Who Can You Really Trust?
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
The lectionary texts for the Fifth Sunday of Easter share several common threads. There's the stone imagery, which is in turn both threatening and reassuring: the Acts reading tells the story of Stephen's stoning, the epistle text from First Peter expounds on Jesus Christ as the cornerstone, and Jesus affirms his position as the touchstone of the faith when he tells his disciples in the gospel passage from John that "I am the way, the truth, and the life." But in this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Roger Lovette addresses another theme that has a great deal of resonance for our time -- that of trust in the divine. We live in a cynical age where belief in many of the institutions we formerly trusted in -- the government, public figures, the family, and even the church -- has declined as the curtain has been pulled back and human folly has been exposed. So where can we turn for comfort in the troubled times we live in? Roger notes that the answer for us is exactly the same as what Jesus offers to his disciples: no matter how anxious you may feel, "do not be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me." Amidst all of life's tribulations, we can place our trust in God and know that we will not be disappointed -- a confidence that gave Stephen the power to reaffirm that belief even in the face of impending martyrdom.
Team member Ron Love shares some additional thoughts on the Acts reading and Stephen's vision of heaven. Ron looks at the notion of heaven prevalent in much of popular literature -- that heaven is the world's biggest reunion of family and friends -- and suggests that while its attraction is understandable, we need to be careful about letting that become the dominant frame for our understanding of the scriptural message. Ron points out that if we do succumb to this temptation, we may be just as guilty as those who stoned Stephen of covering our ears and shouting down what scripture actually tells us about heaven.
Who Can You Really Trust?
by Roger Lovette
John 14:1-14
THE WORLD
When Christopher Columbus campaigned for money for his voyage to a new world, his chief opponents were found in the church. Leading clerics proclaimed that the Bible said the earth had four corners, and if you went too far you would just fall off. They did not trust Columbus, and it was years before he could make his first voyage. Likewise, Orville and Wilbur Wright spent a great deal of time at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, finally getting their plane off the ground. People in their hometown were skeptical. They said, "People can't fly -- that's impossible. And if we could fly it wouldn't be anybody who lived in Dayton." It was a matter of trust. When Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, people all over the country said, "This could not be true -- you can't walk on the moon. It would be impossible to get there. It's only a soap opera." In all these cases, the issue was trust. For years after Elvis died, people would call up the Memphis hospital where he was pronounced dead and say, "Would you all please release Elvis -- I know you are holding him captive." These folks did not trust the news report.
And today? Many believe that the new health care reform really will bring on death panels for the elderly. Others are certain that the president was not really born in the United States despite his release of his birth certificate. A great many people do not believe the scientists and think that global warming is a hoax perpetrated simply to make money. Some have said the pictures of the dead Osama bin Laden should be released or people will not believe he is really dead. Can we trust the mainstream media? Can we believe what politicians tell us? Can we trust anybody? This is the kind of a world we live in.
THE WORD
Jesus' world was one in which people tore down barns and built new ones because the only thing you could trust was what you built yourself. Some hid their talents in the sand because they could not trust them to be put to use. Two disciples trudged down the Emmaus Road wiping away their tears, saying, "We had hoped he was the one who came to redeem Israel." Demas just threw in the towel, left his missionary friend in a lurch, and went back home.
So the setting of John 14 is most interesting. The storm clouds were gathering. The disciples knew the tension was great. Many of those first who crowded around Jesus had turned away and fewer and fewer came. And so in an Upper Room he reached out to comfort his followers' frightened hearts. "Let not your hearts be troubled," he said. "You believe in God -- believe also in me." Their hearts were failing. Judas would betray him. Peter would deny him. And the scriptures say: "They all forsook him and fled," except for the lone John. After the Cross and the Resurrection and Jesus' ascension, they would begin to piece together what he had said. "He told us we would not be orphans or abandoned. He told us that when we were troubled he would send an Advocate, a Counselor. He told us that he would prepare a place for us and there would be room for all." He told them that they could always trust the Father and they could trust him. Halford Luccock said because they believed they marched off the map into places the world never imagined. And so the little church survived and the story was passed down from generation to generation because they remembered what he said. You do not need to be troubled -- you do not need to be afraid. We would not have a church or a Bible or a gospel if someone had not trusted in those words that went all the way back to an Upper Room.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
A little boy named Davy gathered with his family around the breakfast table every morning. Out of a little box on the table his mother would take a tiny card with a scripture verse on the card. One particular morning she selected this verse from the Isaiah: "I will trust and not be afraid." Over and over they said the words until each child memorized those words: "I... will... trust... and... not... be... afraid." The mother told them that when they were scared or worried they could say that verse and God would be with them. That afternoon Davy went to the movies with a friend. They were showing Oliver Twist. As one scene grew darker and scarier and the figure dangled in the wind, Davy stood up in the darkness and said out loud, "I will trust and not be afraid." And he promptly sat down and wet his pants.
It really is hard to trust when so much is in disarray. We are anxious because of many things: the economy, our mortgages, the loss of jobs, news that someone like Al Gore or the Schwarzeneggers are getting a divorce sends shock waves to many. We thought they would be married forever. Maria Shriver certainly thought she could trust her husband -- yet Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted publicly this week that he finally revealed to his wife of 25 years the fact that he had fathered a child with one of their household staffers. We routinely catch politicians in lies or gross exaggerations. We sell a mountain of sleeping pills hoping we can just forget for a little while. Someone once said, "We play hard because we live in a haunted house."
Well, the house has always been haunted. Life is always hard. Like the Gulf Coast following Katrina, hundreds in Alabama, have lost everything in the recent tornadoes. The same can be said of many more in the wake of the floodwaters in Mississippi and Tennessee and other places.
And so we come back to church. We bring our troubles with us, though few know our worries. We remember another hard time when Jesus called his all-too-human disciples together and said, "You need not be troubled. Believe in God. Believe in me." And so we remember how courageous those disciples finally were. There were ups and downs, but they remained truthful in those words he gave them in an Upper Room.
Our ultimate trust must be in God. Somewhere Jesus said, "Perfect love casts out all fear." Perhaps we might say: Real trust will cast out all our fears.
