The Treat In The Trick
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This week our lectionary passage from Genesis brings us the strange story of Jacob being tricked by his uncle Laban into marrying his older daughter Leah rather than Rachel, the vixen whom Jacob has had his eyes on for seven years. With overtones of outdated cultural practices like indentured servitude and bigamy, at first glance it seems like this tale wouldn't have much to say to us today -- particularly since it's told entirely from the viewpoint of the male characters involved. But in this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Mary Austin points out that there are several aspects to this story that are quite contemporary. Everyone, from Jacob to Laban to Leah and even Rachel, practices some sort of deception in order to get what they want. Particularly for Jacob -- an archetypal trickster if ever there was one -- the reversal of fortune is rather stunning; though he wriggles out of the trap Laban has set for him by agreeing to work for an additional seven years, it's somewhat satisfying to see him get his "comeuppance" by being the victim of the sort of tactics he's been profiting from for years. Mary notes that it's the same paradigm that we're seeing played out before us in the burgeoning scandal that began with allegations of phone hacking by reporters for a British newspaper. What initially seemed as the isolated behavior of a few overly aggressive reporters has mushroomed into a spreading wildfire that is threatening the empire of the world's most powerful media baron -- as well as spreading into government and law enforcement. For Rupert Murdoch, as with Jacob, it seems that someone whose entire career was built on encouraging what some considered "over-the-edge" behavior is now being called to account -- but Mary observes that we're certainly not entirely innocent either. Murdoch was able to assemble his empire not only because he was a ruthless businessman but also because his papers gave readers the gossipy information they craved. It seems that this scandal, like the story of Jacob and Laban, holds up a mirror to many of the more unsavory aspects of human behavior. Yet, Mary tells us, God manages to use even people like these to further his work in the world.
Team member Dean Feldmeyer shares some additional thoughts on the Romans text and Paul's observation that "all things work together for good for those who love God." Dean notes that in the age of the 24-hour news cycle we're inundated by news of bad things happening around the world, so it's easy to wonder why a good God can allow such misery -- or to blithely assume that "it's all good," and that God has us covered. Instead, Dean reminds us that Paul's vision is more nuanced -- he acknowledges the pain and suffering in the world, and tells us that even in the midst of all that God is able to, as the saying goes, "make lemonade out of lemons." No matter what misfortune may befall us, we have the love of Christ to sustain us. Like the proverbial mailmen, of whom it is said that "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds," Paul reiterates that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
The Treat in the Trick
by Mary Austin
Genesis 29:15-28
As long as there have been prizes to win in life, there has been cheating.
The story of Jacob reveals tricks at every turn, as he schemes to inherit the family fortune and make off with his father's blessing. Recent events in the news business give us an unlikely parallel to Jacob's story and a chance to think about the place of tricks and deceit in our lives now. The unfolding story of News Corp and the tricks used by its flagship British tabloid The News of the World to collect the latest news have prompted several high-level executives to resign and even cast doubt on the Wall Street Journal, the venerable American paper owned by the parent company. Deceit and deception served The News of the World well for a long time and fed our collectively insatiable appetite for tidbits about celebrities and royal figures. The paper and its editors -- and Murdoch's entire media conglomerate -- are now facing a reckoning very much like the one Jacob encounters in this story from Genesis.
THE WORLD
The News of the World had long been noted for being a leading provider of celebrity gossip and news about the royal family -- but in recent weeks, the newspaper has been under fire for its tactics in collecting the news. The rapidly unfolding story is of interest to American readers partly because Rupert Murdoch, owner of the British paper, is also the owner of several American media properties, including Fox News, the New York Post, and the Wall Street Journal. The events of recent weeks have raised questions about whether the tactics used in Britain were also used to collect news in the U.S. Les Hinton, the chief executive of Dow Jones (publisher of the Wall Street Journal) and a former head of Murdoch's British newspaper business, has resigned, along with another of the parent company's top executives, and more revelations are expected as governments in the U.S. and Britain open inquiries.
Each day brings new developments, including Murdoch giving up his bid to buy a bigger share of the coveted British broadcasting giant Sky TV and the complete shutdown of The News of the World. Over the weekend, Murdoch took out a full-page ad in several papers apologizing to the people of Britain.
The scandal has already begun to spill over to the British government. As the Associated Press reports: "Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative-led government and the London police, meanwhile, faced increasing questions over their close relationship with Murdoch's media empire. Cameron was feeling the heat Saturday after government records showed that Murdoch executives held 26 meetings with him since he was elected in May 2010 and were invited to his country retreat." Last week Cameron endured a remarkable confrontation with opposition leaders on the floor of the House of Commons as he tried to defend his connection with a former News of the World editor who had served as his communications chief.
The scandal initially began five years ago with revelations that the newspaper had hacked into the phone messages of the royal family and their aides. But it ramped up to an entirely new level in the past few weeks when information surfaced that the paper had gone after not just of celebrities but a murdered teenage girl as well. The AP article further notes that "Murdoch began his apologies Friday as he met with the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, whose phone was hacked by The News of the World in 2002. The revelation that journalists had accessed her phone in search of scoops while police were looking for the missing 13-year-old fueled an explosion of interest in the long-simmering scandal." The media group also reportedly routinely hacked into the phones of royal staff members, politicians, and well-known athletes, and it may be that victims of London's 2005 bombings and the families of British soldiers killed at war were targeted as well.
Events are unfolding quickly -- recent days have seen the resignation of the top two officials of Scotland Yard over allegations that the newspaper's unethical behavior involved not only the hacking of phone messages but also police bribery. Rebekah Brooks -- Murdoch's top lieutenant and the head of his British newspaper business (and also the chief editor of The News of the World in 2002) -- resigned from her position, only to be arrested days later in connection with the bribery investigation. In addition, the FBI has now opened an inquiry into the possibility that the phone hacking extended to the families of 9/11 victims. This week, Rupert Murdoch and his son James appeared in an extraordinary session before parliament to face questions about their knowledge and handling of the entire affair. (Here's a handy thumbnail summary of the entire sordid affair.)
Deceptive and illegal tactics yielded breaking news for Murdoch's media group for a long time and now they're being called to account for the tricks and invasions involved.
