What The Church Can Teach The Nations
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
Power can lead to great good or great evil, depending on who wields that power. The recent disaster in Myanmar is a grim reminder of the power of the forces of nature, and the subsequent restrictions on aid imposed by those in authority there also display the cruelty of those who keep power for their own personal gain. However, we as Christians serve a powerful God, the one who created our world and everything in it. How do we (or perhaps, how should we) wield the power that comes with that? What can the church teach the rest of the world about how the powerful should treat the weak? Stephen McCutchan has written the main article, with Paul Bresnahan providing the response. Illustrations, liturgical aids, and a children's sermon are also provided.
What the Church can Teach the Nations
Stephen McCutchan
Psalm 8; Matthew 28:16-20
THE WORLD
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
-- Psalm 8:3-4
On a star-filled night in a peaceful mountain community, such words seem to reflect my feelings of awe. Yet when I read in the newspaper that as many as 100,000 people may have been killed by the deadly cyclone in Myanmar, it must be hard for the survivors to feel anything but terror when they consider the forces of nature.
The psalmist turns his attention to humanity and says, "... You have made them a little lower than God... you have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet." What does humanity do with the power with which it is entrusted? The citizens of the world look on with horror as the potential for the death toll rising astronomically because the government of Myanmar will not issue visas for aid workers and open their boarders to receiving all the aid that is available from other countries.
In Matthew's final account of Jesus on earth, Jesus says in 28:18-20, "All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (emphasis mine)... teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." What is it that the churches have to teach the nations in this experience of natural disaster?
THE WORD
Trinity Sunday focuses on relationships, particularly the relationship among the three persons of the Godhead. Theologians speak of this as the economy of God. Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, tenth edition, gives as the third definition of economy "the arrangement or mode of operation of something." In the Trinity, we see an image of God's intention for how we are to arrange or manage our relationships. Each of the figures of the Godhead is distinct and yet there is no hierarchy expressed. They are all equal but each has a distinct role to perform.
We recall in the first passage of our lectionary readings, Genesis 1:1--2:4a, the sovereignty of God that stands behind all that exists. While it is difficult, it is a critical message at a time of natural disaster to recall that God has faced chaos before. Our faith affirms that before anything existed, when the earth was but a formless void, God began to speak and bring order out of chaos. It is worth noting that this is not a description of God's struggle with chaos. God merely speaks a word and order begins to emerge. It is natural to wonder where God is in the midst of our present experiences of chaos, but it is also important to recognize that ultimately God is sovereign and not subject to defeat by chaos. This same truth is revealed when Jesus rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still" (Mark 4:39).
Intimately involved in that creative process was the spirit of God. Recall that in both Hebrew and Greek the word for breath, wind, and spirit are the same. In Genesis 1:2, it is the wind from God, or the Spirit of God, that sweeps over the chaotic waters and the creative process begins to take place. Later at Pentecost, which we celebrated last week, that same Spirit was present and began to give order to the division caused by many languages.
Because we are so disturbingly aware of the destructive forces of nature, not only in Myanmar but also in a number of other natural disasters in recent years, I want to call your attention to Genesis 1:6-7. In reading this, remember that for the Hebrews, the ocean depths were a very common symbol of chaos. "And God said, 'Let there be a dome in the mist of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.' So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome." What we are seeing in this picture of creation is an affirmation that God protects us from the ultimate chaos but also allows a certain measure of chaos to be part of creation. God is not overwhelmed by chaos. Even chaos is subject to God's command. The Hebrews were not naive about the conditions of the world. They recognized that there was much that disturbed the smooth unfolding of life. However, they affirmed that God was not in danger of losing control to such chaos. The chaos itself contained the possibility for the redemptive power of God to be present. God deliberately left a little chaos in our lives.
When we look at Christ's great commission in Matthew 28, we hear him say, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." All the authority of God is expressed in Jesus as he commands his disciples to become teachers. Teachers have a certain level of authority based on what they know. Yet, that authority is exercised as a servant. They are to transmit what they know in order to improve the life of others. The disciples are to become teachers to the nations. Since churches consist of disciples of Jesus Christ, this becomes our commission as well.
What they are to teach, not just other believers, but the nations of the world, is what Jesus commanded them. Reflect back over what the gospels have told us about the life and teachings of Jesus. He was a man who had authority but used it for the sake of others. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, welcomed the unwelcome, exorcised the demons that distorted people's lives, calmed the waters, and taught people about the gracious, forgiving love of the Master of the universe. He used the power that had been entrusted to him for the sake of others, especially those who were most in need. In Matthew 25:31-46, it was the nations (emphasis mine) that were called before the judgment throne and judged according to how they had responded to the neediest among them. "... For I was hungry and gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink." The parable ends with this ominous judgment: "And these (who had failed to offer aid to those in need) will go away into eternal punishment...." Nations can lose their existence if they fail to take care of the neediest in their midst. (Jeremiah Wright was being very biblical in making the connection between a nation's behavior and their future security.) In teaching the nations what Jesus taught his disciples, one is acting on behalf of national security.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
There is a year's worth of preaching in these texts. The preacher will have to be selective in discerning what is most appropriate for his congregation at this time. Because the tragic horror of Myanmar is on everyone's mind, it is an appropriate time to explore two significant aspects of our Christian faith. First, what does it mean to affirm the sovereignty of God in such a situation? Second, what, what is the appropriate response of the church to a world in need?
You might want to begin with some sentences from Psalm 8 and parallel sentences about the disaster in Myanmar similar to that in the World section above.
You can get the most current details about the damage caused by the cyclone in newspapers or on the internet. It might be helpful to make some comparison to the loss of 100,000 people and the homeless condition of over a million to similar figures in the Katrina disaster. Be careful not to diminish the tragic impact of Katrina. Simply remind people of the impact of that event on our nation and how this tragedy must impact the people of Myanmar.
It is helpful if people think about the theological impact of such events. The material on Genesis 1 above can help you with that.
My colleague on The Immediate Word team, Paul Bresnahan, who is writing the response this week, reminded us of an ancient piece of Christian wisdom that grace is experienced not in the circumstance but in our response to the circumstance. Following that wisdom, this is the place to comment on the Great Commission and to note how it is precisely the churches who are "teaching the nations" by their responses to this disaster. While the governments were still debating, groups like World Vision, Save the Children, and Church World Service were already on the ground both assessing the situation and providing compassionate response in material support and spiritual/emotional counseling. Each of these groups would have information on their websites. For any congregation who participates in the CROP Walk or the One Great Hour of Sharing, this would be an excellent opportunity to share with the congregation how their response in prior times has made possible the church's immediate response to this and other disasters. You can find out more information at http://www.churchworldservice.org or call the CWS Hotline, (800) 297-1516.
