The Way Of The Church Versus The Way Of The World
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
In a dark room, one light makes a world of difference. It offers a stark contrast to the deep abyss of darkness surrounding it, and if there is nothing to block the light, it can be seen from great distances. It is set apart from the darkness that surrounds it. In a dark and violent world, what sets us apart as Christians? How are we any different from the rest of the world? If we were to let the light of Christ shine through us, what kind of contrast would we offer? Stephen McCutchan will write the main article, with Barbara Jurgensen writing the response. Illustrations, liturgical aids, and a children's sermon are also provided.
The Way of the Church versus the Way of the World
Stephen McCutchan
1 Peter 2:2-10
THE WORLD
It was a tragic story out of Lakeland, Florida. Six cheerleaders and two boys were arrested for beating a seventh cheerleader whom they believed had insulted them. Having bloodied and bruised her, they drove her to another part of town and threatened her with more beatings if she called the police. There were similar stories in other parts of the country. In one story, 75 students watched two others beat up another girl. In California there was a series of seven reported freeway shootings during the last six weeks leading one resident to be quoted in the April 14 issue of Newsweek, "We have become almost animals with no sense of values, no sense of life. It bothers me." Our lectionary passage from 1 Peter 2:1-10 reminds us that God's purpose for the church is to offer an alternative way of life that challenges the values of our society.
The truth is that people do have a sense of values; it is just that there are many people who have acquired a severely distorted set of values. In the Lakeland beating incident, the event was actually videotaped by one of the girls.
As you watch the videotape, you hear the rest of the girls cheering as different girls take turns beating on the victim. In a bizarre twist, apparently the girls were planning to post the video on YouTube. Not only were they not ashamed of what they were doing but somehow they thought posting a recording of the event on the internet posed no risk to them. Rather, it would bring them some recognition. One of the girls near the end of the videotape is heard saying, "Make sure these 17 seconds are good." When they were finally arrested and told that they were going to spend some time in jail, one of the girls was reported to have responded that this might mean that they would have to miss cheerleading practice.
THE WORD
Sometimes I think we fail to recognize the critical role of the church in our world. It is easy to get seduced by the consumer mentality of our society and discouraged by the relative weakness of the church to be able to effect change in our world. Then you read something like that described above and you become aware of the importance of the church's message. While at times it may seem like a "voice in the wilderness," the church continues to challenge the distorted values of our community and offer a better way to live.
Shirley Guthrie, in his revised version of Christian Doctrine, suggests that while the church is not more intelligent or even more moral than other groups in society, it is holy or different in three ways. First, it is a community of people who know they are sinners. Second, it is a community of dissatisfied sinners. We know there is a better way and we seek to conform our lives to this better way. Third, its holiness or different-ness is not found in the church and its members as such but in him from whom they seek forgiveness, change, help, and new direction (p. 357). I would add a fourth dimension in that it is a community that makes bold to proclaim that it is called by God for a purpose.
Our lectionary passage from 1 Peter speaks to the nature of the church in a world that does not share its values. It assumes that if the church is faithful, it will experience conflict with the larger community in which it exists. As was made clear in the life and death of Jesus, the faith that he proclaimed was an offense to many who prospered in the world: "A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall" (v. 8). While this does not preclude Christians being successful in life, scripture does suggest that we need to be careful that we have not become too accommodating to the values of the world in our pursuit of that success.
Since Peter was written to the early church, this should be of particular concern as a church seeks to plan its mission. "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (v. 9). Using this variety of Old Testament images, the author reminded the church that they were called for a purpose. They were meant to be different from other organizations in the world.
