When Good-Bye Is Not Good-Bye
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
This Sunday of the church year the lectionary focuses on the doctrine of the Trinity -- a complex theological construct that is notoriously difficult to preach on. Yet though the day's focus is on a complicated concept, the day's readings are very direct and straightforward: the creation story that opens Genesis is paired with the bare-bones farewells of Jesus to his disciples and Paul to the Christian congregation at Corinth. In the next installment of The Immediate Word, team member George Reed notes that the simple departure messages in this week's epistle and gospel texts offer a striking difference from the emotion-laden, ego-driven recent "farewells" of several popular media figures such as Oprah Winfrey and Meredith Vieira, whose final Today show last week was described by one participant as a "blubberfest". George suggests that there are several reasons why Jesus' and Paul's departures strike such a different chord. (One could scarcely imagine either of them arranging a flash mob like the one that served as a centerpiece of Vieira's farewell.) For one, our celebrities' identities (and many of our own identities as well) are entirely too wrapped up in public perception rather than simple reality -- but in addition, one of the central themes of these texts is that while Jesus and Paul may be leaving, they're not really saying good-bye. As George reminds us, they may be departing from view -- but they're definitely not departing from our lives.
Team member Ron Love shares some additional thoughts about the Genesis text and how we need to remind ourselves that while we may be made in the image of God, we are not gods ourselves -- a notion that's epitomized by the bad behavior of numerous public figures like Anthony Weiner, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and John Edwards. While it's easy to be disgusted by the deceitful antics of Weiner, Ron points out that it behooves us to look in the mirror and realize that none of us are saints -- all of us have done things that we are ashamed of at some point. Yes, the poor choices exhibited by Weiner and his ilk may be more extreme than our own, but it might be instructive to think of those disgraced figures as "dark shadows" who display the more sinful elements of our nature. It is only through the grace of God that we are able to escape a life in the shadows and come out into the light.
Team member Dean Feldmeyer provides an additional comment on the Genesis passage that focuses on our call to be good stewards and care for the wonderful creation that God has given us. We are told that "God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good" -- but increasing concerns about what pollution and the rate of our consumption of natural resources is doing to our world (which New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman recently examined in a provocative column titled "The Earth Is Full") raise questions about whether we are living up to our stewardship of God's creation when we engage in denial about how we are "fouling the nest." In addition, since Father's Day is this Sunday, some of our illustrations this week are keyed to the importance of fathers as role models.
When Good-bye Is Not Good-bye
by George Reed
Matthew 28:16-20; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13
We have seen public figures come... and lately we have seen several of them go. Sometimes they go quietly but more often there is a great hoopla made over their departure. There have been talk show hosts whose whole career was shorter than the number of episodes it took Oprah Winfrey to say good-bye. Yet in the farewells of Jesus and Paul, which are part of this week's readings, the good-byes are kept to the very basics. What makes the difference and can we learn anything about God and ourselves from all of this? We will find out as we explore the communion of God and Christians this week.
THE WORLD
With various amounts of hoopla and tears, television viewers have recently said good-bye to Jim Lehrer, Katie Couric, Oprah Winfrey, and Meredith Vieira (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/08/us/08anchors.html). Regis Philbin is slated for retirement at the end of this season and who knows who else will be saying good-bye. There seems to be such a big deal made of these retirements with more tears than at most funerals. The coverage of Oprah's bringing her talk show to a close seemed to rival that of the assassination and funeral of John F. Kennedy. What's up with all this grandstanding of celebrities -- who are, after all, merely leaving a television show and not, as it would appear, leaving for a trip to another galaxy?
It is dangerous to guess about the motives and interior states of other people but I am living proof that fools rush in where angels fear to tread. It appears, at least to me, that the self-identity of some of these people may be just a bit too invested in their public positions. It seems as if they fear that if the public forgets they were famous celebrities they will cease to exist.
This is not a problem just for the famous, however. Many of us get so tied up in the roles we play at work, school, and in our families that we think we would just disappear off the face of the earth if we stopped doing these things. Besides the roles we play, we often identify ourselves with the things we own or the tasks we have accomplished.
THE WORD
In this week's gospel lection we have the farewell words of Jesus according to Saint Matthew. It's a short speech of only three sentences that gives the disciples a succinct summary of their job and the assurance that Jesus would continue to be with them. Paul's farewell as he signs off on his letter to the church at Corinth is also short. He has some final instructions and then reminds them of the presence of God who is with them.
So what can we glean from these farewells that help us to understand our faith? What might we take from these lections that are offered to us on Trinity Sunday that might help us?
I would first want to remember that it was the experience of knowing God is beyond, then experiencing the presence of God in Jesus, and finally in experiencing the presence of God/Jesus within the community of faith and within their own lives that caused the early disciples to talk in terms that the later church turned into a formal theology of the Trinity. Trinity is about experience and about mystery. It is not that it is difficult to explain -- but it is impossible to explain in its fullness. We are, after all, talking about God here. We can only point to some small part of what it means to worship a Triune God that might help us at this time. We can never grasp it all and we must be careful to remember that pointing to one aspect means our focus is taken from another.
Just as we assert that God is Love, we also assert that God is Community. Whether it is the creation story that tells of God creating human beings "in our image" or the trinitarian baptismal formula in Matthew, we understand that God's nature is so immense it must shared. Having created human beings in God's own image, it is decided that it is not good for this creature to be alone. There is togetherness in God and with God that cannot be destroyed. When we come to know that we are God's and that God's own Spirit dwells in us, then we are aware that nothing on earth, in heaven, or in hell can separate us from God or from each other.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
One option would be to recall to your congregation the long, drawn-out, emotional farewells of several of the celebrities of late before the scripture reading and ask the folks to keep that in mind as they hear these passages, which also include farewells. After the readings talk about the obvious differences. What makes the difference? For many of us, our identities and our very selves are tied up in what we do -- but for those who are truly grounded in their relationship with God, it is God who defines them. The Spirit of God that was in Jesus is now in us and yet the God we worship is not diminished by this.
This, of course, relates to our understanding of death -- but it is also about life. It is not just that we are safely in God's keeping when our eyes are closed in death. We are also safely in God's keeping when our eyes are closed in the agony of realizing what a mess we have made of our lives or what a mess our loved ones have made of their lives: when we have lost our jobs, when our savings are wiped out in the falling stock market, when our mortgage is under water -- we are safely in God's hand. The great unity of God enfolds us into that complex being we call God along with all of God's other creatures and we are never lost, never separated from God or one another regardless of the circumstances of our lives.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Stepping Out of the Dark Shadow
by Ron Love
Genesis 1:1--2:4a
Headlining this week's news is Congressman Anthony Weiner from New York's 9th District. After repeated denials, he finally confessed that he used Twitter and Facebook to send suggestive photos and comments to women other than his wife. This involved a circle of six women -- and it began before he married Huma Abedin and continued after their betrothal. This, of course, is not an isolated course of behavior. Recently we read of former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger fathering a child and then covering it up for over a decade. Former Senator and presidential contender John Edwards has been indicted on felony charges not for having a mistress and fathering a love child but for using campaign contributions to cover up the affair. Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is returning to court for trying to sell Barack Obama's senate seat for personal gain. Newt Gingrich is still trying to explain how he could spearhead an impeachment hearing into the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal while he, as a married man, was having an affair with a staff member. If he spins out of that, he is confronted with being a leader in doling out earmarks while he was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, yet now becoming a fiscal conservative in his present campaign for the Oval Office.
