it becomes tricky keeping up with where Paul is headed next! Resist the temptation to skip this story, however, and instead tell it in a way that helps children learn an important lesson about Christian hospitality and evangelism.
Ahead of time read through Acts 16, making notes of places, images, or words which are striking. What images of hospitality are present? Consult a Bible commentary or dictionary to check the meaning or importance of places and words.
As you greet the children, show them the pineapple or the picture of the pineapple. You might share with them that a pineapple is not something you typically see in church. Historically, however, the pineapple has been a symbol of hospitality. Help the children know that “hospitality” means welcoming friends old and new into our homes. In colonial times, serving a guest pineapple meant you were serving them something very special, especially since there were no refrigerators and the fruit can spoil quickly. According to several websites, when Native Americans placed a pineapple outside of their huts it was a sign that they were receiving visitors. Sometimes we see pineapples carved into chairs or on signs of inns as a way of saying “you’re welcomed here!”
If acceptable to parents, you may consider sharing some pineapple chunks for the children to taste. As these go around, tell them the brief story of Paul’s trip to Macedonia. Show the map, and tell them it is part of what we call Greece today. One sabbath day, the day when people worshiped God, Paul and his friends went outside the city gates looking for a place where he had been told people gathered to pray. There he met a very special woman named Lydia.
Lydia was a successful businesswoman who believed in God. She traded purple cloth, which was very expensive to make. Purple dye was hard to make because it came from sea snails. According to Wikipedia, it could take up to 12,000 snails to make a gallon of dye! Many important people wanted purple clothes, which is why we know Lydia was probably successful.
But there is also something else interesting about Lydia. Acts reminds us that she became a friend to Paul, and that she was eager to hear all that he had to say about Jesus. Just like people who shared pineapple, Lydia shared her house with Paul. She gave his friends a place to stay and eat. She became Paul’s friend. She told them, “You’re welcome to stay with me!”
As you pass around the purple invitations, suggest that perhaps we can learn something from Lydia. We can be “pineapple people.” (No, not like SpongeBob SquarePants who “lives in a pineapple under the sea”!) We can be people who welcome others, who make new friends, and who offer hospitality to others. Suggest that they pretend to be Lydia! They can share their purple invitations with others so that more people can learn about God’s love. How can we be more like Lydia, who was faithful and had her heart opened to God?
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, May 1, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2016 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.
