Immediate Word

When the disciples marvel at the impressive physical structure of the Jerusalem temple (“What large stones and what large buildings!”) in this week’s gospel text, their observation implies an expectation that such imposing buildings should last for at least as long as medieval cathedrals have. But Jesus essentially tells the incredulous disciples “Not so fast, my friends” as he warns them: “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

As team member Dean Feldmeyer points out in this installment of The Immediate Word, it’s not just buildings like the temple that crumble; many of our society’s most cherished institutions, which we assume will stand the test of time, are also destined to fade away. One might even get the impression that this could be the fate of the church in this country as well, based on the Pew Research Center’s latest data and its conclusions that “Americans’ faith in God may be eroding.” But as Dean notes, there are rays of hope -- an NPR summary of the Pew report observes that “while the percentage of Americans who say they don’t affiliate with any religious tradition is growing, those people who still identify with a religion are becoming even more devout. A growing share of the ‘religiously affiliated’ say they regularly read scripture, participate in prayer groups, and share their faith with others.” And therein, Dean suggests, lies the path to keeping the church alive even as our other institutions decay. Rather than worrying about whether the edifice of the church is failing, we need to focus on what is truly eternal -- God as revealed to us in Jesus Christ.

Team member George Reed shares some additional thoughts on the gospel passage and how the same paradigm of impermanence extends to the human body... which makes Jesus’ reply to the disciples also a perfect description of what happens to our physiques as we age. We know that death is the ultimate fate for our bodies... and that even the impressive, well-toned figures of young athletes are destined to sag and be “thrown down” like the stones of the temple. Yet in our frantic efforts to keep the aging of our bodies at bay, we are easily deceived by purveyors of false hope -- charlatans who peddle a wide array of other appeals to our vanity. George reminds us that rather than having excessive concern for defeating Father Time, our efforts instead should be centered on spiritual nourishment and attaining eternal life with our heavenly Father.

 

This Too Shall Pass
by Dean Feldmeyer
Mark 13:1-8

According to legend, a powerful Persian ruler called his sages to him and asked them for one axiom that would be accurate at all times and in all situations. The wise men consulted with one another and threw themselves into deep contemplation, but it was the Sufi poet Attar of Nishapur who wrote the line that they submitted to the king: “This too shall pass.”

This phrase was also one of Abraham Lincoln’s favorite quotes. He said of it: “How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction.”

It’s also an accurate paraphrase of what Jesus says about the Jerusalem temple in this week’s lection from Mark’s gospel: “Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down” (13:2b). Eventually, even this magnificent structure will wear out and fall apart.

Sic transit gloria mundi. Thus passes the glory of the world.

And now 2,000 years later we are hearing it again -- this time from the Pew Research Center and their latest analytical report based on an extensive study of Americans’ religious beliefs. The old mainline denominations are declining -- that we knew. But now, apparently, so are the others. Americans in general, and especially those young people known as “millennials,” are just not interested in religion.

Did you feel it? Was it a seismic shift or just a small tremor? Are the stones which built the temple of American Christianity just rearranging themselves? Or are they starting to tumble and fall? 

In the News
The Pew Research Center did a “Religious Landscape Survey” in 2007, and then replicated it in 2014. Last week they released their second report on the data collected in those studies, each of which surveyed 35,000 American adults and had a margin of error of less than 1 percentage point. The results are more than a little disturbing for those of us who thought that the temple of American Christianity would stand unchanged forever.

In 2007, 92 percent of Americans said they believed in God. Just seven years later the number had fallen to 89 percent.

In 2007, 71 percent said they were absolutely certain that God exists. By 2014 the number had fallen to 63 percent. With young adults born between 1990 and 1996 the number drops even further, to 50 percent.

While 67 percent of the “Silent generation” (adults born from 1928 to 1945) say that they pray daily, only 39 percent of younger “Millennials” (born from 1990 to 1996) make the same claim.

Michael Lipka, a religion editor for the Pew Research Center, says that while the religious landscape in America is changing, the rate of change is glacially slow and relatively small. He offers five key “takeaways” from the most recent report:

1. Overall, Americans have become slightly less religious -- based on some key traditional gauges of religiosity. This is attested to by the figures cited above, as well as by the number of adults who report that they attend religious services every week, down 3 percentage points since 2007.

