Make America Great -- Anew
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In this week’s lectionary gospel reading, Jesus suggests that following traditional precepts like “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” and “love your neighbor and hate your enemy” are no longer sufficient -- instead, he tells his followers that a new paradigm is required where mercy rules instead of vengeance, and where even enemies are loved. That was a radical reframing of the principles organizing the lives of his listeners, which were largely based on tradition and keeping Judaic law. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Beth Herrinton-Hodge suggests that Jesus’ words give us a blueprint for attaining greatness as a society. One of the great successes of Donald Trump’s campaign was his slogan “Make America Great Again,” which tapped into a powerful sentiment in the cultural zeitgeist that the United States has lost its once-dominant position in the world, and that our economy and society have lost much of what made it special... at least in our nostalgic memories. And of course, Trump’s slogan also implicitly communicates that we need to look to our past glories for recapturing the best that our nation can be. Yet Beth notes that Jesus orients us in a different direction -- building and expanding on our traditions in new directions as we look forward to the future of a new Kingdom rather than backward to traditional morality in an effort to re-create the past.
Team member Dean Feldmeyer shares some additional thoughts on the First Corinthians text and Paul’s assertion that “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” Dean notes that we are constantly reminded of the limits of human knowledge, and that as a result we can be sure that while we are very intelligent (witness the wonders of science and technology), we are nowhere near as smart as a species as we think we are. Thus, the last thing we should be doing is dividing ourselves from one another because we’re convinced one group is superior to another. Moreover, that tendency toward factionalism is especially destructive in the church, because our spiritual knowledge is often incomplete.
Make America Great -- Anew
by Beth Herrinton-Hodge
Matthew 5:38-48; Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
I spent a few years in ministry in North Carolina, the home state of the fictional town of Mayberry. It seemed that any time I turned on the TV, I’d run across a grainy black-and-white episode of The Andy Griffith Show -- every cable channel aired reruns of this series at least once in a day. Everyone loved it.
And wasn’t it a great show, depicting a great era?
Plunk on the television and you’d become immersed in an idyllic small town. Main Street had one stop-light. Folks gathered at the gossipy barber shop to tell tales. You met a congenial sheriff, an attractive and single schoolteacher, a bumbling deputy. Aunt Bea baked pies in the kitchen while Opie and friends went fishin’.
Those Mayberry days were great. Who wouldn’t want America to be great like this again?
We’re tempted to look back on the “good ole days” with fond, yet grainy, memory. In times of uncertainty and struggle, recalling our version of what made America great soothes our weary soul.
Jesus had some applicable words to say to the people gathered around him at the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:38-48):
“You have heard that it was said...”
“But I say to you...”
Jesus repeats this construct six times in this section of his Sermon on the Mount, reframing what his hearers thought they knew -- what they thought was good. Jesus’ words call up common practices of the past and point to new practices for God’s people. He names the practices of the majority, and then tells his hearers to walk the extra mile, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. Jesus points toward a new thing... setting up a new frame of what is good, telling of a new realm his followers are entering. With Jesus, greatness lies in the future.
In the Scriptures
The two constructs in this section of the Sermon on the Mount (vv. 38-42, 43-48) conclude a six-section series of antithesis statements in which Jesus states a familiar law which his listeners would have known and likely practiced. Instead of abolishing the law, he reframes it.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye...’ ” The law detailed in Exodus 21:22-25, Leviticus 24:17-21, and Deuteronomy 19:15-21 incorporates guidance for the practice of retaliation into judicial code in order to put limits on extreme actions of revenge. Jesus opposed the same unlimited revenge that these old laws sought to curb. He was not against the law. He took the law a step further: rejecting retaliatory violence altogether, Jesus said, “Don’t resist an evildoer.” Don’t play their game. Disarm the enemy by going the extra mile, giving the extra mile. Go beyond passive resistance by taking a positive action in the interest of the aggressor in a way that disarms.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ” The Levitical law asserted that the neighbors whom God’s people were to love were their fellow Israelites, the insiders of their religious community. The tax collector and the Gentile did at least this much... loving those whom they knew. Jesus makes love of God and neighbor the fundamental commands of God’s realm. All else depends on love (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” This command was specific and concrete: love all people, including your enemies, “that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” This kind of loving was a radical expansion of the Law given by God in the Old Testament. It did not abolish this law; it expanded the law, making it greater.
In Jesus, the new age has come -- even as the former age continues. Jesus’ hearers, his followers, and today’s disciples live in the tension between the old and the new.1 Jesus doesn’t condemn the old. Instead, he points ahead to the new realm that he helps to usher in. He is working to make Israel great -- anew.
The Levitical teachings in vv. 1-2, 9-18 put forward valuable prohibitions for God’s people. Don’t strip the vineyard bare -- leave behind gleanings for the poor and alien. Don’t steal or deal falsely. Don’t revile or put stumbling blocks. Don’t slander. Don’t profit by blood. Don’t hate in your heart. Don’t take vengeance. Don’t bear a grudge. There is more prohibition here than permission. But the words are surrounded by positive commands. Be holy, for the Lord is holy. Love your neighbor as yourself. These laws apply to Moses’ community as well as to Jesus’ followers. God’s words of the past apply to current contexts. God’s law and love stand firm.
In the Culture
The people who turned out to hear Jesus’ words on the hillside were not strangers to difficult living. They were under Roman occupation, which protected them from war and raids by rival entities. But the Roman rule was oppressive. The people of Israel lived under a Roman governorship. They paid taxes to Rome with little to show for it. Soldiers were present on their streets. Practicing worship and keeping allegiances to God was a daily challenge -- not because they were forbidden to practice their religion, but because their religious practices were not shared by their Roman occupiers.
In response, Jewish leaders held more tightly to traditional Jewish laws and practices. Such action was a way to carve out and strengthen their identity in the face of cultural challenges and the diminishment of their religion. The Law held them to a past which they longed to know again. Living faithfully by God’s Law drew them to God and upheld the covenant which God established.
One can almost see a pious Pharisee speaking before God the words of Psalm 119: “Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will observe it to the end.... Give me life in your way. Confirm to your servant your promise...” There are elements of faith and hope, identity and promise evident in the prayers, words, and actions of the Pharisees and other Jewish people in Jesus’ day.
Jesus’ words in our text are not spoken to destroy the faith of his hearers, but to challenge them; to encourage them; to hold before them a way to practice their faith and to live their lives in ways that would make Israel great -- anew.
Likewise, we’re living in a day and age when life seems to be coming undone. The law and order we used to count on for our safety and security seems ineffective or overbearing. Our new presidential administration declares our nation’s schools, roads, and infrastructure as “disasters.” The stability of our health care system is being challenged. Drug use is rampant across the nation, including in both the inner cities and in rural communities.
Is it any wonder that so many long for the black-and-white days of Mayberry, where the conflict of each episode is resolved within 30 minutes? Where the sheriff doesn’t carry a gun, and the deputy only carries one bullet in his pocket? If a stranger shows up in Mayberry, the sheriff knows about it before the newcomer reaches his office. The keys to the jail cell are hung on a peg outside the cell. The town drunk regularly walks himself into the jail and locks himself up to dry out for the night. Aunt Bea brings him a hot breakfast the next morning.
In Mayberry, the rules of peaceful resolution, of community policing and communication, of trust and hospitality apply. For some, Mayberry seems old-fashioned. For some, it represents a longed-for, bygone day. But can’t it also be seen as a picture of what may have been but might be again -- anew? Jesus didn’t abolish the laws and the norms that were well-known by the people who gathered around him. Instead, he took what they knew and he pressed them further. The same can be applied to our Mayberry memories.
Sheriff Taylor didn’t have to carry a gun. This wasn’t because there wasn’t trouble in Mayberry; it was because he practiced methods of resolution that didn’t use force or violence. There are other ways to approach our neighbors.
Strangers may bring a threat, or they may merely be unknown. But the community watching out for one another keeps an eye out for what is threatening and offers open arms or help where warranted.
Jails have their place in today’s societies, and so do safe spaces. Where does a hurting person go for respite, support, healing? Where does an addict turn for help to get clean and sober? Where can one show up and not be judged? There’s a level of trust that shines through the relationships in Mayberry. This trust of neighbor is what Jesus means when he says to love one another.
The hospitality exhibited by the beloved Aunt Bea embodies the words of Matthew 25: “...for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
To be sure, there are many holes in this parallel between the old, memory-worn Mayberry and the new kingdom that Jesus points his hearers toward in the Sermon on the Mount. These can be taken up in another article. What resonates with me here is how so many in our congregations and across our country long for the life that was presented to them in Mayberry (or in any number of nostalgic TV shows). There’s a loud cry today to make America great again... like it was in the good old days.