A little boy once knocked on a neighbor's door offering to sell some small items for ten cents apiece. The neighbor asked, "What are you going to do with that money?" The little boy said, "I am raising a million dollars for the starving people in Darfur!" The man exclaimed, "A million dollars! Do you expect to raise all that money by yourself?" The boy shook his head and replied, "No, mister, another boy is helping me." That little boy may have been unrealistic. Yet I believe Jesus would smile at that story -- for when we put our confidence in God, we too might just march off the map.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Beyond Jesus
by Ron Love
Acts 7:55-60
Matt Baugher is the vice-president of Thomas Nelson publishers. He chose to publish the book Heaven Is for Real because stories of life after death have a large audience. The reason for this, according to Baugher, is: "We all are perhaps desperate to know what is on the other side of the veil." Jesus is the only person who went to the other side of the veil and returned; but that has not stopped the proliferation of books telling the stories of those who died and went to heaven (and in one case hell), only to return and inform the rest of us of their journey.
Todd Burpo wrote Heaven Is for Real. It is the story of his 4-year-old son Colton, who had a near-death experience as the result of a ruptured appendix, and who at the age of 11 told the tale of walking through heaven. In 90 Minutes in Heaven, Don Piper retells of briefly dying in an automobile accident, and while being entombed in his auto for 90 minutes, visiting heaven. Piper wrote, "I have changed the way I do funerals. Now I can speak authoritatively about heaven from firsthand knowledge." He goes on to say, "Because I was able to experience heaven, I was able to prepare friends for it. And now I am preparing you for it." Both Burpo's and Piper's stories convey that heaven is a place of reunion as they speak of meeting with deceased family members and friends. It must have been a quick 90 minutes for Piper, for only 15 pages of his 205-page book recount his heavenly experience. The rest of the book is devoted to his convalescence and ensuing ministry.
Bill Wiese wrote of being taken from his sleep to hell. He recounted his experience of being tormented and witnessing the punishment of others in his book 23 Minutes in Hell. This book, along with 90 Minutes in Heaven, is a dual selection on Amazon.com, which means they have the same reading audience. Wiese wrote, "Even if you don't believe my story, you should believe these Bible verses and avoid hell just the same. To me, it doesn't matter what causes you to understand the truth as long as it sinks in."
Also appearing on local bookshelves are books that relate that we will all be residents in heaven. The most recent and prominent publication on universal salvation is Rob Bell's book Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. Bell's quest for understanding came when someone in his congregation noted that no matter how good Gandhi was, he is still in hell. Bell could not accept that Gandhi or anyone else who was not a Christian was denied entrance into heaven. Though Bell never uses the word "universalism," it is implied. One of Bell's most-quoted lines regarding Jesus is: "He is narrow as himself and as wide as the universe." Another line is: "Exclusivity on the other side of inclusivity."
These books are a part of the Emerging Church Movement. The authors are influenced by a pluralistic society. Surrounded by friends of varying religions and non-believers, they cannot accept an excusatory heaven. Thus all are saved, even if the word "universalism" is never used.
Heaven, in all of these books, has a concept of reunion. This is also emphasized in William Young's popular novel The Shack and Mitch Albom's book The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Though Wiese wants to keep us in a state of fear, the other proponents want to lift the veil so we see God as an African-American woman who makes pancakes for breakfast. There is nothing to fear here.
And that is the problem, for lost is the concept of accountability. These authors, as much as they want to promote themselves as biblical scholars, are not engaged in exegesis but are writing essays. Like those who listened to the preaching of Peter, they also have "covered their ears" because they do not want to hear the full gospel message.
Universal salvation is a debatable subject because various scriptural passages can be quoted to support one position or the other. But what cannot be debated is that Jesus admonished us to take seriously the lives we live in this world so as not to be judged in the next. Should that not be sufficient? Why do we have to go beyond Jesus and present scenarios that are not biblical? We do not want people to live in fear of everlasting damnation, but we do want people to live with an understanding of accountability after death.
Origen, writing in the third century, gave us the first "Geography of Hell." It was for purification, and the seriousness of one's earthly sins determined how long the cleansing process would take. Origen compared it to a three-tiered system, which he symbolized as follows: Righteous (represented by gold, silver, and precious stones that took the least time to purify); Lesser Sins (wood, hay, stubble); and lastly Evil (iron, lead, and bronze that took the longest to purify). This concept was supported by Gregory the Great, who wrote in the sixth century that after death there was the cleansing fire of hell. This view may not be popular with the Millennialist generation, whom Bell is calling back into the church and for whom he has become a guru, but it is the orthodox position of the church. Bell cannot cover his ears because he wishes not to hear or preach it.
The gospel message is not to be popular, but challenging. That is why when Peter preached people covered their ears. Can the same be said for us?
CRAFTING THE SERMON
I. Discuss how our understanding of heaven and hell cannot be guided by popular literature.
II. Discuss how the Bible leaves us with many unanswered questions regarding salvation and other issues.
III. Discuss how we cannot cover our ears to the most important message of all and that is taking the commands of Jesus seriously.
ILLUSTRATIONS
God's story is true. We know that God's story is true because God gave us his Word -- that Word who came to us as one of us, and died for us, and descended into hell for us, and rose again from the dead for us, and ascended into heaven for us. The Word became the living truth for us, the only truth that can make us free....
When was the last time anybody asked you, "Do I have your word?" Or when was the last time anybody said to you, "I give you my word," and you knew that you could trust that word absolutely? How many times in the last few decades have we watched and listened to a political figure on television and heard him say, "I give you my word..." and shortly thereafter that word has proven false? In the past year alone, how many people have perjured themselves publicly? Sworn on a Bible, given their word, and that word has been a lie? Words of honor are broken casually today, as though they don't matter.
Small wonder that when God tells us, "I give you my Word," few people take him seriously. "I give you my Word," said God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.
-- Madeleine L'Engle, The Rock That Is Higher: Story as Truth (Shaw Books, 2002)
* * *
Most people think that faith and belief are closely related, but faith's nearest relative is not belief but trust.
Belief requires nothing of us -- no action, no risk, no trust... just intellectual assent. But faith requires all of these things. In fact, a belief can hardly be said to be a matter of faith if we are not willing to undertake risk, to trust on the basis of that belief.
