In this week’s lectionary gospel passage, Jesus tells a rather stern parable about having enough oil on hand to keep lamps lit for a late-arriving bridegroom. His tone seems unusually harsh -- though in many other instances Jesus counsels those with plenty to share their resources with those in need, here we are told that the foolish who haven’t trimmed their lamps and who have run short on oil cannot count on assistance from others; instead, they’ll have to obtain more on their own. The message he’s conveying seems rather transparent: he’s warning us about the unpleasant fate awaiting those who don’t properly prepare for the uncertain timing of life’s major events. He explicitly underlines that theme in the pericope’s final verse: “Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Mary Austin suggests that’s a timely lesson for us -- especially because, both in our personal lives and in our communities, we’re all too often blindsided by events we haven’t anticipated. It’s difficult enough to cope with the obstacles life puts in our path, but even more so if we aren’t sufficiently prepared. But Mary suggests that this text is about much more than merely checking off items on a preparedness to-do list; it’s also about waiting (anticipating upcoming Advent themes), about what we put off dealing with, and about how we utilize our time while we wait for those things we can’t control but which inevitably come.
Team member Chris Keating shares some additional thoughts on Psalm 78 and the Wisdom texts, and the importance they place on learning the faith and passing it on to subsequent generations. The psalmist asks Israel to “Give ear, O my people, to the words of my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.” We are also informed that Wisdom “is easily discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her,” and that “the beginning of wisdom is the most sincere desire for instruction.” But as Chris notes, all too often our educational system -- both in the church and in our schools -- places a premium on conformity rather than on encouraging the curiosity that science tells us is an essential element in the learning process. Chris ponders how we can cultivate a curiosity that can keep us learning about our faith and keep it fresh, and he offers some thought-provoking possibilities for bringing generations together -- a necessity if we’re to effectively “pass it on” to our young people.
More Than a To-Do List
by Mary Austin
Matthew 25:1-13
The parable of the women and their lamps is the perfect story for the start of the holiday season. Arriving magazines announce ways to get organized for the holidays, stressing the need to plan ahead. Savvy shoppers are already out and eager stores are rolling out sales, hoping people will shop early. Planning ahead is hard enough for fun events like holidays, but life also challenges us to prepare for the unseen.
Residents of Hawaii are struggling to prepare, as lava flows -- slowly -- toward the town of Pahoa. The government struggles to make effective plans to cope with Ebola in the United States, and at the same time to deal with the Islamic State army in Syria and Iraq. The fall chill has Popular Mechanics magazine advising us to load our car trunk with winter driving essentials, giving us a list of key items which add up to more than $1,000.
How do we prepare for things we can’t imagine?
In the World
The residents of Pahoa, Hawaii are facing a paradox -- a disaster that’s coming slowly enough to allow them to plan ahead. Floods, mudslides, and hurricanes come with little or no warning, and the only response is to leave home, with the cat in the carrier and maybe a bin of family photos. In Hawaii, the lava flow is coming, but slowly. According to the area’s civil defense director, Darryl Oliveira, 83 National Guard troops have been deployed to assist with security, and the Associated Press says: “The languid pace has given residents time to pack their valuables and get out of the way. But it’s been agonizing for those wondering whether the lava might change directions and head for them, and stressful for those trying to figure out how they will cope once the lava blocks the town’s only roads.” The story prompts us to wonder how prepared we can be for something that’s uncertain. Residents have been issued an “evacuation advisory,” noting that they may have to leave, but haven’t been ordered to do so. The town has made preparations, including wrapping utility poles in concrete and building other routes into town. Residents have been putting belongings in storage as well as photographing them for insurance companies in case they’re lost to the lava.
An earlier Associated Press story reported that a couple residing on the town’s main street was living with a friend while returning home periodically to check on their house and remove personal items. “We’re still praying,” another resident said. “I hope our house will be spared.” The slow pace of the lava flow makes it hard to know how quickly to act, and allows for an exhausting mental back-and-forth. It calls for a curious mixture of prayer and concrete action, as no one knows exactly what to do.
