In this week’s lectionary epistle passage, Paul characterizes Abraham’s attitude toward God’s covenant and its future implications as “hoping against hope.” That sense of desperate optimism was probably the only sensible reaction for Abraham -- given Sarah’s advanced age, the promise of a male offspring that would produce “kings of peoples” (Genesis 17:16) seemed rather ludicrous. But Abraham’s deep faith allowed him to believe that all God’s promises would come to fruition, despite what seemed like impossible roadblocks. And as Jesus points out in this week’s gospel text, the path for those who would follow in his footsteps is perilous and full of potentially fatal obstacles.
In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Chris Keating points out that Jesus’ words certainly weren’t empty ones for surviving Egyptian villagers devastated this past week by another brutal ISIS massacre. That’s just the latest example of a nonstop barrage of discouraging news about the violent and dangerous world we live in. And yet, Chris reminds us, it’s vital for us to maintain “hope against hope” too. Though it can be difficult at times, Chris notes, if we look closely we can find plenty of encouraging signs to help sustain our hope... even in the darkest of moments. Perhaps no one embodied that better, Chris suggests, than another recent ISIS victim: American aid worker Kayla Mueller. After news of her death came to light, her family released a remarkable letter Kayla had written during her captivity in which she discussed how she had become even closer to God and that she had “come to see that there is good in every situation, we sometimes just have to look for it.”
Team member Leah Lonsbury shares some additional thoughts on the superficiality of some of our traditional Lenten practices, when what we’re really called to is a deeper form of behavioral change. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves in this week’s gospel passage. But does denying ourselves some form of pleasure for 40 days mean all that much -- especially when we’ll return to our usual routine after Easter? Leah asks us to consider the possibility of making a more substantial difference in our own and in other people’s lives -- say, by giving 40 days of groceries to people in need, so that, as the psalmist tells us, “the poor shall eat and be satisfied.” Leah suggests that our Lenten disciplines are often more about ourselves and our “righteousness” than indicative of being willing to “deny [our]selves and take up [our] cross and follow” Jesus... and that we need to remember that the focus of Lent should be less on ourselves and more on our relationship with God and with others.
Unprovable Hope
by Chris Keating
Romans 4:13-25
Hope seems so improbable this Lent.
To those stuck in the grinding blizzards and chilling winds of winter, hope may feel like a promise of warmer days or plane tickets to Florida.
To ever-faithful baseball fans, hope is the news that pitchers and catchers are getting to business in spring training. Every team still has a chance.
Everyone is hoping against hope, even as we wash away the ashes from last week’s Ash Wednesday worship. But hope is more than the arrival of spring or the smell of grass on freshly washed baseball pants. Hope built on faith in God’s provision seems even more improbable -- especially in light of recent unrest and violence across the world.
Last week, 21 Coptic Christians were beheaded by ISIS on a bloody beach in Libya. In Nigeria, the militant Boko Haram group is suspected in bombing attacks near the Nigerian border, and in an uprising across the border at a Cameroonian military base. Hope seemed elusive in Europe too, where French President Francois Hollande decried growing acts of violence against Muslims and Jews as eroding the nation’s foundations.
Hope isn’t easy -- as Peter discovers in his conversation with Jesus, or as Paul reminds us when he instructs the Romans to see Abraham as the heir of faith, who “hoping against hope,” believed he would become the progenitor of many nations.
It all seems so improbable -- yet for that reason so much richer.
In the News
Even by the gruesome standards of its previous videos, ISIS’ most recent video was chilling. Clad in familiar orange jumpsuits, 21 Egyptian men (captured in Libya where they were seeking work) were paraded before the camera and forced to kneel at the hands of knife-wielding militants. One executioner addressed the camera, sending what was called a “message signed with blood to the nation of the cross.”
“All crusaders: safety for you will be only wishes, especially if you are fighting us all together. Therefore we will fight you all together,” the militant said. “The sea you have hidden Sheikh Osama Bin Laden’s body in, we swear to Allah we will mix it with your blood.”
Response to the threats included promises that Egypt would seek retribution -- and within hours, Egyptian planes began airstrikes on ISIS targets. Meanwhile, a Coptic bishop offered forgiveness, while others named the victims as martyrs for the faith.
