Paved With Good Intentions
Children's sermon
Illustration
Sermon
Worship
In this week’s lectionary gospel text, Jesus tells a parable about workers anxious to rid a field of weeds lest they choke off the growth of young wheat plants. But the landowner has what at first seems a curious reaction -- he tells the conscientious field hands not to pull up the weeds, to let the weeds and the wheat grow to maturation together and to separate them at the time of the harvest. Jesus goes on to explain the parable by way of designating who each of the characters in the parable represents. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Dean Feldmeyer points out that there is yet another level of meaning contained in the parable -- one with a timely message for well-intentioned Christians. Dean notes that Jesus is also warning us about a tendency to offer aid in sometimes ill-considered manners, and about our rush to judgment of others and their motives. That’s not only not our job (but rather God’s), but when we place ourselves in charge of the world things often don’t turn out well... we have a knack for causing unintended consequences.
Team member Beth Herrinton-Hodge shares some additional thoughts on the Genesis and Psalm texts and the theme that God has “searched me and known me.” We often think that we’re playing hide-and-seek with God... but God knows us better than we know ourselves, so the only ones being deceived are ourselves. Yet, Beth notes, we really do want to be found and redeemed by God -- and as Jacob’s story illustrates, God is always there when we need -- giving us a ladder that we can climb up to heaven.
Paved with Good Intentions
by Dean Feldmeyer
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” We know that aphorism dates back to the 16th century, maybe even earlier, but we don’t know who said or wrote it first.
Its meaning, however, is clear. Much evil has been and is done by people who have only the purest, most innocent, most well-meaning of intentions. Missionaries coming to the new world in the time of Christopher Columbus brought with them diseases like smallpox, measles, and influenza to which native peoples had built up no immunities.
The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) describes the impact this way: “In Hispaniola, Columbus’ first stop in the Americas, the native Taino population... had no immunity to new infectious diseases.... There were an estimated 250,000 indigenous people in Hispaniola in 1492. By 1517, only 14,000 remained. Some historians say the impact of European and African settlers in the New World was more destructive than the Black Death had been in medieval Europe, possibly killing off as much as 90 percent of the native populations.”
In Matthew’s account of the parable of the weeds, the workers -- filled with good intentions and anxious to pull up and throw out the evil weeds -- are about to tromp all over the tender new wheat stalks, sacrificing them by pulling them up with the weeds. But the landowner has a better idea.
In the News
The weather at Yellowstone National Park on May 9 was fairly temperate: the low was 39 degrees Fahrenheit; the high was 50. Nevertheless, when two tourists, a father and son, saw a baby bison standing in the middle of the road, shivering and refusing to move, they decided it looked cold and needed to be rescued. So they loaded it into the trunk of their car and drove it to a ranger station.
Three days later, the park announced that the newborn calf had been euthanized because its mother had rejected it as a result of the “interference by people.”
“Park rangers tried repeatedly to reunite the newborn bison calf with the herd. These efforts failed,” the park said. “The bison calf was later euthanized because it was abandoned and causing a dangerous situation by continually approaching people and cars along the roadway.” Abandoned calves, they said, usually starve or are killed by predators.
The well-meaning tourists were “seriously worried that the calf was freezing and dying,” said a bystander who took a photo of the calf in the tourists’ trunk. Another tourist said that he warned the tourists that their rescue attempt might run afoul of park regulations, but “they didn’t care,” he said. “They sincerely thought they were doing a service and helping that calf by trying to save it from the cold.”
Charissa Reid, a Yellowstone spokeswoman, said in an interview that the tourists acted “out of desperation” when they took it to rangers. “They were just concerned about the well-being of the animal.” She said that the tourists had been given a ticket for $110, and the National Parks’ Investigative Service is considering further charges.
Rangers later explained that the park “isn’t a zoo. We don’t take care of individual animals. We take care of an ecosystem.”
Would that wild animals were the only ones harmed by human good intentions poorly pursued.
Our hearts go out to the innocent people of Syria. They have lived for years under the rule of a sociopathic despot, and when some of them rose in an effort to depose him he responded with a ruthlessness that did not eschew the use of poison gas.
Moved by the pictures of children crying and dying from these attacks, we have thrown our support to the rebels. But to what end? When we helped the Afghanis throw off Russian control of their country, the end result was that the Taliban rushed in to fill the gap left by the Russian exit.
In Iraq, the city of Mosul is in the final stages of being retaken from ISIS, but the battle between U.S., Iraqi, and ISIS forces pursuing different agendas has taken the lives of more than 5,000 civilians and has reduced the historic city to rubble.
In Syria, the scene looks troublingly familiar.
Who will take control of the country if and when Bashar Hafez al-Assad is deposed? ISIS stands ready to fill the vacuum when the current corrupt government crumbles.
But we don’t have to wait until the war ends to count the cost of our good intentions. Aleppo is the largest city in the country, with a population of over 2 million. Do a computer search for before and after pictures of the once-beautiful metropolis, and you will find a city in ruins. Over 400,000 people have already died in the fighting, and over 5 million people have fled in search of safety, only to end up in refugee camps where sanitation, nutrition, and the rule of law are all in short supply. More than 6.3 million people are internally displaced.
Before we allow actions to be ruled by good intentions alone, we would do well to ask how much “help” our assistance has provided and how much more of our rescue the people of Syria can tolerate. Perhaps scripture can help us answer that question.
In the Scriptures
The parable in this week’s gospel lection speaks to the idea of good intentions.
It comes in chapter 23, which is a series of Kingdom of God parables. This parable is the second one in the chapter, and the second of two “seeds” parables.
The first is the very familiar parable of the sower and the various kinds of soil. This parable takes a different track.
A man tills his field and sows seeds in it. While he sleeps an enemy of his comes in the night and sows weed seeds in the same field. Later, when the seeds begin to sprout the man and his workers realize what has happened. The workers are filled with indignation and ask if he wants them to go into the field and pull up the weeds, but the landowner says no.
There are two problems with doing as the workers wish. First, the wheat sprouts are young and tender, and the workers would trample them into the ground and kill them if they walked through the field to collect the weed sprouts. Remember, this is not corn or soybeans planted in neat rows; this is a field of wheat that grows like grass.
The second problem is that this early in the growth cycle of the wheat, when the weeds are pulled up many small wheat plants would be pulled up with them.
Clearly the workers are filled with good intentions, but if they follow through on those intentions they will do more harm than good. Better to wait until the wheat and the weeds are all mature. Then, when the harvest is taken the weeds can be sorted from the wheat and thrown away into the burn pile.
When Jesus explains the parable in the following verses another lesson emerges, and that is a lesson about judgment.
We who identify ourselves with the wheat are often quick to judge, but the parable reminds us that our responsibility is to grow and let God do the judging. There are still months between the first sprouts and the harvest. Who knows what will happen between now and then? Judging now is a waste of time and energy.
Concentrate on your own growth, and let God deal with the weeds.
In the Sermon
In the latest iteration of the Spiderman film series, Spiderman: Homecoming, Spiderman/Peter Parker is portrayed as a 15-year-old high school sophomore, with all of the insecurities, arrogance, confusion, glee, and angst of any teenager as well as some unique superpowers that give him the potential to become an effective crime fighter. But the emphasis here is on the word “potential.” He’s not there yet. When he’s Spiderman he is full of confidence and bravado, but when he’s Peter Parker he’s a shy and insecure nerd, especially around girls.