On the other side of the globe, the Islamic State army is confounding U.S. and Iraqi military officials, among others. Unlike traditional enemies, it’s not a country with defined boundaries, and there’s no recognizable leader. Knowing how to prepare for their advance is difficult. A U.S. army official recently told Army Times that the Iraqi army, the front line of defense, is not ready to stop the Islamic State army, even with American support. The same article says, “Launching a broad campaign to retake terrain will require rebuilding Iraq’s security forces, the Pentagon has conceded, even though the United States spent billions of dollars arming and training them. That’s because since the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, the quality of the country’s security forces has declined, the Pentagon says.” The army thought it had prepared Iraq to stand on its own, and it turns out that the preparations weren’t enough for a changed environment.
The commercial space industry is also facing the unexpected, with two high-profile crashes in recent days. An article in the Los Angeles Times notes that “News of two crashes in a week has sent tremors throughout the burgeoning commercial space industry, which hadn’t experienced a major accident in recent years. For half a century, venturing into space had been the primary domain of governments that can afford to spend billions of dollars to develop and send massive rockets into orbit. But now modern-day industrialists and the privately funded commercial space industry have been poised to blast off.” The crashes beg the question of whether companies in the business for a profit can be careful enough, or whether financial concerns will always trump preparations.
In the Scriptures
As Jesus nears the end of his life, his lessons shift in tone. We’ve been hearing stories about judgment, and now the flow shifts to waiting and preparation. This parable of the maidens with their lamps awaiting the bridegroom lauds the women who bring their lamps and extra oil. They’re prepared for the bridegroom’s arrival, even though they don’t know when he’s coming. The other women don’t bring enough oil, and are left scrambling at the last minute. The message of the parable seems to be about preparation -- they miss the big event because they didn’t plan ahead.
If the bridegroom in the story represents Jesus, and we all are the bridesmaids who await his return, how can we manage to be prepared enough to be ready? Greg Carey writes for WorkingPreacher.org that “our discomfort with the parable of the virgins likely arises from self-awareness. Most of us know ourselves as wise in some contexts and foolish in others. On an imaginary scale of wilderness readiness, some people are more likely to prepare for every eventuality, but most of us vary from context to context. Preparation seems an arbitrary distinction.” We may know how to prepare for a power outage or a broken furnace, but preparing for Jesus’ return stretches our imagination. Are we to be busy with service? Quiet in prayer?
The bridegroom closes the door on the unprepared women, saying that he doesn’t know them. Brian Stoffregen observes that “the word [for ‘know’] in our passage is oida. This word can simply mean ‘to have information about,’ but it also has the meaning ‘to be intimately acquainted with or stand in a close relation to.’ Perhaps rather than asking the question ‘Do you know the Lord?’ we might better ask ‘Does the Lord know you?’ or ‘How well does the Lord know you?’ ”
In a sermon on this passage Anna Carter Florence says, “I think those church folk who use this parable as a way to scare us all straight are missing the point. You don’t fill your lamp because you’re afraid you’re going to get locked out of the Kingdom of Heaven. You don’t stockpile oil because then you can turn everyone else away and that’s so much fun. No, you just stop at the filling station and fill your flask and take it with you, because you can’t wait to meet the bridegroom. You fill it out of joy. That’s the only price of oil, when you think about it: the desire to meet Jesus when he comes. Which he will. Soon. Very soon.”
In the Sermon
We might wonder why the five prepared women didn’t share with their companions -- and why they’re lauded for that. The Jesus telling the story is the same Jesus who urges us not to store up treasure for ourselves, and also to give to anyone who asks you. Why are these seemingly selfish women held up as the good example in the story? In some essential way, each of us has to stand alone in our faith. Our faith is nurtured, taught, and caught by other people, but we can’t live for long on someone else’s faith -- we have to have our own, dim as it may be. The sermon might look at what each of us needs to have faith.