Trinity Sunday is an excellent opportunity to note how Christians, because of the blessings of God our Creator, the example of Jesus Christ our Lord, and the power of the Holy Spirit are speaking good news to people in need and teaching the nations the power of servanthood on behalf of those who are hurting.
ANOTHER VIEW
Paul Bresnahan
Where are we to get strength to face the challenge of our times? History brings us many challenges. Our ancestors in faith demonstrated great courage in the face of adversity. We too can come to the wellspring of courage they drew from. I am devoted to the notion of the Trinity -- not as a doctrine, but as to the source of a God-given spirituality. There is great power in that spirituality.
We know that God "brooded" over the face of the waters of chaos at the creation. We also know that Jesus poured out his life for us on the cross. We have reliable witnesses who told us about the experience of a "mighty wind" that rushed in upon the apostles in the upper room and the flames of fire that alighted upon them. Thus, the biblical record clearly states that God is Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. In sacred history, our collective experience of God's mighty power is called the Holy Trinity in shorthand. This is no doctrine for me. This is the very power of God, and we have direct experience of it and access to it.
Thus, there are terrorist attacks the like of which we have never seen before, and there will be more to follow. Nature will unleash her destructive forces in unprecedented dimensions particularly if we continue to ignore our own contribution to nature's need for protection and conservation. Garden-variety human sin as well as sin of a more heinous sort -- political chicanery and economic disquietude -- will often find us overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of it all.
We must not despair. We must never lose hope. We have in fact, seen it all before. We must read our history books. If we do not, we will repeat it all, time after tiresome time. The philosopher, George Santayana said it well: "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it!"
Whatever the world throws at us by way of human violence, nature's fury, or our own folly, we still have won the victory! That is the core of our faith. Good Friday will have its day, but Good Friday is not the end of the story. If that had been the end of the story for us, Christianity would have been nothing more than a byword. "Ho-hum, another good man died at the hands of brutality," history would say by way of footnote.
However, Jesus and Christianity are not footnotes, and we had better wake up to the fact that God is not to be mocked, neither by wicked people, nor by our own timidity. God is nothing short of the power to redeem a fallen world. We are the Easter people, remember? It is time for us to get our nerve back and put some punch back into our gospel. We are the hands and feet of the gospel... and whatever catastrophe befalls us, we have much work to do.
There is a wonderful scene in Fiddler on the Roof. In it, the Great Wedding Feast is utterly destroyed by Cossack soldiers descending upon the merrymaking. Homes are set afire, tables are overturned, china is broken, and the entire scene is pillaged. In shock and disbelief, the people look up to God in bewilderment and ask Tevye, who always had something wise to say; "What are we to do now?" There was, of course, a long pause, as Tevye resolutely picked up a chair, and defiantly said, "Clean up the mess."
Tevye also wondered about being the "chosen" people by asking God at one point with a wry smile, "Couldn't you choose somebody else, once in a while?" My dear friends, there is a futility in asking, "Why?" concerning the constant onslaught of sin. It is understandable but ultimately futile. What is much more fruitful will be Tevye's faithful response to the experience of devastation. What we have to remember after 9/11, or after the onslaught of tsunamis, hurricanes, and cyclones, what we have to remember after our own sins, or the sins and wickedness of others, is the simple but grace-filled proclamation, "Clean up the mess!"
Wonder of wonders, this is where God's grace will be found; more than that, this is where Christ's victory will be found. When we claim the power of God to create, to save, and to sanctify, the entire world will see that the love of God is alive and well in us. As we dare to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world, we will discover God's grace at work in us transforming us and the world we live in.
All the world will come to taste and see the creative, redeeming, and sanctifying power of God as we remember who he has called us to be. I am not the first Celt to bind to myself the strong name of the Trinity. Patrick did so many years ago during his battle with the Irish slave trade. Bind yourself to it with me and all those who have looked to God for help before, you will no doubt discover the power of God at work in you!
ILLUSTRATIONS
Philippe Quint is a world-famous violinist. This past April 21, he was taking a taxicab from Newark Airport to Manhattan. When he got out at his destination, he took his suitcase out of his car, but forgot to pick up a little something he'd left on the backseat: his violin.
It wasn't just any violin. It was a Stradivarius, worth at least 4 million dollars. Quint didn't own it himself; it was owned by a couple of investors, who had lent it to him to use in his concerts. The cab roared off, into the mean streets of New York: "the city that never sleeps" -- and that's likely as not to pick your pocket when you finally nod off. Philippe Quint despaired of ever seeing this priceless violin again.
He put in a call to the Newark Police. A few hours later, they tracked the cabbie down at the same taxi stand at Newark Airport where the adventure had begun. The driver cheerfully returned the violin to Mr. Quint, who gave him a hundred-dollar tip. Not only that, seeing how shaken he was by the whole experience, the cabbie drove him all the way home to Manhattan. It was, he told him, his last day before retiring, and Mr. Quint might as well be his last passenger of the day.
There the story might have ended, except for a violinist who was so grateful, he didn't think a hundred-dollar tip was enough. Several days ago, he put on a free concert for the cabdrivers of Newark Airport -- right there outside, under a hastily erected canopy, in front of the taxi stand. Sitting in the front row was the honest cabbie who returned the violin -- who had been given a special award called the Medallion, the city of Newark's highest award for a taxi driver. All around him were his fellow drivers, filled with pride that one of their own had been singled out for this special honor. Here's how a New York Times article describes the scene:
The audience watched him in awe, about 50 drivers in three rows, their yellow cabs a few feet behind, some lined up neatly, others askew.
As Philippe Quint spent half an hour playing five selections, the cabbies clapped and whistled. They danced in the aisles, hips gyrating like tipsy belly dancers. "Magic fingers, magic fingers," one called out. Another grabbed the hand of Mr. Quint's publicist and did what looked like a merengue across the front of the "stage."
Afterward, the virtuoso was mobbed by drivers seeking his autograph on dollar bills, napkins, and cab receipts.
"It was so pleasing to see people dancing -- that never happens," said Mr. Quint, 34, a Grammy-nominated classical violinist. "These people, they work so hard, I doubt they get a chance to get out to Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center."