So he takes every opportunity to be Spiderman. He goes out of his way to find crimes and criminals he can thwart, but his efforts are often ill-advised, messy, and ineffective. He assaults a man who he thinks is stealing a car, only to discover that the man owns the car and is on his way to work. He interrupts some ne’er-do-wells ripping off an ATM machine, and in stopping them he manages to destroy the bank it’s attached to as well as the deli across the street that is owned by a nice gentleman who has a crush on Peter’s aunt.
Not unlike Spiderman, we Christians are full of good intentions -- but sometimes our efforts might be more effective if we temper them with some rational, critical thinking.
We want to help the poor and feed the hungry. We want to care for the wounded and teach the children and cure the sick. But if we pay for a person’s electric bill so their power does not get shut off, we might do well to ask how this bill is going to be paid next month. Are we helping this person, or are we enabling them to become dependent upon us to meet their needs?
A man in our community who was plagued with developmental disabilities and mild mental health problems had a reputation for entering churches during worship and disrupting the worship service to ask for money. Often people gave him money not so much out of a desire to help him as a desire to get him to leave.
At our church we decided that we would tell him that there was no money to be had in the church on Sundays, but if he came to the church office on Monday a voucher for a free meal at one of our local fast food restaurants would be waiting for him. And it worked. He never disrupted our worship service and he got his free meals -- limit two per month.
Often we Christians are also inclined to rush to judgment when it comes to the sins of others. We say we are hating the sin but loving the sinner, yet the sinners rarely see or feel the difference.
Yes, we say, we love you -- but until you become like us you can’t be a member (pastor, officer, etc.) in our church. The irony of this kind of thinking is, of course, that when they are “like us” they will still be sinners, just with a different set of sins.
I come from a big family, being the oldest of five children, and condemning the sins of our siblings was a game we played with gusto, especially when we were condemning those sins before our parents -- what lesser, more ignorant people would call “tattletale-ing.”
The response of my parents to these loud condemnations would usually be not unlike the point about judgment that Jesus makes in this parable: You worry about you, and let me worry about your brothers and sister.
Our job is to grow and mature in the faith so that we might, every day, become more worthy of the Kingdom. Let’s let God sort out the rest.
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Beth Herrinton-Hodge
Genesis 28:10-19a; Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
It’s interesting to read this week’s Genesis and Psalm texts one after the other. In Genesis 28 we catch up with Jacob as he flees the anger of his brother Esau, whom he’d tricked out of his birthright. Their father Isaac made good on his promise to bestow blessing upon Jacob, the younger of the twin brothers. Jacob received word that his brother planned to kill him after their father’s death. With their mother’s help, Jacob flees toward Haran, the land of Rebekah’s (and Abraham’s) people.
While on his journey, Jacob stops to sleep at the end of the day. As he sleeps, he dreams. In his dream, Jacob meets God -- the Lord of Abraham and Isaac -- descending a ladder from heaven. God repeats the promises made to Jacob’s forbearers: your offspring shall be numerous, like the dust of the earth, spread in all directions. All the families of the earth shall be blessed by you and your offspring. This land I shall give to you. I will be with you wherever you go.
Not only do these repeated promises confirm that the bestowal of blessing from Isaac to Jacob was approved by God, they show that God will find Jacob wherever he goes. “O God, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways” (Psalm 139:1-3).
“Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee your presence?” (Psalm 139:7).
These words could have been uttered by Jacob. He may be able to flee from his angry brother, but he can’t flee from God.
To the psalmist, these words hold comfort and surety. God’s presence with us is constant. God’s knowledge of us is vast and deep. God is before us and behind us. God’s hand leads us and holds us fast. Our God, the God of the psalmist, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: this God searches us, knows us, and leads us in the way everlasting.
Jacob, too, is astounded by the vast yet immediate presence of God: “Surely God is in this place -- and I did not know it!” (Genesis 28:16). There, in the wilderness, Jacob meets God and receives God’s promise. Even as he leaves his home and leaves the land of his father, God remains with him. There’s comfort in this knowledge.
Jacob is in need of comfort on this leg of his journey. What he did to swindle his brother out of his birthright, then to later fool his father into giving him a blessing -- Jacob had to know that he had done wrong. In fleeing, he hides from his brother’s wrath. In being found by God, he experiences grace.
Jacob is no saint. He’s done wrong. He knows it. The price he pays is estrangement from his brother and exodus from his home and family. Neither are we saints. We do wrong. We make mistakes. We know it. Sometimes we think we want to run and hide. We’d rather exit the scene than face our consequences. But when we’re found, we experience relief.
Fred Craddock tells about how much he loved to play hide-and-seek with his older sister. She would count while he would run and hide. One day he found the perfect hiding place. It was under the front porch of the farmhouse, underneath the stairs of the front porch. He could scoot in real tight so that he was completely out of sight.
Fred continues: “My sister came running out the front door and shouted, ‘Ready or not, here I come!’ She ran right over the top of the stair where I was hiding. She took off running through the front yard. I was giggling to myself, ‘She’ll never find me here; she’ll never find me!’ She ran over to the yard and looked out across the hay field and then came running back to look behind the big tree. She ran back up the porch steps right over the step and didn’t see me. I was still giggling, ‘She’ll never find me.’ She ran through the house and out the back door. I was having so much fun each time she ran right over the step without seeing me. I was repeating to myself, ‘She’ll never find me.’ Then I realized, ‘Hey! She’ll never find me!’ ”
After several minutes he slipped one toe out from under the stairs. After she ran right by again he pushed his whole foot out. Finally she spotted him: “I see you!” She ran back to base and declared him found.
Here’s the truth: Even as we try to hide, we want to be found. We hide from our mistakes, our troubles, our shortcomings. We hide from ourselves. We hide from God. But deep inside, we really want to be found. We want to be embraced, known, and forgiven.
With the ubiquitous presence of cellphones and cameras, it seems all the more impossible to hide. Auto accidents, store thefts, bullying, and brutality are caught on camera -- sometimes to the shame of perpetrators. Sometimes videos help catch the criminal, or the bully. Increasingly, police officers are required to wear body cameras. Stores, businesses, and heavily travelled roadways are stationed with surveillance cameras. To assume that we’re being filmed at all times is a current reality. But do these cameras really capture who we are? Do they clearly film the crime scene or the traffic stop? There are limitations in what meets the eye. We can’t know and see all.
Only God can.
God searches and knows. God accepts and accompanies. God tests and knows our thoughts. God shines light on darkness, clearing out the wicked within us and leading us in God’s everlasting way.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Good Intentions
Writer Parker Palmer says that when we want to improve each other’s lives, the gift we give is advice. Palmer recalls: “When my mother went into a nursing home not long before she died, my wife and I were told that, for a modest increase in the monthly fee, the staff would provide a few extra services to improve her quality of life. We gladly paid, grateful that we could afford it. Now in our mid-70s, my wife and I have no imminent need for assisted living or nursing care. But the house we live in is, by definition, a two-person residential facility for the aging. Here at what we fondly call The Home, it’s not uncommon for one of us to try ‘improve’ the other’s quality of life by offering ‘extra services.’ Unfortunately, those services often take the form of advice. A few years ago, my wife gave me some advice that struck me as -- how shall I say? -- superfluous. Remembering our experience with my mother, I said, ‘Could I pay a little less this month?’ To this day, that line gives us a chance to laugh instead of getting defensive when one of us attempts, as both of us do now and then, to give the other unsolicited and unwanted ‘help.’ ”
Palmer says that “Advice-giving comes naturally to our species, and is mostly done with good intent. But in my experience, the driver behind a lot of advice has as much to do with self-interest as interest in the other’s needs -- and some advice can end up doing more harm than good.”