The parable is partly about preparation, but it also holds the truth that we often find ourselves waiting for God. We await God’s final return, but we also wait all through our lives for God to open a certain door, or to create a place to use our talents in service. We wait for an illness to end, or for a relationship to begin, all the while seeking God’s presence in the waiting. As the pace of the world grows faster, even the shortest wait feels burdensome. The sermon might look at waiting as a spiritual skill -- one that can be developed, like the ability to pray, or to meditate. Does our impatience with a slow computer or a balky phone translate into impatience with God?
The sermon might also look at the things we put off doing. The five women without the oil put off getting it until it is too late. What are we putting off that we know we should do? The work of forgiveness, or self-examination? The work of attending to our physical health, or our peace of mind? There’s something in each of our lives that we put off, thinking there will be time later. The sermon might look at how these places of inattention in our lives keep us from giving our energy to God.
Or the sermon might look at how we use our time as we wait for the things we most desire. What happens as we wait for a baby to come, or prepare for a wedding? What about the times when we’re waiting for something we dread? A death to come, or an announced job loss? As we await joyful events there’s lots to do, but waiting filled with sadness has fewer tasks. Our preparation is internal, rather than external. It seems that waiting for God’s arrival feels more like the latter, although our anticipation is joyful. Preparing is less about the things we cross off our to-do list, and more about the way we shape our spirits, our time, and our lives so we’re ready for the bridegroom when he comes.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Pass It On
by Chris Keating
Psalm 78:1-7; Wisdom 6:17-20
Like the psalmist, author Marilynne Robinson believes there is a great connection between the work of the mind and the work of the soul -- and both are always searching, passing along the glorious deeds of the Lord from one generation to the next.
As John Ames (the elderly protagonist in Robinson’s cherished novel Gilead) might say, curiosity is remarkable. Such curiosity motivates Robinson to write of God’s love and sustenance, notes Anthony Domestico in this week’s edition of Commonweal. She rejoices in the gift of perception, and the ability of human beings to celebrate God’s gifts:
The life and death of Christ are addressed precisely to the fact that beloved humankind are, in greater and lesser degrees, sad and erring creatures, often enough bitter and mean-spirited creatures. Yet here is brilliant Creation shining all around us, and here are our own brilliant gifts of thought and perception to let us enjoy it and celebrate it.
Robinson wants us to know that the world is a curious and wondrous place, and invites us to discover what she calls God’s “tender solicitude” toward human beings. Our response to that tender solicitude is to embark on a quest described eloquently in Psalm 78: “We will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.”
Of course, that could be the vision statement of every congregation’s education committee. Yet -- as one blogger recently noted -- too often our tendency to segregate worship and Sunday school has created a culture of unchurched children. This week’s Psalm and Wisdom passages both encourage lifelong pursuit of knowledge and faith, and remind us to teach our children wisely.
But how do we cultivate curiosity?
In the News
In turns out that part of the answer may truly be in our head.
Researchers recently used an MRI to demonstrate how curiosity impacts the brain. People who are shown pictures that pique their interest show a corresponding increase in the activity of the hippocampus (the area in the brain that creates memories), and also in the part of the brain which regulates pleasure. A corresponding release in dopamine assists in enhancing the connection in the cells that are learning new information. Not surprisingly, the research showed that the most curious learners were the ones who were most likely to remember the right answers.
The researchers reached what might seem to be an obvious conclusion: optimal learning environments are those which tend to stimulate the most creativity. The most curious learners are also the ones most likely to retain information.
While that may seem clear, commentator Charles Eisenstein notes a discouraging propensity to create a homogenous educational and popular culture fixated on schedules, safety, and entertainment. Inventive play and hours of wandering neighborhoods on bikes are replaced with play dates hammered out by e-mails and scheduled weeks in advance. The net result, notes Eisenstein, is a tendency to rush children away from playfulness into constant stimulation:
Ask your grandparents whether they were bored as children, with their bikes, bats and balls, simple dolls that didn’t speak or move by themselves, in the days before television. Boredom, in fact, is a very recent word, apparently not having appeared in print until the mid-19th century. It is not a natural state, and did not exist in state of nature, or in a state anywhere near nature. It is a symptom of our alienation.
