Who... Who Are You?
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
In the wake of the violence occurring at a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia -- ostensibly organized to protest the city’s plan to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee -- not only was the community that is home to the University of Virginia reeling, but indeed the entire country. President Trump initially released a statement condemning the violence and hatred “on many sides... [that’s] been going on for a long time in our country.” After widespread criticism for not singling out the white nationalists and neo-Nazis who seemed to be the driving force behind much of the carnage, Trump was more critical of those groups the following day -- only to revert a few days later to his controversial viewpoint that “there’s blame on both sides,” suggesting an equivalence of sorts between the groups gathered to “Unite the Right” and counter-demonstrators. The conclusion of many pundits was that blaming all groups revealed what Trump truly believed, whereas he felt political pressure to make his statement calling out the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups. But as team member Mary Austin points out in this installment of The Immediate Word, how we react to the events in Charlottesville reveals a great deal about us as well. Moreover, it also holds up a mirror and reveals the inner nature of the church. How willing are we to confront the tacit racism that we often take for granted? It’s something we have to grapple with if we are to give an honest answer to the question “Who do people say that we are?” To do otherwise, Mary notes, is not to really come to grips with who Jesus is and reveals himself to be.
Team member Chris Keating shares some additional thoughts on the Exodus text and the quiet but incredibly important refusal of the Hebrew midwives to carry out Pharaoh’s directive to kill male Hebrew babies. While they are passing characters in the biblical narrative, their courage and determination can offer a vital lesson for us -- one that Chris sees echoed in the courage and determination of two women in Charlottesville: Zyahna Bryant, the teenager who galvanized the movement to remove the statue at the heart of the protests; and Heather Heyer, the woman who lost her life due to the violent rage of a terrorist driver.
Who... Who Are You?
by Mary Austin
Matthew 16:13-20
Jesus begins gently, almost conversationally. “So,” he asks his disciples, “who are people saying that I am?” What have you heard that makes you think? When the disciples answer, then Jesus asks what he really wants to know. “Who do you say that I am?” After all this time, who am I to you, and to the world? The unasked part of the question is the flip side -- in my presence, who are you? With his question, Jesus holds up a mirror so the disciples can see who he is, and how far they’ve come in his presence.
In a similar way, the events around the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, are holding up a mirror for all kinds of Americans, forcing us to say who we are.
President Trump offered several reactions, and found blame on both sides. He commented that “You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, and nobody wants to say that, but I’ll say it right now.” After varying statements, he seemed to give his final word at a news conference last Tuesday, where he “told reporters in a defiant news conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan that ‘alt-left’ demonstrators were just as responsible for the violence in Charlottesville last weekend as the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who instigated protests that led to the death of a 32-year-old woman, struck down by a car driven by a right-wing activist.”
More importantly, what is our reaction? When faced with this kind of white supremacist rhetoric, when we hear the slogans of Nazi Germany, who are we in response? Do we speak up? Do we assume people know how we feel? Are we outraged? Accepting? Frightened? Are we ready to say that it’s not that bad, and that there is blame on both sides, as the president has said? If we fill a pulpit on Sunday mornings, what are we saying about this?
The rhetoric of the hatred and the violence in Charlottesville offer us all a mirror for our beliefs, and more deeply, our actions.
In the News
Events like the violence in Charlottesville prompt us to look to people like the president for a reaction. Will we find a moral guide there, or a word of consolation? For commenter Chris Cillizza, Trump’s comments were not just inadequate to the situation but morally empty. In Cillizza’s view, Trump handed a big win to the “alt-right” and white supremacists -- and, he writes, “the President of the United States has spent the last 24 hours creating some sort of moral equivalency between hatemongers and those there to protest hate. In doing so, he has handed these white supremacists and neo-Nazis exactly what they want: Cover for their hate-filled rhetoric. Make no mistake: For the bigots and supremacists who gathered in Charlottesville, what Trump said on Saturday and again yesterday marks a major win, a success in their efforts to push their venomous views into the mainstream.”
Afterward, “The president’s top advisers described themselves as stunned, despondent, and numb. Several said they were unable to see how Mr. Trump’s presidency would recover, and others expressed doubts about his capacity to do the job.” The president himself “told close aides that he felt liberated by his news conference. Aides said he seemed to bask afterward in his remarks, and viewed them as the latest retort to the political establishment that he sees as trying to tame his impulses.”
Since then, President Trump’s reaction has provided a mirror for Americans of all political beliefs to examine and express who they are.
A number of business leaders resigned from Trump’s business roundtable groups, moving the president to disband the groups. “The White House’s two advisory councils of top business executives disbanded on Wednesday amid intense public blowback against President Donald Trump’s response to the deadly attack by an accused white supremacist in Charlottesville, Virginia. The move came two days after executives began resigning from the dwindling American Manufacturing Council and hours after the billionaire financier who headed the separate Strategic and Policy Forum hosted a call with other members of that panel.” Trump blasted the first executives to resign: “After Merck & Co. CEO Kenneth Frazier, the only African-American on the manufacturing council, stepped down on Monday, Trump lambasted his company’s high drug prices.... Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank and Intel CEO Brian Krzanich dropped out later Monday evening.... On Tuesday, the president disparaged the two businessmen as ‘grandstanders’ and vowed to replace them.” After more resignations, Trump was forced to disband the groups. He took credit for doing it to take pressure off the executives still remaining.
The business leaders were quicker to depart than Trump’s religious advisors. “Most of President Trump’s evangelical advisers have stood by him this week following much criticism over his response to violent clashes in Charlottesville, even as several CEOs left business advisory councils and members of his Committee on the Arts and Humanities have announced they are leaving the panel. In a first for his evangelical advisory council, New York City megachurch pastor A.R. Bernard announced Friday that he had stepped down from the unofficial board of evangelical advisers to Trump.” The other religious leaders remain in place.
Military leaders also made their own statements: “Five armed services chiefs -- of the Army, the Air Force, the Navy, the Marines, and the National Guard Bureau -- posted statements on social media condemning neo-Nazis and racism in uncompromising terms. They did not mention Mr. Trump by name, but their messages were a highly unusual counter to the commander-in-chief.”
The arrival of the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists caused clergy members in Charlottesville to ponder who they are, as followers of Jesus. Reflecting on his experience standing with the clergy witness in Charlottesville, Brian McLaren says that the Unite the Right protesters revealed who they were before and during the day’s events: “Before and after the event, I have been checking a number of white supremacist websites and Facebook pages related to Unite the Right leaders and identified participants (a deeply disturbing experience). The unabashed racism, the seething hatred, the chest-thumping hubris, the anti-Semitism, the misogyny, the shameless desire to harm their opponents, the gushing love for Trump, Putin, and Stalin, of all people... they speak for themselves. I was struck by how often the term ‘balls’ comes up in their posts: these seem like insecure young men who are especially eager to prove their manhood, recalling election-season bragging about ‘hand size.’ Speaking of size, I haven’t been able to find any estimate on crowd size. I would guess around a thousand white supremacists, and I would guess that the total number of anti-racism/anti-fascism protesters was equal or greater.”
McLaren says that the counter-demonstration revealed who the clergy were too: “I have participated in many protests and demonstrations over the years, but I have not seen the faith community come together in such a powerful and beautiful way as they did in Charlottesville.” McLaren adds that their presence said something about the church to the people who saw the religious leaders in action. “When the rally was disbanded by the police, many of us responded to reports of skirmishes and sought to de-escalate tensions. When the white supremacist terrorist driver ran into anti-racism protestors, many of us were nearby, and we ran together to the scene where we ministered to the injured and supported their loved ones. Many of us helped at the parks that were designated as ‘safe spaces’ for anti-racism protestors, and we provided pastoral care -- asking people if they were okay, listening to their stories, assisting them with finding medics, and offering them encouragement. At least a dozen times protestors said to me, ‘Thanks so much to you clergy for being here.’ Our presence meant something to them.”
The events in Charlottesville, and the president’s reaction to them, offer a mirror to the country, letting us all see who we are as citizens, businesspeople, and religious leaders.
In the Scriptures and in the Sermon
A little before this passage, Peter has the unique experience of walking on the water with Jesus. Is the moment when he sinks into the water and then rises up the moment of revelation? Is that his baptism into the knowledge of who Jesus is? Or does it come to him, little by little, as he and the disciples travel around with Jesus? Jesus tells Peter that this revelation comes from God, but we have to wonder just how God revealed it to him.
How does God change our perspective so dramatically? The sermon might look at the ways God gives us new knowledge, and changes our minds. What people come into our lives and carry some of God’s wisdom? What experiences does God use to make us wiser?
Eric Barreto finds an interesting meaning in the location of Jesus’ question: “The location of this event in Caesarea Philippi is no accident. Caesar’s name and the city he built hovers over the scene. Jesus’ identity is composed in the context of God’s interaction with Israel as well as the regnant power of Jesus’ own time. When Peter declares Jesus to be the Messiah or the anointed one of God, images of political independence are certainly in the air.” Jesus asks the question here because the answer has meaning for the other powers all around them. The sermon might look at the questions we need to ask the powerful structures in our lives. Who are they, in response to who we know Jesus is? What does it mean for their power if Jesus has the ultimate power?
Christian leader Brian McLaren says that spending the day in Charlottesville revealed something about the young, white people who came to the Unite the Right gathering: “The young age of many of the white supremacists and Nazis suggests two things to me: first, that young white people are being radicalized in America today, radicalized to the point of using the ISIS tactic of killing people with a car; and second, that this problem isn’t going away fast -- especially if radicalizing influences continue or increase their activities among younger generations.”
