From Womb To Tomb
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
This week the lectionary's designated Old Testament passage is God's declaration of the Ten Commandments to the Hebrew people. In recent years we have seen roiling controversies over whether it is appropriate to display the Ten Commandments in public places as a sign of the nation's Christian heritage. (Though as writer Kurt Vonnegut once drily noted, that's Moses rather than Jesus -- if we were truly interested in displaying our Christian heritage, Vonnegut suggested that we'd be putting up monuments with the Beatitudes instead.) Despite the debate over whether such displays violate constitutional mandates separating church and state, it's easy to understand the appeal of placing the commandments in a highly visible place -- for that serves to remind the community of their importance as laws governing our behavior. As Moses points out to the Hebrew people in the final verse of this week's pericope, these are God's rules of the road and while the people are clearly intimidated by God's presence, Moses explains to them that "God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin."
In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Ron Love tells us that while everything seems to be changing at a dizzying pace in our modern society, the Ten Commandments remain as relevant as ever because they provide us with a bedrock for constructing a moral, upright life. Ron points out that these ancient laws give us a consistent ethic of life "from womb to tomb" -- and judging by a provocative piece from nationally syndicated columnist David Brooks, one that we need to rediscover more than ever. Brooks notes that recent research on how young people develop their moral compass reveals that, to the extent that they think about these issues at all, they tend to believe that "moral choices are just a matter of individual taste. 'It's personal,' the respondents typically said. 'It's up to the individual. Who am I to say?' " Most startlingly, one of the research subjects even admits: "I don't really deal with right and wrong that often." If that's the approach many of our young people are taking to basic morality, then it's no wonder that some look at the Ten Commandments as no more than a list of guidelines -- one whose items can be discarded on an ad hoc basis if they don't "work" for a particular individual. Yet it seems impossible to imagine God countenancing such an a la carte approach -- and as Ron reminds us, it is the consistency of the commandments' approach to our relationships with others and with God that gives them such an elemental power for anchoring our lives.
As this is the first Sunday in October, many congregations will observe World Communion Sunday and team member Dean Feldmeyer offers some additional thoughts on the occasion and on why it is most appropriate that we remember our brothers and sisters across the world as we share in the communion bread and wine -- as well as our common dependence upon Jesus Christ. In addition, our worship resources this week include several pieces suitable for World Communion Sunday.
From Womb to Tomb
by Ron Love
Exodus 20:1-20
THE WORLD
Are there rules to be broken? Can any rule be exempt from further scrutiny? Is it possible that any rule can remain so infallible that it hovers beyond doubt? We would like to think so but in an ever-changing and evolving world we know that what stood as an unconquerable truth yesterday could well be the lost theory of tomorrow.
We have lived since 1905 with Albert Einstein's theory of relativity: E=mc2 -- that is, that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. Yet two weeks ago, scientists at the largest physics lab in the world, located in Geneva, clocked neutrons traveling faster than the speed of light, smashing past the speed barrier of 186,282 miles per second. The new neutrons traveled 60 nanoseconds faster than the speed of light. Though some question this experiment, others hold it to be true. Most notably, labs across the globe are trying to duplicate it. And if it is not true today, how far away is tomorrow?
In our competitive society, we anticipate that records will be broken. And when one is, we rejoice at the new hero who has thundered upon the scene. Last week one of the biggest news stories was the new record time for running the marathon. Patrick Makau of Kenya set a new record at the Berlin Marathon, running the 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 38 seconds. This not only was 21 seconds faster than the previous record run, but Makau's defeat of the former record-holder, Haile Gebreselassie of Ethiopia, in the race may have signaled the final decline of Gebreselassie, considered by many experts to be greatest distance runner in history. We realize that in sports, just as in life, there is no baseline that cannot be surpassed.
Religion is not exempt from rule-breaking and rule reinterpretation. Cathy Lynn Grossman, in a recent Washington Post article, wrote as her opening line: "If World War II-era warbler Kate Smith sang today, her anthem could be 'Gods Bless America.' " Note Grossman's use of the word "Gods" -- plural. In the same article Grossman discusses George Barna and his book Futurecast. In that publication, Barna confesses that religious behavior since 1991 has declined in every category except one: more people have accepted Jesus and expect to go to heaven. However, according to Barna, people today do not have a religion based on church doctrine established over the centuries but rather one that is self-composed. He wrote that America is headed for "310 million people with 310 million religions." In her article Grossman also cites Nadine Epstein, editor and publisher of the Jewish magazine Moment. Epstein laments that many practicing Jews believe in Judaism but not in God. Epstein asks, "Can there be Judaism without God?" And she answers her own question by writing that "most say yes." Epstein expresses her newfound fear this way: "We live in an era where you pick and choose the part of the religion that makes sense to you." It is interesting that the title Grossman gave to her article is: "More Americans designing a make-your-own religion." A pick-and-choose religion, a make-your-own religion, hardly aligns with the uncompromising truths set forth in the scriptures.
But in this day of intellectual enlightenment, some suppose we are sophisticated enough to lift scriptural passages out of antiquity and provide for them a new updated and modern interpretation. Pat Robertson, one of the leading evangelists in the nation, made headline news when he gave his blessing to someone divorcing a spouse that has Alzheimer's. Robertson stated, "If you respect that vow, you say 'til death do us part.' This is a kind of death." Robertson justified this by saying someone who was afflicted with Alzheimer's was having a "walking death." In effect, to be married to someone with Alzheimer's is to be married to someone who is already dead. Somewhere the real meaning of the vow "'til death do us part" has been redefined and lost. Russell Moore, dean of the school of theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, gave this opinion: "This is more than an embarrassment. This is more than cruelty. This is a repudiation of the gospel of Jesus Christ." The scriptures stand as a truth unto themselves and have held fast for two millenniums; this is not the time for reinterpretation.
