Spiritual Wanderlust
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Education is a big topic in the news these days, as many express concern for how well our public schools are preparing children for the many challenges of the twenty-first century. We are told that while our colleges and universities remain some of the world's finest, statistics indicate that our elementary and secondary students lag well behind their peers throughout the world -- especially in subjects like math and science that are particularly important given the advanced technology of today's world. Several approaches to reforming our educational system have been experimented with, including charter schools (the subject of the new documentary Waiting for Superman) and the Obama administration's "Race to the Top" initiative. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Dean Feldmeyer reminds us that the religious education of our young people is of vital importance as well. Just as we rely on our educational system to prepare children with the skills they need to be good citizens and productive members of society, we also rely on our churches to ground us in the word of the Lord -- which provides us with the tools and guidance we need to navigate the treacherous waters of life. It's an issue that Paul discusses in this week's epistle text when he tells us that scripture "is useful for teaching... and training in righteousness" -- and how easy it is, when we lack that grounding, to "turn away from listening to the truth." As Dean notes, we live in a time of spiritual searching where many lack an understanding of the fundamentals of the Christian faith -- so Paul's message is still a timely and contemporary one. Indeed, Paul offers us a powerful prescription that provides the antidote to our tendency to "wander away to myths" when he tells Timothy to "proclaim the message."
Team member Ron Love provides some additional thoughts on this week's alternate Old Testament text, which tells the story of Jacob's intense spiritual struggle that results in a new identity for him. Ron notes that Jacob's experience is instructive for us, for while we may have very different ideas about the nature of the God we worship, like Jacob, we can only come to a true understanding of our Creator if we are willing to "go to the mat" and wrestle with our faith. It is our persistence with the struggle (like that of the widow in this week's gospel text) that allows us to discover the deep faith that sustains us despite the seductions of faux spirituality.
Spiritual Wanderlust
by Dean Feldmeyer
Jeremiah 31:27-34; 2 Timothy 3:15--4: 5
THE WORLD
"I am not a witch."
Thus begins a campaign ad by Christine O'Donnell, candidate for Senator from the state of Delaware.
And she isn't a witch.†She "dabbled in witchcraft" when she was a teenager.†She was looking for a religion that met her needs, and she went shopping for one she liked -- and along the way she stopped and tried on some witchcraft.†Apparently it didn't fit all that well, or it got old and wore out and she discarded it, because she now professes to be an unaffiliated evangelical Christian who attends both Protestant and Roman Catholic worship services but doesn't belong to any one church.
"I'm you," says O'Donnell in the same ad. And she isn't exactly us -- but she's very much like us, at least where religion is concerned.
We Americans like to dabble in religion.
Last year (October 2009) the Pew Forum on Religion in America showed us to be a nation that is, more and more, spiritual but not very religious. Asked to describe their beliefs, many Americans describe a theology that is a mulligan stew of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Native American spirituality, and New Age mumbo-jumbo.
In the mainline denominations, church attendance has replaced church membership as the measure of a church's success because American Christians prefer to attend churches that don't require a commitment.
An Insight Express survey conducted for Parade magazine shows that nearly 60% of Americans believe that all religions have validity.†A quarter of Americans say that while religion is part of their lives, it isn't a big part. While 69% of Americans claim to believe in God, only 27% attend religious services weekly, and a third confess to attending only rarely.
According to the latest data, those Christians for whom religion is important don't really know all that much about it.
Last year the Barna Group discovered that half of all Christians don't believe that Satan or the Holy Spirit are real, living entities. A third agreed that the Bible, the Koran, and the Book of Mormon taught the same basic truths -- and simultaneously believed that the Bible, which says some radically different things from the other two books, is "totally accurate" in its principles. Forty percent don't know what they think or how they feel about Wicca, even after they've been told that it is an "organized form of witchcraft."
And this year the Pew Forum on Religion in America has just informed us that Christians know less about their own religion than atheists and agnostics do. In fact, compared to Jews, Muslims, Mormons, atheists, and agnostics, Christians know the least about religion in general and their own religion in particular.
So... uninformed, uncommitted, unaffiliated, and unsure, we dabble.
We schlep up and down the spiritual shopping mall that is America, checking out this and trying on that, even taking some things home and trying them out for a while to see how we like them, how they fit our lifestyle, discarding one thing and keeping another until something prettier comes along.
All this dabbling might seem harmlessly eccentric (so very American) if it weren't so dangerous.
As it turns out, Alexander Hamilton's axiom about politics is equally true about religion: Those who stand for nothing will fall for anything.
In 1993 a faux-church called Greater Ministries International used Bible verses and extravagant promises to con 18,000 elderly Christians out of more than $500 million in a Ponzi scheme that was eventually discovered by the Securities and Exchange Commission. By the time they were busted they had created a phony Bible college called the "Greater Bible College of Tampa, Florida," an herbal remedy company called "Greater Life" that promised to cure cancer, and a spin-off company called the Embassy of Heaven.
Billy Sol Estes, Jim Jones, Jim Bakker, David Sousa, Robert Matthews, Cliff Whitehead, John Emmanuel, L. Ron Hubbard, David Koresh -- these are just a few of the names in the rogues gallery of religious con artists and opportunists who have led naÔve and/or uninformed Christian believers into bad investments, hyper-controlled environments, and even death traps.
The spiritual wanderlust that infects Americans can lead them to a deeper, more profound understanding of the Christian faith, or it can lead them into danger and injury. How shall we, the church, rise to this challenge?
THE WORD
Paul's prescription for spiritual wanderlust, for the tendency to dabble in religion, is nowhere articulated as clearly and as straightforwardly as it is in Second Timothy. His charge to Timothy and to us is as simple as it is difficult: "Proclaim the message."
As Christians we are called to "tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love." Tell it to our families. Tell it to our neighbors. Tell it to our coworkers. Tell it to our friends. Tell it passionately and convincingly. Tell it in the way we correct others, and tell it in the way we encourage others. Tell it soberly and seriously, tell it with laughter, tell it in stories, tell it in songs. Tell it in Morse code. Tell it in English, French, Spanish, Swahili, and Klingon.
Today's passage from Jeremiah tells of that time when we see the reward for having faithfully done our evangelistic job: "No longer will they teach one another, or say to each other, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more" (31:34).
CRAFTING THE SERMON
The Indicative:
Our inclination to dabble in other faiths is a natural outcome of our innate curiosity and our desire to discover, know, and be sure of the truth. But dabbling is playing. It is dipping one's toe in the water when what is called for is a full body plunge. A serious spiritual undertaking requires hard work, study, and mental labor.
This labor can lead us to a deeper, more profound understanding and commitment to our faith -- where dabbling tends to lead us to the brightest trinket and the sweetest cookie that is offered. And the brightest religious trinkets, the sweetest spiritual cookies are rarely as valuable as they look or as tasty as they promise to be. They fade, they get dull, and they are filled with empty calories.