-- Richard G. Jones, "Cabdriver Thanked for Returning a Stradivarius," New York Times, May 7, 2008.
So he brought Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to them. He didn't have to do it. Many would have said a hundred-dollar tip was more than generous. Nevertheless, Philippe Quint learned something the day he lost his violin. He learned the streets of Newark and New York are not nearly so mean as he had been led to believe. He learned there still are good and caring people in this world -- people of principle, even if their circumstances are humble. He learned that, if you treat others with respect, everybody wins.
There's one other detail from the news story that's worth noting -- one that's highly illuminating, in these present times. It's the name of the honest driver who returned the violin. His name is Khalil Mohammed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/nyregion/07violin.html
* * *
Whenever there is a catastrophe, some religious people inevitably ask, "Why didn't God do something? Where was God when all those people died?" Among the answers we might consider is the one that Martin Luther gave as his wife asked a similar question upon the death of their infant son. Luther answered, "The same place he was when His son died!"
-- Tony Campolo, "Katrina: Not God's Wrath -- or His Will," Beliefnet.com
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/174/story_17423_1.html
* * *
Psalm 8 is an exuberant hymn of praise to God the Creator. It is, in fact, the only psalm written exclusively in the second person: Its prayerful message is directed to the Lord from beginning to end.
Recent advances in satellite technology, combined with computers, have led to some amazing web sites, such as http://terraserver-usa.com/, through which it is possible to view highly detailed photos of the earth taken from space. On some of these sites, it is possible to start with a map of an entire continent, then to zoom in, by successive mouse clicks, to a view of one's own neighborhood. That is the sort of perspective envisioned by the psalmist, millennia before either satellites or computers had even been conceived in the human mind. From the perspective of the vast expanses of heaven, "What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?"
* * *
Writing in his web journal on September 30, 2004, preacher and author Robert Fulghum reflected on the exuberant ways young children approach life:
I was carrying a trilobite in my pocket last night. A fossil from life 175 million years ago, when nothing like us was around. Sometimes I sit on the bench on the highest hill in my mind, hold my trilobite in my hand and consider the long view. It's my "ant-in-Chicago" position. An ant will never comprehend Chicago. Never. But sometimes the ant must have a vague sense that something astonishing is going on around it. Vibrations and energy and change. As do I. What's the meaning of it all? I will never know. But I may, like those first graders, give my life meaning by throwing myself recklessly into it daily, as if something astonishing is happening and I am part of it. It is and I am.
http://robertfulghum.com/index.php/fulghumweb/
* * *
How do you explain the Trinity to a Muslim? Such was the task undertaken by Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, in an address to Muslim scholars in Egypt in 2004:
The belief that God could have a Son is, for the faithful Muslim, a belief suggesting that God needs something other than himself and is subject to the processes of limited bodies by "begetting" a child. How can such a God be truly free and sovereign? For we know that he is able to bring the world into being by his word alone.
Yet these anxieties do not belong only to Muslims. Egypt was, in the first centuries of the Christian era, the location of great debates on just such matters. Indeed, without the contribution of Egypt, Christian theology would have been infinitely poorer, for many of the greatest minds of that period were natives of Alexandria. One of the great concerns of these thinkers and their successors was this: If Christians say that the eternal Word and power of God was fully present in Jesus, son of Mary, can we avoid saying this in such a way as to imply that God is subject to a physical process, or that God has a second being alongside him? These Christian sages believed as strongly as any Muslim that God was self-sufficient and free, and that he could not be affected or limited by physical processes and did not act as a physical cause among others. They say quite explicitly that when we speak of the Father "begetting" the Son, we must put out of our minds any suggestion that this is a physical thing, a process like the processes of the world.
Those Christian thinkers and their successors developed a doctrine which tried to clarify this: They said that the name "God" is not the name of a person like a human person, a limited being with a father and mother and a place that they inhabit within the world. "God" is the name of a kind of life -- eternal and self-sufficient life, always active, needing nothing. And that life is lived eternally in three ways which are made known to us in the history of God's revelation to the Hebrew people and in the life of Jesus. There is a source of life, an expression of life, and a sharing of life. In human language we say, "Father, Son and Holy Spirit," but we do not mean one God with two beings alongside him, or three gods of limited power. Just as we say, "Here is my hand, and these are the actions my one hand performs," but it is not different from the actions of my five fingers, so with God: This is God, the One, the living and self-subsistent, but what God does is not different from the life which is eternally at the same time a source and an expression and a sharing of life. Since God's life is always an intelligent and purposeful life, each of these dimensions of divine life can be thought of as a centre of mind and love; but this does not mean that God "contains" three different individuals, separate from each other as human individuals are.
And Christians believe that this life enters into ours in a limited degree. When God takes away our evildoing and our guilt, when he forgives us and sets us free, he breathes new life into us, as he breathed life into Adam at the first. That breathing into us we call the "Spirit." As we become mature in our new life, we become more and more like the expression of divine life, the Word whom we encounter in Jesus. Because Jesus prayed to the source of his life as "Father," we call the eternal expression of God's life the "Son." And so too we pray to the source of divine life in the way that Jesus taught us, and we say "Father" to this divine reality.
But in no way does the true Christian say that the life and action of God could be divided into separate parts, as if it were a material thing. In no way does the true Christian say that there is more than one God or that God needs some other in order to act or that God promotes some other being to share his glory. There is one divine action, one divine will; yet (like the fingers of the hand) there are three ways in which that life is real, and it is only in those three ways that the divine life is real -- as source and expression and sharing. It is because of those three ways in which divine life exists that Christians speak as they do about what it means to grow in holiness.
-- "Archbishop of Canterbury visits al-Azhar al-Sharif, Egypt," Anglican Communion News Service, September 14, 2004
* * *
I am aboard a cruise ship gliding slowly between snow-capped mountains that remind me of the art my parents hung on our living room wall back in Minnesota in the fifties. It was a large translucent picture of snow-capped mountains, lit by an electric bulb behind it, and when guests came we made sure to turn it on. We were all quite proud of it, and I guess it was considered inspirational, in the sense of "How can you look at this and say there is no God?" It occupied a place of prominence over the couch. Of course, to base one's faith on beautiful scenery is to leave oneself open to grave doubt if you should see Texas. Texas would make any man an atheist, unless he understood that God means to challenge us.
-- Garrison Keillor, The Old Scout, "The Lazy Man's Guide to Alaska," July 18, 2006
* * *
In the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), Jesus sends his disciples out to continue his work in this world -- just as he sends you and me today.