Some rules and some records are to be broken or at least updated as society evolves but the bedrock of society, the rules provided by God in the Holy Scriptures, are timeless and unchangeable.
THE WORD
It has become a cliché but it is still worth repeating -- "God gave us the Ten Commandments; not the Ten Suggestions." The first four commandments direct us in our relationship toward God; the following six commandments direct us in relationship toward others. In their entirety, the Ten Commandments direct us on how to live hospitable lives. If one would read the power of the words selected for each commandment, there is the realization of an uncompromising truth.
The fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden was idolatry. "Did God say?" the serpent inquired. Once Eve and Adam made the decision that God could be questioned, they set themselves up to be gods unto themselves; thus, the sin of idolatry and the fall of humanity.
The questioning of God is no different this day than it was back on the first day. A make-your-own religion is nothing less than idolatry. A pick-and-choose religion is no different than answering the serpent's question "Did God say?" with a bite from the forbidden fruit.
We must come to the place in our lives where we admit that there are some unchangeable absolutes -- one of which is the Ten Commandments (along with all the other biblical mandates). Perhaps a neutron can go faster than the speed of light but it will never speed through the galaxies faster than "love your neighbor as yourself."
Joseph Cardinal Bernardin delivered a speech at Fordham University on December 6, 1983. It was titled "A Consistent Ethic of Life: An American-Catholic Dialogue (pdf download)." It has since become a guiding document for anyone who wants to follow the ethical values put before us by God. The dialogue focused mostly on the problems and advantages offered by current technological advances. These technological advances are not to be used to reinterpret the scriptures, but instead are to be interpreted by the scriptures. Bernardin wrote: "The even more demanding question is: In a time when we can do anything technologically, how do we decide morally what we never should do? Asking these questions along the spectrum of life from womb to tomb creates the need for a consistent ethic of life." (You may view a complete transcript of Bernardin's remarks here. (pdf download))
The Ten Commandments, coupled with all the teachings in the Bible, will give us a consistent ethic of life from womb to tomb.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
I. Discuss how as a competitive society we are always making new records and new scientific discoveries that overshadow rules once held sacred.
II. Examine how the new discoveries of this information age have caused us to question and redefine religion.
III. Discuss how the scriptures remain steadfast and unchangeable. In so doing they are our moral guide from womb to tomb.
ANOTHER VIEW
World Communion Sunday
by Dean Feldmeyer
The congregation of the Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has always believed that their parish has no geographical boundaries; it extends throughout the whole world.
Since its founding in 1866, the church has been a nationally recognized leader in the area of Christian outreach to the community, the nation, and the world. It was the first church to sponsor regular radio broadcasts of its worship services, pioneering the practice on station KDKA, the first commercially licensed radio station in the U.S. It was also the first church to broadcast its worship service to the North and South Poles. Its outreach truly knows no boundaries.
In 1933 Shadyside Presbyterian began the practice that is known today as World Communion Sunday. The practice spread through the denomination and was officially adopted by the Presbyterian Church USA in 1936. In 1940, the National Council of Churches officially recognized the celebration and adopted the first Sunday of October as World Communion Sunday.
The day celebrates the commonality and community within the Christian church worldwide and promotes Christian unity and ecumenical cooperation.
It is appropriate that all Christians should stand shoulder to shoulder one Sunday each year and recognize our dependence upon God as God comes to us in Jesus Christ.
While we may have little else in common, one thing is surely so and that is we are dependent creatures. Rich or poor, east or west, regardless of our age, our race, our station, or our church affiliation, we are all dependent upon food and beverage to sustain our physical bodies. Likewise, we are all, as Christians, dependent upon the broken and poured-out life of our Savior for the sustenance of our souls.
The lives God has given to us are like bread. If we try to save bread, we lose it. It becomes moldy or stale; it turns to dust; it is stolen away from us by time and nature. The only time we really have bread is not when we try to save it up but when we allow it to be broken and shared with our brothers and sisters.
And thus it is with our lives.
Likewise, the lives God has given to us are like wine. If we try to save wine, we lose it. It becomes sour; it evaporates and disappears; it is stolen away from us by time and nature. The only time we really have wine is not when we try to save it up but when we allow it to be poured out and shared with our brothers and sisters.
And thus it is with our lives.
On World Communion Sunday we stand with our fellow Christians, brothers and sisters around the world:
those who worship freely and openly and those who worship in hiding,
those who walk freely and those who have been imprisoned for their faith,
those who sing aloud and those who, out of fear, dare not raise their voices,
those who sow and those who reap,
those who laugh and those who weep,
those who live in plentitude and those who live in poverty...
We stand together with all of our sisters and brothers and we declare and celebrate our dependence upon the one we call Lord, even Jesus the Christ.
ILLUSTRATIONS
"I am constantly worried about my son's ethical education," A.J. Jacobs writes in his book The Year of Living Biblically (Simon & Schuster, 2007). "I don't want him to swim in this muddy soup of moral relativism. I don't trust it. So I want to instill some rock-solid, absolute morals in my son. Would it be so bad if he lived by the Ten Commandments? Not at all. But how do I get him there?" That is a question we all ask as we strive to live a godly life.
God gave the people the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments draw our attention away from ourselves to focus on our relationships with God and each other. Jacobs writes: "Look at the example set by God. The God of the Bible treats his children -- the human race -- with justice and mercy." We should do the same -- treat everyone we encounter with justice and mercy.
* * *
A television ad for a football video game once equated football to church. The ad compared getting ready to play the game with getting ready to go to church. It showed a player kneeling on the field in a prayerful pose and finally the animated player proclaims, "This is our cathedral!"
It may have been merely an advertising ploy but it points out how easy it is to substitute other gods for the one true God. God was emphatic: No other gods -- which, even though it didn't exist back in Moses' time, includes football.