All this is true for us but it is also true for the world -- our children, our grandchildren, our friends, and our neighbors.
The Imperative:
As Christians Paul's call is still before us to be evangelists, to tell the story that is our faith. We are called to tell it sensitively, kindly, gently, and appropriately, to be sure, but we are still called to tell it.
We tell it as servants, as teachers, as neighbors, and as parents. But the most effective way we tell it is as friends. We tell it with our actions and with our lips.
We never stop telling the story -- "the old, old story of Jesus and his love."
ANOTHER VIEW
A New Name
by Ron Love
Genesis 32:22-31
Recently the book America's Four Gods: What We Say about God -- and What That Says about Us has dominated the news. The book was authored by two sociology professors from Baylor University: Paul Froese and Christopher Bader. According to the authors, Americans have selected to worship one of these four prototypes of God: the Authoritative God, who is both engaged in the world and judgmental; the Benevolent God, who loves and helps us in spite of our failings; The Critical God, who catalogs our sins but does not punish them (at least not in this life); and The Distant God, who stands apart from the world he created. In their descriptive notes, the book's publisher (the Oxford University Press) writes, "The authors show that these four conceptions of God form the basis of our worldviews and are among the most powerful predictors of how we feel about the most contentious issues in American life."
The acceptance of a God that reflects one's personal beliefs is an individual decision. It is a decision that must remain absent of criticism from those who may hold a differing position. But nonetheless, it is a very important individualistic decision, for it does influence how we perceive the world and interact with others. We can only make that decision and come to our own personal understanding of God if, like Jacob, we are willing to wrestle "with the angel till daybreak."
The story of Jacob emerges on his return journey to Canaan, the land that he was previously forced to leave -- though before Jacob can re-enter the land he must discover for himself the deity to whom he will ascribe his allegiance. This sets the stage for the ensuing struggle with the angel of the Lord. It is a spiritual struggle that lasts throughout the night. In fact, it is such a ferocious struggle of the spirit that Jacob is injured with a dislocated hip. As the story continues, when morning dawns Jacob surrenders his will to the genesis God of Creation. In accepting submissiveness before the Creator, Jacob is given a new name reflective of his new blessing. From this time forward he will be called Israel, whose root meaning is "God struggles," and "God rules," and also "God heals."
The question now becomes, in seeking our personal understanding of God have we struggled to the point of being bruised spiritually? Have we come away from this intense period of self-examination with a new name -- Christian? Recall that social scientists Paul Froese and Christopher Bader outline four distinct personalities of God. The question becomes, have we, like Jacob, wrestled with the angel long enough to know and understand the attributes of God that we have integrated into our spiritual lives? It is a matter of being able to say, "I know what I believe," as opposed to just mouthing, "I believe." Jacob could not have become Israel absent of a wrestling within his soul. We too must journey to the ford at the stream of Jabbok, seeking, like Jacob, a life-changing encounter with our Creator.
One of the reasons the daily news is so disquieting is that we feel so many of our politicians, CEOs, and television personalities have never made their way down to the banks of the Jabbok. This is why there always seems to be such a disconnect between what they say in public and what they do in private. As they have not wrestled with the angel, there is a spiritual chasm between their heart and mind. Absent of being a headliner in the media, this same scenario is found among those in our churches, places of employment, community organizations, and sadly even in our own homes.
This, of course, justifiably brings forth the criticism of hypocrisy. Departing the banks of the Jabbok, Israel was not absent of faults. But the sincerity of his faith can never be questioned or disputed. So, as we come limping away from our own personal encounter with the angel, we must be certain of the attributes of the God whom we choose to follow -- be it the Authoritative God, the Benevolent God, the Critical God, or the Distant God.
You may want to follow or adapt this sermon outline:
I. Discuss the story of Jacob and his personal individual spiritual struggle. Describe how that struggle blessed him with a special calling and spiritual gifts. Discuss how Jacob made a decision to follow God and how this guided his life.
II. Share with the congregation the four types of God that Americans follow. Dialogue about the good and bad points of each. You may want to discuss how we should really follow a God whose attributes are a blending of those described by Froese and Bader.
III. Challenge your congregation to wrestle as Jacob did, so each individual parishioner has a personal understanding of God. Discuss the different ways we wrestle the angel of the Lord to come to a personal relationship with God -- that is, our salvation experience. Dialogue with the congregation regarding the individual and corporate spiritual disciplines and activities that they can participate in to remain alive in the spirit, as Jacob did throughout his life. Emphasize that once they have a name change from Jacob to Israel, they must stay focused on the task of a remaining faithful and submissive servant of God.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Alexander White was one of Scotland's greatest preachers. One Sunday he looked into the congregation and noticed that a famous scientist was in attendance. White decided that he was going to do everything he could possibly do in order to win him to the kingdom. For several weeks he preached sermons that he felt would appeal to this man's scientific mind.
When the scientist finally told the minister that he was going to make his profession and join the church, he was delighted. Alexander White then asked him what had convinced him that this was something he should do. Inwardly, White wanted to know which one of his sermons had finally convinced the man to make his commitment. To his surprise, the scientist never mentioned them. Instead, he told the pastor about an elderly lady who spoke to him on the steps of the church one Sunday. She simply asked him, "Are you a Christian?"
His response was, "I am thinking about it."
"Oh," she said, "do more than that. Jesus Christ means the world to me."
The scientist then said to the minister, "As I looked at her radiant face with its shining eyes, I knew that she had a secret which I did not have, and I wanted it with all my heart."
* * *
It is now acceptable to be late for appointments. With cell phones and texting, it is so easy to convey to the second party that one will be late and the reason why. Then, through this same form of medium, we can keep the waiting party informed on our progress to meet them. In some way, this is supposed to alleviate their inconvenience and feeling of disrespect that a scheduled appointment is not fixed but fluid.
Elizabeth Bernstein, in an article for The Wall Street Journal titled "Sick of This Text: 'Sorry I'm Late' ", reflected on how this makes the waiting party feel unimportant and disrespected. And the ability to text one's progress to the appointed place, recounting all the important interruptions that impeded this procession, gives the sender a sense of self-importance and empowerment. Lost, according to Bernstein, is the Marine Corps adage: "If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late."
Bernstein provocatively describes this new phenomenon: "Remember when we would make plans to meet someone and then actually show up on time? If you were more than a few minutes late, the other person would have visions of you lying on a gurney with a toe tag. Now, thanks to cell phones, BlackBerrys, and other gadgets, too many have become blasÈ about being late. We have so many ways to relay a message that we're going to be tardy that we no longer feel guilty about it."