The grisly images only serve to uphold the medieval nature of ISIS. Despite the series of beheading videos and brutality of battle, journalist Graeme Wood points out in the Atlantic that few North Americans truly understand what the Islamic state wants to achieve. “It is a hermit kingdom,” he writes, “few have gone there and returned.” But Wood notes that the failure of the West to understand ISIS goes beyond our ignorance of its geopolitical achievements. While the West may see ISIS as out of step with modernity, Wood says that may actually be the caliphate’s rallying cry: “...much of what the group does looks nonsensical except in light of a sincere, carefully considered commitment to returning civilization to a seventh-century legal environment, and ultimately to bringing about the apocalypse.”
He concludes: “We’ll need to get acquainted with the Islamic State’s intellectual genealogy if we are to react in a way that will not strengthen it, but instead help it self-immolate in its own excessive zeal.”
In other words, it may be time to begin hoping against hope.
ISIS may have unwittingly provided a speckle of how that sort of hope might emerge. After she was executed by ISIS, a letter from 26-year-old human rights worker Kayla Mueller revealed the serenity and grace she found through faith. It is a remarkable document and a testimony to the hope she had found in spite of being held captive. Mueller asked that her parents not participate in negotiations for her release, and assured them that she was buoyed by their prayers and the assurance of God’s faithfulness:
My heart longs to be with you all as... I have never felt before, but praise be to God you are in my dreams almost every evening and for just those brief moments in my sleeping conscious that we are together I am given a warmth. It’s warmth enough for me to wake with a smile. Warmth enough to keep me company through the days, and warmth enough to keep my heart near to home and therefore to God.
Kayla’s parents had remained optimistic that communication with her captors might lead to her release. And they are disappointed by the government’s policy not to pay ransom for the lives of captured American citizens. But even in their grief, they have relied on hope -- creating a foundation named Kayla’s Hands to continue the work Mueller found so nourishing.
The organization’s website honors her life with the words “For as long as I live, I will not let this suffering be normal, something we just accept.”
Such is the nature of hope -- it trusts in something that cannot be seen.
In the Scriptures
Paul’s argument for a faith justified by grace alone finds its chief example in the figure of Abraham, as discussed throughout chapter four of Romans. In faith, Abraham persists. Despite the obvious obstacles of lacking children, Abraham nonetheless believes in the promise given to him (v. 3). He becomes the paradigm of hope, based on his righteousness before God.
Indeed, in the midst of a hopeless situation Abraham believed. On the face of it, there would be no heir, no hope, no becoming the father of many nations. Yet “he did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already good as dead” (v. 19). Faithfulness involves looking -- in Abraham’s case it is a forward look to an unseen future, while for a Christian it is a backwards glance toward the cross (see Brendan Byrne, Romans [Liturgical Press, 1996], p. 155).
The One who raised Christ enables us to overcome, like Abraham, any wavering in disbelief. Here Paul begins to shape his argument so that faith is viewed as the anchor of hope. Abraham did not waver, but “grew strong in his faith” through giving glory to God. For as long as he lived, he did not accept suffering to be normal -- and, as Paul writes, “it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”
Justification becomes complete trust in something we cannot fully explain, which is Paul’s understanding of Abraham as the exemplar of faith. Hoping against hope, Abraham trusted in that promise, a story Paul believes was not just for his sake, but for ours as well (vv. 23-24).
In the Sermon
It is Lent, and in spite of blizzards and sub-zero temperatures, we must proclaim hope. In spite of ISIS and the face of cruelty. In spite of our own domestic struggles with race and injustice. In spite of Boko Haram.
In many ways, the sermon could point to the hope which is found in spring training -- the limbering of the joints, the stretching of the pitchers’ arms, the smell of turf crushed into freshly laundered baseball pants. In these early days of spring training no team is in last place, and even the Cubs could rebound into the World Series.
Hoping against hope, the preacher tells us, allows us to claim the promise offered in Romans. Hoping against hope, we see that (in the words of Kayla Mueller) we are given warmth -- a warmth of spirit, a warmth of the deepest assurance that God’s promises will be sufficient. This is the hope our congregations are yearning to hear this Lent -- a hope that comes in spite of the obstacles, ugliness, and pitfalls set before us.