Priests were called to interface between God and the world. To be holy was to be different from those around you. The mission of the church is not to "fit in" but to respond to a call from God who speaks from outside of the values in which our world exists. God seeks to reveal to the world a better way and calls the church to expose the world to that alternative to the darkness in which they have found themselves. This is not because the church consists of people who are superior to others who live in the world. The church has no claim to being better than others. "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (v. 10). The quality of life that the church is called to proclaim to the world is the life of forgiven sinners that offer hope to others who recognize their need for forgiveness.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
The scene of the six cheerleaders beating on their companion in a home unsupervised by parents is a tragic exposure of how the values of our society have been corrupted by the normally prosperous and advantaged in society. As an opening scene in a sermon, reinforced by some other examples, it could be a dramatic depiction of the critical need in our society for a solid grounding in a set of values that reaches beyond the temptation of the superficial and the self-centered. The distortion of reality evidenced by their fascination with posting their video on the internet adds to the challenge that faces parents in our society.
Having set this scene, one can then proceed to explore the role of the church in our society. Far too often, even church members take the church and its message for granted and forget how easily society can slip into a lifestyle that devalues meaning and purpose of why we are here. Church members need to be reminded that our lives have meaning in that we are called to a greater purpose than to serve our own most basic needs and desires. It is important to emphasize, as the life of Jesus illustrates, that to truly live the Christian life requires both commitment and sacrifice.
Because we are part of something greater than ourselves, our lives have meaning that transcends the moment and makes such sacrifices worthwhile. "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." The effectiveness of our witness is dependent on God rather than our own perfection. As Paul related in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for (my) power is made perfect in weakness."
You might want to interview a few members for ways in which the church has sustained them and shaped the values of their lives. It would make a compelling conclusion to your sermon.
ANOTHER VIEW
Barbara Jurgensen
This coming Tuesday, people here in the United States and around the world will be celebrating Earth Day, a day to remember that we need to clean up our Earth so we can pass it on, in as good condition as we can, to our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
It's a day to remember that the Earth is not ours -- it's not ours at all. It's the Lord's, as Psalm 24:1 reminds us:
The earth is the Lord's, and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it;
for he has founded it upon the seas,
and established it on the rivers.
Some of our greatest hymns stand in awe at the wonders of this Earth and this universe that our Lord has created:
This is my Father's world,
And to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
-- "This Is My Father's World," written by Maltbie D. Babcock, 1901
And the hymn that starts:
For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies...
-- "For the Beauty of the Earth," words by Folliot S. Pierpoint (1864), music by Conrad Kocher (1838)
Others that come to mind are "God Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens" and the great Swedish hymn, "How Great Thou Art."
The Earth is the Lord's, but the Lord has let us live upon it and care for it. The first two chapters of Genesis tell us that the Lord God created the heavens and the earth, and the birds and beasts and fish and all manner of creatures and plants -- and finally God created human beings. Then God planted a garden in Eden (Genesis 2:8), and put a family in it to take care of it (2:15).
Have you ever lived in a house or apartment that belonged to someone else? Did the owner stop by now and then with some new filters for the furnace, or some other reason to pay you a visit, to see how you were keeping the place? Did he make any comments about how you were caring for his (or her) property? What might the Lord be thinking and saying when he sees how we're treating the Earth he's entrusted to us?
There's an old adage that only a sick dog fouls his own doghouse. Likewise, only a sick bird fouls its own nest. What do these maxims have to say about the way we're caring for (or not caring for) our planet Earth?
It's great that our Lord has given us this marvelous Earth, a place for us to live in and care for. However, he's done something even greater for us: He's made us his very own people.
In our epistle lesson today, he says he's made us a chosen race -- he's chosen us to be on his team (1 Peter 2:9).
He's made us a royal priesthood -- Martin Luther spoke of the priesthood of all believers. The Lord has given each of us, you and me, a ministry, a work to do for him and with him wherever we are -- in our home, our school, our workplace, and wherever we go in our community.
He's made us a holy nation -- a people who look to him as our leader to lead us in the way we should go.
He's made us his own people -- his very own family.