Palmer’s own experience of deep depression taught him that the “help” we give through advice often leaves us less at peace, more distressed. “My misgivings about advice began with my first experience of clinical depression 35 years ago. The people who tried to support me had good intentions. But for the most part, what they did left me feeling more depressed. Some went for the nature cure: “Why don’t you get outside and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air? Everything is blooming and it’s such a beautiful day!” When you’re depressed, you know intellectually that it’s beautiful out there. But you can’t feel a bit of that beauty because your feelings are dead -- and being reminded of that gap is depressing. Other would-be helpers tried to spruce up my self-image: “Why so down on yourself? You’ve helped so many people.” But when you’re depressed, the only voice you can hear is one that tells you that you’re a worthless fraud. Those compliments deepened my depression.”
Wary of the good intentions we have, Parker Palmer says that we need to watch ourselves. “Here’s the deal. The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved. It simply wants to be witnessed -- to be seen, heard, and companioned exactly as it is. When we make that kind of deep bow to the soul of a suffering person, our respect reinforces the soul’s healing resources, the only resources that can help the sufferer make it through.”
*****
Genesis 28:10-19a
The Night Sky
Jacob had a powerful experience in the dark of night, and father and writer Michael P. Branch also finds mystery and wonder in the night sky. Branch says his tutor about both sky and mystery is his young daughter, who expects to find something amazing in the sky each night. “My daughter, Hannah Virginia, who recently turned three years old, is teaching me about the stars. Far from being a liability to her, my own profound astronomical ignorance has turned out to be her boon and, through her, a boon to me as well. The most important thing the kid has taught me is the brilliant, open secret that if you don’t go outside and look up, you won’t see anything. Every night before bedtime she takes my hand and insists that I get my bedraggled ass up and take her outside to look at the stars. If this sounds easy, ask yourself if you can match her record of going out every single night to observe the sky -- something she has done without fail for more than a year now.”
Hannah Virginia understands the power of looking hard for something. “Hannah insists on looking for stars no matter the weather. At first I attempted the rational, grown-up answer: ‘It just isn’t clear enough to see anything tonight, honey.’ But her response, which is always the same, is so emphatic and ingenuous that it is irresistible: ‘Dad, we can always check.’ And so we check. And it is when we check that the rewards of lifting my head up and out of another long day come into focus.”
The young girl understands the connection between heaven and earth better than most adults. When her mother asked her to make a wish, Hannah Virginia said, “I wish I could have a ladder tall enough to reach the stars.” At night, father and daughter come inside and look at a chart that helps them identify the starry constellations.
“Where’re you going?” Branch asks her. “Pleiades,” she says. “You want to come?”
*****
Genesis 28:10-19a
Brothers
Jacob and Esau were raised in the same home, and struggled from their time in the womb onward. It took them a long time to understand the gift of each other. In contrast, Randy Joubert and Gary Nisbet were raised by two different families and never knew they were brothers. The two men “were adopted and raised by separate families in neighboring Maine towns, never knowing the other one existed. They attended rival high schools, moved to the same town of Waldoboro, Maine, and both wound up working for the same company, Dow Furniture.” Their coworkers kept telling them that they looked like brothers. One day they were assigned to the same truck. Sitting in the cab together, Randy worked up his courage and asked Gary if he was adopted. “Gary, somewhat perplexed, confirmed that he was in fact adopted. After comparing some notes -- dates of birth, and finally birth parents names -- they stared at each other in disbelief. ‘This is such a small world,’ Gary said. Randy, the older brother, was the one who first had a hunch they may have been related. ‘People are saying we look like brothers, and we go on deliveries together for the last month and a half and we keep getting it,’ Randy said. He had recently dug up some information about his adoption and discovered that he had a brother who was born on June 10, 1974 -- Gary’s birthday.”
The two men kept the news to themselves for a short while, and then they shared their story with their coworkers. Like Jacob and Esau, we can lose our siblings, or find them, in the most amazing ways.
***************
From team member Ron Love:
Note: These illustrations are based on common themes in the lectionary readings.
Discipleship
Nevada has become the fifth state to legalize marijuana for recreational use -- and the sales in Nevada will far exceed the other four states because of Las Vegas tourism. When the sale became legal, stores opened at 12:01 a.m., and people stood in line as long as 40 minutes (in triple-digit heat) to make a purchase.
Application: We can only wish that Christians would be equally dedicated in serving Jesus.
*****
Discipleship
Richard Petty, known as the King of NASCAR, is 80 years old. Yet -- even though he has not raced for 25 years -- he is still a fan favorite. His career is still admired by everyone. Petty raced after surgery for ulcers. He raced after surgery to have his gallbladder removed. He raced with concussions. He raced after two broken necks. He raced with broken arms, fingers, shoulders. He raced after numerous wrecks on the track. Of the wrecks that caused him bodily injuries, Petty said: “When things happen, they happen so fast you haven’t got time to be scared.”
Application: As Christians, we need to be equally dedicated to serving our Lord.
*****
Discipleship
Golfer Phil Mickelson no longer has Jim “Bones” Mackay, his caddie of 25 years, on his bag. Mickelson recently dismissed Bones, replacing with his younger brother Tim. Phil said of having his brother as a caddie, “Maybe he gets me a little bit more relaxed and takes a little bit of pressure off me and maybe I’ll play my best that way.”
Application: We need to do what is best to improve our game as Christians.
*****
Integrity
Richard Petty, known as the King of NASCAR, is 80 years old. Yet -- even though he has not raced for 25 years -- he is still a fan favorite. Even those who are too young to have seen Petty race are still strong admirers. Petty, aware of fans who want autographs, keeps his meet-and-greets on a paper schedule he carries with him. He smiles and patiently listens to the same stories told by fans for the last 60 years.
Application: As Christians, we need to be conscious of how others view us.
*****
Integrity
Ziggy is a comic created by Tom Wilson -- and in some of the comics Wilson is willing to poke fun at himself. In one cartoon Ziggy opens a DNA test kit to discover who he is. The report reads: “DNA ANALYSIS: Newsprint 70%; Ink 25%; Pencil 4%; Eraser 1%.”
Application: As Christians, we must understand ourselves and how we can improve.
*****
Integrity
President Donald Trump is not pleased with the criticism he is receiving from the television show Morning Joe. In response Trump once again turned to Twitter, and said that co-host Mika Brzezinski showed up at his estate on New Year’s Eve expecting to be invited in. Trump refused her because, as he tweeted, “She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!” Eugene Robinson, a columnist for the Washington Post, confessed that he was not a professional psychologist, but in reviewing this Twitter post and others Robinson concluded: “I’m not qualified to assess Trump’s mental health. But there are moments when it would be dishonest not to raise questions about his stability.”
Application: As Christians, we need to be conscious of how others view us.
*****
Integrity
President Donald Trump recently posted a video on both his personal and official government Twitter account based on a clip from a wrestling event years earlier of Trump beating up WWE CEO Vince McMahon. The current posting placed a CNN logo over McMahon’s face, with the implied message that Trump will beat up any reporter who criticizes him. In response to the video, CNN said Trump “is involved in juvenile behavior far below the dignity of his office.”
Application: Unlike the President of the United States, we as Christians cannot be involved in juvenile behavior.