2. This overall drop in religiosity has been driven by the rapid growth of the religiously unaffiliated population (from 16 percent of all U.S. adults in 2007 to 23 percent in 2014). Seventy percent of people who self-identified as not affiliated with any religious organization expressed a belief in God in 2007; that figure has fallen to 61% today.

3. As older, more religiously observant generations die out, they are being replaced by far less religious young adults.

4. While traditional measures of religiosity are down, some measures of spirituality are up. The category “spiritual but not religious” is becoming more popular. Roughly six out of ten Americans (59%) say they feel a deep sense of spiritual peace and well-being at least once a week, up from 52% in 2007. And nearly half (46%) report often feeling a deep sense of wonder about the universe, also a seven-point jump over seven years.

5. Overwhelming majorities of Americans see churches and other religious organizations as having a positive impact on society, but many also express criticisms of these same religious institutions. Nearly nine in ten U.S. adults (89%) say religious institutions bring people together and strengthen community bonds. In addition, 87 percent say these organizations play an important role in helping the poor and needy. Three-quarters (75%) say they protect and strengthen morality in society. However, roughly half of Americans say religious institutions are too concerned with money and power (52%), focus too much on rules (51%), and are too involved with politics (48%)

Blogger Kyle Roberts, writing for Patheos.com, makes what may be the most insightful observations to come out of the Pew studies when he talks about the “Nones”: the 23 percent of Americans and 35 percent of Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) who check “none” when asked their religious affiliation.

This is the fastest-growing group in the survey, and after we remove the very small subsets of atheists and agnostics from this group, what we have left are two large subgroups:

1. “Spiritual but not religious” people report that they get spiritual nourishment from basically whatever they enjoy doing -- golf, hiking, reading, going to rock concerts, etc. This group makes up roughly 50 percent of “Nones” (and, according to another survey by LifeWay Research, 72 percent of Millennials).

2. “Spiritual but independently religious” people report that they get their spiritual nourishment from traditional religious practices -- but their preferences are eclectic and all over the map. The same person may claim to find inspiration from Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, American Indian spirituality, pyramids, crystals, and transcendental meditation.

Both of these groups continue to shrink, however, as “Nones” become more secular.

The good news? People who are religiously affiliated are as faithful and committed as they ever were. It’s just that there are fewer and fewer of them every year.

In the Scriptures
By the time Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem, Herod the Great was completing a temple restoration and preservation project that had taken eight decades. The beautiful new temple covered 35 acres of ground (about 10 football fields). The foundation alone stood over 40 feet high, and it was made of stones that weighed nearly about 80 tons. These limestone monoliths weighing over 160,000 pounds also sat, and still sit, atop walls that were over 100 feet tall.

Recent archaeology has discovered 50-foot pillars that stood at one of the gates to the courtyard, and the marble of the temple itself was so polished that its reflection of the sun could be seen from miles away.

The people who lived in the shadow of the temple -- and everyone who lived in Jerusalem at that time would fit into this group -- could be excused if they believed that the temple was going to stand forever. The old temple that was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar did not stand forever; but that was over 600 years ago. This temple -- this new, beautiful temple in all its magnificence -- would certainly stand forever.

Wouldn’t it?

As it turned out, it didn’t even last a century. In 70 CE, roughly 40 years after the story that is told in this lectionary passage, the Roman army would destroy it stone by stone while the city burned around it.

Professional Jewish educator Ariela Pelaia gives a concise history of this First Jewish War (66-70 CE):

The Great Revolt began in the year 66. It started when the Jews discovered that the Roman governor Florus had stolen huge amounts of silver from the Temple. The Jews rioted and defeated the Roman soldiers stationed in Jerusalem. They also defeated a backup contingent of soldiers sent in by the Roman ruler of neighboring Syria.

These initial victories convinced the Zealots that they actually had a chance at defeating the Roman empire. Unfortunately, that was not the case. When Rome sent a large force of heavily armed and highly trained professional soldiers against the insurgents in Galilee, over 100,000 Jews were either killed or sold into slavery. Anyone who escaped fled back to Jerusalem, but once they got there the Zealot rebels promptly killed any Jewish leader who didn’t fully support their revolt. Later, insurgents burned the city’s food supply, hoping that by doing so they could force everyone in the city to rise up against the Romans. Sadly, this internal strife only made it easier for the Romans to ultimately put down the revolt.