Paul says, "I give you charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season." The social sciences have taught us that there is a carryover in community behavior. An aspect of this that can be seen as it relates to the church is the loss of our evangelical fervor. In the age of BlackBerrys we have lost our sense of guilt regarding the urgency of sharing the gospel message of salvation. It seems too easy, perhaps even too convenient, to text the message tomorrow rather than interrupt the activities of the day. And since all of our friends are connected to us by texting, it is known that a message not sent today will be received tomorrow.
Jesus made clear that we know not the hour or the day when he will return. This is why Paul urges us to be prepared to preach "in season and out of season." One may have lost his/her sense of guilt in making a friend wait patiently for the tardy guest to arrive for dinner; but when it comes to preaching the Word of our Lord, guilt should accompany every missed opportunity, every hour lost.
* * *
People have always loved a good story. Paul knew that and warned the Christian community that people would turn away and start listening to legends or stories. A man named James Moran knew it too. He was the master of the publicity stunt, a dying art in the advertising game. He once searched for a needle in a haystack for ten days to publicize a piece of real estate. In 1946, he sat on an ostrich egg for nineteen days, four hours and 32 minutes to publicize a book called The Egg and I. And in perhaps his most outlandish publicity stunt, Mr. Moran opened an "embassy" in Washington for a mythical country to publicize a 1959 movie called The Mouse That Roared, also about a make-believe country. James Moran was a master at getting publicity, attracting attention, and creating "legends."
Paul reminds us to ride through those times when people get distracted by stunts and teachers who tell people what they want to hear. "Endure," says Paul, "and perform your duty as a servant of God."
* * *
One of the difficulties of teaching confirmation class in a large suburban church is that each year for a number of young people, confirmation is their first experience with the church. Because their parents had drifted away from regular worship attendance themselves, or because their children did not want to go to church and the parents did not want to force them, or because Sunday morning sports practice and Sunday morning competitions kept them too busy, as many as a third of the class have little or no experience of worship or Christian education. But because their parents were raised in the church, they seem to think that confirmation is a good time for their children to "get some religion." This attitude presents two major problems. First, we are confronting a generation of Bible and faith illiterates. One year of class is no substitute for a lifetime of familiarity and instruction. Second, we are not dealing with blank slates. In place of knowing from childhood the sacred scriptures, this generation has truly wandered around to myth. The myths that hold them captive are the myths of the culture and the media, myths of greed and violence and intolerance. There is simply no substitute for a faith given in childhood, tested in adolescence, which will last you a lifetime.
* * *
There is a great deal we can learn about inviting people to church from the salesman's manual. First, we need to know that only one in ten "cold calls" (sales calls made to someone who has shown no previous interest) will buy whatever we have to sell. So, the salesman has to learn that there is no such thing as "a good time" to sell. One gets up every day and gets on the phone or goes out the door, and makes those calls. Do not let a "no" undermine your confidence, or convince you that you are not a salesperson. Persistence is the thing that sells, even if the salesman has no great flair for words.
But persistence alone is not enough, especially when selling what the sales professional calls "a big ticket item" (such as a major appliance, car, or house). Sales manuals counsel the use of a variety of techniques, approaches, and arguments for the customer's need of whatever it is that's being sold. And, the saleswoman is told, don't be afraid to call back; after thinking it over, the customer may decide that this house is exactly the one that will accommodate his family plans. Your timing may be lucky -- their old car just stopped dead on the freeway -- and the sale will be made immediately. But even if the person says "no" a second or third time, the fourth or fifth time may be the day the sale is made. Patience in answering questions and meeting objections, persistence, and a knack for listening to what people do not say all help to make the sale.
* * *
Paul urges Timothy to be persistent in proclamation of the gospel, in favorable or unfavorable times. As parents, we often urge our children to be persistent in their various activities of life. Indeed, many of the stories we read to our children have persistence as a theme or subtheme.
Consider the fable of "The Hare and the Tortoise." The tortoise, in a very unfavorable race, persistently moves toward the goal. The tortoise never gives up, despite the snickers of the crowd and the sneers from the hare. The tortoise reaches the goal.
Then there is "The Little Engine that Could." Left in the roundhouse because he was thought too little and weak, the engine knew his capabilities and wanted the chance to prove himself. One day when all of the bigger, more powerful engines are out, he gets his chance to pull a train of toys over the mountain. Who can forget the scene, as he chugs up the mountain, repeating the mantra, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can," until he reaches the apex of the mountain in triumph.
Paul knew that there would be days when Timothy would feel like cashing in. "Be persistent, Timothy. God is with you."
* * *
When Jacob wrestled with the angel on the banks of Jabbok stream, it was to determine who was going to be his god. Would he continue to worship Baal from the land of exile? Would he indulge himself in idolatry, seeking solace from a god who could neither speak nor touch? Would he place his allegiance in wealth and political power, knowing that buying favors and ruling armies is the true source of community power? Would he seek out the god of his ancestors, the Creator of the heavens and the earth? As the story progresses, we know Jacob left Jabbok's stream limping, realizing that the God who presided over the Garden of Eden is the only true and faithful God.
But one can only dread how horribly lost this message has become today. We have forsaken our admiration for the god-fearing, only to replace it with the media savvy. Forbes magazine recently released their annual list of the 100 most influential women in the world. Respectfully, First Lady Michelle Obama was listed first for her humanitarian efforts and social programs on behalf of the poor. What has everyone astir is that Lady Gaga, dressed in her meat dress reflective of her vindictive personality, was listed as seventh. It seems that Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor (19th) and Elena Kagan (25th) add less to the community than one who either appears on stage naked or dresses only in an outfit of hair. One can only conclude that with Lady Gaga holding the esteem of our nation, few people have ventured with Jacob to Jabbok's stream.
This list, standing alone, should be enough to summon our nation to spiritual renewal.
* * *
In Toni Morrison's Noble Prize-winning book Beloved, paternal grandmother Jenny Whitlow is affectionately known as "Baby Suggs." Having endured the rigors of slavery, six mates none of her choosing and eight children, now as an emancipated individual she seeks only peace and harmony among the races. She also desires that her fellow Negros learn to love and honor their bodies and to shed the self-denigration wrought by slavery. In speaking to her daughter-in-law, who is struggling to redeem a broken life in a white world, Morrison pens this account of their redeeming encounter. It is presented from the perspective of Baby Suggs: "Who decided that, because slave life had 'busted her legs, back, head, eyes, hands, kidneys, womb, and tongue,' she had nothing left to make a living with but her heart -- which she put to work at once." In so doing, Baby Suggs "became an unchurched preacher, one who visited pulpits and opened her great heart to those who could use it."