*****
Hope
After many decades of legalistic rules that counter acceptable societal behavior, the Mormons have changed their dress code for office employees. Women, once required to wear a dress or skirt, can now wear pantsuits and dress slacks. Men are now allowed to remove their suit coats when the temperature becomes unbearable.
Application: We can always hope for societal changes that are more accepting.
*****
Evil
Venus Williams, a five-time Wimbledon tennis champion, ran a red light in Florida that took the life of a 78-year-old passenger in the other vehicle. When tennis player Andy Murray was asked what advice he would give Venus, he said: “I’m sure it must be tough for her to focus on her tennis just now.” When David Witt, Venus’ coach, was asked the same question he replied: “But she’s looking to focus on her tennis. I’m sure it’s weighing on her, but we’re going day by day and getting good practice in.”
Application: It is sad that the emphasis of their remarks was on tennis and not the lost life of an individual.
*****
Evil
Chris Christie is in his final six months as governor of New Jersey. Over the Independence Day holiday Republican Christie and Democratic legislators were unable to compromise on a budget. In response to having no state funds, Christie closed all the state parks. Yet he spent the weekend with his family at the governor’s beach house at Island Beach State Park. When confronted that this was a dishonest gesture to the citizens of his state, Christie replied: “That’s the way it goes. Run for governor, and you can have the residence.”
Application: As Christians, we need to be conscious of how others view us.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: O God, you have searched us and known us.
People: You know when we sit down and when we rise up.
Leader: Where can we go from your spirit?
People: Or where can we flee from your presence?
Leader: Search us, O God, and know our hearts; test us and know our thoughts.
People: See if there is any wicked way in us, and lead us in the way everlasting.
OR
Leader: Our God is the Creator and Judge of all creation.
People: We praise God’s name and sing of God’s glory.
Leader: God alone is able to judge the world with equity.
People: It is God’s world. We should not judge what is not ours.
Leader: Jesus spread the good news of God’s forgiveness.
People: We are his disciples, and we will share the good news.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“O Worship the King”
found in:
UMH: 73
H82: 388
PH: 476
NNBH: 6
NCH: 26
CH: 17
LBW: 548
ELA: 842
W&P: 2
AMEC: 12
“Praise the Lord Who Reigns Above”
found in:
UMH: 96
ELA: 46
Renew: 253
“It’s Me, It’s Me, O Lord”
found in:
UMH: 352
NNBH: 496
CH: 579
“Amazing Grace”
found in:
UMH: 378
H82: 671
PH: 280
AAHH: 271, 272
NNBH: 161, 163
NCH: 547, 548
CH: 546
LBW: 448
ELA: 779
W&P: 422
AMEC: 226
STLT: 205, 206
Renew: 189
“Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive”
found in:
UMH: 390
H82: 674
PH: 347
LBW: 307
ELA: 605
W&P: 382
Renew: 184
“Trust and Obey”
found in:
UMH: 467
AAHH: 380
NNBH: 322
CH: 556
W&P: 443
AMEC: 377
“Help Us Accept Each Other”
found in:
UMH: 560
PH: 358
NCH: 388
CH: 487
W&P: 596
AMEC: 558
“Where Charity and Love Prevail”
found in:
UMH: 549
H82: 581
NCH: 396
LBW: 126
ELA: 359
“People Need the Lord”
found in:
CCB: 52
“Our God Reigns”
found in:
CCB: 33
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is Creator and Judge of all creation: Grant us the wisdom to not sit in judgment on others but to allow you and your grace to deal with them; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come into your presence, O God, as our Creator and our Judge. We offer you our worship and praise, and ask for your blessing. Give us wisdom, that we may refrain from sitting in judgment on others. Help us to allow you and your grace to deal with others. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our quickness to judge others.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. Jesus taught us not to judge, not to condemn others, and yet we do it all the time. We quote scripture or the teachings of our church to justify that we are right, but we have usurped your job. You alone are the judge of your children. Lead us so that in wisdom we may do what is right and not destroy. Amen.
Leader: God is the judge of all creation and offers us forgiveness and life even when we don’t deserve them. Receive God’s grace and live as God’s gracious children.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise you, O God, for you are the creator of all. We acknowledge you as our judge and the judge of all creation. We rejoice in your presence with us.
(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. Jesus taught us not to judge, not to condemn others, and yet we do it all the time. We quote scripture or the teachings of our church to justify that we are right, but we have usurped your job. You alone are the judge of your children. Lead us so that in wisdom we may do what is right and not destroy.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which your grace and love are shown to us. We thank you for your forgiveness and willingness to give us a fresh start when we mess things up. We thank you for Jesus and his constant reminder as he met people: “Your sins are forgiven.” Help us to remember and practice that phrase.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another, and especially for those who feel they cannot be forgiven for the things they have done. Help us to be your loving, forgiving presence to all we come in contact with this week.
(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
Ask the children, “Have you ever tried to help and things just got worse?” Tell about a time that happened to you. If it has never happened, tell them about the time I “helped” my father by taking the trash out and burning it for him at his gasoline station. The only problem was I put the trash, along with some old tires, right next to a tank that held hundreds of gallons of gasoline. Fortunately, tires smoke a lot and the fire department was less than a block away.
It is a good thing to try to help. It is more helpful if we make sure that we are not going to make things worse. I probably should have asked my dad before I “helped” him.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Unexpected Assurance
by Chris Keating
Genesis 28:10-19a
Gather ahead of time:
A few typical “comfort” items that a child might take with them on an overnight or camping trip. Have some fun with this -- making it “over the top” will only add to the story of Jacob’s encounter with God. Suggestions include a stuffed animal or favorite item; a blanket or sleeping bag; a photo of mom and dad; a favorite book, toy, or other item. Be creative and think of things that a child would find comforting for a night away from home.
Instead of a pillow, be sure to include a rock of some sort or shape.
Option: gather a few photos of the denominational camp or retreat center most familiar to your congregation, or photos of beautiful places of nature (such as redwood forests, the Grand Canyon, etc.)
The story of Jacob sleeping under the stars is a great opportunity to recognize any children or youth who have been or will be going to camp this summer. If possible, including their experiences of attending camp will add another dimension to this story of Jacob’s encounter with God, and the assurance he discovered.
Time with children:
As the children gather, greet them by asking if any of them have had the opportunity to go to summer camp, or if they have gone camping or even if they have had a campout in their back yard. It’s a common experience for children to be excited about spending the night in a tent -- so excited, in fact, that they might be a little scared about sleeping away from the comforts of home. Help them imagine that they are planning a camping trip, sort of like the overnight experience Jacob has in the scripture story. What sort of items do we need to gather so that Jacob isn’t afraid?
As you gather the items resist including a pillow, even if the kids mention this first. Instead, gather the pictures of mom and dad, the sleeping bag, the flashlight, the bedtime snack, and anything else. What are we missing? A pillow! Many of us take our favorite pillows along on trips -- even adults do this. We like the way our favorite pillow feels under our head. It is comforting, and a reminder of home.
Things that remind us of home bring us assurance. But Jacob didn’t have a pillow. The Bible reminds us that he took a rock from the place where he had stopped and used it. Rocks aren’t very comfortable. Who could imagine using a rock for a pillow?
That is just what he had, so Jacob went to sleep. We know that he must have been afraid that night: his brother was angry at him; he was all alone; and he was in a new place, far from home. As Jacob slept, he had a dream. In his dream, he saw a stairway, or a ladder that connected heaven and earth. When he climbed to the very top of the ladder, he could see God! God had an important message for Jacob. Jacob knew that no matter what, God would always be there for him.