The sermon might look at how we as individuals and how the church together will engage in this long fight. When we, along with Peter, say that Jesus is the messiah, we say that he is the one coming to save the world. For us, as Christians, all human ideologies find their ultimate truth in how we respond to God. How do we engage in this conversation with these embittered young people who are also children of God?
The sermon might look at the spiritual strengths we need for this kind of unsettling time. Jim McDermott, S.J. points to the Catholic practice of the examen, the nightly look at the day’s joys and struggles. He finds a well of strength there, but, he notes, “Faced with upheaval in U.S. society, with leaders who enable violence and oppression while others stand by silent, an invitation to prayer might sound like the spiritual version of palliative care -- an attempt to address the pain but not the disease. But though the news cycle and each new outrage demand constant attention, to see what is really going on and to offer a thoughtful response we need not only to be able to enter in but to step back.” Our actions grow from the certainty of who Jesus is, and who we are in connection to him, and we need to keep returning to the well for strength and clarity before we act.
Charlottesville demands that ordinary Christians ask who we are, too, if we call Jesus the messiah. What is the church going to say about racism? Will we call out white supremacy, and the church built on its foundation? A friend of a friend joked (sort of) on the day of the Charlottesville violence that the protests would have to wrap up soon because the Unite the Right demonstrators would have to get home to preach the next morning. On the day of the violence, some Christian leaders were quick to condemn the ideology behind the demonstration. “Russell Moore, the head of the political arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, tweeted that ‘the so-called alt-right white-supremacist ideologies are anti-Christ and satanic to the core.’ Jack Graham, a Texas megachurch pastor who serves on Trump’s evangelical advisory committee, wrote that ‘white supremacy and its movements are evil to the core and are to be condemned.’ Other white Christian leaders spoke only in vague terms, much like the president. For example: Franklin Graham, the evangelist and son of Billy Graham, asked his Facebook followers to ‘pray for Governor of Virginia Terry McAuliffe, law enforcement, and everyone struggling to deal with the chaos and violence that reared its ugly head in Charlottesville,’ citing neither ‘racism’ nor ‘white supremacy.’ ” Fearful that white preachers wouldn’t understand the importance of the day, a friend of mine drove an hour to worship in an African-American congregation the next morning, needing to hear racism and white supremacy called out from the pulpit.
Like Peter, we know that Jesus is the messiah, the embodiment of the living God. Like Peter, Jesus asks something of us once we know that. As racism and white supremacy assert themselves again in our common life, we see ourselves in their mirror. We can act on who we know Jesus is -- or deny him.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Midwives to Hope
by Chris Keating
Exodus 1:8--2:10
In Charlottesville, two women decided to take a stand. Like the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah, their actions gave birth to hope.
It started in 2016 when a high school student Zyahna Bryant and her friends decided to speak out about something they found offensive in their hometown. They grew weary of looking at monuments praising slaveholders, and saw symbols of the Confederacy as outdated racist relics.
Bryant spoke out about a 93-year-old statue of General Robert E. Lee which anchored a city park also bearing his name. Debates over the statue had been raging for years, but it was the teenager’s letter to an editor and subsequent petition drive that galvanized a movement to remove the statue. City leaders also voted to change the park’s name to “Emancipation Park.” Others took note of what Bryant and her friends were trying to do -- including, sadly, a white supremacist named Jason Kessler. Kessler led the fight against the name change, and ultimately sparked last week’s deadly “Unite the Right” protests that swarmed Charlottesville’s streets with a varietal mix of hate groups including white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and the Ku Klux Klan.
The statue is standing for now, as a lawsuit makes its way through the courts. It was built in the 1920s, as Jim Crow laws and segregationist attitudes were rising in Virginia. As a side note, some have observed that General Lee himself shut down several efforts to erect monuments honoring the Confederacy.
Moved by Bryant’s passion, a 58-year-old grandfather named Don Gathers joined her cause and quickly volunteered to be part of a city commission charged with reviewing the monument’s status. Gathers told journalist Katie Couric that while monuments to the Confederacy are plentiful, scant attention is paid to the city’s African-American history.
Gathers noted that down the street from the statue, a barely noticeable plaque on a sidewalk marks the location of the city’s old slave auction site. According to Couric: “When you look at General Lee, Don told me, you look up. When you look at the plaque, you look down. He is convinced this is not an accident.”
During the Charlottesville protests, hatred turned deadly during when a car was driven straight into a crowd, injuring many and killing 32-year old Heather Heyer. Heyer had never protested before, but had frequently spoken out about discrimination and civil rights. She told her friends she was a bit scared the protests would turn violent. The last words she posted on her Facebook wall spoke of her convictions: “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”
Amidst the confusion and chaos, in a time ripe with hatred, two women gave birth to hope by standing up and saying “enough.”
“As a younger African-American resident in this city,” Bryant said in her online petition, “I am often exposed to different forms of racism that are embedded in the history of the South and particularly this city. My peers and I feel strongly about the removal of the statue because it makes us feel uncomfortable and it is very offensive. I do not go to the park for that reason, and I am certain that others feel the same way. This city is such a great place to live, but this simply goes against the great values of Charlottesville.”
Bryant grew tired of being pushed down, and so she stood up. “Let’s not forget,” she wrote to the local newspaper, “Robert E. Lee fought for perpetual bondage of slaves and the bigotry of the South that kept most black citizens as slaves and servants for the entirety of their lives. As a result, legislatures of the South chose to ignore and turn a blind eye to the injustices of African-Americans from Jim Crow and anti-black terrorism to integrated education.”
The everyday leadership of Bryant and Heyer resembles the courageous actions of the Hebrew midwives. Somehow, these otherwise unknown women summoned the pluck to stand up against oppressive power. Somehow, they found the ability to tackle Pharaoh and his xenophobic fear of the growing Israelite minority. It’s flawed logic, but this is how anxious leadership responds to crises. He’s worried that the Hebrews will take over Egypt. His response, however, is short-sighted.
Pay attention to how imperialism fuels Pharaoh’s rage. His reasoning borders on irrational -- but then, tyrants are seldom coherent thinkers. He tells his people: “Look, the Israelite population is growing. They’ll overtake us! They’ll join our enemies! They’ll escape!” It’s probably a lie, but it seems to him that the best option is to cut this people off at the root.
His final solution of killing the newborn male babies fails to consider that these children might grow up and one day become productive laborers. Imperialist power rarely takes the long view, and so Pharaoh sends out a memo to the Hebrew midwives instructing them just how to handle this little problem.
Clearly, however, Pharaoh underestimates the power of Jewish midwives.
Shiphrah and Puah, two women whose only appearance in scripture is this quick cameo, decide to stand up against Pharaoh’s unjust power. As God-fearing women, they come up with another plan -- which they probably called “alt-birthing.” (It’s just a hunch.) Whatever else happens, they decide, we’re in this together -- sort of like an early Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz. They stand up to injustice and give birth to hope, and decide to take a pass on the king’s edict.
Pharaoh isn’t pleased. He calls Lucy and Ethel -- oops, Shiphrah and Puah -- back to the palace and demands a report. They smile politely at the ruler, trying hard to muffle their laughter. “Well, your highness, we don’t know what to say. These Hebrew women are something else. They’re pushing out these babies quicker than we can boil water.” (For a slightly cheeky take on this story, check out this short video and its take on Shiphrah and Puah’s resistance to Pharaoh’s “Hebrew pregnancy enhancement program.”)
Well, bless their bulrushes. These women must have laughed themselves all the way home. Tears were rolling down their faces every time they recalled Pharaoh’s quizzical stares. Lacking any official power, they rendered Pharaoh impotent. They bore witness to what Walter Brueggemann has called “the mothering power of God whose will for life overrides the killing, and whose power for life is undeterred by the death dispensed by the powerful” (Exodus [The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 1], p. 697).
It’s a light touch that points to a powerful truth. These women were midwives to hope, daring to stand up against a brutal and oppressive power. Like Zyahna Bryant and Heather Heyer, they bore witness to a conviction that hatred and subjugation of people is antithetical to God’s purposes. They stood up, and declared their story.
As hatred spilled out across the tiki-torch-lined streets of Charlottesville, a pastor from Ferguson, Missouri, stood in a Charlottesville pulpit. Outside, white young men chanted “You will not remove us.” Inside, Rev. Traci Blackmon asked the congregation: “Where have all the dreamers gone?” With protestors surrounding the church and city, Katie Couric noted that the congregation responded by singing “This Little Light of Mine.”
In a time of hate, the congregation became midwives to hope.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Ron Love:
Matthew 16:13-20
Barry Manilow gave his first and last interview regarding his private life in April 2017 to People magazine. In the interview he discussed the relationship he has with his husband Gary Kief. Manilow shared how they met, how they courted, their secret marriage, and how he hid his homosexuality from the public. It must be remembered that Barry Manilow was a practicing homosexual at a time when if it became public his career could have ended. When asked why he remined silent until recently, Manilow said he did it for his fans. He said: “I thought I would be disappointing them if they knew that I was gay. So I never did anything.”
Application: It is troubling that we live in a society where we sometimes cannot truthfully answer the question “But who do you say that I am?”