Such stories, as reported over the last six months alone, would not fill pages but volumes. These are stories of the lives of sordid individuals who once resided on the pedestal of respect, power, and leadership. These are stories of leaders who, beyond the bright glow of television lights and teleprompters, live in very dark shadows. But are they alone? Do we not also join them as we crouch in dark recesses of ill-gotten behavior?
We lack the fame for our actions to be of any interest to the New York Times. We lack the notoriety for an appearance on Entertainment Weekly. We lack the wealth for an intriguing cover-up that Fox News would relish. But are our actions any less scandalous? Is our behavior any less destructive to family and friends? Would our discovery be any less of a pubic embarrassment?
The Bible lists many behaviors one ought to avoid. Just for a day, try to adhere to all the wisdom in the book of Proverbs. Just for a day, keep all of the Ten Commandments. Just for a day, try to follow Paul's advice and avoid gossip and a party spirit. Just for a day, treat your spouse as if he or she were the church. Just for an hour, emulate the Great Commandment. No, our misdeeds will not appear on the front page of the National Enquirer -- but they will be on the marquee of another's heart whom we have betrayed and disappointed.
The Creation story says that we were made in the image of God. This does not mean we are God but we do share the attributes of God. This, of course, is best summed up in acting in love. We share with Adam and Eve that fateful bite from the apple so until the Rapture does come (on October 21st or otherwise), we must struggle to be godlike in our actions. To avoid the public embarrassment of hypocrisy, we must do all in our power to remain outside the dark recesses of life.
Using the Bible as our guide, we must step out of the dark shadow of deceit. We must confess our faults and seek forgiveness. We are not to do this after a blogger discovers a picture of us in our undies, but right now -- this moment. Only when a confession is freely forthcoming, not coerced, will it be meaningful and heartfelt.
This Sunday is Father's Day. But we should think of all of these non-liturgical holidays as Family Day. As fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, uncles, and aunts, we are to be guides to our children. As schoolteachers, policemen, coaches, local shopkeepers, and church elders, we are to be mentors to the younger generation. Can we do this if by day we are Dr. Henry Jekyll and at night we are Mr. Edward Hyde?
Perfect? No, we shall never be, for only the man from Nazareth was perfect. But when Jesus said, "Come, and follow me," it did mean that we are to strive for perfection. It is time we step out of the dark shadows of life!
CRAFTING THE SERMON
I. Share with the congregation the life stories of prominent individuals who have now disappointed us with their secretly revealed behavior.
II. Discuss how, in our own less conspicuous way, we may not be so much unlike these individuals. We have hidden secrets; we hurt others with gossip and deceit.
III. Share how we were made in the image of God. Discuss how we share the attributes of God, especially love and holiness.
IV. Dialogue with the congregation that by following the truths for living as contained in the scriptures, we can be led from living a life in the shadows to one that dwells in the light.
V. Discuss how it is our responsibility to struggle to live a life that is holy and righteous, allowing us, on this day of celebrating the family, to mentor and guide the younger generation.
ANOTHER VIEW
It Was Very Good
by Dean Feldmeyer
Genesis 1:1--2:3
The capital city of Managua, Nicaragua, has a population of about 2 million people and lies at the southern edge of Lake Managua, from which it takes its name. The lake covers about 400 square miles in surface area -- roughly the same size as the Dead Sea and about five times the size of the Sea of Galilee -- and reaches a depth of 65 feet. It is fed by two rivers and numerous streams... and it is dead. Pollution from factories, sewage from the city of Managua, and runoff from the vast city dump that sits on its shore have made its water unpotable and the few fish that have managed to survive inedible. All the while, one of the greatest needs in this, the second poorest country in the western hemisphere, is -- you guessed it -- water.
My home county in Ohio (Clinton County) received just over 21 inches of rain in April and May of this year -- more than in all of 2010. Some minor flooding has resulted but nothing like along the Mississippi River. Still the two state park lakes that reside in or adjacent to the county, Cowan Lake and Caesar Creek Lake, have been closed to swimmers in May and June and fishermen have been warned to not eat the fish due to an E. Coli-type bacteria that has seeped into the lakes -- probably from the outhouses that the state built too close to the water.
Somewhere out in the Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and Japan, there floats the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The largest dump in the world, it covers an area about twice the size of Texas. About 90% of it consists of plastic -- 10% abandoned fishing nets and 80% trash from land (bottles, trash bags, grocery bags, can holders, etc.) -- with the remaining 1% unidentified solid human effluvia. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says that the mess is so large and complex that cleaning it up would bankrupt most countries. They continue to search for a solution but in the meantime they urge us to simply stop using so much plastic in our daily lives.
What is wrong with us? Why do we insist on fouling our nest, destroying our home, poisoning our own drinking water, and contaminating our food? What is wrong with us?
Is it really that complicated? Does our religion have nothing to say on this subject?
You don't have to take sides in the "global warming" debate to understand that, as people of faith, we have a responsibility to take care of the earth. How do we know? The Bible tells us so.
* "The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it" (Psalm 24:1).
* "The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants" (Leviticus 25:23).
* "And God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31a).
We are temporary tenants on the earth. When we are gone God will pass it on to our children and grandchildren, if we have taken sufficient care of it. But it isn't a sure thing.
A sermon preached on this text might begin with the overall observation that God has judged the universe to be good and then lift up some affirmations of our own. Pictures of our beautiful world might be shown either through words or, literally, through audio-visual aids.
The second step would be to morph those pictures into pictures of how we have treated badly the earth God has given us.
Finally, the sermon would explore the admonition of scripture to remember whose the world is and offer suggestions how we might "think globally and act locally" in our effort to preserve and care for this marvelous gift.
ILLUSTRATIONS
In 1982, director Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams teamed up to create one of the most dramatic and moving farewell scenes in movie history. Not since Rhett Butler turned and walked away from Scarlett O'Hara did so many movie watchers sigh and cry at the same time. The movie was E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and the scene was the last scene of the movie.
We, the audience, had already thrilled and cheered when E.T. escaped the nefarious government agents by making bicycles fly. We wept at E.T.'s death, and then wept again at his resurrection. The only thing left was his ascension via a giant, shining, humming spaceship and his return to his home -- a return that will be as painful for his friend Elliott as it is necessary for him.
But before E.T. leaves, he reaches out with his glowing finger, touches Elliott's forehead, and says, "I'll be right here."
