Transitions
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
As we journey through life, it seems we find ourselves in a series of transitions. This holds true not only for our personal lives, but it is also writ large in our world as well. We only need to look at how computers and new communications technology has transformed the way we work (and socially network), or at globalization of the economy and the transition from a manufacturing-based economy to an information-based one to see how deeply transitions have affected the way we live. We see this dynamic operating culturally as well -- for example, demographic analysts tell us that within a generation or two, whites will no longer comprise a majority of the American population. (Perhaps that's one contributing factor making immigration an issue fraught with emotional energy.) In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Dean Feldmeyer notes that transitions often leave us feeling uneasy, as we fear the unknown that lies ahead. We often long for things to stay as we have known them, rather than focusing on the road forward. How can we avoid getting distracted by our fears about the future, and (as the old spiritual puts it) "keep our eyes on the prize"? Dean tells us that this week's lectionary passages about the prophetic transition from Elijah to Elisha, and Jesus' frank discussion with his disciples about the cost of discipleship as he prepares them for the coming trip to Jerusalem, offer us a great deal of insight into staying focused on "the big picture" of kingdom living. Team member Ron Love offers some additional thoughts on the epistle text and Paul's listing of the fruits of the spirit. Indeed, these are the tools that help keep us focused on what's really important -- we might even think of them as the fire extinguishers that help us put out all of the brush fires that arise in daily living and serve to distract us and divide us both from one another and from the "better angels of our nature."
Transitions
by Dean Feldmeyer
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14; Luke 9:51-62
Someone once said that people do not voluntarily change until their level of discomfort is greater than their level of fear.
For most of us, change does not come so easily or gently. It is not something that we eagerly embrace; it is forced upon us. We go into it kicking and screaming. We age. Our bodies change. People we know and care about move away. We change jobs and have to learn new skills and face new responsibilities. Our doctor tells us we have to change our eating and exercise habits.
Even the changes we seek often cause us distress and discomfort. That new baby we wanted so much keeps us up at night with feedings and worry. We finally get to retire, and then we find ourselves feeling bored and forgotten. The new easy chair turns out to be less comfortable than the old one. The new computer means I have to learn a lot of stuff that I got along fine without knowing yesterday.
Yet life doesn't ask our permission before it changes. If we are going to have authentic and effective lives, we must find a way to deal with the changes that life throws at us.
THE WORLD
Looking back, we probably should have known that the economy couldn't continue to grow the way it was growing, based as it was on subprime mortgages and financial manipulations that most of us couldn't even pronounce, much less understand. Yet when things went south, it took us by surprise.
Looking back, we probably should have known that a huge oil spill was inevitable and been prepared for such an eventuality. Those wells are a mile below the surface of the ocean, where the water pressure is over a ton per square inch. We should have known and been prepared. Yet when the Deepwater Horizon blowout came, it took us by surprise.
Looking back, we should have known that those levees would eventually fail. They were made by hand, and were too short, too thin, and too fragile. If the right hurricane came at the right time in the right place, they would not be able to contain the storm surge and New Orleans would be devastated. Yet when Katrina came, she took us by surprise.
And the changes that these tragedies have foisted upon us have taken us by surprise as well. They have distracted us from the visions we had of our future and the goals we had set for our lives. Everything must stop now, while we invest our time, our resources, and our creativity in damage control and trying to prepare so that if and when this happens again, we'll be ready.
No matter how much change we experience in our lives, it always takes us by surprise.
We knew our kids were getting older, but we weren't quite prepared for them to move out and start living lives of their own and forgetting to call us for days on end. We knew that our parents were getting older, but we weren't quite prepared for them to slow down the way they have and become so dependent upon us. We knew that we were getting older but... well, you know.
And change is coming at us faster and faster, thanks to the computer. Look what has happened in just the last 30 years:
* The first personal computer, the IBM 5150, came on the market in 1981. By 2008 there were one billion personal computers in homes around the world, and that number is expected to double by 2015. And most of those computers are capable of doing lots more than we ask of them to do.
* In 1993 there were 600 www websites. By 1997 there were over a million. By 2005 the number had grown to about 71 million. And while there is no way to know for sure, the best estimates for today run in the neighborhood of about 200 million. That's an increase of more than 300,000% in less than 20 years.
* The first email message was sent in 1971, but it didn't become popular until 1988 -- and today more than 600 million people use email regularly. Most scholars consider it to be the most important development in communication technology since the telephone.
* Speaking of telephones, text messaging wasn't available to most people until 1993. Twitter wasn't available until 2006. Both of them have become part of our everyday lives.
* In most of our lifetimes, we have gone from playing our parents' 72 rpm records to playing our own 45s, through vinyl albums, to eight-tracks, to cassettes, to CDs, to MP3s.
And nobody asked our permission or even our opinion before making these changes. How are we supposed to live with them?
THE WORD
This week's lesson from 2 Kings reminds us that change and transition are constants in our lives. Even Elijah doesn't live forever. He must "pass the mantle" to his protégé, Elisha, who will carry on his ministry.
But Elisha is different. The voice of prophecy in Israel will change under his leadership.
Where Elijah was solitary, strident, and often wrathful, Elisha's voice will prove (with a couple of notable exceptions) to be a kinder, gentler one. He will live with other prophets and enjoy the company of people. He will be known and remembered primarily as a prophet who worked miracles of kindness and deeds of compassion.
The mantle has passed, and with the passing comes change. And we should note in this passage that God asks no one's permission before these changes are made.
Change, while inevitable, can also be a distraction, however. It can, if we are not careful, divert us from the work of the kingdom.
In the gospel lesson, Luke shows how Jesus refuses to be distracted from his calling and his goal. He sets his face toward Jerusalem, and despite distractions he refuses to be diverted.
First, when he is rejected by the Samaritans, his disciples get their feelings hurt and want to stop and get some revenge. Jesus rebukes them and they move on.
Secondly, when a man offers to follow Jesus, he warns the man that true disciples do not allow themselves to be distracted and diverted by their desire for creature comforts, even those of home and hearth.
Thirdly, when another man offers to follow him but wants to wait until after his father dies, Jesus reminds him that true disciples do not let themselves be distracted by the personal and cultural expectations of others.
And finally, Jesus reminds a third volunteer that we cannot live with one foot in the kingdom of God and one in the world. True disciples do not let themselves be distracted by the lure of the safe and the normal.
The key to successful kingdom living, according to Luke, is focus -- to set our face upon Jerusalem and not allow ourselves to be distracted by even the most invasive changes that life thrusts upon us.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Here is a theme with which we can be playful and have some fun.
All of us bemoan the changes we didn't ask for that are forced upon us, and it can be fun to share what some of them are -- the more mundane, the better.