I can believe that you can push me across Niagara Falls in a wheelbarrow on a tightrope while sitting at my desk. But for that belief to become faith, I must get up from behind my desk, climb into the wheelbarrow, and trust you with my life.
* * *
William Sloane Coffin is reported to have said: "Faith isn't believing without proof; faith is trusting without reservation."
In fact, it is in the very nature of trust that it must be without reservation. One cannot trust a little, or sort of trust someone.
In the circus trapeze act there are two people: the flyer and the catcher. The job of the flyer is to fly, and the job of the catcher is to catch the flyer. For the flyer to do his or her job they must trust the catcher implicitly to be at the right place at the right time to catch them, and then to complete the catch perfectly and without flaw. Without that unreserved trust, the flyer can't fly.
If you are having surgery you must trust the surgeon without reservations. What choice do you have? Who among us wants to be awake during the operation so we can give the surgeon advice?
* * *
The fact that we trust in God doesn't mean that we don't have doubts and fears. It means that even in the face of our doubts and fears, we don't give in to panic. We trust that God will, as scripture assures us, work all things for good, for those who love and trust Him. And the "all things" that are spoken of include everything from losing our keys to losing our loved ones.
* * *
I was six years old when I learned to ride a bicycle. The bike was too big for me -- I had to pull it up to our stoop and stand above it to swing my leg over the top. I would shove off with my left foot and let momentum carry the bicycle forward while I got situated onto the seat and both feet on the pedals. Then I could deal with the problem of keeping the thing upright.
My mother's advice as she taught me to ride was this: Turn into the fall. She had never studied physics, but she knew from experience that if the bike started to fall to the right I should turn to the right in order to re-establish my center of gravity. If I started to fall to the left I had to turn to the left.
The only problem with that advice was that it seemed so counterintuitive to me. Turn the direction that you're falling? No way that could be right. So I would turn the opposite direction and the bike would always fall.
After about 20 crashes it occurred to me that my way wasn't working and that I had never seen my mother crash a bicycle. Maybe she knew something about this after all. So I decided that, even though her advice seemed strange and nonsensical, I would trust her and do as she said. I shoved off from the porch, threw my leg over the bike, got my feet on the pedals -- and when the bike started to tilt to the right, I turned the front wheel ever so slightly to the right... and the bike corrected itself.
My trust in my mother's crazy advice had paid off.
-- Dean Feldmeyer
* * *
There is a form of extreme skiing that allows skiers to plow the powder in places no one has gone before, to ski in absolutely virgin powder as much as six feet deep while enjoying some of the most breathtaking views the world has to offer.
The problem is, you can only get to these places by helicopter -- and because of the dangers of avalanche and unrecognizable landscape, you have to follow a guide. The helicopter doesn't even touch down. It just hovers above the powder and you jump out with your skis on... and off you go down the mountain, following as closely as you can in the ski tracks of your guide. If you want to do all this and do it safely, you have to trust the guide.
* * *
Hand in Hand
by Dean Feldmeyer
I'm riding down the escalator and I see them approaching on the floor below.
Son is a three- or four-year-old towhead.
Little bib overalls -- little rugby shirt -- baseball cap and Nikes.
And he's a talker.
Nopausesorpunctuationjustaconstantstreamofwords. Like that.
Dad is mid-twenties. Blue jeans, tight T-shirt, shaved head and goatee, a tattoo peeking out from the sleeve of his shirt. A tough guy.
All of a sudden, Son sees the up escalator looming ahead.
His facial expression shifts.
Worry wrinkles his brow.
His eyes narrow in concentration.
The corners of his mouth turn down.
His right hand springs up above his head and...
There is Dad's hand to receive it.
Son's face resumes its former carefree expression.
He continues to talk, having never dropped a word, or even a syllable.
Together,
as Son talks,
they step effortlessly onto the escalator and ascend.
* * *
Climbing Wall
by Dean Feldmeyer
They put this thing here in the mall for fun, they say.
Gray and sheer. Thirty feet of slick plastic. Made to look a little like granite, with occasional finger and toeholds.
They strap you into a "safety" harness. And then you try to climb to the top. Just to say you did.
Fifteen dollars. Twenty-five if you want the T-shirt.
This climber is maybe nine or ten years old.
It's her birthday and she will not want the T-shirt.
She will not want to remember this day.
She's scared.
Only three feet from the top and she's frozen with fear.
Can't go up. Can't go down. Won't let go so the guy can lower her via the harness.
Dad's embarrassed.
His answer is to berate her. Embarrass her. Humiliate her in front of her friends.
Until she can no longer hold back the tears.
Why, I wonder, doesn't he just take the rope from the guy and let her down himself.
Perhaps he knows she wouldn't trust him.
* * *
As Stephen was being stoned, he demonstrated an astonishing degree of trust and belief in God -- and a remarkable degree of forgiveness for those who were about to kill him, saying: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of a seminal event in the history of the American Civil Rights Movement: the Freedom Rides that attempted to bring an end to the racial discrimination in bus travel throughout the South. As a new PBS documentary makes clear, the Freedom Riders had to approach the potential dangers of their action with some of the same spirit that motivated Stephen, as they were exposed to brutal mob attacks and even sent to Parchman Farm, the most feared penitentiary in Mississippi. Faith was always a central part of the Civil Rights Movement, and it is noteworthy that the Freedom Riders included a significant number of ministers and rabbis from across the denominational spectrum -- and that, like Stephen, the riders were amazingly forgiving of those who treated them so poorly. There's no better example of this then the powerful moment on a recent Oprah Winfrey show where former Freedom Rider and current congressman John Lewis was reunited with former Klansman Elwin Miller, who savagely beat Lewis during the 1961 Freedom Rides. Miller publicly admitted to Lewis that he was the person who had beaten him (it was captured in a celebrated photograph) and apologized, and they appeared together as a sign of their reconciliation.
If Stephen and John Lewis can "not hold this sin against them," can we do any less -- no matter how wronged we may feel?