* * *
British pro golfer Brian Davis had never won a pro golf tournament. Then, in April 2010 at the Verizon Heritage golf tournament on Hilton Head Island, he sank an 18-foot putt on the last hole to tie Jim Furyk and send the tournament into a sudden-death playoff.
His tee shot on the first hole of the playoff went askew, hit some rocks, and landed in the rough among pebbles, grass, and twigs. Davis set up for his second shot, took a practice swing, lifted the club in his backswing and hit the ball safely onto the front of the green.
But on the backswing he thought he saw, out of the corner of his eye, something near the ball move.
Davis went to the officials and asked them to review the shot on the replay cameras and after several viewings they saw it too. As Brian lifted his club for the backswing he brushed a twig near the ball and it moved. He had violated rule 13.4 -- a two-stroke penalty. Davis immediately conceded the hole, and the tournament, to Jim Furyk.
The amazing thing about this story is not that the painfully honest action was so rare but that it is so common in golf. Players routinely call penalties on themselves for accidental rule infractions.
In 1925 Bobby Jones did exactly the same thing -- he called a two-stroke penalty on himself and went on to lose a tournament by two strokes. When he was praised for being honest, Jones said: "You may as well praise a man for not robbing a bank."
* * *
"You must not fight simply to win; no holds barred is not the way; you must win by the rules." Thus wrote Welshman John Graham Chambers in the introduction to his new set of rules for the sport of boxing in 1865. Chambers' twelve rules were intended to perfect the already published Revised London Prize Ring Rules, published in 1853, and were an attempt to humanize the sport and make it safer for the athletes. So popular were Chambers' rules that John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry John Douglas publicly endorsed them, giving them the unofficial title of the "Queensberry Rules."
Today, the title of "the Queensberry rules" is often applied to any sport when the values of sportsmanship and fair play apply.
* * *
By 1875, Brigadier General Henry Martyn Robert had graduated from West Point, fought for the union in the Civil War, and returned to the academy as chairman of the department of military engineering.
None of those experiences, however, would prepare him for the chaos he faced when asked to chair a town meeting at a local church. Dismayed by the lack of order and embarrassed at his own inability to control the meeting, he set out to discover a book that would tell him the way to bring the rules that governed parliament into use for more common and pedestrian meetings.
He found none, so he decided to write one -- a set of rules that would, in his words, "provide a maximum of liberty within a necessary framework of order."
The first edition of Robert's Rules of Order was only 4,000 copies. Today, it has been through eleven editions and is still the gold standard for maintaining order and ensuring fairness for everyone who attends and participates in any kind of meeting.
But for Robert's Rules to work we must know and submit to them... or tolerate anarchy.
* * *
Though they may be ignored by many, the Ten Commandments represent for most people the basis of God's expectations of human conduct. The Ten Commandments are so basic that the concept has been copied ad infinitum. Consider these versions of the Ten Commandments:
* The Ten Commandments of Cell phone Etiquette
* The Ten Commandments of Google
* The Ten Commandments for C+ Programmers
* The Ten Commandments for Kids
* The Ten Commandments for Math Teachers
Although people may not be able to list the biblical commandments, they sure know the concept.
* * *
John Killinger tells a story in To My People with Love about a Boy Scout troop that held its weekly meetings in a Sunday school classroom dominated by a large picture of Moses raising the tablets of the Ten Commandments over his head before he hurled them down on the disobedient people at Mount Sinai. The picture made a deep impression on a boy named Sam. One day he excitedly rushed up to a fellow scout and announced: "Look, I've invented a new knot!"
"That's really neat," said his friend. "What will you call it?"
Looking over his shoulder to the threatening picture behind him, Sam replied, "I think I'll call it the Thou Shalt Not Knot."
Sometimes we think of the Ten Commandments as being entirely negative or threatening -- as an angry list of ten "nots." But we really ought to be grateful for them. They are blessings. Few of us would want to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge in the far outside lane, 220 feet in the air, without guardrails along the edge of the roadway for guidance. Just so, the Ten Commandments are necessary guidelines for living whole and wholesome lives. Freedom and safety come from learning to stay within the lines.
* * *
The Ten Commandments need to be seen in a positive light. Too often they are seen by people as negative demands placed upon us by a God intent on taking all the joy out of life. Yet the Commandments are not given to us by our Creator to wring the joy out of life but to assure that joy will be ours through our daily living. The Commandments are given to us in love and deep compassion by a Creator God whose heart is filled to overflowing with mercy and goodness for all his children. Most of the Commandments are in the indicative-imperative form in the original Hebrew language. That is, they point to a quality of life that should be lived because of our relationship with God.
In many ways, the relationship between God and his people is like the marriage relationship between a man and a woman. The union, the perfect bond that they form together, is fashioned out of love, not fear. Standing before the altar of God, they take each other's hands, look into each other's eyes, and make the following commitment: "I take you, [name], to be my wife/husband from this day forward, to join with you and share all that is to come, and I promise to be faithful to you until death parts us." In some ceremonies they say, "Forsaking all others I will keep myself only for you so long as we both shall live." Through good times and bad, "for better, for worse, and in sickness and in health," they will "stick it out" and "hang in there" and make the relationship work. Love will be the bond, the glue, which will hold the relationship together. Without love, a split in the relationship will be inevitable. With love, even trouble can drive the man and woman closer together in their marriage bond. Thus, the commandments point out what a love relationship between God and his people looks like as it is lived out.
* * *
There is an old story about a bandit in the Far East who was badly injured and taken to a Christian mission hospital. Having received excellent care, he decided he would never again rob a Christian. Word got around about his resolution; so when he tried to rob someone that person would profess to be a Christian. How could he tell who was really a Christian? The man went back to the mission hospital and asked the question. The missionaries said that anyone who was a Christian ought to be able to recite the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments. Henceforth, before robbing people this man would ask them to make these two recitations. If they couldn't do this, he robbed them.