We're the people the Lord has called out of this world's darkness and into his marvelous light. He has done all of this so that we can not only live in the joy of his presence, but so that we can spread the word, through our lives, that the Lord is good.
Once you and I were no people, but now we are the Lord's people (1 Peter 2:10). You and I have received God's mercy, and we need to share the good news that it's available to others, also -- that it's available to all people!
The earth is the good home that our loving Lord has given us. Sharing God's mercy and love is the work he's given us to do while we live on this Earth.
This Earth is the Lord's! Thanks be to God!
ILLUSTRATIONS
In Fiddler on the Roof, there's a famous scene in which, after a particularly troubling act of violence by the Christian majority, some young hotheads in the village demand "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth!"
Tevye's response: "And soon all the world will be blind and toothless."
* * *
The executioner's nature is found in embryo in almost every contemporary man.
-- Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Memoirs from the House of the Dead (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 238
* * *
The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
>who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
-- Wendell Berry
http://www.gratefulness.org/poetry/peace_of_wild_things.htm
* * *
Earth, Teach Me: Ute Prayer
Earth teach me quiet -- as the grasses are still with new light.
Earth teach me suffering -- as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility -- as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring -- as mothers nurture their young.
Earth teach me courage -- as the tree that stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation -- as the ant that crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom -- as the eagle that soars in the sky.
Earth teach me acceptance -- as the leaves that die each fall.
Earth teach me renewal -- as the seed that rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself -- as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness -- as dry fields weep with rain.
-- Anonymous
* * *
[Thomas] Edison, godfather of electricity-intensive living, was also an unlikely green pioneer whose ideas about renewable power still resonate today. At the turn of the 20th century, when Edison was at the height of his career, the notion that buildings, which now account for more than a third of all energy consumed in the United States, would someday require large amounts of power was only just coming into focus. Where that power would come from -- central generating stations or in-home plants; fossil fuels or renewable resources -- was still very much up for debate.
A 1901 article about Edison in The Atlanta Constitution described how his unorthodox ideas about batteries could bring wattage to the countryside: "With a windmill coupled to a small electric generator," a rural inhabitant "could bottle up enough current to give him light at night." The earliest wind-powered house was fired up in Cleveland in 1888 by the inventor Charles Brush, but Edison aspired to take the technology to the masses. He made drawings of a windmill to power a cluster of four to six homes, and in 1911 he pitched manufacturers on building a prototype.
Edison's batteries also fueled some cars and trucks, and he joined forces with Henry Ford to develop an electric automobile that would be as affordable and practical as the Model T. The Constitution article discussed plans to let people recharge their batteries at plug-in sites along trolley lines; the batteries could also be refreshed courtesy of the home windmill.
-- Heather Rogers, "Current Thinking," New York Times Magazine, June 3, 2007
* * *
The New Jersey Pine Barrens are known for a lot of things: ghostly legends of a bat-winged Jersey Devil; weekend canoeing among mossy bogs; a place where Tony Soprano and company like to dump their dead.
The Pine Barrens, it turns out, also have an environmental value of about $1,476 an acre a year, based on their ability to provide the earth with water, animal habitat, and pollination, according to a report being released today.
The report, by economists commissioned by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, tries to put a dollar value on the state's natural resources, from the Jersey Shore to the Kittatinny Mountains, to places like, well, Weehawken.
Beaches like Sandy Hook and Sea Girt, with their environmentally essential sand dunes, had the highest value per acre per year, about $42,000.
New Jersey's cities, which occupy more acreage than almost any other topography in the state, had no environmental value, except for parks, playgrounds and other occasional green spaces. Neither did the rest stops on the New Jersey Turnpike.
-- Pam Belluck, "From Beaches to Pine Barrens, a Study Puts Values on New Jersey's Natural Assets," New York Times, May 21, 2007
* * *
You neglect and belittle the desert.
The desert is not remote in southern tropics
The desert is not only around the corner,
The desert is squeezed in the tube-train next to you,
The desert is in the heart of your brother.
