What Is A Life Worth?
Children's sermon
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Object:
In the lectionary passage from Acts for Easter 7, Paul and Silas are followed for several days by a slave girl with “a spirit of divination” who “brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling.” When Paul calls on the name of Jesus Christ to rid her of the spirit, he deprives her owners of a lucrative income -- and as a result, Paul and Silas face retaliation from entrenched economic interests. Yet this merely serves as a prelude for the remarkable account of an earthquake releasing Paul and Silas from the prison they’ve been taken to... whereupon they calm the panicked jailer and proceed to baptize him and his entire household.
In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Mary Austin suggests that this is much more than merely a dramatic story about God’s transformative power completely reversing the dire situation facing Paul and Silas. In addition, she points out, it also illustrates the contrast between the way the world often values people (in economic terms) and the manner God sees us -- as all having infinite worth, no matter our station in society or previous history. The owners of the slave girl and the jailer’s superiors see each of them only in terms of their usefulness. Yet Paul and Silas treat them in the same manner as God treats us -- releasing us from our shackles and bringing new life in places and ways that are often completely beyond our imagining.
Team member Chris Keating shares some additional thoughts on the theme of God’s grace in this week’s texts. God’s love is so powerful, and his grace is so complete, that it is freely given -- despite the fact that he knows our true nature far better than the façade we present to the world. Indeed, God knows our most intimate secrets and all of our sins, both great and small... yet he loves us anyway rather than judging us. Unfortunately, Chris notes, such grace is rarely seen in our culture -- especially on social media, where invective, snap judgment, and bullying seems to be the coin of the realm. Chris reminds us that while an attitude of grace doesn’t promote the kind of snarky observations that get retweeted and draw followers, perhaps we need to be more mindful of the consequences of mean-spirited trolling.
What Is a Life Worth?
by Mary Austin
Acts 16:16-34
Insurance companies and attorneys routinely calculate the value of a life lost, in order to make reparative payments to loved ones. Higher earners are “worth” more, since there are more lost wages to account for. Younger people are “worth” more, since more years of life have been taken away. In Cleveland, the family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice will receive $6 million in compensation for his death at the hands of police officers. Last year, General Motors spent $595 million to compensate people who lost loved ones (or were injured themselves) in auto accidents caused by faulty equipment. In Afghanistan, the death of 42 people at a Doctors Without Borders hospital last year only equals paper reprimands for 16 military personnel involved in the mistaken airstrike.
In this Acts text, Paul and Silas see the value of a slave girl’s life, and then the value of a jailer’s life. We measure the value of a life in different ways -- education, earning power, similarity to us -- but Paul and Silas see worth in both the slave girl and a man who works as a jailer. For both of them, encountering Paul and Silas changes their own sense of worth. Both of their lives take surprising twists when they meet these two.
Paul and Silas seem worthless to some -- in the words of the slave girl, they are also slaves. And yet they have a mysterious ability to change people’s sense of their own worth.
In the Scriptures
The slave girl feels a spirit of kinship with Paul and Silas, noticing that they too are slaves. With her “spirit of divination,” she announces that they are “slaves of the Most High God.” After she follows them around for a few days announcing this, Paul reaches his last nerve and orders the noisy spirit to come out of her. Once the divining spirit leaves her, she loses the gift that makes money for her owners. Instead of rejoicing in her newfound health of spirit, they’re annoyed at the loss of income and bring Paul and Silas to court for redress. Once she’s not generating money, the girl is worthless to her employers.
Curiously, she makes money for her owners by telling fortunes -- but she doesn’t seem to mention that she’ll soon be leaving their employ.
Her healing starts a chain of events that lands Paul and Silas in jail, where they again find worth in someone on the margins. After the jail is broken apart by the power of God, the jailer is ready to take his own life, fearing the punishment for losing his prisoners. When Paul calls out to him, he asks “What must I do to be saved?” Saved from punishment? Saved into God’s grace? It’s not clear what he means, but Paul and Silas save him into a new life in Christ.
Like many stories in Acts, this one has interesting parallels. The slave girl is imprisoned by the spirit, just as Paul and Silas are imprisoned by those with a spirit of vengefulness and rage. The jailer becomes imprisoned by fear, just as Paul and Silas are set free. The household of the jailer, moving forward together in faith, contrasts with the mean-spirited owners of the slave girl.
The slave girl is only worthwhile while she can make money for her owners. Her worth is about what she can produce. In contrast, Paul and Silas don’t need anything from the jailer -- they’re already free -- but they stop to announce the value of his life, and take him into the community of faith. Now his worth is based on his identity of a follower of Jesus. Every figure in the story is imprisoned at some point, and each of them experiences freedom as a gift from God. Each of them has his or her worth affirmed by God’s power at work in their lives.
The girl disappears from the story after we hear about her enraged owners, so we don’t know whether they discard her or whether she sees herself differently now and makes her escape from them. We can only hope that she went on to have a rich, full life, with a deep sense of her own worth after her encounter with the slaves of the Most High God.
In the News
Last fall, a chain of errors led to repeated bombing of a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan. The investigation revealed a series of mistakes that resulted in an hour of airstrikes that left 42 people dead. Doctors Without Borders has called for an independent investigation, and the Pentagon has declined to do that. In their own investigation, the Pentagon concluded that the sustained bombing was not a war crime because the deaths were unintentional. Sixteen service members, including a two-star general, were given reprimands, possibly ending their careers.
During the attack on the hospital, “it took Doctors Without Borders only about 11 to 12 minutes to reach American officials and raise the alarm about what was unfolding. It continued to make calls and send text messages to American commanders in Afghanistan, the Pentagon in Washington, and the Afghan Interior Ministry throughout the bombardment, imploring them to stop the attack.”
One officer quoted in the report found that the chain of command also showed little concern for the lives of soldiers on the ground: “The officer wrote that the enemies of the Kunduz operation were ‘moral cowardice’ and a ‘profound lack of strategy.’ Army Green Berets on the ground in the city at the time asked for guidance ‘no fewer than three times’ during the multiday battle and heard nothing other than crickets ? ‘though those were hard to hear over the gunfire,’ he alleged. ‘How have we as a force, as a group of officers, become so lost from the good lessons that our mentors taught us,’ the officer asked. ‘I will tell you how. It is a decrepit state that grows out of the expansion of moral cowardice, careerism, and compromise devoid of principle, exchanged for cheap personal gain. We owe the man on the ground more than that...’.” From his perspective in the middle of the firefight, he felt that the lives of soldiers were as valueless as the lives of Afghan civilians. Following the tragedy, “the United States has provided more than 170 individuals and families with condolence payments, including $6,000 to family members of those killed. U.S. forces have also revised their target procedures... and have ensured that facilities like hospitals are included on a ‘no strike list’ loaded onto aircraft systems.” One has to wonder how many other times similar mistakes have happened and weren’t thoroughly investigated, without the stature of a group like Doctors Without calling for a closer look.
In Cleveland, the family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice will receive $6 million as compensation for his shooting death by police officers, and the city will receive a reprieve from a potential federal trial: “The settlement, which would be the latest in a series of seven-figure payouts by major American cities to the families of African-Americans who died at the hands of officers, spares Cleveland the possibility of a federal civil rights trial that could have drawn new attention to Tamir’s death and to the city’s troubled police force. It also allows the city to avoid the possibility of an even larger judgment. Cleveland officials said the settlement was the city’s largest in a police-related lawsuit, though under the terms of the agreement, the city does not admit wrongdoing. The $6 million figure is in line with settlements in the deaths of Eric Garner in New York and Freddie Gray in Baltimore.” In announcing the settlement, the city’s mayor also said that no amount of money could compensate for Tamir’s life.
In the Sermon
The sermon might look at how we show that we value people. We announce that all lives are equally valuable, but we spend more money educating some children than others. Some people merit better food, or safer housing. Some professions (football players) rate higher salaries than others (home health care workers, preschool teachers). We spend more time talking to some people than others. Some people have to work harder to access their right to vote. We clearly find some people worthier than others. In contrast, God finds value in all of us, without regard for our status in the world.
The sermon might also look at how we calculate our own worth. Do we base our sense of ourselves on our profession, our zip code, our clothes, or the name of the school on our diploma? Or can we manage to see ourselves as God sees us, and know that we are all God’s beloved children? The sermon might look at how we learn to see people as God sees them. How do we learn -- like Paul and Silas -- to see with the divine perspective, instead of through our human lenses? How do we learn to see ourselves and others in this way?