This reminds us of the story of Isaiah's vision in the temple (Isaiah 6). In the old King James Version, this passage has three key words: woe, lo, and go. One day when he was in the temple, Isaiah the prophet suddenly had a vision of the Lord God, in all his splendor and majesty, sitting on a throne, attended by angels.
Immediately Isaiah felt himself unworthy to be standing there in the presence of the Lord God almighty and said, "Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips."
Then the Lord sent an angel to touch Isaiah's lips with a live coal from the altar to show him that his lips were cleansed and all his sins were forgiven, saying, "Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." Finally Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Go" -- go and do my work.
You and I may say, "Woe! I am not worthy to serve the Lord." But the Lord says, "Lo, I have cleaned you up. You're ready." Then the Lord says to us, "Go!"
* * *
The opening verses of Genesis tell us that, when God created the heavens and the earth, a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. The Hebrew word ruah used here can be translated either wind, breath, or spirit (or Spirit). The wind of God, the breath of God, the spirit (or Spirit) of God swept over the waters.
The gospel of John tells us that Jesus was also present at the creation. John calls Jesus "the Word," and says, "He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being" (John 1:1-3).
So all three were present at the creation: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
* * *
The noted Swedish theologian Gustaf Aulen says:
The theology of the ancient church regarded the doctrine of the Trinity as a summary of the content of the doctrine of revelation. The purpose of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity is twofold: Faith in Christ gives to divine revelation its historical anchorage, and its inner richness, and faith in the Spirit indicates its character as a continuing present, and loving revelation. Faith in Christ and faith in the Spirit are, therefore, essential elements of the Christian faith in God, and cannot be eliminated without rendering this faith indefinite and superficial.
-- Gustaf Aulen, The Faith of the Christian Church, trans. Eric H. Wahlstrom (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1973), p. 226
WORSHIP RESOURCE
Call To Worship
Leader: God, who created all things and named them "good,"
has shaped us in the divine image.
People: We come, with grace-filled hearts,
into the presence of our Creator.
Leader: Jesus, who led the way by carrying a cross,
has brought us into the kingdom of God.
People: We come, our brokenness made whole,
into the presence of our Redeemer.
Leader: The Holy Spirit, who brings us together from many places, calls us to be the household of God.
People: We come, all walls broken down,
into the presence of our Sustainer.
Prayer Of The Day
Imaginative God,
you spoke,
and your Word
carved towering peaks
and cascading streams;
your breath stirred chaos,
and stars glimmer in the long night,
the sun trumpets new life --
you are Creation's Architect!
Jesus Christ,
the poor and needy praise you,
for you are their brother;
little children climb into your lap,
for you are their safety;
sinners whisper your name,
for you are our hope --
you are the Word made Flesh!
Spirit of Holiness,
you are the bracing wind
that drives away our sins;
you are the fire that cleanses us
by dancing in our hearts;
you are the morning dew
that moistens our desert lips --
you are the Breath of God!
God in Community, Holy in One,
we lift our prayers to you as we have been taught, saying,
Our Father ...
Call To Reconciliation
Do people see God when they look at us? Do they hear Jesus' words of welcome and hope when we speak? Do they see the fresh Spirit acting in our lives? In these moments, we must be honest with God as to how we have not lived up to our calling to be God's people. Let us pray together, saying,
Unison Prayer Of Confession
God of glory, grace, and wisdom, you have made us in your image, but we do not always show your gracious face. We are called to follow the Christ, but fatigued by the stresses of our lives, we often do not have the energy or enthusiasm. When we see the Spirit standing with the oppressed and outcast, we, too, often turn and walk the other way.
Creator God,
Master of the Universe,
have mercy on us;
Jesus Christ,
Brother and Sister to the Poor,
have mercy on us;
Holy Spirit,
Comfort of the Brokenhearted,
have mercy on us.
Silence is kept
Assurance Of Pardon
Leader: Here is the good news: God continues to create out of the chaos and brokenness of our lives, filling our hearts with love, transforming our despair into hope, and shaping our selfishness into servanthood.
People: What marvelous news! God loves us, Christ redeems us, and the Spirit calls us to service. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Charge And Benediction
Leader: God, who created you in the divine image, sends you forth;
People: we go, to reflect the presence of our Creator to everyone we meet.
Leader: Jesus, who has redeemed you, has established God's kingdom in our midst;
People: we go, to bring healing to the broken of the world.
Leader: The Holy Spirit, who calls you to be God's people, goes with you to many places;
People: we go, to tear down the walls that divide us, and to build lives of hope for all of God's children.
Leader: And now, may the peace of the rolling waves,
the peace of the silent mountains,
the peace of the singing stars,
and the deep, deep peace of the Prince of Peace
be with you now and forever.
Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Making disciples
Object: a globe or a world map
Matthew 28:16-20
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (v. 19)
Good morning, boys and girls. Did you know the earth had a little tummy? (let them answer) It does because I looked up how far it was to go around the earth at the middle and it is 24,901.55 miles. (show the globe or map) But if you go from the North Pole to the South Pole it is 24,859.8 miles. This means that the earth is 41.75 miles further around than it is tall.
Do you like big numbers? (let them answer) There are 194 countries in the world. There are people in all of these countries. We live in the United States of America. That is the name of our country. We are one of 23 different countries that make up the North American continent.
There is a lot to learn about our earth even though we know a lot about it already. We know the tallest mountain on the earth. We know the lowest place on the earth. We know the hottest and the coldest places on earth. But I want to talk about the 194 countries we sometimes call nations.
Jesus said that we should make disciples of all the people that live in the 194 countries. To make a disciple is one of the things that we are supposed to do. Jesus told his disciples to tell people like us that this was our job.
How many of you can count to 100? (let them answer) Very good! Do you think you could count to 1,000 or maybe 5,000? (let them answer) It would take a long time. There are about 6,602,224,175 people living in the world. That is a lot of people. There are 2,100,000,000 Christians in the world. That is good if you think that 2,000 years ago there were only about 100 people that called themselves disciples of Jesus. That means that if there are 3 people in the world 1 of the 3 people is a Christian. It also means that 2 people are not Christians. We have a really big job to make disciples in all of the 194 nations.
How do we make other disciples? We love them, forgive them, baptize them, read the Bible to them, share with them, and all of the other things that Jesus taught us to do.