When we go to summer camp, or even just sleep outside in our backyards, there are lots of things that are exciting to us. In nature, we see many beautiful things. (Here would be a good time to share pictures of camp, or nature, or even a tent set up in a backyard.) But sometimes we also get scared. We need the assurance of familiar things like a pillow or a blanket or a friend. But we also have the assurance and comfort that Jacob discovered. Jacob didn’t even have his favorite pillow with him! The dream, however, reminded him that God’s presence provides the assurance we need.
When he awoke, Jacob said, “Wow! This is incredible! God was in this place, and I didn’t even know it.” The same experience can happen to us. When we are scared God comes to us in unexpected ways, so that we can also say “Surely God was in this place!”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, July 23, 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 Beth Herrinton-Hodge shares some additional thoughts on the Genesis and Psalm texts and the theme that God has “searched me and known me.” We often think that we’re playing hide-and-seek with God... but God knows us better than we know ourselves, so the only ones being deceived are ourselves. Yet, Beth notes, we really do want to be found and redeemed by God -- and as Jacob’s story illustrates, God is always there when we need -- giving us a ladder that we can climb up to heaven.
Paved with Good Intentions
by Dean Feldmeyer
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” We know that aphorism dates back to the 16th century, maybe even earlier, but we don’t know who said or wrote it first.
Its meaning, however, is clear. Much evil has been and is done by people who have only the purest, most innocent, most well-meaning of intentions. Missionaries coming to the new world in the time of Christopher Columbus brought with them diseases like smallpox, measles, and influenza to which native peoples had built up no immunities.
The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) describes the impact this way: “In Hispaniola, Columbus’ first stop in the Americas, the native Taino population... had no immunity to new infectious diseases.... There were an estimated 250,000 indigenous people in Hispaniola in 1492. By 1517, only 14,000 remained. Some historians say the impact of European and African settlers in the New World was more destructive than the Black Death had been in medieval Europe, possibly killing off as much as 90 percent of the native populations.”
In Matthew’s account of the parable of the weeds, the workers -- filled with good intentions and anxious to pull up and throw out the evil weeds -- are about to tromp all over the tender new wheat stalks, sacrificing them by pulling them up with the weeds. But the landowner has a better idea.
In the News
The weather at Yellowstone National Park on May 9 was fairly temperate: the low was 39 degrees Fahrenheit; the high was 50. Nevertheless, when two tourists, a father and son, saw a baby bison standing in the middle of the road, shivering and refusing to move, they decided it looked cold and needed to be rescued. So they loaded it into the trunk of their car and drove it to a ranger station.
Three days later, the park announced that the newborn calf had been euthanized because its mother had rejected it as a result of the “interference by people.”
“Park rangers tried repeatedly to reunite the newborn bison calf with the herd. These efforts failed,” the park said. “The bison calf was later euthanized because it was abandoned and causing a dangerous situation by continually approaching people and cars along the roadway.” Abandoned calves, they said, usually starve or are killed by predators.
The well-meaning tourists were “seriously worried that the calf was freezing and dying,” said a bystander who took a photo of the calf in the tourists’ trunk. Another tourist said that he warned the tourists that their rescue attempt might run afoul of park regulations, but “they didn’t care,” he said. “They sincerely thought they were doing a service and helping that calf by trying to save it from the cold.”
Charissa Reid, a Yellowstone spokeswoman, said in an interview that the tourists acted “out of desperation” when they took it to rangers. “They were just concerned about the well-being of the animal.” She said that the tourists had been given a ticket for $110, and the National Parks’ Investigative Service is considering further charges.
Rangers later explained that the park “isn’t a zoo. We don’t take care of individual animals. We take care of an ecosystem.”
Would that wild animals were the only ones harmed by human good intentions poorly pursued.
Our hearts go out to the innocent people of Syria. They have lived for years under the rule of a sociopathic despot, and when some of them rose in an effort to depose him he responded with a ruthlessness that did not eschew the use of poison gas.
Moved by the pictures of children crying and dying from these attacks, we have thrown our support to the rebels. But to what end? When we helped the Afghanis throw off Russian control of their country, the end result was that the Taliban rushed in to fill the gap left by the Russian exit.
In Iraq, the city of Mosul is in the final stages of being retaken from ISIS, but the battle between U.S., Iraqi, and ISIS forces pursuing different agendas has taken the lives of more than 5,000 civilians and has reduced the historic city to rubble.
In Syria, the scene looks troublingly familiar.
Who will take control of the country if and when Bashar Hafez al-Assad is deposed? ISIS stands ready to fill the vacuum when the current corrupt government crumbles.
But we don’t have to wait until the war ends to count the cost of our good intentions. Aleppo is the largest city in the country, with a population of over 2 million. Do a computer search for before and after pictures of the once-beautiful metropolis, and you will find a city in ruins. Over 400,000 people have already died in the fighting, and over 5 million people have fled in search of safety, only to end up in refugee camps where sanitation, nutrition, and the rule of law are all in short supply. More than 6.3 million people are internally displaced.
Before we allow actions to be ruled by good intentions alone, we would do well to ask how much “help” our assistance has provided and how much more of our rescue the people of Syria can tolerate. Perhaps scripture can help us answer that question.
In the Scriptures
The parable in this week’s gospel lection speaks to the idea of good intentions.
It comes in chapter 23, which is a series of Kingdom of God parables. This parable is the second one in the chapter, and the second of two “seeds” parables.
The first is the very familiar parable of the sower and the various kinds of soil. This parable takes a different track.
A man tills his field and sows seeds in it. While he sleeps an enemy of his comes in the night and sows weed seeds in the same field. Later, when the seeds begin to sprout the man and his workers realize what has happened. The workers are filled with indignation and ask if he wants them to go into the field and pull up the weeds, but the landowner says no.
There are two problems with doing as the workers wish. First, the wheat sprouts are young and tender, and the workers would trample them into the ground and kill them if they walked through the field to collect the weed sprouts. Remember, this is not corn or soybeans planted in neat rows; this is a field of wheat that grows like grass.
The second problem is that this early in the growth cycle of the wheat, when the weeds are pulled up many small wheat plants would be pulled up with them.
Clearly the workers are filled with good intentions, but if they follow through on those intentions they will do more harm than good. Better to wait until the wheat and the weeds are all mature. Then, when the harvest is taken the weeds can be sorted from the wheat and thrown away into the burn pile.
When Jesus explains the parable in the following verses another lesson emerges, and that is a lesson about judgment.
We who identify ourselves with the wheat are often quick to judge, but the parable reminds us that our responsibility is to grow and let God do the judging. There are still months between the first sprouts and the harvest. Who knows what will happen between now and then? Judging now is a waste of time and energy.
Concentrate on your own growth, and let God deal with the weeds.
In the Sermon
In the latest iteration of the Spiderman film series, Spiderman: Homecoming, Spiderman/Peter Parker is portrayed as a 15-year-old high school sophomore, with all of the insecurities, arrogance, confusion, glee, and angst of any teenager as well as some unique superpowers that give him the potential to become an effective crime fighter. But the emphasis here is on the word “potential.” He’s not there yet. When he’s Spiderman he is full of confidence and bravado, but when he’s Peter Parker he’s a shy and insecure nerd, especially around girls.
So he takes every opportunity to be Spiderman. He goes out of his way to find crimes and criminals he can thwart, but his efforts are often ill-advised, messy, and ineffective. He assaults a man who he thinks is stealing a car, only to discover that the man owns the car and is on his way to work. He interrupts some ne’er-do-wells ripping off an ATM machine, and in stopping them he manages to destroy the bank it’s attached to as well as the deli across the street that is owned by a nice gentleman who has a crush on Peter’s aunt.