In a story that emulates that of Jacob, Baby Suggs wrestled with the angel to discover her calling in life. She was left bruised and battered, disfigurements that came less from the angel than from a relentless and unyielding racist society. Yet, symbolically, she still needed to visit the banks of the Jabbok to learn that a body whose hands were broken and a womb that was left forever void could still minister in the name of God. So as she stirred the waters of Jabbok stream and the angel departed at sunrise, she found that her gift was in a heart that knew how to preach love and peace, patience and self-acceptance.
We are not equal in our abilities or in our stature in the local community. There are many who are more charismatic, possess greater physical coordination, and have a family name that will propel them to be recognized as the natural leaders, ability notwithstanding. But these attributes are superficial when compared to the greatest gift of all -- a heart that loves God and can convey that love in convincing speech and actions. This we will learn at the waters of Jabbok's stream.
* * *
There's a famous scene from the musical Fiddler on the Roof, in which Tevye turns to his wife Golda -- the woman he married years before, in a marriage arranged by their parents -- and asks her in song, "Golda, do you love me?"
"Do I what?" Golda sings back. "For 25 years I've washed your clothes, cooked your meals, shared your bed, raised your children, and now you ask, 'Do I love you?' "
"I know, Golda," says Tevye, "and I'm grateful, but do you love me?"
They go on for a while with this back-and-forth exchange in the song, but by the end of it they've come to the conclusion that, yes, the two of them do love each other, deeply. When they look at all they've been through together, it's the only logical conclusion. Tevye and Golda are in love.
We can't practice prayer -- or the faith that undergirds it -- in a few brief moments of half-hearted requests. We've got to demonstrate the same persistence, sustained over time, as the poor, desperate widow knocking on the judge's door.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Oh, how lovely is God's way!
People: It is our meditation all day long.
Leader: How sweet are God's words!
People: They are sweeter than honey in our mouths.
Leader: God's teaching gives understanding.
People: Therefore we do not walk in the way that is false.
OR
Leader: Come and learn from God the way of life.
People: We come seeking life, abundant and full.
Leader: God's ways are sweet and dear to the heart.
People: We will commit God's way to our soul.
Leader: God receives all those who seek life in God.
People: In God alone is our true life.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"All People that on Earth Do Dwell"
found in:
UMH: 75
H82: 377, 378
PH: 220, 221
NNBH: 36
NCH: 7
CH: 18
LBW: 245
"The God of Abraham Praise"
found in:
UMH: 116
H82: 401
CH: 544
LBW: 51
Renew: 24
"We Believe in One True God"
found in:
UMH: 85
"Let Us Plead for Faith Alone"
found in:
UMH: 385
"When Our Confidence Is Shaken"
found in:
UMH: 505
CH: 534
"How Firm a Foundation"
found in:
UMH: 529
H82: 636, 637
PH: 361
AAHH: 146
NNBH: 48
NCH: 407
CH: 618
LBW: 507
"The Church's One Foundation"
found in:
UMH: 545, 546
H82: 525
PH: 442
AAHH: 337
NNBH: 297
NCH: 386
CH: 272
LBW: 365
"Break Thou the Bread of Life"
found in:
UMH: 599
PH: 329
AAHH: 334
NNBH: 295
NCH: 321
CH: 321
LBW: 235
"Thy Word Is a Lamp"
found in:
UMH: 601
Renew: 94
"Open Our Eyes, Lord"
found in:
CCB: 77
Renew: 91
"We Believe (in God the Father)"
found in:
Renew: 156
"We Believe in God Almighty"
found in:
Renew: 157
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God whose great desire is to bring abundant life to your children: Grant us the wisdom to learn from you and to follow your path through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come to worship you, the God who created us, and to learn from you the true way we need to follow to find abundant life. Open our hearts and minds to the power of your Spirit that we may learn from you and follow you all our days. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways in which we make up our own rules for life.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have used your counsel and direction for our own gain and not to reach you and the abundant life you desire for us. We have taken your counsels that suit us and prop up our own views and ignored the rest. We have not been good students, but have, in sloth, taken the easy way. Forgive us and renew us in your Spirit that we might better learn of you and your ways and allow them to transform us into your image. Amen.
Leader: God is the loving one who gave us life and the Way of Life. God delights when we turn and return to our senses. Come and learn of God that you may have life eternal.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We come to worship and adore the God who gives us life and the way that leads to life eternal.
(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 used your counsel and direction for our own gain and not to reach you and the abundant life you desire for us. We have taken your counsels that suit us and prop up our own views and ignored the rest. We have not been good students, but have, in sloth, taken the easy way. Forgive us and renew us in your Spirit that we might better learn of you and your ways and allow them to transform us into your image.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which you have brought life, abundant and joyful, to us. You have loved us and cared for us in ways that are evident to us and in many other ways that we have not noticed. We thank you most of all for Jesus, who comes to lead us to you and to life eternal.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We offer to you the world that you love and care for. As you watch over it and long to draw your creatures to you, help us to be part of that love that draws people to life. We are painfully aware of the many ways in which your creatures ignore your call and head to death. May your love draw them, at last, to you and to your life.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Visuals
a conglomeration of objects signifying various religions and ways of life
Children's Sermon Starter
Make up your own version of a game the children know how to play, such as "Follow the Pastor" or "Pastor, May I?" As you play the game with the children, keep bringing up special rules that apply to your version. After it becomes clear that it isn't working because the children don't know the "special" rules, but before they get really frustrated, talk with them about how even a game isn't fun if you don't know the directions. Life has a set of directions as well, and church and Sunday school are two places where we learn how to live life well. That is why it is so important for us to be here and to learn about Jesus and how he wants us to live our lives.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Keep On...
2 Timothy 3:14--4:5
Object: any can of vegetables
Good morning, boys and girls! When I was young I didn't care too much for vegetables, so I put them aside and hid them in my room. One day I looked at the vegetables I had hidden, and they were all brown-colored and they didn't smell so good! That was when I learned that things sometimes "spoil" -- they get bad. I know of another adult who put her vegetables down the heater vents when she was a child. That really smelled! Have you ever seen anything spoil? (let them answer)
We keep things from spoiling by canning them. I brought this can of vegetables to show how canning something can keep things for a long time. This is not the season for these vegetables. If these were not put in a can, they would have turned rotten a long time ago. But because they are canned, they are still good.
What you and I learn in Sunday school is something that doesn't grow old or turn bad. We are learning about the truth of God and that truth stays the same forever! But do you think that sometimes people forget what they learn about God? (let them answer) I believe sometimes that can happen.
The man named Paul was concerned about a young man named Timothy. He didn't want Timothy to forget the truth about God, and so he told him to "continue in what you have learned...."
That is good advice for us today, too. We should "continue" in what we have learned so that we don't forget the important things we learn here at church. That means we should continue coming to church and Sunday school. We should continue to believe the things we learn here and from our parents.
Prayer: Dear God, help us continue in what we have learned and firmly believed. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, October 17, 2010, issue.