THE WORD
As we move through the book of Genesis, watching the story of Jacob unfold, we've seen him bargain with his older brother for Esau's birthright and then trick (along with his mother) his father into giving him the blessing meant for his brother. Esau is understandably angry and determined to kill him, and Jacob is now on the run. He flees to his mother's relatives in Haran, and begins his tenure there by breaking with the local custom. Everyone waits to use the local well to water their flocks until all of the herds have arrived -- but Jacob comes, meets Rachel, and wants to impress her, so he rolls the covering stone away from the well so she won't have to wait. The stone is meant to be bigger than one person can manage alone, and Jacob moves it to dazzle Rachel.
A little time goes by and when his uncle Laban asks him what he will accept as wages for his work, he asks for Rachel's hand in marriage. His labor will serve as the traditional bride price. Here, the trickster is tricked: The morning after the wedding the marriage bed holds not Rachel, but her older sister Leah. The bride is veiled therefore Jacob does not realize the change. After seven years of longing for Rachel, you would think that Jacob would know which sister is which. I wonder if he knows about the substitution all along and hopes that Laban will throw in the second sister for free once he complains. The story is told from the point of view of the men involved, and we're left to wonder about Leah's and Rachel's feelings.
It's hard to feel sorry for Jacob, though, as he experiences being on the receiving end of a deception. We hardly know whom to cheer on in this story. Of course, getting the wrong bride is awful for everyone -- but there's a small moment of glee as Jacob gets a taste of his own medicine. The one famous for doling out the tricks for his own advantage is now on the receiving end.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
These stories point out that we will inevitably get a taste of our own medicine. Tricks and deceit come back around with a vengeance, and deception only paves the way for more deception.
Yet, blame and judgment aren't so easy to assign. Of course, Jacob has been heedless with the feelings of other people, most notably his brother and father. He will go on to trick Laban again when the time comes to go home. Yet, looking at his uncle and his mother, we can see where he learned to think like he does. More importantly, God understands him, and God chooses Jacob for a glimpse of God's realm and a part in God's story.
The media conglomerate of Rupert Murdoch and family has undeniably caused harm to people in Britain and perhaps in America. Yet, all of us who enjoy celebrity gossip have played a part in their ruthless pursuit of the latest news. The company fed the appetites of the public, and we have our own collective responsibility to consider. The news is a business and they operated in a way that would generate more income -- even though their tactics are certainly unsavory and possibly illegal.
As people of faith, we are often called the heirs of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, along with Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, and truly we are. The Bible doesn't shy away from these tabloid TV-esque stories, full of family drama and conflict, and God doesn't shy away from using such people as carriers of the divine covenant. Faults, treachery, stupidity and all, they carry God's plans forward. They make mistakes, justice comes along, and still God uses them as bearers of the promise. In our lives too, we make mistakes, the inevitable consequences come and yet we are also heirs of the divine promise. God's work continues -- through our ancestors in the faith, and through us. Thanks be to God.
SECOND THOUGHTS
It's All Good?
by Dean Feldmeyer
Romans 8:26-39
One morning last week I turned on my computer -- and the home page, a news site, came to life with the following headlines:
* 13 Dead, 81 Hurt in Mumbai Terror Attack
* 12-Year-Old Among 18 Dead in Ciudad Juarez
* New York City Man Arrested After Boy Found Dead
* Burn! Burn! Riots Erupt in Northern Ireland
I hadn't even had my coffee and I was assaulted with four horrendous images of violence, death, sadness, and grief. I had to deal -- mentally, emotionally, spiritually -- with all of these disturbing images, and I was hardly awake. And it doesn't happen just once in a while; it's constant.
Thirty-five years ago we got our news in a newspaper that had room for maybe four stories on the front page and was limited in size by how much advertising they sold. The local TV news was about 17 minutes after commercials, sports, and weather. Walter Cronkite read the national and international news in about 22 minutes.
Today, the 24-hour cable news channels and their parallel websites require dozens, if not scores, of stories just to fill the time. So we are bombarded with news, most of it bad. And there isn't really any escape. Televisions in restaurants, banks, diners, and even restrooms keep us informed up to the second, whether we want it or not. Telephone apps and computer programs bring the news to us wherever we are.
But no one tells us how to process it, how to interpret it, how to contextualize it all. No one tells us what to say in response to the constant barrage of bad news that is thrown at us all day, every day.
One recent response has been simply to say, "It's all good." We hear that a lot, don't we? A shrug, a dismissive twist of the wrist, a wink, a wry grin, and "It's all good," which means, of course, that it just doesn't matter. There's nothing you can do so there's no use worrying about it.
Another response, one we often hear from people of faith, is to fill our face with a sort of empty smile, lift our hands in the air, and say, "God loves us, so all these things that look like tragedies really aren't and we just have to trust God." And then we sing a praise hymn.
A third response is to say that all these tragedies just prove that there isn't a God -- or that, if there is a God, he isn't a loving, benevolent God -- and then to simply surrender to cynicism and despair.
The first is immature, the second is theologically bankrupt and makes Christians look like fools, the third is suicidal. There must be a better way.
Paul, in his letter to the Romans, offers a fourth alternative.
He understands that tragedies really are tragic and he allows room for pain and grief. But he also allows that we, as Christians, have a context and a perspective that enables us to walk through, out of, and beyond our tragedies. His is a message not of Pollyanna naivete or Panglossian positivism but of Christian resurrection and hope. He does not say that all things are good but that "all things work together for good for those who love God..." God can bring good out of even our worst troubles and tragedies. Faith in God enables us to rise, like the phoenix, from the ashes of our grief into the clear, clean, refreshing, life-giving air of Christian hope.
Paul concludes his passage with what may be the most life-affirming benediction in the entire Bible, reminding us that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
ILLUSTRATIONS
Geoffrey Chaucer told a marvelous tale of a trickster getting tricked. Actually, he had the pardoner tell it; it's part of The Canterbury Tales. In "The Pardoner's Tale," three revelers decide to seek out death and destroy it. On the way they discover a basket of gold. The youngest lout is sent to get wine, food, and water. While he is away, he schemes to kill his two companions and to that end he poisons the wine. Unbeknownst to him, his companions decide to kill him and divide his portion of the gold between themselves. When the young man returns he is killed but the murderous companions celebrate by drinking the poisoned wine and they too die. (They found death!)
Jacob was a trickster, tricking his blind father, Isaac, into giving him Esau's birthright. But the trickster met his match in Laban, who switches Leah for Rachel on Jacob's wedding night. I suppose the moral is: "If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword."
