Power and the Ever-widening Spiral
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For July 8, 2018:
Power and the ever-widening spiral of chaos
by Chris Keating
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10
As the aftershocks following the world-shaking news of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement started to subside, power groups on the right and the left began gathering their war councils for nomination battle that will soon engage Washington, DC and the rest of the nation.
The earthquake that rocked Washington alerted activists on all sides. Despite being a Republican, Kennedy has frequently held the pivot position for key decisions. In many ways, he seems to have moderated many of his views in recent years. Seldom has the retirement of an 81-year old judge from Sacramento, Calif., meant so much.
The center of the Supreme Court has likely fallen. Republicans, led by President Donald Trump and his list of previously screen conservative judicial candidates, are ready to seize power in ways that could rewrite history. In the other corner, Democrats and moderates are trying to flex their limited muscles, but their reach is short. The moment is huge, and to borrow another line from Yeats, the ever-widening gyre politics in the age of Trump has suddenly become bigger than before.
Surely, as Yeats knew, some sort of revelation is at hand.
Kennedy’s departure displays how much power a single justice can garner. Some see it as the power of possibility, while others bemoan it as the inevitable foretaste of apocalypse. Abortion rights, gay marriage, affirmative action and much more seems to be on the precipice of being overthrown.
Power centralized and divinely affirmed is at the heart of the story of King David’s ascension to the throne in 2 Samuel 5. For Israel, however, the narrative of power is about an ever-widening spiral of domination and personal aggrandizement. Instead, power is lodged in the most unlikely of persons -- the once overlooked son of Jesse, the shepherd boy who became shepherd of Israel.
There are no vexing accusations, no rocking candle in the voices of the elders who anoint David King. There is only the power of life lived in covenant faithfulness with God. As the ever-widening spiral of American political spectacle grows, it may be useful to consider what it means to trust in the power God provides.
In The News
In normal times, elderly men stepping down from a job creates little attention. But then these are not ordinary times, nor is Anthony Kennedy an ordinary older man.
Kennedy’s retirement from the Supreme Court, while not unexpected, shook the nation with expectations that the loss of his vote could result in reversals of key judicial precedents. All of the names listed on Trump’s potential candidates for the high court are considered more “reliably conservative” than Kennedy. Kennedy’s departure offers Trump an opportunity to exercise one of the strongest powers of the presidency -- lifetime judicial appointment.
It’s an action that could lead to overturning the landmark Roe vs. Wade case that made abortion legal in the United States. While it’s hard to guess how an individual nominee may or may not vote on an abortion case, in the past Trump assured his base that vacancies to the court will be filled with pro-life jurists.
In 2016, for example, Trump told Fox News’ host Chris Wallace that it’s likely a court with his appointees would overturn the Roe decision:
Kennedy, a Republican, has often been the swing vote in a split court. While often siding with his conservative colleagues, Kennedy voted with liberal justices in several high profile cases, including gay marriage, health care, and other matters. Kennedy authored four decisions on gay rights. Many fear that without his voice, those decisions may be endangered.
In a town filled with powerful people, Kennedy has sometimes been called among the most powerful -- a man who voted for gay rights, and also in favor of warrantless wire-tapping, upholding gun rights, and against the death penalty. Even his decision to retire could be seen as his final “swing vote,” because of the implications it may hold for the fall midterm elections.
The reality is that the sort of independent power Kennedy wielded may become a rare commodity. Impermeable voting blocs may supplant the power of visionary judicial craftsmanship.
Joshua Matz, a former Kennedy law clerk and publisher of the Take Care blog, explored the impact of Kennedy’s decision in a Washington Post Op-Ed. Matz said that in choosing to step down at this “perilous moment,” Kennedy has “unleashed forces that will test the court like never before.” In times of bitter partisanship, Matz said, Kennedy was the center that held the court together by upholding values of civility and judicial independence.
Others may have seen his views as vacillating and indecisive. Matz, however, noted that the true test of judicial power is not the “rigid adherence to an all-encompassing orthodoxy.”
Yet that is a-typical in contemporary politics. To borrow again from William Butler Yeats, the center will not hold because of the ever “widening gyre” holding back the torrents of “mere anarchy,” and the loosening of the “blood-dimmed tide.” (“The Second Coming,” by William Butler Yeats.) In plain terms, the sort of swing vote power displayed by Kennedy has been replaced with an all or nothing adherence to ideology.
Of course, that ideology can be poked, prodded and parodied. So far in Trump’s presidency, late night comedians have proved successful in claiming this power. Note what happened last week following a Trump rally. After the president mocked talk show hosts Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert, both comics appeared in each other’s opening monologues, along with Conan O’Brien. Mocking the president while teasing each other, the comics revealed the power of comedy -- a reminder that power can be potent even if it is unofficial.
It’s the theme reiterated across God’s interactions with human beings, and specifically narrated in the texts regarding David’s accession to the throne of Israel.
In the Scripture
As unlikely as Kennedy may be as a Washington power player, David’s rise over Israel was even more unlikely. As 2 Samuel 5 begins, Jesse’s eighth son, a fair-haired shepherd boy more accustomed to playing music than battling Philistines, has now landed in the seat of power. There’s no doubt that this is a power moment for Israel.
God’s people now approve of the one whom God called as king. The text ripples with images of relationship and kinship. The elders of Israel are David’s “bone and flesh.” They come in an expression of unity and solidarity, acknowledging David’s successes and publicly anointing him as king. Those are the outward expressions of power -- the inauguration of a new leader with all the rights, privileges, and obligations thereunto appertaining. David then becomes “greater and greater,” occupying the stronghold around Jerusalem.
Later New Testament writers will use David as a lens to understand the coming reign of God. (See Ronald J. Allen & Clark M. Williamson, “Preaching the Old Testament,” p. 163.) The authority of David as Jesus’ ancestor adds to the aura surrounding Jesus, though the gospels are quick to point out Jesus is far greater. Still, David’s name is equated with power and leadership. From this point on in the story of Israel, God’s power will be focused on the deeds of the king “for the sake of God’s people Israel.” (v. 12).
Connected to this are themes and images of power. David is anointed, invested in the vision of God. God has chosen this leader to convey God’s purposes and advance the covenant established with Abraham. David’s rule and power will reflect the power and vision of God.
It’s the story of an improbable leader, a shepherd who was least among his siblings, a surprising voice who claimed the improbable power of God. As King, David thus reflects the manner of God’s way in the world--caring, protective, and centered in and emerging from the marginalized and lowly persons of the world.
In the Sermon
Here’s the good news: neither King David, Anthony Kennedy, or for that matter, Donald Trump, are God. On the other hand, each of them are powerful leaders to whom much has been given -- and, of course, from whom much will be expected. Yet what is the nature of their power?
A sermon might carefully examine the nature of power as it is described in these verses, and especially as it is reflected in David’s virtues and qualities. Despite his notable human frailty, David becomes he best loved king of Israel and embodies the power and wisdom of God.
Unlike Trump, David is not elected. Unlike a Supreme Court justice, David was not examined by senators. Instead, David is called to be a shepherd, reflecting not a political agenda but the desire of God. The theological nature of David’s leadership is affirmed by his covenantal faithfulness, and when he falls short, he is accountable to God (and not just to a special prosecutor.) Secondly, David embodies the protective and justice-seeking nature of God. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will eventually lay down his life love for God’s people. That is the nature of power which is imbued with David’s calling.
Though David is a human ruler, the theological motif advanced here is a reminder of how God’s power differs from the powers of the rulers of this age. David acknowledges this through affirming the covenant nature of his position. He is to look not at a political agenda, or to the laws of a country, but instead to the purposes and intent of God. He is to follow God directly.
David’s power is defined by the God who loves.
Other rulers do not “cut” this sort of covenant with God. And while we yearn for powerful leaders to guide and shape our world, what emerges in this text is a reminder that God is working through unexpected persons, and that the creative, liberating power of God emerges not in the life of a conquistador, but in the actions and prayers of a shepherd.
God’s power is ultimately revealed in love, which is certainly a timely and valuable notion worthy of consideration in a summer where many feel, as Yeats described, the collapsing of the center of human life.
Lucas Johnson, a Christian minister, and Rami Nashashibi, a Muslim Imam and activist in Chicago, were interviewed recently by Krista Tippett for her NPR radio show On Being. The focus on the conversation soon fell to the power of love as expressed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tippett asked the two men to describe what they saw as love’s power, potential, and gift.
Love and power connect, said Nashashibi, because love drives human desir to build a better world. Johnson continued the thought by retelling a story of man on a picket line. A reporter, Johnson said, came up to the man and said, “Do you believe your demonstrating will change the country?” The man, a civil rights leader, responded, “Young man, I’m demonstrating so that my country doesn’t change me.”
That is the power of God unleashed not in the swing votes of a jurist, or in the late night jokes of comics, nor in the explosive Twitter-storms of a politician. It is, instead, the power of a shepherd. And that is the sort of power the church needs to hear declared today.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Traveling Light
by Dean Feldmeyer
Mark 6:1-13
A couple of weeks ago, Louisiana televangelists, Jesse Duplantis, announced that God told him he needs a new jet.
Not just any old jet, mind you, but a specific jet, namely, a Dassault Falcon 7X, a three-engine private jet capable of carrying 12 to 16 passengers at speeds up to 700 miles per hour. This would be the fourth plane owned by Jesse Duplantis Ministries and it would have a range of about 6,000 miles and cost about $54 million new, according to SherpaReport (although used ones are listed online for the bargain basement price of $20 million).
Trying to head off the inevitable questions and criticism such a revelation was bound to engender, Duplantis said, "Now, some people believe that preachers shouldn't have jets.” Then he countered, "I really believe that preachers ought to ... have every available outlet to get this Gospel preached to the world."
In fact, Duplantis said that "if Jesus was physically on the Earth today, he wouldn't be riding a donkey."
"He'd be in an airplane preaching the Gospel all over the world," he said.1
One might wonder if maybe Rev. Duplantis isn’t talking about some other Jesus than the frugal, simple one whom most of us call Lord, the very one who confronts us in this week’s gospel lesson. (Mark 6: 7-13)
It’s a simple story:
Jesus is going to send his disciples out to spread the gospel.