Copyright 2010 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.
Education is a big topic in the news these days, as many express concern for how well our public schools are preparing children for the many challenges of the twenty-first century. We are told that while our colleges and universities remain some of the world's finest, statistics indicate that our elementary and secondary students lag well behind their peers throughout the world -- especially in subjects like math and science that are particularly important given the advanced technology of today's world. Several approaches to reforming our educational system have been experimented with, including charter schools (the subject of the new documentary Waiting for Superman) and the Obama administration's "Race to the Top" initiative. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Dean Feldmeyer reminds us that the religious education of our young people is of vital importance as well. Just as we rely on our educational system to prepare children with the skills they need to be good citizens and productive members of society, we also rely on our churches to ground us in the word of the Lord -- which provides us with the tools and guidance we need to navigate the treacherous waters of life. It's an issue that Paul discusses in this week's epistle text when he tells us that scripture "is useful for teaching... and training in righteousness" -- and how easy it is, when we lack that grounding, to "turn away from listening to the truth." As Dean notes, we live in a time of spiritual searching where many lack an understanding of the fundamentals of the Christian faith -- so Paul's message is still a timely and contemporary one. Indeed, Paul offers us a powerful prescription that provides the antidote to our tendency to "wander away to myths" when he tells Timothy to "proclaim the message."
Team member Ron Love provides some additional thoughts on this week's alternate Old Testament text, which tells the story of Jacob's intense spiritual struggle that results in a new identity for him. Ron notes that Jacob's experience is instructive for us, for while we may have very different ideas about the nature of the God we worship, like Jacob, we can only come to a true understanding of our Creator if we are willing to "go to the mat" and wrestle with our faith. It is our persistence with the struggle (like that of the widow in this week's gospel text) that allows us to discover the deep faith that sustains us despite the seductions of faux spirituality.
Spiritual Wanderlust
by Dean Feldmeyer
Jeremiah 31:27-34; 2 Timothy 3:15--4: 5
THE WORLD
"I am not a witch."
Thus begins a campaign ad by Christine O'Donnell, candidate for Senator from the state of Delaware.
And she isn't a witch.†She "dabbled in witchcraft" when she was a teenager.†She was looking for a religion that met her needs, and she went shopping for one she liked -- and along the way she stopped and tried on some witchcraft.†Apparently it didn't fit all that well, or it got old and wore out and she discarded it, because she now professes to be an unaffiliated evangelical Christian who attends both Protestant and Roman Catholic worship services but doesn't belong to any one church.
"I'm you," says O'Donnell in the same ad. And she isn't exactly us -- but she's very much like us, at least where religion is concerned.
We Americans like to dabble in religion.
Last year (October 2009) the Pew Forum on Religion in America showed us to be a nation that is, more and more, spiritual but not very religious. Asked to describe their beliefs, many Americans describe a theology that is a mulligan stew of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Native American spirituality, and New Age mumbo-jumbo.
In the mainline denominations, church attendance has replaced church membership as the measure of a church's success because American Christians prefer to attend churches that don't require a commitment.
An Insight Express survey conducted for Parade magazine shows that nearly 60% of Americans believe that all religions have validity.†A quarter of Americans say that while religion is part of their lives, it isn't a big part. While 69% of Americans claim to believe in God, only 27% attend religious services weekly, and a third confess to attending only rarely.
According to the latest data, those Christians for whom religion is important don't really know all that much about it.
Last year the Barna Group discovered that half of all Christians don't believe that Satan or the Holy Spirit are real, living entities. A third agreed that the Bible, the Koran, and the Book of Mormon taught the same basic truths -- and simultaneously believed that the Bible, which says some radically different things from the other two books, is "totally accurate" in its principles. Forty percent don't know what they think or how they feel about Wicca, even after they've been told that it is an "organized form of witchcraft."
And this year the Pew Forum on Religion in America has just informed us that Christians know less about their own religion than atheists and agnostics do. In fact, compared to Jews, Muslims, Mormons, atheists, and agnostics, Christians know the least about religion in general and their own religion in particular.
So... uninformed, uncommitted, unaffiliated, and unsure, we dabble.
We schlep up and down the spiritual shopping mall that is America, checking out this and trying on that, even taking some things home and trying them out for a while to see how we like them, how they fit our lifestyle, discarding one thing and keeping another until something prettier comes along.
All this dabbling might seem harmlessly eccentric (so very American) if it weren't so dangerous.
As it turns out, Alexander Hamilton's axiom about politics is equally true about religion: Those who stand for nothing will fall for anything.
In 1993 a faux-church called Greater Ministries International used Bible verses and extravagant promises to con 18,000 elderly Christians out of more than $500 million in a Ponzi scheme that was eventually discovered by the Securities and Exchange Commission. By the time they were busted they had created a phony Bible college called the "Greater Bible College of Tampa, Florida," an herbal remedy company called "Greater Life" that promised to cure cancer, and a spin-off company called the Embassy of Heaven.
Billy Sol Estes, Jim Jones, Jim Bakker, David Sousa, Robert Matthews, Cliff Whitehead, John Emmanuel, L. Ron Hubbard, David Koresh -- these are just a few of the names in the rogues gallery of religious con artists and opportunists who have led naÔve and/or uninformed Christian believers into bad investments, hyper-controlled environments, and even death traps.
The spiritual wanderlust that infects Americans can lead them to a deeper, more profound understanding of the Christian faith, or it can lead them into danger and injury. How shall we, the church, rise to this challenge?
THE WORD
Paul's prescription for spiritual wanderlust, for the tendency to dabble in religion, is nowhere articulated as clearly and as straightforwardly as it is in Second Timothy. His charge to Timothy and to us is as simple as it is difficult: "Proclaim the message."
As Christians we are called to "tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love." Tell it to our families. Tell it to our neighbors. Tell it to our coworkers. Tell it to our friends. Tell it passionately and convincingly. Tell it in the way we correct others, and tell it in the way we encourage others. Tell it soberly and seriously, tell it with laughter, tell it in stories, tell it in songs. Tell it in Morse code. Tell it in English, French, Spanish, Swahili, and Klingon.
Today's passage from Jeremiah tells of that time when we see the reward for having faithfully done our evangelistic job: "No longer will they teach one another, or say to each other, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more" (31:34).
CRAFTING THE SERMON
The Indicative:
Our inclination to dabble in other faiths is a natural outcome of our innate curiosity and our desire to discover, know, and be sure of the truth. But dabbling is playing. It is dipping one's toe in the water when what is called for is a full body plunge. A serious spiritual undertaking requires hard work, study, and mental labor.
This labor can lead us to a deeper, more profound understanding and commitment to our faith -- where dabbling tends to lead us to the brightest trinket and the sweetest cookie that is offered. And the brightest religious trinkets, the sweetest spiritual cookies are rarely as valuable as they look or as tasty as they promise to be. They fade, they get dull, and they are filled with empty calories.