* * *
James (Quick) Tillis, a former heavyweight boxer, told the story of how he arrived in Chicago from his native Oklahoma to seek his fortune in the world of big-time boxing. His first day in the Windy City was memorable. In his own words: "I got off the bus with two cardboard suitcases under my arms in downtown Chicago and stopped in front of the Sears Tower. I put my suitcases down, and I looked up at the Tower and I said to myself, 'I'm going to conquer Chicago.' When I looked down, the suitcases were gone."
Tillis' experience was not unlike that of Jacob, who was snookered by his father-in-law Laban more than once. But Tillis -- like Jacob -- learned the virtue of persevering through adversity.
* * *
The New York Times has been doing a series of pictorials on the museums of famous actors and actresses. On display at the Ava Gardner Museum in Smithfield, North Carolina, near where she was born, is a small revolver. The pistol was given to her by director John Huston while Gardner was filming the movie The Night of the Iguana. The display prominently showcases that Huston had engraved on each individual bullet for the gun a name of an actor who was a member of the cast. An interpretation is not offered for Huston's motive in doing so, but it does seem like a rather morbid enterprise.
One must wonder if our words are not like those engraved bullets, each with a name -- and when fired from our mouths -- the damage may not be physical but certainly it is emotional as we penetrate the heart and soul of the intended target, causing him or her to bleed from emotional distress.
Laban carried such a weapon. With lies he pierced the soul of both Jacob and Rachel. If he could fire such shots at his own daughter and future son-in-law, would anyone be spared the wrath of his deceit?
* * *
A display at the Jimmy Stewart Museum in Indiana, Pennsylvania, where he was born, contains a row of cases showing each uniform Stewart wore in his 27 years of service as an officer in the United Sates Air Force. He retired as a major general, having flown combat missions in World War II and Vietnam. The uniforms are a testimony to his commitment and to the many roles that he assumed as an officer and pilot.
If we study the life of Jacob, we too will see that he wore many uniforms. Some unfortunately were tarnished but most showed the scars of battle resulting from faithful and obedient service.
* * *
Two prominent Republican candidates for president signed "The Marriage Vow," written by The Family Leader. The purpose of the vow is to give unwavering support to the traditional concept of family and marriage. The first point of the document prominently states that African-American children had a better home life enslaved in 1860 than they do in the bastion of freedom of 2011. The document was not hastily written for it has several pages of footnotes substantiating this as well as all of its other claims.
After the signing, the slavery clause received a great deal of attention in the media. Michele Bachmann, a signer, did not denounce the document, only the slavery clause. Her spin was that she was only signing the candidate's portion of the document. Yet it is inconceivable that the slavery clause went unnoticed. One may conclude that expediency for a political endorsement took precedence over truth.
Putting aside whether you are a supporter of Bachmann or not, the finer lesson here is one of discernment. Perhaps Ms. Bachmann, as well as the rest of us, ought to return to Solomon and know that the greatest gift any of us may have is wisdom.
* * *
A college professor gave an assignment to his class. The students were to write a paper answering the question "Is God a good God?" One student spoke to her pastor to see if he could help her with her paper. In speaking with him she said, "If God is a good God, how can we account for all the evil in this world?"
To this question her pastor answered her with a question: "Yes, I agree that there is evil in the world -- but is God to blame for this evil?"
The young college student wasn't sure how to answer her pastor's question, so she asked him another question: "Perhaps God isn't to blame for all that is wrong in the world, but why doesn't God do something to make the world a better place?"
To this her pastor replied, "God has; God placed you in this world. Get busy!"
* * *
The word Paul uses to describe God's working for goodness in the creation is sunergei, and it is the word we usually translate as "synergy." Consider that it literally means "working with." God put his Spirit in you so that he could work with you to proclaim the good and preserve the good, and promote the good within the creation. You are a partner with God. You, who according to Paul, have been chosen, called, justified, and ultimately will be glorified, you are God's partner in the ongoing process of creation as you work together for God in all things.
* * *
It's hard when we're feeling overwhelmed by a tsunami of bad news to remember Paul's words that "all things work together for good for those who love God" and persevere with a belief in the ultimate reward. But there is probably few more powerful illustrations of what Paul had in mind than the story of Dewey Bozella, who received a national spotlight at the recent ESPY awards as he received the Arthur Ashe award for his courage and dedication.
You may not have heard of Dewey Bozella but he spent over half of his life in prison, wrongly convicted of a heinous murder. He was certainly no saint -- he'd had a particularly troubled upbringing and had a reputation for committing petty crime. While he was completely innocent of the charges against him, Dewey recognized that his biggest sin was placing himself in a position where he was a plausible suspect, even though there was no physical evidence implicating him, and the witnesses testifying against him lied in order to cut deals for themselves. So Dewey resolved to turn his life around. He got a job and enrolled in community college. The case was initially dropped due to lack of evidence but eventually Dewey was convicted anyway and sent to the notorious Sing Sing prison.
Despite the odds against him, Dewey refused to give up his quest to clear his name and a belief that he would ultimately be vindicated. In prison he discovered boxing, and the sport gave him an outlet for his bitterness as well as a discipline that carried over to other aspects of his life. He became a model prisoner, earning two college degrees. He even encountered in prison a fellow inmate who had murdered his older brother; rather than seek revenge, Dewey forgave him. Prison guards repeatedly wrote letters recommending his parole -- but there was one obstacle: Dewey had to "appreciate the nature and seriousness of his crime," which meant admitting to doing something that he hadn't. Dewey resolved to maintain his integrity and thus four times his parole was turned down. Nevertheless, Dewey continued to believe that "all things would work together for good" -- he wrote the Innocence Project weekly for years asking them to look into his case and kept at it despite the lack of a response. Eventually they took his case, only to discover that all physical evidence had been destroyed, making it impossible to use DNA tests to clear Dewey. The lawyers who took his case (pro bono) finally came across a file on Dewey's case that a retired detective had kept -- and as a result, they discovered that evidence had been withheld during Dewey's trial. Finally, after 26 years in Sing Sing, Dewey was a free man.