As the music swells, we too can feel the touch of that finger and we know that E.T. is right.
* * *
Few people have ever said good-bye as effectively or as memorably as Dr. Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
On September 18, 2007, only a month after doctors told him that he had three to six months to live following a recurrence of pancreatic cancer, Randy presented a lecture called "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" to a packed auditorium at Carnegie Mellon.
The moving and often humorous talk recounted his efforts to achieve such childhood dreams as becoming a professional football player, experiencing zero gravity, and developing Disney World attractions. In the process, he shared his insights on finding the good in other people, working hard to overcome obstacles, and living generously.
The video of "The Last Lecture" appeared on countless websites and was viewed by millions. Appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, ABC's Good Morning America, and the CBS Evening News followed. A book version, The Last Lecture, co-written with Jeff Zaslow of the Wall Street Journal (and a fellow Carnegie Mellon alumnus), became a best-seller upon its release.
While millions worldwide were touched by his highly acclaimed lecture, Randy continued battling pancreatic cancer, and died of complications at the age of 47. Dr. Randy Pausch's good-bye to his students had a lasting impact on millions of people.
* * *
The Word remains. This is the great comfort of one who preaches. My voice will disappear, but my word, which is Christ, will remain in the hearts of those who have willed to receive it.
-- Archbishop Oscar Romero, from a homily of December 17, 1978
* * *
"Farewell" is a word of warning -- it reminds us that we never know how much longer we will live before saying our final farewell. When that time comes, the important question will be: What am I leaving behind?
A few years ago a man who was the father of a very young son was afflicted with an incurable disease. Physicians informed him that death would soon separate him from his young son. In an effort to leave behind some influence that would guide the child as he developed into manhood, the father wrote a series of letters to his son, of which the youth was to open one on each birthday in the years ahead. The idea was that in that way the boy would receive wise counseling and encouragement from his father during his years of development, even though his father was not there with him. One thought should remain on the minds of all of us: When the time comes for us to say farewell, how much Christian influence will we leave behind?
* * *
Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu is known more familiarly to historians as simply Cardinal Richelieu. He was the second most powerful man in France after King Louis XIV, and some say he was more powerful than the king himself.
Consecrated as a bishop in 1608, he later entered politics, becoming a Secretary of State in 1616. Richelieu soon rose in both the Catholic church and the French government, becoming a Cardinal in 1622 and King Louis XIII's chief minister in 1624. He remained in office until his death in 1642.
Often referred to as the king's "First Minister" or "Chief Minister," he is considered to be the world's first Prime Minister, in the modern sense of the term. He was successful in consolidating royal power and crushing domestic factions.
Richelieu was also famous for his patronage of the arts; most notably, he founded the Académie Française, the learned society responsible for matters pertaining to the French language. Richelieu is also known by the sobriquet l'Éminence ("the Red Eminence"), from the red shade of a cardinal's clerical dress and the custom of addressing cardinals as "Your eminence."
In 1642, Richelieu died of tuberculosis at the age of 57. His funeral service was to be held in the Sorbonne, which he had founded. He was laid out in all of his regal red, surrounded by thousands of flowers. Thousands came to see his body.
As was the custom when a cardinal died, a simple country priest was chosen to say the eulogy. The story is that the old man, dressed in solemn black, climbed into the pulpit above the cardinal's body, looked down at his eminence, sighed, and said, "Only God is great." Then he turned and left the pulpit.
* * *
Ask a historian to tell you the name of the most powerful man who ever lived and most will say without a moment's hesitation that it was Augustus Caesar.
He was born on September 23 in the year 63 BCE in the city of Rome. His father was a Roman senator and his mother was the niece of the emperor Julius Caesar. He received a classical education and learned to speak his native tongue of Latin. He probably spoke Greek too, as most educated people did in those days. He excelled at oratory, which Romans believed to be the highest of all the arts, and at the age of 12 he delivered a eulogy at the funeral of his grandfather that so impressed the emperor that he took a special interest in the boy, seeing to his higher education and training.
The adopted son of Julius Caesar, he alone would emerge from the chaos that followed that terrible Ides of March when his adopted father was assassinated. Triumphant over his enemies, he ruled Rome for 50 years and was considered the greatest of all Roman leaders and among the greatest leaders in human history. Even at that the Roman population breathed a huge sigh of relief at his inauguration. Finally, they hoped, after 13 years of chaos and civil war there would be stability and growth. And their hopes were rewarded.
Caesar Augustus ushered in what is known as the Pax Romana -- the Roman Peace -- using a doctrine of "Victory first, then peace." He expanded the borders and the influence of the empire first through military conquest and then through culture and development. To be a Roman protectorate was to speak the Roman language (Latin), read Roman books, study Roman history, worship Roman gods, drink water carried by Roman aqueducts, travel on paved Roman roads, be entertained by Roman art, be protected by Roman legions, and ruled not by the whim of local dictators and governors but by codified and documented Roman law.
Yet, even he was mortal. Whenever he rode in a parade or procession there rode with him or walked beside him a slave whose job it was to repeat, over and over, these two words: "Memento mori" ñ "Remember that thou art mortal."
* * *
Rightly understood, the Trinity as a theological image should expand our God consciousness, not restrict it. It should stretch our capacities for wholeness and holiness, not shrink us. It should sharpen our religious imaginations, not dull our sensibilities.
-- Carter Heyward, The Living Pulpit, April/June 1999, p. 21
* * *
Historically, the church has imagined the Trinity as a triangle. Yet that may not be the best image. A triangle is too solid, too static, too squat. We might think of the Trinity instead as a circle.
One thing about a circle is that it has no beginning. You can enter the circle at any point. Some enter the circle of God at a particular point, relating more strongly to one person of the Trinity than the others. Some, for example, enter the circle in a powerful, personal experience of grace, mediated through Jesus Christ. Sin and forgiveness loom large in this type of experience and the person often feels compelled to revisit the formative grace-experience again and again.
For others, it is the love of God that woos them into the circle. Some Christians have grown up with the image of God as a stern taskmaster and when they discover the God of love it is almost like a conversion experience. Still others see the imprint of God on the life of the Christian community. It is the new quality of life within the fellowship that woos them into faith.
Wherever you or I may enter the circle, it is not long before we get in touch with the other aspects of the divine nature. Although we may enter as an individualistic, salvation-oriented believer, it won't be long before we discover the great commandment to love. If we've entered at communion or fellowship, drawn in by "those nice people" up at the church, it won't be long before we understand that the reason those people are so winsome is because they know they are sinners in need of grace -- as are we all.
* * *
Boswell, the great thinker, philosopher, author, and the biographer of Samuel Johnson, often referred to one of the most important days of his life when, as a child, his father took him fishing. He could quote, verbatim, the things his father said that day, and he often referred back to the lessons he learned sitting on the bank of that stream.