Not unlike Spiderman, we Christians are full of good intentions -- but sometimes our efforts might be more effective if we temper them with some rational, critical thinking.
We want to help the poor and feed the hungry. We want to care for the wounded and teach the children and cure the sick. But if we pay for a person’s electric bill so their power does not get shut off, we might do well to ask how this bill is going to be paid next month. Are we helping this person, or are we enabling them to become dependent upon us to meet their needs?
A man in our community who was plagued with developmental disabilities and mild mental health problems had a reputation for entering churches during worship and disrupting the worship service to ask for money. Often people gave him money not so much out of a desire to help him as a desire to get him to leave.
At our church we decided that we would tell him that there was no money to be had in the church on Sundays, but if he came to the church office on Monday a voucher for a free meal at one of our local fast food restaurants would be waiting for him. And it worked. He never disrupted our worship service and he got his free meals -- limit two per month.
Often we Christians are also inclined to rush to judgment when it comes to the sins of others. We say we are hating the sin but loving the sinner, yet the sinners rarely see or feel the difference.
Yes, we say, we love you -- but until you become like us you can’t be a member (pastor, officer, etc.) in our church. The irony of this kind of thinking is, of course, that when they are “like us” they will still be sinners, just with a different set of sins.
I come from a big family, being the oldest of five children, and condemning the sins of our siblings was a game we played with gusto, especially when we were condemning those sins before our parents -- what lesser, more ignorant people would call “tattletale-ing.”
The response of my parents to these loud condemnations would usually be not unlike the point about judgment that Jesus makes in this parable: You worry about you, and let me worry about your brothers and sister.
Our job is to grow and mature in the faith so that we might, every day, become more worthy of the Kingdom. Let’s let God sort out the rest.
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Beth Herrinton-Hodge
Genesis 28:10-19a; Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
It’s interesting to read this week’s Genesis and Psalm texts one after the other. In Genesis 28 we catch up with Jacob as he flees the anger of his brother Esau, whom he’d tricked out of his birthright. Their father Isaac made good on his promise to bestow blessing upon Jacob, the younger of the twin brothers. Jacob received word that his brother planned to kill him after their father’s death. With their mother’s help, Jacob flees toward Haran, the land of Rebekah’s (and Abraham’s) people.
While on his journey, Jacob stops to sleep at the end of the day. As he sleeps, he dreams. In his dream, Jacob meets God -- the Lord of Abraham and Isaac -- descending a ladder from heaven. God repeats the promises made to Jacob’s forbearers: your offspring shall be numerous, like the dust of the earth, spread in all directions. All the families of the earth shall be blessed by you and your offspring. This land I shall give to you. I will be with you wherever you go.
Not only do these repeated promises confirm that the bestowal of blessing from Isaac to Jacob was approved by God, they show that God will find Jacob wherever he goes. “O God, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways” (Psalm 139:1-3).
“Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee your presence?” (Psalm 139:7).
These words could have been uttered by Jacob. He may be able to flee from his angry brother, but he can’t flee from God.
To the psalmist, these words hold comfort and surety. God’s presence with us is constant. God’s knowledge of us is vast and deep. God is before us and behind us. God’s hand leads us and holds us fast. Our God, the God of the psalmist, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: this God searches us, knows us, and leads us in the way everlasting.
Jacob, too, is astounded by the vast yet immediate presence of God: “Surely God is in this place -- and I did not know it!” (Genesis 28:16). There, in the wilderness, Jacob meets God and receives God’s promise. Even as he leaves his home and leaves the land of his father, God remains with him. There’s comfort in this knowledge.
Jacob is in need of comfort on this leg of his journey. What he did to swindle his brother out of his birthright, then to later fool his father into giving him a blessing -- Jacob had to know that he had done wrong. In fleeing, he hides from his brother’s wrath. In being found by God, he experiences grace.
Jacob is no saint. He’s done wrong. He knows it. The price he pays is estrangement from his brother and exodus from his home and family. Neither are we saints. We do wrong. We make mistakes. We know it. Sometimes we think we want to run and hide. We’d rather exit the scene than face our consequences. But when we’re found, we experience relief.
Fred Craddock tells about how much he loved to play hide-and-seek with his older sister. She would count while he would run and hide. One day he found the perfect hiding place. It was under the front porch of the farmhouse, underneath the stairs of the front porch. He could scoot in real tight so that he was completely out of sight.
Fred continues: “My sister came running out the front door and shouted, ‘Ready or not, here I come!’ She ran right over the top of the stair where I was hiding. She took off running through the front yard. I was giggling to myself, ‘She’ll never find me here; she’ll never find me!’ She ran over to the yard and looked out across the hay field and then came running back to look behind the big tree. She ran back up the porch steps right over the step and didn’t see me. I was still giggling, ‘She’ll never find me.’ She ran through the house and out the back door. I was having so much fun each time she ran right over the step without seeing me. I was repeating to myself, ‘She’ll never find me.’ Then I realized, ‘Hey! She’ll never find me!’ ”
After several minutes he slipped one toe out from under the stairs. After she ran right by again he pushed his whole foot out. Finally she spotted him: “I see you!” She ran back to base and declared him found.
Here’s the truth: Even as we try to hide, we want to be found. We hide from our mistakes, our troubles, our shortcomings. We hide from ourselves. We hide from God. But deep inside, we really want to be found. We want to be embraced, known, and forgiven.
With the ubiquitous presence of cellphones and cameras, it seems all the more impossible to hide. Auto accidents, store thefts, bullying, and brutality are caught on camera -- sometimes to the shame of perpetrators. Sometimes videos help catch the criminal, or the bully. Increasingly, police officers are required to wear body cameras. Stores, businesses, and heavily travelled roadways are stationed with surveillance cameras. To assume that we’re being filmed at all times is a current reality. But do these cameras really capture who we are? Do they clearly film the crime scene or the traffic stop? There are limitations in what meets the eye. We can’t know and see all.
Only God can.
God searches and knows. God accepts and accompanies. God tests and knows our thoughts. God shines light on darkness, clearing out the wicked within us and leading us in God’s everlasting way.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Good Intentions
Writer Parker Palmer says that when we want to improve each other’s lives, the gift we give is advice. Palmer recalls: “When my mother went into a nursing home not long before she died, my wife and I were told that, for a modest increase in the monthly fee, the staff would provide a few extra services to improve her quality of life. We gladly paid, grateful that we could afford it. Now in our mid-70s, my wife and I have no imminent need for assisted living or nursing care. But the house we live in is, by definition, a two-person residential facility for the aging. Here at what we fondly call The Home, it’s not uncommon for one of us to try ‘improve’ the other’s quality of life by offering ‘extra services.’ Unfortunately, those services often take the form of advice. A few years ago, my wife gave me some advice that struck me as -- how shall I say? -- superfluous. Remembering our experience with my mother, I said, ‘Could I pay a little less this month?’ To this day, that line gives us a chance to laugh instead of getting defensive when one of us attempts, as both of us do now and then, to give the other unsolicited and unwanted ‘help.’ ”
Palmer says that “Advice-giving comes naturally to our species, and is mostly done with good intent. But in my experience, the driver behind a lot of advice has as much to do with self-interest as interest in the other’s needs -- and some advice can end up doing more harm than good.”