Or the sermon might look at the reversals God brings into our lives. The slave girl goes from being valuable to worthless, but also possibly from being a slave to gaining her freedom. The jailer moves from secure -- if stressful -- employment, to fear for his life, to a new faith. I wonder if he kept his job after that. Paul and Silas are apparently accustomed to God’s dramatic ups and downs. Do we find similar reversals in our lives when God is at work?
Or the sermon might look at the differences between the kind of power we have, and the kind of power God has. We have some power to control our daily lives, depending on the amount of money and education we have. We may have the power to hire and fire other people, or to make decisions for an organization. God has the power of bringing people into a whole new life, the power to end bondage and create freedom. Are we using the power we have to mirror the power of God, so that God’s work can be done through us? Are our weekday lives and our Sunday lives aligned, so we use our power in conjunction with the power of the Most High God?
SECOND THOUGHTS
Grace Be with All, Including the Trolls
by Chris Keating
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21; John 17:20-26
Scholars have unearthed a new translation of the book of Revelation -- and in a surprising twist, the latest translation features user comments. It turns out that trolls, those subhuman life forms that wreak havoc on the web by slogging vitriol and hate speech on nearly every topic imaginable, are even older than the internet.
Researchers discovered an entire “comments section” missing from previous Revelation translations. For example, in a footnote to Revelation 3:14 “PatmosPretenderAD70” writes, “Apparently @JohnTheRevealer hasn’t been to the church in Laodicea recently. Not only is their witness lukewarm, but so is the coffee in the narthex.” Another writer bemoaned what she saw as gender stereotyping of Babylonian women.
And then there was this sarcastic gem from “LyingLionofJudah”: “So now we know John is just a crybaby who can’t open any scrolls. SMH! Wake up and repent, buddy! Wah-wah-wah!” Finally, the team even discovered the equivalent of make-money-fast schemes previously undetected in New Testament writings. “ParousiaPretender” commented, “Want to learn how you can make hundreds of dollars a week while sitting in front of your computer? I sent seven letters today and got 144,000 responses. Jesus is coming soon, so don’t delay! E-mail me now at AlphaOmega666@rapture.com!”
Sarcasm aside, the point is that while the writer of the Apocalypse was forced to struggle with principalities and powers like the idolatrous emperor Domitian, internet users today must contend with a wholly other type of unholy species: graceless agitators who spew rumors, tasteless comments, and crude profanities faster than a 120-words-per-minute typist.
Like the mythological troll who hides in dark places, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting victims, today’s trolls release their anger senselessly, pounding on journalists, Facebook friends, celebrities, and others for no apparent reason. But not all of it is funny, and sometimes it is nothing more than bullying.
Trolling can be either as benign as an overbearing know-it-all, or as scolding as a finger-wagging grammar-patrol officer. What is clear is that trolls gather throughout the internet, where everyone has an opinion -- just check out the comments section on YouTube or a newspaper. For example, more than 300 comments were voiced within a few hours following the publication of a Washington Post story about customers suing Starbucks for putting too much ice in their iced coffee. That’s a lot of ice, baby. But it’s also a lot of people hot and bothered over a chilly lawsuit.
Really? One can only guess Mondays are slow days at the office.
The darker side to our graceless online conduct goes beyond yammering about the pros and cons of chilled java. It doesn’t take long for some insults to morph from snarky sarcasm into more lethal forms of cyber-bullying. Mean comments lead to more catastrophic consequences, such as depression, intolerance, and even suicide.
Online actions have profound consequences, creating a modern version of the untenable brutality unleashed on John’s audience. Throughout Revelation, John brings a call of hope to those who have been persecuted, urging perseverance and faithfulness as well as constant vigilance. “See, I am coming soon,” Christ declares. John’s encouragement is to stand fast and trust in God’s grace -- even in the face of a graceless world.
It’s the sort of hope the bullied of our world often do not hear.
As a preschooler, Destiny Gleason once gave a friend the coat off her back. But such charity wasn’t returned to her this winter when, as a 14-year-old eighth-grader, she became a victim of cyber-bullying. After kids circulated an internet photo of female genitalia with Destiny’s name written on it, the girl began self-harming. Her parents pulled her out of school and sought treatment, but soon she wanted to return to her rural middle school. Within days, bullying resumed. And so did messages and humiliating comments on Facebook.
Destiny hung herself on April 19, and died four days later.
Sadly, this isn’t an isolated action. There are countless similar stories. In 2006 Megan Meier, also 14, took her own life after being bullied on social media. Meier lived just a few miles east of Gleason. She took her life after receiving taunts from someone she believed was a 16-year-old boy. But the boy was really the creation of an adult neighbor who lived down the street.
Meier’s mother and friends have formed a foundation aimed at educating others about bullying, and advocated for laws to prosecute those who use electronic communications to cyber-bully another person.
Teenagers are hardly the only ones impacted by mean-spirited uses of social media. Last week, retailer Old Navy released an ad featuring a biracial family. The photograph shows a dad giving his son a piggyback ride. Dad’s other arm is wrapped around a grinning mother. All in all, a beautiful, happy family.
But others took it as evidence of an “anti-white agenda.” Twitter exploded in protests and vows to never set foot in Old Navy again. The ad featured model Grace Mahary. She lived up to her name by refusing to let the racist rants have the final say. “In light of the controversy revolving around my pretend family,” Mahary said on Instagram, “I am proud to be representing interracial love, multiculturalism, and most importantly, a mentality that supports opportunity for all ethnicities.”
Twitter, of course, has also been the setting for some of this year’s juicier name-baiting and hate-mongering among presidential candidates. Bullying -- defined by the CDC as unwanted aggressive behavior in youth between the ages of 5 and 18 -- has been front and center throughout the presidential campaign. Denigrating people, things, ideas, or places has become standard fare.
Barbara Coloroso, author of The Bully, The Bullied, and the Bystander, says the name-calling by candidates such as Donald Trump should be “scary to all of us. That’s a lack of compassion.” As Cynthia Leonor Garza observes, the campaign has been a reminder that bullying isn’t something which gets left behind at high school graduation. “Bullying behavior is found in bosses, in trolls sniping at each other in comments sections online, and in ‘friends’ with a bone to pick on Facebook.”
Garza says that letting her six-year-old binge-watch House of Cards might be a better bet than watching the real campaign. Still, she says she may find peace and calm from within: “The beauty in this world is that it is more powerful than the intolerance of one individual.”
That truth is what makes Revelation such a compelling read in times of anxiety and fear. At first blush, John’s visions of dragons, whores, and demons might seem to be more of the same trolling found throughout social media. Yet the apocalyptic imagery reminds God’s people that visions of hope shall emerge in spite of struggle.
Contemporary bullying and life-draining commentary are the complete antithesis to the joy-filled hope of Revelation. Certainly, the book’s fantastic images and apocalyptic themes can be hard to decode. But at its heart the book carries a message of hope and grace. Rather than trolling for fear, it offers a compelling narrative of the gospel. It describes the city of God where the faithful find refreshment and renewal, and whose gates are open to all. Under the shade of the tree of life, all creation will be restored.
John’s audience struggled to find hope in times of chaos, and faith in moments of despair. Likewise, many persons -- especially adolescents -- today are crushed by hurtful tweets and posts. In the closing lines of Revelation, John offers a thundering chorus of assurance. God’s grace will prevail. Those who have persevered through times of distress are reminded of God’s abiding presence and protection. The rage of the world threatens to engulf God’s people, but those claimed by the Lamb shall persevere.
Likewise, Jesus’ priestly prayer in John conveys the radical nature of God’s grace. The deep intimacy shared between Jesus and the Father is now shared with those who abide in Christ. “The world does not know you, but I know you,” Jesus prays in John 17. “And these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Grace will lead us home. It should be no surprise that the last words of scripture are words of grace. These are the words our world yearns to hear. The saints who have persevered in a culture where tweets and trolls mingle will lean forward in their pews to hear this benediction: “Surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints.”
If I had to preach an 11-word sermon, I might just stick with that last sentence.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Ron Love:
Acts 16:16-34
Vijay Mallya, of New Delhi, India, called himself the “King of Good Times.” A multi-billionaire who made his money in beer and airlines, he socialized with the rich and famous -- and was also known for a sexy swimsuit calendar he published each year. He also left the country with $1.5 billion in unpaid bills, and Indian authorities are trying to extradite him from Britain. During the banking crisis, when loans could be secured without adequate credit, Mallya used that process to expand his Kingfisher Airlines. When he could not repay his debt, the King of Good Times left the country.