The siege of Jerusalem turned into a stalemate when the Romans were unable to scale the city’s defenses. In this situation they did what any ancient army would do: they camped outside the city. They also dug a massive trench bordered by high walls along the perimeter of Jerusalem, thereby capturing anyone who tried to escape. Captives were executed via crucifixion, with their crosses lining the tops of the trench wall.

Then in the summer of the year 70 CE, the Romans succeeded in breaching the walls of Jerusalem and began ransacking the city. On the ninth of Av, a day that is commemorated every year as the fast day of Tisha B’av, soldiers threw torches at the Temple and started an enormous fire. When the flames finally died out, all that was left of the Second Temple was one outer wall from the western side of the Temple’s courtyard. This wall still stands in Jerusalem today and is known as the Western Wall (Kotel HaMa’aravi).

More than anything else, the destruction of the Second Temple made everyone realize that the revolt had failed. It is estimated that one million Jews died in the Great Revolt.

Most biblical scholars today believe that Mark’s gospel was written shortly after the destruction of the temple in 70 CE, and that this passage may be as much reminiscent as it is prescient. But whether it is a story about Jesus looking forward or about Jewish Christians looking backward, it is a cautionary tale for all of the People of God.

Nothing made with human hands is eternal. Even the great temple was subject to the old axiom: this too shall pass. 

And if we are present to witness the passing of those things, those institutions, those traditions that we love, it is possible that we will become frightened, even panicked -- and turn for salvation to those who make overblown claims and empty promises, even as did those ancient Jews who followed the Zealots to their deaths.

Jesus reminds us that only those things are eternal that come from the God who is eternal.

In the Pulpit
There are prophets of doom in the land who want nothing more than for people to believe that these are the worst of times.

You have probably already heard the first faint cries of those who bemoan the “war on Christmas,” even before the first bells of Noel have rung. The New York Post was outraged after Long Island’s Roosevelt Field Mall changed its traditional holiday village and put Santa Claus inside a winter-themed “glacier” instead of the traditional sleigh.

When Starbucks unveiled their 2015 holiday coffee cup, they were accused of “hating Jesus” because the cups were not sufficiently Christmasy. Snopes.com says that of course this is nonsense, but it doesn’t keep the prophets of doom from making their claims.

The fact is that things change.

Traditions become tiresome and old hat. “Time,” as the hymn “Once to Every Man and Nation” says, “makes ancient good uncouth.”

Wrinkles appear on our faces, our joints get stiff, and our athletic prowess diminishes with age.

Buildings, even those best-crafted monuments to God’s glory, eventually fall down. If the Church of Jesus Christ is in danger, it is not hostility that threatens it but indifference -- the indifference of those who are spiritual but not religious and the indifference of our own members. If we are not able to change and adapt to the changes that inevitably come to us, then we will find those changes shaking not just our foundations but the entire edifice of our faith.

If we are going to invest our faith into something, then let it be something that is eternal, something that is forever, something that does not age and deteriorate with time.

Let us put our faith in God as God is revealed to us in Jesus Christ.

 

SECOND THOUGHTS
Playing with Blocks
by George Reed
Mark 13:1-8

Older celebrities show up, and often no one can recognize them. In many cases that’s not because they look so much older -- it’s because they have had so much plastic surgery done to them so they won’t look older that they no longer look anything like they used to look. There are so many commercials for so many different “age-defying” creams that an alien who tuned in would probably conclude that wrinkles were a terminal condition for humans. No matter what medical condition you have, it seems there is a drug for it. Of course, your acne medication may cause facial deformation or death -- but you won’t have acne! Apparently too many of us have mistaken looking younger than we are and having no physical symptoms as being more important that life. 

In the gospel lesson Jesus shows up in Jerusalem with the disciples in tow, and they are in awe of the temple complex: “Just look at the size of those building blocks. How neat is that?” After all the time Jesus has spent teaching them about the reign of God and what is really important, all they can see is the glory of the buildings. Then they get all hung up on the “when” of the reign of God. Jesus tells them, “Don’t be deceived.” He knows how easily we can be sidetracked by the things around us and by the talk of those around us. Pretty soon we get so distracted that we completely lose sight of the important things in life. 