After Boswell's death, a student of his who was researching a biography of the great man decided to see if he could find what the father's perspective on that day happened to be. He spent days going through the man's journals until he found the entry for that day. Boswell's father had written a single sentence: "Gone fishing today with my son; a day wasted."
* * *
Never has there been a more perfectly realized father figure than Atticus Finch in Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Most men grow up hoping that, when we become fathers, we will be as good and faithful as he.
The bulk of the novel is taken up by a trial wherein Atticus, a lawyer, defends a black man who has been falsely accused of rape. Atticus knows that his chances of winning this case are just about nil and that the all-white jury is probably going to convict even in the face of the most obvious and contemptuous lies. So no one -- not Atticus and not the African-American folks who are forced to sit in the balcony of the courthouse -- are surprised when the jury comes in with a guilty verdict.
In the final days of the trial, Atticus's daughter Jean Louise, who is known as Scout, has snuck into the balcony to lie on the floor and watch the trial unfold -- and we see this last scene from her perspective.
The trial being over, the white people in the courtroom below file quietly out. Finally Atticus, the last white person, stands, puts his papers in his briefcase, and turns to leave. As he does so, every person in the balcony rises silently in unison and the reverend whispers to Scout: "Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passin'."
Oh, to be a father like Atticus Finch.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: O God, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
People: You have set your glory above the heavens.
Leader: When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
People: the moon and the stars that you have established;
Leader: what are we that you are mindful of us?
People: Yet you have crowned us with glory and honor.
Leader: You have given us dominion over the works of your hands.
People: O God, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
OR
Leader: Come and worship our God, the Triune One.
People: We want to worship God, but we don't understand Trinity.
Leader: God comes to us to be experienced, not understood.
People: We know the wonder of God's presence in many ways.
Leader: And yet it is the same God we experience!
People: This is true! Let us worship the God who is with us always!
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"All Creatures of Our God and King"
found in:
UMH: 62
H82: 400
PH: 455
AAHH: 147
NNBH: 33
NCH: 17
CH: 22
LBW: 527
ELA: 835
Renew: 47
"Come, Thou Almighty King"
found in:
UMH: 61
H82: 365
PH: 139
AAHH: 327
NNBH: 38
NCH: 275
CH: 27
LBW: 522
ELA: 408
"We Believe in One True God"
found in:
UMH: 85
"Holy! Holy! Holy!"
found in:
UMH: 64
H82: 362
PH: 138
AAHH: 329
NNBH: 1
NCH: 277
CH: 4
LBW: 165
ELA: 413
CCB: 15
Renew: 204
"Blest Be the Tie that Binds"
found in:
UMH: 557
PH: 438
AAHH: 341
NNBH: 298
NCH: 393
CH: 433
LBW: 370
ELA: 650
"Help Us Accept Each Other"
found in:
UMH: 560
PH: 358
NCH: 388
CH: 487
"For All the Saints"
found in:
UMH: 711
H82: 287
PH: 526
AAHH: 339
NNBH: 301
NCH: 299
CH: 637
LBW: 174
ELA: 422
"Come, We that Love the Lord" or "Marching to Zion"
found in:
UMH: 732, 733
H82: 392
AAHH: 590
NNBH: 367
NCH: 379, 382
CH: 707
ELA: 625
"Holy, Holy"
found in:
CCB: 10
Renew: 206
"Father, I Adore You"
found in:
CCB: 64
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is mystery and yet is known as Love and Community: Grant us the grace to accept the mystery of your being and to accept the gift of our being forever united in you and with all your creatures throughout space and time; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We have come to worship you, the Triune God, whose unity and uniqueness is an awesome mystery to us. Help us to learn from you the joy and wonder of being who we are and still being ever connected with you and all your children. Amen.
Prayer for Illumination
Send, O God, the light of your Spirit, that our eyes may opened and our hearts enlarged to accept the grace and love you offer through the reading of your word. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, especially when we fail to remember that we are never separated from you or your saints.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We celebrate and worship you as the Triune God who is ever connected within yourself and yet we fail to realize that you are also eternally connected with us. We talk about being filled with your Spirit and we talk about being the Body of Christ and yet we allow so many things to make us feel alienated from you and from others. Forgive us our foolish ways and call us back to you. So ground us in your own eternal being that we know we are eternally bound to you and to all your saints. Amen.
Leader: God's love for us is unbounded by time or place. As God is eternally three and eternally one, so we who are many are eternally bound with God and with one another. Live in the joy of that knowledge so that nothing can lead you to despair.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We worship and adore you, O God, for you are the one who is beyond our understanding. Your vastness and your unity are too wondrous for us to grasp. Our language fails us as we try to speak even a small word about your nature and beauty.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We celebrate and worship you as the Triune God who is ever connected within yourself and yet we fail to realize that you are also eternally connected with us. We talk about being filled with your Spirit and we talk about being the Body of Christ and yet we allow so many things to make us feel alienated from you and from others. Forgive us our foolish ways and call us back to you. So ground us in your own eternal being that we know we are eternally bound to you and to all your saints.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which your remind us of the connectedness of our lives in your life and of our lives one with another. You created us in your image so that we reflect in images of clay your unity. We need to be in relationship with you and we need to be connected to our brothers and sisters of this earth. You even keep us connected with those who have gone before us. You have given us your own Spirit so that nothing can separate us from you or one another.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our needs and for all who struggle with the feelings of separation and alienation. We experience these feelings sometimes as well and we know how much we need to be drawn back to you and the truth of our faith. Help us to be the visible sign that you will never forsake us or deny us so that they may find the same joy in living in you that we have found.
(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.
Visuals
any pictures that show the "cloud of witnesses" that surround us; symbols of the Trinity; pictures of people who are obviously connected and sharing together
Children's Sermon Starter
Ask the children to play a game with you that you just invented/found out about -- solitary tag. Instruct them that each one will play alone. Except for that, the rules are the same as with a normal game of tag. The game will start with them being "it." Then they tag another player in the game, and they are "it." But they must remember this is solitary tag -- they can't tag someone else who is playing solitary tag. It shouldn't take long for the children to think that you are nuts -- you can't play tag this way. You can explain that while sometimes it might be good to be alone, we can't be alone all the time. Some things (like tag) need a group. Being a Christian needs a group too. God made us to be together. We can only be the image of God, the Trinity, when we keep together and take care of each other, just like God takes care of us.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Always with Us
Matthew 28:16-20
Object: a picture of the sun (a sunset or sunrise could work) or wear sunglasses
Good morning, boys and girls! The sun is always with us. We can't see it here this morning because we are inside the church building but we know the sun is outside. Sometimes clouds hide it from our view. At nighttime it seems like the sun is gone but it isn't. Where is the sun when it's nighttime? (let the children answer) We always have the sun -- whether we see it or not.
Jesus promised to always be with us too. We cannot see Jesus but we know that he is always with us. Just like the sun that is there whether we see it or not, Jesus is there for us as well. Jesus is with us even now, even though we cannot see him.