-- T.S. Eliot, from "Choruses from 'The Rock'," Collected Poems 1909-1962 (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991), p. 147
* * *
Strange, this love announced by our Lord turns all of life right. To love others is to fill our own empty spaces.
-- Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1118-1170
Ironically, Becket was himself the victim of a violent assault, as he was murdered in his own cathedral by knights who thought his murder would please their king, Becket's political adversary.
* * *
Who takes vengeance or bears a grudge acts like one who, having cut one hand while handling a knife, avenges himself by stabbing the other hand.
-- Jerusalem Talmud
WORSHIP RESOURCE
Call To Worship
Leader: We are God's household,
crafted by the architect of creation,
People: our hearts are shelters for the outcast;
our hands open to the stranger.
Leader: We are God's people,
created in the divine image,
People: to tell others of God's love;
to offer mercy as freely as we have received it.
Leader: We are God's children,
called to give of ourselves,
People: chosen to serve the lost and lonely;
gifted to minister to a hurting world.
Prayer Of The Day
In a world of war,
we celebrate your peace;
in the midst of oppression,
we welcome that you lead us to freedom;
in the tangled doubts of our hearts,
we celebrate the seed of faith;
in the flood of our tears,
we celebrate the safe ground of hope;
in the pain of hurt and hatred,
we celebrate the family you have given us
that loves us;
in our struggles with sin,
we celebrate our salvation in Christ;
in the face of death,
we celebrate life given to us in the risen Lord.
In every moment, God of all people,
we celebrate all the graces of your heart.
In Jesus' name we pray, even as he has taught us,
Our Father ...
Call To Reconciliation
Considered too rough for their smooth plans, the builders cast out the stone they needed. But God builds salvation on the One who is the foundation of all hopes. Let us confess our sins to God and to one another, trusting we will not be put to shame.
Responsive Prayer Of Confession
Leader: Lord, you said, "Believe in God, believe also in me."
People: Forgive our unbelief.
Leader: Lord, you said, "I will come again, and take you to myself, that you may be with me."
People: Forgive our doubts about your future.
Leader: Lord, you said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
People: Forgive our wandering from your path;
our clutching of the lies of the world;
our desire for more than we need.
Leader: Lord, you said, "Have I been with you all this time, and you still do not know me?"
People: Forgive our reluctance to recognize you in others.
Leader: Lord, you said, "If in my name, you ask me for anything, I will do it."
People: Forgive us, Precious Savior,
forgive us and grant us your mercy.
Silence is kept
Assurance Of Pardon
Leader: You are no longer alone -- you are God's Beloved. You are not of this world, but residents of God's kingdom. You, who once had no hope, have been filled with forgiveness.
People: Each one of us, all of us, have received God's mercy in Christ. Forgiven, redeemed, made whole -- we are a people made one in faith. Thanks be to God. Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
A building stone
Object: a large stone
1 Peter 2:2-10
Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (vv. 4-6)
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever seen a house built out of stone? (let them answer) It takes a lot of stones to build a house or a church but it is done many times. I brought along a stone today and it doesn't look like anything special. You could find this stone out in a farmer's field and it could keep a plant from growing. If it was in your yard or on the sidewalk you might pick it up and throw it away. But this stone is not always something to be thrown away. As a matter of fact, this stone could be used to build a church. It could be a stone used to build God's house.
Sometimes we are like this stone. We look just like any other person. We wear the same kind of clothes, go to the same school, eat the same food, and read the same books. We are different and I will tell you why.
God has chosen you to be one of his people. You are not just another child. You are a disciple of Jesus. You belong to him and that makes you very special, very precious. You are part of the many people chosen to teach others about God by the way you live and act.