First, he puts them together in teams of two. It’s a lot easier to do tough stuff if you have a partner going with you. And it’s safer. You have each other’s backs. The old adage about two heads being better than one when it comes to solving problems proves to really be true. And you can hold each other accountable. I might be willing to give up and go home if I’m by myself but when a friend is with me his or her mere presence makes it easier to keep going.
Secondly, he gives them authority. In the church we have different ways of doing this. Ordination is one way. A clerical collar is another. A cross around one’s neck might be yet another. These are all symbols of authority given by the church. In this case the authority is over “unclean spirits.”
Now, I don’t know exactly what kind of unclean spirits Mark has in mind, here, but I’ve seen plenty of them in my 40+ years a as a pastor. There’s the spirit of Jealousy. There’s the spirit of Greed. There’s the spirit of Envy, Pride, Gluttony, Prejudice, Narrow-Mindedness, Despair and hundreds of others, all unclean, all dangerous.
Thirdly, he gives them three pieces of advice.
The first is, “travel light.” Take only a walking stick. No money, no food, no suitcase, no extra shoes or clothing. In other words, don’t let stuff weigh you down and slow you up. Trust God.
The second piece of advice is, when someone invites you to stay with them (a not uncommon practice and one required by the Torah) stay with them the whole time you are in that place. Don’t be moving around every time someone offers you a nicer room or a softer bed or a better cook to prepare your meals. Stay at the first place you are invited to.
The third is to not let failure define you or your mission. If you go to a place and they simply refuse to hear what you are offering them, shake it off and move on.
After this, Mark reports on how they did and it seems they did well. Note how they spread the good news, the instruments they used to share God’s love: “…they proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.”
All in all, a pretty successful week. And no mention of a jet airplane.
My kids used to tease me that when we went to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina for a week of vacation, “Dad could pack everything he’s going to wear all week in his pockets.” That may have been an exaggeration but not by much. My packing list usually looked something like this: swim suit, towel, cut off shorts, several t-shirts, sandals, toothbrush. A small overnight bag will do nicely, thank you.
My wife, Jean, on the other hand… Okay, we won’t go there except to say that her definition of packing light means that she doesn’t need more than half a dozen bellmen to carry her luggage up to the room.
Even at that, however, she’s got Jesse Duplant beat by a mile.
Poor Pastor Jesse. Maybe he should have done a google search, as I did, of the phrase, “How to pack light.” There are about zillion offerings on this subject bouncing around on the internet and not one of them says that you need a jet airplane of your very own.
Of course, a lot of packing light depends on what you plan to do when you get to your destination. Work? Fun? Evangelism? Fancy, white tablecloth dining? Tailgating and picnicking? Clubbing? Watching the sunset from the balcony of your room? Bible study? Home repair?
Last year, U.S. News Travel Blog offered an article entitled: “How to Pack Light: 9 Tips to Lighten Your Load.” Those tips included things like:
Or, if you want to simplify your packing game even more you can take the advice of my brother who used to travel for a living: Pack your suitcase full of clothing, then take out half the clothing you’ve packed and fill that half of the suitcase with money. General rule of thumb, especially for vacation packing: You’ll need half the clothing and twice the cash you though you would need.
If you’re going on a trip to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ, you can travel even lighter. You really need to take only two things.
One, take Jesus. Review all those red letters in your New Testament and let them guide you in building relationships with the people you meet and let your witness of love flow in, through, and from those relationships.
Second, take your story. You can preach till you’re blue in the face, but what really touches the hearts of others is the story you tell about your life and how Jesus has shaped it for the better.
The history of the Christian church is the story of people traveling light, taking Jesus and their story and sharing them with other people who, in turn, share their story with others who share their stories and on and on. It’s the story of people witnessing to the grace of God and the Love of Jesus Christ through their acts of kindness and words of love. It’s the story of twelve people who spread out into the world and simply shared their stories.
And not one of them owned a jet airplane.
Imagine that.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
The Power in Vulnerability
“Power is made perfect in weakness,” Paul writes to the churches in Corinth, and best selling author and researcher Brene Brown agrees. She writes, “I want to be in the arena. I want to be brave with my life. And when we make the choice to dare greatly, we sign up to get our asses kicked. We can choose courage or we can choose comfort, but we can’t have both. Not at the same time. Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage.” She suggests that we commit to the kind of Spirit-filled weakness that Paul is talking about. “When we commit to showing up and risking falling, we are actually committing to falling. Daring is not saying, “I’m willing to risk failure.” Daring is saying, “I know I will eventually fail and I’m still all in.” Fortune may favor the bold, but so does failure.”
She adds, echoing Paul’s wisdom, “Once we fall in the service of being brave, we can never go back. We can rise up from our failures, screw ups, and falls, but we can never go back to where we stood before we were brave or before we fell. Courage transforms the emotional structure of our being.” Paul says a similar thing when he writes, “whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” Our weakness and our strength are tied together, and when we experience weakness, we know the possibility of deeper strength.
* * *
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Impostor Syndrome
Looking strong on the outside and feeling lost on the inside is a common feeling for teachers, leaders and others. Tony Lee says, writing about his inner experience of weakness, “Some leaders are born; others are made. Then there are people like me, who look like leaders on the outside but feel like impostors on the inside. That’s what it’s like to be a leader who deals with frequent bouts of anxiety. Self-blame, self-doubt, feelings of failure, incompleteness, hopelessness, fear and fatalism--sometimes they’re there, residing in the shadows, even when I’m surrounded by wins and the sun is shining brightest.”
Paul writes that he will boast all the more gladly of his weaknesses, knowing that strength is also revealed this way. Lee writes, “We seem to expect our leaders to be thick-skinned, invulnerable to attack, and to deflect criticism, no matter how deserved or unjust that might be. We expect them to be on inspiration mode 24/7--to be perfect role models, to be tireless workers and to faultlessly perform on demand…Yet, in spite of its dark connotations, my anxiety has also helped shape the way I see the good in the world. Many people assume that happiness should be our natural state of being--we’re told to seek it, choose it and hold onto it no matter what. For me, balance is the goal: to enjoy the ups, learn from the downs, but always seek contentment somewhere in between the two.”
Noting the same duality that Paul observes, Lee writes, “I have learned to play out my negative thoughts in reverse--and my positive ones too. This means seeing the full emotional spectrum of possibilities, from dark to light, and then choosing which truth to own.” Strength and weakness are two sides of the coin, each illuminating the other.
* * *
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Strength from Weakness
When he had an opportunity to make a difference, Nicholas Winton was a stockbroker, not a martial arts expert or a politician or a soldier, which is perhaps why his heroism went unnoticed. In 1938, Winton received a telephone call from a friend and agreed to cancel a skiing vacation. He “flew to Prague at the behest of a friend who was aiding refugees in the Sudetenland, the western region of Czechoslovakia that had just been annexed by Germany. “Don’t bother to bring your skis,” the friend, Martin Blake, advised in a phone call. Mr. Winton found vast camps of refugees living in appalling conditions. The pogroms of Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass,” had recently struck Jewish shops, homes and synagogues in Germany and Austria. War looked inevitable, and escape, especially for children, seemed hopeless, given the restrictions against Jewish immigration in the West.” Britain, however, was receiving children, so Winton set up a rescue operation in Czechoslovakia. “It involved dangers, bribes, forgery, secret contacts with the Gestapo, nine railroad trains, an avalanche of paperwork and a lot of money. Nazi agents started following him. In his Prague hotel room, he met terrified parents desperate to get their children to safety, although it meant surrendering them to strangers in a foreign land.”
Winton began to register children, which attracted the attention of the Gestapo. “Eventually he registered more than 900 children, although he had names and details on 5,000. He [and other volunteers]…had photos of the children printed and appealed for funds and foster homes in newspaper ads and church and synagogue bulletins. Hundreds of families volunteered to take children, and money trickled in from donors -- not enough to cover all the costs, but Mr. Winton made up the difference himself. He also appealed to the Home Office for entry visas, but the response was slow and time was short.” He forged the permits and kept going.
Eventually, they cultivated a Gestapo official, and paid bribes to smuggle children out. Trains began to carry the children out, following heartbreaking scenes of separation on train platforms. Eight of the nine trains left the country, until Germany formally invaded Poland, and the borders were sealed. A train carrying 250 children disappeared, and none of them were ever seen again. They were presumed dead in a concentration camp.
Winton never sought recognition, and his wife had no idea what he had done until she found a scrapbook in the attic with children’s names, and asked him about it.
* * *
Mark 6:1-13
Rejected in your Hometown
Jesus goes home to find that his teaching is rejected in his hometown, and no one wants to listen to him. Shamayim Harris had a similar experience, running for city council three times, and being outvoted each time. Even so, she pressed on with her plans for Highland Park, a city within the borders of Detroit, and just as beleaguered. Highland Park shares a story of blight and economic distress with Detroit. The small city “has been without a library for 14 years. Its high school was permanently closed by the state last year, leaving just one school, a K–8 program, within its borders. In 2011, utility company DTE Energy removed all the street lights; local and national headlines read some variation of “Highland Park goes dark: City removes lights to pay bills.” The city has struggled financially for over a decade, and was one of several financially challenged local units of government in Michigan where Gov. Rick Snyder took control of operational and fiscal duties away from local elected officials and gave it to appointed “emergency managers.” These were the conditions Harris, widely known as “Mama Shu,” considered when tossing her hat in the political ring.” She didn’t want political office so much as to benefit the people in her hometown.
Mama Shu had a vision for her city which is finally coming to life, thanks to funds raised on Kickstarter and a grant. The money went to “purchase more than 10 properties on her block, including vacant lots and salvageable abandoned homes, and to start renovating Homework House, which she describes as a place where children will be able to get meals and help with schoolwork. A totally redesigned 2,400-square-foot two-family home, Homework House will have a computer center and a lab for specialized help in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as well as a recording studio and a commercial kitchen. In the yards outside, children will have three recreational courts to play basketball, tennis, and volleyball.”
Despite the skepticism of her hometown, Mama Shu has finally made herself heard -- and she has done a work of power in her city.