When you have a chance I would like for you to look at a map and pick out a country. Maybe it is in South America or Africa or North America and find out how many people in that country are Christians. See how many are not Christians and ask Jesus how you may teach others to follow Jesus. This is something we should all do and I guess the best time to start is today. Be a disciple of Jesus and help someone else learn about Jesus each day of your life. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, May 18, 2008, issue.
Copyright 2008 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
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What the Church can Teach the Nations
Stephen McCutchan
Psalm 8; Matthew 28:16-20
THE WORLD
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
-- Psalm 8:3-4
On a star-filled night in a peaceful mountain community, such words seem to reflect my feelings of awe. Yet when I read in the newspaper that as many as 100,000 people may have been killed by the deadly cyclone in Myanmar, it must be hard for the survivors to feel anything but terror when they consider the forces of nature.
The psalmist turns his attention to humanity and says, "... You have made them a little lower than God... you have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet." What does humanity do with the power with which it is entrusted? The citizens of the world look on with horror as the potential for the death toll rising astronomically because the government of Myanmar will not issue visas for aid workers and open their boarders to receiving all the aid that is available from other countries.
In Matthew's final account of Jesus on earth, Jesus says in 28:18-20, "All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (emphasis mine)... teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." What is it that the churches have to teach the nations in this experience of natural disaster?
THE WORD
Trinity Sunday focuses on relationships, particularly the relationship among the three persons of the Godhead. Theologians speak of this as the economy of God. Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, tenth edition, gives as the third definition of economy "the arrangement or mode of operation of something." In the Trinity, we see an image of God's intention for how we are to arrange or manage our relationships. Each of the figures of the Godhead is distinct and yet there is no hierarchy expressed. They are all equal but each has a distinct role to perform.
We recall in the first passage of our lectionary readings, Genesis 1:1--2:4a, the sovereignty of God that stands behind all that exists. While it is difficult, it is a critical message at a time of natural disaster to recall that God has faced chaos before. Our faith affirms that before anything existed, when the earth was but a formless void, God began to speak and bring order out of chaos. It is worth noting that this is not a description of God's struggle with chaos. God merely speaks a word and order begins to emerge. It is natural to wonder where God is in the midst of our present experiences of chaos, but it is also important to recognize that ultimately God is sovereign and not subject to defeat by chaos. This same truth is revealed when Jesus rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still" (Mark 4:39).
Intimately involved in that creative process was the spirit of God. Recall that in both Hebrew and Greek the word for breath, wind, and spirit are the same. In Genesis 1:2, it is the wind from God, or the Spirit of God, that sweeps over the chaotic waters and the creative process begins to take place. Later at Pentecost, which we celebrated last week, that same Spirit was present and began to give order to the division caused by many languages.
Because we are so disturbingly aware of the destructive forces of nature, not only in Myanmar but also in a number of other natural disasters in recent years, I want to call your attention to Genesis 1:6-7. In reading this, remember that for the Hebrews, the ocean depths were a very common symbol of chaos. "And God said, 'Let there be a dome in the mist of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.' So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome." What we are seeing in this picture of creation is an affirmation that God protects us from the ultimate chaos but also allows a certain measure of chaos to be part of creation. God is not overwhelmed by chaos. Even chaos is subject to God's command. The Hebrews were not naive about the conditions of the world. They recognized that there was much that disturbed the smooth unfolding of life. However, they affirmed that God was not in danger of losing control to such chaos. The chaos itself contained the possibility for the redemptive power of God to be present. God deliberately left a little chaos in our lives.
When we look at Christ's great commission in Matthew 28, we hear him say, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." All the authority of God is expressed in Jesus as he commands his disciples to become teachers. Teachers have a certain level of authority based on what they know. Yet, that authority is exercised as a servant. They are to transmit what they know in order to improve the life of others. The disciples are to become teachers to the nations. Since churches consist of disciples of Jesus Christ, this becomes our commission as well.
What they are to teach, not just other believers, but the nations of the world, is what Jesus commanded them. Reflect back over what the gospels have told us about the life and teachings of Jesus. He was a man who had authority but used it for the sake of others. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, welcomed the unwelcome, exorcised the demons that distorted people's lives, calmed the waters, and taught people about the gracious, forgiving love of the Master of the universe. He used the power that had been entrusted to him for the sake of others, especially those who were most in need. In Matthew 25:31-46, it was the nations (emphasis mine) that were called before the judgment throne and judged according to how they had responded to the neediest among them. "... For I was hungry and gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink." The parable ends with this ominous judgment: "And these (who had failed to offer aid to those in need) will go away into eternal punishment...." Nations can lose their existence if they fail to take care of the neediest in their midst. (Jeremiah Wright was being very biblical in making the connection between a nation's behavior and their future security.) In teaching the nations what Jesus taught his disciples, one is acting on behalf of national security.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
There is a year's worth of preaching in these texts. The preacher will have to be selective in discerning what is most appropriate for his congregation at this time. Because the tragic horror of Myanmar is on everyone's mind, it is an appropriate time to explore two significant aspects of our Christian faith. First, what does it mean to affirm the sovereignty of God in such a situation? Second, what, what is the appropriate response of the church to a world in need?
You might want to begin with some sentences from Psalm 8 and parallel sentences about the disaster in Myanmar similar to that in the World section above.
You can get the most current details about the damage caused by the cyclone in newspapers or on the internet. It might be helpful to make some comparison to the loss of 100,000 people and the homeless condition of over a million to similar figures in the Katrina disaster. Be careful not to diminish the tragic impact of Katrina. Simply remind people of the impact of that event on our nation and how this tragedy must impact the people of Myanmar.
It is helpful if people think about the theological impact of such events. The material on Genesis 1 above can help you with that.
My colleague on The Immediate Word team, Paul Bresnahan, who is writing the response this week, reminded us of an ancient piece of Christian wisdom that grace is experienced not in the circumstance but in our response to the circumstance. Following that wisdom, this is the place to comment on the Great Commission and to note how it is precisely the churches who are "teaching the nations" by their responses to this disaster. While the governments were still debating, groups like World Vision, Save the Children, and Church World Service were already on the ground both assessing the situation and providing compassionate response in material support and spiritual/emotional counseling. Each of these groups would have information on their websites. For any congregation who participates in the CROP Walk or the One Great Hour of Sharing, this would be an excellent opportunity to share with the congregation how their response in prior times has made possible the church's immediate response to this and other disasters. You can find out more information at http://www.churchworldservice.org or call the CWS Hotline, (800) 297-1516.