All this is true for us but it is also true for the world -- our children, our grandchildren, our friends, and our neighbors.
The Imperative:
As Christians Paul's call is still before us to be evangelists, to tell the story that is our faith. We are called to tell it sensitively, kindly, gently, and appropriately, to be sure, but we are still called to tell it.
We tell it as servants, as teachers, as neighbors, and as parents. But the most effective way we tell it is as friends. We tell it with our actions and with our lips.
We never stop telling the story -- "the old, old story of Jesus and his love."
ANOTHER VIEW
A New Name
by Ron Love
Genesis 32:22-31
Recently the book America's Four Gods: What We Say about God -- and What That Says about Us has dominated the news. The book was authored by two sociology professors from Baylor University: Paul Froese and Christopher Bader. According to the authors, Americans have selected to worship one of these four prototypes of God: the Authoritative God, who is both engaged in the world and judgmental; the Benevolent God, who loves and helps us in spite of our failings; The Critical God, who catalogs our sins but does not punish them (at least not in this life); and The Distant God, who stands apart from the world he created. In their descriptive notes, the book's publisher (the Oxford University Press) writes, "The authors show that these four conceptions of God form the basis of our worldviews and are among the most powerful predictors of how we feel about the most contentious issues in American life."
The acceptance of a God that reflects one's personal beliefs is an individual decision. It is a decision that must remain absent of criticism from those who may hold a differing position. But nonetheless, it is a very important individualistic decision, for it does influence how we perceive the world and interact with others. We can only make that decision and come to our own personal understanding of God if, like Jacob, we are willing to wrestle "with the angel till daybreak."
The story of Jacob emerges on his return journey to Canaan, the land that he was previously forced to leave -- though before Jacob can re-enter the land he must discover for himself the deity to whom he will ascribe his allegiance. This sets the stage for the ensuing struggle with the angel of the Lord. It is a spiritual struggle that lasts throughout the night. In fact, it is such a ferocious struggle of the spirit that Jacob is injured with a dislocated hip. As the story continues, when morning dawns Jacob surrenders his will to the genesis God of Creation. In accepting submissiveness before the Creator, Jacob is given a new name reflective of his new blessing. From this time forward he will be called Israel, whose root meaning is "God struggles," and "God rules," and also "God heals."
The question now becomes, in seeking our personal understanding of God have we struggled to the point of being bruised spiritually? Have we come away from this intense period of self-examination with a new name -- Christian? Recall that social scientists Paul Froese and Christopher Bader outline four distinct personalities of God. The question becomes, have we, like Jacob, wrestled with the angel long enough to know and understand the attributes of God that we have integrated into our spiritual lives? It is a matter of being able to say, "I know what I believe," as opposed to just mouthing, "I believe." Jacob could not have become Israel absent of a wrestling within his soul. We too must journey to the ford at the stream of Jabbok, seeking, like Jacob, a life-changing encounter with our Creator.
One of the reasons the daily news is so disquieting is that we feel so many of our politicians, CEOs, and television personalities have never made their way down to the banks of the Jabbok. This is why there always seems to be such a disconnect between what they say in public and what they do in private. As they have not wrestled with the angel, there is a spiritual chasm between their heart and mind. Absent of being a headliner in the media, this same scenario is found among those in our churches, places of employment, community organizations, and sadly even in our own homes.
This, of course, justifiably brings forth the criticism of hypocrisy. Departing the banks of the Jabbok, Israel was not absent of faults. But the sincerity of his faith can never be questioned or disputed. So, as we come limping away from our own personal encounter with the angel, we must be certain of the attributes of the God whom we choose to follow -- be it the Authoritative God, the Benevolent God, the Critical God, or the Distant God.
You may want to follow or adapt this sermon outline:
I. Discuss the story of Jacob and his personal individual spiritual struggle. Describe how that struggle blessed him with a special calling and spiritual gifts. Discuss how Jacob made a decision to follow God and how this guided his life.
II. Share with the congregation the four types of God that Americans follow. Dialogue about the good and bad points of each. You may want to discuss how we should really follow a God whose attributes are a blending of those described by Froese and Bader.
III. Challenge your congregation to wrestle as Jacob did, so each individual parishioner has a personal understanding of God. Discuss the different ways we wrestle the angel of the Lord to come to a personal relationship with God -- that is, our salvation experience. Dialogue with the congregation regarding the individual and corporate spiritual disciplines and activities that they can participate in to remain alive in the spirit, as Jacob did throughout his life. Emphasize that once they have a name change from Jacob to Israel, they must stay focused on the task of a remaining faithful and submissive servant of God.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Alexander White was one of Scotland's greatest preachers. One Sunday he looked into the congregation and noticed that a famous scientist was in attendance. White decided that he was going to do everything he could possibly do in order to win him to the kingdom. For several weeks he preached sermons that he felt would appeal to this man's scientific mind.
When the scientist finally told the minister that he was going to make his profession and join the church, he was delighted. Alexander White then asked him what had convinced him that this was something he should do. Inwardly, White wanted to know which one of his sermons had finally convinced the man to make his commitment. To his surprise, the scientist never mentioned them. Instead, he told the pastor about an elderly lady who spoke to him on the steps of the church one Sunday. She simply asked him, "Are you a Christian?"
His response was, "I am thinking about it."
"Oh," she said, "do more than that. Jesus Christ means the world to me."
The scientist then said to the minister, "As I looked at her radiant face with its shining eyes, I knew that she had a secret which I did not have, and I wanted it with all my heart."
* * *
It is now acceptable to be late for appointments. With cell phones and texting, it is so easy to convey to the second party that one will be late and the reason why. Then, through this same form of medium, we can keep the waiting party informed on our progress to meet them. In some way, this is supposed to alleviate their inconvenience and feeling of disrespect that a scheduled appointment is not fixed but fluid.
Elizabeth Bernstein, in an article for The Wall Street Journal titled "Sick of This Text: 'Sorry I'm Late' ", reflected on how this makes the waiting party feel unimportant and disrespected. And the ability to text one's progress to the appointed place, recounting all the important interruptions that impeded this procession, gives the sender a sense of self-importance and empowerment. Lost, according to Bernstein, is the Marine Corps adage: "If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late."
Bernstein provocatively describes this new phenomenon: "Remember when we would make plans to meet someone and then actually show up on time? If you were more than a few minutes late, the other person would have visions of you lying on a gurney with a toe tag. Now, thanks to cell phones, BlackBerrys, and other gadgets, too many have become blasÈ about being late. We have so many ways to relay a message that we're going to be tardy that we no longer feel guilty about it."