* * *
Mark 6:1-13
Power
In his hometown, seen as the boy from around the corner instead of a healer, teacher and messiah, Jesus can do no deeds of power because of the resistance of the town. In a recent column, Parker Palmer highlights the shift in power when Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on the bus. “Here’s a description of that moment from Rosa Parks: My Story, by Rosa Parks (with Jim Haskins): “One evening in early December 1955, I was sitting in the front seat of the colored section of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The white people were sitting in the white section. More white people got on, and they filled up all the seats in the white section. When that happened, we black people were supposed to give up our seats to the whites. But I didn’t move. The white driver said, ‘Let me have those front seats.’ I didn’t get up. I was tired of giving in to white people. ‘I’m going to have you arrested,’ the driver said. ‘You may do that,’ I answered.” In that moment, the power shifts from the driver to Mrs. Parks. She’s choosing to do a powerful thing, in the face of a system that believes it has all the power.
Parker Palmer adds: “I’m always inspired by Parks’, “You may do that.” Not only is she taking charge by giving the powers that be “permission” to arrest her. She’s also saying, in effect, “Your prison of stone and steel has no power over me. How could it? I’ve just freed myself from the biggest prison of all, the one that came from collaborating with your racist rules.” Here, I think, is the simple secret of all who have risked punishment by standing up to cruelty and injustice: They’ve realized that no punishment anyone might lay on them could possibly be greater than the punishment they lay on themselves by conspiring in their own diminishment. Every time any one of us refuses to conspire in the abasement of self or others, we’ve taken a step toward the good, the true, the just and the beautiful.”
If we believe, even from a place of weakness, we have the power to make the world shift, a tiny bit at a time.
* * * * * *
From team member Ron Love:
Healing
I suffer from General Anxiety Disorder, often referred to as GAD. WebMD instructs: “Generalized anxiety disorder (or GAD) is characterized by excessive, exaggerated anxiety and worry about everyday life events with no obvious reasons for worry. People with symptoms of generalized anxiety disordertend to always expect disaster and can't stop worrying about health, money, family, work, or school. In people with GAD, the worry is often unrealistic or out of proportion for the situation. Daily life becomes a constant state of worry, fear, and dread. Eventually, the anxiety so dominates the person's thinking that it interferes with daily functioning, including work, school, social activities, and relationships.”
I have had this condition from birth. In college, when I fully came to understand the meaning of being a Christian, I began a daily prayer life accompanied by a prayer list. Through college and on into seminary I prayed daily be to alleviated from this nervous condition. I can still vividly remember, to this day, how healing escaped me. The moment even now, several decades after that revelation, is still very real to me.
I was in my seminary apartment. I was sitting on one of those chairs that have wooden arm rests with a plastic seat and back. I came to the line on my prayer list where I had listed the word “nerves,” as I had listed it for so many years before. And I suddenly realized that it was not going to happen. I was not going to be cured of my nervous condition, which at the time was undiagnosed. On that day, the word “nerves” has never again appeared on my prayer list. It was also on that day I realized and accepted that General Anxiety Disorder was going to be “a thorn was given me in the flesh.”
Application: Like Paul, we must continue our call to discipleship despite the hinderance that the thorn in the flesh may cause us.
* * *
Wisdom
The Living Bible (TLB) was written by Kenneth Taylor and was published in 1971. For TLB, he paraphrased the American Standard Version of the Bible. The Living Bible was a best-seller in the early 1970s, largely due to the accessibility of its modern language, which made passages understandable to those with weak reading skills, or no previous background in Bible study. It uses lingual contractions such as “don't” for “do not.” It’s easy to read format can be demonstrated by the interpretation of 1 Samuel 24:3, which says "Saul went into the cave to go to the bathroom,” where the original Hebrew literally translates the passage as “to cover his feet.” In 1972 and 1973, The Living Bible was the best-selling book in America. By 1997, 40 million copies of The Living Bible had been sold.
The Living Bible became most popular when I was attending Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC But my thought then, as it is still today, is that the true living bibles were the professors standing before me in the lecture halls. Their profound understanding of the Bible can only be described with one word -- awesome. Their understanding of the Bible was so insightful and expansive that it was truly beyond measure. It was from those “living bibles,” who taught absent of notes, that instilled within me the love of learning and the accompanying research required to become knowledgeable.
Application: There are constraints that prevent most of us from being the true living bibles that occupied that academic classrooms of Wesley. But, that should never prevent us from seeking as much knowledge as time and opportunity allows.
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Evangelism
A recent study by the Pew Research Center concluded that religious dissatisfaction by adults younger than 40 is present in all countries, except for a very few, across the globe. Young adults no longer having a religious faith or an affiliation with a local church is not a problem, as we so often think, that is confined to the United States. Pew reported, “Regardless of a nation’s economic strength or religious tradition…over the last decade has found religious dissatisfaction to be a common thread among younger adults.” Several reasons for this increase of disbelief is better education, better incomes and a longer life expectancy. For these reasons young adults consider religion unnecessary and irrelevant.
Application: As Jesus sent the disciples out two by two, we need to evangelize the younger generation.
* * *
Wisdom
Christ Pratt is known for his roles in Parks and Recreation, Juristic Park and the Guardians of the Galaxy series. Pratt recently accepted the MTV Movie & TV Awards’ Generation Award. During his acceptance speech he shared the “nine rules” that he lives by. Four of those rules referred directly to his Christian faith. His second rule is: “You have a soul. Be careful with it.” His sixth rule is: “God is real. God loves you. God wants the best for you. Believe that -- I do.” His eighth rule is: “Learn to pray. It’s easy, and it’s good for you soul.” Pratt ended his speech with the words, “God bless you.”
Application: We need to share the wisdom we have obtained by studying the life of Jesus and the experience gained by following Jesus.
* * *
Witnessing
In a score of 3-0, after Belgium defeated Panama in the 2018 World Cup games in Russia, fans were amazed and spellbound by what happened after the final whistle was blown. Belgium player, Romelu Lukaku, a Roman Catholic, and the Panama player, Fidel Escobar, an evangelical Christian, walked from opposing sidelines to the center of the field. There, they knelt together in prayer. The picture of the two opposing players kneeling together circulated on social media and was considered by many the “image of the day.”
Application: As Jesus sent the disciples out two by two, we need to publicly demonstrate our faith.
* * *
Prophecy
Franklin Graham and his sister Ruth, are known as “Trumpers,” because of their unwavering devotion to all that President Trump says and does. Yet, when President Trump issued his “zero tolerance” policy against immigrants, and began separating thousands of children from their parents, both Franklin and Ruth spoke out against the policy. Franklin called the policy “disgraceful.” He went on to say, “It’s terrible to see families ripped apart and I don’t support that one bit.” Ruth said, “God has established the family as the fundamental building block of society.”
Application: We learn from Ezekiel that as mere mortals we must learn to stand on our feet and speak.
* * *
Prophecy
The members of the Bush family do not support Donald Trump, and in many cases, they are his adversaries. Though their displeasure with him as an individual and with his administration is documented, it does not mean we should discount their words of criticism. We may not agree with the Bush family’s public comments, but they should give us cause to reflect and ponder. This would be the case when former First Lady Laura Bush denounced Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy toward immigrants which caused the separation of thousands of children from their parents. Laura Bush said the policy is “cruel” and “immoral.” She went on to say that as a country, “We pride ourselves on acceptance. If we are truly that country, then it is our obligation to reunite these detained children with their parents -- and to stop separating parents and children in the first place.”
Application: We learn from Ezekiel that as mere mortals we must learn to stand on our feet and speak.
* * *
Prophecy
In the beginning of June, Pope Francis invited over 50 leaders in the oil and gas business to the Vatican for a special two-day conclave on the environment. It was a closed-door session held at the Pontifical Academy of Science, a 16th-century villa in the Vatican gardens. Emphasizing the seriousness of greenhouse gases to the environment and for future generations he asked the executives, “Will we turn the corner in time?” Francis, in his closing remarks, said, “We received the earth as a garden-home from the Creator. Let us not pass it on to future generations as a wilderness.”
Application: We learn from Ezekiel that as mere mortals we must learn to stand on our feet and speak.
* * *
Discipleship
Bubba Watson won this year’s Travelers Championship at River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. On the final day of play Watson overcame a six-stroke deficit, shooting a 7-under 63 for a three-stroke victory. On the 18th fairway he had difficulty with the downwind but was still able to make a spectacular shoot. Of that accomplishment Watson said, “And that’s what we all try to do on Sundays is pull off the amazing shot.”
Application: When Jesus sent out his disciples two by two, he expected them to do amazing things.
* * *
Shepherd
In Colonial America each household was required to keep a leather bucket next to the front door. If the alarm of fire was sounded, each homeowner would immediately stop what he was doing, grab the leather bucket, go outdoors and join the bucket brigade. If you watched the HBO movie John Adams, staring Paul Giamatti, in the first act Adams heard the cry of fire. He got up from his writing desk, grabbed his bucket, and then, since it was in the middle of a Boston winter, tried desperately to find a water pump that was not frozen. In these times of crisis no one asked if my neighbor was someone who I liked or disliked, or was it someone I knew or a stranger, the only issue was to take one’s place along the long line of the bucket brigade.
Application: As David was called to be a shepherd of all the people of Israel, we are called to shepherd everyone in our community and beyond.
* * * * * *
From team member Tom Willadsen:
Psalm 48
God’s might, strength, power are evident in the city where God resides. God’s might is as sure and secure as a well-protected city. Walk all around the city, and you’ll marvel at its stability. Look all around in nature, God’s might is on display there too.
While kings of other nations are terrified of God’s strength, for believers, God’s might is a comfort and evidence of God’s love.
Application: #294 in 1990 Presbyterian hymnal, “Wherever I May Wander” by Ann B. Snow
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10
Application: Psalm 133 echoes the sense of this reading from the Hebrew scriptures:
Unity, security, dwelling in peace, and cooperation... after Saul’s death, the war among the tribes of Israel ceased, and the consolidation of the 12 tribes were a kind of Golden Age. There is oil for anointing kings in excess, a sign of abundance and God’s favor. What would be a modern equivalent to oil running down one’s beard?