Today is Trinity Sunday. God is Spirit, and we cannot see God or understand God as a Spirit. So God became a human being like one of us. What is the name of God who became human? (let them answer) Jesus became one of us and became just like us. One big reason God became a man is so that we could better believe that God is with us.
Before Jesus returned to heaven, he said to his followers, "I am always with you." We know that is true. On this day called Trinity Sunday we know that God became a human being like us so that we can know for sure that Jesus is always with us -- just like we know the sun is always with us -- even though we cannot always see it.
Prayer: Dear Jesus: Thank you for being with us forever. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, June 19, 2011, issue.
Copyright 2011 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
Team member Ron Love shares some additional thoughts about the Genesis text and how we need to remind ourselves that while we may be made in the image of God, we are not gods ourselves -- a notion that's epitomized by the bad behavior of numerous public figures like Anthony Weiner, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and John Edwards. While it's easy to be disgusted by the deceitful antics of Weiner, Ron points out that it behooves us to look in the mirror and realize that none of us are saints -- all of us have done things that we are ashamed of at some point. Yes, the poor choices exhibited by Weiner and his ilk may be more extreme than our own, but it might be instructive to think of those disgraced figures as "dark shadows" who display the more sinful elements of our nature. It is only through the grace of God that we are able to escape a life in the shadows and come out into the light.
Team member Dean Feldmeyer provides an additional comment on the Genesis passage that focuses on our call to be good stewards and care for the wonderful creation that God has given us. We are told that "God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good" -- but increasing concerns about what pollution and the rate of our consumption of natural resources is doing to our world (which New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman recently examined in a provocative column titled "The Earth Is Full") raise questions about whether we are living up to our stewardship of God's creation when we engage in denial about how we are "fouling the nest." In addition, since Father's Day is this Sunday, some of our illustrations this week are keyed to the importance of fathers as role models.
When Good-bye Is Not Good-bye
by George Reed
Matthew 28:16-20; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13
We have seen public figures come... and lately we have seen several of them go. Sometimes they go quietly but more often there is a great hoopla made over their departure. There have been talk show hosts whose whole career was shorter than the number of episodes it took Oprah Winfrey to say good-bye. Yet in the farewells of Jesus and Paul, which are part of this week's readings, the good-byes are kept to the very basics. What makes the difference and can we learn anything about God and ourselves from all of this? We will find out as we explore the communion of God and Christians this week.
THE WORLD
With various amounts of hoopla and tears, television viewers have recently said good-bye to Jim Lehrer, Katie Couric, Oprah Winfrey, and Meredith Vieira (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/08/us/08anchors.html). Regis Philbin is slated for retirement at the end of this season and who knows who else will be saying good-bye. There seems to be such a big deal made of these retirements with more tears than at most funerals. The coverage of Oprah's bringing her talk show to a close seemed to rival that of the assassination and funeral of John F. Kennedy. What's up with all this grandstanding of celebrities -- who are, after all, merely leaving a television show and not, as it would appear, leaving for a trip to another galaxy?
It is dangerous to guess about the motives and interior states of other people but I am living proof that fools rush in where angels fear to tread. It appears, at least to me, that the self-identity of some of these people may be just a bit too invested in their public positions. It seems as if they fear that if the public forgets they were famous celebrities they will cease to exist.
This is not a problem just for the famous, however. Many of us get so tied up in the roles we play at work, school, and in our families that we think we would just disappear off the face of the earth if we stopped doing these things. Besides the roles we play, we often identify ourselves with the things we own or the tasks we have accomplished.
THE WORD
In this week's gospel lection we have the farewell words of Jesus according to Saint Matthew. It's a short speech of only three sentences that gives the disciples a succinct summary of their job and the assurance that Jesus would continue to be with them. Paul's farewell as he signs off on his letter to the church at Corinth is also short. He has some final instructions and then reminds them of the presence of God who is with them.
So what can we glean from these farewells that help us to understand our faith? What might we take from these lections that are offered to us on Trinity Sunday that might help us?
I would first want to remember that it was the experience of knowing God is beyond, then experiencing the presence of God in Jesus, and finally in experiencing the presence of God/Jesus within the community of faith and within their own lives that caused the early disciples to talk in terms that the later church turned into a formal theology of the Trinity. Trinity is about experience and about mystery. It is not that it is difficult to explain -- but it is impossible to explain in its fullness. We are, after all, talking about God here. We can only point to some small part of what it means to worship a Triune God that might help us at this time. We can never grasp it all and we must be careful to remember that pointing to one aspect means our focus is taken from another.
Just as we assert that God is Love, we also assert that God is Community. Whether it is the creation story that tells of God creating human beings "in our image" or the trinitarian baptismal formula in Matthew, we understand that God's nature is so immense it must shared. Having created human beings in God's own image, it is decided that it is not good for this creature to be alone. There is togetherness in God and with God that cannot be destroyed. When we come to know that we are God's and that God's own Spirit dwells in us, then we are aware that nothing on earth, in heaven, or in hell can separate us from God or from each other.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
One option would be to recall to your congregation the long, drawn-out, emotional farewells of several of the celebrities of late before the scripture reading and ask the folks to keep that in mind as they hear these passages, which also include farewells. After the readings talk about the obvious differences. What makes the difference? For many of us, our identities and our very selves are tied up in what we do -- but for those who are truly grounded in their relationship with God, it is God who defines them. The Spirit of God that was in Jesus is now in us and yet the God we worship is not diminished by this.
This, of course, relates to our understanding of death -- but it is also about life. It is not just that we are safely in God's keeping when our eyes are closed in death. We are also safely in God's keeping when our eyes are closed in the agony of realizing what a mess we have made of our lives or what a mess our loved ones have made of their lives: when we have lost our jobs, when our savings are wiped out in the falling stock market, when our mortgage is under water -- we are safely in God's hand. The great unity of God enfolds us into that complex being we call God along with all of God's other creatures and we are never lost, never separated from God or one another regardless of the circumstances of our lives.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Stepping Out of the Dark Shadow
by Ron Love
Genesis 1:1--2:4a
Headlining this week's news is Congressman Anthony Weiner from New York's 9th District. After repeated denials, he finally confessed that he used Twitter and Facebook to send suggestive photos and comments to women other than his wife. This involved a circle of six women -- and it began before he married Huma Abedin and continued after their betrothal. This, of course, is not an isolated course of behavior. Recently we read of former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger fathering a child and then covering it up for over a decade. Former Senator and presidential contender John Edwards has been indicted on felony charges not for having a mistress and fathering a love child but for using campaign contributions to cover up the affair. Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is returning to court for trying to sell Barack Obama's senate seat for personal gain. Newt Gingrich is still trying to explain how he could spearhead an impeachment hearing into the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal while he, as a married man, was having an affair with a staff member. If he spins out of that, he is confronted with being a leader in doling out earmarks while he was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, yet now becoming a fiscal conservative in his present campaign for the Oval Office.