How many of us have computers that will do 100 times more things than we want or need for them to do? The same applies to cell phones. An MP3 player no larger than two of your fingers will hold 10,000 songs. Why? Does anyone really want to save 10,000 songs?
Older members of the congregation will remember when you called the neighborhood grocer, told him you needed five pounds of flour, and he delivered it to your door. Do we really want or need to choose from the 30 different kinds of flour in the modern-day supermarket?
A brief, humorous, skeptical litany of changes that we are told are improving our lives could then be followed by the changes that really have improved things -- the MRI and the CAT scan, the new protocols in cancer treatment, fluoridation of our water, satellite communications that let us talk to our distant loved ones whenever we like. Even things like 911 emergency numbers and GPS tracking devices such as Garmins and Magellans and Tom-Toms have made life safer and easier for us all.
The trick, however, is to not allow these changes -- good or bad, hurtful or helpful, or just amusing -- to distract us from our journey to the kingdom.
We are called by God to be discerning, to weigh carefully what we need and what we simply want. And we are called to ask and search diligently those changes placed before us to determine which ones are transforming our lives and which are simply changing them.
ANOTHER VIEW
Dispensing Warmth
by Ron Love
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Washington Redskins defensive tackle Albert Hayneswoth is currently in the sports news for his lack of sportsmanship. Dissatisfied with the Redskins' new defensive scheme, he has elected not to attend practice, and possibly to boycott playing -- though he has had no qualms about collecting $32 million of the $41 million guaranteed salary in the seven-year, $100 million contract he signed last year as a free agent. His complaint is that the new 3-4 defense does not allow him the freedom of movement on the field that he experienced playing with the Tennessee Titans. He wants out -- but without surrendering the income he has received. Incoming Redskins coach Mike Shanahan succinctly expressed his view: "Don't take our check and then say that, hey, you don't want to be a part of the organization." Linebacker London Fletcher expressed the sentiments of the team when he said, "When you decide to play a team sport, you have to look at it and think about everybody involved in the situation. This is not golf, tennis, things like that, where it's an all-about-you sport. What he decided to do is make a decision based on all-about-him."
Paul, in our lectionary reading from Galatians 5, is addressing a somewhat similar situation -- the all-about-me Galatian congregation. It was a church suffering internal strife, as most congregations seem to routinely experience. The issue for the Galatian congregation centers on the issue of circumcision, and the demand from Jewish Christians that Gentiles need to be circumcised to be Christian. This, of course, is not the view of the Gentiles who are a part of the congregational fellowship, nor is it the position of the apostle Paul. Yet for Paul, the conflict reflects an even bigger and more fundamental issue; that is, having been crucified with Christ we are no longer under the Law but live by grace.
Conflicting positions between these two groups, as experienced in multiple churches established beyond the city limits of Jerusalem, was persistent. Resolution only came centuries later when church councils convened and disavowed the requirement to be circumcised. Yet in the midst of this conflict, Paul offered advice on how we should live as Christians -- Jewish Christian and Greek Christian alike. The message is still appropriate for any congregation experiencing internal strife. It is also a message that should guide every Christian who is experiencing personal, internal spiritual strife.
Paul unapologetically makes known his position that grace trumps Law. Paul notes that if we cannot live in harmony we shall "devour each other," not unlike the disruption Haynesworth's behavior has created for the Redskins. If we are not to "be destroyed by each other," then we must live by "a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' " Paul wants to make the case that love always prevails over the Law. In fact, according to Paul, love places upon us an even greater responsibility than the Law ever did, for now we must live not as we are told but through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We must have the wisdom of discernment to act properly in all situations in which we are placed.
As we are "led" by the Spirit, we have received the gift of God. As we "walk" by the Spirit, we must be attentive to its demands. And the flesh and the Spirit will always act "contrary" to one another. As Jesus pointed out in our gospel lesson, we must be able to focus on the task before us. As Dean Feldmeyer points out in his article above, the gospel lesson dictates that as we set our face toward Jerusalem we cannot be "distracted or diverted."
Paul then lists the conflict that exists not only within congregations, but harbors even in within our souls: idolatry, hatred, discord, jealousy, anger, selfishness, factions. These words describe those behaviors that tear congregations asunder and allow the demonic to triumph within our own being. The alternative to this is to seek spiritual living: love, gentleness, kindness, peace, patience, self-control. These attributes are reflected by those who choose to walk by the Spirit. The challenge, according to Paul, is to live knowing we have "crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires."
In developing your sermon, the following outline may be helpful:
I. You may want to begin by discussing how uncompromising differences can retard the growth of any organization and prevent it from fulfilling its mission. You may want to relate examples you are aware of that are present in congregations and community organizations.
* Disharmony is like sand in the velcro of Army uniforms of the soldiers fighting in Afghanistan. Sand, like so many irritants in life, wedges itself in the velcro, and the pockets no longer remain fastened. According to USA Today reporter Tom Vanden Brook, the Army is realizing it is time to return to the old way of doing things: "The Army is ripping space-age velcro from its uniforms and replacing it with the humble button." The humble button -- that is, humility -- is the answer to many of the conflicts that confront institutions and individuals. The question becomes: How do we move toward a humble disposition?
II. Paul indicates that the place to begin is to no longer "gratify the desires of the sinful nature." This is an act of self-examination that commences by reviewing Paul's list of the "acts of the sinful nature." As previously mentioned, these are idolatry, selfishness, ambition, anger, hate. Discuss how these behaviors can not only destroy institutions but also corrode souls. You may want to share any stories that you are personally aware of on how these behaviors have caused countless problems for institutions and individuals.
*Albert Haynesworth of the Washington Redskins is a prime example of one individual whose selfishness is destroying the ambitions of an entire team and erasing the tireless work of a coach.
* South Carolina state senator Jake Knotts recently called gubernatorial candidate Niki Haley a "raghead," a demeaning remark in reference to someone of Indian descent. When challenged on this comment, Knotts replied, "I am proud to be stereotyped as a redneck." Such demonizing bigotry makes informative political dialogue in South Carolina more difficult, and it's an attitude that will prevent any organization from fulfilling its God-given calling.
III. Paul says we must live "contrary" to our sinful natures by "keeping in step with the Spirit." This means we are to accentuate love, peace, gentleness, and patience in our lives. Share with the congregation the avenues the church provides that allow us to walk with the Spirit. Be sure to emphasize the steps individuals can take upon themselves through private devotion and study. It should also be made clear that a real transformation must be taking place within the soul of each individual. If we are able to do this despite differences in ideology, an institution can be a positive force in the community. If individuals are able to exhibit these attributes, then peace and harmony will prevail. You may want to share some stories of earthly saints that you know that truly display the qualities of the Spirit that Paul discusses.