Some people may treat you like a stone on the sidewalk or some kind of trouble in a field, but you are not like that at all. You are one of the children of God and when you are gathered together, you are bigger than any church in the whole world. You go together with other children of God. Together you are strong and you do good things but most of all when people see you they say, "He/she is a Christian; see how much they love and care for each other." You are no simple stone but you are what God is building a new world with and you will live with him in his new kingdom. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, April 20, 2008, issue.
Copyright 2008 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 permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
The Way of the Church versus the Way of the World
Stephen McCutchan
1 Peter 2:2-10
THE WORLD
It was a tragic story out of Lakeland, Florida. Six cheerleaders and two boys were arrested for beating a seventh cheerleader whom they believed had insulted them. Having bloodied and bruised her, they drove her to another part of town and threatened her with more beatings if she called the police. There were similar stories in other parts of the country. In one story, 75 students watched two others beat up another girl. In California there was a series of seven reported freeway shootings during the last six weeks leading one resident to be quoted in the April 14 issue of Newsweek, "We have become almost animals with no sense of values, no sense of life. It bothers me." Our lectionary passage from 1 Peter 2:1-10 reminds us that God's purpose for the church is to offer an alternative way of life that challenges the values of our society.
The truth is that people do have a sense of values; it is just that there are many people who have acquired a severely distorted set of values. In the Lakeland beating incident, the event was actually videotaped by one of the girls.
As you watch the videotape, you hear the rest of the girls cheering as different girls take turns beating on the victim. In a bizarre twist, apparently the girls were planning to post the video on YouTube. Not only were they not ashamed of what they were doing but somehow they thought posting a recording of the event on the internet posed no risk to them. Rather, it would bring them some recognition. One of the girls near the end of the videotape is heard saying, "Make sure these 17 seconds are good." When they were finally arrested and told that they were going to spend some time in jail, one of the girls was reported to have responded that this might mean that they would have to miss cheerleading practice.
THE WORD
Sometimes I think we fail to recognize the critical role of the church in our world. It is easy to get seduced by the consumer mentality of our society and discouraged by the relative weakness of the church to be able to effect change in our world. Then you read something like that described above and you become aware of the importance of the church's message. While at times it may seem like a "voice in the wilderness," the church continues to challenge the distorted values of our community and offer a better way to live.
Shirley Guthrie, in his revised version of Christian Doctrine, suggests that while the church is not more intelligent or even more moral than other groups in society, it is holy or different in three ways. First, it is a community of people who know they are sinners. Second, it is a community of dissatisfied sinners. We know there is a better way and we seek to conform our lives to this better way. Third, its holiness or different-ness is not found in the church and its members as such but in him from whom they seek forgiveness, change, help, and new direction (p. 357). I would add a fourth dimension in that it is a community that makes bold to proclaim that it is called by God for a purpose.
Our lectionary passage from 1 Peter speaks to the nature of the church in a world that does not share its values. It assumes that if the church is faithful, it will experience conflict with the larger community in which it exists. As was made clear in the life and death of Jesus, the faith that he proclaimed was an offense to many who prospered in the world: "A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall" (v. 8). While this does not preclude Christians being successful in life, scripture does suggest that we need to be careful that we have not become too accommodating to the values of the world in our pursuit of that success.
Since Peter was written to the early church, this should be of particular concern as a church seeks to plan its mission. "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (v. 9). Using this variety of Old Testament images, the author reminded the church that they were called for a purpose. They were meant to be different from other organizations in the world.
Priests were called to interface between God and the world. To be holy was to be different from those around you. The mission of the church is not to "fit in" but to respond to a call from God who speaks from outside of the values in which our world exists. God seeks to reveal to the world a better way and calls the church to expose the world to that alternative to the darkness in which they have found themselves. This is not because the church consists of people who are superior to others who live in the world. The church has no claim to being better than others. "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (v. 10). The quality of life that the church is called to proclaim to the world is the life of forgiven sinners that offer hope to others who recognize their need for forgiveness.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
The scene of the six cheerleaders beating on their companion in a home unsupervised by parents is a tragic exposure of how the values of our society have been corrupted by the normally prosperous and advantaged in society. As an opening scene in a sermon, reinforced by some other examples, it could be a dramatic depiction of the critical need in our society for a solid grounding in a set of values that reaches beyond the temptation of the superficial and the self-centered. The distortion of reality evidenced by their fascination with posting their video on the internet adds to the challenge that faces parents in our society.