Application: In confronting the owners of the slave girl, Paul had to confront the Kings of Good Times and their dishonesty.
*****
Acts 16:16-34
In selling real estate it is always said that the key is “location, location, location.” In a Hagar the Horrible comic strip, Hagar and his wife Helga are looking for a new home. The real estate agent says, “The price is high, but remember -- location, location, location.” Hagar, looking at the location of the property, exclaims, “He makes a very good point!” That’s because Hagar, who is known for his indulgent lifestyle, sees that the house is located between a tavern and a restaurant. (Note: If you have a projection screen in your sanctuary, you may want to display the comic.)
Application: Paul tries to get the owners of the slave girl to focus on a righteous lifestyle.
*****
Acts 16:16-34
Fifty years ago, in 1966, the Cultural Revolution began in China under Mao Zedong. Young people were told to “beat, smash, loot, and burn” in rebellion against intellectuals, and thus began a great persecution. Tomas Plankers, a psychoanalyst at the Sigmund Freud Institute in Frankfurt, wants the Chinese to remember those days so as not to repeat them. He has been researching those years and published his findings in a volume titled Landscapes of the Chinese Soul: The Enduring Presence of the Cultural Revolution. Regarding his work and whether it will make a difference, Plankers said, “But all we can do is let fall a few drops in the sea of silence.”
Application: Paul, in his preaching, let fall a few drops in the sea of silence.
*****
Acts 16:16-34
In a recent speech, the president of China said that he wants to make the Communist Party the religion of the nation. But in so doing, Christians are being persecuted. Crosses are being removed from church buildings, and many churches are being forced to close as the land is being sold. Ding Cuimei and her pastor husband Li Jiangong stood in front of a bulldozer that was to demolish their church. The dozer pushed them into a ditch and covered them with dirt. Li was able to escape the interment, but Ding suffocated. As a result of the international outcry from this incident, the church was allowed to remain open.
Application: We are directed by Paul to endure persecution.
*****
Acts 16:16-34
Actress Melissa Joan Hart stars in the movie God’s Not Dead 2. She pays a public school teacher who is fired for mentioning God in her classroom. Hart has started to take her Christian faith seriously, attending a Bible study and praying more frequently. She has found in discussing the movie and her new life that, as Hart said, “I find that if you say ‘Jesus,’ it makes people uncomfortable instead of feeling love and peace. It’s very unfortunate.”
Application: Paul wants us to say the name of Jesus, and hopefully people will feel the love and peace that comes with that name.
*****
Acts 16:16-34
Tens of thousands of Eritrean Christians have fled the country to escape persecution. The African nation forbids Christianity, even though Christians make up half of the population. In the refugee camps, stories of brutality and torture are told. Asmelash was in prison with her sister, when one night her sister was beaten to death. Asmelash said, “Eritrea is like a giant prison. The country is filled with jails, concentration camps, and prisons.”
Application: Paul instructs us that we will endure persecution.
*****
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
Whitney Cerak’s last memory was getting into the college van of Taylor University. She does not recall the semi-trailer that crossed the median on Interstate 69 in Indiana and struck the van head-on. Four students and a staff member were killed in the 2006 accident, and many students were seriously hurt. Cerak was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, with numerous broken bones and a brain injury that left her in a coma. Her parents were summoned to her bedside. During the recovery process her parents began to question who this girl in bed was, as she different from the daughter they knew. After many weeks, when a speech therapist asked her to write her name, she wrote Whitney Cerak. But Whitney Cerak had been buried, and it was supposed to be Laura Van Ryn in the bed. It was Van Ryn’s family at the bedside... but the patient was actually Whitney Cerak. In the confusion of the wreck, paramedics misidentified the two students -- and Laura’s body was sent to the Ceraks and was buried. Whitney was alive and recovering. Upon meeting the parents of Laura, Whitney’s parents said, “It is hard because our joy is their pain.” Of the experience Whitney said, “That day marked me. That’s the day my life changed.” That was the day of new life for Whitney.
Application: We know from Revelation that we are looking forward to a new life experience -- a new day that will mark us.
*****
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
After 46 years, a Jane Doe was identified. A body, found in 1969 beside Mulholland Drive near Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, had over 150 stab wounds. With police unable to identify the victim, she was known only as Jane Doe 59. But with advances in DNA technology, we now know that she was Reet Jurvetson, a 19-year-old from Montreal. She had always wanted to live in California, which brought her to Los Angeles. It is not known who her assailants were, but it was always believed that she was part of the Charles Manson murder spree since her body was found in the vicinity of the other killings. Her family always thought Reet would one day return home, but now they know the truth.
Application: We often have to wait to fully understand. What we learn may not always be pleasing, but it will be revealing. This is why we must take the message in Revelation seriously.
*****
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
Five years ago, Ed Balls was a member of Britain’s parliament and a leader of the opposition Labour Party. As many of us do, he was multitasking on April 28, 2011, using both the internet and his BlackBerry at the same time. When an aide asked him to look up a recipe, he somehow typed his name into the body of a tweet. He then put the BlackBerry into his pocket and mysteriously sent “Ed Balls” to all his constituents. The tweet was passed on thorough social media -- and since then, April 28 has become known as “Ed Balls Day,” celebrated by parties and tweets throughout Britain.
Application: Revelation tells us we are to look forward to a happy day.
*****
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
In South America lions are a great circus attraction. But the African lions are also greatly mistreated. Often their teeth and claws are removed to make it easier to work around them. Columbia and Peru are two countries that have outlawed the use of lions in circuses. Now, 33 lions are being flown back to Africa. They will be set free in a controlled environment, for their safety, at the Emoya Cat Sanctuary in Limpopo, South Africa. The animal rights group Animal Defenders International is overseeing the process. The group’s president, Jan Creamer, said, “These animals have endured hell on earth, and now they are heading home to paradise.”
Application: Revelation tells us that we will be heading home to paradise.
***************
From team member Robin Lostetter:
Acts 16:16-34
Value of an Employee vs. Motivation: Economics
Celia Vargas, a 57-year-old cleaner, has worked at the Trump hotel in Las Vegas full-time for three years, earning $14 an hour. Now a U.S. citizen, she fled civil war in El Salvador at the age of 23.
“ ‘I have always felt very proud of my work,’ she said at the home she shares with her daughter and seven grandchildren. ‘But I feel that for Mr. Donald Trump, we don’t matter as workers or as human beings. For Mr. Donald Trump, we’re just a number.’ ” Not unlike the slave girl in Acts 16, Vargas’ employer is motivated by economics, and not by true concern for Vargas and other employees.
“Her employment has been plagued with uncertain working hours, she said, meaning she can be paid as little as $350 a week. ‘My expenses often don’t match my budget, so I always end up owing more or having to get loans, or pawning or selling something of mine in order to get enough.’
“Vargas was diagnosed with breast cancer last June. Her insurance did not cover the full costs of treatment, leaving her in thousands of dollars in debt, and it would not pay for a full night in hospital for her to recover after surgery -- her daughter came to fetch her two hours after the operation, and took her home while she was still drowsy from the anesthesia.”
Another employee of the Trump hotel, Maricella Olvera, “left her impoverished hometown in Central Mexico in 1987. She trekked for three days on foot to cross the U.S. border, eventually making it to Salinas, California, where she immediately started work on the fields. She picked broccoli, lettuce, and berries for 14 hours a day, seven days a week. Only 14 years old, she started sending money back to her family straight away.”
Now 29 and a permanent resident of the U.S., “with two sons about to graduate from medical school,” Olvera, along with other hotel employees who are also immigrants, “worries about job insecurity while suffering the indignity of a boss running for president on an aggressive immigration platform that leaves the staff themselves feeling targeted.
“In January, she slipped and fell, severely injuring her knee, while cleaning a tall mirror in one of the luxury condos. She now walks with crutches, and survives on $49 a day in disability payment. The payment amounts to half of her actual compensation, $14.28 an hour. The Culinary Workers Union says she would receive full pay on a unionized contract.
“My two sons pay [for] my car, my insurance, all my bills, my electricity, everything right now,” she said. She has stopped sending money back to Mexico for the first time in years. She worries about her mortgage repayments, but the more pressing concern is the surgery on her knee that will determine when she can return to work, and how much she will owe in medical bills.”