Such stories, as reported over the last six months alone, would not fill pages but volumes. These are stories of the lives of sordid individuals who once resided on the pedestal of respect, power, and leadership. These are stories of leaders who, beyond the bright glow of television lights and teleprompters, live in very dark shadows. But are they alone? Do we not also join them as we crouch in dark recesses of ill-gotten behavior?
We lack the fame for our actions to be of any interest to the New York Times. We lack the notoriety for an appearance on Entertainment Weekly. We lack the wealth for an intriguing cover-up that Fox News would relish. But are our actions any less scandalous? Is our behavior any less destructive to family and friends? Would our discovery be any less of a pubic embarrassment?
The Bible lists many behaviors one ought to avoid. Just for a day, try to adhere to all the wisdom in the book of Proverbs. Just for a day, keep all of the Ten Commandments. Just for a day, try to follow Paul's advice and avoid gossip and a party spirit. Just for a day, treat your spouse as if he or she were the church. Just for an hour, emulate the Great Commandment. No, our misdeeds will not appear on the front page of the National Enquirer -- but they will be on the marquee of another's heart whom we have betrayed and disappointed.
The Creation story says that we were made in the image of God. This does not mean we are God but we do share the attributes of God. This, of course, is best summed up in acting in love. We share with Adam and Eve that fateful bite from the apple so until the Rapture does come (on October 21st or otherwise), we must struggle to be godlike in our actions. To avoid the public embarrassment of hypocrisy, we must do all in our power to remain outside the dark recesses of life.
Using the Bible as our guide, we must step out of the dark shadow of deceit. We must confess our faults and seek forgiveness. We are not to do this after a blogger discovers a picture of us in our undies, but right now -- this moment. Only when a confession is freely forthcoming, not coerced, will it be meaningful and heartfelt.
This Sunday is Father's Day. But we should think of all of these non-liturgical holidays as Family Day. As fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, uncles, and aunts, we are to be guides to our children. As schoolteachers, policemen, coaches, local shopkeepers, and church elders, we are to be mentors to the younger generation. Can we do this if by day we are Dr. Henry Jekyll and at night we are Mr. Edward Hyde?
Perfect? No, we shall never be, for only the man from Nazareth was perfect. But when Jesus said, "Come, and follow me," it did mean that we are to strive for perfection. It is time we step out of the dark shadows of life!
CRAFTING THE SERMON
I. Share with the congregation the life stories of prominent individuals who have now disappointed us with their secretly revealed behavior.
II. Discuss how, in our own less conspicuous way, we may not be so much unlike these individuals. We have hidden secrets; we hurt others with gossip and deceit.
III. Share how we were made in the image of God. Discuss how we share the attributes of God, especially love and holiness.
IV. Dialogue with the congregation that by following the truths for living as contained in the scriptures, we can be led from living a life in the shadows to one that dwells in the light.
V. Discuss how it is our responsibility to struggle to live a life that is holy and righteous, allowing us, on this day of celebrating the family, to mentor and guide the younger generation.
ANOTHER VIEW
It Was Very Good
by Dean Feldmeyer
Genesis 1:1--2:3
The capital city of Managua, Nicaragua, has a population of about 2 million people and lies at the southern edge of Lake Managua, from which it takes its name. The lake covers about 400 square miles in surface area -- roughly the same size as the Dead Sea and about five times the size of the Sea of Galilee -- and reaches a depth of 65 feet. It is fed by two rivers and numerous streams... and it is dead. Pollution from factories, sewage from the city of Managua, and runoff from the vast city dump that sits on its shore have made its water unpotable and the few fish that have managed to survive inedible. All the while, one of the greatest needs in this, the second poorest country in the western hemisphere, is -- you guessed it -- water.
My home county in Ohio (Clinton County) received just over 21 inches of rain in April and May of this year -- more than in all of 2010. Some minor flooding has resulted but nothing like along the Mississippi River. Still the two state park lakes that reside in or adjacent to the county, Cowan Lake and Caesar Creek Lake, have been closed to swimmers in May and June and fishermen have been warned to not eat the fish due to an E. Coli-type bacteria that has seeped into the lakes -- probably from the outhouses that the state built too close to the water.
Somewhere out in the Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and Japan, there floats the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The largest dump in the world, it covers an area about twice the size of Texas. About 90% of it consists of plastic -- 10% abandoned fishing nets and 80% trash from land (bottles, trash bags, grocery bags, can holders, etc.) -- with the remaining 1% unidentified solid human effluvia. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says that the mess is so large and complex that cleaning it up would bankrupt most countries. They continue to search for a solution but in the meantime they urge us to simply stop using so much plastic in our daily lives.
What is wrong with us? Why do we insist on fouling our nest, destroying our home, poisoning our own drinking water, and contaminating our food? What is wrong with us?
Is it really that complicated? Does our religion have nothing to say on this subject?
You don't have to take sides in the "global warming" debate to understand that, as people of faith, we have a responsibility to take care of the earth. How do we know? The Bible tells us so.
* "The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it" (Psalm 24:1).
* "The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants" (Leviticus 25:23).
* "And God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31a).
We are temporary tenants on the earth. When we are gone God will pass it on to our children and grandchildren, if we have taken sufficient care of it. But it isn't a sure thing.
A sermon preached on this text might begin with the overall observation that God has judged the universe to be good and then lift up some affirmations of our own. Pictures of our beautiful world might be shown either through words or, literally, through audio-visual aids.
The second step would be to morph those pictures into pictures of how we have treated badly the earth God has given us.
Finally, the sermon would explore the admonition of scripture to remember whose the world is and offer suggestions how we might "think globally and act locally" in our effort to preserve and care for this marvelous gift.
ILLUSTRATIONS
In 1982, director Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams teamed up to create one of the most dramatic and moving farewell scenes in movie history. Not since Rhett Butler turned and walked away from Scarlett O'Hara did so many movie watchers sigh and cry at the same time. The movie was E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and the scene was the last scene of the movie.
We, the audience, had already thrilled and cheered when E.T. escaped the nefarious government agents by making bicycles fly. We wept at E.T.'s death, and then wept again at his resurrection. The only thing left was his ascension via a giant, shining, humming spaceship and his return to his home -- a return that will be as painful for his friend Elliott as it is necessary for him.
But before E.T. leaves, he reaches out with his glowing finger, touches Elliott's forehead, and says, "I'll be right here."
As the music swells, we too can feel the touch of that finger and we know that E.T. is right.
* * *
Few people have ever said good-bye as effectively or as memorably as Dr. Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
On September 18, 2007, only a month after doctors told him that he had three to six months to live following a recurrence of pancreatic cancer, Randy presented a lecture called "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" to a packed auditorium at Carnegie Mellon.
The moving and often humorous talk recounted his efforts to achieve such childhood dreams as becoming a professional football player, experiencing zero gravity, and developing Disney World attractions. In the process, he shared his insights on finding the good in other people, working hard to overcome obstacles, and living generously.