Having set this scene, one can then proceed to explore the role of the church in our society. Far too often, even church members take the church and its message for granted and forget how easily society can slip into a lifestyle that devalues meaning and purpose of why we are here. Church members need to be reminded that our lives have meaning in that we are called to a greater purpose than to serve our own most basic needs and desires. It is important to emphasize, as the life of Jesus illustrates, that to truly live the Christian life requires both commitment and sacrifice.
Because we are part of something greater than ourselves, our lives have meaning that transcends the moment and makes such sacrifices worthwhile. "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." The effectiveness of our witness is dependent on God rather than our own perfection. As Paul related in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for (my) power is made perfect in weakness."
You might want to interview a few members for ways in which the church has sustained them and shaped the values of their lives. It would make a compelling conclusion to your sermon.
ANOTHER VIEW
Barbara Jurgensen
This coming Tuesday, people here in the United States and around the world will be celebrating Earth Day, a day to remember that we need to clean up our Earth so we can pass it on, in as good condition as we can, to our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
It's a day to remember that the Earth is not ours -- it's not ours at all. It's the Lord's, as Psalm 24:1 reminds us:
The earth is the Lord's, and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it;
for he has founded it upon the seas,
and established it on the rivers.
Some of our greatest hymns stand in awe at the wonders of this Earth and this universe that our Lord has created:
This is my Father's world,
And to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
-- "This Is My Father's World," written by Maltbie D. Babcock, 1901
And the hymn that starts:
For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies...
-- "For the Beauty of the Earth," words by Folliot S. Pierpoint (1864), music by Conrad Kocher (1838)
Others that come to mind are "God Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens" and the great Swedish hymn, "How Great Thou Art."
The Earth is the Lord's, but the Lord has let us live upon it and care for it. The first two chapters of Genesis tell us that the Lord God created the heavens and the earth, and the birds and beasts and fish and all manner of creatures and plants -- and finally God created human beings. Then God planted a garden in Eden (Genesis 2:8), and put a family in it to take care of it (2:15).
Have you ever lived in a house or apartment that belonged to someone else? Did the owner stop by now and then with some new filters for the furnace, or some other reason to pay you a visit, to see how you were keeping the place? Did he make any comments about how you were caring for his (or her) property? What might the Lord be thinking and saying when he sees how we're treating the Earth he's entrusted to us?
There's an old adage that only a sick dog fouls his own doghouse. Likewise, only a sick bird fouls its own nest. What do these maxims have to say about the way we're caring for (or not caring for) our planet Earth?
It's great that our Lord has given us this marvelous Earth, a place for us to live in and care for. However, he's done something even greater for us: He's made us his very own people.
In our epistle lesson today, he says he's made us a chosen race -- he's chosen us to be on his team (1 Peter 2:9).
He's made us a royal priesthood -- Martin Luther spoke of the priesthood of all believers. The Lord has given each of us, you and me, a ministry, a work to do for him and with him wherever we are -- in our home, our school, our workplace, and wherever we go in our community.
He's made us a holy nation -- a people who look to him as our leader to lead us in the way we should go.
He's made us his own people -- his very own family.
We're the people the Lord has called out of this world's darkness and into his marvelous light. He has done all of this so that we can not only live in the joy of his presence, but so that we can spread the word, through our lives, that the Lord is good.
Once you and I were no people, but now we are the Lord's people (1 Peter 2:10). You and I have received God's mercy, and we need to share the good news that it's available to others, also -- that it's available to all people!