*****
Matthew 16:13-20
In a recent interview, Samuel L. Jackson acknowledged being in “trivial” movies, but also said that those movies are usually fun to watch. Jackson maintained that a movie should be “fun to do.” Jackson went on to say: “People talk about, ‘I can’t stand to watch myself on screen.’ Well, get another job! You expect people to pay $12 or $15 to go and see you and you don’t want to see it? I don’t think so.”
Application: If we are to build a church, it must be a church that we want to see, a church that we want to be a part of.
*****
Romans 12:1-8
In an interview with People magazine, Barry Manilow recalled performing with Bette Midler in the early 1970s at the Continental Baths, the largest and most popular homosexual gathering place in New York City. Midler’s career skyrocketed, and so did Manilow’s. In 1974, he released his first song, “Mandy,” which hit number one on the charts. “Can’t Smile Without You” and “Copacabana” soon followed. With these songs Manilow rose to fame as a composer and singer. But Manilow is a true introvert, which made fame difficult for him. Manilow said, “I never thought about being a performer. I was really this awkward guy that didn’t know what he was doing. I didn’t know why they were applauding: honestly, I didn’t.”
Application: Paul instructs each of us to recognize our gifts.
*****
Romans 12:1-8
Jason Day was once golf’s number one ranked player, but life circumstances changed all of that. He was trying to play golf, be a living presence to his family, and care for his mother who had lung cancer. The pressure was just too much for him, and in March of this year at the Match Play Championship he just walked off the course at the sixth hole. Looking back, Day says he was just “burned out.” He took time to bring stability to his life and then he was able to focus on golf. Entering the recent PGA championship, Day said, “I’m motivated... I’m hungry again -- and I’m looking forward to trying to beat these guys.”
Application: Paul says we are to use our gifts and we are to use them enthusiastically.
*****
Romans 12:1-8
Samuel L. Jackson was recently interviewed regarding his personal life and his acting career. It was noted that most of the movies Jackson appears in are genre movies. It was questioned why the actor did not seek more substantial roles. He replied that it was because those were the movies I liked “when I was growing up.”
Application: As Christians, we need to understand the role that best suits us.
*****
Romans 12:1-8
Joel Osteen is the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston. His wife, Victoria, is his co-pastor. Osteen claims to have the largest Christian congregation in the United States as well as the most ethnically diverse congregation. He boasts of the 10 million families in every city of the United States who watch his Sunday worship service at home on television. In his book Journey to a Better You, he puts forth the premise that right thinking -- positive thinking -- will allow you to achieve all of your dreams. He notes that our minds are like a computer and whenever we get a negative thought all we have to do is hit the “delete” button. Delete the negative thought and replace it with a positive thought, and in so doing we will be “healthy, prosperous, and fulfilled.” Osteen cites what the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:2: “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Osteen says that if we are transformed by the renewing of our minds, then we will be blessed by God. Osteen somehow has failed to read the entire verse, which teaches that we are to renew our minds for the ability to have “sober judgment.” We are to renew our minds so we have the ability for discernment. Paul says nothing about renewing our minds to be “healthy, prosperous, and fulfilled.”
Application: We are not to renew our minds to be prosperous, but we are to renew our minds to have enough sober judgment to discern the will of God in our lives.
*****
Exodus 1:8--2:10
Each week People magazine has a feature called “Why I Care” that spotlights a celebrity and interviews him or her regarding a beneficial project he or she is involved in to help others. In April the magazine interviewed Stephen Curry, the star Golden State Warriors guard. Curry said that though he receives many accolades, he is also subject to taunts, especially those that come by way of social media. Curry has two daughters and is concerned about the bullying they can receive on social media. Realizing this, Curry established the Filtered Life campaign. Filtered Life teaches children and adolescents how to discard negative remarks posted on social media that can bully them if not ignored and erased. Curry said, “Impressionable kids need to have a place where they are not subject to this kind of bullying.”
Application: The Hebrews were desperate for a filtered life.
*****
Exodus 1:8--2:10
Democratic President Harry Truman so disliked Robert Taft, the Republican Senator from Ohio, that he instructed the pilot of Air Force One to inform him when they were flying over the state of Ohio. When Truman was told that the plane was in Ohio’s airspace, he would get up, use the facilities, and flush as a symbolic act of displeasure.
Application: The hate that the Egyptians had for the Hebrews goes beyond understanding.
*****
Exodus 1:8--2:10
Anger is not only destructive to one’s soul, it is equally destructive to one’s physical health. Dr. Walter Cannon, a pioneer researcher in psychopathic medicine, in 1932 coined the phrase “fight or flight” to define our response to threats. He also described our physiological changes when we become angry. Cannon wrote: “Respiration deepens; the heart beats more rapidly; the arterial pressure rises; the blood is shifted from the stomach and intestines to the heart, central nervous system, and the muscles; the process of the alimentary canal ceases; sugar is freed from the reserves in the liver; the spleen contracts and discharges its contents of concentrated corpuscles, and adrenalin is secreted.” And that adrenalin surge, for most people, is accompanied by an uncontrollable outburst of language. Words, like a pointed arrow, once released cannot be called back. Words, like a pointed arrow, pierce -- and the psychological wound is seldom healed.
Application: We may find ourselves abused and persecuted like the Hebrews. We, like the Hebrews, will have to decide what our response will be.
*****
Isaiah 51:1-6
Kevin Harvick, who has raced for the team owned by fellow driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., recently said that Dale Jr. hindered NASCAR’s growth because as the most popular driver he still did not win enough races. Harvick said that Earnhardt may have been “our sport’s most popular driver,” but Earnhardt “hasn’t been anywhere close to being our most successful driver.” And it is for this reason that Kevin Harvick thinks Dale Earnhardt Jr. did little to advance NASCAR. Upon learning of the remark, Earnhardt said: “About his comments, some of those comments were hurtful.”
Application: If we pursue righteousness, then it will influence what we say about others.
***************
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
Matthew 16:13-20
Who Does the Witness Say that I Am?
Adolf Beck may be the most famous case of tragically mistaken identity in history. His story has spawned several books and movies, and it has even made its way into textbooks studied in law schools.
Beck, who lived in Britain, found himself facing 15 convictions -- all because a random woman whom he met on the street one day in 1895 thought he looked like a man who had a few weeks prior had robbed her of a fairly small amount of money.
Unfortunately for Beck, the same swindler was wanted for several other similar thefts -- leading to all of those convictions. Astonishingly, the other victims of the actual thefts identified Beck as the culprit, with some even picking him out of a lineup.
There had been similar crimes committed in 1877, and a police officer was set to identify Beck as the same thief (who had served four years in prison earlier). This was despite the fact that Beck had been living in Peru at the time of those earlier crimes. The judge ignored this apparent evidence of innocence and sentenced Beck to seven years in prison, of which he wound up serving five. While he was imprisoned yet even more evidence mounted in his favor, but when presented with the new evidence the judge ignored it, leaving Beck to finish out his sentence.
After being released from prison, he was accused yet again in 1904 and was convicted again as well. This time, however, the real John Smith was arrested in the act of stealing while Beck sat in jail. Luckily the judge didn’t ignore the evidence this time around, and Beck was set free.
*****
Matthew 16:13-20
Who Do Space Aliens Say that I Am?
Released in 1999, the movie Galaxy Quest features an all-star cast (Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, and Sam Rockwell) as a group of burned-out, has-been actors who once starred on a science-fiction television series by that name. When they show up together in costume at a sci-fi fan convention, they are kidnapped by a race of humanoid space aliens who have somehow managed to receive American television signals and believe that everything they see on TV is real. The aliens have kidnapped the four cast members because the think the four actually are the characters they played and will be able to help them defeat a feared enemy called Sarris.
One of my favorite lines in this comedy/adventure, which is based on a huge case of mistaken identity, is spoken by one of the alien characters named Quelleck. He has been wounded, and is lying in the arms of Sir Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman), who played the alien Dr. Lazarus on the TV show. As he is dying, Quelleck says to Dane/Lazarus: “You’ll forgive my impertinence, sir, but even though we have never before met, I have always considered you as a father to me.”
*****
Matthew 16:13-20
Who Does My Reputation Say that I Am?
The web site Social Media Today reminds us to be careful about what we post on social media. A reputation can be made or destroyed by one or two careless posts. Here are four things to avoid:
Inappropriate Photos Display a Bad Image:
Photos taken at parties or on spring break can come back to haunt you. You might be laughing about the good times now, but your laughter will come to an abrupt halt once the photos ruin your good name.
One article reports on how an entire police station faced embarrassment after one officer posted a photo online. In the photo, the officer allowed four girls in bikinis to pose on his police cruiser during a charity car wash. The police department fired him.
Your Attempt to be Relevant Could Backfire:
One way people get attention on social media outlets is by talking about recent events in their community and the news. One such celebrity who utilized this tactic on Twitter was Gilbert Gottfried. When the Japanese tsunami hit, Gottfried took the opportunity to make some unbelievably offensive jokes, such as “Japan is really advanced. They don’t go to the beach. The beach comes to them.” This backfired spectacularly, and Gottfried, the voice of the Aflac duck, was almost immediately fired. This led to a nationwide campaign by Aflac to find the next voice of the famous duck on their television commercials.
Your Words Can Come Back to Haunt You:
A quote from Abercrombie and Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries found its way onto social media. Basically, he said that he only wanted popular, beautiful people wearing his clothes. Roger Dooley reports that people across the country began throwing out their Abercrombie clothes, vowing never to wear them again. He also says that sales dropped 15 percent.
Interestingly, Mike Jeffries actually said these things six years ago! It was social media that blew it up and spread it like a wildfire.