Perhaps the Steve Miller Band gives us a glimpse, from “Fly Like an Eagle:
Or the Doobie Brothers “Takin’ it to the Street,” lyrics by Michael McDonald
Or even REO Speedwagon, “Golden Country,” lyrics by Gary Richrath
2 Corinthians 12:2-11
Application: Paul is walking a fine line in this portion of this letter to the Corinthians. He boasts in his lack of need to boast. He boasts, not about his profound humility, but uses the experience of someone he knows, a brother in Christ, who has seen visions of Heaven that cannot be spoken. Paul knows this guy. In Chicago we’d call that “Paul’s clout.” He doesn’t need clout, mind, he’s just saying that if he needed it, he’s got it.
Paul could be full of himself, and “out-religion” the “super apostles who have been boasting—for real!—to the Corinthians. No, no, Paul boasts in his not boasting. Paul boasts in his weakness, his affliction.
Imagine Paul as receiving the Nobel Prize for humility. You want humble? My humility is better than yours! And I don’t need even to boast in my humility (or clout) God’s grace works through everything about me that is weak, and afflicted.
I am above those jokers in credentials, and below (that is above) in humility. If God can work through me, imagine what God can do with you!
* * *
Mark 6:1-13
Application: The people of Jesus’ hometown are amazed at what he teaches in their synagogue. Such wisdom! They watched him grow up; they know his mother and siblings. Where could someone we know have gotten so high and mighty? He’d been healing and teaching in other places and they had heard about him. Jesus’ teaching was still present, but his ability to heal and to cast out demons was much diminished.
The lack of faith of the people from his hometown astounded Jesus, just as they had been astounded by his teaching.
Jesus came to his home field after an extended road trip and went into a slump, to put this in baseball terms. (Baseball is Biblical, the Bible starts, “In the Big Inning….” The rest is commentary.)
Luckily for Jesus and people living in adjacent villages, the disciples are given power to heal and cast out demons. This is perhaps the only place in the Gospels where the disciples have success—and it comes during Jesus’ slump, in the middle of the pennant race! The Holy Spirit finds a way!
* * *
Ezekiel 2:1-5
Application: The power of the Spirit is able to lift Ezekiel to his feet. The Lord has a prophetic message for him to deliver to the rebellious Israelites. They might get it, they might not. They have been rebels for a long time, and still are. Whether they react to the prophecy or not, they will certainly hear it.
Mothers in the pre-Helicopter Parent Age, sometimes did exactly what the Lord did. “I’m just going to say this; you live your life your way, I just have to say this.” Rebellious children, of all ages, have had to weigh Mom’s hard-earned words of wisdom, with what looks so appealing to younger eyes. The options are laid out; the Beloved Child is free to choose. Is there a cosmic “I told you so” in the balance? We’ll just have to wait and see.
* * *
Psalm 123
Application: This time, it’s Del Amitri, “To Last a Lifetime” by Justin Curie
The psalmist is weary. She lifts her eyes in hope and supplication, seeking mercy. Whatever the pain or affliction is, it’s gone on far too long. While there is life, there is hope; while one can lift up one’s voice, there’s a possibility of mercy and an end to suffering.
And we’ll let Godspell have the last word this week, “Bless the Lord”, based on Psalm 103:9, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: Great is our God and greatly to be praised.
People: We ponder your steadfast love, O God.
Leader: Your name, O God, reaches to the ends of the earth.
People: Your right hand is filled with victory.
Leader: Let Mount Zion be glad and rejoice because of your judgments.
People: God will be our guide forever.
OR
Leader: The God of power and might calls us to worship.
People: We rally around our God because we want to be winners.
Leader: God’s power doesn’t always look like winning.
People: What kind of power does God show to us?
Leader: The power of our God is the power of love.
People: Yes! This is the true power that conquers the world!
Hymns and Songs:
Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above
UMH: 126
H82: 408
PH: 483
NCH: 6
CH: 6
W&P: 56
Renew: 52
The King of Love My Shepherd Is
UMH: 138
H82: 645/646
PH: 171
NCH: 248
LBW: 456
ELA: 502
Renew: 106
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
ELA: 733
W&P: 72
AMEC: 84
Renew: 249
O God of Every Nation
UMH: 435
H82: 607
PH: 289
CH: 680
LBW: 416
ELA: 713
W&P: 626
Let There Be Peace on Earth
UMH: 431
CH: 677
W&P: 614
Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life
UMH: 427
H82: 609
PH: 408
NCH: 543
CH: 665
LBW: 429
ELA: 719
W&P: 591
AMEC: 561
Awesome God
CCB: 17
Renew: 245
How Majestic Is Your Name
CCB: 21
Renew: 98
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
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 wields power through love:
Grant us the grace to forsake the false power of violence
and to embrace the true power that is love;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you have demonstrate your power through love. Help us to understand that violence and coercion are false powers and that only through using the power of love will we ever be conquerors. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our reliance on coercion and violence.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have turned our backs on your loving gift of creation by despoiling our planet and using force and coercion against one another. We speak of our faith in the power of our God of love but we prefer the methods of the world. We say we trust in you but we put our resources into military and political powers. Forgive us and restore us to our right minds and hearts. Send the power of your Spirit upon us that we might truly be called children of the God who is love. Amen.
Leader: God created us our of love and out of love God redeems us. Receive the grace and forgiveness of our God and the power to be all that you were created to become.
Prayers of the People
We worship and adores you, O God of Loving kindness, because out of love your created us and all that is.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have turned our backs on your loving gift of creation by despoiling our planet and using force and coercion against one another. We speak of our faith in the power of our God of love but we prefer the methods of the world. We say we trust in you but we put our resources into military and political powers. We speak of your creation as a great gift but we are willing to trash it if that means increasing our pleasure for a moment. Forgive us and restore us to our right minds and hearts. Send the power of your Spirit upon us that we might truly be called children of the God who is love.
We give you thanks for sharing the power of your love with us. Through it you have made us into new people and through it we have been able to touch the lives of others.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need and especially for those who have been abused or destroyed by the use of violence and coercion. We pray for those who have not experienced the healing power of your love. We pray that those who are addicted to the false powers of this world will find release and redemption in love.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Tell the children you have pictures of power to show them. Show them people lifting huge weights, race cars, power plants, etc. Tell them these are all things people think of as being powerful but you want to show them something even more powerful. Then show them a picture of loving actions. It could be a parent holding a tiny baby, two children walking hand in hand, or other loving acts. This is the true power, the power of love. You can end up showing a picture of the cross and say this is the greatest power of all because it is all about God’s love.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Showing our talent when we feel ready
by Bethany Peerbolte
Mark 6:1-13
When Jesus goes home he is put on the spot to perform miracles and preach inspiring messages like he was doing in other places. The people who knew him mocked him and did not really believe he could be as great as they were hearing from others. Even though we are good at something doesn’t mean we always want to perform. We may not want to play soccer with the neighborhood kids because they don’t follow the rules or play too rough. We may not want to show our family members a dance routine or play our instruments because it isn’t the right setting. Jesus felt this way too and advised his disciples to listen to their gut and go where they are accepted. The people who really believe in us will let us show our talents when we feel ready.
Say something like:
Who here has a talent? Anyone been in a dance recital? Or play on a sports team? Anyone in a band? WOW we have lots of talented people here today. When we have a talent we practice and become better so when it comes time for the recital, or game, or concert we can show the audience how talented we have gotten. Sometimes though when people find out we are talented they like to ask to see our talent when it isn’t a recital, game or concert day. This can be awkward because we aren’t ready or don’t feel comfortable performing on demand. We might feel nervous.
(If you have a personal story tell the kids about a time you were asked to perform and felt uncomfortable. Or you can tell about the first time you preached in front of family and how that made you feel.)
Showing our talents can be tricky. For Jesus he had shown lots of people his talent for healing and preaching and his home town had heard how awesome he was. When he came home for a visit they wanted to see for themselves. But you know what…they didn’t really believe he was as talented as people said. They weren’t asking to see a miracle because they believed, they wanted to test Jesus. Jesus knew they weren’t believing or supporting him so he told them “not today.” Then he told the disciples to trust their feelings about why people wanted to see miracles. Jesus said we should use our talents for people who will appreciate them, and not feel bad if we choose to not give an on demand concert or recital. If we don’t feel like it we can smile and say “not today.”
Let’s Pray: God we thank you for our talents. We love practicing and performing when the time is right. But sometimes people ask us to perform and we don’t feel comfortable. Give us the courage to say “not today” when we don’t feel it’s right. And on the days we do want to show our talents give us the courage to say “YES!” Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, July 8, 2018, issue.
Copyright 2018 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.
1 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/05/29/televangelist-wants-new-jet/653202002/
2 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/us-news-travel/how-to-pack-light-9-tips_b_3354703.html
- Power and the ever-widening spiral of chaos by Chris Keating -- As the ever-widening spiral of American political spectacle grows, it may be useful to consider what it means to trust in the power God provides.
- Second Thoughts: Traveling Light by Dean Feldmeyer -- Authentic evangelism has nothing to do with jet airplanes and giant stadiums and much to do with individual Christians sharing their stories with others.
- Worship resources by George Reed that focus worldly power vs godly power as well as the environment .
- Sermon illustrations by Mary Austin, Ron Love, and Tom Willadsen.
- Showing our talent when we feel ready -- Children's sermon by Bethany Peerbolte -- Even though we are good at something doesn’t mean we always want to perform. The people who really believe in us will let us show our talents when we feel ready.
Power and the ever-widening spiral of chaos
by Chris Keating
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10
As the aftershocks following the world-shaking news of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement started to subside, power groups on the right and the left began gathering their war councils for nomination battle that will soon engage Washington, DC and the rest of the nation.
The earthquake that rocked Washington alerted activists on all sides. Despite being a Republican, Kennedy has frequently held the pivot position for key decisions. In many ways, he seems to have moderated many of his views in recent years. Seldom has the retirement of an 81-year old judge from Sacramento, Calif., meant so much.
The center of the Supreme Court has likely fallen. Republicans, led by President Donald Trump and his list of previously screen conservative judicial candidates, are ready to seize power in ways that could rewrite history. In the other corner, Democrats and moderates are trying to flex their limited muscles, but their reach is short. The moment is huge, and to borrow another line from Yeats, the ever-widening gyre politics in the age of Trump has suddenly become bigger than before.