*****
Acts 16:16-34
Risky Confrontation of Truth to Power
In the “Protest Too Much” episode of the CBS series Blue Bloods, there’s a bit of a “Robin Hood” version of speaking truth to moneyed power. Two young, inexperienced bank robbers pull off three heists -- to make a point rather than to make a fortune. Their point has to do with the accusation that large bank CEOs have never been prosecuted for their misdeeds; rather, the banks received a government bailout. (Of course, the young robbers do not succeed, but the plot is more complex than in the case of strictly money-driven robberies.)
In a secondary plot, a young rape victim is convinced to testify against her attacker. Although the power here is neither money nor status but simply the brute power of sexual dominance and public humiliation, the episode examines all the emotions and barriers to her testifying.
This issue of victims testifying is a common thread in many television legal dramas. When the threat is particularly high, “witness protection” by providing a new identity is the ultimate protection for the brave victim.
*****
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
“Graceless Online Conduct” -- Cyber-bullying That Hurts
In addition to the significant emotional and psychological effects caused by any type of bullying (anxiety, fear, depression, and low self-esteem), there are some unique consequences and negative feelings often experienced by young people who are targets of cyber-bullying. They include:
* feeling overwhelmed
* feeling vulnerable and powerless
* feeling exposed and humiliated
* feeling dissatisfied with who one is
* feeling angry and vengeful
* feeling disinterested in life
* feeling alone and isolated
* feeling disinterested in school
* feeling anxious and depressed
* feeling ill
* feeling suicidal
As Chris Keating observes above: “Contemporary bullying and life-draining commentary are the complete antithesis to the joy-filled hope of Revelation.” Those struggling with the many difficulties of adolescence could certainly benefit from more grace-filled feedback and less judgmentalism, less bullying.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: God reigns! Let the earth rejoice; let the many lands be glad!
People: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne.
Leader: The heavens proclaim God’s righteousness.
People: All the peoples behold God’s glory.
Leader: Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.
People: Rejoice in God, O you righteous, and give thanks to God’s holy name!
OR
Leader: The God of awesome power and majesty invites us to come!
People: While others may defame and demean us, God adores us.
Leader: We are the beloved children of our God.
People: We are God’s image, filled with God’s Spirit.
Leader: Let us worship the God who values us so highly.
People: Let us value others so they will know God values them.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“Now Thank We All Our God”
found in:
UMH: 102
H82: 396, 397
PH: 555
NNBH: 330
NCH: 419
CH: 715
LBW: 533, 534
ELA: 839, 840
W&P: 14
AMEC: 573
STLT: 32
“God, Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens”
found in:
UMH: 150
H82: 580
PH: 268
NCH: 556
CH: 651
LBW: 463
ELA: 771
W&P: 644
“Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart”
found in:
UMH: 160, 161
H82: 556, 557
PH: 145, 146
AAHH: 537
NNBH: 7
NCH: 55, 71
CH: 15
LBW: 553
ELA: 873, 874
W&P: 113
AMEC: 8
“Thine Be the Glory”
found in:
UMH: 308
PH: 122
NCH: 253
CH: 218
LBW: 145
ELA: 376
W&P: 310
AMEC: 157
“Christ Is Alive”
found in:
UMH: 318
H82: 182
PH: 108
LBW: 363
ELA: 389
W&P: 312
Renew: 300
“Tú Has Venido a la Orilla” (“Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore”)
found in:
UMH: 344
PH: 377
CH: 342
W&P: 347
“Amazing Grace”
found in:
UMH: 378
H82: 671
PH: 280
AAHH: 271, 272
NNBH: 161, 163
NCH: 547, 548
CH: 546
LBW: 448
ELA: 779
W&P: 422
AMEC: 226
STLT: 205, 206
Renew: 189
“Holy Spirit, Truth Divine”
found in:
UMH: 465
PH: 321
NCH: 63
CH: 241
LBW: 257
ELA: 398
“As We Gather”
found in:
CCB: 12
Renew: 6
“More Precious than Silver”
found in:
CCB: 25
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who finds infinite worth in all your children: Give us the wisdom to overlook the values of the world and to see the resurrection value of all; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
Come upon us, Gracious God, and empower us with your Spirit. Give to us your wisdom that looks beyond the mercenary value the world places on people. Help us to see the resurrection value of each of your children. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our failure to value others as God values them.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have taught us what is good and what is of value, and yet we turn away from these to worship what is worthless. We turn too quickly to hate and hurtful words when you have taught us that love is the way to resurrection and new life. We give lip service to our faith, but our calendars and checkbooks show where our true values lie. Renew us with your Spirit, and empower us to live our lives as true disciples of Jesus. Amen.
Leader: God values us and is always looking to redeem us and welcome us back. Receive God’s Spirit and forgiveness, and live in newness of life.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
Praise and glory are yours, O God, for you have created us and all that is. Your love is a power that can never be defeated.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have taught us what is good and what is of value, and yet we turn away from these to worship what is worthless. We turn too quickly to hate and hurtful words when you have taught us that love is the way to resurrection and new life. We give lip service to our faith, but our calendars and checkbooks show where our true values lie. Renew us with your Spirit, and empower us to live our lives as true disciples of Jesus.
We give you thanks for all the blessings of this life. You have given us an abundant and wondrous creation in which to live. You have given us each other, and you have given us your own self.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We pray especially for those who feel that no one values them. We pray for those who are treated as disposable resources.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Play a game of “Name That Price” with the children. Have several objects (or pictures of them) and large price tags to go with them. Ask the children to guess the prices. Use toys and items the children would be familiar with, even though they probably don’t pay for them. After they guess, show them the right price. Then hold up a mirror for them to look in. Ask what price tag would go with them. Then turn over the last price tag, with the word “Priceless” on it. God says we are priceless. We are of more value than anything.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
I’ve Got a Secret
by Dean Feldmeyer
John 17:20-26
You will need: a copy of the “Mona Lisa” that you can display (like this one)
This morning we’re talking about secrets. Are you all good at keeping secrets? No, me either. If I know something, I really want to share it with someone else. Don’t you? But sometimes it’s good to keep a secret.
The Bible doesn’t say whether it’s good or bad to keep secrets. I guess it depends on the secret and why we’re keeping it, huh?
Sometimes it’s a good thing. Like at Christmastime, right? I buy presents for my wife and my kids and my grandkids, but I don’t tell anyone what they are. I keep it a secret -- because if I told the secret and they found out what I got them, it would ruin the surprise, wouldn’t it?
So, at Christmastime secrets are good things.
But sometimes secrets shouldn’t be kept, right? If you found something that was dangerous, like a knife or something laying in the yard, you wouldn’t keep that a secret, would you? No, you’d run and tell a grownup about it so they could come and get it and take it away.
This is a famous painting. It’s called the “Mona Lisa.” It’s probably the most famous painting in the world. It’s in a museum in Paris, France, called the Louvre, and it’s about 600 years old. They say that it is worth about $750 million, and may be the most valuable painting ever painted. It was painted by a famous man named Leonardo da Vinci. And he had a lot of secrets about this painting that he never told to anyone.
Like who is she? “Mona Lisa” just means “Miss Lisa.” But Lisa who? What was her last name? How did he know her? And what is she smiling about? Why is she happy? Why doesn’t she have any eyebrows or eyelashes? We don’t know. Leonardo knew, but he didn’t tell anyone.
Or did he? Some people think that he left clues in the painting to tell us who she is. If you get a magnifying glass and look really closely at her eyes -- on the original painting, not this copy -- you will see in very tiny letters “LV.” Now those could be Leonardo’s initials. Or they could be the Roman numeral for 55. And on her other eye are the letters “CE.” We don’t have any idea what those mean. And if you look under the bridge with a magnifying glass, there’s the number 72.
But even if these are clues as to who Mona Lisa really was, no one has ever figured them out. We don’t know what they mean -- and last year it was discovered that there is another painting under this one. It seems that Leonardo painted this portrait over the top of another portrait. Why? Who was in the other portrait? No one knows. It was Leonardo’s secret, and he kept it. He never told anyone.
So there all kinds of secrets. Some we tell to others. Some we don’t tell because we promised we wouldn’t. Some we don’t tell because we don’t want someone to know something about us. Some we don’t tell because maybe we’re ashamed of something we said or did, and we’re afraid that if someone finds out they won’t like us or love us anymore.
But what Jesus wants us to know is that God knows all our secrets and God doesn’t care. God loves us no matter what we’ve said or done. That’s pretty amazing, huh? God loves us no matter what! And that love which God has for us, even though God knows all our secrets, is called grace.