Trinity Sunday is an excellent opportunity to note how Christians, because of the blessings of God our Creator, the example of Jesus Christ our Lord, and the power of the Holy Spirit are speaking good news to people in need and teaching the nations the power of servanthood on behalf of those who are hurting.
ANOTHER VIEW
Paul Bresnahan
Where are we to get strength to face the challenge of our times? History brings us many challenges. Our ancestors in faith demonstrated great courage in the face of adversity. We too can come to the wellspring of courage they drew from. I am devoted to the notion of the Trinity -- not as a doctrine, but as to the source of a God-given spirituality. There is great power in that spirituality.
We know that God "brooded" over the face of the waters of chaos at the creation. We also know that Jesus poured out his life for us on the cross. We have reliable witnesses who told us about the experience of a "mighty wind" that rushed in upon the apostles in the upper room and the flames of fire that alighted upon them. Thus, the biblical record clearly states that God is Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. In sacred history, our collective experience of God's mighty power is called the Holy Trinity in shorthand. This is no doctrine for me. This is the very power of God, and we have direct experience of it and access to it.
Thus, there are terrorist attacks the like of which we have never seen before, and there will be more to follow. Nature will unleash her destructive forces in unprecedented dimensions particularly if we continue to ignore our own contribution to nature's need for protection and conservation. Garden-variety human sin as well as sin of a more heinous sort -- political chicanery and economic disquietude -- will often find us overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of it all.
We must not despair. We must never lose hope. We have in fact, seen it all before. We must read our history books. If we do not, we will repeat it all, time after tiresome time. The philosopher, George Santayana said it well: "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it!"
Whatever the world throws at us by way of human violence, nature's fury, or our own folly, we still have won the victory! That is the core of our faith. Good Friday will have its day, but Good Friday is not the end of the story. If that had been the end of the story for us, Christianity would have been nothing more than a byword. "Ho-hum, another good man died at the hands of brutality," history would say by way of footnote.
However, Jesus and Christianity are not footnotes, and we had better wake up to the fact that God is not to be mocked, neither by wicked people, nor by our own timidity. God is nothing short of the power to redeem a fallen world. We are the Easter people, remember? It is time for us to get our nerve back and put some punch back into our gospel. We are the hands and feet of the gospel... and whatever catastrophe befalls us, we have much work to do.
There is a wonderful scene in Fiddler on the Roof. In it, the Great Wedding Feast is utterly destroyed by Cossack soldiers descending upon the merrymaking. Homes are set afire, tables are overturned, china is broken, and the entire scene is pillaged. In shock and disbelief, the people look up to God in bewilderment and ask Tevye, who always had something wise to say; "What are we to do now?" There was, of course, a long pause, as Tevye resolutely picked up a chair, and defiantly said, "Clean up the mess."
Tevye also wondered about being the "chosen" people by asking God at one point with a wry smile, "Couldn't you choose somebody else, once in a while?" My dear friends, there is a futility in asking, "Why?" concerning the constant onslaught of sin. It is understandable but ultimately futile. What is much more fruitful will be Tevye's faithful response to the experience of devastation. What we have to remember after 9/11, or after the onslaught of tsunamis, hurricanes, and cyclones, what we have to remember after our own sins, or the sins and wickedness of others, is the simple but grace-filled proclamation, "Clean up the mess!"
Wonder of wonders, this is where God's grace will be found; more than that, this is where Christ's victory will be found. When we claim the power of God to create, to save, and to sanctify, the entire world will see that the love of God is alive and well in us. As we dare to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world, we will discover God's grace at work in us transforming us and the world we live in.
All the world will come to taste and see the creative, redeeming, and sanctifying power of God as we remember who he has called us to be. I am not the first Celt to bind to myself the strong name of the Trinity. Patrick did so many years ago during his battle with the Irish slave trade. Bind yourself to it with me and all those who have looked to God for help before, you will no doubt discover the power of God at work in you!
ILLUSTRATIONS
Philippe Quint is a world-famous violinist. This past April 21, he was taking a taxicab from Newark Airport to Manhattan. When he got out at his destination, he took his suitcase out of his car, but forgot to pick up a little something he'd left on the backseat: his violin.
It wasn't just any violin. It was a Stradivarius, worth at least 4 million dollars. Quint didn't own it himself; it was owned by a couple of investors, who had lent it to him to use in his concerts. The cab roared off, into the mean streets of New York: "the city that never sleeps" -- and that's likely as not to pick your pocket when you finally nod off. Philippe Quint despaired of ever seeing this priceless violin again.
He put in a call to the Newark Police. A few hours later, they tracked the cabbie down at the same taxi stand at Newark Airport where the adventure had begun. The driver cheerfully returned the violin to Mr. Quint, who gave him a hundred-dollar tip. Not only that, seeing how shaken he was by the whole experience, the cabbie drove him all the way home to Manhattan. It was, he told him, his last day before retiring, and Mr. Quint might as well be his last passenger of the day.
There the story might have ended, except for a violinist who was so grateful, he didn't think a hundred-dollar tip was enough. Several days ago, he put on a free concert for the cabdrivers of Newark Airport -- right there outside, under a hastily erected canopy, in front of the taxi stand. Sitting in the front row was the honest cabbie who returned the violin -- who had been given a special award called the Medallion, the city of Newark's highest award for a taxi driver. All around him were his fellow drivers, filled with pride that one of their own had been singled out for this special honor. Here's how a New York Times article describes the scene:
The audience watched him in awe, about 50 drivers in three rows, their yellow cabs a few feet behind, some lined up neatly, others askew.
As Philippe Quint spent half an hour playing five selections, the cabbies clapped and whistled. They danced in the aisles, hips gyrating like tipsy belly dancers. "Magic fingers, magic fingers," one called out. Another grabbed the hand of Mr. Quint's publicist and did what looked like a merengue across the front of the "stage."
Afterward, the virtuoso was mobbed by drivers seeking his autograph on dollar bills, napkins, and cab receipts.
"It was so pleasing to see people dancing -- that never happens," said Mr. Quint, 34, a Grammy-nominated classical violinist. "These people, they work so hard, I doubt they get a chance to get out to Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center."
-- Richard G. Jones, "Cabdriver Thanked for Returning a Stradivarius," New York Times, May 7, 2008.