Surely, as Yeats knew, some sort of revelation is at hand.
Kennedy’s departure displays how much power a single justice can garner. Some see it as the power of possibility, while others bemoan it as the inevitable foretaste of apocalypse. Abortion rights, gay marriage, affirmative action and much more seems to be on the precipice of being overthrown.
Power centralized and divinely affirmed is at the heart of the story of King David’s ascension to the throne in 2 Samuel 5. For Israel, however, the narrative of power is about an ever-widening spiral of domination and personal aggrandizement. Instead, power is lodged in the most unlikely of persons -- the once overlooked son of Jesse, the shepherd boy who became shepherd of Israel.
There are no vexing accusations, no rocking candle in the voices of the elders who anoint David King. There is only the power of life lived in covenant faithfulness with God. As the ever-widening spiral of American political spectacle grows, it may be useful to consider what it means to trust in the power God provides.
In The News
In normal times, elderly men stepping down from a job creates little attention. But then these are not ordinary times, nor is Anthony Kennedy an ordinary older man.
Kennedy’s retirement from the Supreme Court, while not unexpected, shook the nation with expectations that the loss of his vote could result in reversals of key judicial precedents. All of the names listed on Trump’s potential candidates for the high court are considered more “reliably conservative” than Kennedy. Kennedy’s departure offers Trump an opportunity to exercise one of the strongest powers of the presidency -- lifetime judicial appointment.
It’s an action that could lead to overturning the landmark Roe vs. Wade case that made abortion legal in the United States. While it’s hard to guess how an individual nominee may or may not vote on an abortion case, in the past Trump assured his base that vacancies to the court will be filled with pro-life jurists.
In 2016, for example, Trump told Fox News’ host Chris Wallace that it’s likely a court with his appointees would overturn the Roe decision:
WALLACE: You just said you want to see the court protect the Second Amendment. Do you want to see the court overturn Roe v. Wade?Even considering the constitutional system of checks and balances, Trump’s opportunity to sway the court is considerable, and a reminder of the power of this moment.
TRUMP: Well, if we put another two or perhaps three justices on, that's really what’s going to be -- that will happen and that will happen automatically in my opinion because I am putting pro-life justices on the court.
Kennedy, a Republican, has often been the swing vote in a split court. While often siding with his conservative colleagues, Kennedy voted with liberal justices in several high profile cases, including gay marriage, health care, and other matters. Kennedy authored four decisions on gay rights. Many fear that without his voice, those decisions may be endangered.
In a town filled with powerful people, Kennedy has sometimes been called among the most powerful -- a man who voted for gay rights, and also in favor of warrantless wire-tapping, upholding gun rights, and against the death penalty. Even his decision to retire could be seen as his final “swing vote,” because of the implications it may hold for the fall midterm elections.
The reality is that the sort of independent power Kennedy wielded may become a rare commodity. Impermeable voting blocs may supplant the power of visionary judicial craftsmanship.
Joshua Matz, a former Kennedy law clerk and publisher of the Take Care blog, explored the impact of Kennedy’s decision in a Washington Post Op-Ed. Matz said that in choosing to step down at this “perilous moment,” Kennedy has “unleashed forces that will test the court like never before.” In times of bitter partisanship, Matz said, Kennedy was the center that held the court together by upholding values of civility and judicial independence.
Others may have seen his views as vacillating and indecisive. Matz, however, noted that the true test of judicial power is not the “rigid adherence to an all-encompassing orthodoxy.”
Yet that is a-typical in contemporary politics. To borrow again from William Butler Yeats, the center will not hold because of the ever “widening gyre” holding back the torrents of “mere anarchy,” and the loosening of the “blood-dimmed tide.” (“The Second Coming,” by William Butler Yeats.) In plain terms, the sort of swing vote power displayed by Kennedy has been replaced with an all or nothing adherence to ideology.
Of course, that ideology can be poked, prodded and parodied. So far in Trump’s presidency, late night comedians have proved successful in claiming this power. Note what happened last week following a Trump rally. After the president mocked talk show hosts Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert, both comics appeared in each other’s opening monologues, along with Conan O’Brien. Mocking the president while teasing each other, the comics revealed the power of comedy -- a reminder that power can be potent even if it is unofficial.
It’s the theme reiterated across God’s interactions with human beings, and specifically narrated in the texts regarding David’s accession to the throne of Israel.
In the Scripture
As unlikely as Kennedy may be as a Washington power player, David’s rise over Israel was even more unlikely. As 2 Samuel 5 begins, Jesse’s eighth son, a fair-haired shepherd boy more accustomed to playing music than battling Philistines, has now landed in the seat of power. There’s no doubt that this is a power moment for Israel.
God’s people now approve of the one whom God called as king. The text ripples with images of relationship and kinship. The elders of Israel are David’s “bone and flesh.” They come in an expression of unity and solidarity, acknowledging David’s successes and publicly anointing him as king. Those are the outward expressions of power -- the inauguration of a new leader with all the rights, privileges, and obligations thereunto appertaining. David then becomes “greater and greater,” occupying the stronghold around Jerusalem.
Later New Testament writers will use David as a lens to understand the coming reign of God. (See Ronald J. Allen & Clark M. Williamson, “Preaching the Old Testament,” p. 163.) The authority of David as Jesus’ ancestor adds to the aura surrounding Jesus, though the gospels are quick to point out Jesus is far greater. Still, David’s name is equated with power and leadership. From this point on in the story of Israel, God’s power will be focused on the deeds of the king “for the sake of God’s people Israel.” (v. 12).
Connected to this are themes and images of power. David is anointed, invested in the vision of God. God has chosen this leader to convey God’s purposes and advance the covenant established with Abraham. David’s rule and power will reflect the power and vision of God.
It’s the story of an improbable leader, a shepherd who was least among his siblings, a surprising voice who claimed the improbable power of God. As King, David thus reflects the manner of God’s way in the world--caring, protective, and centered in and emerging from the marginalized and lowly persons of the world.
In the Sermon
Here’s the good news: neither King David, Anthony Kennedy, or for that matter, Donald Trump, are God. On the other hand, each of them are powerful leaders to whom much has been given -- and, of course, from whom much will be expected. Yet what is the nature of their power?
A sermon might carefully examine the nature of power as it is described in these verses, and especially as it is reflected in David’s virtues and qualities. Despite his notable human frailty, David becomes he best loved king of Israel and embodies the power and wisdom of God.
Unlike Trump, David is not elected. Unlike a Supreme Court justice, David was not examined by senators. Instead, David is called to be a shepherd, reflecting not a political agenda but the desire of God. The theological nature of David’s leadership is affirmed by his covenantal faithfulness, and when he falls short, he is accountable to God (and not just to a special prosecutor.) Secondly, David embodies the protective and justice-seeking nature of God. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will eventually lay down his life love for God’s people. That is the nature of power which is imbued with David’s calling.
Though David is a human ruler, the theological motif advanced here is a reminder of how God’s power differs from the powers of the rulers of this age. David acknowledges this through affirming the covenant nature of his position. He is to look not at a political agenda, or to the laws of a country, but instead to the purposes and intent of God. He is to follow God directly.
David’s power is defined by the God who loves.
Other rulers do not “cut” this sort of covenant with God. And while we yearn for powerful leaders to guide and shape our world, what emerges in this text is a reminder that God is working through unexpected persons, and that the creative, liberating power of God emerges not in the life of a conquistador, but in the actions and prayers of a shepherd.
God’s power is ultimately revealed in love, which is certainly a timely and valuable notion worthy of consideration in a summer where many feel, as Yeats described, the collapsing of the center of human life.
Lucas Johnson, a Christian minister, and Rami Nashashibi, a Muslim Imam and activist in Chicago, were interviewed recently by Krista Tippett for her NPR radio show On Being. The focus on the conversation soon fell to the power of love as expressed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tippett asked the two men to describe what they saw as love’s power, potential, and gift.
Love and power connect, said Nashashibi, because love drives human desir to build a better world. Johnson continued the thought by retelling a story of man on a picket line. A reporter, Johnson said, came up to the man and said, “Do you believe your demonstrating will change the country?” The man, a civil rights leader, responded, “Young man, I’m demonstrating so that my country doesn’t change me.”
That is the power of God unleashed not in the swing votes of a jurist, or in the late night jokes of comics, nor in the explosive Twitter-storms of a politician. It is, instead, the power of a shepherd. And that is the sort of power the church needs to hear declared today.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Traveling Light
by Dean Feldmeyer
Mark 6:1-13
A couple of weeks ago, Louisiana televangelists, Jesse Duplantis, announced that God told him he needs a new jet.
Not just any old jet, mind you, but a specific jet, namely, a Dassault Falcon 7X, a three-engine private jet capable of carrying 12 to 16 passengers at speeds up to 700 miles per hour. This would be the fourth plane owned by Jesse Duplantis Ministries and it would have a range of about 6,000 miles and cost about $54 million new, according to SherpaReport (although used ones are listed online for the bargain basement price of $20 million).
Trying to head off the inevitable questions and criticism such a revelation was bound to engender, Duplantis said, "Now, some people believe that preachers shouldn't have jets.” Then he countered, "I really believe that preachers ought to ... have every available outlet to get this Gospel preached to the world."
In fact, Duplantis said that "if Jesus was physically on the Earth today, he wouldn't be riding a donkey."
"He'd be in an airplane preaching the Gospel all over the world," he said.1
One might wonder if maybe Rev. Duplantis isn’t talking about some other Jesus than the frugal, simple one whom most of us call Lord, the very one who confronts us in this week’s gospel lesson. (Mark 6: 7-13)
It’s a simple story:
Jesus is going to send his disciples out to spread the gospel.
First, he puts them together in teams of two. It’s a lot easier to do tough stuff if you have a partner going with you. And it’s safer. You have each other’s backs. The old adage about two heads being better than one when it comes to solving problems proves to really be true. And you can hold each other accountable. I might be willing to give up and go home if I’m by myself but when a friend is with me his or her mere presence makes it easier to keep going.