* Singer Miley Cyrus recently had the word "LOVE" tattooed on the inside of her ear. If she had the word spelled backward, then each morning when she looked in the mirror she would be reminded of Paul's admonition. As it is now, placed so all who pass her can read it, it is a dictate to others, or perhaps a zealous display of her religious fervor. Paul does not want this Pharisaical approach to life, for he prefers the word love to be tattooed, that is embellished, in our hearts.
* Tiger Woods has vowed to correct his behavior on the golf course, especially his anger and language. But during practice rounds at the recent US Open, he was heard speaking in self-degrading language. Then, when asked by a reporter about his marriage, his retort was nasty. The reporter's name went unreported, but not the incident. As Doug Ferguson wrote: "The only thing particularly sharp about Woods was his tongue." We must guard ourselves from that great disconnect of thinking we are changing to actually being in the process of changing, becoming a new person in Christ.
* A letter that author Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) wrote shortly after the death of his daughter, Olivia "Susy" Clemens, was recently auctioned. She died in 1896, at the age of 24, of spinal meningitis. Twain described her spirit with this line: "In all things she was intense: in her this characteristic was not a mere glow, dispensing warmth, but a consuming fire."
IV. You should conclude by discussing what it means to be dispensing warmth as a consuming fire. If we do so, the problems experienced by the church in Galatia may be averted in our own day-to-day setting.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Nothing is more surprising than the rise of the new within ourselves. We do not foresee or observe its growth. We do not try to produce it by the strength of our will, by the power of our emotion, or by the clarity of our intellect. On the contrary, we feel that by trying to produce it we prevent its coming... The new being is born in us, just when we least believe in it. It appears in remote corners of our souls that we have neglected for a long time. It opens up deep levels of our personality that had been shut out by old decisions and old exclusions. It shows a way where there was no way before.
-- Paul Tillich, "I Am Doing a New Thing," in The Shaking of the Foundations (Scribner's, 1948), p. 182
* * *
There is a scene in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when the intrepid archaeologist/adventurer is fleeing one enemy or another and comes to the edge of a huge and yawning chasm. He stops his forward progress just in the nick of time and teeters there, about to fall in. Then he rights himself and surveys his situation.
He can't go back; danger lurks there. Yet it seems just as impossible to go forward, for that would mean certain death. Then Jones reaches down and picks up a handful of gravel. He throws it out ahead of him over the cliff. The falling stones don't travel far. Just a few inches below the level of his boots, they land on an invisible footbridge he never knew was there.
That's not a bad image for the transitional times of life: the passages from one stage to another. Where there seems to be no discernible road ahead, God reveals one.
* * *
J. Barrie Shepherd observes in Praying the Psalms that when Psalm 23 begins, beside the quiet waters and in green pastures, it's written in the third person. Yet when the setting changes to the valley of the shadow of death, suddenly the language shifts to the second person. Where the psalmist had once spoken of God as "the Lord," now he addresses God as "thou" or "you."
This is consistent with human psychology, with how we discover resources of faith in a time of crisis. Just when we need God the most, just when dark shadows threaten to overwhelm us and anyone would be seized by a desire to turn back, God arrives -- not as a subject of theological discourse, but in person to lead the way.
* * *
In his book Lament for a Son, Nicholas Wolterstorff writes (commenting on life after his son's death), "The world looks different now.... Something is over. In the deepest levels of my existence, something is finished, done. My life is divided into before and after."
* * *
One of those who escaped from the World Trade Center said: "If you'd seen what it was like in that stairway, you'd be proud. There was no gender, no race, no religion. It was everyone helping each other." But away from that stairway -- in America's streets -- there is gender, there is race, there is religion.
-- Julian Bond, cited in the New York Times; from a graduation address at Susquehanna University
* * *
Amid all the high fashions and fashion blunders, the ritual wheel that worked the space between the living and the dead still got us where we needed to go. It made room for the good laugh, the good cry, and the power of faith brought to bear on the mystery of mortality. The broken circle within the community of folks who shared blood or geography or belief with the dead was closed again. Someone brought the casseroles, someone brought the prayers, and someone brought a shovel or lighted the fire. Everyone was consoled by everyone else. The wheel that worked the space between the living and the dead ran smooth.
For many Americans, however, that wheel is not just broken but off-track or in need of re-invention. The loosened ties of faith and family, of religious and ethnic identity, have left them ritually adrift, bereft of custom, symbol, metaphor, and meaningful liturgy or language. Times formerly spent in worship or communion are now spent shopping or web-browsing or otherwise passing time. Many Americans are now spiritual tourists without home places or core beliefs to return to.
Instead of dead Methodists or Muslims, we are now dead golfers or gardeners, bikers or bowlers. The bereaved are not so much family and friends or fellow believers as like-minded hobbyists or enthusiasts. I have become less the funeral director and more the memorial caddy of sorts, getting the dead out of the way and the living assembled for a memorial "event" that is neither sacred nor secular but increasingly absurd -- a triumph of accessories over essentials, stuff over substance, theme over theology. The genuine dead are downsized or disappeared or turned into knick-knacks in a kind of funeral karaoke -- bodiless obsequies where the finger food is good, the music transcendent, the talk determinedly "life-affirming," the accouterments all purposefully cheering and inclusive, and where someone can be counted on to declare "closure" just before the merlot runs out. We leave these events with the increasing sense that something is missing.
Something is.
Just as he showed us something about suffering and sickness and dying in his last days alive, in death Pope John Paul II showed us something about grieving and taking our leave. The good death, good grief, good funerals come from keeping the vigils, from bearing our burdens honorably, from honest witness and remembrance. They come from going the distance with the ones we love.
-- Poet and funeral director Thomas Lynch, "Our Near-Death Experience"
* * *
Upon the Montana prairies few rises or gullies break the landscape. There, tractors have air-conditioned cabs, radios, and CD players. These comforts help drivers stay awake while simply pointing the tractor straight.
A generation ago, younger children drove tractors without such amenities. When Wayne was about thirteen, he became bored spending the day looking forward on the tractor, holding the steering wheel straight for a mile, then turning around and starting back. He experimented with where and how to sit to have enough excitement to stay awake. He sat in front of the steering wheel, over the motor, facing backward, and turned occasionally to spot the field's end.
Unfortunately, he didn't see his father drive out to check on him. By the time his father left the field that morning it was more painful for Wayne to sit anywhere, but he definitely understood -- when you plow, you look straight ahead.
* * *
This week's gospel text has always seemed like a conflict of differing tunnel visions. Jesus is completely focused on Jerusalem, while others have priorities that interfere with their embracing his agenda. They just can't see.
The French nation developed a strategy for its national defenses out of the pyrrhic experience of World War I. The horrors of trench warfare led them to misinterpret the value of fixed defenses. Their "tunnel vision" led to the construction of a complex series of positions known as the Maginot Line. The Germans had learned different lessons from their experience. Instead of relying on fixed defenses, they envisioned war as being an exercise of speed and maneuver. On May 10, 1940, the Nazis launched their offensive against France, not against the powerful Maginot Line, but instead through the countries of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The Maginot Line was outflanked and rendered useless. The Nazis entered Paris on June 14.