A similar thought was conveyed this summer when a stay-at-home father decided to ban scheduled play dates for his children. Chris Bernholdt told the Today show that scheduling play dates by email was “exhausting” and made him feel as though he should be preparing appetizers for his kids’ guests. Not only was it tiring, but the experience left his son unable to connect with friends.
“(It) has rendered my son incapable of calling his friends because he feels awkward asking, especially when a grownup answers,” Bernholdt wrote on his blog.
Eisenstein tends to agree. He believes that our rushing of children from place to place isolates them from nature, and our embrace of all things video cultivates a reliance on enhanced stimuli so that everything else seems boring. He describes the experience of his own six-year-old child, who relies not on a screen but on the images generated by his own brain. Eisenstein notes it isn’t easy, of course, but that the end result is something he calls creating “spiritual capital.”
That might inculcate a desire for wisdom, or a deeper curiosity for the wonders God has done.
In the Scriptures
Within the poetry of Psalm 78 is a call to participate in the community’s rehearsal of the acts of God in history. The psalm recounts God’s love for Israel, and declares the community’s desire to share even the enigmatic (“dark sayings”) ways of God with each generation. The speaker is committed to passing on the community’s faith. The faith and identity of Israel are maintained across generational lines as these sayings, riddles, and glorious deeds are recalled.
The purpose of this historical psalm is therefore centered in its recital of the community’s experience, and in conveying that experience to each succeeding generation. Remembering the past becomes a powerful force in establishing the future. It instructs, as James Mays says, “Israel about the peril and promise of being the people of the Lord” (Psalms [Westminster/John Knox, 1994], p. 255).
This recital of the past forms the introductory section of the psalm, and encourages the community to discover meaning for the present based on God’s past relationship with Israel. Learning the “riddles” from the past is key for instruction, so that the present generation “should not be like their ancestors, a stubborn and rebellious generation” (v. 8).
Likewise, the Wisdom of Solomon urges readers to consider the role of instruction in its ability to draw one closer to God. Wisdom is gained by learning God’s law. Remarkably, such learning is also the assurance of immortality for the wisdom writer, as well as the assurance that it will draw one near to a kingdom. Learning the law of God is paramount to understanding God’s marvelous deeds.
In the Sermon
At the summer camps I attended as a youth, we sat by the campfire singing late into the night. A favorite song was always “Pass It On”: “It only takes a spark to get a fire going,” we sang. But with mainline church attendance dwindling and Sunday school numbers declining, how is it that we join the psalmist in uttering the sayings of old? How do we “pass it on”?
The preacher could look at the structure of the Psalm for a clue. A sermon could explore the importance of Christian faith formation. Forget about the flannelboards of old; put away the antiquated filmstrips from the ’70s. Instead, let us open our mouths in parables and utter even the complex, mystifying sayings of God -- things we have heard and known, the things our ancestors have told us. The psalmist seems to envision a community gathering, a place and a time for one generation to share stories with the young. Let us recite the past so that it invigorates the present.
So here is a radical suggestion: bring the children to the front of the sanctuary for this sermon.
Instead of segregating children into a separate “children’s church” where stories are memorized by rote, perhaps what is envisioned here is a dynamic interaction between the generations. The glorious deeds of the Lord are not to be hid from the children -- instead, a sermon could name ways that the community could more deeply engage in storytelling with children. In this way, mission, worship, and education become activities that unite a congregation.
It is stewardship time for many congregations. Perhaps reminding a congregation of the need to “pass it on” by engaging the imagination and curiosity of children could stimulate a deeper stewardship of faith to the coming generation.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
Matthew 25:1-13
Are You Prepared?
If you’re concerned about Ebola jumping the ocean and causing an international pandemic, you need not be. BePrepared.com, a website that provides everything the up-and-coming survivalist could need, is offering their $71.10 “Pandemic Basic Protection Kit” for the special low price of just $39.99. For that you get:
1 Datrex water pouch (4 oz.)
1 box of 20 particulate respirator masks
2 travel-size bottles of hand sanitizer (2 oz.)