So he brought Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to them. He didn't have to do it. Many would have said a hundred-dollar tip was more than generous. Nevertheless, Philippe Quint learned something the day he lost his violin. He learned the streets of Newark and New York are not nearly so mean as he had been led to believe. He learned there still are good and caring people in this world -- people of principle, even if their circumstances are humble. He learned that, if you treat others with respect, everybody wins.
There's one other detail from the news story that's worth noting -- one that's highly illuminating, in these present times. It's the name of the honest driver who returned the violin. His name is Khalil Mohammed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/nyregion/07violin.html
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Whenever there is a catastrophe, some religious people inevitably ask, "Why didn't God do something? Where was God when all those people died?" Among the answers we might consider is the one that Martin Luther gave as his wife asked a similar question upon the death of their infant son. Luther answered, "The same place he was when His son died!"
-- Tony Campolo, "Katrina: Not God's Wrath -- or His Will," Beliefnet.com
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/174/story_17423_1.html
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Psalm 8 is an exuberant hymn of praise to God the Creator. It is, in fact, the only psalm written exclusively in the second person: Its prayerful message is directed to the Lord from beginning to end.
Recent advances in satellite technology, combined with computers, have led to some amazing web sites, such as http://terraserver-usa.com/, through which it is possible to view highly detailed photos of the earth taken from space. On some of these sites, it is possible to start with a map of an entire continent, then to zoom in, by successive mouse clicks, to a view of one's own neighborhood. That is the sort of perspective envisioned by the psalmist, millennia before either satellites or computers had even been conceived in the human mind. From the perspective of the vast expanses of heaven, "What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?"
* * *
Writing in his web journal on September 30, 2004, preacher and author Robert Fulghum reflected on the exuberant ways young children approach life:
I was carrying a trilobite in my pocket last night. A fossil from life 175 million years ago, when nothing like us was around. Sometimes I sit on the bench on the highest hill in my mind, hold my trilobite in my hand and consider the long view. It's my "ant-in-Chicago" position. An ant will never comprehend Chicago. Never. But sometimes the ant must have a vague sense that something astonishing is going on around it. Vibrations and energy and change. As do I. What's the meaning of it all? I will never know. But I may, like those first graders, give my life meaning by throwing myself recklessly into it daily, as if something astonishing is happening and I am part of it. It is and I am.
http://robertfulghum.com/index.php/fulghumweb/
* * *
How do you explain the Trinity to a Muslim? Such was the task undertaken by Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, in an address to Muslim scholars in Egypt in 2004:
The belief that God could have a Son is, for the faithful Muslim, a belief suggesting that God needs something other than himself and is subject to the processes of limited bodies by "begetting" a child. How can such a God be truly free and sovereign? For we know that he is able to bring the world into being by his word alone.
Yet these anxieties do not belong only to Muslims. Egypt was, in the first centuries of the Christian era, the location of great debates on just such matters. Indeed, without the contribution of Egypt, Christian theology would have been infinitely poorer, for many of the greatest minds of that period were natives of Alexandria. One of the great concerns of these thinkers and their successors was this: If Christians say that the eternal Word and power of God was fully present in Jesus, son of Mary, can we avoid saying this in such a way as to imply that God is subject to a physical process, or that God has a second being alongside him? These Christian sages believed as strongly as any Muslim that God was self-sufficient and free, and that he could not be affected or limited by physical processes and did not act as a physical cause among others. They say quite explicitly that when we speak of the Father "begetting" the Son, we must put out of our minds any suggestion that this is a physical thing, a process like the processes of the world.
Those Christian thinkers and their successors developed a doctrine which tried to clarify this: They said that the name "God" is not the name of a person like a human person, a limited being with a father and mother and a place that they inhabit within the world. "God" is the name of a kind of life -- eternal and self-sufficient life, always active, needing nothing. And that life is lived eternally in three ways which are made known to us in the history of God's revelation to the Hebrew people and in the life of Jesus. There is a source of life, an expression of life, and a sharing of life. In human language we say, "Father, Son and Holy Spirit," but we do not mean one God with two beings alongside him, or three gods of limited power. Just as we say, "Here is my hand, and these are the actions my one hand performs," but it is not different from the actions of my five fingers, so with God: This is God, the One, the living and self-subsistent, but what God does is not different from the life which is eternally at the same time a source and an expression and a sharing of life. Since God's life is always an intelligent and purposeful life, each of these dimensions of divine life can be thought of as a centre of mind and love; but this does not mean that God "contains" three different individuals, separate from each other as human individuals are.
And Christians believe that this life enters into ours in a limited degree. When God takes away our evildoing and our guilt, when he forgives us and sets us free, he breathes new life into us, as he breathed life into Adam at the first. That breathing into us we call the "Spirit." As we become mature in our new life, we become more and more like the expression of divine life, the Word whom we encounter in Jesus. Because Jesus prayed to the source of his life as "Father," we call the eternal expression of God's life the "Son." And so too we pray to the source of divine life in the way that Jesus taught us, and we say "Father" to this divine reality.
But in no way does the true Christian say that the life and action of God could be divided into separate parts, as if it were a material thing. In no way does the true Christian say that there is more than one God or that God needs some other in order to act or that God promotes some other being to share his glory. There is one divine action, one divine will; yet (like the fingers of the hand) there are three ways in which that life is real, and it is only in those three ways that the divine life is real -- as source and expression and sharing. It is because of those three ways in which divine life exists that Christians speak as they do about what it means to grow in holiness.
-- "Archbishop of Canterbury visits al-Azhar al-Sharif, Egypt," Anglican Communion News Service, September 14, 2004
* * *
I am aboard a cruise ship gliding slowly between snow-capped mountains that remind me of the art my parents hung on our living room wall back in Minnesota in the fifties. It was a large translucent picture of snow-capped mountains, lit by an electric bulb behind it, and when guests came we made sure to turn it on. We were all quite proud of it, and I guess it was considered inspirational, in the sense of "How can you look at this and say there is no God?" It occupied a place of prominence over the couch. Of course, to base one's faith on beautiful scenery is to leave oneself open to grave doubt if you should see Texas. Texas would make any man an atheist, unless he understood that God means to challenge us.
-- Garrison Keillor, The Old Scout, "The Lazy Man's Guide to Alaska," July 18, 2006
* * *
In the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), Jesus sends his disciples out to continue his work in this world -- just as he sends you and me today.
This reminds us of the story of Isaiah's vision in the temple (Isaiah 6). In the old King James Version, this passage has three key words: woe, lo, and go. One day when he was in the temple, Isaiah the prophet suddenly had a vision of the Lord God, in all his splendor and majesty, sitting on a throne, attended by angels.