* * *
How often we hear about a highly regarded person who leaves his job, moves on to another position, and his replacement is not received by the people at the workplace, in the community, or in the congregation. No matter how hard the new person tries, he is never accepted. Every change, innovation, new idea is met with resistance and even refusal to consider what was proposed. Often the new person spends months, even years, struggling to overcome unvoiced antagonism. It can be frustrating and overwhelming, especially when externally people appear to agree and support. Frequently the new person leaves, moving on with a sense of failure and/or inadequacy.
* * *
What keeps us looking back -- throwing glances over our spiritual and emotional shoulder to the past? The gospel lists obligations and normal daily pressures, but Jesus casts them in terms of realities that can deaden and destroy spiritual sensitivity to God's call. The submission to the joys of the future God has in store for us must be accompanied by a submission to God of what we have left behind.
Flora Wuellner writes about "With Christ into the Unknown Future," but a chapter prior to that is titled "With Christ to the Painful Past." It raises the issue of whether we are the dead burying the dead, unable to move forward with Christ for various reasons.
She tells what happens when we put our hand to the plow and move with Christ.
"No wound is so trivial that the love of God is not concerned with it. No pain is so deep, so long-standing, that the love of God cannot reach it. Every shock, every bleeding wound, every anger and grief is not only encompassed by that love but is also held and transformed by that love. The fact that it is in what we call the 'past' makes no difference to the power of God's love. All times are open and present to that unsleeping, all-embracing consciousness. God asks only our willingness."
-- Flora Slosson Wuellner, Prayer, Stress & Our Inner Wounds (The Upper Room, 1985), p. 28
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Let us call to mind the deeds of our God.
People: Let us meditate of all God's work and deeds.
Leader: Your way, O God, is holy; who is like you?
People: You are the God who works wonders.
Leader: As your path goes through the sea, we see your footprints.
People: You lead your people with the servants you call forth.
OR
Leader: Come and worship the God who does not change.
People: How can God not change?
Leader: God is steadfast in essence and love.
People: We want to be steadfast in our inner lives.
Leader: God comes to offer us that solid place to stand.
People: With God we will anchor our souls in love.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"When Our Confidence Is Shaken"
found in:
UMH: 505
CH: 534
"O Thou Who Camest from Above"
found in:
UMH: 501
H82: 704
"Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty"
found in:
UMH: 64
H82: 362
PH: 138
AAHH: 329
NNBH: 1
NCH: 277
CH: 4
LBW: 165
Renew: 204
"Holy God, We Praise Thy Name"
found in:
UMH: 79
H82: 366
PH: 460
NNBH: 13
NCH: 276
LBW: 535
"We Believe in One True God"
found in:
UMH: 85
"We Meet You, O Christ"
found in:
UMH: 257
PH: 311
CH: 183
"Spirit Song"
found in:
UMH: 347
AAHH: 321
CH: 352
CCB: 51
Renew: 248
"It Is Well with My Soul"
found in:
UMH: 377
AAHH: 377
NNBH: 255
NCH: 438
CH: 561
"The Steadfast Love of the Lord"
found in:
CCB: 28
Renew: 23
"God, You Are My God"
found in:
CCB: 60
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 who is constant yet adaptable to the needs of your people: Grant us the grace to be constant in following our Savior in the way while taking on the changes that always confront us; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come to worship you, O God, in the midst of our lives that are always in turmoil and change. Even as we celebrate your constant presence we are aware that you have worked in a myriad of ways and through countless, different people. Help us to be grounded in you, so that we may adapt to the changes around us. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially the ways in which we allow the changes of life to distress us and move us from your Way.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have looked at the changes around us, and like the disciples in the boat during the storm we cry to you and wonder if you really care for us. We call to mind the scripture that you are changeless, and expect that our lives will be changeless as well. We forget that it is your nature that does not change and that you have adapted to your creatures time and time again. Center us once again in your constant loving kindness, that we may greet our changes from solid footing. So fill us with your Spirit that we may face with courage all that comes our way. Amen.
Leader: God loves us now and God has always loved us. God knows the confusion and turmoil of our lives, and invites us once again into the grace of God's love. Know that whatever comes our way, our God is with us.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We worship and adore you, O God, because you are the changeless One. You are true to your nature of love so that your people proclaim that you are Love.
(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 looked at the changes around us, and like the disciples in the boat during the storm we cry to you and wonder if you really care for us. We call to mind the scripture that you are changeless, and expect that our lives will be changeless as well. We forget that it is your nature that does not change and that you have adapted to your creatures time and time again. Center us once again in your constant loving kindness, that we may greet our changes from solid footing. So fill us with your Spirit that we may face with courage all that comes our way.
We give you thanks for the constant ways in which you have been with us, and for the wonder of changes that have taken place among us. We give you thanks that scientists and thinkers have opened up the mysteries of creation and offered us ways of dealing with sickness that were unknown to those before us. We thank you for the progress that makes our lives easier and more comfortable.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for those who have been denied the benefits of progress because of tyranny or poverty. We pray for those who are overwhelmed by the changes in their lives. Help us to offer to them the Good News of Jesus, which grounds us in your constant loving kindness.
(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
pictures that show changes -- the Wright Brothers aircraft and the space shuttle; semi trucks and horse-drawn wagons; an outhouse and a modern bathroom
Children's Sermon Starter
Show the children some baby clothes -- your own if you have any that you have saved. Talk about how you wore these clothes, or some like them, when you we younger. Ask if they think you would fit in them now. Ask if they have clothes at home that they wore as a baby. Would they fit them now? Things change all around us and even within us.
What doesn't change is God's love for us and our ability to be faithful disciples of Jesus. No matter what changes in our lives, God's love and our devotion to Jesus can help us stay on the path to life eternal.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The Fruit of the Spirit
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Object: a bowl of different kinds of fruit
Good morning, boys and girls! Look at all this wonderful fruit! What different kinds do you see in my bowl? (responses from the children) Do you have a favorite one? (responses) I like them all. They are all delicious and very different. An interesting thing is that they are all grown on different plants. Some are grown on vines, some on bushes, some on trees. The plants that grew these must have been very healthy to produce such beautiful fruit.
There is another kind of fruit that the Bible talks about. It's not the same kind of fruit that I have in my bowl, though. The scripture writer tells us that the fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Why do you think these things are called fruit? Because the Holy Spirit helps these things grow out of us when we are living good lives. That means that you are kind of like a plant too, because these fruits will grow out of you when you are living the kind of life that God wants. Right here, right now you can grow fruit.