Leonard Sweet is not so sure this is the best criteria for judging whether or not someone is a Christian. He says that he knows a lot of mean-spirited people who can quote the facts of scripture but who don't know the Master of relationships.
* * *
Licensed and registered dietician Becky Hand says there are at least eight good reasons to eat together:
1. Communication and well-being. Those who eat together talk together and eating and talking together gives the family a sense of well-being.
2. Modeling manners. Children learn how to behave at the table by being at the table with other people who know how to behave.
3. Expanding our world... one food at a time. We can experience new and different cultures by trying new and different foods together.
4. Nourishment. Meals eaten at home are usually healthier and more well-balanced than those eaten out.
5. Self-sufficiency. When we plan and prepare a meal together, we teach a lesson in self-sufficiency to our children.
6. Avoiding bad choices. Studies show that people who eat together regularly have a lower rate of self-destructive behavior such as smoking and drinking.
7. Improved grades. Kids who eat together with their families tend to have better grades.
8. Saving money. Restaurants currently get about 46% of every American food dollar. We stretch that dollar further by eating at home.
In the church, we could add a ninth: we eat together to remember Jesus and to renew our spiritual bond with him.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Mary Austin
Call to Worship (suitable for World Communion Sunday)
Leader: Come, all God's people, to worship and give thanks.
People: We come, older or young, sprightly or slow, knowing that God has made us in all colors, shapes, and sizes.
Leader: Come, all God's people, to offer your prayers and praise.
People: We come, privileged or poor, smart or foolish, knowing that God has given us all kinds of faith.
Leader: Come, all God's people, to feast at God's table.
People: We come, joyful or tear-stained, full of faith or fully lost, knowing that God welcomes us all.
Leader: Come, all God's people, to give your life to God. Let us worship the God of grace together.
OR
Call to Worship (based on Psalm 19)
Leader: O God, our rock and our redeemer, all creation shouts of your glory.
People: The heavens and the earth speak of your power and every day reveals your mercy.
Leader: O God, our rock and our redeemer, words fail us when we see your handiwork.
People: We lack the words to tell of your goodness and our awe fills the earth.
Leader: O God, our rock and our redeemer, you teach us how to live.
People: Your laws are our guide and your paths bring us wisdom.
Leader: O God, our rock and our redeemer, keep us in your care as we worship and praise you.
Opening Prayer / Collect for the Day
O God, you promise that people will come from north and south, east and west, to feast at your table. We thank you for gathering us together, calling us out of the routines of the week, to surprise us again with your generosity. As we come into your presence we pray that the aggravations and stresses of the week will fall away, and we will know you again. As we come to your table, we pray that the hurts and conflicts of the past will fade away and we will embrace one another again. We pray in the name of our host at the table, our risen Lord, Amen.
Prayer of Confession (suitable for World Communion Sunday)
O God of many colors and names,
God of all languages and nations,
we forget that you have made the world in all its variety.
God of rich and poor,
God of the many and the few,
we forget that you love us all, and we long for sameness.
God of city and field, seashore and highway,
God of church and of open air,
we forget that your love can't be divided up,
can't be earned or deserved,
but belongs to all your people, as we all belong to you.
Forgive us, O God, for our limited vision and our narrow hearts,
and make us again your people, forgiven and set free.
In the name of the Prince of Peace, Amen.
OR
Prayer of Confession
God, we mix up our wins and our losses,
thinking that money and success make us more worthy,
and forgetting that you call us to lose ourselves in seeking you.
We count our victories as our own,
and blame you for our failures,
forgetting that all that we are and all that we have is a gift from you.
Forgive us, God,
and teach us again to think as you do,
knowing that loss for your sake is gain,
and that we have to lose our lives to gain your abundant life.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Hymn Suggestions (suitable for World Communion Sunday)
"Called as Partners in Christ's Service"
"God of Grace and God of Glory"
"God Whose Giving Knows No Ending"
"In Christ There is No East or West"
"Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ"
"Lord, I Want to Be a Christian"
"Lord of Light, Your Name Outshining"
"O for a World"
"Song of Hope"
"We Are Your People"
"We Come as Guests Invited"
"You Satisfy the Hungry Heart"
Children's Sermon Starter (suitable for World Communion Sunday)
Bring pictures of children around the world, preferably in national costume. Explain that there are Christians in all of these countries and that people all over the world will be having communion together today. It will happen in different languages, with different kinds of bread, but we are all talking to the same God and following Jesus together. Bring out different kinds of bread and ask the children to guess where in the world each kind might be used for communion.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Jesus and the Ten Commandments
Exodus 20:1-20
Object: bookmarks or cards listing the Ten Commandments
Good morning, boys and girls! In the Old Testament book of Exodus, there is the story of the tablets of stone that Moses received from God when he went up onto Mount Sinai. Can anyone here tell me what we call the words written on those stone tablets? (let the children respond) Yes, they have come to be known as the Ten Commandments. How many of you have learned something about the Ten Commandments? (let them respond with a show of hands) Okay, now which of you can tell me what the Commandments say? (let them respond)
Why do you suppose God gave his people these Commandments? (Let them respond -- some of their answers might be: to tell them how to behave; so they might learn to be good; to regulate society; to teach them, and so forth. You want to steer them toward a basic standard of relationship between God and man, and man to man.)
God expects humankind to respond to him and to each other in ways that will honor him. The Ten Commandments have long been the standard by which we measure how well we are doing in these relationships.
Lots of times people have tried to ignore these and other laws that God has given. Often this is because they don't want to do what God has told them to do. They try to excuse their behavior. Do you know what it means to try to excuse the way you act? (Let them respond -- encourage examples from the children of what that means.)
When Jesus was on earth, people questioned him on which one of the commandments He thought was the most important. Do you know what he said? (Read Matthew 22:36.)