That’s why we sing the song “Amazing Grace.” Because God’s grace really is pretty amazing.
Close with a prayer thanking God for knowing all our secrets and still loving us with God’s amazing grace.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, May 8, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2016 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Mary Austin suggests that this is much more than merely a dramatic story about God’s transformative power completely reversing the dire situation facing Paul and Silas. In addition, she points out, it also illustrates the contrast between the way the world often values people (in economic terms) and the manner God sees us -- as all having infinite worth, no matter our station in society or previous history. The owners of the slave girl and the jailer’s superiors see each of them only in terms of their usefulness. Yet Paul and Silas treat them in the same manner as God treats us -- releasing us from our shackles and bringing new life in places and ways that are often completely beyond our imagining.
Team member Chris Keating shares some additional thoughts on the theme of God’s grace in this week’s texts. God’s love is so powerful, and his grace is so complete, that it is freely given -- despite the fact that he knows our true nature far better than the façade we present to the world. Indeed, God knows our most intimate secrets and all of our sins, both great and small... yet he loves us anyway rather than judging us. Unfortunately, Chris notes, such grace is rarely seen in our culture -- especially on social media, where invective, snap judgment, and bullying seems to be the coin of the realm. Chris reminds us that while an attitude of grace doesn’t promote the kind of snarky observations that get retweeted and draw followers, perhaps we need to be more mindful of the consequences of mean-spirited trolling.
What Is a Life Worth?
by Mary Austin
Acts 16:16-34
Insurance companies and attorneys routinely calculate the value of a life lost, in order to make reparative payments to loved ones. Higher earners are “worth” more, since there are more lost wages to account for. Younger people are “worth” more, since more years of life have been taken away. In Cleveland, the family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice will receive $6 million in compensation for his death at the hands of police officers. Last year, General Motors spent $595 million to compensate people who lost loved ones (or were injured themselves) in auto accidents caused by faulty equipment. In Afghanistan, the death of 42 people at a Doctors Without Borders hospital last year only equals paper reprimands for 16 military personnel involved in the mistaken airstrike.
In this Acts text, Paul and Silas see the value of a slave girl’s life, and then the value of a jailer’s life. We measure the value of a life in different ways -- education, earning power, similarity to us -- but Paul and Silas see worth in both the slave girl and a man who works as a jailer. For both of them, encountering Paul and Silas changes their own sense of worth. Both of their lives take surprising twists when they meet these two.
Paul and Silas seem worthless to some -- in the words of the slave girl, they are also slaves. And yet they have a mysterious ability to change people’s sense of their own worth.
In the Scriptures
The slave girl feels a spirit of kinship with Paul and Silas, noticing that they too are slaves. With her “spirit of divination,” she announces that they are “slaves of the Most High God.” After she follows them around for a few days announcing this, Paul reaches his last nerve and orders the noisy spirit to come out of her. Once the divining spirit leaves her, she loses the gift that makes money for her owners. Instead of rejoicing in her newfound health of spirit, they’re annoyed at the loss of income and bring Paul and Silas to court for redress. Once she’s not generating money, the girl is worthless to her employers.
Curiously, she makes money for her owners by telling fortunes -- but she doesn’t seem to mention that she’ll soon be leaving their employ.
Her healing starts a chain of events that lands Paul and Silas in jail, where they again find worth in someone on the margins. After the jail is broken apart by the power of God, the jailer is ready to take his own life, fearing the punishment for losing his prisoners. When Paul calls out to him, he asks “What must I do to be saved?” Saved from punishment? Saved into God’s grace? It’s not clear what he means, but Paul and Silas save him into a new life in Christ.
Like many stories in Acts, this one has interesting parallels. The slave girl is imprisoned by the spirit, just as Paul and Silas are imprisoned by those with a spirit of vengefulness and rage. The jailer becomes imprisoned by fear, just as Paul and Silas are set free. The household of the jailer, moving forward together in faith, contrasts with the mean-spirited owners of the slave girl.
The slave girl is only worthwhile while she can make money for her owners. Her worth is about what she can produce. In contrast, Paul and Silas don’t need anything from the jailer -- they’re already free -- but they stop to announce the value of his life, and take him into the community of faith. Now his worth is based on his identity of a follower of Jesus. Every figure in the story is imprisoned at some point, and each of them experiences freedom as a gift from God. Each of them has his or her worth affirmed by God’s power at work in their lives.
The girl disappears from the story after we hear about her enraged owners, so we don’t know whether they discard her or whether she sees herself differently now and makes her escape from them. We can only hope that she went on to have a rich, full life, with a deep sense of her own worth after her encounter with the slaves of the Most High God.
In the News
Last fall, a chain of errors led to repeated bombing of a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan. The investigation revealed a series of mistakes that resulted in an hour of airstrikes that left 42 people dead. Doctors Without Borders has called for an independent investigation, and the Pentagon has declined to do that. In their own investigation, the Pentagon concluded that the sustained bombing was not a war crime because the deaths were unintentional. Sixteen service members, including a two-star general, were given reprimands, possibly ending their careers.
During the attack on the hospital, “it took Doctors Without Borders only about 11 to 12 minutes to reach American officials and raise the alarm about what was unfolding. It continued to make calls and send text messages to American commanders in Afghanistan, the Pentagon in Washington, and the Afghan Interior Ministry throughout the bombardment, imploring them to stop the attack.”
One officer quoted in the report found that the chain of command also showed little concern for the lives of soldiers on the ground: “The officer wrote that the enemies of the Kunduz operation were ‘moral cowardice’ and a ‘profound lack of strategy.’ Army Green Berets on the ground in the city at the time asked for guidance ‘no fewer than three times’ during the multiday battle and heard nothing other than crickets ? ‘though those were hard to hear over the gunfire,’ he alleged. ‘How have we as a force, as a group of officers, become so lost from the good lessons that our mentors taught us,’ the officer asked. ‘I will tell you how. It is a decrepit state that grows out of the expansion of moral cowardice, careerism, and compromise devoid of principle, exchanged for cheap personal gain. We owe the man on the ground more than that...’.” From his perspective in the middle of the firefight, he felt that the lives of soldiers were as valueless as the lives of Afghan civilians. Following the tragedy, “the United States has provided more than 170 individuals and families with condolence payments, including $6,000 to family members of those killed. U.S. forces have also revised their target procedures... and have ensured that facilities like hospitals are included on a ‘no strike list’ loaded onto aircraft systems.” One has to wonder how many other times similar mistakes have happened and weren’t thoroughly investigated, without the stature of a group like Doctors Without calling for a closer look.
In Cleveland, the family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice will receive $6 million as compensation for his shooting death by police officers, and the city will receive a reprieve from a potential federal trial: “The settlement, which would be the latest in a series of seven-figure payouts by major American cities to the families of African-Americans who died at the hands of officers, spares Cleveland the possibility of a federal civil rights trial that could have drawn new attention to Tamir’s death and to the city’s troubled police force. It also allows the city to avoid the possibility of an even larger judgment. Cleveland officials said the settlement was the city’s largest in a police-related lawsuit, though under the terms of the agreement, the city does not admit wrongdoing. The $6 million figure is in line with settlements in the deaths of Eric Garner in New York and Freddie Gray in Baltimore.” In announcing the settlement, the city’s mayor also said that no amount of money could compensate for Tamir’s life.
In the Sermon
The sermon might look at how we show that we value people. We announce that all lives are equally valuable, but we spend more money educating some children than others. Some people merit better food, or safer housing. Some professions (football players) rate higher salaries than others (home health care workers, preschool teachers). We spend more time talking to some people than others. Some people have to work harder to access their right to vote. We clearly find some people worthier than others. In contrast, God finds value in all of us, without regard for our status in the world.
The sermon might also look at how we calculate our own worth. Do we base our sense of ourselves on our profession, our zip code, our clothes, or the name of the school on our diploma? Or can we manage to see ourselves as God sees us, and know that we are all God’s beloved children? The sermon might look at how we learn to see people as God sees them. How do we learn -- like Paul and Silas -- to see with the divine perspective, instead of through our human lenses? How do we learn to see ourselves and others in this way?
Or the sermon might look at the reversals God brings into our lives. The slave girl goes from being valuable to worthless, but also possibly from being a slave to gaining her freedom. The jailer moves from secure -- if stressful -- employment, to fear for his life, to a new faith. I wonder if he kept his job after that. Paul and Silas are apparently accustomed to God’s dramatic ups and downs. Do we find similar reversals in our lives when God is at work?