Palmer’s own experience of deep depression taught him that the “help” we give through advice often leaves us less at peace, more distressed. “My misgivings about advice began with my first experience of clinical depression 35 years ago. The people who tried to support me had good intentions. But for the most part, what they did left me feeling more depressed. Some went for the nature cure: “Why don’t you get outside and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air? Everything is blooming and it’s such a beautiful day!” When you’re depressed, you know intellectually that it’s beautiful out there. But you can’t feel a bit of that beauty because your feelings are dead -- and being reminded of that gap is depressing. Other would-be helpers tried to spruce up my self-image: “Why so down on yourself? You’ve helped so many people.” But when you’re depressed, the only voice you can hear is one that tells you that you’re a worthless fraud. Those compliments deepened my depression.”
Wary of the good intentions we have, Parker Palmer says that we need to watch ourselves. “Here’s the deal. The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved. It simply wants to be witnessed -- to be seen, heard, and companioned exactly as it is. When we make that kind of deep bow to the soul of a suffering person, our respect reinforces the soul’s healing resources, the only resources that can help the sufferer make it through.”
*****
Genesis 28:10-19a
The Night Sky
Jacob had a powerful experience in the dark of night, and father and writer Michael P. Branch also finds mystery and wonder in the night sky. Branch says his tutor about both sky and mystery is his young daughter, who expects to find something amazing in the sky each night. “My daughter, Hannah Virginia, who recently turned three years old, is teaching me about the stars. Far from being a liability to her, my own profound astronomical ignorance has turned out to be her boon and, through her, a boon to me as well. The most important thing the kid has taught me is the brilliant, open secret that if you don’t go outside and look up, you won’t see anything. Every night before bedtime she takes my hand and insists that I get my bedraggled ass up and take her outside to look at the stars. If this sounds easy, ask yourself if you can match her record of going out every single night to observe the sky -- something she has done without fail for more than a year now.”
Hannah Virginia understands the power of looking hard for something. “Hannah insists on looking for stars no matter the weather. At first I attempted the rational, grown-up answer: ‘It just isn’t clear enough to see anything tonight, honey.’ But her response, which is always the same, is so emphatic and ingenuous that it is irresistible: ‘Dad, we can always check.’ And so we check. And it is when we check that the rewards of lifting my head up and out of another long day come into focus.”
The young girl understands the connection between heaven and earth better than most adults. When her mother asked her to make a wish, Hannah Virginia said, “I wish I could have a ladder tall enough to reach the stars.” At night, father and daughter come inside and look at a chart that helps them identify the starry constellations.
“Where’re you going?” Branch asks her. “Pleiades,” she says. “You want to come?”
*****
Genesis 28:10-19a
Brothers
Jacob and Esau were raised in the same home, and struggled from their time in the womb onward. It took them a long time to understand the gift of each other. In contrast, Randy Joubert and Gary Nisbet were raised by two different families and never knew they were brothers. The two men “were adopted and raised by separate families in neighboring Maine towns, never knowing the other one existed. They attended rival high schools, moved to the same town of Waldoboro, Maine, and both wound up working for the same company, Dow Furniture.” Their coworkers kept telling them that they looked like brothers. One day they were assigned to the same truck. Sitting in the cab together, Randy worked up his courage and asked Gary if he was adopted. “Gary, somewhat perplexed, confirmed that he was in fact adopted. After comparing some notes -- dates of birth, and finally birth parents names -- they stared at each other in disbelief. ‘This is such a small world,’ Gary said. Randy, the older brother, was the one who first had a hunch they may have been related. ‘People are saying we look like brothers, and we go on deliveries together for the last month and a half and we keep getting it,’ Randy said. He had recently dug up some information about his adoption and discovered that he had a brother who was born on June 10, 1974 -- Gary’s birthday.”
The two men kept the news to themselves for a short while, and then they shared their story with their coworkers. Like Jacob and Esau, we can lose our siblings, or find them, in the most amazing ways.
***************
From team member Ron Love:
Note: These illustrations are based on common themes in the lectionary readings.
Discipleship
Nevada has become the fifth state to legalize marijuana for recreational use -- and the sales in Nevada will far exceed the other four states because of Las Vegas tourism. When the sale became legal, stores opened at 12:01 a.m., and people stood in line as long as 40 minutes (in triple-digit heat) to make a purchase.
Application: We can only wish that Christians would be equally dedicated in serving Jesus.
*****
Discipleship
Richard Petty, known as the King of NASCAR, is 80 years old. Yet -- even though he has not raced for 25 years -- he is still a fan favorite. His career is still admired by everyone. Petty raced after surgery for ulcers. He raced after surgery to have his gallbladder removed. He raced with concussions. He raced after two broken necks. He raced with broken arms, fingers, shoulders. He raced after numerous wrecks on the track. Of the wrecks that caused him bodily injuries, Petty said: “When things happen, they happen so fast you haven’t got time to be scared.”
Application: As Christians, we need to be equally dedicated to serving our Lord.
*****
Discipleship
Golfer Phil Mickelson no longer has Jim “Bones” Mackay, his caddie of 25 years, on his bag. Mickelson recently dismissed Bones, replacing with his younger brother Tim. Phil said of having his brother as a caddie, “Maybe he gets me a little bit more relaxed and takes a little bit of pressure off me and maybe I’ll play my best that way.”
Application: We need to do what is best to improve our game as Christians.
*****
Integrity
Richard Petty, known as the King of NASCAR, is 80 years old. Yet -- even though he has not raced for 25 years -- he is still a fan favorite. Even those who are too young to have seen Petty race are still strong admirers. Petty, aware of fans who want autographs, keeps his meet-and-greets on a paper schedule he carries with him. He smiles and patiently listens to the same stories told by fans for the last 60 years.
Application: As Christians, we need to be conscious of how others view us.
*****
Integrity
Ziggy is a comic created by Tom Wilson -- and in some of the comics Wilson is willing to poke fun at himself. In one cartoon Ziggy opens a DNA test kit to discover who he is. The report reads: “DNA ANALYSIS: Newsprint 70%; Ink 25%; Pencil 4%; Eraser 1%.”
Application: As Christians, we must understand ourselves and how we can improve.
*****
Integrity
President Donald Trump is not pleased with the criticism he is receiving from the television show Morning Joe. In response Trump once again turned to Twitter, and said that co-host Mika Brzezinski showed up at his estate on New Year’s Eve expecting to be invited in. Trump refused her because, as he tweeted, “She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!” Eugene Robinson, a columnist for the Washington Post, confessed that he was not a professional psychologist, but in reviewing this Twitter post and others Robinson concluded: “I’m not qualified to assess Trump’s mental health. But there are moments when it would be dishonest not to raise questions about his stability.”
Application: As Christians, we need to be conscious of how others view us.
*****
Integrity
President Donald Trump recently posted a video on both his personal and official government Twitter account based on a clip from a wrestling event years earlier of Trump beating up WWE CEO Vince McMahon. The current posting placed a CNN logo over McMahon’s face, with the implied message that Trump will beat up any reporter who criticizes him. In response to the video, CNN said Trump “is involved in juvenile behavior far below the dignity of his office.”
Application: Unlike the President of the United States, we as Christians cannot be involved in juvenile behavior.
*****
Hope
After many decades of legalistic rules that counter acceptable societal behavior, the Mormons have changed their dress code for office employees. Women, once required to wear a dress or skirt, can now wear pantsuits and dress slacks. Men are now allowed to remove their suit coats when the temperature becomes unbearable.
Application: We can always hope for societal changes that are more accepting.