Paul says, "I give you charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season." The social sciences have taught us that there is a carryover in community behavior. An aspect of this that can be seen as it relates to the church is the loss of our evangelical fervor. In the age of BlackBerrys we have lost our sense of guilt regarding the urgency of sharing the gospel message of salvation. It seems too easy, perhaps even too convenient, to text the message tomorrow rather than interrupt the activities of the day. And since all of our friends are connected to us by texting, it is known that a message not sent today will be received tomorrow.
Jesus made clear that we know not the hour or the day when he will return. This is why Paul urges us to be prepared to preach "in season and out of season." One may have lost his/her sense of guilt in making a friend wait patiently for the tardy guest to arrive for dinner; but when it comes to preaching the Word of our Lord, guilt should accompany every missed opportunity, every hour lost.
* * *
People have always loved a good story. Paul knew that and warned the Christian community that people would turn away and start listening to legends or stories. A man named James Moran knew it too. He was the master of the publicity stunt, a dying art in the advertising game. He once searched for a needle in a haystack for ten days to publicize a piece of real estate. In 1946, he sat on an ostrich egg for nineteen days, four hours and 32 minutes to publicize a book called The Egg and I. And in perhaps his most outlandish publicity stunt, Mr. Moran opened an "embassy" in Washington for a mythical country to publicize a 1959 movie called The Mouse That Roared, also about a make-believe country. James Moran was a master at getting publicity, attracting attention, and creating "legends."
Paul reminds us to ride through those times when people get distracted by stunts and teachers who tell people what they want to hear. "Endure," says Paul, "and perform your duty as a servant of God."
* * *
One of the difficulties of teaching confirmation class in a large suburban church is that each year for a number of young people, confirmation is their first experience with the church. Because their parents had drifted away from regular worship attendance themselves, or because their children did not want to go to church and the parents did not want to force them, or because Sunday morning sports practice and Sunday morning competitions kept them too busy, as many as a third of the class have little or no experience of worship or Christian education. But because their parents were raised in the church, they seem to think that confirmation is a good time for their children to "get some religion." This attitude presents two major problems. First, we are confronting a generation of Bible and faith illiterates. One year of class is no substitute for a lifetime of familiarity and instruction. Second, we are not dealing with blank slates. In place of knowing from childhood the sacred scriptures, this generation has truly wandered around to myth. The myths that hold them captive are the myths of the culture and the media, myths of greed and violence and intolerance. There is simply no substitute for a faith given in childhood, tested in adolescence, which will last you a lifetime.
* * *
There is a great deal we can learn about inviting people to church from the salesman's manual. First, we need to know that only one in ten "cold calls" (sales calls made to someone who has shown no previous interest) will buy whatever we have to sell. So, the salesman has to learn that there is no such thing as "a good time" to sell. One gets up every day and gets on the phone or goes out the door, and makes those calls. Do not let a "no" undermine your confidence, or convince you that you are not a salesperson. Persistence is the thing that sells, even if the salesman has no great flair for words.
But persistence alone is not enough, especially when selling what the sales professional calls "a big ticket item" (such as a major appliance, car, or house). Sales manuals counsel the use of a variety of techniques, approaches, and arguments for the customer's need of whatever it is that's being sold. And, the saleswoman is told, don't be afraid to call back; after thinking it over, the customer may decide that this house is exactly the one that will accommodate his family plans. Your timing may be lucky -- their old car just stopped dead on the freeway -- and the sale will be made immediately. But even if the person says "no" a second or third time, the fourth or fifth time may be the day the sale is made. Patience in answering questions and meeting objections, persistence, and a knack for listening to what people do not say all help to make the sale.
* * *
Paul urges Timothy to be persistent in proclamation of the gospel, in favorable or unfavorable times. As parents, we often urge our children to be persistent in their various activities of life. Indeed, many of the stories we read to our children have persistence as a theme or subtheme.
Consider the fable of "The Hare and the Tortoise." The tortoise, in a very unfavorable race, persistently moves toward the goal. The tortoise never gives up, despite the snickers of the crowd and the sneers from the hare. The tortoise reaches the goal.
Then there is "The Little Engine that Could." Left in the roundhouse because he was thought too little and weak, the engine knew his capabilities and wanted the chance to prove himself. One day when all of the bigger, more powerful engines are out, he gets his chance to pull a train of toys over the mountain. Who can forget the scene, as he chugs up the mountain, repeating the mantra, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can," until he reaches the apex of the mountain in triumph.
Paul knew that there would be days when Timothy would feel like cashing in. "Be persistent, Timothy. God is with you."
* * *
When Jacob wrestled with the angel on the banks of Jabbok stream, it was to determine who was going to be his god. Would he continue to worship Baal from the land of exile? Would he indulge himself in idolatry, seeking solace from a god who could neither speak nor touch? Would he place his allegiance in wealth and political power, knowing that buying favors and ruling armies is the true source of community power? Would he seek out the god of his ancestors, the Creator of the heavens and the earth? As the story progresses, we know Jacob left Jabbok's stream limping, realizing that the God who presided over the Garden of Eden is the only true and faithful God.
But one can only dread how horribly lost this message has become today. We have forsaken our admiration for the god-fearing, only to replace it with the media savvy. Forbes magazine recently released their annual list of the 100 most influential women in the world. Respectfully, First Lady Michelle Obama was listed first for her humanitarian efforts and social programs on behalf of the poor. What has everyone astir is that Lady Gaga, dressed in her meat dress reflective of her vindictive personality, was listed as seventh. It seems that Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor (19th) and Elena Kagan (25th) add less to the community than one who either appears on stage naked or dresses only in an outfit of hair. One can only conclude that with Lady Gaga holding the esteem of our nation, few people have ventured with Jacob to Jabbok's stream.
This list, standing alone, should be enough to summon our nation to spiritual renewal.
* * *
In Toni Morrison's Noble Prize-winning book Beloved, paternal grandmother Jenny Whitlow is affectionately known as "Baby Suggs." Having endured the rigors of slavery, six mates none of her choosing and eight children, now as an emancipated individual she seeks only peace and harmony among the races. She also desires that her fellow Negros learn to love and honor their bodies and to shed the self-denigration wrought by slavery. In speaking to her daughter-in-law, who is struggling to redeem a broken life in a white world, Morrison pens this account of their redeeming encounter. It is presented from the perspective of Baby Suggs: "Who decided that, because slave life had 'busted her legs, back, head, eyes, hands, kidneys, womb, and tongue,' she had nothing left to make a living with but her heart -- which she put to work at once." In so doing, Baby Suggs "became an unchurched preacher, one who visited pulpits and opened her great heart to those who could use it."