It's heartwarming that Dewey was finally vindicated and that his story received national attention. But that doesn't change the troubling fact that for the majority of Dewey's life, his freedom was wrongfully taken away from him. Yet he isn't seeking redress against the prosecutors who put him in prison; as Dewey puts it, to do so would just "be keeping me from getting where I need to go with my life." Dewey Bozella is a powerful object lesson that despite the worst that life can throw at us, all things can potentially work together for good -- particularly when we don't give in to the temptation to exalt our anger and pain, and thereby separate ourselves from God.
* * *
The mustard seed, though tiny, produces a plant that can accommodate many birds. The pixel, that little dot on every television and computer screen, acts in much the same way. (Only instead of growing in size, it multiplies in number.) The picture we see on our television is really a series of thousands of dots arranged in such a way that our brain recognizes them as a tree or whatever. If we were to blow the picture up until we could clearly see the dots or pixels, we would not be able to identify the image on the screen unless we backed up at least 20-30 feet. From that distance the dots would appear smaller and our brain could translate the dots into the picture.
If you would like to see how this works, put a digital photo on your computer then enlarge it. Soon the edges of the figures become choppy and indistinct (as the image becomes "pixelated"), but you still know what you are looking at. Keep going. Soon the picture is unrecognizable. It is really quite remarkable. The pixel -- small but mighty.
* * *
Bristol Palin, in her recently published autobiography Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far, defends in the opening pages her sexual purity and total adherence to abstinence. She claims that when she and Levi Johnston (the father of her son) had their encounter it was in a tent in the woods in which Levi sloshed her with wine coolers. It was not until the next morning did she learn that, absent of her consent, she had lost her virginity. If this is true, then Bristol, under Alaska state law, accused Levi of sexual assault in the second degree. This is a very serious crime.
The question becomes, if she was assaulted why was it not reported to the police? If she was not assaulted, why make a criminal accusation in the opening pages of her autobiography? Ms. Palin best decide what is the truth and how she will pursue that truth.
The Psalmist asks God to "teach me your statutes." The Psalmist wants to know and understand God's law so he is able to interpret it and follow it. The Psalmist is not seeking a way to circumvent God's commandments, but he is truly seeking a way to be a faithful and obedient follower. In seeking to be taught, the Psalmist is clearly demonstrating that we cannot manipulate the law for our own edification and justification.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Let us give thanks to our God.
People: Let us make known God's gracious deeds.
Leader: Seek God and God's strength.
People: Continually we will seek God's presence.
Leader: God is mindful of the covenant forever.
People: God remembers it for a thousand generations.
OR
Leader: Come into the presence of the one who never forsakes us.
People: Our God is good and faithful in all circumstances.
Leader: When our world seems to fall apart, God is with us.
People: Whatever happens to us, God is there to help us work it out.
Leader: There is nothing that can ever separate us from the love of God.
People: Nothing in heaven, on earth, or in hell!
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"God, Whose Love Is Reigning O'er Us"
found in:
UMH: 100
"God of Many Names"
found in:
UMH: 105
CH: 13
"How Like a Gentle Spirit"
found in:
UMH: 115
NCH: 443
CH: 69
"O Thou, in Whose Presence"
found in:
UMH: 518
"Saranam, Saranam"
found in:
UMH: 523
CCB: 73
"What a Friend We Have in Jesus"
found in:
UMH: 526
PH: 403
AAHH: 430/431
NNBH: 61
NCH: 506
CH: 585
LBW: 439
ELA: 742
"Be Still, My Soul"
found in:
UMH: 534
AAHH: 135
NNBH: 263
NCH: 488
CH: 566
"It Is Well with My Soul"
found in:
UMH: 377
AAHH: 377
NNBH: 255
NCH: 438
CH: 561
ELA: 785
"All I Need Is You"
found in:
CCB: 100
"On Eagle's Wings"
found in:
CCB: 97
Renew: 112
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God whose faithfulness and care are without end: Grant us the faith to trust that you are always with us and help us place our lives always in your loving hands; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We have come to worship our faithful God and to allow God to draw us to deeper faith that we may always trust God's wondrous grace. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the times when we doubt God's love and care.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We look at all the bad things that happen to us and to others, and we doubt your care for us. We begin to think that you don't care for us. We forget about the suffering of Jesus and the way in which victory came through pain, not around it. Forgive us our short-sightedness that misses the wonder of your loving presence, which is always with us to bring us wholeness and salvation. Amen.
Leader: God's love is constant and forever. Even in our troubles God is at work for us. Even in our sins God is at work to call us to a better life. Through the love and mercy of God, we are forgiven.
Prayer for Illumination
Send, O God, the light of your presence upon us, so that as your word is proclaimed we may see more clearly your loving presence, drawing us to the best outcome for us. Amen.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We offer our worship and praise to you, O God, for the constant love that is your very nature. In you there is no shadow of turning but only light and care for us, your creatures.
(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 look at all the bad things that happen to us and to others, and we doubt your care for us. We begin to think that you don't care for us. We forget about the suffering of Jesus and the way in which victory came through pain, not around it. Forgive us our short-sightedness that misses the wonder of your loving presence, which is always with us to bring us wholeness and salvation.
We give you thanks for your great love as you walk with us through all the circumstances of our lives. You are with us when the path is smooth, and you are with us when the way is rough. You rejoice with us in our good times, and you weep with us when sadness overtakes us. You have given us the church, the community of faith, which mirrors your love and offers us the deep communion we need with our fellow creatures.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all your children and especially for those who find their way in life hard this day. We pray that as you walk beside them and offer to guide them to a better place, we may be faithful to those around us as we offer your love, grace, and care to them.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
Bring an acorn or some other seed to show the children. Talk with them about how a small seed can grow into a huge plant. An acorn can become a huge oak tree. Sometimes it may seem that we can't do much for God, but if we will do the little things we can, God can use them and make them grow. If we are good and kind, then we help God make this world a better place and more like God wants it to be.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The Kite and the Sailboat
Romans 8:26-39
Good morning, boys and girls! Has anything bad ever happened to you? Bad things happen to all of us; there is nothing we can do about that. But there is something we can do about our attitudes when bad things happen. Let me tell you a story.
Jerry spent all day working on his sailboat. He had built it, piece by piece, all by himself. It had taken him a long time to paint it and to carefully put on the sails. He was so proud of his work. Now the paint was dry and the sailboat was finished, and Jerry could hardly wait to go to the park and sail his boat in the lake.