Or the sermon might look at the differences between the kind of power we have, and the kind of power God has. We have some power to control our daily lives, depending on the amount of money and education we have. We may have the power to hire and fire other people, or to make decisions for an organization. God has the power of bringing people into a whole new life, the power to end bondage and create freedom. Are we using the power we have to mirror the power of God, so that God’s work can be done through us? Are our weekday lives and our Sunday lives aligned, so we use our power in conjunction with the power of the Most High God?
SECOND THOUGHTS
Grace Be with All, Including the Trolls
by Chris Keating
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21; John 17:20-26
Scholars have unearthed a new translation of the book of Revelation -- and in a surprising twist, the latest translation features user comments. It turns out that trolls, those subhuman life forms that wreak havoc on the web by slogging vitriol and hate speech on nearly every topic imaginable, are even older than the internet.
Researchers discovered an entire “comments section” missing from previous Revelation translations. For example, in a footnote to Revelation 3:14 “PatmosPretenderAD70” writes, “Apparently @JohnTheRevealer hasn’t been to the church in Laodicea recently. Not only is their witness lukewarm, but so is the coffee in the narthex.” Another writer bemoaned what she saw as gender stereotyping of Babylonian women.
And then there was this sarcastic gem from “LyingLionofJudah”: “So now we know John is just a crybaby who can’t open any scrolls. SMH! Wake up and repent, buddy! Wah-wah-wah!” Finally, the team even discovered the equivalent of make-money-fast schemes previously undetected in New Testament writings. “ParousiaPretender” commented, “Want to learn how you can make hundreds of dollars a week while sitting in front of your computer? I sent seven letters today and got 144,000 responses. Jesus is coming soon, so don’t delay! E-mail me now at AlphaOmega666@rapture.com!”
Sarcasm aside, the point is that while the writer of the Apocalypse was forced to struggle with principalities and powers like the idolatrous emperor Domitian, internet users today must contend with a wholly other type of unholy species: graceless agitators who spew rumors, tasteless comments, and crude profanities faster than a 120-words-per-minute typist.
Like the mythological troll who hides in dark places, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting victims, today’s trolls release their anger senselessly, pounding on journalists, Facebook friends, celebrities, and others for no apparent reason. But not all of it is funny, and sometimes it is nothing more than bullying.
Trolling can be either as benign as an overbearing know-it-all, or as scolding as a finger-wagging grammar-patrol officer. What is clear is that trolls gather throughout the internet, where everyone has an opinion -- just check out the comments section on YouTube or a newspaper. For example, more than 300 comments were voiced within a few hours following the publication of a Washington Post story about customers suing Starbucks for putting too much ice in their iced coffee. That’s a lot of ice, baby. But it’s also a lot of people hot and bothered over a chilly lawsuit.
Really? One can only guess Mondays are slow days at the office.
The darker side to our graceless online conduct goes beyond yammering about the pros and cons of chilled java. It doesn’t take long for some insults to morph from snarky sarcasm into more lethal forms of cyber-bullying. Mean comments lead to more catastrophic consequences, such as depression, intolerance, and even suicide.
Online actions have profound consequences, creating a modern version of the untenable brutality unleashed on John’s audience. Throughout Revelation, John brings a call of hope to those who have been persecuted, urging perseverance and faithfulness as well as constant vigilance. “See, I am coming soon,” Christ declares. John’s encouragement is to stand fast and trust in God’s grace -- even in the face of a graceless world.
It’s the sort of hope the bullied of our world often do not hear.
As a preschooler, Destiny Gleason once gave a friend the coat off her back. But such charity wasn’t returned to her this winter when, as a 14-year-old eighth-grader, she became a victim of cyber-bullying. After kids circulated an internet photo of female genitalia with Destiny’s name written on it, the girl began self-harming. Her parents pulled her out of school and sought treatment, but soon she wanted to return to her rural middle school. Within days, bullying resumed. And so did messages and humiliating comments on Facebook.
Destiny hung herself on April 19, and died four days later.
Sadly, this isn’t an isolated action. There are countless similar stories. In 2006 Megan Meier, also 14, took her own life after being bullied on social media. Meier lived just a few miles east of Gleason. She took her life after receiving taunts from someone she believed was a 16-year-old boy. But the boy was really the creation of an adult neighbor who lived down the street.
Meier’s mother and friends have formed a foundation aimed at educating others about bullying, and advocated for laws to prosecute those who use electronic communications to cyber-bully another person.
Teenagers are hardly the only ones impacted by mean-spirited uses of social media. Last week, retailer Old Navy released an ad featuring a biracial family. The photograph shows a dad giving his son a piggyback ride. Dad’s other arm is wrapped around a grinning mother. All in all, a beautiful, happy family.
But others took it as evidence of an “anti-white agenda.” Twitter exploded in protests and vows to never set foot in Old Navy again. The ad featured model Grace Mahary. She lived up to her name by refusing to let the racist rants have the final say. “In light of the controversy revolving around my pretend family,” Mahary said on Instagram, “I am proud to be representing interracial love, multiculturalism, and most importantly, a mentality that supports opportunity for all ethnicities.”
Twitter, of course, has also been the setting for some of this year’s juicier name-baiting and hate-mongering among presidential candidates. Bullying -- defined by the CDC as unwanted aggressive behavior in youth between the ages of 5 and 18 -- has been front and center throughout the presidential campaign. Denigrating people, things, ideas, or places has become standard fare.
Barbara Coloroso, author of The Bully, The Bullied, and the Bystander, says the name-calling by candidates such as Donald Trump should be “scary to all of us. That’s a lack of compassion.” As Cynthia Leonor Garza observes, the campaign has been a reminder that bullying isn’t something which gets left behind at high school graduation. “Bullying behavior is found in bosses, in trolls sniping at each other in comments sections online, and in ‘friends’ with a bone to pick on Facebook.”
Garza says that letting her six-year-old binge-watch House of Cards might be a better bet than watching the real campaign. Still, she says she may find peace and calm from within: “The beauty in this world is that it is more powerful than the intolerance of one individual.”
That truth is what makes Revelation such a compelling read in times of anxiety and fear. At first blush, John’s visions of dragons, whores, and demons might seem to be more of the same trolling found throughout social media. Yet the apocalyptic imagery reminds God’s people that visions of hope shall emerge in spite of struggle.
Contemporary bullying and life-draining commentary are the complete antithesis to the joy-filled hope of Revelation. Certainly, the book’s fantastic images and apocalyptic themes can be hard to decode. But at its heart the book carries a message of hope and grace. Rather than trolling for fear, it offers a compelling narrative of the gospel. It describes the city of God where the faithful find refreshment and renewal, and whose gates are open to all. Under the shade of the tree of life, all creation will be restored.
John’s audience struggled to find hope in times of chaos, and faith in moments of despair. Likewise, many persons -- especially adolescents -- today are crushed by hurtful tweets and posts. In the closing lines of Revelation, John offers a thundering chorus of assurance. God’s grace will prevail. Those who have persevered through times of distress are reminded of God’s abiding presence and protection. The rage of the world threatens to engulf God’s people, but those claimed by the Lamb shall persevere.
Likewise, Jesus’ priestly prayer in John conveys the radical nature of God’s grace. The deep intimacy shared between Jesus and the Father is now shared with those who abide in Christ. “The world does not know you, but I know you,” Jesus prays in John 17. “And these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Grace will lead us home. It should be no surprise that the last words of scripture are words of grace. These are the words our world yearns to hear. The saints who have persevered in a culture where tweets and trolls mingle will lean forward in their pews to hear this benediction: “Surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints.”
If I had to preach an 11-word sermon, I might just stick with that last sentence.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Ron Love:
Acts 16:16-34
Vijay Mallya, of New Delhi, India, called himself the “King of Good Times.” A multi-billionaire who made his money in beer and airlines, he socialized with the rich and famous -- and was also known for a sexy swimsuit calendar he published each year. He also left the country with $1.5 billion in unpaid bills, and Indian authorities are trying to extradite him from Britain. During the banking crisis, when loans could be secured without adequate credit, Mallya used that process to expand his Kingfisher Airlines. When he could not repay his debt, the King of Good Times left the country.
Application: In confronting the owners of the slave girl, Paul had to confront the Kings of Good Times and their dishonesty.