Here is an opportunity for the preacher to address our obsession with looking young and trying to live forever. It is an opportunity to address the truth that we are mortals. We are the “earth people” who were formed out of the dust of the earth. Like all created animals, we will die. It is also an opportunity to address the other truth -- that we are also “spirit people” who have had the very breath, life, Spirit of God breathed into our beings. 

Those who are wise will take care of both their earth and spirit sides. That means taking care of our bodies and not abusing them, and that includes the use of drugs that we really don’t need. That also means caring for our spirit sides, realizing that they need to be fed and nurtured just as much as our physical bodies. Don’t be deceived and ask of our bodies what they are not capable of producing. Our physical side will not live forever; our spiritual side will. Thus, while it is important to take care of your body, remember to take care of your spirit -- for it will live forever. 

Just a personal note I’ll add here. One time my chiropractor commented on the fact that the church required more continuing education of me than his governing body did of him. I told him that made sense. He buried his mistakes; mine live forever. 

 

ILLUSTRATIONS

From team member Ron Love:

Mark 13:1-8
There is a case now before the Texas Supreme Court regarding freedom of religion and parents’ rights to educate their children. Laura and Michael McIntyre, of Austin, Texas, decided to homeschool their children. But it came to the attention of the authorities that they were not teaching their children anything -- they just sang songs and played games. When confronted about the lack of providing any academic curriculum, the parents expressed that the Second Coming would come at any moment and they would all be transported to heaven -- where education would no longer be necessary.

Application: Like the early disciples, many still misunderstand the message of the Second Coming.

*****

Mark 13:1-8
In a Peanuts comic strip, Linus once again takes up his position in the pumpkin patch as he waits for the Great Pumpkin to appear, who Linus is convinced will select his patch as the most sincere of all. Lucy comes into the field and inquiries about the meaning of this foolish exercise. Linus then gives her a long explanation about the meaning of the Great Pumpkin. Linus ends by saying, “That is my ‘Statement of Belief.’ ” Lucy, always critical, sees Charlie Brown in the patch -- and she responds: “Here comes Charlie Brown... repeat for him your ‘Statement of Stupidity.’ ” To which Linus replies in a loud and emphatic voice, “That’s ‘BELIEF’!!”

Application: It is not stupidity, but we do at times have trouble believing in the Second Coming.

*****      

Mark 13:1-8
We recently celebrated a great day from the movie trilogy Back to the Future. The reason the event was so significant is that in Back to the Future II Dr. Emmett Brown set his DeLorean to travel through time from 1985 to October 21, 2015. In celebration of this event, the town of Fillmore, California, was made to look like it would have in 1985. And of course, the town was populated with tourists, many dressed in appropriate costumes.

Application: It would be nice if we could set the future time clock in our DeLorean and know the date of the Second Coming, but instead we must wait in faith.

*****      

Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25
A recent Frank & Ernest comic strip had an appropriate message for this presidential campaign season. As Frank and Ernest sit on a park bench, Frank is reading the newspaper. Ernest looks over and asks, “Pass the funnies.” Frank replies, “Do you mean the comics or the campaign news?”

Application: It would appear that for this year’s candidates, truth has yet to be written in their hearts and minds.

*****      

Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25
Japan’s Takata Corporation has to recall 19.2 million vehicles in the United States (sold by 12 different automakers) and pay a $70 million fine because of malfunctioning airbags manufactured by the firm. When the faulty bags explode, they can cause injuries to both drivers and front seat passengers. These injuries include cuts to the neck, loss of eyesight and hearing, and broken teeth. Takata initially fought the recall and was slow in replacing the faulty airbags.

Application: When Jesus wrote his laws on the hearts and minds of individuals, it was not only the scriptures that were pened there but also a sense of decency and ethics.

*****      

Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25
When the new Citi Field was constructed for the New York Mets, one legacy of the former Shea Stadium was preserved. In a vast parking lot a few hundred feet from Citi Field, there is a bronze marker commemorating the location of the pitcher’s rubber in Shea Stadium (which was razed to make room for the new stadium). It is the same spot where pitcher Jesse Orosco joyfully flung his glove into the air after the final out in the Mets’ amazing 1986 World Series comeback victory. The marker gave hope to all the fans attending the 2015 World Series, though they were disappointed when the Mets lost to the Kansas City Royals. Yet the marker will always remain a reminder of accomplishment and hope.