Your Personal Profiles Could Leak Onto Your Professional Ones:
Most people draw a line between their professional profiles and their personal profiles, but sometimes it’s not so easy. Poway.patch.com reports that one employee who worked for a marketing company thought that they were posting on their own Twitter account when they were actually logged into a profile the company managed for Chrysler. They wrote the following unfortunate tweet: “I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the #motorcity and yet no one here knows how to drive.”
The company fired the employee.
*****
Matthew 16:13-20
Who Do People Say that I Am?
In the 1975 movie Hearts of the West, Jeff Bridges plays aspiring screenplay writer Lewis Tater, who in 1933 leaves his Iowa home and goes to Los Angeles to seek fame and fortune. There he meets an old movie stuntman, cowboy historian, and bit player named Howard Pike (portrayed by Andy Griffith).
When he introduces himself to Pike, Tater enthusiastically says, “I’m a writer.”
Pike looks searchingly at the young man, shakes his head, and says: “If a person saying he was something was all there was to it, this country’d be full of rich men and good-looking women. Kings and queens... you know what I mean? Too bad it isn’t that easy. In short, when someone else says you’re a writer, that’s when you’re a writer... not before.”
In the last scene of the movie young Tater is hurt in a fight and is being carried away on a stretcher when Howard Pike says to the ambulance attendants: “Take good care of him. His name’s Lewis Tater. He’s a writer.”
*****
Exodus 1:8--2:10
The New Midwives -- Giving Life to Kids
Christina and Christopher Sanders, a couple from Forest Park, Ohio, already had a big family, with five brilliant kids of their own. But in 2014 they opened their hearts to six more, all siblings from the same family ranging in age from 9 to 16. They took the two girls and four boys into their home back then as foster parents.
In April of this year they took it a step further when they adopted all six siblings and added them to their family of seven. That’s 13 people for those of you keeping score at home.
“I’m happy that I’m here because everything is wonderful,” 12-year-old Cayley, one of the newest additions to the Sanders family, told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “This is just what I wanted.”
“I would not know where I’d be right now if it wasn’t for the Sanders. We [were] having a rough life before,” Caleb, her 13-year-old brother, added.
“We just made the agreement: Whoever we get, we will keep ’em,” Christina Sanders told the Enquirer. “It was rough, but we did it. And we are happy we did.”
Along with Cayley and Caleb, the Sanders have also welcomed 16-year-old Coby, 14-year-old Christian, 10-year-old Carson, and 9-year-old Chloe.
Hamilton County Probate Judge Ralph Winkler commended the family for their outstanding actions in deciding to take on such a large task. “They serve as an example... to how people can change the community one child at a time,” he said. “Or six children at a time.”
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: If it had not been God who was on our side,
People: then our enemies would have swallowed us up alive.
Leader: We have escaped like a bird from the snare;
People: the snare is broken, and we have escaped.
Leader: Our help is in the name of our God;
People: the One who made heaven and earth.
OR
Leader: Come and learn of the God who created us.
People: We come to know about our God.
Leader: God has been revealed to us in Jesus of Nazareth.
People: Praise to God who walks among us in human flesh.
Leader: God invites us to follow Jesus in the full Reign of God.
People: We will learn of Jesus and become his true disciples.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy”
found in:
UMH: 121
H82: 469, 470
PH: 298
NCH: 23
CH: 73
LBW: 290
ELA: 587, 588
W&P: 61
AMEC: 78
STLT: 213
“Hope of the World”
found in:
UMH: 178
H82: 472
PH: 360
NCH: 46
CH: 538
LBW: 493
W&P: 404
“Rise, Shine, You People”
found in:
UMH: 187
LBW: 393
ELA: 665
W&P: 89
“Tú Has Venido a la Orilla” (“Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore”)
found in:
UMH: 344
PH: 377
CH: 342
W&P: 347
“It’s Me, It’s Me, O Lord”
found in:
UMH: 352
NNBH: 496
CH: 579
“Dear Lord and Father of Mankind”
found in:
UMH: 358
H82: 652, 653
PH: 345
NCH: 502
CH: 594
LBW: 506
W&P: 470
AMEC: 344
“What Does the Lord Require”
found in:
UMH: 441
H82: 605
PH: 405
CH: 659
W&P: 686
“O God of Every Nation”
found in:
UMH: 435
H82: 607
PH: 289
CH: 680
LBW: 416
ELA: 713
W&P: 626
“Unity”
found in:
CCB: 59
“Your Loving Kindness Is Better than Life”
found in:
CCB: 26
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who shows your true self in Jesus of Nazareth: Grant us the courage to be who we truly are both as your image and as members of the Body of Christ; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, for you have shown your true self to us in Jesus of Nazareth. You have shown us what it looks like when a human life is centered in you. Send your Spirit upon us that we may truly be your image and faithful members of the Body of Christ. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our being conformed to this world instead of being transformed in the mind of Christ.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have created us to reflect your glory and your love. You have given us your own Spirit to dwell within us. You have made us members of the very Body of Christ. And yet, we too often look and act no differently than those who do not acknowledge you as God. Instead of being transformed by your Spirit so that you can use us to transform the world, we allow the world to conform us to its standards. Instead of love and grace, we often speak in harsh words about revenge; instead of redemption, we speak of punishment; instead of the words of Jesus, we spew forth the words of this world. We have betrayed you and have failed to live out justice and mercy; we have failed to be your gracious people. Help us not to hide from our sin but to own it and move away from it. Send your Spirit upon us so that we might once again reflect your image in all we say or do. Amen.
Leader: The God of Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Jesus, and all the saints desires to dwell among us in peace and grace. Receive God’s love and forgiveness, and allow God’s Spirit to transform you into the likeness of the Christ.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise you, O God, for you have created us in your own image. You have gifted us with your own Spirit. You have taught us how to live in harmony with you and with all others.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have created us to reflect your glory and your love. You have given us your own Spirit to dwell within us. You have made us members of the very Body of Christ. And yet, we too often look and act no differently than those who do not acknowledge you as God. Instead of being transformed by your Spirit so that you can use us to transform the world, we allow the world to conform us to its standards. Instead of love and grace, we often speak in harsh words about revenge; instead of redemption, we speak of punishment; instead of the words of Jesus, we spew forth the words of this world. We have betrayed you and have failed to live out justice and mercy; we have failed to be your gracious people. Help us not to hide from our sin but to own it and move away from it. Send your Spirit upon us so that we might once again reflect your image in all we say or do.
We give you thanks for your gracious love that accepts us as we are. We thank you for the wonderful diversity in our world and in the human race. We thank you for the stories of scripture that remind us we are all your creators, we are all your children.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for those who are harmed by the hatred and rejection of others. We pray for those whose lives are so filled with hate that they feel the need to lash out at others. We pray for the redemption of all your children, including ourselves, that we may live in your peaceable kingdom.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Play “Who Am I?” with the children using a few well-known Bible characters. Some examples you might use are: I am a shepherd boy. Who am I?; I play music. Who am I?; I became king. Who am I? Keep asking questions until the children guess who it is. Then ask them to think of things they would say about themselves if we were playing the game about them. You may want to go first to show them how it is done. Talk about how it is important for us to know who we are -- especially that we are God’s image; we are God’s children; we are loved by God; we are Christians; we are Jesus’ disciples.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Who Are You?
by Beth Herrinton-Hodge
Matthew 16:13-20
(Gather the children and welcome them.)
Our Bible story today is about a conversation Jesus had with his disciples.
Jesus asked them: Who do other people say that I am?
The disciples answered: Some people say that you are John the Baptist. Some say that you are one of the prophets, like Elijah or Jeremiah or some other prophet.
Then Jesus asked the disciples: Who do YOU say that I am?
Jesus’ special friend, Peter, answered: You are Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.
It strikes me that Jesus received several different answers to the question he asked. Why do you think people gave such different answers? (Invite the children to respond.)
I think there were different answers because different people saw and knew Jesus differently. Some people only knew Jesus from afar. They weren’t very close to Jesus.
Some people saw Jesus work miracles -- like feeding 5,000 people.
Some people listened to his teachings.
Others received help and healing from Jesus. They knew Jesus, but they weren’t really close to him. They knew him from what they saw or heard him do.
Some people, like Peter, knew Jesus really well. They spent every day with him. They learned from his teaching. They learned to heal and help people too. By being close to Jesus and spending time with him, they could tell you -- more clearly -- who Jesus was.
Isn’t this true for each of us?
If you asked the people who know us really well -- our parents, our close friends -- who we are or what makes us special, they could give a good answer.
But the people we don’t know well -- the people we see in a different classroom from ours, the people we only see at church once a week, the people on an opposing soccer team -- they know us only from what they see in us every once in a while.
Let me ask you: Who are you? Take a few seconds to think about your answer. Then I’ll give you a chance to respond.
Who are you? (One by one, invite each child to respond. You may offer prompts such as: tell us your name, tell us what you like to do, are you a sister or brother, are you a son or daughter? Are you kind? Are you smart? Are you creative?)
Great! Thank you for telling us a bit about you.
Now here’s the important question -- how would people know about you, about what you just told us about yourself? How would they know it? (Invite the children to respond.)
People knew who Jesus was by spending time with him. They watched him and listened to him and learned a bit about who he was and what he was like. The way Jesus lived and treated and helped others was what Jesus was really like. He lived honestly.
Can the same be said about you? If people see you, and know you, and know how you act, and how you treat others... would this give them a good picture of you?