*****
Acts 16:16-34
In selling real estate it is always said that the key is “location, location, location.” In a Hagar the Horrible comic strip, Hagar and his wife Helga are looking for a new home. The real estate agent says, “The price is high, but remember -- location, location, location.” Hagar, looking at the location of the property, exclaims, “He makes a very good point!” That’s because Hagar, who is known for his indulgent lifestyle, sees that the house is located between a tavern and a restaurant. (Note: If you have a projection screen in your sanctuary, you may want to display the comic.)
Application: Paul tries to get the owners of the slave girl to focus on a righteous lifestyle.
*****
Acts 16:16-34
Fifty years ago, in 1966, the Cultural Revolution began in China under Mao Zedong. Young people were told to “beat, smash, loot, and burn” in rebellion against intellectuals, and thus began a great persecution. Tomas Plankers, a psychoanalyst at the Sigmund Freud Institute in Frankfurt, wants the Chinese to remember those days so as not to repeat them. He has been researching those years and published his findings in a volume titled Landscapes of the Chinese Soul: The Enduring Presence of the Cultural Revolution. Regarding his work and whether it will make a difference, Plankers said, “But all we can do is let fall a few drops in the sea of silence.”
Application: Paul, in his preaching, let fall a few drops in the sea of silence.
*****
Acts 16:16-34
In a recent speech, the president of China said that he wants to make the Communist Party the religion of the nation. But in so doing, Christians are being persecuted. Crosses are being removed from church buildings, and many churches are being forced to close as the land is being sold. Ding Cuimei and her pastor husband Li Jiangong stood in front of a bulldozer that was to demolish their church. The dozer pushed them into a ditch and covered them with dirt. Li was able to escape the interment, but Ding suffocated. As a result of the international outcry from this incident, the church was allowed to remain open.
Application: We are directed by Paul to endure persecution.
*****
Acts 16:16-34
Actress Melissa Joan Hart stars in the movie God’s Not Dead 2. She pays a public school teacher who is fired for mentioning God in her classroom. Hart has started to take her Christian faith seriously, attending a Bible study and praying more frequently. She has found in discussing the movie and her new life that, as Hart said, “I find that if you say ‘Jesus,’ it makes people uncomfortable instead of feeling love and peace. It’s very unfortunate.”
Application: Paul wants us to say the name of Jesus, and hopefully people will feel the love and peace that comes with that name.
*****
Acts 16:16-34
Tens of thousands of Eritrean Christians have fled the country to escape persecution. The African nation forbids Christianity, even though Christians make up half of the population. In the refugee camps, stories of brutality and torture are told. Asmelash was in prison with her sister, when one night her sister was beaten to death. Asmelash said, “Eritrea is like a giant prison. The country is filled with jails, concentration camps, and prisons.”
Application: Paul instructs us that we will endure persecution.
*****
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
Whitney Cerak’s last memory was getting into the college van of Taylor University. She does not recall the semi-trailer that crossed the median on Interstate 69 in Indiana and struck the van head-on. Four students and a staff member were killed in the 2006 accident, and many students were seriously hurt. Cerak was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, with numerous broken bones and a brain injury that left her in a coma. Her parents were summoned to her bedside. During the recovery process her parents began to question who this girl in bed was, as she different from the daughter they knew. After many weeks, when a speech therapist asked her to write her name, she wrote Whitney Cerak. But Whitney Cerak had been buried, and it was supposed to be Laura Van Ryn in the bed. It was Van Ryn’s family at the bedside... but the patient was actually Whitney Cerak. In the confusion of the wreck, paramedics misidentified the two students -- and Laura’s body was sent to the Ceraks and was buried. Whitney was alive and recovering. Upon meeting the parents of Laura, Whitney’s parents said, “It is hard because our joy is their pain.” Of the experience Whitney said, “That day marked me. That’s the day my life changed.” That was the day of new life for Whitney.
Application: We know from Revelation that we are looking forward to a new life experience -- a new day that will mark us.
*****
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
After 46 years, a Jane Doe was identified. A body, found in 1969 beside Mulholland Drive near Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, had over 150 stab wounds. With police unable to identify the victim, she was known only as Jane Doe 59. But with advances in DNA technology, we now know that she was Reet Jurvetson, a 19-year-old from Montreal. She had always wanted to live in California, which brought her to Los Angeles. It is not known who her assailants were, but it was always believed that she was part of the Charles Manson murder spree since her body was found in the vicinity of the other killings. Her family always thought Reet would one day return home, but now they know the truth.
Application: We often have to wait to fully understand. What we learn may not always be pleasing, but it will be revealing. This is why we must take the message in Revelation seriously.
*****
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
Five years ago, Ed Balls was a member of Britain’s parliament and a leader of the opposition Labour Party. As many of us do, he was multitasking on April 28, 2011, using both the internet and his BlackBerry at the same time. When an aide asked him to look up a recipe, he somehow typed his name into the body of a tweet. He then put the BlackBerry into his pocket and mysteriously sent “Ed Balls” to all his constituents. The tweet was passed on thorough social media -- and since then, April 28 has become known as “Ed Balls Day,” celebrated by parties and tweets throughout Britain.
Application: Revelation tells us we are to look forward to a happy day.
*****
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
In South America lions are a great circus attraction. But the African lions are also greatly mistreated. Often their teeth and claws are removed to make it easier to work around them. Columbia and Peru are two countries that have outlawed the use of lions in circuses. Now, 33 lions are being flown back to Africa. They will be set free in a controlled environment, for their safety, at the Emoya Cat Sanctuary in Limpopo, South Africa. The animal rights group Animal Defenders International is overseeing the process. The group’s president, Jan Creamer, said, “These animals have endured hell on earth, and now they are heading home to paradise.”
Application: Revelation tells us that we will be heading home to paradise.
***************
From team member Robin Lostetter:
Acts 16:16-34
Value of an Employee vs. Motivation: Economics
Celia Vargas, a 57-year-old cleaner, has worked at the Trump hotel in Las Vegas full-time for three years, earning $14 an hour. Now a U.S. citizen, she fled civil war in El Salvador at the age of 23.
“ ‘I have always felt very proud of my work,’ she said at the home she shares with her daughter and seven grandchildren. ‘But I feel that for Mr. Donald Trump, we don’t matter as workers or as human beings. For Mr. Donald Trump, we’re just a number.’ ” Not unlike the slave girl in Acts 16, Vargas’ employer is motivated by economics, and not by true concern for Vargas and other employees.
“Her employment has been plagued with uncertain working hours, she said, meaning she can be paid as little as $350 a week. ‘My expenses often don’t match my budget, so I always end up owing more or having to get loans, or pawning or selling something of mine in order to get enough.’
“Vargas was diagnosed with breast cancer last June. Her insurance did not cover the full costs of treatment, leaving her in thousands of dollars in debt, and it would not pay for a full night in hospital for her to recover after surgery -- her daughter came to fetch her two hours after the operation, and took her home while she was still drowsy from the anesthesia.”
Another employee of the Trump hotel, Maricella Olvera, “left her impoverished hometown in Central Mexico in 1987. She trekked for three days on foot to cross the U.S. border, eventually making it to Salinas, California, where she immediately started work on the fields. She picked broccoli, lettuce, and berries for 14 hours a day, seven days a week. Only 14 years old, she started sending money back to her family straight away.”
Now 29 and a permanent resident of the U.S., “with two sons about to graduate from medical school,” Olvera, along with other hotel employees who are also immigrants, “worries about job insecurity while suffering the indignity of a boss running for president on an aggressive immigration platform that leaves the staff themselves feeling targeted.
“In January, she slipped and fell, severely injuring her knee, while cleaning a tall mirror in one of the luxury condos. She now walks with crutches, and survives on $49 a day in disability payment. The payment amounts to half of her actual compensation, $14.28 an hour. The Culinary Workers Union says she would receive full pay on a unionized contract.
“My two sons pay [for] my car, my insurance, all my bills, my electricity, everything right now,” she said. She has stopped sending money back to Mexico for the first time in years. She worries about her mortgage repayments, but the more pressing concern is the surgery on her knee that will determine when she can return to work, and how much she will owe in medical bills.”
*****
Acts 16:16-34
Risky Confrontation of Truth to Power
In the “Protest Too Much” episode of the CBS series Blue Bloods, there’s a bit of a “Robin Hood” version of speaking truth to moneyed power. Two young, inexperienced bank robbers pull off three heists -- to make a point rather than to make a fortune. Their point has to do with the accusation that large bank CEOs have never been prosecuted for their misdeeds; rather, the banks received a government bailout. (Of course, the young robbers do not succeed, but the plot is more complex than in the case of strictly money-driven robberies.)