10 vinyl exam gloves (large)
2 rolls of duct tape (2 in. x 10 yds)
40 alcohol prep pads
20 antiseptic towelettes
1 small bar of soap
1 forehead thermometer
1 plastic drop cloth (9 x 12)
1 square bucket (4 gallon)
1 lid (for the square 4-gallon bucket)
2 garbage can liners (12-16 gallons)
*****
Matthew 25:1-13
Zombies at the CDC
Back in 2011, the folks at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta were trying to figure out how to interest more people in their preparedness messages when someone on the staff suggested using humor. Now, the CDC isn’t exactly known for their sense of humor -- but they decided to give it a try.
So in May of that year they added a “new page” to their Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response’s usually dry Public Health Matters blog. The title was: “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse.” Once they decided to go with this topic, the next question became who would write the thing? Their expert turned out to be no less a person than the Assistant Surgeon General -- Rear Admiral Ali S. Khan, MD, MPH. Not just a zombie nerd, this guy really knows his stuff. Most recently he was the deputy director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID) at CDC. Dr. Khan joined CDC and the U.S. Public Health Service commissioned corps in 1991 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer.
Three years later his blog is still going strong and has given birth to several other sites. Says the CDC: “As it turns out, what first began as a tongue-in-cheek campaign to engage new audiences with preparedness messages has proven to be a very effective platform. We continue to reach and engage a wide variety of audiences on all hazards preparedness via Zombie Preparedness.”
*****
Matthew 25:1-13
In the Dark
The poem “Darkness” by Lord Byron describes, in rich and graphic terms, what the world might be like if suddenly the light went out. It begins:
I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguish’d, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;
Morn came and went -- and came, and brought no day,
And men forgot their passions in the dread
Of this their desolation; and all hearts
Were chill’d into a selfish prayer for light:
And they did live by watchfires -- and the thrones,
The palaces of crowned kings -- the huts,
The habitations of all things which dwell,
Were burnt for beacons; cities were consum’d,
And men were gather’d round their blazing homes
To look once more into each other’s face...
*****
Matthew 25:1-13
The Color Caused by Darkness
Back in the 7th grade we all learned that trees make their own nourishment from carbon dioxide and water through a chemical process called photosynthesis that involves chlorophyll and sunlight. In the fall that process slows down, and it eventually stops as winter sets in.
The leaves don’t actually turn yellow or orange, they just lose their green chlorophyll and we get to see the colors that were already there but covered over by the green. When we see red leaves, we’re seeing the nutrients that were left trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stopped. And the brown we see in the leaves is the waste that is left in them from the photosynthesis process.
But how do the trees know that it’s time to stop making chlorophyll?
We tend to think that the change is the result of the days growing cooler in the fall, but in fact it comes from them growing shorter. As we move toward the winter solstice the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer; darkness dominates our days and light becomes scarce. With less light the trees can’t make sufficient nutrients to keep the tree alive so they go to sleep, not unlike the way some animals hibernate in the winter.
And it’s all brought about because of the battle between light and dark.
*****
Psalm 78:1-7
Curiosity and Learning
Charan Ranganath, a psychologist at the University of California-Davis, reminds us that “in any given day, we encounter a barrage of new information.” But he also observes that “even people with really good memory will remember only a small fraction of what happened two days ago.”
Curious to know why we retain some information and forget other things, he and his colleagues rounded up 19 volunteers and asked them to review more than 100 trivia questions. Participants rated each question in terms of how curious they were about the answer.
Then everyone reviewed the questions and their answers while researchers monitored their brain activity using an MRI machine. They discovered that when a participant was curious, the part of the brain that regulates pleasure and reward became active, as did the part that involves the creation of memories.
“There’s this basic circuit in the brain that energizes people to go out and get things that are intrinsically rewarding,” Ranganath says. This circuit lights up when we get money, or food that we like. And it lights up when we are curious. When that circuit is activated our brains release dopamine, which has a narcotic effect. It makes us a little high. And it helps us remember.
So our brains are wired to learn faster and remember longer things that we were curious about in the first place.