Jesus lived well. He helped people. He listened to people. He taught people. They had a chance to see what Jesus was like. And what Jesus was like was pretty cool.
I challenge you to live well too.
Help people. Be nice to people. Treat others well. Be the best person you can be, so people -- even people who don’t know you very well -- can see what you’re really like... so people know who you are.
Let us pray together.
Prayer: Jesus, we know you from what we read about you in the Bible and what we learn about you from our family and our church. We know that you lived honestly. We know you were a good guy. Help us to live honestly too, so that people who see us can know us -- and know that we follow and learn from you. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, August 27, 2017, issue.
Copyright 2017 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 Chris Keating shares some additional thoughts on the Exodus text and the quiet but incredibly important refusal of the Hebrew midwives to carry out Pharaoh’s directive to kill male Hebrew babies. While they are passing characters in the biblical narrative, their courage and determination can offer a vital lesson for us -- one that Chris sees echoed in the courage and determination of two women in Charlottesville: Zyahna Bryant, the teenager who galvanized the movement to remove the statue at the heart of the protests; and Heather Heyer, the woman who lost her life due to the violent rage of a terrorist driver.
Who... Who Are You?
by Mary Austin
Matthew 16:13-20
Jesus begins gently, almost conversationally. “So,” he asks his disciples, “who are people saying that I am?” What have you heard that makes you think? When the disciples answer, then Jesus asks what he really wants to know. “Who do you say that I am?” After all this time, who am I to you, and to the world? The unasked part of the question is the flip side -- in my presence, who are you? With his question, Jesus holds up a mirror so the disciples can see who he is, and how far they’ve come in his presence.
In a similar way, the events around the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, are holding up a mirror for all kinds of Americans, forcing us to say who we are.
President Trump offered several reactions, and found blame on both sides. He commented that “You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, and nobody wants to say that, but I’ll say it right now.” After varying statements, he seemed to give his final word at a news conference last Tuesday, where he “told reporters in a defiant news conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan that ‘alt-left’ demonstrators were just as responsible for the violence in Charlottesville last weekend as the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who instigated protests that led to the death of a 32-year-old woman, struck down by a car driven by a right-wing activist.”
More importantly, what is our reaction? When faced with this kind of white supremacist rhetoric, when we hear the slogans of Nazi Germany, who are we in response? Do we speak up? Do we assume people know how we feel? Are we outraged? Accepting? Frightened? Are we ready to say that it’s not that bad, and that there is blame on both sides, as the president has said? If we fill a pulpit on Sunday mornings, what are we saying about this?
The rhetoric of the hatred and the violence in Charlottesville offer us all a mirror for our beliefs, and more deeply, our actions.
In the News
Events like the violence in Charlottesville prompt us to look to people like the president for a reaction. Will we find a moral guide there, or a word of consolation? For commenter Chris Cillizza, Trump’s comments were not just inadequate to the situation but morally empty. In Cillizza’s view, Trump handed a big win to the “alt-right” and white supremacists -- and, he writes, “the President of the United States has spent the last 24 hours creating some sort of moral equivalency between hatemongers and those there to protest hate. In doing so, he has handed these white supremacists and neo-Nazis exactly what they want: Cover for their hate-filled rhetoric. Make no mistake: For the bigots and supremacists who gathered in Charlottesville, what Trump said on Saturday and again yesterday marks a major win, a success in their efforts to push their venomous views into the mainstream.”
Afterward, “The president’s top advisers described themselves as stunned, despondent, and numb. Several said they were unable to see how Mr. Trump’s presidency would recover, and others expressed doubts about his capacity to do the job.” The president himself “told close aides that he felt liberated by his news conference. Aides said he seemed to bask afterward in his remarks, and viewed them as the latest retort to the political establishment that he sees as trying to tame his impulses.”
Since then, President Trump’s reaction has provided a mirror for Americans of all political beliefs to examine and express who they are.
A number of business leaders resigned from Trump’s business roundtable groups, moving the president to disband the groups. “The White House’s two advisory councils of top business executives disbanded on Wednesday amid intense public blowback against President Donald Trump’s response to the deadly attack by an accused white supremacist in Charlottesville, Virginia. The move came two days after executives began resigning from the dwindling American Manufacturing Council and hours after the billionaire financier who headed the separate Strategic and Policy Forum hosted a call with other members of that panel.” Trump blasted the first executives to resign: “After Merck & Co. CEO Kenneth Frazier, the only African-American on the manufacturing council, stepped down on Monday, Trump lambasted his company’s high drug prices.... Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank and Intel CEO Brian Krzanich dropped out later Monday evening.... On Tuesday, the president disparaged the two businessmen as ‘grandstanders’ and vowed to replace them.” After more resignations, Trump was forced to disband the groups. He took credit for doing it to take pressure off the executives still remaining.
The business leaders were quicker to depart than Trump’s religious advisors. “Most of President Trump’s evangelical advisers have stood by him this week following much criticism over his response to violent clashes in Charlottesville, even as several CEOs left business advisory councils and members of his Committee on the Arts and Humanities have announced they are leaving the panel. In a first for his evangelical advisory council, New York City megachurch pastor A.R. Bernard announced Friday that he had stepped down from the unofficial board of evangelical advisers to Trump.” The other religious leaders remain in place.
Military leaders also made their own statements: “Five armed services chiefs -- of the Army, the Air Force, the Navy, the Marines, and the National Guard Bureau -- posted statements on social media condemning neo-Nazis and racism in uncompromising terms. They did not mention Mr. Trump by name, but their messages were a highly unusual counter to the commander-in-chief.”
The arrival of the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists caused clergy members in Charlottesville to ponder who they are, as followers of Jesus. Reflecting on his experience standing with the clergy witness in Charlottesville, Brian McLaren says that the Unite the Right protesters revealed who they were before and during the day’s events: “Before and after the event, I have been checking a number of white supremacist websites and Facebook pages related to Unite the Right leaders and identified participants (a deeply disturbing experience). The unabashed racism, the seething hatred, the chest-thumping hubris, the anti-Semitism, the misogyny, the shameless desire to harm their opponents, the gushing love for Trump, Putin, and Stalin, of all people... they speak for themselves. I was struck by how often the term ‘balls’ comes up in their posts: these seem like insecure young men who are especially eager to prove their manhood, recalling election-season bragging about ‘hand size.’ Speaking of size, I haven’t been able to find any estimate on crowd size. I would guess around a thousand white supremacists, and I would guess that the total number of anti-racism/anti-fascism protesters was equal or greater.”
McLaren says that the counter-demonstration revealed who the clergy were too: “I have participated in many protests and demonstrations over the years, but I have not seen the faith community come together in such a powerful and beautiful way as they did in Charlottesville.” McLaren adds that their presence said something about the church to the people who saw the religious leaders in action. “When the rally was disbanded by the police, many of us responded to reports of skirmishes and sought to de-escalate tensions. When the white supremacist terrorist driver ran into anti-racism protestors, many of us were nearby, and we ran together to the scene where we ministered to the injured and supported their loved ones. Many of us helped at the parks that were designated as ‘safe spaces’ for anti-racism protestors, and we provided pastoral care -- asking people if they were okay, listening to their stories, assisting them with finding medics, and offering them encouragement. At least a dozen times protestors said to me, ‘Thanks so much to you clergy for being here.’ Our presence meant something to them.”
The events in Charlottesville, and the president’s reaction to them, offer a mirror to the country, letting us all see who we are as citizens, businesspeople, and religious leaders.
In the Scriptures and in the Sermon
A little before this passage, Peter has the unique experience of walking on the water with Jesus. Is the moment when he sinks into the water and then rises up the moment of revelation? Is that his baptism into the knowledge of who Jesus is? Or does it come to him, little by little, as he and the disciples travel around with Jesus? Jesus tells Peter that this revelation comes from God, but we have to wonder just how God revealed it to him.
How does God change our perspective so dramatically? The sermon might look at the ways God gives us new knowledge, and changes our minds. What people come into our lives and carry some of God’s wisdom? What experiences does God use to make us wiser?
Eric Barreto finds an interesting meaning in the location of Jesus’ question: “The location of this event in Caesarea Philippi is no accident. Caesar’s name and the city he built hovers over the scene. Jesus’ identity is composed in the context of God’s interaction with Israel as well as the regnant power of Jesus’ own time. When Peter declares Jesus to be the Messiah or the anointed one of God, images of political independence are certainly in the air.” Jesus asks the question here because the answer has meaning for the other powers all around them. The sermon might look at the questions we need to ask the powerful structures in our lives. Who are they, in response to who we know Jesus is? What does it mean for their power if Jesus has the ultimate power?
Christian leader Brian McLaren says that spending the day in Charlottesville revealed something about the young, white people who came to the Unite the Right gathering: “The young age of many of the white supremacists and Nazis suggests two things to me: first, that young white people are being radicalized in America today, radicalized to the point of using the ISIS tactic of killing people with a car; and second, that this problem isn’t going away fast -- especially if radicalizing influences continue or increase their activities among younger generations.”
The sermon might look at how we as individuals and how the church together will engage in this long fight. When we, along with Peter, say that Jesus is the messiah, we say that he is the one coming to save the world. For us, as Christians, all human ideologies find their ultimate truth in how we respond to God. How do we engage in this conversation with these embittered young people who are also children of God?