Jerry arrived at the park and searched for the best place to launch his masterpiece. He walked down to the edge of the lake and gently set his sailboat on the water. What a beautiful sight! His boat began to move gracefully through the ripples.
Oh no! A blustering wind began to blow and before Jerry could rescue his boat the wind had crashed it into some rocks. The little sailboat was broken into a thousand pieces. All of Jerry's hard work was ruined.
Jerry bent down and picked up the pieces of his broken sailboat and said, "You know, it's not a very good day to sail sailboats, but it looks like a terrific day to fly a kite!" And with that, he ran home to get his kite and returned to have a wonderful afternoon watching the kite dance in the clouds.
Jerry could have gotten angry and thrown a temper tantrum. He could have sat down by the lake and cried, but instead Jerry found something good in a bad situation.
You see, it's all in how we look at things. We can find something good in almost any situation if we'll just try.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, July 24, 2011, issue.
Copyright 2011 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.
Team member Dean Feldmeyer shares some additional thoughts on the Romans text and Paul's observation that "all things work together for good for those who love God." Dean notes that in the age of the 24-hour news cycle we're inundated by news of bad things happening around the world, so it's easy to wonder why a good God can allow such misery -- or to blithely assume that "it's all good," and that God has us covered. Instead, Dean reminds us that Paul's vision is more nuanced -- he acknowledges the pain and suffering in the world, and tells us that even in the midst of all that God is able to, as the saying goes, "make lemonade out of lemons." No matter what misfortune may befall us, we have the love of Christ to sustain us. Like the proverbial mailmen, of whom it is said that "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds," Paul reiterates that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
The Treat in the Trick
by Mary Austin
Genesis 29:15-28
As long as there have been prizes to win in life, there has been cheating.
The story of Jacob reveals tricks at every turn, as he schemes to inherit the family fortune and make off with his father's blessing. Recent events in the news business give us an unlikely parallel to Jacob's story and a chance to think about the place of tricks and deceit in our lives now. The unfolding story of News Corp and the tricks used by its flagship British tabloid The News of the World to collect the latest news have prompted several high-level executives to resign and even cast doubt on the Wall Street Journal, the venerable American paper owned by the parent company. Deceit and deception served The News of the World well for a long time and fed our collectively insatiable appetite for tidbits about celebrities and royal figures. The paper and its editors -- and Murdoch's entire media conglomerate -- are now facing a reckoning very much like the one Jacob encounters in this story from Genesis.
THE WORLD
The News of the World had long been noted for being a leading provider of celebrity gossip and news about the royal family -- but in recent weeks, the newspaper has been under fire for its tactics in collecting the news. The rapidly unfolding story is of interest to American readers partly because Rupert Murdoch, owner of the British paper, is also the owner of several American media properties, including Fox News, the New York Post, and the Wall Street Journal. The events of recent weeks have raised questions about whether the tactics used in Britain were also used to collect news in the U.S. Les Hinton, the chief executive of Dow Jones (publisher of the Wall Street Journal) and a former head of Murdoch's British newspaper business, has resigned, along with another of the parent company's top executives, and more revelations are expected as governments in the U.S. and Britain open inquiries.
Each day brings new developments, including Murdoch giving up his bid to buy a bigger share of the coveted British broadcasting giant Sky TV and the complete shutdown of The News of the World. Over the weekend, Murdoch took out a full-page ad in several papers apologizing to the people of Britain.
The scandal has already begun to spill over to the British government. As the Associated Press reports: "Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative-led government and the London police, meanwhile, faced increasing questions over their close relationship with Murdoch's media empire. Cameron was feeling the heat Saturday after government records showed that Murdoch executives held 26 meetings with him since he was elected in May 2010 and were invited to his country retreat." Last week Cameron endured a remarkable confrontation with opposition leaders on the floor of the House of Commons as he tried to defend his connection with a former News of the World editor who had served as his communications chief.
The scandal initially began five years ago with revelations that the newspaper had hacked into the phone messages of the royal family and their aides. But it ramped up to an entirely new level in the past few weeks when information surfaced that the paper had gone after not just of celebrities but a murdered teenage girl as well. The AP article further notes that "Murdoch began his apologies Friday as he met with the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, whose phone was hacked by The News of the World in 2002. The revelation that journalists had accessed her phone in search of scoops while police were looking for the missing 13-year-old fueled an explosion of interest in the long-simmering scandal." The media group also reportedly routinely hacked into the phones of royal staff members, politicians, and well-known athletes, and it may be that victims of London's 2005 bombings and the families of British soldiers killed at war were targeted as well.
Events are unfolding quickly -- recent days have seen the resignation of the top two officials of Scotland Yard over allegations that the newspaper's unethical behavior involved not only the hacking of phone messages but also police bribery. Rebekah Brooks -- Murdoch's top lieutenant and the head of his British newspaper business (and also the chief editor of The News of the World in 2002) -- resigned from her position, only to be arrested days later in connection with the bribery investigation. In addition, the FBI has now opened an inquiry into the possibility that the phone hacking extended to the families of 9/11 victims. This week, Rupert Murdoch and his son James appeared in an extraordinary session before parliament to face questions about their knowledge and handling of the entire affair. (Here's a handy thumbnail summary of the entire sordid affair.)
Deceptive and illegal tactics yielded breaking news for Murdoch's media group for a long time and now they're being called to account for the tricks and invasions involved.
THE WORD
As we move through the book of Genesis, watching the story of Jacob unfold, we've seen him bargain with his older brother for Esau's birthright and then trick (along with his mother) his father into giving him the blessing meant for his brother. Esau is understandably angry and determined to kill him, and Jacob is now on the run. He flees to his mother's relatives in Haran, and begins his tenure there by breaking with the local custom. Everyone waits to use the local well to water their flocks until all of the herds have arrived -- but Jacob comes, meets Rachel, and wants to impress her, so he rolls the covering stone away from the well so she won't have to wait. The stone is meant to be bigger than one person can manage alone, and Jacob moves it to dazzle Rachel.
A little time goes by and when his uncle Laban asks him what he will accept as wages for his work, he asks for Rachel's hand in marriage. His labor will serve as the traditional bride price. Here, the trickster is tricked: The morning after the wedding the marriage bed holds not Rachel, but her older sister Leah. The bride is veiled therefore Jacob does not realize the change. After seven years of longing for Rachel, you would think that Jacob would know which sister is which. I wonder if he knows about the substitution all along and hopes that Laban will throw in the second sister for free once he complains. The story is told from the point of view of the men involved, and we're left to wonder about Leah's and Rachel's feelings.