Secondly, he gives them authority. In the church we have different ways of doing this. Ordination is one way. A clerical collar is another. A cross around one’s neck might be yet another. These are all symbols of authority given by the church. In this case the authority is over “unclean spirits.”
Now, I don’t know exactly what kind of unclean spirits Mark has in mind, here, but I’ve seen plenty of them in my 40+ years a as a pastor. There’s the spirit of Jealousy. There’s the spirit of Greed. There’s the spirit of Envy, Pride, Gluttony, Prejudice, Narrow-Mindedness, Despair and hundreds of others, all unclean, all dangerous.
Thirdly, he gives them three pieces of advice.
The first is, “travel light.” Take only a walking stick. No money, no food, no suitcase, no extra shoes or clothing. In other words, don’t let stuff weigh you down and slow you up. Trust God.
The second piece of advice is, when someone invites you to stay with them (a not uncommon practice and one required by the Torah) stay with them the whole time you are in that place. Don’t be moving around every time someone offers you a nicer room or a softer bed or a better cook to prepare your meals. Stay at the first place you are invited to.
The third is to not let failure define you or your mission. If you go to a place and they simply refuse to hear what you are offering them, shake it off and move on.
After this, Mark reports on how they did and it seems they did well. Note how they spread the good news, the instruments they used to share God’s love: “…they proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.”
All in all, a pretty successful week. And no mention of a jet airplane.
My kids used to tease me that when we went to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina for a week of vacation, “Dad could pack everything he’s going to wear all week in his pockets.” That may have been an exaggeration but not by much. My packing list usually looked something like this: swim suit, towel, cut off shorts, several t-shirts, sandals, toothbrush. A small overnight bag will do nicely, thank you.
My wife, Jean, on the other hand… Okay, we won’t go there except to say that her definition of packing light means that she doesn’t need more than half a dozen bellmen to carry her luggage up to the room.
Even at that, however, she’s got Jesse Duplant beat by a mile.
Poor Pastor Jesse. Maybe he should have done a google search, as I did, of the phrase, “How to pack light.” There are about zillion offerings on this subject bouncing around on the internet and not one of them says that you need a jet airplane of your very own.
Of course, a lot of packing light depends on what you plan to do when you get to your destination. Work? Fun? Evangelism? Fancy, white tablecloth dining? Tailgating and picnicking? Clubbing? Watching the sunset from the balcony of your room? Bible study? Home repair?
Last year, U.S. News Travel Blog offered an article entitled: “How to Pack Light: 9 Tips to Lighten Your Load.” Those tips included things like:
- Make a Checklist.
- Pack neutral colors that you can mix and match.
- Pack ahead of time so you’re not rushed and forced to make bad choices because you’re running out of time.
- Learn to layer. If you’re going someplace that’s chilly you may not need to take a big, heavy coat if you take shirts and sweaters you can layer over each other.
- Use a Space Bag. That’s one of those plastic bag thingies that you can suck all the air out of so it mashes your clothing up so they take up less space.
- Shoes: Wear a pair, pack a pair. That’s all.
- Roll clothing items instead of folding. Most hotels provide an iron so you can press after you get there. Of course, if you’re going to the beach, who cares about wrinkles, right?
- Save the lightest Items for Last. This small stuff can be stuffed into corners or into shoes.2
Or, if you want to simplify your packing game even more you can take the advice of my brother who used to travel for a living: Pack your suitcase full of clothing, then take out half the clothing you’ve packed and fill that half of the suitcase with money. General rule of thumb, especially for vacation packing: You’ll need half the clothing and twice the cash you though you would need.
If you’re going on a trip to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ, you can travel even lighter. You really need to take only two things.
One, take Jesus. Review all those red letters in your New Testament and let them guide you in building relationships with the people you meet and let your witness of love flow in, through, and from those relationships.
Second, take your story. You can preach till you’re blue in the face, but what really touches the hearts of others is the story you tell about your life and how Jesus has shaped it for the better.
The history of the Christian church is the story of people traveling light, taking Jesus and their story and sharing them with other people who, in turn, share their story with others who share their stories and on and on. It’s the story of people witnessing to the grace of God and the Love of Jesus Christ through their acts of kindness and words of love. It’s the story of twelve people who spread out into the world and simply shared their stories.
And not one of them owned a jet airplane.
Imagine that.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
The Power in Vulnerability
“Power is made perfect in weakness,” Paul writes to the churches in Corinth, and best selling author and researcher Brene Brown agrees. She writes, “I want to be in the arena. I want to be brave with my life. And when we make the choice to dare greatly, we sign up to get our asses kicked. We can choose courage or we can choose comfort, but we can’t have both. Not at the same time. Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage.” She suggests that we commit to the kind of Spirit-filled weakness that Paul is talking about. “When we commit to showing up and risking falling, we are actually committing to falling. Daring is not saying, “I’m willing to risk failure.” Daring is saying, “I know I will eventually fail and I’m still all in.” Fortune may favor the bold, but so does failure.”
She adds, echoing Paul’s wisdom, “Once we fall in the service of being brave, we can never go back. We can rise up from our failures, screw ups, and falls, but we can never go back to where we stood before we were brave or before we fell. Courage transforms the emotional structure of our being.” Paul says a similar thing when he writes, “whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” Our weakness and our strength are tied together, and when we experience weakness, we know the possibility of deeper strength.
* * *
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Impostor Syndrome
Looking strong on the outside and feeling lost on the inside is a common feeling for teachers, leaders and others. Tony Lee says, writing about his inner experience of weakness, “Some leaders are born; others are made. Then there are people like me, who look like leaders on the outside but feel like impostors on the inside. That’s what it’s like to be a leader who deals with frequent bouts of anxiety. Self-blame, self-doubt, feelings of failure, incompleteness, hopelessness, fear and fatalism--sometimes they’re there, residing in the shadows, even when I’m surrounded by wins and the sun is shining brightest.”
Paul writes that he will boast all the more gladly of his weaknesses, knowing that strength is also revealed this way. Lee writes, “We seem to expect our leaders to be thick-skinned, invulnerable to attack, and to deflect criticism, no matter how deserved or unjust that might be. We expect them to be on inspiration mode 24/7--to be perfect role models, to be tireless workers and to faultlessly perform on demand…Yet, in spite of its dark connotations, my anxiety has also helped shape the way I see the good in the world. Many people assume that happiness should be our natural state of being--we’re told to seek it, choose it and hold onto it no matter what. For me, balance is the goal: to enjoy the ups, learn from the downs, but always seek contentment somewhere in between the two.”
Noting the same duality that Paul observes, Lee writes, “I have learned to play out my negative thoughts in reverse--and my positive ones too. This means seeing the full emotional spectrum of possibilities, from dark to light, and then choosing which truth to own.” Strength and weakness are two sides of the coin, each illuminating the other.
* * *
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Strength from Weakness
When he had an opportunity to make a difference, Nicholas Winton was a stockbroker, not a martial arts expert or a politician or a soldier, which is perhaps why his heroism went unnoticed. In 1938, Winton received a telephone call from a friend and agreed to cancel a skiing vacation. He “flew to Prague at the behest of a friend who was aiding refugees in the Sudetenland, the western region of Czechoslovakia that had just been annexed by Germany. “Don’t bother to bring your skis,” the friend, Martin Blake, advised in a phone call. Mr. Winton found vast camps of refugees living in appalling conditions. The pogroms of Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass,” had recently struck Jewish shops, homes and synagogues in Germany and Austria. War looked inevitable, and escape, especially for children, seemed hopeless, given the restrictions against Jewish immigration in the West.” Britain, however, was receiving children, so Winton set up a rescue operation in Czechoslovakia. “It involved dangers, bribes, forgery, secret contacts with the Gestapo, nine railroad trains, an avalanche of paperwork and a lot of money. Nazi agents started following him. In his Prague hotel room, he met terrified parents desperate to get their children to safety, although it meant surrendering them to strangers in a foreign land.”
Winton began to register children, which attracted the attention of the Gestapo. “Eventually he registered more than 900 children, although he had names and details on 5,000. He [and other volunteers]…had photos of the children printed and appealed for funds and foster homes in newspaper ads and church and synagogue bulletins. Hundreds of families volunteered to take children, and money trickled in from donors -- not enough to cover all the costs, but Mr. Winton made up the difference himself. He also appealed to the Home Office for entry visas, but the response was slow and time was short.” He forged the permits and kept going.
Eventually, they cultivated a Gestapo official, and paid bribes to smuggle children out. Trains began to carry the children out, following heartbreaking scenes of separation on train platforms. Eight of the nine trains left the country, until Germany formally invaded Poland, and the borders were sealed. A train carrying 250 children disappeared, and none of them were ever seen again. They were presumed dead in a concentration camp.
Winton never sought recognition, and his wife had no idea what he had done until she found a scrapbook in the attic with children’s names, and asked him about it.
* * *
Mark 6:1-13
Rejected in your Hometown
Jesus goes home to find that his teaching is rejected in his hometown, and no one wants to listen to him. Shamayim Harris had a similar experience, running for city council three times, and being outvoted each time. Even so, she pressed on with her plans for Highland Park, a city within the borders of Detroit, and just as beleaguered. Highland Park shares a story of blight and economic distress with Detroit. The small city “has been without a library for 14 years. Its high school was permanently closed by the state last year, leaving just one school, a K–8 program, within its borders. In 2011, utility company DTE Energy removed all the street lights; local and national headlines read some variation of “Highland Park goes dark: City removes lights to pay bills.” The city has struggled financially for over a decade, and was one of several financially challenged local units of government in Michigan where Gov. Rick Snyder took control of operational and fiscal duties away from local elected officials and gave it to appointed “emergency managers.” These were the conditions Harris, widely known as “Mama Shu,” considered when tossing her hat in the political ring.” She didn’t want political office so much as to benefit the people in her hometown.
Mama Shu had a vision for her city which is finally coming to life, thanks to funds raised on Kickstarter and a grant. The money went to “purchase more than 10 properties on her block, including vacant lots and salvageable abandoned homes, and to start renovating Homework House, which she describes as a place where children will be able to get meals and help with schoolwork. A totally redesigned 2,400-square-foot two-family home, Homework House will have a computer center and a lab for specialized help in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as well as a recording studio and a commercial kitchen. In the yards outside, children will have three recreational courts to play basketball, tennis, and volleyball.”