Now, what are some of the things we do to help regular fruit plants grow? We water them, give them sunlight, trim them every now and then, and give them plant food. Doing those things will help plants grow good fruit. So what are some of the things we need to help us grow good things? (talk with the children about this)
There are lots of ways to help us grow healthy fruit. Here are a few things I can think of: We should ask for God's help, we should do the things that Jesus taught us, and we should spend time with people who help us be the people God wants. Doing these things will help you stay strong and healthy on the inside: in your heart, in your mind, and in your spirit. That's good, because if you are healthy on the inside you can bear lots of good fruit on the outside!
Prayer: Dear God, your Bible tells us that the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Please send your Holy Spirit to help these things grow in us. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, June 27, 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.
Transitions
by Dean Feldmeyer
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14; Luke 9:51-62
Someone once said that people do not voluntarily change until their level of discomfort is greater than their level of fear.
For most of us, change does not come so easily or gently. It is not something that we eagerly embrace; it is forced upon us. We go into it kicking and screaming. We age. Our bodies change. People we know and care about move away. We change jobs and have to learn new skills and face new responsibilities. Our doctor tells us we have to change our eating and exercise habits.
Even the changes we seek often cause us distress and discomfort. That new baby we wanted so much keeps us up at night with feedings and worry. We finally get to retire, and then we find ourselves feeling bored and forgotten. The new easy chair turns out to be less comfortable than the old one. The new computer means I have to learn a lot of stuff that I got along fine without knowing yesterday.
Yet life doesn't ask our permission before it changes. If we are going to have authentic and effective lives, we must find a way to deal with the changes that life throws at us.
THE WORLD
Looking back, we probably should have known that the economy couldn't continue to grow the way it was growing, based as it was on subprime mortgages and financial manipulations that most of us couldn't even pronounce, much less understand. Yet when things went south, it took us by surprise.
Looking back, we probably should have known that a huge oil spill was inevitable and been prepared for such an eventuality. Those wells are a mile below the surface of the ocean, where the water pressure is over a ton per square inch. We should have known and been prepared. Yet when the Deepwater Horizon blowout came, it took us by surprise.
Looking back, we should have known that those levees would eventually fail. They were made by hand, and were too short, too thin, and too fragile. If the right hurricane came at the right time in the right place, they would not be able to contain the storm surge and New Orleans would be devastated. Yet when Katrina came, she took us by surprise.
And the changes that these tragedies have foisted upon us have taken us by surprise as well. They have distracted us from the visions we had of our future and the goals we had set for our lives. Everything must stop now, while we invest our time, our resources, and our creativity in damage control and trying to prepare so that if and when this happens again, we'll be ready.
No matter how much change we experience in our lives, it always takes us by surprise.
We knew our kids were getting older, but we weren't quite prepared for them to move out and start living lives of their own and forgetting to call us for days on end. We knew that our parents were getting older, but we weren't quite prepared for them to slow down the way they have and become so dependent upon us. We knew that we were getting older but... well, you know.
And change is coming at us faster and faster, thanks to the computer. Look what has happened in just the last 30 years:
* The first personal computer, the IBM 5150, came on the market in 1981. By 2008 there were one billion personal computers in homes around the world, and that number is expected to double by 2015. And most of those computers are capable of doing lots more than we ask of them to do.
* In 1993 there were 600 www websites. By 1997 there were over a million. By 2005 the number had grown to about 71 million. And while there is no way to know for sure, the best estimates for today run in the neighborhood of about 200 million. That's an increase of more than 300,000% in less than 20 years.
* The first email message was sent in 1971, but it didn't become popular until 1988 -- and today more than 600 million people use email regularly. Most scholars consider it to be the most important development in communication technology since the telephone.
* Speaking of telephones, text messaging wasn't available to most people until 1993. Twitter wasn't available until 2006. Both of them have become part of our everyday lives.
* In most of our lifetimes, we have gone from playing our parents' 72 rpm records to playing our own 45s, through vinyl albums, to eight-tracks, to cassettes, to CDs, to MP3s.
And nobody asked our permission or even our opinion before making these changes. How are we supposed to live with them?
THE WORD
This week's lesson from 2 Kings reminds us that change and transition are constants in our lives. Even Elijah doesn't live forever. He must "pass the mantle" to his protégé, Elisha, who will carry on his ministry.
But Elisha is different. The voice of prophecy in Israel will change under his leadership.
Where Elijah was solitary, strident, and often wrathful, Elisha's voice will prove (with a couple of notable exceptions) to be a kinder, gentler one. He will live with other prophets and enjoy the company of people. He will be known and remembered primarily as a prophet who worked miracles of kindness and deeds of compassion.
The mantle has passed, and with the passing comes change. And we should note in this passage that God asks no one's permission before these changes are made.
Change, while inevitable, can also be a distraction, however. It can, if we are not careful, divert us from the work of the kingdom.
In the gospel lesson, Luke shows how Jesus refuses to be distracted from his calling and his goal. He sets his face toward Jerusalem, and despite distractions he refuses to be diverted.
First, when he is rejected by the Samaritans, his disciples get their feelings hurt and want to stop and get some revenge. Jesus rebukes them and they move on.
Secondly, when a man offers to follow Jesus, he warns the man that true disciples do not allow themselves to be distracted and diverted by their desire for creature comforts, even those of home and hearth.
Thirdly, when another man offers to follow him but wants to wait until after his father dies, Jesus reminds him that true disciples do not let themselves be distracted by the personal and cultural expectations of others.
And finally, Jesus reminds a third volunteer that we cannot live with one foot in the kingdom of God and one in the world. True disciples do not let themselves be distracted by the lure of the safe and the normal.
The key to successful kingdom living, according to Luke, is focus -- to set our face upon Jerusalem and not allow ourselves to be distracted by even the most invasive changes that life thrusts upon us.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Here is a theme with which we can be playful and have some fun.
All of us bemoan the changes we didn't ask for that are forced upon us, and it can be fun to share what some of them are -- the more mundane, the better.
How many of us have computers that will do 100 times more things than we want or need for them to do? The same applies to cell phones. An MP3 player no larger than two of your fingers will hold 10,000 songs. Why? Does anyone really want to save 10,000 songs?
Older members of the congregation will remember when you called the neighborhood grocer, told him you needed five pounds of flour, and he delivered it to your door. Do we really want or need to choose from the 30 different kinds of flour in the modern-day supermarket?
A brief, humorous, skeptical litany of changes that we are told are improving our lives could then be followed by the changes that really have improved things -- the MRI and the CAT scan, the new protocols in cancer treatment, fluoridation of our water, satellite communications that let us talk to our distant loved ones whenever we like. Even things like 911 emergency numbers and GPS tracking devices such as Garmins and Magellans and Tom-Toms have made life safer and easier for us all.