The truth is... the good old days lie largely in our memory. Mayberry was so simple, so limited, so white. But the old gems that seemed so attractive -- like the old laws many of Jesus’ detractors clung to -- can be restated, reframed, and reclaimed. Jesus does this in his Sermon on the Mount. He doesn’t destroy the old gems; he “radicalizes” them -- speaking of them anew, to his followers and to God’s people who would hear him. Jesus preached on that hillside to make Israel great anew, building on what was known and cherished and pointing the way toward God’s kingdom, which is pretty darn great!
In what ways is God calling Jesus’ followers today to move from the idyllic past into a fresh, new kingdom, with new vision and new rules and new hope? Jesus spoke with his first hearers on that hillside, challenging them to move beyond the familiar rules they knew to live into the new creation God held out for them. Jesus speaks with his hearers today to follow God’s path toward a new heaven and a new earth. Who knows... maybe we’ll find a multicultural Mayberry there.
1 M. Eugene Boring and Fred B. Craddock, The People’s New Testament Commentary (Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), p. 30
SECOND THOUGHTS
Not as Smart as We Think We Are
by Dean Feldmeyer
1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Truth be told, it’s kind of frustrating being a homo sapiens in this day and age.
Just about the time we think we have things pretty much figured out, someone comes along to show us, in rather stark, bold, and embarrassing terms, that we are not as smart as we think we are.
The Dead Sea Scrolls
Take the Dead Sea Scrolls, for instance. For the past 60 years, it has been just sort of assumed that the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were found in 11 caves near the site of the ancient Qumran community in 1946-47 and 1956, were a one-time deal. Nearly 1,000 old manuscripts dating from about 300 BCE to 100 CE were found in jars in those caves. They were books from the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament), non-canonical books, and secular books.
Pretty impressive, right? And most people, even archeologists, just assumed that was it.
Then, last week, after 60 years of searching, another scroll cave was found. Unfortunately, the only scroll found therein was blank. It had been prepared for writing and stored away. But there were some jar fragments that led the archeologists to believe that completed scrolls had been there, but had been looted in the 1950s and found their way onto the black market for historical artifacts.
Dr. Oren Gutfeld, who leads “Operation Scroll,” is optimistic. The fact that there is a 12th cave means there could also be a 13th and a 14th cave containing scrolls. They have hundreds of caves, he says, and many years to go.
Who knows?
See, we’re not as smart as we think we are. Here are some more examples.
The Bonnethead Shark
The bonnethead, a small species of hammerhead shark found in the United States, Bahamas, Caribbean, and Latin America, has been considered by people who keep track of such things to be abundant, productive, and widely distributed. They are fished commercially and are considered animals of “least concern” by conservation groups (the same rating as pigeons and house rats).
However, in January scientists sequenced the DNA of what they believed to be bonnethead sharks just off the coast of Belize -- and they were shocked to find that those are an entirely different species based on large genetic differences between them and other bonnetheads in the region.
It was immediately obvious that scientists of all kinds were going to have to reevaluate what they thought they knew about sharks. Now, everything is up in the air again and the scientific oceanographic world is all atwitter. “The research team’s discovery of a new shark species is a testament to how much we still need to learn about the world we live in,” said Earthwatch CEO Scott Kania.
The Coelacanth (SEEL - uh - kanth)
Maybe you remember a television commercial from some years ago where two mechanics open the trunk of a Volkswagen Jetta and are shocked at what they see. The younger of the two says, “I thought those were extinct.” The older one says, “That’s what they said about the coelacanth.”
The commercial goes on to say that the thing he thought was extinct was the “full-size spare tire” and that the Jetta actually has one. In the commercial’s epilogue, the young man is standing over a full-size tire, looking at it with an expression of awe, and the older one says: “It’s a prehistoric fish. Disappeared over 10,000 years ago. Then they caught one off the coast of Madagascar. Coelacanth?”
Well, sure enough, he’s just about right.
Scientists tell us that coelacanth were believed to have gone extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period some 65-plus million years ago. That was until 1938, when one was miraculously discovered off the east coast of South Africa near the mouth of the Chalumna River. Closely related to lungfishes and tetrapods, coelacanth are among the oldest living jawed fishes known to exist. These “living dinosaurs” can live as long as 60 years and swim at depths of 2300 feet.
Five Unanswered Questions
Despite all our science and technology and research, we still don’t know the answers to these simple questions:
1. Why do we sleep?
Some people don’t, you know. Science has discovered a gene mutation that lets some people get by just fine on 2-4 hours of sleep a night. And there are some who never -- that’s never -- sleep. Or so they claim.
2. How do bicycles work?
That’s right, we really don’t know (scientifically speaking) what keeps them upright. “The first bicycles were invented, not through any kind of scientific procedure, but by dumb old trial and error. Even modern bike design schools admit that it’s not engineering or computer knowledge that make a good bike designer, but instead ‘intuition and experience.’ ”
3. How can you win at solitaire?
“...big-time mathematicians openly admit that it’s one of the ‘embarrassments of applied mathematics’ that even after thousands of hours of playing and scientifically studying the game, almost nothing about the standard Klondike solitaire game is currently known.”
4. How many species of animals exist?
Well, every time we think we know, some scientific busybody finds another one and we have to start counting all over again. But the biggest reason that science is still shrugging its shoulders is that 99 percent of all living space on earth is under the ocean, and humans have explored less than 10 percent of it (experts say we have better maps of the surface of Mars than of our own oceans). We discover new and creepy types of life there all the time!
5. How does gravity work?
Or maybe it should be “Why does gravity work?” The force of two little magnets the size of pencil erasers snapping together is something like 1036 stronger than the force of gravity, yet gravity is currently credited with holding the universe together. So how does it do that? And why?
See, the thing is, we aren’t as smart as we think we are. We’re smart. Really, really smart. If you don’t believe that, just take a look at the cellphone in your pocket. Even if it’s not one of those super-smart $700 thingies, it’s still pretty smart. And the smart ones? Whew! Mine cost $79 and it can do more than the first computer I owned about 35 years ago, back before there was a thing called the internet. So yeah, we’re smart.
However...
Our emotional and sociological and psychological intelligence has not kept up with our scientific/technological intelligence. And our spiritual intelligence hasn’t caught up to our emotional, sociological, and psychological intelligence.
You don’t have to be a 21st-century genius to know that.
The apostle Paul was saying it 2,000 years ago.
According to him, the Christians in Corinth were putting way too much stock in human intelligence and achievement, and they wanted to get on the side of the right human, the one who knew the most. And this was happening even in the church!
I’m a Paulist, said one. I’m an Apolloist, said another. Well, I’m a Cephan, said a third. We still hear that today, don’t we?
I’m a Methodist! I’m a Presbyterian! I’m a Baptist! I’m not religious but I’m very spiritual.
Or I’m a Democrat! And I’m a Republican! Well, I’m an independent, or I’m a Libertarian, or I’m Green.
Vegan, vegetarian, carnivore, omnivore. Southerner, midwesterner, easterner, northerner, etc., etc.
White, black, yellow, tan, brown.
Really? says Paul. Are you still defining yourselves in these human terms? Are you still trying to prove that you are superior to your brothers and sisters?
Well, forget it. It’s time to get inferior, all of us. If we think we are smart, let’s get stupid. If we think we are strong, let’s get weak. If we think we are wise, let’s get foolish. Because all the stuff we think we know is as nothing before the God who holds the universe in the palm of his hand. All our accomplishments are as nothing before the God who spoke the universe into being. All our knowledge is as nothing to the God who knows every bird that flies and every insect that crawls by name.
And only when we understand that piece of wisdom can we really come to know what it means to be the People of God. Only when admit that we are poor, and ignorant, and dependent, and fragile, and needy, can we come to know God as our redeemer and our loving, protecting parent.
The smartest phone in the world is no better than the battery that runs it.
The smartest car is no better than its driver.
And the smartest, wisest, strongest human beings in the world are no smarter, wiser, or stronger than the God who created them.
That is the knowledge that makes life authentic and eternal.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Ron Love:
Psalm 119:33-40
Carnegie Mellon University has developed and is testing a computer that can play poker. Poker is the most difficult game for a computer to master because it’s a game of limited knowledge, uncertainty, hidden cards, and bluffs. The computer the university developed, called Libratus, prepared itself for competition by playing a trillion hands against itself to build a database of possible choices. At the end of a recent 20-day tournament Libratus was declared the winner, with more than $1.7 million in chips. The importance of this AI (artificial intelligence) development is to apply it to many life situations where information is hidden, such as auctions, negotiations, and security.
Application: The psalmist asks for understanding, but his desire is to learn about God, not the world of marketing.