Application: The teachings of Jesus written upon our hearts and minds will always be a reminder of accomplishment and hope.

*****      

Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25
Trying to find someone who could be elected and would accept the position of Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives was a trying case. This was particularly due to the various contentious factions in the Republican Party. After lengthy and intense negotiations, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin accepted the position. One of the first things he said to the gathered assembly was, “Let’s be frank: the House is broken.”

Application: The priests had to repeatedly make sacrifices to atone for sins because their method was broken. It was only with the sacrifice of Jesus that the sacrifice for sins became fixed once and for all.

*****      

Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25
Steven Spielberg’s movie Lincoln was a struggle to produce. Daniel Day-Lewis (who portrayed Abraham Lincoln) Sally Field (who played his wife Mary), and the other assembled cast members had such reverence for Abraham Lincoln that it inhibited their acting skills. This is why Spielberg had the cast remain in character during the entire production -- and he had to constantly remind them, “Remember, you’ve been married to this guy for 30 years, you’ve seen this guy every day for the last five years.”

Application: If the words of Jesus are written on our hearts and minds, then we will always be in Christian character.

*****      

Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25
In 1889 the Northern Christian Advocate of Syracuse, New York, published a note from an anonymous source from Jerusalem. The writer claimed that he came across an inscription written by the great early church historian Eusebius. The note was found at St. Etienne’s Monastery, north of the Damascus Gate. This placed the tomb of Jesus at the monastery and not at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The reason behind this is an inscription that read: “I, Eusebius, have desired to be buried in this spot, which I believe to be close to the place where the body of my Lord lay.” Even though the validity of the inscription was never confirmed, it did create a frenzy of new pilgrims to the location.

Application: What we can always count on is the legitimacy of the words of Jesus written on our hearts and minds.

*****      

1 Samuel 1:4-20
After the U.S. national team met with President Obama at the White House recently, legendary forward Abby Wambach announced her retirement from soccer. Among both men and women, she holds the record for scoring with 184 goals in 252 international matches. But with all her victories, she did not want to retire until she was victorious in the greatest game of all, the World Cup final. When the United States defeated Japan in the final game of last summer’s tournament, her triumphant goal was achieved. Wambach was hesitant to announce her retirement because there were still four more games to play on the team’s “victory tour.” She explained her hesitance by saying, “I don’t want the victory tour to turn into a farewell tour for Abby.”

Application: In our Bible stories there are often important characters who are forgotten because the victory tour is not about them. Elkanah should be remembered as a man of love, devotion, patience, and acceptance.

***************

From team member Mary Austin:

Mark 13:1-8
Looking to the Eternal
Keeping the eternal in mind is difficult work for all of us. Sidewalk artist Arthur Stace hoped to bring eternal things to mind for the people of Sydney, Australia, through his own unique ministry. Over a period of 35 years between 1932 and 1967, Stace repeatedly wrote the word “Eternity” over half a million times in perfect copperplate script on the sidewalks of his city, hoping to get people to stop and reflect for a moment as they walked. These appearances were a mystery until 1956, when it was revealed to be Stace’s work.

In a 1965 interview, Stace told how his work began after listening to a message in church: “John Ridley was a powerful preacher and he shouted, ‘I wish I could shout Eternity through the streets of Sydney.’ He repeated himself and kept shouting ‘Eternity, Eternity,’ and his words were ringing through my brain as I left the church. Suddenly I began crying and I felt a powerful call from the Lord to write ‘Eternity.’ I had a piece of chalk in my pocket, and I bent down right there and wrote it. I’ve been writing it at least 50 times a day ever since, and that’s 30 years ago.... I think Eternity gets the message across, makes people stop and think.”  

Thinking about Stace’s project, there’s a curious, thought-provoking disconnect between the impermanence of the chalk and the depth of the word. 

*****      

Mark 13:1-8
Seeing the Beauty in the Impermanent
Artist and architect Leonard Koren finds beauty in things that are worn, frayed, and old, in the Japanese tradition of wabi-sabi. Koren says that the things he finds beautiful “are reactive to the effects of weathering and human treatment. I loved the tentative, delicate traces left by the sun, the wind, the heat, and the cold. I was fascinated by the language of rust, tarnish, warping, cracking, shrinkage, scarring, peeling, and other forms of attrition visibly recorded.” The evidence of an object’s impermanence increases its appeal. He adds, “Wabi-sabi is the antithesis of the classical Western idea of beauty as something perfect, enduring, and/or monumental. In other words, wabi-sabi is the exact opposite of what slick, seamless, massively marketed objects, like the latest handheld wireless digital devices, aesthetically represent.” 