The trick, however, is to not allow these changes -- good or bad, hurtful or helpful, or just amusing -- to distract us from our journey to the kingdom.
We are called by God to be discerning, to weigh carefully what we need and what we simply want. And we are called to ask and search diligently those changes placed before us to determine which ones are transforming our lives and which are simply changing them.
ANOTHER VIEW
Dispensing Warmth
by Ron Love
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Washington Redskins defensive tackle Albert Hayneswoth is currently in the sports news for his lack of sportsmanship. Dissatisfied with the Redskins' new defensive scheme, he has elected not to attend practice, and possibly to boycott playing -- though he has had no qualms about collecting $32 million of the $41 million guaranteed salary in the seven-year, $100 million contract he signed last year as a free agent. His complaint is that the new 3-4 defense does not allow him the freedom of movement on the field that he experienced playing with the Tennessee Titans. He wants out -- but without surrendering the income he has received. Incoming Redskins coach Mike Shanahan succinctly expressed his view: "Don't take our check and then say that, hey, you don't want to be a part of the organization." Linebacker London Fletcher expressed the sentiments of the team when he said, "When you decide to play a team sport, you have to look at it and think about everybody involved in the situation. This is not golf, tennis, things like that, where it's an all-about-you sport. What he decided to do is make a decision based on all-about-him."
Paul, in our lectionary reading from Galatians 5, is addressing a somewhat similar situation -- the all-about-me Galatian congregation. It was a church suffering internal strife, as most congregations seem to routinely experience. The issue for the Galatian congregation centers on the issue of circumcision, and the demand from Jewish Christians that Gentiles need to be circumcised to be Christian. This, of course, is not the view of the Gentiles who are a part of the congregational fellowship, nor is it the position of the apostle Paul. Yet for Paul, the conflict reflects an even bigger and more fundamental issue; that is, having been crucified with Christ we are no longer under the Law but live by grace.
Conflicting positions between these two groups, as experienced in multiple churches established beyond the city limits of Jerusalem, was persistent. Resolution only came centuries later when church councils convened and disavowed the requirement to be circumcised. Yet in the midst of this conflict, Paul offered advice on how we should live as Christians -- Jewish Christian and Greek Christian alike. The message is still appropriate for any congregation experiencing internal strife. It is also a message that should guide every Christian who is experiencing personal, internal spiritual strife.
Paul unapologetically makes known his position that grace trumps Law. Paul notes that if we cannot live in harmony we shall "devour each other," not unlike the disruption Haynesworth's behavior has created for the Redskins. If we are not to "be destroyed by each other," then we must live by "a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' " Paul wants to make the case that love always prevails over the Law. In fact, according to Paul, love places upon us an even greater responsibility than the Law ever did, for now we must live not as we are told but through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We must have the wisdom of discernment to act properly in all situations in which we are placed.
As we are "led" by the Spirit, we have received the gift of God. As we "walk" by the Spirit, we must be attentive to its demands. And the flesh and the Spirit will always act "contrary" to one another. As Jesus pointed out in our gospel lesson, we must be able to focus on the task before us. As Dean Feldmeyer points out in his article above, the gospel lesson dictates that as we set our face toward Jerusalem we cannot be "distracted or diverted."
Paul then lists the conflict that exists not only within congregations, but harbors even in within our souls: idolatry, hatred, discord, jealousy, anger, selfishness, factions. These words describe those behaviors that tear congregations asunder and allow the demonic to triumph within our own being. The alternative to this is to seek spiritual living: love, gentleness, kindness, peace, patience, self-control. These attributes are reflected by those who choose to walk by the Spirit. The challenge, according to Paul, is to live knowing we have "crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires."
In developing your sermon, the following outline may be helpful:
I. You may want to begin by discussing how uncompromising differences can retard the growth of any organization and prevent it from fulfilling its mission. You may want to relate examples you are aware of that are present in congregations and community organizations.
* Disharmony is like sand in the velcro of Army uniforms of the soldiers fighting in Afghanistan. Sand, like so many irritants in life, wedges itself in the velcro, and the pockets no longer remain fastened. According to USA Today reporter Tom Vanden Brook, the Army is realizing it is time to return to the old way of doing things: "The Army is ripping space-age velcro from its uniforms and replacing it with the humble button." The humble button -- that is, humility -- is the answer to many of the conflicts that confront institutions and individuals. The question becomes: How do we move toward a humble disposition?
II. Paul indicates that the place to begin is to no longer "gratify the desires of the sinful nature." This is an act of self-examination that commences by reviewing Paul's list of the "acts of the sinful nature." As previously mentioned, these are idolatry, selfishness, ambition, anger, hate. Discuss how these behaviors can not only destroy institutions but also corrode souls. You may want to share any stories that you are personally aware of on how these behaviors have caused countless problems for institutions and individuals.
*Albert Haynesworth of the Washington Redskins is a prime example of one individual whose selfishness is destroying the ambitions of an entire team and erasing the tireless work of a coach.
* South Carolina state senator Jake Knotts recently called gubernatorial candidate Niki Haley a "raghead," a demeaning remark in reference to someone of Indian descent. When challenged on this comment, Knotts replied, "I am proud to be stereotyped as a redneck." Such demonizing bigotry makes informative political dialogue in South Carolina more difficult, and it's an attitude that will prevent any organization from fulfilling its God-given calling.
III. Paul says we must live "contrary" to our sinful natures by "keeping in step with the Spirit." This means we are to accentuate love, peace, gentleness, and patience in our lives. Share with the congregation the avenues the church provides that allow us to walk with the Spirit. Be sure to emphasize the steps individuals can take upon themselves through private devotion and study. It should also be made clear that a real transformation must be taking place within the soul of each individual. If we are able to do this despite differences in ideology, an institution can be a positive force in the community. If individuals are able to exhibit these attributes, then peace and harmony will prevail. You may want to share some stories of earthly saints that you know that truly display the qualities of the Spirit that Paul discusses.
* Singer Miley Cyrus recently had the word "LOVE" tattooed on the inside of her ear. If she had the word spelled backward, then each morning when she looked in the mirror she would be reminded of Paul's admonition. As it is now, placed so all who pass her can read it, it is a dictate to others, or perhaps a zealous display of her religious fervor. Paul does not want this Pharisaical approach to life, for he prefers the word love to be tattooed, that is embellished, in our hearts.
* Tiger Woods has vowed to correct his behavior on the golf course, especially his anger and language. But during practice rounds at the recent US Open, he was heard speaking in self-degrading language. Then, when asked by a reporter about his marriage, his retort was nasty. The reporter's name went unreported, but not the incident. As Doug Ferguson wrote: "The only thing particularly sharp about Woods was his tongue." We must guard ourselves from that great disconnect of thinking we are changing to actually being in the process of changing, becoming a new person in Christ.