*****
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Rapture Schmapture
This week’s epistle text is one of those that some people have used to justify their belief in an event which they call the Rapture, which will happen in the future when all right-believing Christians are snatched up into heaven without warning.
Not everyone agrees with Rapture Theology, however. The satirical newpaper/website The Onion poked fun at the idea back in 2007 with this item under the headline “Rapture Wreaks Havoc on Local Book Club”:
MARION, INDIANA -- Following last week’s rapture, which transported four members of the Marion Mockingbirds Book Club to heaven in order to be with Jesus Christ, the three remaining members have reportedly been scrambling to maintain a regular Wednesday meeting schedule as well as the usual coffee-and-pastry rotation.
“It’s a shame because I think Shirley had the most stimulating opinions, and I was really looking forward to hearing what she’d have to say about [Fannie Flagg’s Standing in the Rainbow] right before her ascension,” said club member Diane Valinsky Monday. “And we were supposed to meet at Lucas’ house this week, but I guess that’s out now, seeing as the armies of Satan are on the march.”
Valinsky said she and the remaining members were not surprised that the Antichrist turned out to be Mitch Albom, calling his latest fiction effort, For One More Day, “disappointing.”
***************
From team member Ron Love:
Matthew 25:1-13
The recent arrests of serial killers Darren Vann and Jesse Matthew has not only led to previously unsolved murders being solved, but also to the reopening of other cold cases as the widespread use of DNA technology has greatly enhanced the process of linking multiple murders. Yet a cold case is just that -- it’s a case where the lack of evidence has left the crime unsolved for years, even decades. The CBS television program Cold Case, which ran from 2003 to 2010, has given the public the wrong impression about the difficulty of solving these mysteries. Joseph Giacalone, who recently retired as the commanding officer of the Bronx cold-case squad, said, “No cold case of 30 years gets solved in 45 minutes with three commercials.”
Application: The message that Jesus gives us is to be persistent, but patient.
*****
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Sherry Pollex, the long-time girlfriend of NASCAR driver Martin Truex Jr., recently had surgery for Stage III ovarian cancer. In an interview following her recuperation and subsequent return to the racetrack, Pollex said, “We lived life in fourth gear. We were constantly running.... So adjusting to a new normal and having to put your life in first gear and learn that your body can’t run like that anymore is the biggest adjustment for me.”
Application: Paul cautions us to be patient as we wait on the return of the Lord.
*****
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Ted Olson is a conservative Republican who served as assistant attorney general in the Reagan administration and as solicitor general in the George W. Bush administration. He has argued 61 cases before the United States Supreme Court. Of all the cases he has represented, the cases that legalize same-sex marriage have been the most meaningful to him. At the age of 74, Olson says that his work on gay marriage “is the legal accomplishment that I think will always mean the most to me.”
Application: The message we receive from Joshua is the need to be passionate about the values we live.
*****
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
In the upcoming movie McFarland, USA (to be released in February), Kevin Costner portrays track coach Jim White. The film tells the true story of White and the unlikely high school powerhouse he created in California’s agricultural Central Valley. White realized that the Latino boys who labored in the fields and then ran a long distance to catch the school bus could make excellent distance runners -- and under his guidance and leadership the McFarland High School cross-country team became a national sensation.
Application: Joshua teaches us commitment and dedication.
*****
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Nancy Armour, a sports columnist for USA Today, wrote a scathing article on the leadership (or lack thereof) being provided by Florida State head football coach Jimbo Fisher. The Seminoles coach said he does not purposely generate headlines better suited for the crime blotter rather than the sports page, yet that is what is happening. Armour noted that we are not discussing harmless pranks but allegations of battery, sexual assault, theft, and drug use. Armour then went on to write, “When teenagers and 20-somethings are getting their first taste of freedom and being treated like rock stars, there are bound to be some missteps. That, however, is where Fisher is supposed to come in.” His charge is to provide guidance, leadership, and discipline -- which Armour says is presently absent from his program.
Application: Joshua set before the people the mandates they were to follow.