*****
Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
Phillipa Soo, Renee Elise Goldsberry, and Jasmine Cephas Jones, who were all former stars in the stage play Hamilton, created a sense of surprise when they sang “America the Beautiful” at Super Bowl LI. In their rendition of the song they sang the traditional verse with a word of inclusiveness, singing: “And crown thy good with brotherhood and sisterhood” before finishing with “from sea to shining sea.”
Application: In Leviticus, we learn about the importance of being inclusive.
*****
Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
Carrie Fisher is probably best remembered as Princess Leia in the Star Wars movie series. But many may not have been aware of her struggle with mental illness and drugs. She was open about her illness, wrote about it in several books, and was willing to be interviewed regarding it. But as she struggled with being bipolar, she could not overcome the devastating effects of this disease. In recognition of this disease that plagued her life, when she died she had her cremated remains placed in a white and green Prozac pill-shaped urn.
Application: An urn in the shape of a Prozac pill may at first seem a little absurd to us. But perhaps this is one way to draw attention to an illness that is not yet accepted by society. Leviticus teaches us to be aware and accepting.
*****
Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18; Matthew 5:38-48
Because of the political upheaval the past presidential election has caused, advertisers consider us to be a divided nation. This has made it difficult for them to create ads that are entertaining and informative, yet not divisive. Kelly O’Keefe, a marketing expert and professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, said, “Brands used to worry about whether their ad could be interpreted as right or wrong. Now they have to worry about whether it will be interpreted as right or left.”
Application: In Leviticus and Matthew the message is poignant and straightforward, and the speakers were not concerned if someone was offended.
*****
Matthew 5:38-48
Atlanta is known in some quarters as “Loserville” because the city’s major professional sports teams have won only one championship in their 169 combined seasons. But when the Falcons were ahead by 25 points, the city began to rejoice that this would be the year -- only to have their football team lose Super Bowl LI.
Application: Winning a sports competition is important to the identity of a city; but what is even more important is how we identify as Christians.
*****
Matthew 5:38-48
After the Atlanta Falcons lost a 25-point lead to the victorious New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI, the Atlanta players became self-reflective. Falcons safety Ricardo Allen said: “We have to learn from this. It’s a tough learning lesson. This is one of the worst lessons you can get in this world, but we’re going to keep building.”
Application: Jesus gives us tough learning lessons from which we can build our lives.
*****
Matthew 5:38-48
When the Atlanta Falcons had a 25-point lead over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI, many were thinking that the game was going to be won by the Falcons. At the time of that massive point lead, Atlanta receiver Taylor Gabriel said: “I was thinking what anyone would be thinking -- we had the game.”
Application: Jesus teaches us that we have never won the game of life; we must constantly be applying his teachings to our everyday living.
*****
Matthew 5:38-48
Super Bowl LI was watched by 111.3 million viewers, and Lady Gaga’s halftime show had a viewing audience of 117.5 million. The Super Bowl game that had the largest viewing audience of 114.4 million was in 2015, when the New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks.
Application: I wonder what it would be like if 111.3 million people took the time, all at the same time, to listen to Jesus preach his message on the Sermon on the Mount.
*****
Matthew 5:38-48
Super Bowl LI was watched by 111.3 million viewers, and Lady Gaga’s halftime show had a viewing audience of 117.5 million. Earlier in the day, Bill O’Reilly interviewed President Donald Trump. That interview was watched by 12.2 million individuals.
Application: One cannot deny the thrill of watching a sporting event; but how many people are really interested in what the president, and more importantly Jesus, has to say?
*****
Matthew 5:38-48
There is now more gun violence in a PG-13 movie than an R-rated movie. In the past 30 years there has been a steady increase in gun violence in movies for adolescent audiences. Dan Romer, of the University of Pennsylvania, said: “Hollywood continues to rely on gun violence as a prominent feature in its highly popular PG-13 action-oriented films.” Though the link between actual gun violence and simulated gun violence in movies, on television, and in video games stills need to be determined, the Journal of Pediatrics cautions parents to limit such exposure.
Application: Jesus is teaching us how to avoid violence with a lifestyle of peace.
***************
From team member Mary Austin:
Matthew 5:38-48
What If Your Enemies Are Children?
What would you do if you heard a thumping as some objects hit the windows of your home? Writer Makala Kozo Hattori tells a story about his neighbor who at first feared gunshots, then looked out the window to see eggs and oranges hitting her home. Running outside, Harshida Mehta “decided to confront her ‘enemies.’ Armed only with her belief that ‘all strangers are my kin,’ she went outside to see ‘three cute kids.’ Rather than berate them, Harshida tried to connect, ‘Hey guys, thank you for the oranges. Can I have them so they don’t go to waste?’ But the kids started to run. Harshida walked after them and said, ‘Wait! Wait! Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to do anything. I just want to talk. And I can use your oranges.’ The assailants ran off without looking back.”
Hattori adds that this helped him understand how we can start loving our enemies. “It helps to see all our enemies as children because they once were children and in some ways they still are children (which is why they often act childishly).” Loving our enemies is taught in every religion, and is hard to put into practice. Seeing the angry, hurt, bullied child inside the enemy may be a start.
*****
Matthew 5:38-48
The Hardest Enemy to Love -- Yourself
Oshea Israel and Mary Johnson should be enemies -- as a teenager, he killed her son after a fight at a party. Israel is now 40, and has finished his prison term for killing Mrs. Johnson’s son. They first met at Stillwater Prison, where Mrs. Johnson visited Israel. She says, “I wanted to know if you were in the same mindset of what I remember from court -- where I wanted to go over and hurt you. But you were not that 16-year-old. You were a grown man. I shared with you about my son.”
In that moment, Israel says, “he became human to me.” At the end of the visit they hugged, and Mrs. Johnson says that after Israel left the room “I began to say, I just hugged the man that murdered my son. And I instantly knew that all that anger and the animosity, all the stuff I had in my heart for 12 years, for you -- I knew it was over, that I had totally forgiven you.”
The more difficult forgiveness, Israel says, is for himself. “As far as a receiver in forgiveness from you, sometimes I still don't know how to take it because I haven’t totally forgiven myself yet. It’s something that I’m learning from you. I won’t say that I have learned yet because it’s still a process that I’m going through.”
The two now live next door to each other, and Israel treats Mrs. Johnson like a son would, watching out for her and taking out her trash. Mrs. Johnson says to Oshea Israel, “Well, my natural son is no longer here. I didn’t see him graduate. Now, you’re going to college. I’ll have the opportunity to see you graduate. I didn’t see him get married. Hopefully, one day I’ll be able to experience that with you.” Israel says back to her that their relationship helps keep him going, adding “Just to hear you say those things and to be in my life in the manner which you are, is my motivation. It motivates me to make sure that I stay on the right path. You still believe in me. And the fact that you can do it, despite how much pain I caused you -- it’s amazing.” Surprising things grow from the work of loving our enemies.
*****
Matthew 5:38-48
Love Your Enemies -- Perhaps?
Following the murder of nine people at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina in June 2015, the families of the murder victims were lauded for extending forgiveness to the shooter. In the months since then, the questions of forgiveness and loving the enemy have become more nuanced. Two daughters of murdered church member Ethel Lance have not spoken in nearly a year, according to The Christian Century, divided over how to feel about their mother’s killer.
Writer Yesha Callahan contends that society expects African-Americans to be forgiving, to love their enemies, in ways that we don’t demand of other groups. She says: “No other group of people have been expected to be so forgiving to those who’ve hated, killed, and made them second-class citizens. Has anyone yet asked or expected Holocaust survivors to forgive?” She draws a distinction between not forgiving and being full of hate, saying: “And let’s just squash this misconception about being an unforgiving person. Just because you’re unforgiving doesn’t mean that you’re hateful. It means you’re human.”
One commenter on her article wrote: “I have never heard one white survivor of the victims forgive the 9/11 attackers, Adam Lanza, the Boston bomber, the one currently on trial for shooting up the movie theater, etc. Imagine how much forgiveness a black person would receive if they massacred a group of unarmed white women anywhere, never mind during Bible study in a church. To openly forgive this demon, especially so soon after the murders, is mind-boggling. It’s like watching someone tell Satan they forgive him, and to also tell him ‘God have mercy on you’ while he stands there stone-faced and remorseless -- I don’t get it. And as pointed out, it’s perfectly human to NOT want to forgive, it doesn’t mean ‘Satan has won’ or ‘the devil is a liar’ or any of the other things I have often heard black Christians say. We are human beings, who are allowed to have human feelings of anger, bitterness, and yeah -- even hatred.”
When we attempt to love our enemies, do we apply Jesus’ instruction to different groups, with different expectations? Do we demand it of some people, when each of us has to wrestle with his instruction in our own journey?
*****
1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Foolishness for a Reason
Contrasting the wisdom of the world with the seeming foolishness of God, Paul writes: “If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise.”