“Hope” writes Anne Lamott in her book Plan B, “is not about proving anything. It’s about choosing to believe this one thing; that love is bigger than any grim, bleak [excrement] anyone can throw at us.” That may be a bit too earthy of an illustration, but she makes the point. Hope is about discovering that God’s promised love can be trusted. Indeed, as Abraham discovered, hope is about believing that God could do something he could not do himself.
That is a sermon worth preaching this Lent -- even as snowbirds fly to warmer climates, or as our favorite team reports to training. Hope survives in even the most impossible situations.
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Leah Lonsbury
Psalm 22:23-31; Mark 8:31-38
On Ash Wednesday, I rearranged my day so I could attend the service at my alma mater, Candler School of Theology, thinking it would provide a powerful start to the season and send me into this time of reflection, reconnection, and change prepared and aware in a different way. And then I got the time wrong. It turns out worship starts at noon instead of 11 a.m. on Wednesdays -- something I should have known since I used to coordinate worship for Candler.
I put my coat back on and prepared to leave, thinking: “I don’t have time for this kind of mistake. I don’t have my laptop or the to-do list I was supposed to tackle today. I can’t get anywhere to accomplish anything and get back in time for worship. So much for the best-laid plans. I have already failed Lent.”
As I headed for the door I ran into my former boss, the Dean of Worship. We stopped and caught up for a bit, long enough that I got warm enough to take off my coat. When she headed up to prepare the chapel, the hour until worship was down to 40 minutes, my coat was off, and I saw the Baptist Studies director, someone I had been wanting to connect with for work reasons and just because he’s wise and I enjoy his company. We talked -- 20 minutes to go.
Then I saw commuter students doing what I used to do with the gaps of time between classes on a cold day -- collapsing in a chair, pulling their coat over them, and closing their eyes for a moment. I took that as a reminder to be still, and followed suit.
Chapel time. I’m glad I stayed. My scurrying mind was settled, the Candler Singers lifted me into a ready place, and the Dean of the Chapel asked us in her sermon: “How is it with your soul?” Now, that was a Lenten question that wasn’t on my to-do list.
Later that day, a friend sent a flurry of texts in the midst of her struggles with one of her children. We’re pretty sure that one of our two “spirited children” could be the inspiration for the book The Explosive Child, so we look to each other for strength and sanity. She wrote: “By the time it was all said and done, [Kate] was talking to herself in the bathtub and we missed Ash Wednesday mass. I also had a mental break and made beef lasagna for our first night of Lent. Oops.”
In the midst of daily chaos, no matter the form it takes, it can be easy to forget what this season is about after all. We can’t fail Lent if we mix up our schedules. Eating red meat or chocolate or potato chips or whatever we have chosen to give up shouldn’t be counted against us as a mental break. And not getting our kids to mass or our foreheads covered in ash doesn’t mean we’re lousy parents or people or Christians. When we make Lent all about ourselves and what we can manage to pull off, then we’re missing the point.
We know that, but we forget that these symbols and practices are meant to be frames or conduits for our Lenten experience. They’re meant to facilitate our return to God, our examination of our living, and our relationship with the beloved community. So often, though, the practices we take on become just something to do, another addition to our daily list, something else we can fail at again and again. Then the superficiality of some of our Lenten traditions escapes us, and we forget that repentance is about turning around to face God and our real selves again, and that what we’re really called to during this season is to seek a deeper behavioral change, a true reorientation of our hearts.
When we get hung up on chocolate (or its equivalent), denying ourselves that basic food group for 40 days and then gorging ourselves on it by eating the entirety of our Easter baskets in one day, how does that move us closer to God? Perhaps it doesn’t. Maybe it just draws us further into a cycle of binging and purging, instead of helping us to examine our living for the ways we swing from extreme to extreme while struggling to find the narrow path in between that Graham Standish describes in his book Discovering the Narrow Path: A Guide to Spiritual Balance. Standish proposes that, on that examined, chosen, narrow path to God:
True salvation lies not merely in knowing Jesus, in rituals and practices, or in having the “right” theology or belief. It lies in making a commitment to walk the narrow path that Jesus sets out before us. This is a path of decision. It is a path of committing our lives to God -- to love God with all our mind, heart, soul, and strength. This path is difficult because it requires winding through the confusion of life while holding on tightly to God and only God (pg. 10).