* * *
In his autobiography Ah, But Your Land is Beautiful, South African author/educator Alan Paton tells of his efforts to start a new anti-apartheid political party, the Christian Democratics. One day a little old African man in a big cowboy hat came in to volunteer his help.
Paton and some of the other workers asked the old gentleman if he was sure he wanted to do this. It could be dangerous, they said. You could get hurt.
The man replied that he expected to one day die and stand before his maker. "When I do," he said, "God will ask to see my scars. If I say, 'I have no scars,' he will say to me, 'What? Was there nothing worth fighting for?' "
* * *
John Wesley discipled converts in "class meetings" or "bands" consisting of 12 people pursuing the discipline of Christian godliness. One or more of the following accountability questions were asked of each person weekly:
1. What known sins have you committed since our last meeting?
2. What temptations have you met with?
3. How were you delivered?
4. What have you thought, said, or done, of which you doubt whether it be sin or not?
-- D. Michael Henderson, John Wesley's Class Meetings: A Model for Making Disciples (Evangel Publishing House, 1997), pp. 118-119
* * *
Theodore "Teddy" Kollek was the first elected mayor of the city of Jerusalem in 1969, and was subsequently re-elected four times, serving as mayor for a total of 28 years. When he was first elected he forgot to have his home phone number changed and unlisted. When people began calling him at home he contemplated having the number changed, but never got around to it. Being available to his constituency, he said, kept him on his toes and made him a better mayor.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: God is our rock and our fortress.
People: Lead us and guide us, O God.
Leader: Into God's hand we commit ourselves.
People: It is God who has redeemed us.
Leader: Our times are in your hands, O God.
People: May God's face shine upon us!
OR
Leader: Come and put your trust in God.
People: Can we really trust God? So many have deceived us.
Leader: God is the faithful one, the one who never forsakes us.
People: We want to believe that God is trustworthy.
Leader: God gave everything in Jesus Christ. No one loves us like God loves us.
People: God indeed has proven to be faithful. We will trust in our God!
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"O God, Our Help in Ages Past"
found in:
UMH: 117
H82: 680
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
"My Faith Looks Up to Thee"
found in:
UMH: 452
H82: 691
PH: 383
AAHH: 456
NNBH: 273
CH: 576
LBW: 479
" 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus"
found in:
UMH: 462
AAHH: 368
NNBH: 292
"I Will Trust in the Lord"
found in:
UMH: 464
AAHH: 391
NNBH: 285
NCH: 416
"Trust and Obey"
found in:
UMH: 467
AAHH: 380
NNBH: 322
CH: 556
"Great Is Thy Faithfulness"
found in:
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
Renew: 249
"On Eagle's Wings"
found in:
UMH: 143
CH: 77
Renew: 112
"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"
found in:
UMH: 110
H82: 687, 688
PH: 260
AAHH: 124
NNBH: 374
NCH: 339, 340
CH: 65
LBW: 228, 229
"All I Need Is You"
found in:
CCB: 100
"Great Is the Lord"
found in:
CCB: 65
Renew: 22
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
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is the trustworthy one: Grant us the faith to truly believe in you and to cast our lives on your faithful care; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
You have called us here, O God, and we have answered. In you alone can we trust and find salvation. Help us to hear your word this day and to offer our lives once more into your care. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our reluctance to trust anyone, even God.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We find ourselves so skeptical of all that is around us that we seem to be unable to trust even you, our God and our salvation. We look about us and wonder where you are. We look around us and wonder whether or not you care. Forgive our faithlessness, and so empower us with your Spirit that we may once again trust in you with our whole beings. Amen.
Leader: God is the faithful one, and God grants us forgiveness and God's own Spirit that we might truly be God's children.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We praise and adore you, O God, because you are the faithful one. You are the foundation of all creation, the rock upon which all is grounded.
(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 find ourselves so skeptical of all that is around us that we seem to be unable to trust even you, our God and our salvation. We look about us and wonder where you are. We look around us and wonder whether or not you care. Forgive our faithlessness, and so empower us with your Spirit that we may once again trust in you with our whole beings.
We give you thanks for the sun that rises each day and the stars that shine with constant presence. They reflect your faithful care and presence in our lives.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for ourselves and all your people who struggle to find a solid place to stand in life. We pray that your constant love and care may become more evident to all of us, and that we who have learned of your steadfast love may faithfully reflect your grace to others.
(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
Photos of circus performers from trapeze artists to lion tamers. Anything showing people who have to trust in someone or something.
Children's Sermon Starter
Have a large rope and a very thin string. Ask the children which one they would trust to hold them if they had to climb to the top of the sanctuary. Some things we can trust, and some we can't. God is the one who is more trustworthy than the thickest rope. God never fails.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Open Ears
Acts 7:55-60
Objects: ear muffs, cotton, ear plugs
Good morning, boys and girls! Have your parents ever accused you of being deaf? I mean, does your mother or dad ever say something to you and you pretend not to hear what they say? (let the children answer) I brought along a couple of things to show you how you can keep from hearing what you don't want to hear.
I suppose the least effective way is to wear ear muffs. (put a pair of ear muffs over your ears) When you have these on and they fit well, it keeps some of the sound out. Whatever someone says is harder to hear with ear muffs on than it is without them. But a lot of sound still gets in, and if you want to keep all the sound out you have to try something else.
The second thing I have is some cotton. That's better than ear muffs. When you have cotton in your ears, it's hard to hear what someone is saying. (have the children talk and show them that this makes it harder to hear when they speak softly)
The last item that I brought with me is a pair of ear plugs. I know that a lot of you have worn these when you have gone swimming. You can almost shout, and it sounds like you are far away. It is hard for you to understand what other people are saying when you have ear plugs in your ears.
But why do people do things like this? Why don't they want to hear certain things?
I can tell you a story about a man called Stephen who was one of the early followers of Jesus. He was one of the most devoted disciples. He preached and preached about the love of God and what Jesus had done for everyone. He also told the people about all the ugly things that they were doing, and he asked them to change. There were some people who could not stand to hear about the way they were or about the goodness of Jesus. Do you know what they did? They put their hands over their ears and started screaming and yelling so that they could not hear anything that Stephen said. Try it. Put your hands over your ears and yell and see if you can hear anything that I say. You can't, can you? That's what the people did, and after they could not hear Stephen they took him out and killed him. Stephen was the first man who died for Jesus. We call him a martyr. Stephen was the first Christian martyr.