The sermon might look at the spiritual strengths we need for this kind of unsettling time. Jim McDermott, S.J. points to the Catholic practice of the examen, the nightly look at the day’s joys and struggles. He finds a well of strength there, but, he notes, “Faced with upheaval in U.S. society, with leaders who enable violence and oppression while others stand by silent, an invitation to prayer might sound like the spiritual version of palliative care -- an attempt to address the pain but not the disease. But though the news cycle and each new outrage demand constant attention, to see what is really going on and to offer a thoughtful response we need not only to be able to enter in but to step back.” Our actions grow from the certainty of who Jesus is, and who we are in connection to him, and we need to keep returning to the well for strength and clarity before we act.
Charlottesville demands that ordinary Christians ask who we are, too, if we call Jesus the messiah. What is the church going to say about racism? Will we call out white supremacy, and the church built on its foundation? A friend of a friend joked (sort of) on the day of the Charlottesville violence that the protests would have to wrap up soon because the Unite the Right demonstrators would have to get home to preach the next morning. On the day of the violence, some Christian leaders were quick to condemn the ideology behind the demonstration. “Russell Moore, the head of the political arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, tweeted that ‘the so-called alt-right white-supremacist ideologies are anti-Christ and satanic to the core.’ Jack Graham, a Texas megachurch pastor who serves on Trump’s evangelical advisory committee, wrote that ‘white supremacy and its movements are evil to the core and are to be condemned.’ Other white Christian leaders spoke only in vague terms, much like the president. For example: Franklin Graham, the evangelist and son of Billy Graham, asked his Facebook followers to ‘pray for Governor of Virginia Terry McAuliffe, law enforcement, and everyone struggling to deal with the chaos and violence that reared its ugly head in Charlottesville,’ citing neither ‘racism’ nor ‘white supremacy.’ ” Fearful that white preachers wouldn’t understand the importance of the day, a friend of mine drove an hour to worship in an African-American congregation the next morning, needing to hear racism and white supremacy called out from the pulpit.
Like Peter, we know that Jesus is the messiah, the embodiment of the living God. Like Peter, Jesus asks something of us once we know that. As racism and white supremacy assert themselves again in our common life, we see ourselves in their mirror. We can act on who we know Jesus is -- or deny him.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Midwives to Hope
by Chris Keating
Exodus 1:8--2:10
In Charlottesville, two women decided to take a stand. Like the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah, their actions gave birth to hope.
It started in 2016 when a high school student Zyahna Bryant and her friends decided to speak out about something they found offensive in their hometown. They grew weary of looking at monuments praising slaveholders, and saw symbols of the Confederacy as outdated racist relics.
Bryant spoke out about a 93-year-old statue of General Robert E. Lee which anchored a city park also bearing his name. Debates over the statue had been raging for years, but it was the teenager’s letter to an editor and subsequent petition drive that galvanized a movement to remove the statue. City leaders also voted to change the park’s name to “Emancipation Park.” Others took note of what Bryant and her friends were trying to do -- including, sadly, a white supremacist named Jason Kessler. Kessler led the fight against the name change, and ultimately sparked last week’s deadly “Unite the Right” protests that swarmed Charlottesville’s streets with a varietal mix of hate groups including white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and the Ku Klux Klan.
The statue is standing for now, as a lawsuit makes its way through the courts. It was built in the 1920s, as Jim Crow laws and segregationist attitudes were rising in Virginia. As a side note, some have observed that General Lee himself shut down several efforts to erect monuments honoring the Confederacy.
Moved by Bryant’s passion, a 58-year-old grandfather named Don Gathers joined her cause and quickly volunteered to be part of a city commission charged with reviewing the monument’s status. Gathers told journalist Katie Couric that while monuments to the Confederacy are plentiful, scant attention is paid to the city’s African-American history.
Gathers noted that down the street from the statue, a barely noticeable plaque on a sidewalk marks the location of the city’s old slave auction site. According to Couric: “When you look at General Lee, Don told me, you look up. When you look at the plaque, you look down. He is convinced this is not an accident.”
During the Charlottesville protests, hatred turned deadly during when a car was driven straight into a crowd, injuring many and killing 32-year old Heather Heyer. Heyer had never protested before, but had frequently spoken out about discrimination and civil rights. She told her friends she was a bit scared the protests would turn violent. The last words she posted on her Facebook wall spoke of her convictions: “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”
Amidst the confusion and chaos, in a time ripe with hatred, two women gave birth to hope by standing up and saying “enough.”
“As a younger African-American resident in this city,” Bryant said in her online petition, “I am often exposed to different forms of racism that are embedded in the history of the South and particularly this city. My peers and I feel strongly about the removal of the statue because it makes us feel uncomfortable and it is very offensive. I do not go to the park for that reason, and I am certain that others feel the same way. This city is such a great place to live, but this simply goes against the great values of Charlottesville.”
Bryant grew tired of being pushed down, and so she stood up. “Let’s not forget,” she wrote to the local newspaper, “Robert E. Lee fought for perpetual bondage of slaves and the bigotry of the South that kept most black citizens as slaves and servants for the entirety of their lives. As a result, legislatures of the South chose to ignore and turn a blind eye to the injustices of African-Americans from Jim Crow and anti-black terrorism to integrated education.”
The everyday leadership of Bryant and Heyer resembles the courageous actions of the Hebrew midwives. Somehow, these otherwise unknown women summoned the pluck to stand up against oppressive power. Somehow, they found the ability to tackle Pharaoh and his xenophobic fear of the growing Israelite minority. It’s flawed logic, but this is how anxious leadership responds to crises. He’s worried that the Hebrews will take over Egypt. His response, however, is short-sighted.
Pay attention to how imperialism fuels Pharaoh’s rage. His reasoning borders on irrational -- but then, tyrants are seldom coherent thinkers. He tells his people: “Look, the Israelite population is growing. They’ll overtake us! They’ll join our enemies! They’ll escape!” It’s probably a lie, but it seems to him that the best option is to cut this people off at the root.
His final solution of killing the newborn male babies fails to consider that these children might grow up and one day become productive laborers. Imperialist power rarely takes the long view, and so Pharaoh sends out a memo to the Hebrew midwives instructing them just how to handle this little problem.
Clearly, however, Pharaoh underestimates the power of Jewish midwives.
Shiphrah and Puah, two women whose only appearance in scripture is this quick cameo, decide to stand up against Pharaoh’s unjust power. As God-fearing women, they come up with another plan -- which they probably called “alt-birthing.” (It’s just a hunch.) Whatever else happens, they decide, we’re in this together -- sort of like an early Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz. They stand up to injustice and give birth to hope, and decide to take a pass on the king’s edict.
Pharaoh isn’t pleased. He calls Lucy and Ethel -- oops, Shiphrah and Puah -- back to the palace and demands a report. They smile politely at the ruler, trying hard to muffle their laughter. “Well, your highness, we don’t know what to say. These Hebrew women are something else. They’re pushing out these babies quicker than we can boil water.” (For a slightly cheeky take on this story, check out this short video and its take on Shiphrah and Puah’s resistance to Pharaoh’s “Hebrew pregnancy enhancement program.”)
Well, bless their bulrushes. These women must have laughed themselves all the way home. Tears were rolling down their faces every time they recalled Pharaoh’s quizzical stares. Lacking any official power, they rendered Pharaoh impotent. They bore witness to what Walter Brueggemann has called “the mothering power of God whose will for life overrides the killing, and whose power for life is undeterred by the death dispensed by the powerful” (Exodus [The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 1], p. 697).
It’s a light touch that points to a powerful truth. These women were midwives to hope, daring to stand up against a brutal and oppressive power. Like Zyahna Bryant and Heather Heyer, they bore witness to a conviction that hatred and subjugation of people is antithetical to God’s purposes. They stood up, and declared their story.
As hatred spilled out across the tiki-torch-lined streets of Charlottesville, a pastor from Ferguson, Missouri, stood in a Charlottesville pulpit. Outside, white young men chanted “You will not remove us.” Inside, Rev. Traci Blackmon asked the congregation: “Where have all the dreamers gone?” With protestors surrounding the church and city, Katie Couric noted that the congregation responded by singing “This Little Light of Mine.”
In a time of hate, the congregation became midwives to hope.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Ron Love:
Matthew 16:13-20
Barry Manilow gave his first and last interview regarding his private life in April 2017 to People magazine. In the interview he discussed the relationship he has with his husband Gary Kief. Manilow shared how they met, how they courted, their secret marriage, and how he hid his homosexuality from the public. It must be remembered that Barry Manilow was a practicing homosexual at a time when if it became public his career could have ended. When asked why he remined silent until recently, Manilow said he did it for his fans. He said: “I thought I would be disappointing them if they knew that I was gay. So I never did anything.”
Application: It is troubling that we live in a society where we sometimes cannot truthfully answer the question “But who do you say that I am?”
*****
Matthew 16:13-20
In a recent interview, Samuel L. Jackson acknowledged being in “trivial” movies, but also said that those movies are usually fun to watch. Jackson maintained that a movie should be “fun to do.” Jackson went on to say: “People talk about, ‘I can’t stand to watch myself on screen.’ Well, get another job! You expect people to pay $12 or $15 to go and see you and you don’t want to see it? I don’t think so.”
Application: If we are to build a church, it must be a church that we want to see, a church that we want to be a part of.