***************
From team member Leah Lonsbury:
Matthew 23:1-13; Psalm 78; Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-20
The campaigning for the midterm elections is proving to be the most expensive and least effective in recent history, despite the fact that those obnoxious advertisements are EVERYWHERE. They’re getting attention -- but it’s the attention of annoyed, disenchanted voters unlikely to make it to the polls or move outside of their partisan politics.
The highly visible congressional elections for may be getting the most press, but they aren’t the ones you should be focused on, according to Vox. The races that are the most consequential on this week’s ballot are the ones with the names you likely won’t recognize -- those of state legislators. And, says Vox, “they absolutely matter.”
Since the last election when the GOP gained 675 seats across the country and moved from control of 14 to 26 state legislatures, 205 abortion regulations have been put into effect in GOP-controlled states. That period between 2010 and 2013 saw more abortion legislation than the previous 30 years combined.
Similarly, those 26 legislatures opted not to sign onto Medicare expansion under Obamacare, something that could be reversed by this week’s elections. The healthcare of 4.8 million low-income Americans without access to affordable medical insurance depends on results of these lesser-known elections.
The state legislatures will also make crucial decisions on whether or not to implement the Common Core curriculum standards and the amount of funding for public schools. Since 2008, state spending on education has fallen on average 23 percent (about $2,026 per student) because of budgets crafted by state legislators.
These are life-changing elections, whether we recognize it or not. Let’s hope the electorate kept awake, trimmed and filled their lamps, and took time to pursue Wisdom before going into the voting booth.
*****
Matthew 23:1-13; Psalm 78; Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-20
When is being ready and acting with wisdom a matter of life and death (for multitudes of people)? When we’re talking about those in charge of an arsenal of nuclear weapons.
This week the Air Force fired two more nuclear commanders and disciplined a third in what the Associated Press is calling “fresh evidence of leadership lapses in a nuclear missile corps that has suffered a rash of recent setbacks, including the firing last year of its top commander.”
Some of the charges involved in these firings and disciplinary actions include a drinking binge and other officer misconduct, harassment of subordinates including physical threats and blatantly suggesting that pregnancy would negatively affect officers’ careers, creating unsafe health conditions for troops, cheating on competency exams, and general failures in leadership.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: We will not hide God’s teachings from our children.
People: We will tell the glorious deeds of God to the coming generation.
Leader: God established a decree in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel.
People: God commanded our ancestors to teach this to their children.
Leader: We will teach them so that they will set their hope in God.
People: We will not forget the works of God, but keep God’s commandments.
OR
Leader: Come and learn the ways of God.
People: We come to learn how God wants us to live.
Leader: God desires to impart wholeness and peace to us.
People: It is only in God that we will find these things.
Leader: God desires us to help others prepare for life as well.
People: We will open our lives to receive God’s Spirit and to share with those around us.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”
found in:
UMH: 110
H82: 687, 688
PH: 260
AAHH: 124
NNBH: 37
NCH: 439, 440
CH: 65
LBW: 228, 229
ELA: 503, 504, 505
W&P: 588
AMEC: 54
STLT: 200
“I Want to Be Ready”
found in:
UMH: 722
NCH: 616
AMEC: 510
“I Want Jesus to Walk with Me”
found in:
UMH: 521
PH: 363
AAHH: 563
NNBH: 500
NCH: 490
CH: 627
W&P: 506
AMEC: 375
“Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”
found in:
UMH: 127
H82: 690
PH: 281
AAHH: 138, 139, 140
NNBH: 232
NCH: 18, 19
CH: 622
LBW: 343
ELA: 618
W&P: 501
AMEC: 52, 53, 56
“O God, Our Help in Ages Past”
found in:
UMH: 117
H82: 680
PH: 210
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
ELA: 632
W&P: 84
AMEC: 61
STLT: 281
“How Great Thou Art”
found in:
UMH: 77
PH: 467
AAHH: 148
NNBH: 43
NCH: 35
CH: 33
LBW: 532
ELA: 856
W&P: 51
AMEC: 68
Renew: 250
“My Faith Looks Up to Thee”
found in:
UMH: 452
H82: 691
PH: 383
AAHH: 456
NNBH: 273
CH: 576
LBW: 479
ELA: 759
W&P: 419
AMEC: 415
“Open My Eyes, That I May See”
found in:
UMH: 454
PH: 326
NNBH: 218
CH: 586
W&P: 480
AMEC: 285
“May You Run and Not Be Weary”
found in:
CCB: 99
“Something Beautiful”
found in:
CCB: 84
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
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 desires good for all your children: Help us to attend to the message of Jesus and to be prepared for all life’s events in the power of your Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, the God who desires our good. We thank you for Jesus and his message that leads us to life. Help us to heed his words and to prepare ourselves by centering ourselves in your Spirit. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our failure to prepare ourselves spiritually for life.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are ill-prepared for the true tests of life. Too often we neglect to prepare for the day-to-day things that we know will come along. We are even more unprepared for the big and sudden changes of life. We are unprepared in so many ways, but we are particularly not ready spiritually. We do not take time to center ourselves in your love and life. We do not take time for the spiritual disciplines that would make us strong people of God. Forgive our foolishness, and call us once more to your presence which fills us with power and peace. Amen.