It's hard to feel sorry for Jacob, though, as he experiences being on the receiving end of a deception. We hardly know whom to cheer on in this story. Of course, getting the wrong bride is awful for everyone -- but there's a small moment of glee as Jacob gets a taste of his own medicine. The one famous for doling out the tricks for his own advantage is now on the receiving end.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
These stories point out that we will inevitably get a taste of our own medicine. Tricks and deceit come back around with a vengeance, and deception only paves the way for more deception.
Yet, blame and judgment aren't so easy to assign. Of course, Jacob has been heedless with the feelings of other people, most notably his brother and father. He will go on to trick Laban again when the time comes to go home. Yet, looking at his uncle and his mother, we can see where he learned to think like he does. More importantly, God understands him, and God chooses Jacob for a glimpse of God's realm and a part in God's story.
The media conglomerate of Rupert Murdoch and family has undeniably caused harm to people in Britain and perhaps in America. Yet, all of us who enjoy celebrity gossip have played a part in their ruthless pursuit of the latest news. The company fed the appetites of the public, and we have our own collective responsibility to consider. The news is a business and they operated in a way that would generate more income -- even though their tactics are certainly unsavory and possibly illegal.
As people of faith, we are often called the heirs of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, along with Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, and truly we are. The Bible doesn't shy away from these tabloid TV-esque stories, full of family drama and conflict, and God doesn't shy away from using such people as carriers of the divine covenant. Faults, treachery, stupidity and all, they carry God's plans forward. They make mistakes, justice comes along, and still God uses them as bearers of the promise. In our lives too, we make mistakes, the inevitable consequences come and yet we are also heirs of the divine promise. God's work continues -- through our ancestors in the faith, and through us. Thanks be to God.
SECOND THOUGHTS
It's All Good?
by Dean Feldmeyer
Romans 8:26-39
One morning last week I turned on my computer -- and the home page, a news site, came to life with the following headlines:
* 13 Dead, 81 Hurt in Mumbai Terror Attack
* 12-Year-Old Among 18 Dead in Ciudad Juarez
* New York City Man Arrested After Boy Found Dead
* Burn! Burn! Riots Erupt in Northern Ireland
I hadn't even had my coffee and I was assaulted with four horrendous images of violence, death, sadness, and grief. I had to deal -- mentally, emotionally, spiritually -- with all of these disturbing images, and I was hardly awake. And it doesn't happen just once in a while; it's constant.
Thirty-five years ago we got our news in a newspaper that had room for maybe four stories on the front page and was limited in size by how much advertising they sold. The local TV news was about 17 minutes after commercials, sports, and weather. Walter Cronkite read the national and international news in about 22 minutes.
Today, the 24-hour cable news channels and their parallel websites require dozens, if not scores, of stories just to fill the time. So we are bombarded with news, most of it bad. And there isn't really any escape. Televisions in restaurants, banks, diners, and even restrooms keep us informed up to the second, whether we want it or not. Telephone apps and computer programs bring the news to us wherever we are.
But no one tells us how to process it, how to interpret it, how to contextualize it all. No one tells us what to say in response to the constant barrage of bad news that is thrown at us all day, every day.
One recent response has been simply to say, "It's all good." We hear that a lot, don't we? A shrug, a dismissive twist of the wrist, a wink, a wry grin, and "It's all good," which means, of course, that it just doesn't matter. There's nothing you can do so there's no use worrying about it.
Another response, one we often hear from people of faith, is to fill our face with a sort of empty smile, lift our hands in the air, and say, "God loves us, so all these things that look like tragedies really aren't and we just have to trust God." And then we sing a praise hymn.
A third response is to say that all these tragedies just prove that there isn't a God -- or that, if there is a God, he isn't a loving, benevolent God -- and then to simply surrender to cynicism and despair.
The first is immature, the second is theologically bankrupt and makes Christians look like fools, the third is suicidal. There must be a better way.
Paul, in his letter to the Romans, offers a fourth alternative.
He understands that tragedies really are tragic and he allows room for pain and grief. But he also allows that we, as Christians, have a context and a perspective that enables us to walk through, out of, and beyond our tragedies. His is a message not of Pollyanna naivete or Panglossian positivism but of Christian resurrection and hope. He does not say that all things are good but that "all things work together for good for those who love God..." God can bring good out of even our worst troubles and tragedies. Faith in God enables us to rise, like the phoenix, from the ashes of our grief into the clear, clean, refreshing, life-giving air of Christian hope.
Paul concludes his passage with what may be the most life-affirming benediction in the entire Bible, reminding us that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
ILLUSTRATIONS
Geoffrey Chaucer told a marvelous tale of a trickster getting tricked. Actually, he had the pardoner tell it; it's part of The Canterbury Tales. In "The Pardoner's Tale," three revelers decide to seek out death and destroy it. On the way they discover a basket of gold. The youngest lout is sent to get wine, food, and water. While he is away, he schemes to kill his two companions and to that end he poisons the wine. Unbeknownst to him, his companions decide to kill him and divide his portion of the gold between themselves. When the young man returns he is killed but the murderous companions celebrate by drinking the poisoned wine and they too die. (They found death!)
Jacob was a trickster, tricking his blind father, Isaac, into giving him Esau's birthright. But the trickster met his match in Laban, who switches Leah for Rachel on Jacob's wedding night. I suppose the moral is: "If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword."
* * *
James (Quick) Tillis, a former heavyweight boxer, told the story of how he arrived in Chicago from his native Oklahoma to seek his fortune in the world of big-time boxing. His first day in the Windy City was memorable. In his own words: "I got off the bus with two cardboard suitcases under my arms in downtown Chicago and stopped in front of the Sears Tower. I put my suitcases down, and I looked up at the Tower and I said to myself, 'I'm going to conquer Chicago.' When I looked down, the suitcases were gone."
Tillis' experience was not unlike that of Jacob, who was snookered by his father-in-law Laban more than once. But Tillis -- like Jacob -- learned the virtue of persevering through adversity.