The video of "The Last Lecture" appeared on countless websites and was viewed by millions. Appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, ABC's Good Morning America, and the CBS Evening News followed. A book version, The Last Lecture, co-written with Jeff Zaslow of the Wall Street Journal (and a fellow Carnegie Mellon alumnus), became a best-seller upon its release.
While millions worldwide were touched by his highly acclaimed lecture, Randy continued battling pancreatic cancer, and died of complications at the age of 47. Dr. Randy Pausch's good-bye to his students had a lasting impact on millions of people.
* * *
The Word remains. This is the great comfort of one who preaches. My voice will disappear, but my word, which is Christ, will remain in the hearts of those who have willed to receive it.
-- Archbishop Oscar Romero, from a homily of December 17, 1978
* * *
"Farewell" is a word of warning -- it reminds us that we never know how much longer we will live before saying our final farewell. When that time comes, the important question will be: What am I leaving behind?
A few years ago a man who was the father of a very young son was afflicted with an incurable disease. Physicians informed him that death would soon separate him from his young son. In an effort to leave behind some influence that would guide the child as he developed into manhood, the father wrote a series of letters to his son, of which the youth was to open one on each birthday in the years ahead. The idea was that in that way the boy would receive wise counseling and encouragement from his father during his years of development, even though his father was not there with him. One thought should remain on the minds of all of us: When the time comes for us to say farewell, how much Christian influence will we leave behind?
* * *
Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu is known more familiarly to historians as simply Cardinal Richelieu. He was the second most powerful man in France after King Louis XIV, and some say he was more powerful than the king himself.
Consecrated as a bishop in 1608, he later entered politics, becoming a Secretary of State in 1616. Richelieu soon rose in both the Catholic church and the French government, becoming a Cardinal in 1622 and King Louis XIII's chief minister in 1624. He remained in office until his death in 1642.
Often referred to as the king's "First Minister" or "Chief Minister," he is considered to be the world's first Prime Minister, in the modern sense of the term. He was successful in consolidating royal power and crushing domestic factions.
Richelieu was also famous for his patronage of the arts; most notably, he founded the Académie Française, the learned society responsible for matters pertaining to the French language. Richelieu is also known by the sobriquet l'Éminence ("the Red Eminence"), from the red shade of a cardinal's clerical dress and the custom of addressing cardinals as "Your eminence."
In 1642, Richelieu died of tuberculosis at the age of 57. His funeral service was to be held in the Sorbonne, which he had founded. He was laid out in all of his regal red, surrounded by thousands of flowers. Thousands came to see his body.
As was the custom when a cardinal died, a simple country priest was chosen to say the eulogy. The story is that the old man, dressed in solemn black, climbed into the pulpit above the cardinal's body, looked down at his eminence, sighed, and said, "Only God is great." Then he turned and left the pulpit.
* * *
Ask a historian to tell you the name of the most powerful man who ever lived and most will say without a moment's hesitation that it was Augustus Caesar.
He was born on September 23 in the year 63 BCE in the city of Rome. His father was a Roman senator and his mother was the niece of the emperor Julius Caesar. He received a classical education and learned to speak his native tongue of Latin. He probably spoke Greek too, as most educated people did in those days. He excelled at oratory, which Romans believed to be the highest of all the arts, and at the age of 12 he delivered a eulogy at the funeral of his grandfather that so impressed the emperor that he took a special interest in the boy, seeing to his higher education and training.
The adopted son of Julius Caesar, he alone would emerge from the chaos that followed that terrible Ides of March when his adopted father was assassinated. Triumphant over his enemies, he ruled Rome for 50 years and was considered the greatest of all Roman leaders and among the greatest leaders in human history. Even at that the Roman population breathed a huge sigh of relief at his inauguration. Finally, they hoped, after 13 years of chaos and civil war there would be stability and growth. And their hopes were rewarded.
Caesar Augustus ushered in what is known as the Pax Romana -- the Roman Peace -- using a doctrine of "Victory first, then peace." He expanded the borders and the influence of the empire first through military conquest and then through culture and development. To be a Roman protectorate was to speak the Roman language (Latin), read Roman books, study Roman history, worship Roman gods, drink water carried by Roman aqueducts, travel on paved Roman roads, be entertained by Roman art, be protected by Roman legions, and ruled not by the whim of local dictators and governors but by codified and documented Roman law.
Yet, even he was mortal. Whenever he rode in a parade or procession there rode with him or walked beside him a slave whose job it was to repeat, over and over, these two words: "Memento mori" ñ "Remember that thou art mortal."
* * *
Rightly understood, the Trinity as a theological image should expand our God consciousness, not restrict it. It should stretch our capacities for wholeness and holiness, not shrink us. It should sharpen our religious imaginations, not dull our sensibilities.
-- Carter Heyward, The Living Pulpit, April/June 1999, p. 21
* * *
Historically, the church has imagined the Trinity as a triangle. Yet that may not be the best image. A triangle is too solid, too static, too squat. We might think of the Trinity instead as a circle.
One thing about a circle is that it has no beginning. You can enter the circle at any point. Some enter the circle of God at a particular point, relating more strongly to one person of the Trinity than the others. Some, for example, enter the circle in a powerful, personal experience of grace, mediated through Jesus Christ. Sin and forgiveness loom large in this type of experience and the person often feels compelled to revisit the formative grace-experience again and again.
For others, it is the love of God that woos them into the circle. Some Christians have grown up with the image of God as a stern taskmaster and when they discover the God of love it is almost like a conversion experience. Still others see the imprint of God on the life of the Christian community. It is the new quality of life within the fellowship that woos them into faith.
Wherever you or I may enter the circle, it is not long before we get in touch with the other aspects of the divine nature. Although we may enter as an individualistic, salvation-oriented believer, it won't be long before we discover the great commandment to love. If we've entered at communion or fellowship, drawn in by "those nice people" up at the church, it won't be long before we understand that the reason those people are so winsome is because they know they are sinners in need of grace -- as are we all.
* * *
Boswell, the great thinker, philosopher, author, and the biographer of Samuel Johnson, often referred to one of the most important days of his life when, as a child, his father took him fishing. He could quote, verbatim, the things his father said that day, and he often referred back to the lessons he learned sitting on the bank of that stream.
After Boswell's death, a student of his who was researching a biography of the great man decided to see if he could find what the father's perspective on that day happened to be. He spent days going through the man's journals until he found the entry for that day. Boswell's father had written a single sentence: "Gone fishing today with my son; a day wasted."
* * *
Never has there been a more perfectly realized father figure than Atticus Finch in Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Most men grow up hoping that, when we become fathers, we will be as good and faithful as he.
The bulk of the novel is taken up by a trial wherein Atticus, a lawyer, defends a black man who has been falsely accused of rape. Atticus knows that his chances of winning this case are just about nil and that the all-white jury is probably going to convict even in the face of the most obvious and contemptuous lies. So no one -- not Atticus and not the African-American folks who are forced to sit in the balcony of the courthouse -- are surprised when the jury comes in with a guilty verdict.