*****
Romans 12:1-8
In an interview with People magazine, Barry Manilow recalled performing with Bette Midler in the early 1970s at the Continental Baths, the largest and most popular homosexual gathering place in New York City. Midler’s career skyrocketed, and so did Manilow’s. In 1974, he released his first song, “Mandy,” which hit number one on the charts. “Can’t Smile Without You” and “Copacabana” soon followed. With these songs Manilow rose to fame as a composer and singer. But Manilow is a true introvert, which made fame difficult for him. Manilow said, “I never thought about being a performer. I was really this awkward guy that didn’t know what he was doing. I didn’t know why they were applauding: honestly, I didn’t.”
Application: Paul instructs each of us to recognize our gifts.
*****
Romans 12:1-8
Jason Day was once golf’s number one ranked player, but life circumstances changed all of that. He was trying to play golf, be a living presence to his family, and care for his mother who had lung cancer. The pressure was just too much for him, and in March of this year at the Match Play Championship he just walked off the course at the sixth hole. Looking back, Day says he was just “burned out.” He took time to bring stability to his life and then he was able to focus on golf. Entering the recent PGA championship, Day said, “I’m motivated... I’m hungry again -- and I’m looking forward to trying to beat these guys.”
Application: Paul says we are to use our gifts and we are to use them enthusiastically.
*****
Romans 12:1-8
Samuel L. Jackson was recently interviewed regarding his personal life and his acting career. It was noted that most of the movies Jackson appears in are genre movies. It was questioned why the actor did not seek more substantial roles. He replied that it was because those were the movies I liked “when I was growing up.”
Application: As Christians, we need to understand the role that best suits us.
*****
Romans 12:1-8
Joel Osteen is the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston. His wife, Victoria, is his co-pastor. Osteen claims to have the largest Christian congregation in the United States as well as the most ethnically diverse congregation. He boasts of the 10 million families in every city of the United States who watch his Sunday worship service at home on television. In his book Journey to a Better You, he puts forth the premise that right thinking -- positive thinking -- will allow you to achieve all of your dreams. He notes that our minds are like a computer and whenever we get a negative thought all we have to do is hit the “delete” button. Delete the negative thought and replace it with a positive thought, and in so doing we will be “healthy, prosperous, and fulfilled.” Osteen cites what the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:2: “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Osteen says that if we are transformed by the renewing of our minds, then we will be blessed by God. Osteen somehow has failed to read the entire verse, which teaches that we are to renew our minds for the ability to have “sober judgment.” We are to renew our minds so we have the ability for discernment. Paul says nothing about renewing our minds to be “healthy, prosperous, and fulfilled.”
Application: We are not to renew our minds to be prosperous, but we are to renew our minds to have enough sober judgment to discern the will of God in our lives.
*****
Exodus 1:8--2:10
Each week People magazine has a feature called “Why I Care” that spotlights a celebrity and interviews him or her regarding a beneficial project he or she is involved in to help others. In April the magazine interviewed Stephen Curry, the star Golden State Warriors guard. Curry said that though he receives many accolades, he is also subject to taunts, especially those that come by way of social media. Curry has two daughters and is concerned about the bullying they can receive on social media. Realizing this, Curry established the Filtered Life campaign. Filtered Life teaches children and adolescents how to discard negative remarks posted on social media that can bully them if not ignored and erased. Curry said, “Impressionable kids need to have a place where they are not subject to this kind of bullying.”
Application: The Hebrews were desperate for a filtered life.
*****
Exodus 1:8--2:10
Democratic President Harry Truman so disliked Robert Taft, the Republican Senator from Ohio, that he instructed the pilot of Air Force One to inform him when they were flying over the state of Ohio. When Truman was told that the plane was in Ohio’s airspace, he would get up, use the facilities, and flush as a symbolic act of displeasure.
Application: The hate that the Egyptians had for the Hebrews goes beyond understanding.
*****
Exodus 1:8--2:10
Anger is not only destructive to one’s soul, it is equally destructive to one’s physical health. Dr. Walter Cannon, a pioneer researcher in psychopathic medicine, in 1932 coined the phrase “fight or flight” to define our response to threats. He also described our physiological changes when we become angry. Cannon wrote: “Respiration deepens; the heart beats more rapidly; the arterial pressure rises; the blood is shifted from the stomach and intestines to the heart, central nervous system, and the muscles; the process of the alimentary canal ceases; sugar is freed from the reserves in the liver; the spleen contracts and discharges its contents of concentrated corpuscles, and adrenalin is secreted.” And that adrenalin surge, for most people, is accompanied by an uncontrollable outburst of language. Words, like a pointed arrow, once released cannot be called back. Words, like a pointed arrow, pierce -- and the psychological wound is seldom healed.
Application: We may find ourselves abused and persecuted like the Hebrews. We, like the Hebrews, will have to decide what our response will be.
*****
Isaiah 51:1-6
Kevin Harvick, who has raced for the team owned by fellow driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., recently said that Dale Jr. hindered NASCAR’s growth because as the most popular driver he still did not win enough races. Harvick said that Earnhardt may have been “our sport’s most popular driver,” but Earnhardt “hasn’t been anywhere close to being our most successful driver.” And it is for this reason that Kevin Harvick thinks Dale Earnhardt Jr. did little to advance NASCAR. Upon learning of the remark, Earnhardt said: “About his comments, some of those comments were hurtful.”
Application: If we pursue righteousness, then it will influence what we say about others.
***************
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
Matthew 16:13-20
Who Does the Witness Say that I Am?
Adolf Beck may be the most famous case of tragically mistaken identity in history. His story has spawned several books and movies, and it has even made its way into textbooks studied in law schools.
Beck, who lived in Britain, found himself facing 15 convictions -- all because a random woman whom he met on the street one day in 1895 thought he looked like a man who had a few weeks prior had robbed her of a fairly small amount of money.
Unfortunately for Beck, the same swindler was wanted for several other similar thefts -- leading to all of those convictions. Astonishingly, the other victims of the actual thefts identified Beck as the culprit, with some even picking him out of a lineup.
There had been similar crimes committed in 1877, and a police officer was set to identify Beck as the same thief (who had served four years in prison earlier). This was despite the fact that Beck had been living in Peru at the time of those earlier crimes. The judge ignored this apparent evidence of innocence and sentenced Beck to seven years in prison, of which he wound up serving five. While he was imprisoned yet even more evidence mounted in his favor, but when presented with the new evidence the judge ignored it, leaving Beck to finish out his sentence.
After being released from prison, he was accused yet again in 1904 and was convicted again as well. This time, however, the real John Smith was arrested in the act of stealing while Beck sat in jail. Luckily the judge didn’t ignore the evidence this time around, and Beck was set free.
*****
Matthew 16:13-20
Who Do Space Aliens Say that I Am?
Released in 1999, the movie Galaxy Quest features an all-star cast (Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, and Sam Rockwell) as a group of burned-out, has-been actors who once starred on a science-fiction television series by that name. When they show up together in costume at a sci-fi fan convention, they are kidnapped by a race of humanoid space aliens who have somehow managed to receive American television signals and believe that everything they see on TV is real. The aliens have kidnapped the four cast members because the think the four actually are the characters they played and will be able to help them defeat a feared enemy called Sarris.
One of my favorite lines in this comedy/adventure, which is based on a huge case of mistaken identity, is spoken by one of the alien characters named Quelleck. He has been wounded, and is lying in the arms of Sir Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman), who played the alien Dr. Lazarus on the TV show. As he is dying, Quelleck says to Dane/Lazarus: “You’ll forgive my impertinence, sir, but even though we have never before met, I have always considered you as a father to me.”
*****
Matthew 16:13-20
Who Does My Reputation Say that I Am?
The web site Social Media Today reminds us to be careful about what we post on social media. A reputation can be made or destroyed by one or two careless posts. Here are four things to avoid:
Inappropriate Photos Display a Bad Image:
Photos taken at parties or on spring break can come back to haunt you. You might be laughing about the good times now, but your laughter will come to an abrupt halt once the photos ruin your good name.
One article reports on how an entire police station faced embarrassment after one officer posted a photo online. In the photo, the officer allowed four girls in bikinis to pose on his police cruiser during a charity car wash. The police department fired him.
Your Attempt to be Relevant Could Backfire:
One way people get attention on social media outlets is by talking about recent events in their community and the news. One such celebrity who utilized this tactic on Twitter was Gilbert Gottfried. When the Japanese tsunami hit, Gottfried took the opportunity to make some unbelievably offensive jokes, such as “Japan is really advanced. They don’t go to the beach. The beach comes to them.” This backfired spectacularly, and Gottfried, the voice of the Aflac duck, was almost immediately fired. This led to a nationwide campaign by Aflac to find the next voice of the famous duck on their television commercials.
Your Words Can Come Back to Haunt You:
A quote from Abercrombie and Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries found its way onto social media. Basically, he said that he only wanted popular, beautiful people wearing his clothes. Roger Dooley reports that people across the country began throwing out their Abercrombie clothes, vowing never to wear them again. He also says that sales dropped 15 percent.
Interestingly, Mike Jeffries actually said these things six years ago! It was social media that blew it up and spread it like a wildfire.
Your Personal Profiles Could Leak Onto Your Professional Ones:
Most people draw a line between their professional profiles and their personal profiles, but sometimes it’s not so easy. Poway.patch.com reports that one employee who worked for a marketing company thought that they were posting on their own Twitter account when they were actually logged into a profile the company managed for Chrysler. They wrote the following unfortunate tweet: “I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the #motorcity and yet no one here knows how to drive.”
The company fired the employee.
*****
Matthew 16:13-20
Who Do People Say that I Am?