Pastor and author Chris Seay knows that finding that path during the Lenten season or any season means changing our orientation from patterns that are about our own pleasures, insecurities, or obsessions to the “deep and profound life-changing love” of God and God’s radical generosity.
Denying ourselves chocolate or something else because we want it likely won’t do that on its own. It might benefit our waistline and give us something to moan about publicly, but as Seay says, “No one enjoys religious people.”
And then Lent is once again about us and not about God.
To reorient us, Seay proposes a 40-day fast of sorts, changing the way we indulge ourselves in order to deepen our awareness of God’s children who are hungry or without what they need and to bring us closer to solidarity with them. What if we ate only what we needed for our daily nutrition and bought groceries for someone who was truly hungry with the money and time we saved? What if we devoted that money, time, and energy to a nonprofit organization that serves others who struggle? Psalm 22 reminds us that when we orient ourselves to God and God’s people, “the poor will eat and be satisfied,” and we will begin to follow in the path of the God that does not turn from those in need -- like us (vv. 24, 26).
This is the kind of Lenten journey “of self-examination, discipline, and renewed focus on Jesus that will change [our] lives forever” instead of just making us feel grouchy and appear pious for 40 days, according to Seay. If we choose it, we might just draw closer to the narrow path and learn what Jesus means about following him by taking up the cross in our passage from Mark’s gospel for this week. It might surprise us to learn that trading our focus on ourselves (or on “saving” our own lives) for living the radically generous love of the Good News is truly the only way to salvation (vv. 34-37).
A colleague’s friend recently wrote on Facebook about making this Lenten shift in his own life -- and noted that Lent is just a starting point for developing lifelong habits:
Three years ago while listening to what my kids were going to “give up” for Lent I had an epiphany of sorts. I thought, “Does God really care if I don’t eat ice cream or potato chips for 40 days?” And if so, who does it really benefit, only my waistline? I then decided that instead I would make a conscious effort to do something nice for someone every day of Lent. It could be for a friend, family member, employee, or as it turned out, many a total stranger. I wasn’t sure how it would work, but I prayed to God to open my eyes and ears for opportunities to help others. Boy did He come through, by putting so many “people in need” in my path. Some gestures were more grand than others, but some were simply noticing a need and acting on it. I would guess that most of my friends are loving, giving people and have good intentions, and even say to themselves, “I should help that person or I should get involved with that concern.” Instead we let our busy lives keep us from acting on our good intentions. Take the leap. I promise you won’t regret it. Some good deeds cost a little money, most only cost the precious gift of time and caring. Do every act without need for recognition or promise of getting anything back. You will be blessed. I know I am.
There are any number of ways to make this change and seek the narrow path during Lent and throughout the year. Here are a few ideas to get started.
* Lutheran pastor and author Nadia Bolz-Weber shares these “40 Ideas for Keeping a Holy Lent.” They include praying for your enemies, abstaining from sugar to seek other areas of sweetness in your life, making earth-friendly changes, and seeking ways to connect with friends and strangers.
* Traci Smith’s Lenten practices calendar for families takes some reflection on why it’s important to engage in the ways she suggests, but it does encourage prayer practices and the turn outward around familiar Christian themes.
* “40 Bags in 40 Days” from the blog White House Black Shutters calls for simplifying one’s house and life. Using this plan with an eye for what we really need and a focus on how our consumption denies others’ basic needs could make for a powerful Lenten practice.
* Sojourners has a series of Lenten reflections that engage the reader in the suffering and needs of our world.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
Romans 4:13-25
The Search for Meaning
In his book Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl tells of how he and other people he knew were able to survive Auschwitz and other Nazi concentrations camps -- not because they were stronger or smarter than others who died, but because they were able to discover some love or duty that gave their lives meaning and hope.
Frankl found his meaning in the hope that his wife might still be alive somewhere else in the camp and need him, and in his duty to preserve the ideas that he had written in a book manuscript that had been destroyed. These two ideas provided him with the hope and purpose that he required to overcome the terrible hardships of the death camps.
Others who could identify no such love or duty in their own lives, he noted, would be seen smoking their own cigarettes. Since cigarettes were a form of currency with which small comforts could be purchased in the camps, a person who smoked them had obviously given up all hope and would soon be found dead.
On the other hand, those who found some source of meaning (hope) for their lives never smoked their own cigarettes.