The earth is the good home that our loving Lord has given us. Sharing God's mercy and love is the work he's given us to do while we live on this Earth.
This Earth is the Lord's! Thanks be to God!
ILLUSTRATIONS
In Fiddler on the Roof, there's a famous scene in which, after a particularly troubling act of violence by the Christian majority, some young hotheads in the village demand "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth!"
Tevye's response: "And soon all the world will be blind and toothless."
* * *
The executioner's nature is found in embryo in almost every contemporary man.
-- Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Memoirs from the House of the Dead (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 238
* * *
The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
>who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
-- Wendell Berry
http://www.gratefulness.org/poetry/peace_of_wild_things.htm
* * *
Earth, Teach Me: Ute Prayer
Earth teach me quiet -- as the grasses are still with new light.
Earth teach me suffering -- as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility -- as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring -- as mothers nurture their young.
Earth teach me courage -- as the tree that stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation -- as the ant that crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom -- as the eagle that soars in the sky.
Earth teach me acceptance -- as the leaves that die each fall.
Earth teach me renewal -- as the seed that rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself -- as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness -- as dry fields weep with rain.
-- Anonymous
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[Thomas] Edison, godfather of electricity-intensive living, was also an unlikely green pioneer whose ideas about renewable power still resonate today. At the turn of the 20th century, when Edison was at the height of his career, the notion that buildings, which now account for more than a third of all energy consumed in the United States, would someday require large amounts of power was only just coming into focus. Where that power would come from -- central generating stations or in-home plants; fossil fuels or renewable resources -- was still very much up for debate.
A 1901 article about Edison in The Atlanta Constitution described how his unorthodox ideas about batteries could bring wattage to the countryside: "With a windmill coupled to a small electric generator," a rural inhabitant "could bottle up enough current to give him light at night." The earliest wind-powered house was fired up in Cleveland in 1888 by the inventor Charles Brush, but Edison aspired to take the technology to the masses. He made drawings of a windmill to power a cluster of four to six homes, and in 1911 he pitched manufacturers on building a prototype.
Edison's batteries also fueled some cars and trucks, and he joined forces with Henry Ford to develop an electric automobile that would be as affordable and practical as the Model T. The Constitution article discussed plans to let people recharge their batteries at plug-in sites along trolley lines; the batteries could also be refreshed courtesy of the home windmill.
-- Heather Rogers, "Current Thinking," New York Times Magazine, June 3, 2007
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The New Jersey Pine Barrens are known for a lot of things: ghostly legends of a bat-winged Jersey Devil; weekend canoeing among mossy bogs; a place where Tony Soprano and company like to dump their dead.
The Pine Barrens, it turns out, also have an environmental value of about $1,476 an acre a year, based on their ability to provide the earth with water, animal habitat, and pollination, according to a report being released today.
The report, by economists commissioned by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, tries to put a dollar value on the state's natural resources, from the Jersey Shore to the Kittatinny Mountains, to places like, well, Weehawken.
Beaches like Sandy Hook and Sea Girt, with their environmentally essential sand dunes, had the highest value per acre per year, about $42,000.
New Jersey's cities, which occupy more acreage than almost any other topography in the state, had no environmental value, except for parks, playgrounds and other occasional green spaces. Neither did the rest stops on the New Jersey Turnpike.
-- Pam Belluck, "From Beaches to Pine Barrens, a Study Puts Values on New Jersey's Natural Assets," New York Times, May 21, 2007
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You neglect and belittle the desert.
The desert is not remote in southern tropics
The desert is not only around the corner,
The desert is squeezed in the tube-train next to you,
The desert is in the heart of your brother.
-- T.S. Eliot, from "Choruses from 'The Rock'," Collected Poems 1909-1962 (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991), p. 147
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Strange, this love announced by our Lord turns all of life right. To love others is to fill our own empty spaces.
-- Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1118-1170
Ironically, Becket was himself the victim of a violent assault, as he was murdered in his own cathedral by knights who thought his murder would please their king, Becket's political adversary.
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Who takes vengeance or bears a grudge acts like one who, having cut one hand while handling a knife, avenges himself by stabbing the other hand.
-- Jerusalem Talmud
WORSHIP RESOURCE
Call To Worship
Leader: We are God's household,
crafted by the architect of creation,
People: our hearts are shelters for the outcast;
our hands open to the stranger.
Leader: We are God's people,
created in the divine image,
People: to tell others of God's love;
to offer mercy as freely as we have received it.
Leader: We are God's children,
called to give of ourselves,
People: chosen to serve the lost and lonely;
gifted to minister to a hurting world.
Prayer Of The Day
In a world of war,
we celebrate your peace;
in the midst of oppression,
we welcome that you lead us to freedom;
in the tangled doubts of our hearts,
we celebrate the seed of faith;
in the flood of our tears,
we celebrate the safe ground of hope;
in the pain of hurt and hatred,
we celebrate the family you have given us
that loves us;
in our struggles with sin,
we celebrate our salvation in Christ;
in the face of death,
we celebrate life given to us in the risen Lord.
In every moment, God of all people,
we celebrate all the graces of your heart.
In Jesus' name we pray, even as he has taught us,
Our Father ...
Call To Reconciliation
Considered too rough for their smooth plans, the builders cast out the stone they needed. But God builds salvation on the One who is the foundation of all hopes. Let us confess our sins to God and to one another, trusting we will not be put to shame.
Responsive Prayer Of Confession
Leader: Lord, you said, "Believe in God, believe also in me."
People: Forgive our unbelief.
Leader: Lord, you said, "I will come again, and take you to myself, that you may be with me."
People: Forgive our doubts about your future.
Leader: Lord, you said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
People: Forgive our wandering from your path;
our clutching of the lies of the world;
our desire for more than we need.
Leader: Lord, you said, "Have I been with you all this time, and you still do not know me?"
People: Forgive our reluctance to recognize you in others.
Leader: Lord, you said, "If in my name, you ask me for anything, I will do it."
People: Forgive us, Precious Savior,
forgive us and grant us your mercy.
Silence is kept
Assurance Of Pardon
Leader: You are no longer alone -- you are God's Beloved. You are not of this world, but residents of God's kingdom. You, who once had no hope, have been filled with forgiveness.
People: Each one of us, all of us, have received God's mercy in Christ. Forgiven, redeemed, made whole -- we are a people made one in faith. Thanks be to God. Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
A building stone
Object: a large stone
1 Peter 2:2-10
Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (vv. 4-6)
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever seen a house built out of stone? (let them answer) It takes a lot of stones to build a house or a church but it is done many times. I brought along a stone today and it doesn't look like anything special. You could find this stone out in a farmer's field and it could keep a plant from growing. If it was in your yard or on the sidewalk you might pick it up and throw it away. But this stone is not always something to be thrown away. As a matter of fact, this stone could be used to build a church. It could be a stone used to build God's house.
Sometimes we are like this stone. We look just like any other person. We wear the same kind of clothes, go to the same school, eat the same food, and read the same books. We are different and I will tell you why.
God has chosen you to be one of his people. You are not just another child. You are a disciple of Jesus. You belong to him and that makes you very special, very precious. You are part of the many people chosen to teach others about God by the way you live and act.
Some people may treat you like a stone on the sidewalk or some kind of trouble in a field, but you are not like that at all. You are one of the children of God and when you are gathered together, you are bigger than any church in the whole world. You go together with other children of God. Together you are strong and you do good things but most of all when people see you they say, "He/she is a Christian; see how much they love and care for each other." You are no simple stone but you are what God is building a new world with and you will live with him in his new kingdom. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, April 20, 2008, issue.
Copyright 2008 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 permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