In the 1975 movie Hearts of the West, Jeff Bridges plays aspiring screenplay writer Lewis Tater, who in 1933 leaves his Iowa home and goes to Los Angeles to seek fame and fortune. There he meets an old movie stuntman, cowboy historian, and bit player named Howard Pike (portrayed by Andy Griffith).
When he introduces himself to Pike, Tater enthusiastically says, “I’m a writer.”
Pike looks searchingly at the young man, shakes his head, and says: “If a person saying he was something was all there was to it, this country’d be full of rich men and good-looking women. Kings and queens... you know what I mean? Too bad it isn’t that easy. In short, when someone else says you’re a writer, that’s when you’re a writer... not before.”
In the last scene of the movie young Tater is hurt in a fight and is being carried away on a stretcher when Howard Pike says to the ambulance attendants: “Take good care of him. His name’s Lewis Tater. He’s a writer.”
*****
Exodus 1:8--2:10
The New Midwives -- Giving Life to Kids
Christina and Christopher Sanders, a couple from Forest Park, Ohio, already had a big family, with five brilliant kids of their own. But in 2014 they opened their hearts to six more, all siblings from the same family ranging in age from 9 to 16. They took the two girls and four boys into their home back then as foster parents.
In April of this year they took it a step further when they adopted all six siblings and added them to their family of seven. That’s 13 people for those of you keeping score at home.
“I’m happy that I’m here because everything is wonderful,” 12-year-old Cayley, one of the newest additions to the Sanders family, told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “This is just what I wanted.”
“I would not know where I’d be right now if it wasn’t for the Sanders. We [were] having a rough life before,” Caleb, her 13-year-old brother, added.
“We just made the agreement: Whoever we get, we will keep ’em,” Christina Sanders told the Enquirer. “It was rough, but we did it. And we are happy we did.”
Along with Cayley and Caleb, the Sanders have also welcomed 16-year-old Coby, 14-year-old Christian, 10-year-old Carson, and 9-year-old Chloe.
Hamilton County Probate Judge Ralph Winkler commended the family for their outstanding actions in deciding to take on such a large task. “They serve as an example... to how people can change the community one child at a time,” he said. “Or six children at a time.”
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: If it had not been God who was on our side,
People: then our enemies would have swallowed us up alive.
Leader: We have escaped like a bird from the snare;
People: the snare is broken, and we have escaped.
Leader: Our help is in the name of our God;
People: the One who made heaven and earth.
OR
Leader: Come and learn of the God who created us.
People: We come to know about our God.
Leader: God has been revealed to us in Jesus of Nazareth.
People: Praise to God who walks among us in human flesh.
Leader: God invites us to follow Jesus in the full Reign of God.
People: We will learn of Jesus and become his true disciples.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy”
found in:
UMH: 121
H82: 469, 470
PH: 298
NCH: 23
CH: 73
LBW: 290
ELA: 587, 588
W&P: 61
AMEC: 78
STLT: 213
“Hope of the World”
found in:
UMH: 178
H82: 472
PH: 360
NCH: 46
CH: 538
LBW: 493
W&P: 404
“Rise, Shine, You People”
found in:
UMH: 187
LBW: 393
ELA: 665
W&P: 89
“Tú Has Venido a la Orilla” (“Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore”)
found in:
UMH: 344
PH: 377
CH: 342
W&P: 347
“It’s Me, It’s Me, O Lord”
found in:
UMH: 352
NNBH: 496
CH: 579
“Dear Lord and Father of Mankind”
found in:
UMH: 358
H82: 652, 653
PH: 345
NCH: 502
CH: 594
LBW: 506
W&P: 470
AMEC: 344
“What Does the Lord Require”
found in:
UMH: 441
H82: 605
PH: 405
CH: 659
W&P: 686
“O God of Every Nation”
found in:
UMH: 435
H82: 607
PH: 289
CH: 680
LBW: 416
ELA: 713
W&P: 626
“Unity”
found in:
CCB: 59
“Your Loving Kindness Is Better than Life”
found in:
CCB: 26
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who shows your true self in Jesus of Nazareth: Grant us the courage to be who we truly are both as your image and as members of the Body of Christ; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, for you have shown your true self to us in Jesus of Nazareth. You have shown us what it looks like when a human life is centered in you. Send your Spirit upon us that we may truly be your image and faithful members of the Body of Christ. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our being conformed to this world instead of being transformed in the mind of Christ.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have created us to reflect your glory and your love. You have given us your own Spirit to dwell within us. You have made us members of the very Body of Christ. And yet, we too often look and act no differently than those who do not acknowledge you as God. Instead of being transformed by your Spirit so that you can use us to transform the world, we allow the world to conform us to its standards. Instead of love and grace, we often speak in harsh words about revenge; instead of redemption, we speak of punishment; instead of the words of Jesus, we spew forth the words of this world. We have betrayed you and have failed to live out justice and mercy; we have failed to be your gracious people. Help us not to hide from our sin but to own it and move away from it. Send your Spirit upon us so that we might once again reflect your image in all we say or do. Amen.
Leader: The God of Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Jesus, and all the saints desires to dwell among us in peace and grace. Receive God’s love and forgiveness, and allow God’s Spirit to transform you into the likeness of the Christ.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise you, O God, for you have created us in your own image. You have gifted us with your own Spirit. You have taught us how to live in harmony with you and with all others.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have created us to reflect your glory and your love. You have given us your own Spirit to dwell within us. You have made us members of the very Body of Christ. And yet, we too often look and act no differently than those who do not acknowledge you as God. Instead of being transformed by your Spirit so that you can use us to transform the world, we allow the world to conform us to its standards. Instead of love and grace, we often speak in harsh words about revenge; instead of redemption, we speak of punishment; instead of the words of Jesus, we spew forth the words of this world. We have betrayed you and have failed to live out justice and mercy; we have failed to be your gracious people. Help us not to hide from our sin but to own it and move away from it. Send your Spirit upon us so that we might once again reflect your image in all we say or do.
We give you thanks for your gracious love that accepts us as we are. We thank you for the wonderful diversity in our world and in the human race. We thank you for the stories of scripture that remind us we are all your creators, we are all your children.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for those who are harmed by the hatred and rejection of others. We pray for those whose lives are so filled with hate that they feel the need to lash out at others. We pray for the redemption of all your children, including ourselves, that we may live in your peaceable kingdom.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Play “Who Am I?” with the children using a few well-known Bible characters. Some examples you might use are: I am a shepherd boy. Who am I?; I play music. Who am I?; I became king. Who am I? Keep asking questions until the children guess who it is. Then ask them to think of things they would say about themselves if we were playing the game about them. You may want to go first to show them how it is done. Talk about how it is important for us to know who we are -- especially that we are God’s image; we are God’s children; we are loved by God; we are Christians; we are Jesus’ disciples.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Who Are You?
by Beth Herrinton-Hodge
Matthew 16:13-20
(Gather the children and welcome them.)
Our Bible story today is about a conversation Jesus had with his disciples.
Jesus asked them: Who do other people say that I am?
The disciples answered: Some people say that you are John the Baptist. Some say that you are one of the prophets, like Elijah or Jeremiah or some other prophet.
Then Jesus asked the disciples: Who do YOU say that I am?
Jesus’ special friend, Peter, answered: You are Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.
It strikes me that Jesus received several different answers to the question he asked. Why do you think people gave such different answers? (Invite the children to respond.)
I think there were different answers because different people saw and knew Jesus differently. Some people only knew Jesus from afar. They weren’t very close to Jesus.
Some people saw Jesus work miracles -- like feeding 5,000 people.
Some people listened to his teachings.
Others received help and healing from Jesus. They knew Jesus, but they weren’t really close to him. They knew him from what they saw or heard him do.
Some people, like Peter, knew Jesus really well. They spent every day with him. They learned from his teaching. They learned to heal and help people too. By being close to Jesus and spending time with him, they could tell you -- more clearly -- who Jesus was.
Isn’t this true for each of us?
If you asked the people who know us really well -- our parents, our close friends -- who we are or what makes us special, they could give a good answer.
But the people we don’t know well -- the people we see in a different classroom from ours, the people we only see at church once a week, the people on an opposing soccer team -- they know us only from what they see in us every once in a while.
Let me ask you: Who are you? Take a few seconds to think about your answer. Then I’ll give you a chance to respond.
Who are you? (One by one, invite each child to respond. You may offer prompts such as: tell us your name, tell us what you like to do, are you a sister or brother, are you a son or daughter? Are you kind? Are you smart? Are you creative?)
Great! Thank you for telling us a bit about you.
Now here’s the important question -- how would people know about you, about what you just told us about yourself? How would they know it? (Invite the children to respond.)
People knew who Jesus was by spending time with him. They watched him and listened to him and learned a bit about who he was and what he was like. The way Jesus lived and treated and helped others was what Jesus was really like. He lived honestly.
Can the same be said about you? If people see you, and know you, and know how you act, and how you treat others... would this give them a good picture of you?
Jesus lived well. He helped people. He listened to people. He taught people. They had a chance to see what Jesus was like. And what Jesus was like was pretty cool.
I challenge you to live well too.
Help people. Be nice to people. Treat others well. Be the best person you can be, so people -- even people who don’t know you very well -- can see what you’re really like... so people know who you are.
Let us pray together.
Prayer: Jesus, we know you from what we read about you in the Bible and what we learn about you from our family and our church. We know that you lived honestly. We know you were a good guy. Help us to live honestly too, so that people who see us can know us -- and know that we follow and learn from you. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, August 27, 2017, issue.
Copyright 2017 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.