Robyn Griggs Lawrence writes about the wabi-sabi idea of beauty, saying: “Wabi-sabi reminds us that we are all transient beings on this planet -- that our bodies, as well as the material world around us, are in the process of returning to dust. Nature’s cycles of growth, decay, and erosion are embodied in frayed edges, rust, liver spots. Through wabi-sabi, we learn to embrace both the glory and the melancholy found in these marks of passing time.” 

*****

Mark 13:1-8
The Passing of Time
In an article about scientist Alan Lightman, who holds dual appointments in science and the humanities at MIT, BrainPickings quotes Lightman’s reflections on impermanence. Walking his daughter down the aisle at her wedding, Lightman reflects: “It was a perfect picture of utter joy, and utter tragedy. Because I wanted my daughter back as she was at age 10, or 20. As we moved together toward that lovely arch that would swallow us all, other scenes flashed through my mind: my daughter in first grade holding a starfish as big as herself, her smile missing a tooth; my daughter on the back of my bicycle as we rode to a river to drop stones in the water; my daughter telling me the day after she had her first period. Now she was 30. I could see lines in her face.... I don’t know why we long so for permanence, why the fleeting nature of things so disturbs. With futility, we cling to the old wallet long after it has fallen apart. We visit and revisit the old neighborhood where we grew up, searching for the remembered grove of trees and the little fence. We clutch our old photographs. In our churches and synagogues and mosques, we pray to the everlasting and eternal. Yet, in every nook and cranny, nature screams at the top of her lungs that nothing lasts, that it is all passing away. All that we see around us, including our own bodies, is shifting and evaporating and one day will be gone. Where are the one billion people who lived and breathed in the year 1800, only two short centuries ago?” [The quote is from “The Temporary Universe,” the third essay in Lightman’s The Accidental Universe: The World You Thought You Knew]

In the same essay, Lightman writes: “Physicists call it the second law of thermodynamics. It is also called the arrow of time. Oblivious to our human yearnings for permanence, the universe is relentlessly wearing down, falling apart, driving itself toward a condition of maximum disorder.”

The only permanent thing is impermanence.

 

WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Robin Lostetter

Call to Worship (based on 1 Samuel 2:1-10)
Leader: There is no Holy One like the Lord, there is no Rock like our God.
People: The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him are all things judged.
Leader: The weapons of the mighty are broken, but the weak gird on strength.
People: God raises up the poor from the dust, to make them inherit a seat of honor.
Leader: For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world.
People: He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, and the mighty shall not prevail.
Leader: Praise to the Lord, the Almighty!

OR

Call to Worship (based on Psalm 16 and Daniel 12:3)
Leader: Bless the Lord, our refuge and protector.
People: Bless the Lord, who gives counsel by day and heart comfort by night.
Leader: Therefore our hearts are glad, and our souls rejoice;
People: Even the impermanent rests secure.
Leader: God shows us the path of life. In the Lord’s presence there is fullness of joy.
People: Those who are wise in the Lord shall shine like the brightness of the sky,
Leader: And those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
People: Let us worship God, our Protector, Counsel, and Life-Giver!

Opening Prayer
Holy One, You of the Covenant, we bless your name. We come into your presence with confidence and hope, knowing that our Intercessor knows our every need, our every joy. Your faithfulness invites our faithful response; and so we have gathered here to sing praises, to hear your word proclaimed, and to be strengthened for service. Bless our time together with a true sense of your presence and the binding of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

OR

Eternal God, we praise you. You seek mortals as companions, co-creators, and stewards of creation. Yet we are as dust, and our creations are fleeting. Give us patience to see time through your eyes, to greet the impermanent with grace, and to hold fast instead to you. Calm our anxieties, comfort our fears, and give us that peace that only you can give. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Call to Confession
Friends, the Holy Spirit testified through Jeremiah, saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds, and I will remember their sins no more.” Therefore, my friends, in confidence, by the new and living way that Christ opened for us, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us confess our brokenness to God and to one another with a true heart, in full assurance of faith.