It may be hard to listen to everything that is said, but closing your ears with cotton, ear plugs, or even your hands is the wrong thing to do. Listen to what is said and try to understand why someone is saying it, and you will be better for it. Only cowards try to shut out the world and the love that God tries to share with all of us.
I hope you will all keep your ears open and listen -- even when it's difficult to do that.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, May 22, 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 on the Acts reading and Stephen's vision of heaven. Ron looks at the notion of heaven prevalent in much of popular literature -- that heaven is the world's biggest reunion of family and friends -- and suggests that while its attraction is understandable, we need to be careful about letting that become the dominant frame for our understanding of the scriptural message. Ron points out that if we do succumb to this temptation, we may be just as guilty as those who stoned Stephen of covering our ears and shouting down what scripture actually tells us about heaven.
Who Can You Really Trust?
by Roger Lovette
John 14:1-14
THE WORLD
When Christopher Columbus campaigned for money for his voyage to a new world, his chief opponents were found in the church. Leading clerics proclaimed that the Bible said the earth had four corners, and if you went too far you would just fall off. They did not trust Columbus, and it was years before he could make his first voyage. Likewise, Orville and Wilbur Wright spent a great deal of time at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, finally getting their plane off the ground. People in their hometown were skeptical. They said, "People can't fly -- that's impossible. And if we could fly it wouldn't be anybody who lived in Dayton." It was a matter of trust. When Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, people all over the country said, "This could not be true -- you can't walk on the moon. It would be impossible to get there. It's only a soap opera." In all these cases, the issue was trust. For years after Elvis died, people would call up the Memphis hospital where he was pronounced dead and say, "Would you all please release Elvis -- I know you are holding him captive." These folks did not trust the news report.
And today? Many believe that the new health care reform really will bring on death panels for the elderly. Others are certain that the president was not really born in the United States despite his release of his birth certificate. A great many people do not believe the scientists and think that global warming is a hoax perpetrated simply to make money. Some have said the pictures of the dead Osama bin Laden should be released or people will not believe he is really dead. Can we trust the mainstream media? Can we believe what politicians tell us? Can we trust anybody? This is the kind of a world we live in.
THE WORD
Jesus' world was one in which people tore down barns and built new ones because the only thing you could trust was what you built yourself. Some hid their talents in the sand because they could not trust them to be put to use. Two disciples trudged down the Emmaus Road wiping away their tears, saying, "We had hoped he was the one who came to redeem Israel." Demas just threw in the towel, left his missionary friend in a lurch, and went back home.
So the setting of John 14 is most interesting. The storm clouds were gathering. The disciples knew the tension was great. Many of those first who crowded around Jesus had turned away and fewer and fewer came. And so in an Upper Room he reached out to comfort his followers' frightened hearts. "Let not your hearts be troubled," he said. "You believe in God -- believe also in me." Their hearts were failing. Judas would betray him. Peter would deny him. And the scriptures say: "They all forsook him and fled," except for the lone John. After the Cross and the Resurrection and Jesus' ascension, they would begin to piece together what he had said. "He told us we would not be orphans or abandoned. He told us that when we were troubled he would send an Advocate, a Counselor. He told us that he would prepare a place for us and there would be room for all." He told them that they could always trust the Father and they could trust him. Halford Luccock said because they believed they marched off the map into places the world never imagined. And so the little church survived and the story was passed down from generation to generation because they remembered what he said. You do not need to be troubled -- you do not need to be afraid. We would not have a church or a Bible or a gospel if someone had not trusted in those words that went all the way back to an Upper Room.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
A little boy named Davy gathered with his family around the breakfast table every morning. Out of a little box on the table his mother would take a tiny card with a scripture verse on the card. One particular morning she selected this verse from the Isaiah: "I will trust and not be afraid." Over and over they said the words until each child memorized those words: "I... will... trust... and... not... be... afraid." The mother told them that when they were scared or worried they could say that verse and God would be with them. That afternoon Davy went to the movies with a friend. They were showing Oliver Twist. As one scene grew darker and scarier and the figure dangled in the wind, Davy stood up in the darkness and said out loud, "I will trust and not be afraid." And he promptly sat down and wet his pants.
It really is hard to trust when so much is in disarray. We are anxious because of many things: the economy, our mortgages, the loss of jobs, news that someone like Al Gore or the Schwarzeneggers are getting a divorce sends shock waves to many. We thought they would be married forever. Maria Shriver certainly thought she could trust her husband -- yet Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted publicly this week that he finally revealed to his wife of 25 years the fact that he had fathered a child with one of their household staffers. We routinely catch politicians in lies or gross exaggerations. We sell a mountain of sleeping pills hoping we can just forget for a little while. Someone once said, "We play hard because we live in a haunted house."
Well, the house has always been haunted. Life is always hard. Like the Gulf Coast following Katrina, hundreds in Alabama, have lost everything in the recent tornadoes. The same can be said of many more in the wake of the floodwaters in Mississippi and Tennessee and other places.
And so we come back to church. We bring our troubles with us, though few know our worries. We remember another hard time when Jesus called his all-too-human disciples together and said, "You need not be troubled. Believe in God. Believe in me." And so we remember how courageous those disciples finally were. There were ups and downs, but they remained truthful in those words he gave them in an Upper Room.
Our ultimate trust must be in God. Somewhere Jesus said, "Perfect love casts out all fear." Perhaps we might say: Real trust will cast out all our fears.
A little boy once knocked on a neighbor's door offering to sell some small items for ten cents apiece. The neighbor asked, "What are you going to do with that money?" The little boy said, "I am raising a million dollars for the starving people in Darfur!" The man exclaimed, "A million dollars! Do you expect to raise all that money by yourself?" The boy shook his head and replied, "No, mister, another boy is helping me." That little boy may have been unrealistic. Yet I believe Jesus would smile at that story -- for when we put our confidence in God, we too might just march off the map.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Beyond Jesus
by Ron Love
Acts 7:55-60
Matt Baugher is the vice-president of Thomas Nelson publishers. He chose to publish the book Heaven Is for Real because stories of life after death have a large audience. The reason for this, according to Baugher, is: "We all are perhaps desperate to know what is on the other side of the veil." Jesus is the only person who went to the other side of the veil and returned; but that has not stopped the proliferation of books telling the stories of those who died and went to heaven (and in one case hell), only to return and inform the rest of us of their journey.