* * *
The New York Times has been doing a series of pictorials on the museums of famous actors and actresses. On display at the Ava Gardner Museum in Smithfield, North Carolina, near where she was born, is a small revolver. The pistol was given to her by director John Huston while Gardner was filming the movie The Night of the Iguana. The display prominently showcases that Huston had engraved on each individual bullet for the gun a name of an actor who was a member of the cast. An interpretation is not offered for Huston's motive in doing so, but it does seem like a rather morbid enterprise.
One must wonder if our words are not like those engraved bullets, each with a name -- and when fired from our mouths -- the damage may not be physical but certainly it is emotional as we penetrate the heart and soul of the intended target, causing him or her to bleed from emotional distress.
Laban carried such a weapon. With lies he pierced the soul of both Jacob and Rachel. If he could fire such shots at his own daughter and future son-in-law, would anyone be spared the wrath of his deceit?
* * *
A display at the Jimmy Stewart Museum in Indiana, Pennsylvania, where he was born, contains a row of cases showing each uniform Stewart wore in his 27 years of service as an officer in the United Sates Air Force. He retired as a major general, having flown combat missions in World War II and Vietnam. The uniforms are a testimony to his commitment and to the many roles that he assumed as an officer and pilot.
If we study the life of Jacob, we too will see that he wore many uniforms. Some unfortunately were tarnished but most showed the scars of battle resulting from faithful and obedient service.
* * *
Two prominent Republican candidates for president signed "The Marriage Vow," written by The Family Leader. The purpose of the vow is to give unwavering support to the traditional concept of family and marriage. The first point of the document prominently states that African-American children had a better home life enslaved in 1860 than they do in the bastion of freedom of 2011. The document was not hastily written for it has several pages of footnotes substantiating this as well as all of its other claims.
After the signing, the slavery clause received a great deal of attention in the media. Michele Bachmann, a signer, did not denounce the document, only the slavery clause. Her spin was that she was only signing the candidate's portion of the document. Yet it is inconceivable that the slavery clause went unnoticed. One may conclude that expediency for a political endorsement took precedence over truth.
Putting aside whether you are a supporter of Bachmann or not, the finer lesson here is one of discernment. Perhaps Ms. Bachmann, as well as the rest of us, ought to return to Solomon and know that the greatest gift any of us may have is wisdom.
* * *
A college professor gave an assignment to his class. The students were to write a paper answering the question "Is God a good God?" One student spoke to her pastor to see if he could help her with her paper. In speaking with him she said, "If God is a good God, how can we account for all the evil in this world?"
To this question her pastor answered her with a question: "Yes, I agree that there is evil in the world -- but is God to blame for this evil?"
The young college student wasn't sure how to answer her pastor's question, so she asked him another question: "Perhaps God isn't to blame for all that is wrong in the world, but why doesn't God do something to make the world a better place?"
To this her pastor replied, "God has; God placed you in this world. Get busy!"
* * *
The word Paul uses to describe God's working for goodness in the creation is sunergei, and it is the word we usually translate as "synergy." Consider that it literally means "working with." God put his Spirit in you so that he could work with you to proclaim the good and preserve the good, and promote the good within the creation. You are a partner with God. You, who according to Paul, have been chosen, called, justified, and ultimately will be glorified, you are God's partner in the ongoing process of creation as you work together for God in all things.
* * *
It's hard when we're feeling overwhelmed by a tsunami of bad news to remember Paul's words that "all things work together for good for those who love God" and persevere with a belief in the ultimate reward. But there is probably few more powerful illustrations of what Paul had in mind than the story of Dewey Bozella, who received a national spotlight at the recent ESPY awards as he received the Arthur Ashe award for his courage and dedication.
You may not have heard of Dewey Bozella but he spent over half of his life in prison, wrongly convicted of a heinous murder. He was certainly no saint -- he'd had a particularly troubled upbringing and had a reputation for committing petty crime. While he was completely innocent of the charges against him, Dewey recognized that his biggest sin was placing himself in a position where he was a plausible suspect, even though there was no physical evidence implicating him, and the witnesses testifying against him lied in order to cut deals for themselves. So Dewey resolved to turn his life around. He got a job and enrolled in community college. The case was initially dropped due to lack of evidence but eventually Dewey was convicted anyway and sent to the notorious Sing Sing prison.
Despite the odds against him, Dewey refused to give up his quest to clear his name and a belief that he would ultimately be vindicated. In prison he discovered boxing, and the sport gave him an outlet for his bitterness as well as a discipline that carried over to other aspects of his life. He became a model prisoner, earning two college degrees. He even encountered in prison a fellow inmate who had murdered his older brother; rather than seek revenge, Dewey forgave him. Prison guards repeatedly wrote letters recommending his parole -- but there was one obstacle: Dewey had to "appreciate the nature and seriousness of his crime," which meant admitting to doing something that he hadn't. Dewey resolved to maintain his integrity and thus four times his parole was turned down. Nevertheless, Dewey continued to believe that "all things would work together for good" -- he wrote the Innocence Project weekly for years asking them to look into his case and kept at it despite the lack of a response. Eventually they took his case, only to discover that all physical evidence had been destroyed, making it impossible to use DNA tests to clear Dewey. The lawyers who took his case (pro bono) finally came across a file on Dewey's case that a retired detective had kept -- and as a result, they discovered that evidence had been withheld during Dewey's trial. Finally, after 26 years in Sing Sing, Dewey was a free man.
It's heartwarming that Dewey was finally vindicated and that his story received national attention. But that doesn't change the troubling fact that for the majority of Dewey's life, his freedom was wrongfully taken away from him. Yet he isn't seeking redress against the prosecutors who put him in prison; as Dewey puts it, to do so would just "be keeping me from getting where I need to go with my life." Dewey Bozella is a powerful object lesson that despite the worst that life can throw at us, all things can potentially work together for good -- particularly when we don't give in to the temptation to exalt our anger and pain, and thereby separate ourselves from God.
* * *
The mustard seed, though tiny, produces a plant that can accommodate many birds. The pixel, that little dot on every television and computer screen, acts in much the same way. (Only instead of growing in size, it multiplies in number.) The picture we see on our television is really a series of thousands of dots arranged in such a way that our brain recognizes them as a tree or whatever. If we were to blow the picture up until we could clearly see the dots or pixels, we would not be able to identify the image on the screen unless we backed up at least 20-30 feet. From that distance the dots would appear smaller and our brain could translate the dots into the picture.