Despite the skepticism of her hometown, Mama Shu has finally made herself heard -- and she has done a work of power in her city.
* * *
Mark 6:1-13
Power
In his hometown, seen as the boy from around the corner instead of a healer, teacher and messiah, Jesus can do no deeds of power because of the resistance of the town. In a recent column, Parker Palmer highlights the shift in power when Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on the bus. “Here’s a description of that moment from Rosa Parks: My Story, by Rosa Parks (with Jim Haskins): “One evening in early December 1955, I was sitting in the front seat of the colored section of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The white people were sitting in the white section. More white people got on, and they filled up all the seats in the white section. When that happened, we black people were supposed to give up our seats to the whites. But I didn’t move. The white driver said, ‘Let me have those front seats.’ I didn’t get up. I was tired of giving in to white people. ‘I’m going to have you arrested,’ the driver said. ‘You may do that,’ I answered.” In that moment, the power shifts from the driver to Mrs. Parks. She’s choosing to do a powerful thing, in the face of a system that believes it has all the power.
Parker Palmer adds: “I’m always inspired by Parks’, “You may do that.” Not only is she taking charge by giving the powers that be “permission” to arrest her. She’s also saying, in effect, “Your prison of stone and steel has no power over me. How could it? I’ve just freed myself from the biggest prison of all, the one that came from collaborating with your racist rules.” Here, I think, is the simple secret of all who have risked punishment by standing up to cruelty and injustice: They’ve realized that no punishment anyone might lay on them could possibly be greater than the punishment they lay on themselves by conspiring in their own diminishment. Every time any one of us refuses to conspire in the abasement of self or others, we’ve taken a step toward the good, the true, the just and the beautiful.”
If we believe, even from a place of weakness, we have the power to make the world shift, a tiny bit at a time.
* * * * * *
From team member Ron Love:
Healing
I suffer from General Anxiety Disorder, often referred to as GAD. WebMD instructs: “Generalized anxiety disorder (or GAD) is characterized by excessive, exaggerated anxiety and worry about everyday life events with no obvious reasons for worry. People with symptoms of generalized anxiety disordertend to always expect disaster and can't stop worrying about health, money, family, work, or school. In people with GAD, the worry is often unrealistic or out of proportion for the situation. Daily life becomes a constant state of worry, fear, and dread. Eventually, the anxiety so dominates the person's thinking that it interferes with daily functioning, including work, school, social activities, and relationships.”
I have had this condition from birth. In college, when I fully came to understand the meaning of being a Christian, I began a daily prayer life accompanied by a prayer list. Through college and on into seminary I prayed daily be to alleviated from this nervous condition. I can still vividly remember, to this day, how healing escaped me. The moment even now, several decades after that revelation, is still very real to me.
I was in my seminary apartment. I was sitting on one of those chairs that have wooden arm rests with a plastic seat and back. I came to the line on my prayer list where I had listed the word “nerves,” as I had listed it for so many years before. And I suddenly realized that it was not going to happen. I was not going to be cured of my nervous condition, which at the time was undiagnosed. On that day, the word “nerves” has never again appeared on my prayer list. It was also on that day I realized and accepted that General Anxiety Disorder was going to be “a thorn was given me in the flesh.”
Application: Like Paul, we must continue our call to discipleship despite the hinderance that the thorn in the flesh may cause us.
* * *
Wisdom
The Living Bible (TLB) was written by Kenneth Taylor and was published in 1971. For TLB, he paraphrased the American Standard Version of the Bible. The Living Bible was a best-seller in the early 1970s, largely due to the accessibility of its modern language, which made passages understandable to those with weak reading skills, or no previous background in Bible study. It uses lingual contractions such as “don't” for “do not.” It’s easy to read format can be demonstrated by the interpretation of 1 Samuel 24:3, which says "Saul went into the cave to go to the bathroom,” where the original Hebrew literally translates the passage as “to cover his feet.” In 1972 and 1973, The Living Bible was the best-selling book in America. By 1997, 40 million copies of The Living Bible had been sold.
The Living Bible became most popular when I was attending Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC But my thought then, as it is still today, is that the true living bibles were the professors standing before me in the lecture halls. Their profound understanding of the Bible can only be described with one word -- awesome. Their understanding of the Bible was so insightful and expansive that it was truly beyond measure. It was from those “living bibles,” who taught absent of notes, that instilled within me the love of learning and the accompanying research required to become knowledgeable.
Application: There are constraints that prevent most of us from being the true living bibles that occupied that academic classrooms of Wesley. But, that should never prevent us from seeking as much knowledge as time and opportunity allows.
* * *
Evangelism
A recent study by the Pew Research Center concluded that religious dissatisfaction by adults younger than 40 is present in all countries, except for a very few, across the globe. Young adults no longer having a religious faith or an affiliation with a local church is not a problem, as we so often think, that is confined to the United States. Pew reported, “Regardless of a nation’s economic strength or religious tradition…over the last decade has found religious dissatisfaction to be a common thread among younger adults.” Several reasons for this increase of disbelief is better education, better incomes and a longer life expectancy. For these reasons young adults consider religion unnecessary and irrelevant.
Application: As Jesus sent the disciples out two by two, we need to evangelize the younger generation.
* * *
Wisdom
Christ Pratt is known for his roles in Parks and Recreation, Juristic Park and the Guardians of the Galaxy series. Pratt recently accepted the MTV Movie & TV Awards’ Generation Award. During his acceptance speech he shared the “nine rules” that he lives by. Four of those rules referred directly to his Christian faith. His second rule is: “You have a soul. Be careful with it.” His sixth rule is: “God is real. God loves you. God wants the best for you. Believe that -- I do.” His eighth rule is: “Learn to pray. It’s easy, and it’s good for you soul.” Pratt ended his speech with the words, “God bless you.”
Application: We need to share the wisdom we have obtained by studying the life of Jesus and the experience gained by following Jesus.
* * *
Witnessing
In a score of 3-0, after Belgium defeated Panama in the 2018 World Cup games in Russia, fans were amazed and spellbound by what happened after the final whistle was blown. Belgium player, Romelu Lukaku, a Roman Catholic, and the Panama player, Fidel Escobar, an evangelical Christian, walked from opposing sidelines to the center of the field. There, they knelt together in prayer. The picture of the two opposing players kneeling together circulated on social media and was considered by many the “image of the day.”
Application: As Jesus sent the disciples out two by two, we need to publicly demonstrate our faith.
* * *
Prophecy
Franklin Graham and his sister Ruth, are known as “Trumpers,” because of their unwavering devotion to all that President Trump says and does. Yet, when President Trump issued his “zero tolerance” policy against immigrants, and began separating thousands of children from their parents, both Franklin and Ruth spoke out against the policy. Franklin called the policy “disgraceful.” He went on to say, “It’s terrible to see families ripped apart and I don’t support that one bit.” Ruth said, “God has established the family as the fundamental building block of society.”
Application: We learn from Ezekiel that as mere mortals we must learn to stand on our feet and speak.
* * *
Prophecy
The members of the Bush family do not support Donald Trump, and in many cases, they are his adversaries. Though their displeasure with him as an individual and with his administration is documented, it does not mean we should discount their words of criticism. We may not agree with the Bush family’s public comments, but they should give us cause to reflect and ponder. This would be the case when former First Lady Laura Bush denounced Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy toward immigrants which caused the separation of thousands of children from their parents. Laura Bush said the policy is “cruel” and “immoral.” She went on to say that as a country, “We pride ourselves on acceptance. If we are truly that country, then it is our obligation to reunite these detained children with their parents -- and to stop separating parents and children in the first place.”
Application: We learn from Ezekiel that as mere mortals we must learn to stand on our feet and speak.
* * *
Prophecy
In the beginning of June, Pope Francis invited over 50 leaders in the oil and gas business to the Vatican for a special two-day conclave on the environment. It was a closed-door session held at the Pontifical Academy of Science, a 16th-century villa in the Vatican gardens. Emphasizing the seriousness of greenhouse gases to the environment and for future generations he asked the executives, “Will we turn the corner in time?” Francis, in his closing remarks, said, “We received the earth as a garden-home from the Creator. Let us not pass it on to future generations as a wilderness.”
Application: We learn from Ezekiel that as mere mortals we must learn to stand on our feet and speak.
* * *
Discipleship
Bubba Watson won this year’s Travelers Championship at River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. On the final day of play Watson overcame a six-stroke deficit, shooting a 7-under 63 for a three-stroke victory. On the 18th fairway he had difficulty with the downwind but was still able to make a spectacular shoot. Of that accomplishment Watson said, “And that’s what we all try to do on Sundays is pull off the amazing shot.”
Application: When Jesus sent out his disciples two by two, he expected them to do amazing things.
* * *
Shepherd
In Colonial America each household was required to keep a leather bucket next to the front door. If the alarm of fire was sounded, each homeowner would immediately stop what he was doing, grab the leather bucket, go outdoors and join the bucket brigade. If you watched the HBO movie John Adams, staring Paul Giamatti, in the first act Adams heard the cry of fire. He got up from his writing desk, grabbed his bucket, and then, since it was in the middle of a Boston winter, tried desperately to find a water pump that was not frozen. In these times of crisis no one asked if my neighbor was someone who I liked or disliked, or was it someone I knew or a stranger, the only issue was to take one’s place along the long line of the bucket brigade.
Application: As David was called to be a shepherd of all the people of Israel, we are called to shepherd everyone in our community and beyond.
* * * * * *
From team member Tom Willadsen:
Psalm 48
God’s might, strength, power are evident in the city where God resides. God’s might is as sure and secure as a well-protected city. Walk all around the city, and you’ll marvel at its stability. Look all around in nature, God’s might is on display there too.
While kings of other nations are terrified of God’s strength, for believers, God’s might is a comfort and evidence of God’s love.
Application: #294 in 1990 Presbyterian hymnal, “Wherever I May Wander” by Ann B. Snow
Wherever I may wander,
Wherever I may be,
I'm certain of my Maker's love;
God's care is over me.