In a commencement address at Stanford in 2005, Steve Jobs told a story about foolishness that turned out to have value. He started college at Reed College, and then dropped out, not wanting to waste his parents’ money when he had no idea what he wanted to do. With no place to live and no job, he stayed on campus, sleeping in friends’ rooms and returning bottles for money.
Jobs said: “And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.... Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer was beautifully hand-calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and sans serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful... and I found it fascinating.”
This was complete foolishness. He added, “None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But 10 years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backward 10 years later.” Foolishness and wisdom are often hard to separate, if we see them as the world judges them.
*****
1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Growing Wise
Pondering the difference between intelligence and true wisdom, Adam Grant asks: “If I asked you to judge how smart someone is, you’d know where to start. But if you were going to assess how wise that person is, what qualities would you consider?” He adds, “Wisdom is the ability to make sound judgments and choices based on experience. It’s a virtue according to every great philosophical and religious tradition, from Aristotle to Confucius and Christianity to Judaism, Islam to Buddhism, and Taoism to Hinduism. According to the book From Smart to Wise, wisdom distinguishes great leaders from the rest of the pack. So what does it take to cultivate wisdom?”
As Paul notes in 1 Corinthians, wisdom often looks foolish. Grant adds that wisdom is often about nuance, which looks silly: “Wise people are willing to question rules. Instead of accepting things as they have always been, wisdom involves asking whether there’s a better path. In Practical Wisdom, psychologist Barry Schwartz and political scientist Kenneth Sharpe describe a Philadelphia man who was convicted of holding up a taxi driver with a gun. The sentencing guidelines called for two to five years in jail, but the facts of the case didn’t fit: the man used a toy gun, it was his first offense, he had just lost his job, and he stole $50 to support his family. A wise judge gave him a shorter sentence and permission to hold a job outside of jail during the day so that he could take care of his family -- and required him to repay the $50.”
Wisdom also has a “focus on purpose over pleasure,” as Grant puts it. One study reveals that “wise people weren’t any happier than their peers. They didn’t experience more positive emotions, perhaps because wisdom requires critical self-reflection and a long-term view. They recognized that just as today’s cloud can have a silver lining tomorrow, tomorrow’s silver lining can become next month’s suffering. However, there was a clear psychological benefit of wisdom: a stronger sense of purpose in life. From time to time, wisdom may involve putting what makes us happy on the back burner in our quest for meaning and significance.”
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Teach us, O God, the way of your statutes.
People: Teach us and we will observe them to the end.
Leader: Give us understanding, that we may keep your law.
People: Give us understanding, to observe it with our whole heart.
Leader: Lead us in the path of your commandments.
People: Turn our hearts to your decrees, and not to selfish gain.
OR
Leader: Let us worship the God who created all.
People: We praise and worship our Creator God.
Leader: God has gifted us with God’s image and Spirit.
People: We bless our God who is a gracious giver of good things.
Leader: God calls us into the blessed realm of salvation.
People: Thanks be to God, who restores all of creation.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“Morning Has Broken”
found in:
UMH: 145
H82: 8
PH: 469
CH: 53
ELA: 556
W&P: 35
STLT: 38
“This Is a Day of New Beginnings”
found in:
UMH: 383
NCH: 417
CH: 518
W&P: 355
“Spirit of the Living God”
found in:
UMH: 393
PH: 322
AAHH: 320
NNBH: 133
NCH: 283
CH: 259
W&P: 492
Renew: 90
“Let There Be Light”
found in:
UMH: 440
NNBH: 450
NCH: 589
STLT: 142
“Open My Eyes, That I May See”
found in:
UMH: 454
PH: 324
NNBH: 218
CH: 586
W&P: 480
AMEC: 285
“Holy Spirit, Truth Divine”
found in:
UMH: 465
PH: 321
NCH: 63
CH: 241
LBW: 257
ELA: 398
“Lead Me, Lord”
found in:
UMH: 473
AAHH: 145
NNBH: 341
CH: 593
Renew: 175
“Lead On, O King Eternal”
found in:
UMH: 580
PH: 447, 448
AAHH: 477
NNBH: 415
NCH: 573
CH: 632
LBW: 495
ELA: 805
W&P: 508
AMEC: 177
Renew: 298
“Refiner’s Fire”
found in:
CCB: 79
“Your Loving Kindness Is Better than Life”
found in:
CCB: 26
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who makes all things new: Grant us the grace to find Jesus into the future, trusting in your Spirit to guide us and lead us; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, as you continue to create and make all things new. You redeem creation and bring us daily into your reign. Help us to trust in you and to follow Jesus as we enter the future, confident of your presence and your leading us. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, especially our desire to look to the past for greatness rather than looking to God’s new future for us.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are more comfortable thinking about the “good old days” as we remember them than we are about anticipating the future. We are more prone to think the ways we did things in the past are best rather than having to think of new ways of doing things. We forget that Jesus called his disciples to forget what they heard in the past and to listen to his new way of being God’s people. Renew our faith and call us to follow Jesus into the new reign of God. Amen.
Leader: God is sufficient for the unknown that is before us. Receive God’s grace and Spirit, and trust in God’s presence.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We bring our worship to you, O God, for you are our Creator. You have made all that is and was and ever will be. Receive our praise.
(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 are more comfortable thinking about the “good old days” as we remember them than we are about anticipating the future. We are more prone to think the ways we did things in the past are best rather than having to think of new ways of doing things. We forget that Jesus called his disciples to forget what they heard in the past and to listen to his new way of being God’s people. Renew our faith and call us to follow Jesus into the new reign of God.
We give you thanks for all the blessings you have bestowed upon us. You have made us in your image, and you are constantly calling us to be made anew in your Spirit. We thank you that you are always working with us and through us to bring your realm to glorious flower.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in all of our needs. We pray especially for those who feel shut out from your reign. Enable us with the power of your Spirit to reach out in love and grace to welcome all your children.
(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
Talk to the children about how neat it was to be a small child. You didn’t have to go to work. People took care of you. They fed you and gave you clothes. It was great. Pull out a small child’s outfit and say you think you will put it on and go back to those days. When the children react to this idea (prompt them in the unlikely event they don’t do it on their own), talk about how it doesn’t matter how things used to be, we have to live today. Things change, and we need to change. They don’t wear the clothes they wore as babies. They feed themselves. Most of them go to school or preschool. We need to always be learning about Jesus and how to follow him today.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Take Time to Be WHAT??
by Chris Keating
Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18; Matthew 5:38-48
Gather ahead of time:
* Clip some magazine or newspaper articles or news stories from trusted internet sites that give examples of the “neighbors” and “enemies” for whom Jesus asks us to pray. (There won’t be time to go into each of these stories in detail, but the headline or perhaps an appropriate photograph will be sufficient.)
* Print Leviticus 19:2 -- “You must be holy, because I, the Lord your God am holy” -- on strips of paper for the children to take home.
* Look up some hymns that mention “holy” or “holiness,” such as “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty,” “Holy Ground,” “Holy, Holy” or “Take Time to Be Holy.” You can reference these as you talk with the children about what it means to be “holy.”
As the children gather, tell them that you have a very special message to give to them. Make it sound like it is a very important message, one that is urgent and requires their utmost attention. Assume a rather overly-serious sounding voice so that they begin to clue-in that you are being somewhat facetious. Open a Bible to Leviticus 19:1-2 and say, “God wants me to share this very important message. In fact, it isn’t just a suggestion... it’s a commandment! So listen as I read this message.”
(Clear your throat, as if signaling that this is VERY important.) “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to the whole community of the Israelites: You must be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy’ ” (Leviticus 19:1-2, Common English Bible).
“Okay, everyone get that? BE Holy. That’s the message. You must be holy! Got it? Any questions?”
Pause for a second, then say to the children, “You know, it sounds pretty simple, but what does ‘being holy’ really mean?” It’s a concept many children (and not a few adults) have a hard time grasping. The children may look at a Bible and say “that’s holy!” (because it says so on the cover). Or maybe they will point to the communion table and say “that’s holy!” The dictionary reminds us that there are several ways of defining holy. We might even have said things like “holy cow!” or “holy-moley!” You can list some of the hymns that speak of being holy, and remind the children that one definition of holy is to be set aside for God.
Jesus calls us to set our lives apart from others, and to honor our baptisms by living for God. We live for God when we do the things that God wants. In Matthew, Jesus gives us a good example of what it means to be holy. He tells us that it isn’t enough just to love our neighbors, but that we should love our enemies too. That is very hard! If you have ever had an enemy, it may feel scary to love your enemy.
This would be a good time to show some of the newspaper headlines or photos. There are many people in the world who could be identified as our “enemies,” including people who are not very nice. It’s natural (and, depending on circumstances, necessary) to be unsure about people we’re not sure we can trust. That is why Jesus asks us to pray for our enemies. It’s easy to love those who like us, but it takes time to build understanding with those who are different.