Prayer of Confession
Gracious and Living God, we come to you in humility. Our actions have not shown the faith that we proclaim. We have not loved you with our whole being -- other pleasures, other gods have been our focus. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves -- we have passed by those whose needs were great. Help us to put in action what we believe in our hearts. Help us also to gather together more often to support each other in loving endeavors. Draw our circle closer and grant us your Holy Spirit in our journeys. We pray it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness
Leader: God’s love and grace are abundant and free for all of us.
People: The One who has promised is faithful.
Leader: Believe the Good News -- in Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
People: Alleluia! Amen.
Leader: May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
People: And also with you.

Hymn Suggestions
Gathering
“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”
“My Soul Gives Glory to My God”
“How Great Thou Art”
“Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”

Proclamation
“Great Is Thy Faithfulness”
“Bless the Lord, O My Soul”
“O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High”
“As the Wind Song”

The Lord’s Supper
“Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee”
“What Wondrous Love Is This”

Sending
“O God, Our Help in Ages Past”
“What a Fellowship, What a Joy Divine”
“Blest Be the Tie That Binds”
“I’ll Praise My Maker”
“My Lord! What a Morning”
“Once to Every [Man] and Nation”

 

CHILDREN’S SERMON
by Chris Keating
Mark 13:1-8

Prepare ahead of time: Bring a block-stacking game like Jenga. (As an alternative, gather brightly colored building blocks.) Assemble a display of photos of buildings from famous cities (these could be sightseeing photographs or images copied from the internet). Be sure to include large, impressive skyscrapers or well-known landmarks. Also, you may want to set up a screen so that you can show a Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer.

As the children gather, invite them to start playing with the block-stacking game or building blocks. Encourage them to create a tall tower. How many blocks can they stack together? How big can they make the buildings until they fall down?

After they have had a chance to experiment with the building blocks, ask them if they have ever visited a big city. (Responses will vary, of course, depending on your context.) As you show them images of tall buildings or famous landmarks, point out various features (like the antenna on the top of the Empire State Building, or interesting architectural features). How impressive it is to imagine the construction of big buildings. It is amazing to go up into the buildings and look out, or to walk alongside of the skyscrapers. It feels like the buildings are reaching up to heaven!

The story of Jesus’ disciples marveling over the size of the temple and other buildings in Jerusalem may make sense this way to us. Part of the story is confusing -- to children and to adults. But many of us have walked alongside large buildings, or have played with blocks. We can imagine how impressed we might feel when we see a big building. Like the disciples, we’d be impressed. The disciples came from small towns and were mostly fishermen who did not have a lot of experience in the bigger cities. They were impressed by what they saw -- the details in the buildings, the bricks stacked so high in the sky, and so many other features of the busy city streets.

Yet Jesus told them he wanted them to think about something even larger, something even greater. While the apocryphal images of Mark 13 might be hard to grasp, children can use their imagination to think of things that would be even taller than the biggest buildings we can imagine. Stack the blocks together as you are telling the story of Mark 13:1-2, and then say, “Even as impressive as these buildings were, Jesus said there would be a time when they will come crashing down.” Pick out a brick and watch the tower you have made collapse.

Remind the children that Jesus is speaking imaginatively. He wants us to think even bigger and to imagine God’s kingdom as being even more impressive than buildings and skyscrapers. But what could be more impressive?

The love of God that is inside of us. A trailer for the upcoming Star Wars movie The Force Awakens may be familiar to many children. As Carolyn Brown notes, it may resonate well with some children. Like the other Star Wars movies, it speaks about the power of “The Force” that was strong in the family, a power that enabled the Jedi to do many good things. The Force is even more powerful than big buildings or bad things. Jesus wants us to know that God’s kingdom is big -- bigger than the tallest building, and bigger than The Force. The reign of God will surprise us, but will help us experience God’s love, power, and presence in many new ways. It surprises us, just as The Force surprised Han Solo. But as he says in another upcoming trailer, “It is all real.” That is what Jesus wants us to know when he talks about things that may be hard to understand. God’s love is real and reliable, and more secure than even the tallest building.

 

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The Immediate Word, November 15, 2015, issue.

Copyright 2015 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.