*****
Romans 4:13-25
Depressed About Being Depressed
Psychologist Nando Pelusi writes in Psychology Today that depression is often a multi-layered problem which can be overcome when the layers are peeled back and dealt with one at a time.
One such layer is “despair,” which Pelusi describes as the depression we feel about being depressed.
It is normal to feel depressed when we are confronted with a failure or setback of some kind. Such situational depression is a normal part of the human experience and is common to nearly everyone. The problem comes when we begin to find fault with ourselves for feeling this normal, human feeling.
The notion that “I must not be a real man if I’m depressed” or “there must be something wrong with me for feeling so sad” leads us into a downward spiral that spins past ordinary sadness and into despair and hopelessness.
The solution to this problem is to understand beforehand that failures and setbacks are normal parts of human progress, as is the sadness that accompanies them. This kind of rational approach to our own mental health, says Pelusi, is often the difference between those who use their failures to springboard them into later successes and those whose failures leave them defeated and hopeless.
*****
Romans 4:13-25
When Horses Fly
There is an old story of a man who was sentenced to death by a petty king for some small infraction he had committed while traveling through the king’s country. Before the sentence could be carried out, however, he managed to get word to the king that in his travels around the world he had learned a way to make horses fly. If the king would spare his life, he offered, he would make the king’s horse fly within a year. If he succeeded, he would be set free. If the horse could not fly after a year, the man said, then he would go willingly to his death. The king agreed, and the man was given a one-year reprieve in order to make the king’s horse fly.
When a cynical jailer asked him what he was really up to, the man answered: “Who knows? Within a year the king may die. The horse may die. Even I may die. On the other hand, maybe the horse will learn to fly.”
*****
Mark 8:31-38
The Chicken or the Pig
All too often at this time of year we find ourselves trying to define self-sacrifice or self-denial so we can figure out what we are going to “give up for Lent.” The sacrifice must be difficult but not impossible, painful but not torturous, virtuous but not self-righteous. So what shall it be? Chocolate? Soda? Red meat? Facebook?
Some have suggested that we consider making a sacrifice that actually benefits another -- for example, skipping lunch and giving the money we would normally spend to a soup kitchen.
We need to determine whether our self-denial will involve a brief sacrifice or a full-on commitment. A Christian need look no further than the breakfast table to see the difference. Behold the plate of bacon and eggs which has been set before us. The chicken has made a sacrifice -- the pig has made a commitment.
*****
Mark 8:31-38
Why Millionaire Pitcher Daniel Norris Lives in a Van
When 18-year-old pitching phenom Daniel Norris inked a contract with the Toronto Blue Jays following the 2011 Major League Baseball draft, his signing bonus was a cool $2 million. While most prospects fresh out of high school might have taken that money and used it toward any number of expensive luxuries, Norris instead had his eye on just one splurge: a 1978 Volkswagen Westfalia microbus, the same vehicle made famous by the Scooby-Doo cartoons.
So Norris purchased one, and promptly named it “Shaggy” (after one of the Scooby-Doo characters). “I knew after I signed [with the Blue Jays] that I was going to get a Volkswagen van,” Norris told Grind TV. “It was my dream car.”
In many ways, Shaggy also became his dream home, with Norris living out of the van during breaks between baseball. He has added solar panels, a bed, and only a few necessary possessions.
“I still cook my own meals, I have a kitchen -- it’s a little fuel-powered stove and I’ve got a couple pots and pans -- and it works pretty well,” he told Baseball America. “I enjoy it. The way I grew up, my dad owned a mountain bike shop and that’s really it, so we had to learn to take care of yourself and be sustainable with what you have.”
Depending on where he needs to be, Norris’s view is anything from a beach to a mountain stream. Most of the time, he told WJHL, there’s just a lot of hanging out. “I like to explore, so sometimes I’ll just stop at the side of the road and look around. There’s no plan involved.”
“I think the simplicity of it all was the most appealing,” he added. “I grew up with a simple lifestyle, and I knew going into professional baseball that would be tested. In my mind there’s no need for luxury, or at least society’s sense of the word.”
*****
Mark 8:31-38
The Tiny House Movement
Simply put, this is a social movement where people are downsizing the space that they live in. The typical American home is around 2,600 square feet, while the typical small or tiny house is around 100-400 square feet. Tiny houses come in all shapes, sizes, and forms, but they focus on smaller spaces and simplified living.