Becoming “holy” isn’t something that happens overnight. It takes a long time, and requires that we grow in learning how everyone is a child of God. (This is tangential, but Margery Williams’ book The Velveteen Rabbit has a wonderful image of what becoming love looks like.) Maybe that is what that old hymn meant when it said “take time to be holy!”
As you pass around the scripture verses, encourage the children to remember that being holy isn’t about being nerdy, but that it is about learning every day what it means to be set apart for God.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, February 19, 2017, issue.
Copyright 2017 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 Dean Feldmeyer shares some additional thoughts on the First Corinthians text and Paul’s assertion that “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” Dean notes that we are constantly reminded of the limits of human knowledge, and that as a result we can be sure that while we are very intelligent (witness the wonders of science and technology), we are nowhere near as smart as a species as we think we are. Thus, the last thing we should be doing is dividing ourselves from one another because we’re convinced one group is superior to another. Moreover, that tendency toward factionalism is especially destructive in the church, because our spiritual knowledge is often incomplete.
Make America Great -- Anew
by Beth Herrinton-Hodge
Matthew 5:38-48; Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
I spent a few years in ministry in North Carolina, the home state of the fictional town of Mayberry. It seemed that any time I turned on the TV, I’d run across a grainy black-and-white episode of The Andy Griffith Show -- every cable channel aired reruns of this series at least once in a day. Everyone loved it.
And wasn’t it a great show, depicting a great era?
Plunk on the television and you’d become immersed in an idyllic small town. Main Street had one stop-light. Folks gathered at the gossipy barber shop to tell tales. You met a congenial sheriff, an attractive and single schoolteacher, a bumbling deputy. Aunt Bea baked pies in the kitchen while Opie and friends went fishin’.
Those Mayberry days were great. Who wouldn’t want America to be great like this again?
We’re tempted to look back on the “good ole days” with fond, yet grainy, memory. In times of uncertainty and struggle, recalling our version of what made America great soothes our weary soul.
Jesus had some applicable words to say to the people gathered around him at the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:38-48):
“You have heard that it was said...”
“But I say to you...”
Jesus repeats this construct six times in this section of his Sermon on the Mount, reframing what his hearers thought they knew -- what they thought was good. Jesus’ words call up common practices of the past and point to new practices for God’s people. He names the practices of the majority, and then tells his hearers to walk the extra mile, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. Jesus points toward a new thing... setting up a new frame of what is good, telling of a new realm his followers are entering. With Jesus, greatness lies in the future.
In the Scriptures
The two constructs in this section of the Sermon on the Mount (vv. 38-42, 43-48) conclude a six-section series of antithesis statements in which Jesus states a familiar law which his listeners would have known and likely practiced. Instead of abolishing the law, he reframes it.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye...’ ” The law detailed in Exodus 21:22-25, Leviticus 24:17-21, and Deuteronomy 19:15-21 incorporates guidance for the practice of retaliation into judicial code in order to put limits on extreme actions of revenge. Jesus opposed the same unlimited revenge that these old laws sought to curb. He was not against the law. He took the law a step further: rejecting retaliatory violence altogether, Jesus said, “Don’t resist an evildoer.” Don’t play their game. Disarm the enemy by going the extra mile, giving the extra mile. Go beyond passive resistance by taking a positive action in the interest of the aggressor in a way that disarms.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ” The Levitical law asserted that the neighbors whom God’s people were to love were their fellow Israelites, the insiders of their religious community. The tax collector and the Gentile did at least this much... loving those whom they knew. Jesus makes love of God and neighbor the fundamental commands of God’s realm. All else depends on love (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” This command was specific and concrete: love all people, including your enemies, “that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” This kind of loving was a radical expansion of the Law given by God in the Old Testament. It did not abolish this law; it expanded the law, making it greater.
In Jesus, the new age has come -- even as the former age continues. Jesus’ hearers, his followers, and today’s disciples live in the tension between the old and the new.1 Jesus doesn’t condemn the old. Instead, he points ahead to the new realm that he helps to usher in. He is working to make Israel great -- anew.
The Levitical teachings in vv. 1-2, 9-18 put forward valuable prohibitions for God’s people. Don’t strip the vineyard bare -- leave behind gleanings for the poor and alien. Don’t steal or deal falsely. Don’t revile or put stumbling blocks. Don’t slander. Don’t profit by blood. Don’t hate in your heart. Don’t take vengeance. Don’t bear a grudge. There is more prohibition here than permission. But the words are surrounded by positive commands. Be holy, for the Lord is holy. Love your neighbor as yourself. These laws apply to Moses’ community as well as to Jesus’ followers. God’s words of the past apply to current contexts. God’s law and love stand firm.
In the Culture
The people who turned out to hear Jesus’ words on the hillside were not strangers to difficult living. They were under Roman occupation, which protected them from war and raids by rival entities. But the Roman rule was oppressive. The people of Israel lived under a Roman governorship. They paid taxes to Rome with little to show for it. Soldiers were present on their streets. Practicing worship and keeping allegiances to God was a daily challenge -- not because they were forbidden to practice their religion, but because their religious practices were not shared by their Roman occupiers.
In response, Jewish leaders held more tightly to traditional Jewish laws and practices. Such action was a way to carve out and strengthen their identity in the face of cultural challenges and the diminishment of their religion. The Law held them to a past which they longed to know again. Living faithfully by God’s Law drew them to God and upheld the covenant which God established.
One can almost see a pious Pharisee speaking before God the words of Psalm 119: “Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will observe it to the end.... Give me life in your way. Confirm to your servant your promise...” There are elements of faith and hope, identity and promise evident in the prayers, words, and actions of the Pharisees and other Jewish people in Jesus’ day.
Jesus’ words in our text are not spoken to destroy the faith of his hearers, but to challenge them; to encourage them; to hold before them a way to practice their faith and to live their lives in ways that would make Israel great -- anew.
Likewise, we’re living in a day and age when life seems to be coming undone. The law and order we used to count on for our safety and security seems ineffective or overbearing. Our new presidential administration declares our nation’s schools, roads, and infrastructure as “disasters.” The stability of our health care system is being challenged. Drug use is rampant across the nation, including in both the inner cities and in rural communities.
Is it any wonder that so many long for the black-and-white days of Mayberry, where the conflict of each episode is resolved within 30 minutes? Where the sheriff doesn’t carry a gun, and the deputy only carries one bullet in his pocket? If a stranger shows up in Mayberry, the sheriff knows about it before the newcomer reaches his office. The keys to the jail cell are hung on a peg outside the cell. The town drunk regularly walks himself into the jail and locks himself up to dry out for the night. Aunt Bea brings him a hot breakfast the next morning.
In Mayberry, the rules of peaceful resolution, of community policing and communication, of trust and hospitality apply. For some, Mayberry seems old-fashioned. For some, it represents a longed-for, bygone day. But can’t it also be seen as a picture of what may have been but might be again -- anew? Jesus didn’t abolish the laws and the norms that were well-known by the people who gathered around him. Instead, he took what they knew and he pressed them further. The same can be applied to our Mayberry memories.
Sheriff Taylor didn’t have to carry a gun. This wasn’t because there wasn’t trouble in Mayberry; it was because he practiced methods of resolution that didn’t use force or violence. There are other ways to approach our neighbors.
Strangers may bring a threat, or they may merely be unknown. But the community watching out for one another keeps an eye out for what is threatening and offers open arms or help where warranted.
Jails have their place in today’s societies, and so do safe spaces. Where does a hurting person go for respite, support, healing? Where does an addict turn for help to get clean and sober? Where can one show up and not be judged? There’s a level of trust that shines through the relationships in Mayberry. This trust of neighbor is what Jesus means when he says to love one another.
The hospitality exhibited by the beloved Aunt Bea embodies the words of Matthew 25: “...for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
To be sure, there are many holes in this parallel between the old, memory-worn Mayberry and the new kingdom that Jesus points his hearers toward in the Sermon on the Mount. These can be taken up in another article. What resonates with me here is how so many in our congregations and across our country long for the life that was presented to them in Mayberry (or in any number of nostalgic TV shows). There’s a loud cry today to make America great again... like it was in the good old days.
The truth is... the good old days lie largely in our memory. Mayberry was so simple, so limited, so white. But the old gems that seemed so attractive -- like the old laws many of Jesus’ detractors clung to -- can be restated, reframed, and reclaimed. Jesus does this in his Sermon on the Mount. He doesn’t destroy the old gems; he “radicalizes” them -- speaking of them anew, to his followers and to God’s people who would hear him. Jesus preached on that hillside to make Israel great anew, building on what was known and cherished and pointing the way toward God’s kingdom, which is pretty darn great!