* A letter that author Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) wrote shortly after the death of his daughter, Olivia "Susy" Clemens, was recently auctioned. She died in 1896, at the age of 24, of spinal meningitis. Twain described her spirit with this line: "In all things she was intense: in her this characteristic was not a mere glow, dispensing warmth, but a consuming fire."
IV. You should conclude by discussing what it means to be dispensing warmth as a consuming fire. If we do so, the problems experienced by the church in Galatia may be averted in our own day-to-day setting.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Nothing is more surprising than the rise of the new within ourselves. We do not foresee or observe its growth. We do not try to produce it by the strength of our will, by the power of our emotion, or by the clarity of our intellect. On the contrary, we feel that by trying to produce it we prevent its coming... The new being is born in us, just when we least believe in it. It appears in remote corners of our souls that we have neglected for a long time. It opens up deep levels of our personality that had been shut out by old decisions and old exclusions. It shows a way where there was no way before.
-- Paul Tillich, "I Am Doing a New Thing," in The Shaking of the Foundations (Scribner's, 1948), p. 182
* * *
There is a scene in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when the intrepid archaeologist/adventurer is fleeing one enemy or another and comes to the edge of a huge and yawning chasm. He stops his forward progress just in the nick of time and teeters there, about to fall in. Then he rights himself and surveys his situation.
He can't go back; danger lurks there. Yet it seems just as impossible to go forward, for that would mean certain death. Then Jones reaches down and picks up a handful of gravel. He throws it out ahead of him over the cliff. The falling stones don't travel far. Just a few inches below the level of his boots, they land on an invisible footbridge he never knew was there.
That's not a bad image for the transitional times of life: the passages from one stage to another. Where there seems to be no discernible road ahead, God reveals one.
* * *
J. Barrie Shepherd observes in Praying the Psalms that when Psalm 23 begins, beside the quiet waters and in green pastures, it's written in the third person. Yet when the setting changes to the valley of the shadow of death, suddenly the language shifts to the second person. Where the psalmist had once spoken of God as "the Lord," now he addresses God as "thou" or "you."
This is consistent with human psychology, with how we discover resources of faith in a time of crisis. Just when we need God the most, just when dark shadows threaten to overwhelm us and anyone would be seized by a desire to turn back, God arrives -- not as a subject of theological discourse, but in person to lead the way.
* * *
In his book Lament for a Son, Nicholas Wolterstorff writes (commenting on life after his son's death), "The world looks different now.... Something is over. In the deepest levels of my existence, something is finished, done. My life is divided into before and after."
* * *
One of those who escaped from the World Trade Center said: "If you'd seen what it was like in that stairway, you'd be proud. There was no gender, no race, no religion. It was everyone helping each other." But away from that stairway -- in America's streets -- there is gender, there is race, there is religion.
-- Julian Bond, cited in the New York Times; from a graduation address at Susquehanna University
* * *
Amid all the high fashions and fashion blunders, the ritual wheel that worked the space between the living and the dead still got us where we needed to go. It made room for the good laugh, the good cry, and the power of faith brought to bear on the mystery of mortality. The broken circle within the community of folks who shared blood or geography or belief with the dead was closed again. Someone brought the casseroles, someone brought the prayers, and someone brought a shovel or lighted the fire. Everyone was consoled by everyone else. The wheel that worked the space between the living and the dead ran smooth.
For many Americans, however, that wheel is not just broken but off-track or in need of re-invention. The loosened ties of faith and family, of religious and ethnic identity, have left them ritually adrift, bereft of custom, symbol, metaphor, and meaningful liturgy or language. Times formerly spent in worship or communion are now spent shopping or web-browsing or otherwise passing time. Many Americans are now spiritual tourists without home places or core beliefs to return to.
Instead of dead Methodists or Muslims, we are now dead golfers or gardeners, bikers or bowlers. The bereaved are not so much family and friends or fellow believers as like-minded hobbyists or enthusiasts. I have become less the funeral director and more the memorial caddy of sorts, getting the dead out of the way and the living assembled for a memorial "event" that is neither sacred nor secular but increasingly absurd -- a triumph of accessories over essentials, stuff over substance, theme over theology. The genuine dead are downsized or disappeared or turned into knick-knacks in a kind of funeral karaoke -- bodiless obsequies where the finger food is good, the music transcendent, the talk determinedly "life-affirming," the accouterments all purposefully cheering and inclusive, and where someone can be counted on to declare "closure" just before the merlot runs out. We leave these events with the increasing sense that something is missing.
Something is.
Just as he showed us something about suffering and sickness and dying in his last days alive, in death Pope John Paul II showed us something about grieving and taking our leave. The good death, good grief, good funerals come from keeping the vigils, from bearing our burdens honorably, from honest witness and remembrance. They come from going the distance with the ones we love.
-- Poet and funeral director Thomas Lynch, "Our Near-Death Experience"
* * *
Upon the Montana prairies few rises or gullies break the landscape. There, tractors have air-conditioned cabs, radios, and CD players. These comforts help drivers stay awake while simply pointing the tractor straight.
A generation ago, younger children drove tractors without such amenities. When Wayne was about thirteen, he became bored spending the day looking forward on the tractor, holding the steering wheel straight for a mile, then turning around and starting back. He experimented with where and how to sit to have enough excitement to stay awake. He sat in front of the steering wheel, over the motor, facing backward, and turned occasionally to spot the field's end.
Unfortunately, he didn't see his father drive out to check on him. By the time his father left the field that morning it was more painful for Wayne to sit anywhere, but he definitely understood -- when you plow, you look straight ahead.
* * *
This week's gospel text has always seemed like a conflict of differing tunnel visions. Jesus is completely focused on Jerusalem, while others have priorities that interfere with their embracing his agenda. They just can't see.
The French nation developed a strategy for its national defenses out of the pyrrhic experience of World War I. The horrors of trench warfare led them to misinterpret the value of fixed defenses. Their "tunnel vision" led to the construction of a complex series of positions known as the Maginot Line. The Germans had learned different lessons from their experience. Instead of relying on fixed defenses, they envisioned war as being an exercise of speed and maneuver. On May 10, 1940, the Nazis launched their offensive against France, not against the powerful Maginot Line, but instead through the countries of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The Maginot Line was outflanked and rendered useless. The Nazis entered Paris on June 14.
* * *
How often we hear about a highly regarded person who leaves his job, moves on to another position, and his replacement is not received by the people at the workplace, in the community, or in the congregation. No matter how hard the new person tries, he is never accepted. Every change, innovation, new idea is met with resistance and even refusal to consider what was proposed. Often the new person spends months, even years, struggling to overcome unvoiced antagonism. It can be frustrating and overwhelming, especially when externally people appear to agree and support. Frequently the new person leaves, moving on with a sense of failure and/or inadequacy.