God made the great high mountains,
And made the wide blue sea;
God made the sky where airplanes fly;
God made the world, and me.
Throughout the whole creation* * *
I see God's loving care
For everyone in every land,
God's children everywhere.
Wherever I may wander,
Wherever I may be,
I'm certain of my Maker's love;
God's care is over me.
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10
Application: Psalm 133 echoes the sense of this reading from the Hebrew scriptures:
Psalm 133, NIV
A song of ascents. Of David.
How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.
Unity, security, dwelling in peace, and cooperation... after Saul’s death, the war among the tribes of Israel ceased, and the consolidation of the 12 tribes were a kind of Golden Age. There is oil for anointing kings in excess, a sign of abundance and God’s favor. What would be a modern equivalent to oil running down one’s beard?
Perhaps the Steve Miller Band gives us a glimpse, from “Fly Like an Eagle:
Feed the babies
Who don't have enough to eat
Shoe the children
With no shoes on their feet
House the people
Livin' in the street
Oh, oh, there's a solution
Or the Doobie Brothers “Takin’ it to the Street,” lyrics by Michael McDonald
You don’t know me but I’m your brother
I was raised here in this living hell
You don’t know my kind in your world
Fairly soon, the time will tell
Or even REO Speedwagon, “Golden Country,” lyrics by Gary Richrath
Golden country…with all of your money, your poor can be fed…* * *
2 Corinthians 12:2-11
Application: Paul is walking a fine line in this portion of this letter to the Corinthians. He boasts in his lack of need to boast. He boasts, not about his profound humility, but uses the experience of someone he knows, a brother in Christ, who has seen visions of Heaven that cannot be spoken. Paul knows this guy. In Chicago we’d call that “Paul’s clout.” He doesn’t need clout, mind, he’s just saying that if he needed it, he’s got it.
Paul could be full of himself, and “out-religion” the “super apostles who have been boasting—for real!—to the Corinthians. No, no, Paul boasts in his not boasting. Paul boasts in his weakness, his affliction.
Imagine Paul as receiving the Nobel Prize for humility. You want humble? My humility is better than yours! And I don’t need even to boast in my humility (or clout) God’s grace works through everything about me that is weak, and afflicted.
I am above those jokers in credentials, and below (that is above) in humility. If God can work through me, imagine what God can do with you!
* * *
Mark 6:1-13
Application: The people of Jesus’ hometown are amazed at what he teaches in their synagogue. Such wisdom! They watched him grow up; they know his mother and siblings. Where could someone we know have gotten so high and mighty? He’d been healing and teaching in other places and they had heard about him. Jesus’ teaching was still present, but his ability to heal and to cast out demons was much diminished.
The lack of faith of the people from his hometown astounded Jesus, just as they had been astounded by his teaching.
Jesus came to his home field after an extended road trip and went into a slump, to put this in baseball terms. (Baseball is Biblical, the Bible starts, “In the Big Inning….” The rest is commentary.)
Luckily for Jesus and people living in adjacent villages, the disciples are given power to heal and cast out demons. This is perhaps the only place in the Gospels where the disciples have success—and it comes during Jesus’ slump, in the middle of the pennant race! The Holy Spirit finds a way!
* * *
Ezekiel 2:1-5
Application: The power of the Spirit is able to lift Ezekiel to his feet. The Lord has a prophetic message for him to deliver to the rebellious Israelites. They might get it, they might not. They have been rebels for a long time, and still are. Whether they react to the prophecy or not, they will certainly hear it.
Mothers in the pre-Helicopter Parent Age, sometimes did exactly what the Lord did. “I’m just going to say this; you live your life your way, I just have to say this.” Rebellious children, of all ages, have had to weigh Mom’s hard-earned words of wisdom, with what looks so appealing to younger eyes. The options are laid out; the Beloved Child is free to choose. Is there a cosmic “I told you so” in the balance? We’ll just have to wait and see.
* * *
Psalm 123
Application: This time, it’s Del Amitri, “To Last a Lifetime” by Justin Curie
Roll down the window, let me hear the rain
Let me hear her whispering, honey everything is OK
Cause I've had enough bad news
To last a lifetime
The psalmist is weary. She lifts her eyes in hope and supplication, seeking mercy. Whatever the pain or affliction is, it’s gone on far too long. While there is life, there is hope; while one can lift up one’s voice, there’s a possibility of mercy and an end to suffering.
And we’ll let Godspell have the last word this week, “Bless the Lord”, based on Psalm 103:9, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
He will not always chide
He will with patience wait
His wrath is ever slow to rise
Oh bless the Lord
And ready to abate
And ready to abate
Oh yeah!
Oh bless the Lord
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: Great is our God and greatly to be praised.
People: We ponder your steadfast love, O God.
Leader: Your name, O God, reaches to the ends of the earth.
People: Your right hand is filled with victory.
Leader: Let Mount Zion be glad and rejoice because of your judgments.
People: God will be our guide forever.
OR
Leader: The God of power and might calls us to worship.
People: We rally around our God because we want to be winners.
Leader: God’s power doesn’t always look like winning.
People: What kind of power does God show to us?
Leader: The power of our God is the power of love.
People: Yes! This is the true power that conquers the world!
Hymns and Songs:
Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above
UMH: 126
H82: 408
PH: 483
NCH: 6
CH: 6
W&P: 56
Renew: 52
The King of Love My Shepherd Is
UMH: 138
H82: 645/646
PH: 171
NCH: 248
LBW: 456
ELA: 502
Renew: 106
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
ELA: 733
W&P: 72
AMEC: 84
Renew: 249
O God of Every Nation
UMH: 435
H82: 607
PH: 289
CH: 680
LBW: 416
ELA: 713
W&P: 626
Let There Be Peace on Earth
UMH: 431
CH: 677
W&P: 614
Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life
UMH: 427
H82: 609
PH: 408
NCH: 543
CH: 665
LBW: 429
ELA: 719
W&P: 591
AMEC: 561
Awesome God
CCB: 17
Renew: 245
How Majestic Is Your Name
CCB: 21
Renew: 98
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
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 wields power through love:
Grant us the grace to forsake the false power of violence
and to embrace the true power that is love;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you have demonstrate your power through love. Help us to understand that violence and coercion are false powers and that only through using the power of love will we ever be conquerors. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our reliance on coercion and violence.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have turned our backs on your loving gift of creation by despoiling our planet and using force and coercion against one another. We speak of our faith in the power of our God of love but we prefer the methods of the world. We say we trust in you but we put our resources into military and political powers. Forgive us and restore us to our right minds and hearts. Send the power of your Spirit upon us that we might truly be called children of the God who is love. Amen.
Leader: God created us our of love and out of love God redeems us. Receive the grace and forgiveness of our God and the power to be all that you were created to become.
Prayers of the People
We worship and adores you, O God of Loving kindness, because out of love your created us and all that is.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have turned our backs on your loving gift of creation by despoiling our planet and using force and coercion against one another. We speak of our faith in the power of our God of love but we prefer the methods of the world. We say we trust in you but we put our resources into military and political powers. We speak of your creation as a great gift but we are willing to trash it if that means increasing our pleasure for a moment. Forgive us and restore us to our right minds and hearts. Send the power of your Spirit upon us that we might truly be called children of the God who is love.
We give you thanks for sharing the power of your love with us. Through it you have made us into new people and through it we have been able to touch the lives of others.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need and especially for those who have been abused or destroyed by the use of violence and coercion. We pray for those who have not experienced the healing power of your love. We pray that those who are addicted to the false powers of this world will find release and redemption in love.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Tell the children you have pictures of power to show them. Show them people lifting huge weights, race cars, power plants, etc. Tell them these are all things people think of as being powerful but you want to show them something even more powerful. Then show them a picture of loving actions. It could be a parent holding a tiny baby, two children walking hand in hand, or other loving acts. This is the true power, the power of love. You can end up showing a picture of the cross and say this is the greatest power of all because it is all about God’s love.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Showing our talent when we feel ready
by Bethany Peerbolte
Mark 6:1-13
When Jesus goes home he is put on the spot to perform miracles and preach inspiring messages like he was doing in other places. The people who knew him mocked him and did not really believe he could be as great as they were hearing from others. Even though we are good at something doesn’t mean we always want to perform. We may not want to play soccer with the neighborhood kids because they don’t follow the rules or play too rough. We may not want to show our family members a dance routine or play our instruments because it isn’t the right setting. Jesus felt this way too and advised his disciples to listen to their gut and go where they are accepted. The people who really believe in us will let us show our talents when we feel ready.
Say something like:
Who here has a talent? Anyone been in a dance recital? Or play on a sports team? Anyone in a band? WOW we have lots of talented people here today. When we have a talent we practice and become better so when it comes time for the recital, or game, or concert we can show the audience how talented we have gotten. Sometimes though when people find out we are talented they like to ask to see our talent when it isn’t a recital, game or concert day. This can be awkward because we aren’t ready or don’t feel comfortable performing on demand. We might feel nervous.
(If you have a personal story tell the kids about a time you were asked to perform and felt uncomfortable. Or you can tell about the first time you preached in front of family and how that made you feel.)
Showing our talents can be tricky. For Jesus he had shown lots of people his talent for healing and preaching and his home town had heard how awesome he was. When he came home for a visit they wanted to see for themselves. But you know what…they didn’t really believe he was as talented as people said. They weren’t asking to see a miracle because they believed, they wanted to test Jesus. Jesus knew they weren’t believing or supporting him so he told them “not today.” Then he told the disciples to trust their feelings about why people wanted to see miracles. Jesus said we should use our talents for people who will appreciate them, and not feel bad if we choose to not give an on demand concert or recital. If we don’t feel like it we can smile and say “not today.”
Let’s Pray: God we thank you for our talents. We love practicing and performing when the time is right. But sometimes people ask us to perform and we don’t feel comfortable. Give us the courage to say “not today” when we don’t feel it’s right. And on the days we do want to show our talents give us the courage to say “YES!” Amen.
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The Immediate Word, July 8, 2018, issue.
Copyright 2018 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.
1 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/05/29/televangelist-wants-new-jet/653202002/
2 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/us-news-travel/how-to-pack-light-9-tips_b_3354703.html