In what ways is God calling Jesus’ followers today to move from the idyllic past into a fresh, new kingdom, with new vision and new rules and new hope? Jesus spoke with his first hearers on that hillside, challenging them to move beyond the familiar rules they knew to live into the new creation God held out for them. Jesus speaks with his hearers today to follow God’s path toward a new heaven and a new earth. Who knows... maybe we’ll find a multicultural Mayberry there.
1 M. Eugene Boring and Fred B. Craddock, The People’s New Testament Commentary (Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), p. 30
SECOND THOUGHTS
Not as Smart as We Think We Are
by Dean Feldmeyer
1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Truth be told, it’s kind of frustrating being a homo sapiens in this day and age.
Just about the time we think we have things pretty much figured out, someone comes along to show us, in rather stark, bold, and embarrassing terms, that we are not as smart as we think we are.
The Dead Sea Scrolls
Take the Dead Sea Scrolls, for instance. For the past 60 years, it has been just sort of assumed that the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were found in 11 caves near the site of the ancient Qumran community in 1946-47 and 1956, were a one-time deal. Nearly 1,000 old manuscripts dating from about 300 BCE to 100 CE were found in jars in those caves. They were books from the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament), non-canonical books, and secular books.
Pretty impressive, right? And most people, even archeologists, just assumed that was it.
Then, last week, after 60 years of searching, another scroll cave was found. Unfortunately, the only scroll found therein was blank. It had been prepared for writing and stored away. But there were some jar fragments that led the archeologists to believe that completed scrolls had been there, but had been looted in the 1950s and found their way onto the black market for historical artifacts.
Dr. Oren Gutfeld, who leads “Operation Scroll,” is optimistic. The fact that there is a 12th cave means there could also be a 13th and a 14th cave containing scrolls. They have hundreds of caves, he says, and many years to go.
Who knows?
See, we’re not as smart as we think we are. Here are some more examples.
The Bonnethead Shark
The bonnethead, a small species of hammerhead shark found in the United States, Bahamas, Caribbean, and Latin America, has been considered by people who keep track of such things to be abundant, productive, and widely distributed. They are fished commercially and are considered animals of “least concern” by conservation groups (the same rating as pigeons and house rats).
However, in January scientists sequenced the DNA of what they believed to be bonnethead sharks just off the coast of Belize -- and they were shocked to find that those are an entirely different species based on large genetic differences between them and other bonnetheads in the region.
It was immediately obvious that scientists of all kinds were going to have to reevaluate what they thought they knew about sharks. Now, everything is up in the air again and the scientific oceanographic world is all atwitter. “The research team’s discovery of a new shark species is a testament to how much we still need to learn about the world we live in,” said Earthwatch CEO Scott Kania.
The Coelacanth (SEEL - uh - kanth)
Maybe you remember a television commercial from some years ago where two mechanics open the trunk of a Volkswagen Jetta and are shocked at what they see. The younger of the two says, “I thought those were extinct.” The older one says, “That’s what they said about the coelacanth.”
The commercial goes on to say that the thing he thought was extinct was the “full-size spare tire” and that the Jetta actually has one. In the commercial’s epilogue, the young man is standing over a full-size tire, looking at it with an expression of awe, and the older one says: “It’s a prehistoric fish. Disappeared over 10,000 years ago. Then they caught one off the coast of Madagascar. Coelacanth?”
Well, sure enough, he’s just about right.
Scientists tell us that coelacanth were believed to have gone extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period some 65-plus million years ago. That was until 1938, when one was miraculously discovered off the east coast of South Africa near the mouth of the Chalumna River. Closely related to lungfishes and tetrapods, coelacanth are among the oldest living jawed fishes known to exist. These “living dinosaurs” can live as long as 60 years and swim at depths of 2300 feet.
Five Unanswered Questions
Despite all our science and technology and research, we still don’t know the answers to these simple questions:
1. Why do we sleep?
Some people don’t, you know. Science has discovered a gene mutation that lets some people get by just fine on 2-4 hours of sleep a night. And there are some who never -- that’s never -- sleep. Or so they claim.
2. How do bicycles work?
That’s right, we really don’t know (scientifically speaking) what keeps them upright. “The first bicycles were invented, not through any kind of scientific procedure, but by dumb old trial and error. Even modern bike design schools admit that it’s not engineering or computer knowledge that make a good bike designer, but instead ‘intuition and experience.’ ”
3. How can you win at solitaire?
“...big-time mathematicians openly admit that it’s one of the ‘embarrassments of applied mathematics’ that even after thousands of hours of playing and scientifically studying the game, almost nothing about the standard Klondike solitaire game is currently known.”
4. How many species of animals exist?
Well, every time we think we know, some scientific busybody finds another one and we have to start counting all over again. But the biggest reason that science is still shrugging its shoulders is that 99 percent of all living space on earth is under the ocean, and humans have explored less than 10 percent of it (experts say we have better maps of the surface of Mars than of our own oceans). We discover new and creepy types of life there all the time!
5. How does gravity work?
Or maybe it should be “Why does gravity work?” The force of two little magnets the size of pencil erasers snapping together is something like 1036 stronger than the force of gravity, yet gravity is currently credited with holding the universe together. So how does it do that? And why?
See, the thing is, we aren’t as smart as we think we are. We’re smart. Really, really smart. If you don’t believe that, just take a look at the cellphone in your pocket. Even if it’s not one of those super-smart $700 thingies, it’s still pretty smart. And the smart ones? Whew! Mine cost $79 and it can do more than the first computer I owned about 35 years ago, back before there was a thing called the internet. So yeah, we’re smart.
However...
Our emotional and sociological and psychological intelligence has not kept up with our scientific/technological intelligence. And our spiritual intelligence hasn’t caught up to our emotional, sociological, and psychological intelligence.
You don’t have to be a 21st-century genius to know that.
The apostle Paul was saying it 2,000 years ago.
According to him, the Christians in Corinth were putting way too much stock in human intelligence and achievement, and they wanted to get on the side of the right human, the one who knew the most. And this was happening even in the church!
I’m a Paulist, said one. I’m an Apolloist, said another. Well, I’m a Cephan, said a third. We still hear that today, don’t we?
I’m a Methodist! I’m a Presbyterian! I’m a Baptist! I’m not religious but I’m very spiritual.
Or I’m a Democrat! And I’m a Republican! Well, I’m an independent, or I’m a Libertarian, or I’m Green.
Vegan, vegetarian, carnivore, omnivore. Southerner, midwesterner, easterner, northerner, etc., etc.
White, black, yellow, tan, brown.
Really? says Paul. Are you still defining yourselves in these human terms? Are you still trying to prove that you are superior to your brothers and sisters?
Well, forget it. It’s time to get inferior, all of us. If we think we are smart, let’s get stupid. If we think we are strong, let’s get weak. If we think we are wise, let’s get foolish. Because all the stuff we think we know is as nothing before the God who holds the universe in the palm of his hand. All our accomplishments are as nothing before the God who spoke the universe into being. All our knowledge is as nothing to the God who knows every bird that flies and every insect that crawls by name.
And only when we understand that piece of wisdom can we really come to know what it means to be the People of God. Only when admit that we are poor, and ignorant, and dependent, and fragile, and needy, can we come to know God as our redeemer and our loving, protecting parent.
The smartest phone in the world is no better than the battery that runs it.
The smartest car is no better than its driver.
And the smartest, wisest, strongest human beings in the world are no smarter, wiser, or stronger than the God who created them.
That is the knowledge that makes life authentic and eternal.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Ron Love:
Psalm 119:33-40
Carnegie Mellon University has developed and is testing a computer that can play poker. Poker is the most difficult game for a computer to master because it’s a game of limited knowledge, uncertainty, hidden cards, and bluffs. The computer the university developed, called Libratus, prepared itself for competition by playing a trillion hands against itself to build a database of possible choices. At the end of a recent 20-day tournament Libratus was declared the winner, with more than $1.7 million in chips. The importance of this AI (artificial intelligence) development is to apply it to many life situations where information is hidden, such as auctions, negotiations, and security.
Application: The psalmist asks for understanding, but his desire is to learn about God, not the world of marketing.
*****
Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
Phillipa Soo, Renee Elise Goldsberry, and Jasmine Cephas Jones, who were all former stars in the stage play Hamilton, created a sense of surprise when they sang “America the Beautiful” at Super Bowl LI. In their rendition of the song they sang the traditional verse with a word of inclusiveness, singing: “And crown thy good with brotherhood and sisterhood” before finishing with “from sea to shining sea.”
Application: In Leviticus, we learn about the importance of being inclusive.
*****
Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
Carrie Fisher is probably best remembered as Princess Leia in the Star Wars movie series. But many may not have been aware of her struggle with mental illness and drugs. She was open about her illness, wrote about it in several books, and was willing to be interviewed regarding it. But as she struggled with being bipolar, she could not overcome the devastating effects of this disease. In recognition of this disease that plagued her life, when she died she had her cremated remains placed in a white and green Prozac pill-shaped urn.