People are joining this movement for many reasons, but the most popular reasons are because of environmental concerns, financial concerns, and seeking more time and freedom. For most Americans, one-third to one-half of their income is dedicated to the roof over their heads; this translates to 15 years of working over your lifetime just to pay for it -- and because of it, 76% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.
So what is the alternative? One might be to live smaller. While tiny houses aren’t for everyone, there are lessons to be learned and applied to escape the cycle of debt which almost 70% of Americans are trapped in right now.
This improbable movement is growing faster than anyone might have imagined. With international attention from numerous media outlets, people have come to know about another way to live their lives.
Here are some fun facts about “tiny house” living:
* 68% of people who live in tiny houses have no mortgage, compared to 29.3% of all U.S. homeowners.
* 55% of tiny house people have more money in savings than the average American (with a median of $10,972 in the bank).
* 78% of tiny house people own their own home, compared with 65% of people with traditional houses.
* About half of all tiny house owners are over 50 years of age.
* The average tiny house is about 186 square feet, compared with 2,100 square feet for a traditional house. (That equals about 11.3 tiny houses.)
* 65% of tiny house people have zero credit card debt, and 78% have less credit debt than other Americans.
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From team member Mary Austin:
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Our Ancestors
Abraham is our ancestor in faith, and his story shapes our story of interactions with God. In the same way our human ancestors shape us, and family stories have a long and powerful impact. Ancestry.com asked people why they are interested in genealogy, and people said things like: “At first I did genealogy because my parents dragged me into it, with me kicking and screaming and hollering... [but] the whole exercise, other than my own questions, is a matter of saving the oral history of our family in an extremely late, almost beyond the last minute catch, before the older generations are gone. For example, the guardian of the family lore on my father’s side has Alzheimer’s disease. I started getting his data just this year, without knowing about his disease. Turns out, next year would have been too late.”
Beyond medical information, there’s also a connection to people we’ve lost. Another researcher wrote: “I took care of my parents for four years. First my mom died, but I still had my dad. Then my dad died, and although I still had my four-year-old son to take care of my life had a big hole in it. My mother had done her side back to 1645 and had started my dad’s. I have an extreme need to keep my dad with me, and by researching his family I can do that. I can keep him in the forefront of my mind, and no one is telling me to get over him dying.”
Or it may help close a hole in the heart. Another person responded: “I am trying to locate any natural brothers or sisters that I might have. My father and mother were separated before I was born, and I was raised by a loving stepfather and my real mother. However, I’ve always wondered about my father. I know where he was in 1938, but I can’t find any trace of him after that.” (You can read more here.)
*****
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
New Things in Older Age
God finds Abraham worthy of both covenant and offspring, even though Abraham has grown older waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises. The older people in our lives are often not so fortunate, and are often ignored after a certain age. Activist Ai-jen Poo sees new possibilities for older people with current social shifts. In a recent interview with Wendy Lustbader for Yes! magazine, Ai-jen Poo “pointed out that the number of children being raised in three-generation households keeps going up and that this has created more awareness across our culture of the needs and contributions of elders. ‘I think that millennials are more connected to their grandparents than any generation in history. We actually call baby boomers and millennials the new power couple -- the way that boomers were such culture drivers and redefined many of the cultural norms.... These two generations together will be defining the future of politics in this country.’ ”
Lustbader adds: “Cultural change is about feelings as well as beliefs, and stories about lived experiences are surely the way we will get there. Just about everyone finds out eventually that what matters the most when we are frail, ill, or dying is the kindness of the hands that touch us. The political will to support the dignity of those who are not able-bodied -- frail elders and other people who need assistance in their daily lives -- will come from all of us speaking up, telling our tales about the home care workers and family caregivers who are the unsung heroes of our world.”
Abraham and Sarah’s story happens as part of God’s bigger story, and they have a contribution to make to the story of faith, even at an advanced age.
*****
Mark 8:31-38
Deny Yourself Nothing
When Jesus instructs us to deny ourselves, he must subscribe to Coveteur magazine, apparently devoted to all things worth coveting. Recently, a feature on the most indulgent gifts included such items as “the unlimited shopping bag” from the clothing site Net-a-Porter (which calls itself “the world’s premier online luxury fashion destination”). Perhaps someone you know needs a pair of designer shoes every week for a mere $41,500... or a 14-karat gold iPad, for the person who has everything?