In the final days of the trial, Atticus's daughter Jean Louise, who is known as Scout, has snuck into the balcony to lie on the floor and watch the trial unfold -- and we see this last scene from her perspective.
The trial being over, the white people in the courtroom below file quietly out. Finally Atticus, the last white person, stands, puts his papers in his briefcase, and turns to leave. As he does so, every person in the balcony rises silently in unison and the reverend whispers to Scout: "Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passin'."
Oh, to be a father like Atticus Finch.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: O God, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
People: You have set your glory above the heavens.
Leader: When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
People: the moon and the stars that you have established;
Leader: what are we that you are mindful of us?
People: Yet you have crowned us with glory and honor.
Leader: You have given us dominion over the works of your hands.
People: O God, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
OR
Leader: Come and worship our God, the Triune One.
People: We want to worship God, but we don't understand Trinity.
Leader: God comes to us to be experienced, not understood.
People: We know the wonder of God's presence in many ways.
Leader: And yet it is the same God we experience!
People: This is true! Let us worship the God who is with us always!
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"All Creatures of Our God and King"
found in:
UMH: 62
H82: 400
PH: 455
AAHH: 147
NNBH: 33
NCH: 17
CH: 22
LBW: 527
ELA: 835
Renew: 47
"Come, Thou Almighty King"
found in:
UMH: 61
H82: 365
PH: 139
AAHH: 327
NNBH: 38
NCH: 275
CH: 27
LBW: 522
ELA: 408
"We Believe in One True God"
found in:
UMH: 85
"Holy! Holy! Holy!"
found in:
UMH: 64
H82: 362
PH: 138
AAHH: 329
NNBH: 1
NCH: 277
CH: 4
LBW: 165
ELA: 413
CCB: 15
Renew: 204
"Blest Be the Tie that Binds"
found in:
UMH: 557
PH: 438
AAHH: 341
NNBH: 298
NCH: 393
CH: 433
LBW: 370
ELA: 650
"Help Us Accept Each Other"
found in:
UMH: 560
PH: 358
NCH: 388
CH: 487
"For All the Saints"
found in:
UMH: 711
H82: 287
PH: 526
AAHH: 339
NNBH: 301
NCH: 299
CH: 637
LBW: 174
ELA: 422
"Come, We that Love the Lord" or "Marching to Zion"
found in:
UMH: 732, 733
H82: 392
AAHH: 590
NNBH: 367
NCH: 379, 382
CH: 707
ELA: 625
"Holy, Holy"
found in:
CCB: 10
Renew: 206
"Father, I Adore You"
found in:
CCB: 64
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is mystery and yet is known as Love and Community: Grant us the grace to accept the mystery of your being and to accept the gift of our being forever united in you and with all your creatures throughout space and time; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We have come to worship you, the Triune God, whose unity and uniqueness is an awesome mystery to us. Help us to learn from you the joy and wonder of being who we are and still being ever connected with you and all your children. Amen.
Prayer for Illumination
Send, O God, the light of your Spirit, that our eyes may opened and our hearts enlarged to accept the grace and love you offer through the reading of your word. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, especially when we fail to remember that we are never separated from you or your saints.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We celebrate and worship you as the Triune God who is ever connected within yourself and yet we fail to realize that you are also eternally connected with us. We talk about being filled with your Spirit and we talk about being the Body of Christ and yet we allow so many things to make us feel alienated from you and from others. Forgive us our foolish ways and call us back to you. So ground us in your own eternal being that we know we are eternally bound to you and to all your saints. Amen.
Leader: God's love for us is unbounded by time or place. As God is eternally three and eternally one, so we who are many are eternally bound with God and with one another. Live in the joy of that knowledge so that nothing can lead you to despair.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We worship and adore you, O God, for you are the one who is beyond our understanding. Your vastness and your unity are too wondrous for us to grasp. Our language fails us as we try to speak even a small word about your nature and beauty.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We celebrate and worship you as the Triune God who is ever connected within yourself and yet we fail to realize that you are also eternally connected with us. We talk about being filled with your Spirit and we talk about being the Body of Christ and yet we allow so many things to make us feel alienated from you and from others. Forgive us our foolish ways and call us back to you. So ground us in your own eternal being that we know we are eternally bound to you and to all your saints.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which your remind us of the connectedness of our lives in your life and of our lives one with another. You created us in your image so that we reflect in images of clay your unity. We need to be in relationship with you and we need to be connected to our brothers and sisters of this earth. You even keep us connected with those who have gone before us. You have given us your own Spirit so that nothing can separate us from you or one another.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our needs and for all who struggle with the feelings of separation and alienation. We experience these feelings sometimes as well and we know how much we need to be drawn back to you and the truth of our faith. Help us to be the visible sign that you will never forsake us or deny us so that they may find the same joy in living in you that we have found.
(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.
Visuals
any pictures that show the "cloud of witnesses" that surround us; symbols of the Trinity; pictures of people who are obviously connected and sharing together
Children's Sermon Starter
Ask the children to play a game with you that you just invented/found out about -- solitary tag. Instruct them that each one will play alone. Except for that, the rules are the same as with a normal game of tag. The game will start with them being "it." Then they tag another player in the game, and they are "it." But they must remember this is solitary tag -- they can't tag someone else who is playing solitary tag. It shouldn't take long for the children to think that you are nuts -- you can't play tag this way. You can explain that while sometimes it might be good to be alone, we can't be alone all the time. Some things (like tag) need a group. Being a Christian needs a group too. God made us to be together. We can only be the image of God, the Trinity, when we keep together and take care of each other, just like God takes care of us.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Always with Us
Matthew 28:16-20
Object: a picture of the sun (a sunset or sunrise could work) or wear sunglasses
Good morning, boys and girls! The sun is always with us. We can't see it here this morning because we are inside the church building but we know the sun is outside. Sometimes clouds hide it from our view. At nighttime it seems like the sun is gone but it isn't. Where is the sun when it's nighttime? (let the children answer) We always have the sun -- whether we see it or not.
Jesus promised to always be with us too. We cannot see Jesus but we know that he is always with us. Just like the sun that is there whether we see it or not, Jesus is there for us as well. Jesus is with us even now, even though we cannot see him.
Today is Trinity Sunday. God is Spirit, and we cannot see God or understand God as a Spirit. So God became a human being like one of us. What is the name of God who became human? (let them answer) Jesus became one of us and became just like us. One big reason God became a man is so that we could better believe that God is with us.
Before Jesus returned to heaven, he said to his followers, "I am always with you." We know that is true. On this day called Trinity Sunday we know that God became a human being like us so that we can know for sure that Jesus is always with us -- just like we know the sun is always with us -- even though we cannot always see it.
Prayer: Dear Jesus: Thank you for being with us forever. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, June 19, 2011, issue.
Copyright 2011 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