Application: An urn in the shape of a Prozac pill may at first seem a little absurd to us. But perhaps this is one way to draw attention to an illness that is not yet accepted by society. Leviticus teaches us to be aware and accepting.
*****
Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18; Matthew 5:38-48
Because of the political upheaval the past presidential election has caused, advertisers consider us to be a divided nation. This has made it difficult for them to create ads that are entertaining and informative, yet not divisive. Kelly O’Keefe, a marketing expert and professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, said, “Brands used to worry about whether their ad could be interpreted as right or wrong. Now they have to worry about whether it will be interpreted as right or left.”
Application: In Leviticus and Matthew the message is poignant and straightforward, and the speakers were not concerned if someone was offended.
*****
Matthew 5:38-48
Atlanta is known in some quarters as “Loserville” because the city’s major professional sports teams have won only one championship in their 169 combined seasons. But when the Falcons were ahead by 25 points, the city began to rejoice that this would be the year -- only to have their football team lose Super Bowl LI.
Application: Winning a sports competition is important to the identity of a city; but what is even more important is how we identify as Christians.
*****
Matthew 5:38-48
After the Atlanta Falcons lost a 25-point lead to the victorious New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI, the Atlanta players became self-reflective. Falcons safety Ricardo Allen said: “We have to learn from this. It’s a tough learning lesson. This is one of the worst lessons you can get in this world, but we’re going to keep building.”
Application: Jesus gives us tough learning lessons from which we can build our lives.
*****
Matthew 5:38-48
When the Atlanta Falcons had a 25-point lead over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI, many were thinking that the game was going to be won by the Falcons. At the time of that massive point lead, Atlanta receiver Taylor Gabriel said: “I was thinking what anyone would be thinking -- we had the game.”
Application: Jesus teaches us that we have never won the game of life; we must constantly be applying his teachings to our everyday living.
*****
Matthew 5:38-48
Super Bowl LI was watched by 111.3 million viewers, and Lady Gaga’s halftime show had a viewing audience of 117.5 million. The Super Bowl game that had the largest viewing audience of 114.4 million was in 2015, when the New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks.
Application: I wonder what it would be like if 111.3 million people took the time, all at the same time, to listen to Jesus preach his message on the Sermon on the Mount.
*****
Matthew 5:38-48
Super Bowl LI was watched by 111.3 million viewers, and Lady Gaga’s halftime show had a viewing audience of 117.5 million. Earlier in the day, Bill O’Reilly interviewed President Donald Trump. That interview was watched by 12.2 million individuals.
Application: One cannot deny the thrill of watching a sporting event; but how many people are really interested in what the president, and more importantly Jesus, has to say?
*****
Matthew 5:38-48
There is now more gun violence in a PG-13 movie than an R-rated movie. In the past 30 years there has been a steady increase in gun violence in movies for adolescent audiences. Dan Romer, of the University of Pennsylvania, said: “Hollywood continues to rely on gun violence as a prominent feature in its highly popular PG-13 action-oriented films.” Though the link between actual gun violence and simulated gun violence in movies, on television, and in video games stills need to be determined, the Journal of Pediatrics cautions parents to limit such exposure.
Application: Jesus is teaching us how to avoid violence with a lifestyle of peace.
***************
From team member Mary Austin:
Matthew 5:38-48
What If Your Enemies Are Children?
What would you do if you heard a thumping as some objects hit the windows of your home? Writer Makala Kozo Hattori tells a story about his neighbor who at first feared gunshots, then looked out the window to see eggs and oranges hitting her home. Running outside, Harshida Mehta “decided to confront her ‘enemies.’ Armed only with her belief that ‘all strangers are my kin,’ she went outside to see ‘three cute kids.’ Rather than berate them, Harshida tried to connect, ‘Hey guys, thank you for the oranges. Can I have them so they don’t go to waste?’ But the kids started to run. Harshida walked after them and said, ‘Wait! Wait! Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to do anything. I just want to talk. And I can use your oranges.’ The assailants ran off without looking back.”
Hattori adds that this helped him understand how we can start loving our enemies. “It helps to see all our enemies as children because they once were children and in some ways they still are children (which is why they often act childishly).” Loving our enemies is taught in every religion, and is hard to put into practice. Seeing the angry, hurt, bullied child inside the enemy may be a start.
*****
Matthew 5:38-48
The Hardest Enemy to Love -- Yourself
Oshea Israel and Mary Johnson should be enemies -- as a teenager, he killed her son after a fight at a party. Israel is now 40, and has finished his prison term for killing Mrs. Johnson’s son. They first met at Stillwater Prison, where Mrs. Johnson visited Israel. She says, “I wanted to know if you were in the same mindset of what I remember from court -- where I wanted to go over and hurt you. But you were not that 16-year-old. You were a grown man. I shared with you about my son.”
In that moment, Israel says, “he became human to me.” At the end of the visit they hugged, and Mrs. Johnson says that after Israel left the room “I began to say, I just hugged the man that murdered my son. And I instantly knew that all that anger and the animosity, all the stuff I had in my heart for 12 years, for you -- I knew it was over, that I had totally forgiven you.”
The more difficult forgiveness, Israel says, is for himself. “As far as a receiver in forgiveness from you, sometimes I still don't know how to take it because I haven’t totally forgiven myself yet. It’s something that I’m learning from you. I won’t say that I have learned yet because it’s still a process that I’m going through.”
The two now live next door to each other, and Israel treats Mrs. Johnson like a son would, watching out for her and taking out her trash. Mrs. Johnson says to Oshea Israel, “Well, my natural son is no longer here. I didn’t see him graduate. Now, you’re going to college. I’ll have the opportunity to see you graduate. I didn’t see him get married. Hopefully, one day I’ll be able to experience that with you.” Israel says back to her that their relationship helps keep him going, adding “Just to hear you say those things and to be in my life in the manner which you are, is my motivation. It motivates me to make sure that I stay on the right path. You still believe in me. And the fact that you can do it, despite how much pain I caused you -- it’s amazing.” Surprising things grow from the work of loving our enemies.
*****
Matthew 5:38-48
Love Your Enemies -- Perhaps?
Following the murder of nine people at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina in June 2015, the families of the murder victims were lauded for extending forgiveness to the shooter. In the months since then, the questions of forgiveness and loving the enemy have become more nuanced. Two daughters of murdered church member Ethel Lance have not spoken in nearly a year, according to The Christian Century, divided over how to feel about their mother’s killer.
Writer Yesha Callahan contends that society expects African-Americans to be forgiving, to love their enemies, in ways that we don’t demand of other groups. She says: “No other group of people have been expected to be so forgiving to those who’ve hated, killed, and made them second-class citizens. Has anyone yet asked or expected Holocaust survivors to forgive?” She draws a distinction between not forgiving and being full of hate, saying: “And let’s just squash this misconception about being an unforgiving person. Just because you’re unforgiving doesn’t mean that you’re hateful. It means you’re human.”
One commenter on her article wrote: “I have never heard one white survivor of the victims forgive the 9/11 attackers, Adam Lanza, the Boston bomber, the one currently on trial for shooting up the movie theater, etc. Imagine how much forgiveness a black person would receive if they massacred a group of unarmed white women anywhere, never mind during Bible study in a church. To openly forgive this demon, especially so soon after the murders, is mind-boggling. It’s like watching someone tell Satan they forgive him, and to also tell him ‘God have mercy on you’ while he stands there stone-faced and remorseless -- I don’t get it. And as pointed out, it’s perfectly human to NOT want to forgive, it doesn’t mean ‘Satan has won’ or ‘the devil is a liar’ or any of the other things I have often heard black Christians say. We are human beings, who are allowed to have human feelings of anger, bitterness, and yeah -- even hatred.”
When we attempt to love our enemies, do we apply Jesus’ instruction to different groups, with different expectations? Do we demand it of some people, when each of us has to wrestle with his instruction in our own journey?
*****
1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Foolishness for a Reason
Contrasting the wisdom of the world with the seeming foolishness of God, Paul writes: “If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise.”
In a commencement address at Stanford in 2005, Steve Jobs told a story about foolishness that turned out to have value. He started college at Reed College, and then dropped out, not wanting to waste his parents’ money when he had no idea what he wanted to do. With no place to live and no job, he stayed on campus, sleeping in friends’ rooms and returning bottles for money.
Jobs said: “And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.... Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer was beautifully hand-calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and sans serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful... and I found it fascinating.”
This was complete foolishness. He added, “None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But 10 years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backward 10 years later.” Foolishness and wisdom are often hard to separate, if we see them as the world judges them.