Todd Burpo wrote Heaven Is for Real. It is the story of his 4-year-old son Colton, who had a near-death experience as the result of a ruptured appendix, and who at the age of 11 told the tale of walking through heaven. In 90 Minutes in Heaven, Don Piper retells of briefly dying in an automobile accident, and while being entombed in his auto for 90 minutes, visiting heaven. Piper wrote, "I have changed the way I do funerals. Now I can speak authoritatively about heaven from firsthand knowledge." He goes on to say, "Because I was able to experience heaven, I was able to prepare friends for it. And now I am preparing you for it." Both Burpo's and Piper's stories convey that heaven is a place of reunion as they speak of meeting with deceased family members and friends. It must have been a quick 90 minutes for Piper, for only 15 pages of his 205-page book recount his heavenly experience. The rest of the book is devoted to his convalescence and ensuing ministry.
Bill Wiese wrote of being taken from his sleep to hell. He recounted his experience of being tormented and witnessing the punishment of others in his book 23 Minutes in Hell. This book, along with 90 Minutes in Heaven, is a dual selection on Amazon.com, which means they have the same reading audience. Wiese wrote, "Even if you don't believe my story, you should believe these Bible verses and avoid hell just the same. To me, it doesn't matter what causes you to understand the truth as long as it sinks in."
Also appearing on local bookshelves are books that relate that we will all be residents in heaven. The most recent and prominent publication on universal salvation is Rob Bell's book Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. Bell's quest for understanding came when someone in his congregation noted that no matter how good Gandhi was, he is still in hell. Bell could not accept that Gandhi or anyone else who was not a Christian was denied entrance into heaven. Though Bell never uses the word "universalism," it is implied. One of Bell's most-quoted lines regarding Jesus is: "He is narrow as himself and as wide as the universe." Another line is: "Exclusivity on the other side of inclusivity."
These books are a part of the Emerging Church Movement. The authors are influenced by a pluralistic society. Surrounded by friends of varying religions and non-believers, they cannot accept an excusatory heaven. Thus all are saved, even if the word "universalism" is never used.
Heaven, in all of these books, has a concept of reunion. This is also emphasized in William Young's popular novel The Shack and Mitch Albom's book The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Though Wiese wants to keep us in a state of fear, the other proponents want to lift the veil so we see God as an African-American woman who makes pancakes for breakfast. There is nothing to fear here.
And that is the problem, for lost is the concept of accountability. These authors, as much as they want to promote themselves as biblical scholars, are not engaged in exegesis but are writing essays. Like those who listened to the preaching of Peter, they also have "covered their ears" because they do not want to hear the full gospel message.
Universal salvation is a debatable subject because various scriptural passages can be quoted to support one position or the other. But what cannot be debated is that Jesus admonished us to take seriously the lives we live in this world so as not to be judged in the next. Should that not be sufficient? Why do we have to go beyond Jesus and present scenarios that are not biblical? We do not want people to live in fear of everlasting damnation, but we do want people to live with an understanding of accountability after death.
Origen, writing in the third century, gave us the first "Geography of Hell." It was for purification, and the seriousness of one's earthly sins determined how long the cleansing process would take. Origen compared it to a three-tiered system, which he symbolized as follows: Righteous (represented by gold, silver, and precious stones that took the least time to purify); Lesser Sins (wood, hay, stubble); and lastly Evil (iron, lead, and bronze that took the longest to purify). This concept was supported by Gregory the Great, who wrote in the sixth century that after death there was the cleansing fire of hell. This view may not be popular with the Millennialist generation, whom Bell is calling back into the church and for whom he has become a guru, but it is the orthodox position of the church. Bell cannot cover his ears because he wishes not to hear or preach it.
The gospel message is not to be popular, but challenging. That is why when Peter preached people covered their ears. Can the same be said for us?
CRAFTING THE SERMON
I. Discuss how our understanding of heaven and hell cannot be guided by popular literature.
II. Discuss how the Bible leaves us with many unanswered questions regarding salvation and other issues.
III. Discuss how we cannot cover our ears to the most important message of all and that is taking the commands of Jesus seriously.
ILLUSTRATIONS
God's story is true. We know that God's story is true because God gave us his Word -- that Word who came to us as one of us, and died for us, and descended into hell for us, and rose again from the dead for us, and ascended into heaven for us. The Word became the living truth for us, the only truth that can make us free....
When was the last time anybody asked you, "Do I have your word?" Or when was the last time anybody said to you, "I give you my word," and you knew that you could trust that word absolutely? How many times in the last few decades have we watched and listened to a political figure on television and heard him say, "I give you my word..." and shortly thereafter that word has proven false? In the past year alone, how many people have perjured themselves publicly? Sworn on a Bible, given their word, and that word has been a lie? Words of honor are broken casually today, as though they don't matter.
Small wonder that when God tells us, "I give you my Word," few people take him seriously. "I give you my Word," said God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.
-- Madeleine L'Engle, The Rock That Is Higher: Story as Truth (Shaw Books, 2002)
* * *
Most people think that faith and belief are closely related, but faith's nearest relative is not belief but trust.
Belief requires nothing of us -- no action, no risk, no trust... just intellectual assent. But faith requires all of these things. In fact, a belief can hardly be said to be a matter of faith if we are not willing to undertake risk, to trust on the basis of that belief.
I can believe that you can push me across Niagara Falls in a wheelbarrow on a tightrope while sitting at my desk. But for that belief to become faith, I must get up from behind my desk, climb into the wheelbarrow, and trust you with my life.
* * *
William Sloane Coffin is reported to have said: "Faith isn't believing without proof; faith is trusting without reservation."
In fact, it is in the very nature of trust that it must be without reservation. One cannot trust a little, or sort of trust someone.