In a secondary plot, a young rape victim is convinced to testify against her attacker. Although the power here is neither money nor status but simply the brute power of sexual dominance and public humiliation, the episode examines all the emotions and barriers to her testifying.
This issue of victims testifying is a common thread in many television legal dramas. When the threat is particularly high, “witness protection” by providing a new identity is the ultimate protection for the brave victim.
*****
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
“Graceless Online Conduct” -- Cyber-bullying That Hurts
In addition to the significant emotional and psychological effects caused by any type of bullying (anxiety, fear, depression, and low self-esteem), there are some unique consequences and negative feelings often experienced by young people who are targets of cyber-bullying. They include:
* feeling overwhelmed
* feeling vulnerable and powerless
* feeling exposed and humiliated
* feeling dissatisfied with who one is
* feeling angry and vengeful
* feeling disinterested in life
* feeling alone and isolated
* feeling disinterested in school
* feeling anxious and depressed
* feeling ill
* feeling suicidal
As Chris Keating observes above: “Contemporary bullying and life-draining commentary are the complete antithesis to the joy-filled hope of Revelation.” Those struggling with the many difficulties of adolescence could certainly benefit from more grace-filled feedback and less judgmentalism, less bullying.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: God reigns! Let the earth rejoice; let the many lands be glad!
People: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne.
Leader: The heavens proclaim God’s righteousness.
People: All the peoples behold God’s glory.
Leader: Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.
People: Rejoice in God, O you righteous, and give thanks to God’s holy name!
OR
Leader: The God of awesome power and majesty invites us to come!
People: While others may defame and demean us, God adores us.
Leader: We are the beloved children of our God.
People: We are God’s image, filled with God’s Spirit.
Leader: Let us worship the God who values us so highly.
People: Let us value others so they will know God values them.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“Now Thank We All Our God”
found in:
UMH: 102
H82: 396, 397
PH: 555
NNBH: 330
NCH: 419
CH: 715
LBW: 533, 534
ELA: 839, 840
W&P: 14
AMEC: 573
STLT: 32
“God, Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens”
found in:
UMH: 150
H82: 580
PH: 268
NCH: 556
CH: 651
LBW: 463
ELA: 771
W&P: 644
“Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart”
found in:
UMH: 160, 161
H82: 556, 557
PH: 145, 146
AAHH: 537
NNBH: 7
NCH: 55, 71
CH: 15
LBW: 553
ELA: 873, 874
W&P: 113
AMEC: 8
“Thine Be the Glory”
found in:
UMH: 308
PH: 122
NCH: 253
CH: 218
LBW: 145
ELA: 376
W&P: 310
AMEC: 157
“Christ Is Alive”
found in:
UMH: 318
H82: 182
PH: 108
LBW: 363
ELA: 389
W&P: 312
Renew: 300
“Tú Has Venido a la Orilla” (“Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore”)
found in:
UMH: 344
PH: 377
CH: 342
W&P: 347
“Amazing Grace”
found in:
UMH: 378
H82: 671
PH: 280
AAHH: 271, 272
NNBH: 161, 163
NCH: 547, 548
CH: 546
LBW: 448
ELA: 779
W&P: 422
AMEC: 226
STLT: 205, 206
Renew: 189
“Holy Spirit, Truth Divine”
found in:
UMH: 465
PH: 321
NCH: 63
CH: 241
LBW: 257
ELA: 398
“As We Gather”
found in:
CCB: 12
Renew: 6
“More Precious than Silver”
found in:
CCB: 25
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who finds infinite worth in all your children: Give us the wisdom to overlook the values of the world and to see the resurrection value of all; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
Come upon us, Gracious God, and empower us with your Spirit. Give to us your wisdom that looks beyond the mercenary value the world places on people. Help us to see the resurrection value of each of your children. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our failure to value others as God values them.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have taught us what is good and what is of value, and yet we turn away from these to worship what is worthless. We turn too quickly to hate and hurtful words when you have taught us that love is the way to resurrection and new life. We give lip service to our faith, but our calendars and checkbooks show where our true values lie. Renew us with your Spirit, and empower us to live our lives as true disciples of Jesus. Amen.
Leader: God values us and is always looking to redeem us and welcome us back. Receive God’s Spirit and forgiveness, and live in newness of life.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
Praise and glory are yours, O God, for you have created us and all that is. Your love is a power that can never be defeated.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have taught us what is good and what is of value, and yet we turn away from these to worship what is worthless. We turn too quickly to hate and hurtful words when you have taught us that love is the way to resurrection and new life. We give lip service to our faith, but our calendars and checkbooks show where our true values lie. Renew us with your Spirit, and empower us to live our lives as true disciples of Jesus.
We give you thanks for all the blessings of this life. You have given us an abundant and wondrous creation in which to live. You have given us each other, and you have given us your own self.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We pray especially for those who feel that no one values them. We pray for those who are treated as disposable resources.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Play a game of “Name That Price” with the children. Have several objects (or pictures of them) and large price tags to go with them. Ask the children to guess the prices. Use toys and items the children would be familiar with, even though they probably don’t pay for them. After they guess, show them the right price. Then hold up a mirror for them to look in. Ask what price tag would go with them. Then turn over the last price tag, with the word “Priceless” on it. God says we are priceless. We are of more value than anything.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
I’ve Got a Secret
by Dean Feldmeyer
John 17:20-26
You will need: a copy of the “Mona Lisa” that you can display (like this one)
This morning we’re talking about secrets. Are you all good at keeping secrets? No, me either. If I know something, I really want to share it with someone else. Don’t you? But sometimes it’s good to keep a secret.
The Bible doesn’t say whether it’s good or bad to keep secrets. I guess it depends on the secret and why we’re keeping it, huh?
Sometimes it’s a good thing. Like at Christmastime, right? I buy presents for my wife and my kids and my grandkids, but I don’t tell anyone what they are. I keep it a secret -- because if I told the secret and they found out what I got them, it would ruin the surprise, wouldn’t it?
So, at Christmastime secrets are good things.
But sometimes secrets shouldn’t be kept, right? If you found something that was dangerous, like a knife or something laying in the yard, you wouldn’t keep that a secret, would you? No, you’d run and tell a grownup about it so they could come and get it and take it away.
This is a famous painting. It’s called the “Mona Lisa.” It’s probably the most famous painting in the world. It’s in a museum in Paris, France, called the Louvre, and it’s about 600 years old. They say that it is worth about $750 million, and may be the most valuable painting ever painted. It was painted by a famous man named Leonardo da Vinci. And he had a lot of secrets about this painting that he never told to anyone.
Like who is she? “Mona Lisa” just means “Miss Lisa.” But Lisa who? What was her last name? How did he know her? And what is she smiling about? Why is she happy? Why doesn’t she have any eyebrows or eyelashes? We don’t know. Leonardo knew, but he didn’t tell anyone.
Or did he? Some people think that he left clues in the painting to tell us who she is. If you get a magnifying glass and look really closely at her eyes -- on the original painting, not this copy -- you will see in very tiny letters “LV.” Now those could be Leonardo’s initials. Or they could be the Roman numeral for 55. And on her other eye are the letters “CE.” We don’t have any idea what those mean. And if you look under the bridge with a magnifying glass, there’s the number 72.
But even if these are clues as to who Mona Lisa really was, no one has ever figured them out. We don’t know what they mean -- and last year it was discovered that there is another painting under this one. It seems that Leonardo painted this portrait over the top of another portrait. Why? Who was in the other portrait? No one knows. It was Leonardo’s secret, and he kept it. He never told anyone.
So there all kinds of secrets. Some we tell to others. Some we don’t tell because we promised we wouldn’t. Some we don’t tell because we don’t want someone to know something about us. Some we don’t tell because maybe we’re ashamed of something we said or did, and we’re afraid that if someone finds out they won’t like us or love us anymore.
But what Jesus wants us to know is that God knows all our secrets and God doesn’t care. God loves us no matter what we’ve said or done. That’s pretty amazing, huh? God loves us no matter what! And that love which God has for us, even though God knows all our secrets, is called grace.
That’s why we sing the song “Amazing Grace.” Because God’s grace really is pretty amazing.
Close with a prayer thanking God for knowing all our secrets and still loving us with God’s amazing grace.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, May 8, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2016 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