Jesus said that the fulfillment of all the law and the teachings of the prophets in the Old Testament depends upon love, love for God and love for our neighbors. It is important that we learn how to really love God and one another. The Bible is our guide and the Holy Spirit is our teacher. Won't you ask God to help you each day to learn how to love? (Say a prayer asking God for help in learning to love and then you can conclude by giving the children Ten Commandment bookmarks or cards.)
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, October 2, 2011, issue.
Copyright 2011 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Ron Love tells us that while everything seems to be changing at a dizzying pace in our modern society, the Ten Commandments remain as relevant as ever because they provide us with a bedrock for constructing a moral, upright life. Ron points out that these ancient laws give us a consistent ethic of life "from womb to tomb" -- and judging by a provocative piece from nationally syndicated columnist David Brooks, one that we need to rediscover more than ever. Brooks notes that recent research on how young people develop their moral compass reveals that, to the extent that they think about these issues at all, they tend to believe that "moral choices are just a matter of individual taste. 'It's personal,' the respondents typically said. 'It's up to the individual. Who am I to say?' " Most startlingly, one of the research subjects even admits: "I don't really deal with right and wrong that often." If that's the approach many of our young people are taking to basic morality, then it's no wonder that some look at the Ten Commandments as no more than a list of guidelines -- one whose items can be discarded on an ad hoc basis if they don't "work" for a particular individual. Yet it seems impossible to imagine God countenancing such an a la carte approach -- and as Ron reminds us, it is the consistency of the commandments' approach to our relationships with others and with God that gives them such an elemental power for anchoring our lives.
As this is the first Sunday in October, many congregations will observe World Communion Sunday and team member Dean Feldmeyer offers some additional thoughts on the occasion and on why it is most appropriate that we remember our brothers and sisters across the world as we share in the communion bread and wine -- as well as our common dependence upon Jesus Christ. In addition, our worship resources this week include several pieces suitable for World Communion Sunday.
From Womb to Tomb
by Ron Love
Exodus 20:1-20
THE WORLD
Are there rules to be broken? Can any rule be exempt from further scrutiny? Is it possible that any rule can remain so infallible that it hovers beyond doubt? We would like to think so but in an ever-changing and evolving world we know that what stood as an unconquerable truth yesterday could well be the lost theory of tomorrow.
We have lived since 1905 with Albert Einstein's theory of relativity: E=mc2 -- that is, that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. Yet two weeks ago, scientists at the largest physics lab in the world, located in Geneva, clocked neutrons traveling faster than the speed of light, smashing past the speed barrier of 186,282 miles per second. The new neutrons traveled 60 nanoseconds faster than the speed of light. Though some question this experiment, others hold it to be true. Most notably, labs across the globe are trying to duplicate it. And if it is not true today, how far away is tomorrow?
In our competitive society, we anticipate that records will be broken. And when one is, we rejoice at the new hero who has thundered upon the scene. Last week one of the biggest news stories was the new record time for running the marathon. Patrick Makau of Kenya set a new record at the Berlin Marathon, running the 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 38 seconds. This not only was 21 seconds faster than the previous record run, but Makau's defeat of the former record-holder, Haile Gebreselassie of Ethiopia, in the race may have signaled the final decline of Gebreselassie, considered by many experts to be greatest distance runner in history. We realize that in sports, just as in life, there is no baseline that cannot be surpassed.
Religion is not exempt from rule-breaking and rule reinterpretation. Cathy Lynn Grossman, in a recent Washington Post article, wrote as her opening line: "If World War II-era warbler Kate Smith sang today, her anthem could be 'Gods Bless America.' " Note Grossman's use of the word "Gods" -- plural. In the same article Grossman discusses George Barna and his book Futurecast. In that publication, Barna confesses that religious behavior since 1991 has declined in every category except one: more people have accepted Jesus and expect to go to heaven. However, according to Barna, people today do not have a religion based on church doctrine established over the centuries but rather one that is self-composed. He wrote that America is headed for "310 million people with 310 million religions." In her article Grossman also cites Nadine Epstein, editor and publisher of the Jewish magazine Moment. Epstein laments that many practicing Jews believe in Judaism but not in God. Epstein asks, "Can there be Judaism without God?" And she answers her own question by writing that "most say yes." Epstein expresses her newfound fear this way: "We live in an era where you pick and choose the part of the religion that makes sense to you." It is interesting that the title Grossman gave to her article is: "More Americans designing a make-your-own religion." A pick-and-choose religion, a make-your-own religion, hardly aligns with the uncompromising truths set forth in the scriptures.
But in this day of intellectual enlightenment, some suppose we are sophisticated enough to lift scriptural passages out of antiquity and provide for them a new updated and modern interpretation. Pat Robertson, one of the leading evangelists in the nation, made headline news when he gave his blessing to someone divorcing a spouse that has Alzheimer's. Robertson stated, "If you respect that vow, you say 'til death do us part.' This is a kind of death." Robertson justified this by saying someone who was afflicted with Alzheimer's was having a "walking death." In effect, to be married to someone with Alzheimer's is to be married to someone who is already dead. Somewhere the real meaning of the vow "'til death do us part" has been redefined and lost. Russell Moore, dean of the school of theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, gave this opinion: "This is more than an embarrassment. This is more than cruelty. This is a repudiation of the gospel of Jesus Christ." The scriptures stand as a truth unto themselves and have held fast for two millenniums; this is not the time for reinterpretation.
Some rules and some records are to be broken or at least updated as society evolves but the bedrock of society, the rules provided by God in the Holy Scriptures, are timeless and unchangeable.
THE WORD
It has become a cliché but it is still worth repeating -- "God gave us the Ten Commandments; not the Ten Suggestions." The first four commandments direct us in our relationship toward God; the following six commandments direct us in relationship toward others. In their entirety, the Ten Commandments direct us on how to live hospitable lives. If one would read the power of the words selected for each commandment, there is the realization of an uncompromising truth.
The fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden was idolatry. "Did God say?" the serpent inquired. Once Eve and Adam made the decision that God could be questioned, they set themselves up to be gods unto themselves; thus, the sin of idolatry and the fall of humanity.
The questioning of God is no different this day than it was back on the first day. A make-your-own religion is nothing less than idolatry. A pick-and-choose religion is no different than answering the serpent's question "Did God say?" with a bite from the forbidden fruit.
We must come to the place in our lives where we admit that there are some unchangeable absolutes -- one of which is the Ten Commandments (along with all the other biblical mandates). Perhaps a neutron can go faster than the speed of light but it will never speed through the galaxies faster than "love your neighbor as yourself."
Joseph Cardinal Bernardin delivered a speech at Fordham University on December 6, 1983. It was titled "A Consistent Ethic of Life: An American-Catholic Dialogue (pdf download)." It has since become a guiding document for anyone who wants to follow the ethical values put before us by God. The dialogue focused mostly on the problems and advantages offered by current technological advances. These technological advances are not to be used to reinterpret the scriptures, but instead are to be interpreted by the scriptures. Bernardin wrote: "The even more demanding question is: In a time when we can do anything technologically, how do we decide morally what we never should do? Asking these questions along the spectrum of life from womb to tomb creates the need for a consistent ethic of life." (You may view a complete transcript of Bernardin's remarks here. (pdf download))
The Ten Commandments, coupled with all the teachings in the Bible, will give us a consistent ethic of life from womb to tomb.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
I. Discuss how as a competitive society we are always making new records and new scientific discoveries that overshadow rules once held sacred.
II. Examine how the new discoveries of this information age have caused us to question and redefine religion.
III. Discuss how the scriptures remain steadfast and unchangeable. In so doing they are our moral guide from womb to tomb.
ANOTHER VIEW
World Communion Sunday
by Dean Feldmeyer
The congregation of the Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has always believed that their parish has no geographical boundaries; it extends throughout the whole world.
Since its founding in 1866, the church has been a nationally recognized leader in the area of Christian outreach to the community, the nation, and the world. It was the first church to sponsor regular radio broadcasts of its worship services, pioneering the practice on station KDKA, the first commercially licensed radio station in the U.S. It was also the first church to broadcast its worship service to the North and South Poles. Its outreach truly knows no boundaries.
In 1933 Shadyside Presbyterian began the practice that is known today as World Communion Sunday. The practice spread through the denomination and was officially adopted by the Presbyterian Church USA in 1936. In 1940, the National Council of Churches officially recognized the celebration and adopted the first Sunday of October as World Communion Sunday.
The day celebrates the commonality and community within the Christian church worldwide and promotes Christian unity and ecumenical cooperation.
It is appropriate that all Christians should stand shoulder to shoulder one Sunday each year and recognize our dependence upon God as God comes to us in Jesus Christ.
While we may have little else in common, one thing is surely so and that is we are dependent creatures. Rich or poor, east or west, regardless of our age, our race, our station, or our church affiliation, we are all dependent upon food and beverage to sustain our physical bodies. Likewise, we are all, as Christians, dependent upon the broken and poured-out life of our Savior for the sustenance of our souls.
The lives God has given to us are like bread. If we try to save bread, we lose it. It becomes moldy or stale; it turns to dust; it is stolen away from us by time and nature. The only time we really have bread is not when we try to save it up but when we allow it to be broken and shared with our brothers and sisters.
And thus it is with our lives.
Likewise, the lives God has given to us are like wine. If we try to save wine, we lose it. It becomes sour; it evaporates and disappears; it is stolen away from us by time and nature. The only time we really have wine is not when we try to save it up but when we allow it to be poured out and shared with our brothers and sisters.
And thus it is with our lives.
On World Communion Sunday we stand with our fellow Christians, brothers and sisters around the world:
those who worship freely and openly and those who worship in hiding,
those who walk freely and those who have been imprisoned for their faith,
those who sing aloud and those who, out of fear, dare not raise their voices,
those who sow and those who reap,
those who laugh and those who weep,
those who live in plentitude and those who live in poverty...
We stand together with all of our sisters and brothers and we declare and celebrate our dependence upon the one we call Lord, even Jesus the Christ.
ILLUSTRATIONS
"I am constantly worried about my son's ethical education," A.J. Jacobs writes in his book The Year of Living Biblically (Simon & Schuster, 2007). "I don't want him to swim in this muddy soup of moral relativism. I don't trust it. So I want to instill some rock-solid, absolute morals in my son. Would it be so bad if he lived by the Ten Commandments? Not at all. But how do I get him there?" That is a question we all ask as we strive to live a godly life.
God gave the people the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments draw our attention away from ourselves to focus on our relationships with God and each other. Jacobs writes: "Look at the example set by God. The God of the Bible treats his children -- the human race -- with justice and mercy." We should do the same -- treat everyone we encounter with justice and mercy.
* * *
A television ad for a football video game once equated football to church. The ad compared getting ready to play the game with getting ready to go to church. It showed a player kneeling on the field in a prayerful pose and finally the animated player proclaims, "This is our cathedral!"
It may have been merely an advertising ploy but it points out how easy it is to substitute other gods for the one true God. God was emphatic: No other gods -- which, even though it didn't exist back in Moses' time, includes football.
* * *
British pro golfer Brian Davis had never won a pro golf tournament. Then, in April 2010 at the Verizon Heritage golf tournament on Hilton Head Island, he sank an 18-foot putt on the last hole to tie Jim Furyk and send the tournament into a sudden-death playoff.
His tee shot on the first hole of the playoff went askew, hit some rocks, and landed in the rough among pebbles, grass, and twigs. Davis set up for his second shot, took a practice swing, lifted the club in his backswing and hit the ball safely onto the front of the green.