In the circus trapeze act there are two people: the flyer and the catcher. The job of the flyer is to fly, and the job of the catcher is to catch the flyer. For the flyer to do his or her job they must trust the catcher implicitly to be at the right place at the right time to catch them, and then to complete the catch perfectly and without flaw. Without that unreserved trust, the flyer can't fly.
If you are having surgery you must trust the surgeon without reservations. What choice do you have? Who among us wants to be awake during the operation so we can give the surgeon advice?
* * *
The fact that we trust in God doesn't mean that we don't have doubts and fears. It means that even in the face of our doubts and fears, we don't give in to panic. We trust that God will, as scripture assures us, work all things for good, for those who love and trust Him. And the "all things" that are spoken of include everything from losing our keys to losing our loved ones.
* * *
I was six years old when I learned to ride a bicycle. The bike was too big for me -- I had to pull it up to our stoop and stand above it to swing my leg over the top. I would shove off with my left foot and let momentum carry the bicycle forward while I got situated onto the seat and both feet on the pedals. Then I could deal with the problem of keeping the thing upright.
My mother's advice as she taught me to ride was this: Turn into the fall. She had never studied physics, but she knew from experience that if the bike started to fall to the right I should turn to the right in order to re-establish my center of gravity. If I started to fall to the left I had to turn to the left.
The only problem with that advice was that it seemed so counterintuitive to me. Turn the direction that you're falling? No way that could be right. So I would turn the opposite direction and the bike would always fall.
After about 20 crashes it occurred to me that my way wasn't working and that I had never seen my mother crash a bicycle. Maybe she knew something about this after all. So I decided that, even though her advice seemed strange and nonsensical, I would trust her and do as she said. I shoved off from the porch, threw my leg over the bike, got my feet on the pedals -- and when the bike started to tilt to the right, I turned the front wheel ever so slightly to the right... and the bike corrected itself.
My trust in my mother's crazy advice had paid off.
-- Dean Feldmeyer
* * *
There is a form of extreme skiing that allows skiers to plow the powder in places no one has gone before, to ski in absolutely virgin powder as much as six feet deep while enjoying some of the most breathtaking views the world has to offer.
The problem is, you can only get to these places by helicopter -- and because of the dangers of avalanche and unrecognizable landscape, you have to follow a guide. The helicopter doesn't even touch down. It just hovers above the powder and you jump out with your skis on... and off you go down the mountain, following as closely as you can in the ski tracks of your guide. If you want to do all this and do it safely, you have to trust the guide.
* * *
Hand in Hand
by Dean Feldmeyer
I'm riding down the escalator and I see them approaching on the floor below.
Son is a three- or four-year-old towhead.
Little bib overalls -- little rugby shirt -- baseball cap and Nikes.
And he's a talker.
Nopausesorpunctuationjustaconstantstreamofwords. Like that.
Dad is mid-twenties. Blue jeans, tight T-shirt, shaved head and goatee, a tattoo peeking out from the sleeve of his shirt. A tough guy.
All of a sudden, Son sees the up escalator looming ahead.
His facial expression shifts.
Worry wrinkles his brow.
His eyes narrow in concentration.
The corners of his mouth turn down.
His right hand springs up above his head and...
There is Dad's hand to receive it.
Son's face resumes its former carefree expression.
He continues to talk, having never dropped a word, or even a syllable.
Together,
as Son talks,
they step effortlessly onto the escalator and ascend.
* * *
Climbing Wall
by Dean Feldmeyer
They put this thing here in the mall for fun, they say.
Gray and sheer. Thirty feet of slick plastic. Made to look a little like granite, with occasional finger and toeholds.
They strap you into a "safety" harness. And then you try to climb to the top. Just to say you did.
Fifteen dollars. Twenty-five if you want the T-shirt.
This climber is maybe nine or ten years old.
It's her birthday and she will not want the T-shirt.
She will not want to remember this day.
She's scared.
Only three feet from the top and she's frozen with fear.
Can't go up. Can't go down. Won't let go so the guy can lower her via the harness.
Dad's embarrassed.
His answer is to berate her. Embarrass her. Humiliate her in front of her friends.
Until she can no longer hold back the tears.
Why, I wonder, doesn't he just take the rope from the guy and let her down himself.
Perhaps he knows she wouldn't trust him.
* * *
As Stephen was being stoned, he demonstrated an astonishing degree of trust and belief in God -- and a remarkable degree of forgiveness for those who were about to kill him, saying: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of a seminal event in the history of the American Civil Rights Movement: the Freedom Rides that attempted to bring an end to the racial discrimination in bus travel throughout the South. As a new PBS documentary makes clear, the Freedom Riders had to approach the potential dangers of their action with some of the same spirit that motivated Stephen, as they were exposed to brutal mob attacks and even sent to Parchman Farm, the most feared penitentiary in Mississippi. Faith was always a central part of the Civil Rights Movement, and it is noteworthy that the Freedom Riders included a significant number of ministers and rabbis from across the denominational spectrum -- and that, like Stephen, the riders were amazingly forgiving of those who treated them so poorly. There's no better example of this then the powerful moment on a recent Oprah Winfrey show where former Freedom Rider and current congressman John Lewis was reunited with former Klansman Elwin Miller, who savagely beat Lewis during the 1961 Freedom Rides. Miller publicly admitted to Lewis that he was the person who had beaten him (it was captured in a celebrated photograph) and apologized, and they appeared together as a sign of their reconciliation.
If Stephen and John Lewis can "not hold this sin against them," can we do any less -- no matter how wronged we may feel?
* * *
In his autobiography Ah, But Your Land is Beautiful, South African author/educator Alan Paton tells of his efforts to start a new anti-apartheid political party, the Christian Democratics. One day a little old African man in a big cowboy hat came in to volunteer his help.
Paton and some of the other workers asked the old gentleman if he was sure he wanted to do this. It could be dangerous, they said. You could get hurt.