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From team member Ron Love:
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
The annual presentation of the Oscars is a meticulously organized event, with nothing left to chance so as to guarantee a successful telecast. One potential problem with the celebration is that movie stars, directors, composers, and writers often get up and exit once the announcement is made that they didn’t win one of the 8.5 pound gold-plated britannium statuettes. By the end of the evening this could leave a multitude of empty seats -- which would convey to the viewing public that maybe the awards are not the fantastic and serious presentation that they are promoted to be. So the organizers have what they call “seat fillers.” These are individuals who go and sit in the seats vacated by those prominent individuals who have decided to leave (even just for bathroom breaks). With “seat fillers,” the auditorium always appears filled to capacity -- heightening the excitement for the television audience while those who are directly involved in the awards ceremony have lost theirs.
Application: The great nation promised to Abraham was not going to need “seat fillers,” because those who lived in the covenant would always know the importance of their calling and place.
*****
Mark 8:31-38
If one is amazed at the beauty and flawless complexion of those who mount the stage to receive their Oscar statuettes, and dazzled by their jewelry and amazed at the exquisite dresses -- please note that it is all fabricated. Months prior to the show skin specialists begin working with the nominees. Dress designers, jewelry experts, and hair stylists all begin to coordinate their efforts. And in the hours leading up to the show, at least ten people are involved in assuring that each actress or actor appears to be the perfect specimen of humanity.
Application: When Jesus asked the crowd to take up their cross and follow him, he was not seeking those who could stand on a stage without blemish; he was seeking ordinary people with ordinary imperfections that would be dedicated to service in his name.
*****
Mark 8:31-38
The stars look great at the Oscars. The dresses and the jewelry on the actresses as they appear on the red carpet are one of the most scrutinized parts of the evening. Unfortunately, it is rarely reported that those dresses and jewelry on display for television viewers are in most instances on loan. The jewels -- on loan from a store that considers the Oscars to be an advertising event -- are usually accompanied by a security detail, and are off the actress and back at the store before the festivities are completed. The gowns promote the work of a fashion designer, and within 48 hours those too have been returned. And so what people are really watching on the red carpet is a façade.
Application: When Jesus asks us to take up our cross and follow him, he is not seeking showmanship but genuine, honest, and committed service. Our dress -- our actions -- should be a reflection of who we are, guided by the Holy Spirit, and not a fabrication of who we would like to pretend to be.
*****
Mark 8:31-38
Those Oscar acceptance speeches certainly do seem spontaneous, displaying speechlessness, tears, and stammering. Yet they really aren’t a show of sudden and unexpected surprise portraying the unanticipated reality of the moment. What is not known to the public is that every Oscar nominee has already written a prepared speech which has been meticulously practiced before the great event. So what appears to the viewing audience as a spontaneous and emotional outburst is really just the display of an actor reciting well-rehearsed lines.
Application: When Jesus calls us to his service and asks us to be faithful to his words, he is not seeking acting but sincerity.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: You who fear God, praise him and stand in awe.
People: For God did not hide God’s face from us.
Leader: All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to God.
People: All the families of the nations shall worship before our God.
Leader: Posterity will serve God; future generations will be told about God.
People: They will proclaim God’s deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that God has done it.
OR
Leader: Come, let us celebrate the God of hope.
People: We come with fear in our hearts.
Leader: Do not despair, but be renewed in God’s vision.
People: We want to have hope, but it is difficult.
Leader: The world is God’s, and God’s reign shall come.