But on the backswing he thought he saw, out of the corner of his eye, something near the ball move.
Davis went to the officials and asked them to review the shot on the replay cameras and after several viewings they saw it too. As Brian lifted his club for the backswing he brushed a twig near the ball and it moved. He had violated rule 13.4 -- a two-stroke penalty. Davis immediately conceded the hole, and the tournament, to Jim Furyk.
The amazing thing about this story is not that the painfully honest action was so rare but that it is so common in golf. Players routinely call penalties on themselves for accidental rule infractions.
In 1925 Bobby Jones did exactly the same thing -- he called a two-stroke penalty on himself and went on to lose a tournament by two strokes. When he was praised for being honest, Jones said: "You may as well praise a man for not robbing a bank."
* * *
"You must not fight simply to win; no holds barred is not the way; you must win by the rules." Thus wrote Welshman John Graham Chambers in the introduction to his new set of rules for the sport of boxing in 1865. Chambers' twelve rules were intended to perfect the already published Revised London Prize Ring Rules, published in 1853, and were an attempt to humanize the sport and make it safer for the athletes. So popular were Chambers' rules that John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry John Douglas publicly endorsed them, giving them the unofficial title of the "Queensberry Rules."
Today, the title of "the Queensberry rules" is often applied to any sport when the values of sportsmanship and fair play apply.
* * *
By 1875, Brigadier General Henry Martyn Robert had graduated from West Point, fought for the union in the Civil War, and returned to the academy as chairman of the department of military engineering.
None of those experiences, however, would prepare him for the chaos he faced when asked to chair a town meeting at a local church. Dismayed by the lack of order and embarrassed at his own inability to control the meeting, he set out to discover a book that would tell him the way to bring the rules that governed parliament into use for more common and pedestrian meetings.
He found none, so he decided to write one -- a set of rules that would, in his words, "provide a maximum of liberty within a necessary framework of order."
The first edition of Robert's Rules of Order was only 4,000 copies. Today, it has been through eleven editions and is still the gold standard for maintaining order and ensuring fairness for everyone who attends and participates in any kind of meeting.
But for Robert's Rules to work we must know and submit to them... or tolerate anarchy.
* * *
Though they may be ignored by many, the Ten Commandments represent for most people the basis of God's expectations of human conduct. The Ten Commandments are so basic that the concept has been copied ad infinitum. Consider these versions of the Ten Commandments:
* The Ten Commandments of Cell phone Etiquette
* The Ten Commandments of Google
* The Ten Commandments for C+ Programmers
* The Ten Commandments for Kids
* The Ten Commandments for Math Teachers
Although people may not be able to list the biblical commandments, they sure know the concept.
* * *
John Killinger tells a story in To My People with Love about a Boy Scout troop that held its weekly meetings in a Sunday school classroom dominated by a large picture of Moses raising the tablets of the Ten Commandments over his head before he hurled them down on the disobedient people at Mount Sinai. The picture made a deep impression on a boy named Sam. One day he excitedly rushed up to a fellow scout and announced: "Look, I've invented a new knot!"
"That's really neat," said his friend. "What will you call it?"
Looking over his shoulder to the threatening picture behind him, Sam replied, "I think I'll call it the Thou Shalt Not Knot."
Sometimes we think of the Ten Commandments as being entirely negative or threatening -- as an angry list of ten "nots." But we really ought to be grateful for them. They are blessings. Few of us would want to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge in the far outside lane, 220 feet in the air, without guardrails along the edge of the roadway for guidance. Just so, the Ten Commandments are necessary guidelines for living whole and wholesome lives. Freedom and safety come from learning to stay within the lines.
* * *
The Ten Commandments need to be seen in a positive light. Too often they are seen by people as negative demands placed upon us by a God intent on taking all the joy out of life. Yet the Commandments are not given to us by our Creator to wring the joy out of life but to assure that joy will be ours through our daily living. The Commandments are given to us in love and deep compassion by a Creator God whose heart is filled to overflowing with mercy and goodness for all his children. Most of the Commandments are in the indicative-imperative form in the original Hebrew language. That is, they point to a quality of life that should be lived because of our relationship with God.
In many ways, the relationship between God and his people is like the marriage relationship between a man and a woman. The union, the perfect bond that they form together, is fashioned out of love, not fear. Standing before the altar of God, they take each other's hands, look into each other's eyes, and make the following commitment: "I take you, [name], to be my wife/husband from this day forward, to join with you and share all that is to come, and I promise to be faithful to you until death parts us." In some ceremonies they say, "Forsaking all others I will keep myself only for you so long as we both shall live." Through good times and bad, "for better, for worse, and in sickness and in health," they will "stick it out" and "hang in there" and make the relationship work. Love will be the bond, the glue, which will hold the relationship together. Without love, a split in the relationship will be inevitable. With love, even trouble can drive the man and woman closer together in their marriage bond. Thus, the commandments point out what a love relationship between God and his people looks like as it is lived out.
* * *
There is an old story about a bandit in the Far East who was badly injured and taken to a Christian mission hospital. Having received excellent care, he decided he would never again rob a Christian. Word got around about his resolution; so when he tried to rob someone that person would profess to be a Christian. How could he tell who was really a Christian? The man went back to the mission hospital and asked the question. The missionaries said that anyone who was a Christian ought to be able to recite the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments. Henceforth, before robbing people this man would ask them to make these two recitations. If they couldn't do this, he robbed them.
Leonard Sweet is not so sure this is the best criteria for judging whether or not someone is a Christian. He says that he knows a lot of mean-spirited people who can quote the facts of scripture but who don't know the Master of relationships.
* * *
Licensed and registered dietician Becky Hand says there are at least eight good reasons to eat together:
1. Communication and well-being. Those who eat together talk together and eating and talking together gives the family a sense of well-being.