*****
1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Growing Wise
Pondering the difference between intelligence and true wisdom, Adam Grant asks: “If I asked you to judge how smart someone is, you’d know where to start. But if you were going to assess how wise that person is, what qualities would you consider?” He adds, “Wisdom is the ability to make sound judgments and choices based on experience. It’s a virtue according to every great philosophical and religious tradition, from Aristotle to Confucius and Christianity to Judaism, Islam to Buddhism, and Taoism to Hinduism. According to the book From Smart to Wise, wisdom distinguishes great leaders from the rest of the pack. So what does it take to cultivate wisdom?”
As Paul notes in 1 Corinthians, wisdom often looks foolish. Grant adds that wisdom is often about nuance, which looks silly: “Wise people are willing to question rules. Instead of accepting things as they have always been, wisdom involves asking whether there’s a better path. In Practical Wisdom, psychologist Barry Schwartz and political scientist Kenneth Sharpe describe a Philadelphia man who was convicted of holding up a taxi driver with a gun. The sentencing guidelines called for two to five years in jail, but the facts of the case didn’t fit: the man used a toy gun, it was his first offense, he had just lost his job, and he stole $50 to support his family. A wise judge gave him a shorter sentence and permission to hold a job outside of jail during the day so that he could take care of his family -- and required him to repay the $50.”
Wisdom also has a “focus on purpose over pleasure,” as Grant puts it. One study reveals that “wise people weren’t any happier than their peers. They didn’t experience more positive emotions, perhaps because wisdom requires critical self-reflection and a long-term view. They recognized that just as today’s cloud can have a silver lining tomorrow, tomorrow’s silver lining can become next month’s suffering. However, there was a clear psychological benefit of wisdom: a stronger sense of purpose in life. From time to time, wisdom may involve putting what makes us happy on the back burner in our quest for meaning and significance.”
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Teach us, O God, the way of your statutes.
People: Teach us and we will observe them to the end.
Leader: Give us understanding, that we may keep your law.
People: Give us understanding, to observe it with our whole heart.
Leader: Lead us in the path of your commandments.
People: Turn our hearts to your decrees, and not to selfish gain.
OR
Leader: Let us worship the God who created all.
People: We praise and worship our Creator God.
Leader: God has gifted us with God’s image and Spirit.
People: We bless our God who is a gracious giver of good things.
Leader: God calls us into the blessed realm of salvation.
People: Thanks be to God, who restores all of creation.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“Morning Has Broken”
found in:
UMH: 145
H82: 8
PH: 469
CH: 53
ELA: 556
W&P: 35
STLT: 38
“This Is a Day of New Beginnings”
found in:
UMH: 383
NCH: 417
CH: 518
W&P: 355
“Spirit of the Living God”
found in:
UMH: 393
PH: 322
AAHH: 320
NNBH: 133
NCH: 283
CH: 259
W&P: 492
Renew: 90
“Let There Be Light”
found in:
UMH: 440
NNBH: 450
NCH: 589
STLT: 142
“Open My Eyes, That I May See”
found in:
UMH: 454
PH: 324
NNBH: 218
CH: 586
W&P: 480
AMEC: 285
“Holy Spirit, Truth Divine”
found in:
UMH: 465
PH: 321
NCH: 63
CH: 241
LBW: 257
ELA: 398
“Lead Me, Lord”
found in:
UMH: 473
AAHH: 145
NNBH: 341
CH: 593
Renew: 175
“Lead On, O King Eternal”
found in:
UMH: 580
PH: 447, 448
AAHH: 477
NNBH: 415
NCH: 573
CH: 632
LBW: 495
ELA: 805
W&P: 508
AMEC: 177
Renew: 298
“Refiner’s Fire”
found in:
CCB: 79
“Your Loving Kindness Is Better than Life”
found in:
CCB: 26
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who makes all things new: Grant us the grace to find Jesus into the future, trusting in your Spirit to guide us and lead us; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, as you continue to create and make all things new. You redeem creation and bring us daily into your reign. Help us to trust in you and to follow Jesus as we enter the future, confident of your presence and your leading us. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, especially our desire to look to the past for greatness rather than looking to God’s new future for us.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are more comfortable thinking about the “good old days” as we remember them than we are about anticipating the future. We are more prone to think the ways we did things in the past are best rather than having to think of new ways of doing things. We forget that Jesus called his disciples to forget what they heard in the past and to listen to his new way of being God’s people. Renew our faith and call us to follow Jesus into the new reign of God. Amen.
Leader: God is sufficient for the unknown that is before us. Receive God’s grace and Spirit, and trust in God’s presence.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We bring our worship to you, O God, for you are our Creator. You have made all that is and was and ever will be. Receive our praise.
(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 are more comfortable thinking about the “good old days” as we remember them than we are about anticipating the future. We are more prone to think the ways we did things in the past are best rather than having to think of new ways of doing things. We forget that Jesus called his disciples to forget what they heard in the past and to listen to his new way of being God’s people. Renew our faith and call us to follow Jesus into the new reign of God.
We give you thanks for all the blessings you have bestowed upon us. You have made us in your image, and you are constantly calling us to be made anew in your Spirit. We thank you that you are always working with us and through us to bring your realm to glorious flower.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in all of our needs. We pray especially for those who feel shut out from your reign. Enable us with the power of your Spirit to reach out in love and grace to welcome all your children.
(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
Talk to the children about how neat it was to be a small child. You didn’t have to go to work. People took care of you. They fed you and gave you clothes. It was great. Pull out a small child’s outfit and say you think you will put it on and go back to those days. When the children react to this idea (prompt them in the unlikely event they don’t do it on their own), talk about how it doesn’t matter how things used to be, we have to live today. Things change, and we need to change. They don’t wear the clothes they wore as babies. They feed themselves. Most of them go to school or preschool. We need to always be learning about Jesus and how to follow him today.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Take Time to Be WHAT??
by Chris Keating
Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18; Matthew 5:38-48
Gather ahead of time:
* Clip some magazine or newspaper articles or news stories from trusted internet sites that give examples of the “neighbors” and “enemies” for whom Jesus asks us to pray. (There won’t be time to go into each of these stories in detail, but the headline or perhaps an appropriate photograph will be sufficient.)
* Print Leviticus 19:2 -- “You must be holy, because I, the Lord your God am holy” -- on strips of paper for the children to take home.
* Look up some hymns that mention “holy” or “holiness,” such as “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty,” “Holy Ground,” “Holy, Holy” or “Take Time to Be Holy.” You can reference these as you talk with the children about what it means to be “holy.”
As the children gather, tell them that you have a very special message to give to them. Make it sound like it is a very important message, one that is urgent and requires their utmost attention. Assume a rather overly-serious sounding voice so that they begin to clue-in that you are being somewhat facetious. Open a Bible to Leviticus 19:1-2 and say, “God wants me to share this very important message. In fact, it isn’t just a suggestion... it’s a commandment! So listen as I read this message.”
(Clear your throat, as if signaling that this is VERY important.) “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to the whole community of the Israelites: You must be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy’ ” (Leviticus 19:1-2, Common English Bible).
“Okay, everyone get that? BE Holy. That’s the message. You must be holy! Got it? Any questions?”
Pause for a second, then say to the children, “You know, it sounds pretty simple, but what does ‘being holy’ really mean?” It’s a concept many children (and not a few adults) have a hard time grasping. The children may look at a Bible and say “that’s holy!” (because it says so on the cover). Or maybe they will point to the communion table and say “that’s holy!” The dictionary reminds us that there are several ways of defining holy. We might even have said things like “holy cow!” or “holy-moley!” You can list some of the hymns that speak of being holy, and remind the children that one definition of holy is to be set aside for God.
Jesus calls us to set our lives apart from others, and to honor our baptisms by living for God. We live for God when we do the things that God wants. In Matthew, Jesus gives us a good example of what it means to be holy. He tells us that it isn’t enough just to love our neighbors, but that we should love our enemies too. That is very hard! If you have ever had an enemy, it may feel scary to love your enemy.
This would be a good time to show some of the newspaper headlines or photos. There are many people in the world who could be identified as our “enemies,” including people who are not very nice. It’s natural (and, depending on circumstances, necessary) to be unsure about people we’re not sure we can trust. That is why Jesus asks us to pray for our enemies. It’s easy to love those who like us, but it takes time to build understanding with those who are different.
Becoming “holy” isn’t something that happens overnight. It takes a long time, and requires that we grow in learning how everyone is a child of God. (This is tangential, but Margery Williams’ book The Velveteen Rabbit has a wonderful image of what becoming love looks like.) Maybe that is what that old hymn meant when it said “take time to be holy!”
As you pass around the scripture verses, encourage the children to remember that being holy isn’t about being nerdy, but that it is about learning every day what it means to be set apart for God.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, February 19, 2017, issue.
Copyright 2017 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.