* * *
What keeps us looking back -- throwing glances over our spiritual and emotional shoulder to the past? The gospel lists obligations and normal daily pressures, but Jesus casts them in terms of realities that can deaden and destroy spiritual sensitivity to God's call. The submission to the joys of the future God has in store for us must be accompanied by a submission to God of what we have left behind.
Flora Wuellner writes about "With Christ into the Unknown Future," but a chapter prior to that is titled "With Christ to the Painful Past." It raises the issue of whether we are the dead burying the dead, unable to move forward with Christ for various reasons.
She tells what happens when we put our hand to the plow and move with Christ.
"No wound is so trivial that the love of God is not concerned with it. No pain is so deep, so long-standing, that the love of God cannot reach it. Every shock, every bleeding wound, every anger and grief is not only encompassed by that love but is also held and transformed by that love. The fact that it is in what we call the 'past' makes no difference to the power of God's love. All times are open and present to that unsleeping, all-embracing consciousness. God asks only our willingness."
-- Flora Slosson Wuellner, Prayer, Stress & Our Inner Wounds (The Upper Room, 1985), p. 28
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Let us call to mind the deeds of our God.
People: Let us meditate of all God's work and deeds.
Leader: Your way, O God, is holy; who is like you?
People: You are the God who works wonders.
Leader: As your path goes through the sea, we see your footprints.
People: You lead your people with the servants you call forth.
OR
Leader: Come and worship the God who does not change.
People: How can God not change?
Leader: God is steadfast in essence and love.
People: We want to be steadfast in our inner lives.
Leader: God comes to offer us that solid place to stand.
People: With God we will anchor our souls in love.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"When Our Confidence Is Shaken"
found in:
UMH: 505
CH: 534
"O Thou Who Camest from Above"
found in:
UMH: 501
H82: 704
"Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty"
found in:
UMH: 64
H82: 362
PH: 138
AAHH: 329
NNBH: 1
NCH: 277
CH: 4
LBW: 165
Renew: 204
"Holy God, We Praise Thy Name"
found in:
UMH: 79
H82: 366
PH: 460
NNBH: 13
NCH: 276
LBW: 535
"We Believe in One True God"
found in:
UMH: 85
"We Meet You, O Christ"
found in:
UMH: 257
PH: 311
CH: 183
"Spirit Song"
found in:
UMH: 347
AAHH: 321
CH: 352
CCB: 51
Renew: 248
"It Is Well with My Soul"
found in:
UMH: 377
AAHH: 377
NNBH: 255
NCH: 438
CH: 561
"The Steadfast Love of the Lord"
found in:
CCB: 28
Renew: 23
"God, You Are My God"
found in:
CCB: 60
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 who is constant yet adaptable to the needs of your people: Grant us the grace to be constant in following our Savior in the way while taking on the changes that always confront us; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come to worship you, O God, in the midst of our lives that are always in turmoil and change. Even as we celebrate your constant presence we are aware that you have worked in a myriad of ways and through countless, different people. Help us to be grounded in you, so that we may adapt to the changes around us. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially the ways in which we allow the changes of life to distress us and move us from your Way.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have looked at the changes around us, and like the disciples in the boat during the storm we cry to you and wonder if you really care for us. We call to mind the scripture that you are changeless, and expect that our lives will be changeless as well. We forget that it is your nature that does not change and that you have adapted to your creatures time and time again. Center us once again in your constant loving kindness, that we may greet our changes from solid footing. So fill us with your Spirit that we may face with courage all that comes our way. Amen.
Leader: God loves us now and God has always loved us. God knows the confusion and turmoil of our lives, and invites us once again into the grace of God's love. Know that whatever comes our way, our God is with us.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We worship and adore you, O God, because you are the changeless One. You are true to your nature of love so that your people proclaim that you are Love.
(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 looked at the changes around us, and like the disciples in the boat during the storm we cry to you and wonder if you really care for us. We call to mind the scripture that you are changeless, and expect that our lives will be changeless as well. We forget that it is your nature that does not change and that you have adapted to your creatures time and time again. Center us once again in your constant loving kindness, that we may greet our changes from solid footing. So fill us with your Spirit that we may face with courage all that comes our way.
We give you thanks for the constant ways in which you have been with us, and for the wonder of changes that have taken place among us. We give you thanks that scientists and thinkers have opened up the mysteries of creation and offered us ways of dealing with sickness that were unknown to those before us. We thank you for the progress that makes our lives easier and more comfortable.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for those who have been denied the benefits of progress because of tyranny or poverty. We pray for those who are overwhelmed by the changes in their lives. Help us to offer to them the Good News of Jesus, which grounds us in your constant loving kindness.
(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
pictures that show changes -- the Wright Brothers aircraft and the space shuttle; semi trucks and horse-drawn wagons; an outhouse and a modern bathroom
Children's Sermon Starter
Show the children some baby clothes -- your own if you have any that you have saved. Talk about how you wore these clothes, or some like them, when you we younger. Ask if they think you would fit in them now. Ask if they have clothes at home that they wore as a baby. Would they fit them now? Things change all around us and even within us.
What doesn't change is God's love for us and our ability to be faithful disciples of Jesus. No matter what changes in our lives, God's love and our devotion to Jesus can help us stay on the path to life eternal.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The Fruit of the Spirit
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Object: a bowl of different kinds of fruit
Good morning, boys and girls! Look at all this wonderful fruit! What different kinds do you see in my bowl? (responses from the children) Do you have a favorite one? (responses) I like them all. They are all delicious and very different. An interesting thing is that they are all grown on different plants. Some are grown on vines, some on bushes, some on trees. The plants that grew these must have been very healthy to produce such beautiful fruit.
There is another kind of fruit that the Bible talks about. It's not the same kind of fruit that I have in my bowl, though. The scripture writer tells us that the fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Why do you think these things are called fruit? Because the Holy Spirit helps these things grow out of us when we are living good lives. That means that you are kind of like a plant too, because these fruits will grow out of you when you are living the kind of life that God wants. Right here, right now you can grow fruit.
Now, what are some of the things we do to help regular fruit plants grow? We water them, give them sunlight, trim them every now and then, and give them plant food. Doing those things will help plants grow good fruit. So what are some of the things we need to help us grow good things? (talk with the children about this)
There are lots of ways to help us grow healthy fruit. Here are a few things I can think of: We should ask for God's help, we should do the things that Jesus taught us, and we should spend time with people who help us be the people God wants. Doing these things will help you stay strong and healthy on the inside: in your heart, in your mind, and in your spirit. That's good, because if you are healthy on the inside you can bear lots of good fruit on the outside!
Prayer: Dear God, your Bible tells us that the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Please send your Holy Spirit to help these things grow in us. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, June 27, 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.