2. Modeling manners. Children learn how to behave at the table by being at the table with other people who know how to behave.
3. Expanding our world... one food at a time. We can experience new and different cultures by trying new and different foods together.
4. Nourishment. Meals eaten at home are usually healthier and more well-balanced than those eaten out.
5. Self-sufficiency. When we plan and prepare a meal together, we teach a lesson in self-sufficiency to our children.
6. Avoiding bad choices. Studies show that people who eat together regularly have a lower rate of self-destructive behavior such as smoking and drinking.
7. Improved grades. Kids who eat together with their families tend to have better grades.
8. Saving money. Restaurants currently get about 46% of every American food dollar. We stretch that dollar further by eating at home.
In the church, we could add a ninth: we eat together to remember Jesus and to renew our spiritual bond with him.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Mary Austin
Call to Worship (suitable for World Communion Sunday)
Leader: Come, all God's people, to worship and give thanks.
People: We come, older or young, sprightly or slow, knowing that God has made us in all colors, shapes, and sizes.
Leader: Come, all God's people, to offer your prayers and praise.
People: We come, privileged or poor, smart or foolish, knowing that God has given us all kinds of faith.
Leader: Come, all God's people, to feast at God's table.
People: We come, joyful or tear-stained, full of faith or fully lost, knowing that God welcomes us all.
Leader: Come, all God's people, to give your life to God. Let us worship the God of grace together.
OR
Call to Worship (based on Psalm 19)
Leader: O God, our rock and our redeemer, all creation shouts of your glory.
People: The heavens and the earth speak of your power and every day reveals your mercy.
Leader: O God, our rock and our redeemer, words fail us when we see your handiwork.
People: We lack the words to tell of your goodness and our awe fills the earth.
Leader: O God, our rock and our redeemer, you teach us how to live.
People: Your laws are our guide and your paths bring us wisdom.
Leader: O God, our rock and our redeemer, keep us in your care as we worship and praise you.
Opening Prayer / Collect for the Day
O God, you promise that people will come from north and south, east and west, to feast at your table. We thank you for gathering us together, calling us out of the routines of the week, to surprise us again with your generosity. As we come into your presence we pray that the aggravations and stresses of the week will fall away, and we will know you again. As we come to your table, we pray that the hurts and conflicts of the past will fade away and we will embrace one another again. We pray in the name of our host at the table, our risen Lord, Amen.
Prayer of Confession (suitable for World Communion Sunday)
O God of many colors and names,
God of all languages and nations,
we forget that you have made the world in all its variety.
God of rich and poor,
God of the many and the few,
we forget that you love us all, and we long for sameness.
God of city and field, seashore and highway,
God of church and of open air,
we forget that your love can't be divided up,
can't be earned or deserved,
but belongs to all your people, as we all belong to you.
Forgive us, O God, for our limited vision and our narrow hearts,
and make us again your people, forgiven and set free.
In the name of the Prince of Peace, Amen.
OR
Prayer of Confession
God, we mix up our wins and our losses,
thinking that money and success make us more worthy,
and forgetting that you call us to lose ourselves in seeking you.
We count our victories as our own,
and blame you for our failures,
forgetting that all that we are and all that we have is a gift from you.
Forgive us, God,
and teach us again to think as you do,
knowing that loss for your sake is gain,
and that we have to lose our lives to gain your abundant life.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Hymn Suggestions (suitable for World Communion Sunday)
"Called as Partners in Christ's Service"
"God of Grace and God of Glory"
"God Whose Giving Knows No Ending"
"In Christ There is No East or West"
"Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ"
"Lord, I Want to Be a Christian"
"Lord of Light, Your Name Outshining"
"O for a World"
"Song of Hope"
"We Are Your People"
"We Come as Guests Invited"
"You Satisfy the Hungry Heart"
Children's Sermon Starter (suitable for World Communion Sunday)
Bring pictures of children around the world, preferably in national costume. Explain that there are Christians in all of these countries and that people all over the world will be having communion together today. It will happen in different languages, with different kinds of bread, but we are all talking to the same God and following Jesus together. Bring out different kinds of bread and ask the children to guess where in the world each kind might be used for communion.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Jesus and the Ten Commandments
Exodus 20:1-20
Object: bookmarks or cards listing the Ten Commandments
Good morning, boys and girls! In the Old Testament book of Exodus, there is the story of the tablets of stone that Moses received from God when he went up onto Mount Sinai. Can anyone here tell me what we call the words written on those stone tablets? (let the children respond) Yes, they have come to be known as the Ten Commandments. How many of you have learned something about the Ten Commandments? (let them respond with a show of hands) Okay, now which of you can tell me what the Commandments say? (let them respond)
Why do you suppose God gave his people these Commandments? (Let them respond -- some of their answers might be: to tell them how to behave; so they might learn to be good; to regulate society; to teach them, and so forth. You want to steer them toward a basic standard of relationship between God and man, and man to man.)
God expects humankind to respond to him and to each other in ways that will honor him. The Ten Commandments have long been the standard by which we measure how well we are doing in these relationships.
Lots of times people have tried to ignore these and other laws that God has given. Often this is because they don't want to do what God has told them to do. They try to excuse their behavior. Do you know what it means to try to excuse the way you act? (Let them respond -- encourage examples from the children of what that means.)
When Jesus was on earth, people questioned him on which one of the commandments He thought was the most important. Do you know what he said? (Read Matthew 22:36.)
Jesus said that the fulfillment of all the law and the teachings of the prophets in the Old Testament depends upon love, love for God and love for our neighbors. It is important that we learn how to really love God and one another. The Bible is our guide and the Holy Spirit is our teacher. Won't you ask God to help you each day to learn how to love? (Say a prayer asking God for help in learning to love and then you can conclude by giving the children Ten Commandment bookmarks or cards.)
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, October 2, 2011, issue.
Copyright 2011 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