Immediately Isaiah felt himself unworthy to be standing there in the presence of the Lord God almighty and said, "Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips."
Then the Lord sent an angel to touch Isaiah's lips with a live coal from the altar to show him that his lips were cleansed and all his sins were forgiven, saying, "Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." Finally Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Go" -- go and do my work.
You and I may say, "Woe! I am not worthy to serve the Lord." But the Lord says, "Lo, I have cleaned you up. You're ready." Then the Lord says to us, "Go!"
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The opening verses of Genesis tell us that, when God created the heavens and the earth, a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. The Hebrew word ruah used here can be translated either wind, breath, or spirit (or Spirit). The wind of God, the breath of God, the spirit (or Spirit) of God swept over the waters.
The gospel of John tells us that Jesus was also present at the creation. John calls Jesus "the Word," and says, "He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being" (John 1:1-3).
So all three were present at the creation: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
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The noted Swedish theologian Gustaf Aulen says:
The theology of the ancient church regarded the doctrine of the Trinity as a summary of the content of the doctrine of revelation. The purpose of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity is twofold: Faith in Christ gives to divine revelation its historical anchorage, and its inner richness, and faith in the Spirit indicates its character as a continuing present, and loving revelation. Faith in Christ and faith in the Spirit are, therefore, essential elements of the Christian faith in God, and cannot be eliminated without rendering this faith indefinite and superficial.
-- Gustaf Aulen, The Faith of the Christian Church, trans. Eric H. Wahlstrom (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1973), p. 226
WORSHIP RESOURCE
Call To Worship
Leader: God, who created all things and named them "good,"
has shaped us in the divine image.
People: We come, with grace-filled hearts,
into the presence of our Creator.
Leader: Jesus, who led the way by carrying a cross,
has brought us into the kingdom of God.
People: We come, our brokenness made whole,
into the presence of our Redeemer.
Leader: The Holy Spirit, who brings us together from many places, calls us to be the household of God.
People: We come, all walls broken down,
into the presence of our Sustainer.
Prayer Of The Day
Imaginative God,
you spoke,
and your Word
carved towering peaks
and cascading streams;
your breath stirred chaos,
and stars glimmer in the long night,
the sun trumpets new life --
you are Creation's Architect!
Jesus Christ,
the poor and needy praise you,
for you are their brother;
little children climb into your lap,
for you are their safety;
sinners whisper your name,
for you are our hope --
you are the Word made Flesh!
Spirit of Holiness,
you are the bracing wind
that drives away our sins;
you are the fire that cleanses us
by dancing in our hearts;
you are the morning dew
that moistens our desert lips --
you are the Breath of God!
God in Community, Holy in One,
we lift our prayers to you as we have been taught, saying,
Our Father ...
Call To Reconciliation
Do people see God when they look at us? Do they hear Jesus' words of welcome and hope when we speak? Do they see the fresh Spirit acting in our lives? In these moments, we must be honest with God as to how we have not lived up to our calling to be God's people. Let us pray together, saying,
Unison Prayer Of Confession
God of glory, grace, and wisdom, you have made us in your image, but we do not always show your gracious face. We are called to follow the Christ, but fatigued by the stresses of our lives, we often do not have the energy or enthusiasm. When we see the Spirit standing with the oppressed and outcast, we, too, often turn and walk the other way.
Creator God,
Master of the Universe,
have mercy on us;
Jesus Christ,
Brother and Sister to the Poor,
have mercy on us;
Holy Spirit,
Comfort of the Brokenhearted,
have mercy on us.
Silence is kept
Assurance Of Pardon
Leader: Here is the good news: God continues to create out of the chaos and brokenness of our lives, filling our hearts with love, transforming our despair into hope, and shaping our selfishness into servanthood.
People: What marvelous news! God loves us, Christ redeems us, and the Spirit calls us to service. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Charge And Benediction
Leader: God, who created you in the divine image, sends you forth;
People: we go, to reflect the presence of our Creator to everyone we meet.
Leader: Jesus, who has redeemed you, has established God's kingdom in our midst;
People: we go, to bring healing to the broken of the world.
Leader: The Holy Spirit, who calls you to be God's people, goes with you to many places;
People: we go, to tear down the walls that divide us, and to build lives of hope for all of God's children.
Leader: And now, may the peace of the rolling waves,
the peace of the silent mountains,
the peace of the singing stars,
and the deep, deep peace of the Prince of Peace
be with you now and forever.
Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Making disciples
Object: a globe or a world map
Matthew 28:16-20
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (v. 19)
Good morning, boys and girls. Did you know the earth had a little tummy? (let them answer) It does because I looked up how far it was to go around the earth at the middle and it is 24,901.55 miles. (show the globe or map) But if you go from the North Pole to the South Pole it is 24,859.8 miles. This means that the earth is 41.75 miles further around than it is tall.
Do you like big numbers? (let them answer) There are 194 countries in the world. There are people in all of these countries. We live in the United States of America. That is the name of our country. We are one of 23 different countries that make up the North American continent.
There is a lot to learn about our earth even though we know a lot about it already. We know the tallest mountain on the earth. We know the lowest place on the earth. We know the hottest and the coldest places on earth. But I want to talk about the 194 countries we sometimes call nations.
Jesus said that we should make disciples of all the people that live in the 194 countries. To make a disciple is one of the things that we are supposed to do. Jesus told his disciples to tell people like us that this was our job.
How many of you can count to 100? (let them answer) Very good! Do you think you could count to 1,000 or maybe 5,000? (let them answer) It would take a long time. There are about 6,602,224,175 people living in the world. That is a lot of people. There are 2,100,000,000 Christians in the world. That is good if you think that 2,000 years ago there were only about 100 people that called themselves disciples of Jesus. That means that if there are 3 people in the world 1 of the 3 people is a Christian. It also means that 2 people are not Christians. We have a really big job to make disciples in all of the 194 nations.
How do we make other disciples? We love them, forgive them, baptize them, read the Bible to them, share with them, and all of the other things that Jesus taught us to do.
When you have a chance I would like for you to look at a map and pick out a country. Maybe it is in South America or Africa or North America and find out how many people in that country are Christians. See how many are not Christians and ask Jesus how you may teach others to follow Jesus. This is something we should all do and I guess the best time to start is today. Be a disciple of Jesus and help someone else learn about Jesus each day of your life. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, May 18, 2008, issue.
Copyright 2008 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
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