People: In God we will hope, and for God’s reign we will work.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”
found in:
UMH: 139
H82: 390
AAHH: 117
NNBH: 2
NCH: 22
CH: 25
ELA: 858, 859
AMEC: 3
STLT: 278
Renew: 57
“The King of Love My Shepherd Is”
found in:
UMH: 138
H82: 645, 646
PH: 171
NCH: 248
LBW: 456
ELA: 502
Renew: 106
“What Wondrous Love Is This”
found in:
UMH: 292
H82: 439
PH: 85
NCH: 223
CH: 200
LBW: 385
ELA: 666
W&P: 257
STLT: 18
Renew: 277
“Pues Si Vivimos” (“When We Are Living”)
found in:
UMH: 356
PH: 400
NCH: 499
CH: 536
ELA: 639
W&P: 415
“O Come and Dwell in Me”
found in:
UMH: 388
“Here, O My Lord, I See Thee”
found in:
UMH: 623
H82: 318
PH: 520
NCH: 336
CH: 416
LBW: 211
AMEC: 531
“Bread of the World”
found in:
UMH: 624
H82: 301
PH: 502
NCH: 346
CH: 387
W&P: 693
“Shine, Jesus, Shine”
found in:
CCB: 81
Renew: 247
“Humble Yourself in the Sight of the Lord”
found in:
CCB: 72
Renew: 188
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
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who offers us the sure hope of your reign: Grant us the grace to ground our lives in your vision so that we may have hope when all seems hopeless; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We worship you, O God, for you bring us the sure hope of your reign. We pray that you would awaken once again to the vision you have for creation. Help us to stand firm in hope, even when things look hopeless. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially the ways in which we so easily give up hope and settle into despair.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have given us a wonderful vision of creation as you intend it to be and as you will bring it to become, and yet we despair. We look around us at the violence and greed that seems to be everywhere, and we doubt there will ever be peace and prosperity for all. We look at our own problems and the troubles of our families and friends, and we worry about the outcomes. We fail to see things as you see them. We fail to catch the vision you have for us and for all creation. Renew that vision within us, and establish us in your hope that endures forever. Amen.
Leader: God does have a wonderful vision for us. God is always at work to bring that vision into reality. Be filled with God’s hope and work to make that vision a reality.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
Praise and glory be to you, O God of the future. You are not bound by time or conditions but continue to work within your creation.
(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. You have given us a wonderful vision of creation as you intend it to be and as you will bring it to become, and yet we despair. We look around us at the violence and greed that seems to be everywhere, and we doubt there will ever be peace and prosperity for all. We look at our own problems and the troubles of our families and friends, and we worry about the outcomes. We fail to see things as you see them. We fail to catch the vision you have for us and for all creation. Renew that vision within us, and establish us in your hope that endures forever.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which you have blessed us. We thank you for the ways in which you have brought us through troubled times. We are grateful for those you have sent to be a help and a hope to us.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all your children, and especially for those who despair. We know how difficult it is to have hope, even with the knowledge that you are with us. We pray for those who are not grounded in you and do not know of your vision and plan for creation. Help us to reach out to them so that they may know your love and grace in this world.
(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
Talk to the children about wishing for things. What do they wish for? Talk about hope as more than wishing -- it isn’t just wanting something to happen; it is knowing that it will happen. We may want spring to come today, but that is just wishing; however, we can hope spring will come in time because we know it will. God is the one we can hope in, because God will never fail us.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
He Trusted God
Romans 4:13-25
Object: a magnetic compass
Who can tell me what this compass does? (Let the children answer.) A compass always points north. It always knows which way is north. Sometimes I get mixed up. If I’m in a strange place and get turned around, I might think that south is north or east is north. If I have a compass, then I can always tell which way is north. It always points in the same direction. Does anyone know which direction a compass will point? (Let them answer.) It will always point north. Before GPS became common, some cars had a compass built in the dashboard so that the driver could always tell which way was north.
Today’s Bible reading tells about a great man of faith named Abraham. It says he was a great man of faith because he always trusted God. He was like a compass. Instead of always pointing north, he always pointed toward God.
There are many things in this world -- things we can see, hear, and feel. All these things can lead us away from God. We can’t see God (just as the compass can’t see north), but that doesn’t mean that God is not real.
Like Abraham, we remain faithful to God. Like the compass always points north, we point to God because (even though we cannot see God) we know God is real. God is more real than anything we can see. God is more real than anything we can hear. God is more real than anything we can touch.
So long as we trust and believe in God, we shall not lose our way in this life. We have many examples of people who have trusted in God. Abraham is one. The apostle Paul is another. Perhaps your parents or grandparents are others who always believe in God. These people show us what faith is.
I am glad God is real and that we can trust God and believe in God. That way I know I shall never be alone and shall never get lost.
Prayer: Dear God: Thank you for always being there for us. Thank you for giving us faith to believe in you even though we cannot see you. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, March 1, 2015, issue.
Copyright 2015 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