In a story that emulates that of Jacob, Baby Suggs wrestled with the angel to discover her calling in life. She was left bruised and battered, disfigurements that came less from the angel than from a relentless and unyielding racist society. Yet, symbolically, she still needed to visit the banks of the Jabbok to learn that a body whose hands were broken and a womb that was left forever void could still minister in the name of God. So as she stirred the waters of Jabbok stream and the angel departed at sunrise, she found that her gift was in a heart that knew how to preach love and peace, patience and self-acceptance.
We are not equal in our abilities or in our stature in the local community. There are many who are more charismatic, possess greater physical coordination, and have a family name that will propel them to be recognized as the natural leaders, ability notwithstanding. But these attributes are superficial when compared to the greatest gift of all -- a heart that loves God and can convey that love in convincing speech and actions. This we will learn at the waters of Jabbok's stream.
* * *
There's a famous scene from the musical Fiddler on the Roof, in which Tevye turns to his wife Golda -- the woman he married years before, in a marriage arranged by their parents -- and asks her in song, "Golda, do you love me?"
"Do I what?" Golda sings back. "For 25 years I've washed your clothes, cooked your meals, shared your bed, raised your children, and now you ask, 'Do I love you?' "
"I know, Golda," says Tevye, "and I'm grateful, but do you love me?"
They go on for a while with this back-and-forth exchange in the song, but by the end of it they've come to the conclusion that, yes, the two of them do love each other, deeply. When they look at all they've been through together, it's the only logical conclusion. Tevye and Golda are in love.
We can't practice prayer -- or the faith that undergirds it -- in a few brief moments of half-hearted requests. We've got to demonstrate the same persistence, sustained over time, as the poor, desperate widow knocking on the judge's door.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Oh, how lovely is God's way!
People: It is our meditation all day long.
Leader: How sweet are God's words!
People: They are sweeter than honey in our mouths.
Leader: God's teaching gives understanding.
People: Therefore we do not walk in the way that is false.
OR
Leader: Come and learn from God the way of life.
People: We come seeking life, abundant and full.
Leader: God's ways are sweet and dear to the heart.
People: We will commit God's way to our soul.
Leader: God receives all those who seek life in God.
People: In God alone is our true life.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"All People that on Earth Do Dwell"
found in:
UMH: 75
H82: 377, 378
PH: 220, 221
NNBH: 36
NCH: 7
CH: 18
LBW: 245
"The God of Abraham Praise"
found in:
UMH: 116
H82: 401
CH: 544
LBW: 51
Renew: 24
"We Believe in One True God"
found in:
UMH: 85
"Let Us Plead for Faith Alone"
found in:
UMH: 385
"When Our Confidence Is Shaken"
found in:
UMH: 505
CH: 534
"How Firm a Foundation"
found in:
UMH: 529
H82: 636, 637
PH: 361
AAHH: 146
NNBH: 48
NCH: 407
CH: 618
LBW: 507
"The Church's One Foundation"
found in:
UMH: 545, 546
H82: 525
PH: 442
AAHH: 337
NNBH: 297
NCH: 386
CH: 272
LBW: 365
"Break Thou the Bread of Life"
found in:
UMH: 599
PH: 329
AAHH: 334
NNBH: 295
NCH: 321
CH: 321
LBW: 235
"Thy Word Is a Lamp"
found in:
UMH: 601
Renew: 94
"Open Our Eyes, Lord"
found in:
CCB: 77
Renew: 91
"We Believe (in God the Father)"
found in:
Renew: 156
"We Believe in God Almighty"
found in:
Renew: 157
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God whose great desire is to bring abundant life to your children: Grant us the wisdom to learn from you and to follow your path through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come to worship you, the God who created us, and to learn from you the true way we need to follow to find abundant life. Open our hearts and minds to the power of your Spirit that we may learn from you and follow you all our days. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways in which we make up our own rules for life.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have used your counsel and direction for our own gain and not to reach you and the abundant life you desire for us. We have taken your counsels that suit us and prop up our own views and ignored the rest. We have not been good students, but have, in sloth, taken the easy way. Forgive us and renew us in your Spirit that we might better learn of you and your ways and allow them to transform us into your image. Amen.
Leader: God is the loving one who gave us life and the Way of Life. God delights when we turn and return to our senses. Come and learn of God that you may have life eternal.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We come to worship and adore the God who gives us life and the way that leads to life eternal.
(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 used your counsel and direction for our own gain and not to reach you and the abundant life you desire for us. We have taken your counsels that suit us and prop up our own views and ignored the rest. We have not been good students, but have, in sloth, taken the easy way. Forgive us and renew us in your Spirit that we might better learn of you and your ways and allow them to transform us into your image.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which you have brought life, abundant and joyful, to us. You have loved us and cared for us in ways that are evident to us and in many other ways that we have not noticed. We thank you most of all for Jesus, who comes to lead us to you and to life eternal.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We offer to you the world that you love and care for. As you watch over it and long to draw your creatures to you, help us to be part of that love that draws people to life. We are painfully aware of the many ways in which your creatures ignore your call and head to death. May your love draw them, at last, to you and to your life.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Visuals
a conglomeration of objects signifying various religions and ways of life
Children's Sermon Starter
Make up your own version of a game the children know how to play, such as "Follow the Pastor" or "Pastor, May I?" As you play the game with the children, keep bringing up special rules that apply to your version. After it becomes clear that it isn't working because the children don't know the "special" rules, but before they get really frustrated, talk with them about how even a game isn't fun if you don't know the directions. Life has a set of directions as well, and church and Sunday school are two places where we learn how to live life well. That is why it is so important for us to be here and to learn about Jesus and how he wants us to live our lives.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Keep On...
2 Timothy 3:14--4:5
Object: any can of vegetables
Good morning, boys and girls! When I was young I didn't care too much for vegetables, so I put them aside and hid them in my room. One day I looked at the vegetables I had hidden, and they were all brown-colored and they didn't smell so good! That was when I learned that things sometimes "spoil" -- they get bad. I know of another adult who put her vegetables down the heater vents when she was a child. That really smelled! Have you ever seen anything spoil? (let them answer)
We keep things from spoiling by canning them. I brought this can of vegetables to show how canning something can keep things for a long time. This is not the season for these vegetables. If these were not put in a can, they would have turned rotten a long time ago. But because they are canned, they are still good.
What you and I learn in Sunday school is something that doesn't grow old or turn bad. We are learning about the truth of God and that truth stays the same forever! But do you think that sometimes people forget what they learn about God? (let them answer) I believe sometimes that can happen.
The man named Paul was concerned about a young man named Timothy. He didn't want Timothy to forget the truth about God, and so he told him to "continue in what you have learned...."
That is good advice for us today, too. We should "continue" in what we have learned so that we don't forget the important things we learn here at church. That means we should continue coming to church and Sunday school. We should continue to believe the things we learn here and from our parents.
Prayer: Dear God, help us continue in what we have learned and firmly believed. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, October 17, 2010, issue.
Copyright 2010 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.