Leader: God does not desire catastrophe to overtake us. God comes in love, forgiveness, and grace to fill us with the Spirit that will prepare us for all life has to offer.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We worship and adore you, O God, creator and redeemer of all creation. You desire wholeness and life for all.
(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 ill-prepared for the true tests of life. Too often we neglect to prepare for the day-to-day things that we know will come along. We are even more unprepared for the big and sudden changes of life. We are unprepared in so many ways, but we are particularly not ready spiritually. We do not take time to center ourselves in your love and life. We do not take time for the spiritual disciplines that would make us strong people of God. Forgive our foolishness, and call us once more to your presence which fills us with power and peace.
We give you thanks for all the teachings you have sent to your people. You have taught us how to live so that we can do more than just exist. You have given us the scriptures and you have given us Jesus to show us the way.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need, and especially for all of us who struggle to be ready for what life waits to hand out to us. We pray for spiritual insight and discipline, that we might truly be prepared for life.
(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 your Thanksgiving plans. Ask if they are going to celebrate Thanksgiving too. Talk about the things that have to be prepared. Some are quick to do, and some take a very long time. While Thanksgiving is an important time for us to celebrate God’s goodness and to give God thanks, there are other things we need to prepare for that we don’t even know are coming! We can prepare by learning more about Jesus, by learning the Bible stories, and through prayer.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Ever Ready
Matthew 25:1-13
Objects: a flashlight with fresh batteries and an exit sign
Most of us have flashlights at home. We don’t use them very much because we usually don’t need to. The electricity keeps our lights on, and so we don’t need a flashlight. But have any of you been at home when the lights went out because the electricity stopped? (Let the children answer.) If that happens, it’s good to have a flashlight around. But flashlights need something to make them work. What do they need? (Let them answer.) They need fresh batteries. If the batteries are old, the flashlight won’t work well and won’t work for long. Having a flashlight ready and fresh batteries is one way of preparing for something that might not happen for a long time. But we like to prepare -- just in case the lights go out soon.
Now, let me ask you about another kind of preparation. See those signs over the doors of our church? What do they say? (Let them answer.) They say “Exit.” What do they mean? (Let them answer.) Yes, an exit sign tells us where to go if the there’s a fire or some other emergency that requires us to immediately vacate the premises. Does the building usually catch fire? (Let them answer.) No, it doesn’t -- but we need to have signs up to be prepared should that ever happen. We hope it never, ever happens. But the signs are there, just in case.
One time Jesus told a story about being prepared. He told about being prepared for his return. Someday Jesus will return to earth to take us to heaven. Life on earth is a wonderful gift, but we will not live on this earth forever. Someday we shall go to heaven to live with God. Jesus will come and get us and it will be a wonderful day. The problem is, we have no idea when Jesus will return. So we always want to be ready. We want to be prepared. We live every day as if this were the day Jesus was coming to get us to be with him in heaven.
Prayer: Dearest Jesus: Help us always be prepared to go with you. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, November 9, 2014, issue.
Copyright 2014 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.