The man replied that he expected to one day die and stand before his maker. "When I do," he said, "God will ask to see my scars. If I say, 'I have no scars,' he will say to me, 'What? Was there nothing worth fighting for?' "
* * *
John Wesley discipled converts in "class meetings" or "bands" consisting of 12 people pursuing the discipline of Christian godliness. One or more of the following accountability questions were asked of each person weekly:
1. What known sins have you committed since our last meeting?
2. What temptations have you met with?
3. How were you delivered?
4. What have you thought, said, or done, of which you doubt whether it be sin or not?
-- D. Michael Henderson, John Wesley's Class Meetings: A Model for Making Disciples (Evangel Publishing House, 1997), pp. 118-119
* * *
Theodore "Teddy" Kollek was the first elected mayor of the city of Jerusalem in 1969, and was subsequently re-elected four times, serving as mayor for a total of 28 years. When he was first elected he forgot to have his home phone number changed and unlisted. When people began calling him at home he contemplated having the number changed, but never got around to it. Being available to his constituency, he said, kept him on his toes and made him a better mayor.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: God is our rock and our fortress.
People: Lead us and guide us, O God.
Leader: Into God's hand we commit ourselves.
People: It is God who has redeemed us.
Leader: Our times are in your hands, O God.
People: May God's face shine upon us!
OR
Leader: Come and put your trust in God.
People: Can we really trust God? So many have deceived us.
Leader: God is the faithful one, the one who never forsakes us.
People: We want to believe that God is trustworthy.
Leader: God gave everything in Jesus Christ. No one loves us like God loves us.
People: God indeed has proven to be faithful. We will trust in our God!
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"O God, Our Help in Ages Past"
found in:
UMH: 117
H82: 680
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
"My Faith Looks Up to Thee"
found in:
UMH: 452
H82: 691
PH: 383
AAHH: 456
NNBH: 273
CH: 576
LBW: 479
" 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus"
found in:
UMH: 462
AAHH: 368
NNBH: 292
"I Will Trust in the Lord"
found in:
UMH: 464
AAHH: 391
NNBH: 285
NCH: 416
"Trust and Obey"
found in:
UMH: 467
AAHH: 380
NNBH: 322
CH: 556
"Great Is Thy Faithfulness"
found in:
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
Renew: 249
"On Eagle's Wings"
found in:
UMH: 143
CH: 77
Renew: 112
"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"
found in:
UMH: 110
H82: 687, 688
PH: 260
AAHH: 124
NNBH: 374
NCH: 339, 340
CH: 65
LBW: 228, 229
"All I Need Is You"
found in:
CCB: 100
"Great Is the Lord"
found in:
CCB: 65
Renew: 22
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
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is the trustworthy one: Grant us the faith to truly believe in you and to cast our lives on your faithful care; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
You have called us here, O God, and we have answered. In you alone can we trust and find salvation. Help us to hear your word this day and to offer our lives once more into your care. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our reluctance to trust anyone, even God.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We find ourselves so skeptical of all that is around us that we seem to be unable to trust even you, our God and our salvation. We look about us and wonder where you are. We look around us and wonder whether or not you care. Forgive our faithlessness, and so empower us with your Spirit that we may once again trust in you with our whole beings. Amen.
Leader: God is the faithful one, and God grants us forgiveness and God's own Spirit that we might truly be God's children.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We praise and adore you, O God, because you are the faithful one. You are the foundation of all creation, the rock upon which all is grounded.
(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 find ourselves so skeptical of all that is around us that we seem to be unable to trust even you, our God and our salvation. We look about us and wonder where you are. We look around us and wonder whether or not you care. Forgive our faithlessness, and so empower us with your Spirit that we may once again trust in you with our whole beings.
We give you thanks for the sun that rises each day and the stars that shine with constant presence. They reflect your faithful care and presence in our lives.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for ourselves and all your people who struggle to find a solid place to stand in life. We pray that your constant love and care may become more evident to all of us, and that we who have learned of your steadfast love may faithfully reflect your grace to others.
(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
Photos of circus performers from trapeze artists to lion tamers. Anything showing people who have to trust in someone or something.
Children's Sermon Starter
Have a large rope and a very thin string. Ask the children which one they would trust to hold them if they had to climb to the top of the sanctuary. Some things we can trust, and some we can't. God is the one who is more trustworthy than the thickest rope. God never fails.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Open Ears
Acts 7:55-60
Objects: ear muffs, cotton, ear plugs
Good morning, boys and girls! Have your parents ever accused you of being deaf? I mean, does your mother or dad ever say something to you and you pretend not to hear what they say? (let the children answer) I brought along a couple of things to show you how you can keep from hearing what you don't want to hear.
I suppose the least effective way is to wear ear muffs. (put a pair of ear muffs over your ears) When you have these on and they fit well, it keeps some of the sound out. Whatever someone says is harder to hear with ear muffs on than it is without them. But a lot of sound still gets in, and if you want to keep all the sound out you have to try something else.
The second thing I have is some cotton. That's better than ear muffs. When you have cotton in your ears, it's hard to hear what someone is saying. (have the children talk and show them that this makes it harder to hear when they speak softly)
The last item that I brought with me is a pair of ear plugs. I know that a lot of you have worn these when you have gone swimming. You can almost shout, and it sounds like you are far away. It is hard for you to understand what other people are saying when you have ear plugs in your ears.
But why do people do things like this? Why don't they want to hear certain things?
I can tell you a story about a man called Stephen who was one of the early followers of Jesus. He was one of the most devoted disciples. He preached and preached about the love of God and what Jesus had done for everyone. He also told the people about all the ugly things that they were doing, and he asked them to change. There were some people who could not stand to hear about the way they were or about the goodness of Jesus. Do you know what they did? They put their hands over their ears and started screaming and yelling so that they could not hear anything that Stephen said. Try it. Put your hands over your ears and yell and see if you can hear anything that I say. You can't, can you? That's what the people did, and after they could not hear Stephen they took him out and killed him. Stephen was the first man who died for Jesus. We call him a martyr. Stephen was the first Christian martyr.
It may be hard to listen to everything that is said, but closing your ears with cotton, ear plugs, or even your hands is the wrong thing to do. Listen to what is said and try to understand why someone is saying it, and you will be better for it. Only cowards try to shut out the world and the love that God tries to share with all of us.
I hope you will all keep your ears open and listen -- even when it's difficult to do that.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, May 22, 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.