If you would like to see how this works, put a digital photo on your computer then enlarge it. Soon the edges of the figures become choppy and indistinct (as the image becomes "pixelated"), but you still know what you are looking at. Keep going. Soon the picture is unrecognizable. It is really quite remarkable. The pixel -- small but mighty.
* * *
Bristol Palin, in her recently published autobiography Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far, defends in the opening pages her sexual purity and total adherence to abstinence. She claims that when she and Levi Johnston (the father of her son) had their encounter it was in a tent in the woods in which Levi sloshed her with wine coolers. It was not until the next morning did she learn that, absent of her consent, she had lost her virginity. If this is true, then Bristol, under Alaska state law, accused Levi of sexual assault in the second degree. This is a very serious crime.
The question becomes, if she was assaulted why was it not reported to the police? If she was not assaulted, why make a criminal accusation in the opening pages of her autobiography? Ms. Palin best decide what is the truth and how she will pursue that truth.
The Psalmist asks God to "teach me your statutes." The Psalmist wants to know and understand God's law so he is able to interpret it and follow it. The Psalmist is not seeking a way to circumvent God's commandments, but he is truly seeking a way to be a faithful and obedient follower. In seeking to be taught, the Psalmist is clearly demonstrating that we cannot manipulate the law for our own edification and justification.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Let us give thanks to our God.
People: Let us make known God's gracious deeds.
Leader: Seek God and God's strength.
People: Continually we will seek God's presence.
Leader: God is mindful of the covenant forever.
People: God remembers it for a thousand generations.
OR
Leader: Come into the presence of the one who never forsakes us.
People: Our God is good and faithful in all circumstances.
Leader: When our world seems to fall apart, God is with us.
People: Whatever happens to us, God is there to help us work it out.
Leader: There is nothing that can ever separate us from the love of God.
People: Nothing in heaven, on earth, or in hell!
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"God, Whose Love Is Reigning O'er Us"
found in:
UMH: 100
"God of Many Names"
found in:
UMH: 105
CH: 13
"How Like a Gentle Spirit"
found in:
UMH: 115
NCH: 443
CH: 69
"O Thou, in Whose Presence"
found in:
UMH: 518
"Saranam, Saranam"
found in:
UMH: 523
CCB: 73
"What a Friend We Have in Jesus"
found in:
UMH: 526
PH: 403
AAHH: 430/431
NNBH: 61
NCH: 506
CH: 585
LBW: 439
ELA: 742
"Be Still, My Soul"
found in:
UMH: 534
AAHH: 135
NNBH: 263
NCH: 488
CH: 566
"It Is Well with My Soul"
found in:
UMH: 377
AAHH: 377
NNBH: 255
NCH: 438
CH: 561
ELA: 785
"All I Need Is You"
found in:
CCB: 100
"On Eagle's Wings"
found in:
CCB: 97
Renew: 112
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God whose faithfulness and care are without end: Grant us the faith to trust that you are always with us and help us place our lives always in your loving hands; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We have come to worship our faithful God and to allow God to draw us to deeper faith that we may always trust God's wondrous grace. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the times when we doubt God's love and care.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We look at all the bad things that happen to us and to others, and we doubt your care for us. We begin to think that you don't care for us. We forget about the suffering of Jesus and the way in which victory came through pain, not around it. Forgive us our short-sightedness that misses the wonder of your loving presence, which is always with us to bring us wholeness and salvation. Amen.
Leader: God's love is constant and forever. Even in our troubles God is at work for us. Even in our sins God is at work to call us to a better life. Through the love and mercy of God, we are forgiven.
Prayer for Illumination
Send, O God, the light of your presence upon us, so that as your word is proclaimed we may see more clearly your loving presence, drawing us to the best outcome for us. Amen.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We offer our worship and praise to you, O God, for the constant love that is your very nature. In you there is no shadow of turning but only light and care for us, your creatures.
(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 look at all the bad things that happen to us and to others, and we doubt your care for us. We begin to think that you don't care for us. We forget about the suffering of Jesus and the way in which victory came through pain, not around it. Forgive us our short-sightedness that misses the wonder of your loving presence, which is always with us to bring us wholeness and salvation.
We give you thanks for your great love as you walk with us through all the circumstances of our lives. You are with us when the path is smooth, and you are with us when the way is rough. You rejoice with us in our good times, and you weep with us when sadness overtakes us. You have given us the church, the community of faith, which mirrors your love and offers us the deep communion we need with our fellow creatures.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all your children and especially for those who find their way in life hard this day. We pray that as you walk beside them and offer to guide them to a better place, we may be faithful to those around us as we offer your love, grace, and care to them.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
Bring an acorn or some other seed to show the children. Talk with them about how a small seed can grow into a huge plant. An acorn can become a huge oak tree. Sometimes it may seem that we can't do much for God, but if we will do the little things we can, God can use them and make them grow. If we are good and kind, then we help God make this world a better place and more like God wants it to be.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The Kite and the Sailboat
Romans 8:26-39
Good morning, boys and girls! Has anything bad ever happened to you? Bad things happen to all of us; there is nothing we can do about that. But there is something we can do about our attitudes when bad things happen. Let me tell you a story.
Jerry spent all day working on his sailboat. He had built it, piece by piece, all by himself. It had taken him a long time to paint it and to carefully put on the sails. He was so proud of his work. Now the paint was dry and the sailboat was finished, and Jerry could hardly wait to go to the park and sail his boat in the lake.
Jerry arrived at the park and searched for the best place to launch his masterpiece. He walked down to the edge of the lake and gently set his sailboat on the water. What a beautiful sight! His boat began to move gracefully through the ripples.
Oh no! A blustering wind began to blow and before Jerry could rescue his boat the wind had crashed it into some rocks. The little sailboat was broken into a thousand pieces. All of Jerry's hard work was ruined.
Jerry bent down and picked up the pieces of his broken sailboat and said, "You know, it's not a very good day to sail sailboats, but it looks like a terrific day to fly a kite!" And with that, he ran home to get his kite and returned to have a wonderful afternoon watching the kite dance in the clouds.
Jerry could have gotten angry and thrown a temper tantrum. He could have sat down by the lake and cried, but instead Jerry found something good in a bad situation.
You see, it's all in how we look at things. We can find something good in almost any situation if we'll just try.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, July 24, 2011, issue.
Copyright 2011 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.