*****
Evil
Venus Williams, a five-time Wimbledon tennis champion, ran a red light in Florida that took the life of a 78-year-old passenger in the other vehicle. When tennis player Andy Murray was asked what advice he would give Venus, he said: “I’m sure it must be tough for her to focus on her tennis just now.” When David Witt, Venus’ coach, was asked the same question he replied: “But she’s looking to focus on her tennis. I’m sure it’s weighing on her, but we’re going day by day and getting good practice in.”
Application: It is sad that the emphasis of their remarks was on tennis and not the lost life of an individual.
*****
Evil
Chris Christie is in his final six months as governor of New Jersey. Over the Independence Day holiday Republican Christie and Democratic legislators were unable to compromise on a budget. In response to having no state funds, Christie closed all the state parks. Yet he spent the weekend with his family at the governor’s beach house at Island Beach State Park. When confronted that this was a dishonest gesture to the citizens of his state, Christie replied: “That’s the way it goes. Run for governor, and you can have the residence.”
Application: As Christians, we need to be conscious of how others view us.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: O God, you have searched us and known us.
People: You know when we sit down and when we rise up.
Leader: Where can we go from your spirit?
People: Or where can we flee from your presence?
Leader: Search us, O God, and know our hearts; test us and know our thoughts.
People: See if there is any wicked way in us, and lead us in the way everlasting.
OR
Leader: Our God is the Creator and Judge of all creation.
People: We praise God’s name and sing of God’s glory.
Leader: God alone is able to judge the world with equity.
People: It is God’s world. We should not judge what is not ours.
Leader: Jesus spread the good news of God’s forgiveness.
People: We are his disciples, and we will share the good news.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“O Worship the King”
found in:
UMH: 73
H82: 388
PH: 476
NNBH: 6
NCH: 26
CH: 17
LBW: 548
ELA: 842
W&P: 2
AMEC: 12
“Praise the Lord Who Reigns Above”
found in:
UMH: 96
ELA: 46
Renew: 253
“It’s Me, It’s Me, O Lord”
found in:
UMH: 352
NNBH: 496
CH: 579
“Amazing Grace”
found in:
UMH: 378
H82: 671
PH: 280
AAHH: 271, 272
NNBH: 161, 163
NCH: 547, 548
CH: 546
LBW: 448
ELA: 779
W&P: 422
AMEC: 226
STLT: 205, 206
Renew: 189
“Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive”
found in:
UMH: 390
H82: 674
PH: 347
LBW: 307
ELA: 605
W&P: 382
Renew: 184
“Trust and Obey”
found in:
UMH: 467
AAHH: 380
NNBH: 322
CH: 556
W&P: 443
AMEC: 377
“Help Us Accept Each Other”
found in:
UMH: 560
PH: 358
NCH: 388
CH: 487
W&P: 596
AMEC: 558
“Where Charity and Love Prevail”
found in:
UMH: 549
H82: 581
NCH: 396
LBW: 126
ELA: 359
“People Need the Lord”
found in:
CCB: 52
“Our God Reigns”
found in:
CCB: 33
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is Creator and Judge of all creation: Grant us the wisdom to not sit in judgment on others but to allow you and your grace to deal with them; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come into your presence, O God, as our Creator and our Judge. We offer you our worship and praise, and ask for your blessing. Give us wisdom, that we may refrain from sitting in judgment on others. Help us to allow you and your grace to deal with others. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our quickness to judge others.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. Jesus taught us not to judge, not to condemn others, and yet we do it all the time. We quote scripture or the teachings of our church to justify that we are right, but we have usurped your job. You alone are the judge of your children. Lead us so that in wisdom we may do what is right and not destroy. Amen.
Leader: God is the judge of all creation and offers us forgiveness and life even when we don’t deserve them. Receive God’s grace and live as God’s gracious children.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise you, O God, for you are the creator of all. We acknowledge you as our judge and the judge of all creation. We rejoice in your presence with us.
(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. Jesus taught us not to judge, not to condemn others, and yet we do it all the time. We quote scripture or the teachings of our church to justify that we are right, but we have usurped your job. You alone are the judge of your children. Lead us so that in wisdom we may do what is right and not destroy.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which your grace and love are shown to us. We thank you for your forgiveness and willingness to give us a fresh start when we mess things up. We thank you for Jesus and his constant reminder as he met people: “Your sins are forgiven.” Help us to remember and practice that phrase.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another, and especially for those who feel they cannot be forgiven for the things they have done. Help us to be your loving, forgiving presence to all we come in contact with this week.
(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
Ask the children, “Have you ever tried to help and things just got worse?” Tell about a time that happened to you. If it has never happened, tell them about the time I “helped” my father by taking the trash out and burning it for him at his gasoline station. The only problem was I put the trash, along with some old tires, right next to a tank that held hundreds of gallons of gasoline. Fortunately, tires smoke a lot and the fire department was less than a block away.
It is a good thing to try to help. It is more helpful if we make sure that we are not going to make things worse. I probably should have asked my dad before I “helped” him.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Unexpected Assurance
by Chris Keating
Genesis 28:10-19a
Gather ahead of time:
A few typical “comfort” items that a child might take with them on an overnight or camping trip. Have some fun with this -- making it “over the top” will only add to the story of Jacob’s encounter with God. Suggestions include a stuffed animal or favorite item; a blanket or sleeping bag; a photo of mom and dad; a favorite book, toy, or other item. Be creative and think of things that a child would find comforting for a night away from home.
Instead of a pillow, be sure to include a rock of some sort or shape.
Option: gather a few photos of the denominational camp or retreat center most familiar to your congregation, or photos of beautiful places of nature (such as redwood forests, the Grand Canyon, etc.)
The story of Jacob sleeping under the stars is a great opportunity to recognize any children or youth who have been or will be going to camp this summer. If possible, including their experiences of attending camp will add another dimension to this story of Jacob’s encounter with God, and the assurance he discovered.
Time with children:
As the children gather, greet them by asking if any of them have had the opportunity to go to summer camp, or if they have gone camping or even if they have had a campout in their back yard. It’s a common experience for children to be excited about spending the night in a tent -- so excited, in fact, that they might be a little scared about sleeping away from the comforts of home. Help them imagine that they are planning a camping trip, sort of like the overnight experience Jacob has in the scripture story. What sort of items do we need to gather so that Jacob isn’t afraid?
As you gather the items resist including a pillow, even if the kids mention this first. Instead, gather the pictures of mom and dad, the sleeping bag, the flashlight, the bedtime snack, and anything else. What are we missing? A pillow! Many of us take our favorite pillows along on trips -- even adults do this. We like the way our favorite pillow feels under our head. It is comforting, and a reminder of home.
Things that remind us of home bring us assurance. But Jacob didn’t have a pillow. The Bible reminds us that he took a rock from the place where he had stopped and used it. Rocks aren’t very comfortable. Who could imagine using a rock for a pillow?
That is just what he had, so Jacob went to sleep. We know that he must have been afraid that night: his brother was angry at him; he was all alone; and he was in a new place, far from home. As Jacob slept, he had a dream. In his dream, he saw a stairway, or a ladder that connected heaven and earth. When he climbed to the very top of the ladder, he could see God! God had an important message for Jacob. Jacob knew that no matter what, God would always be there for him.
When we go to summer camp, or even just sleep outside in our backyards, there are lots of things that are exciting to us. In nature, we see many beautiful things. (Here would be a good time to share pictures of camp, or nature, or even a tent set up in a backyard.) But sometimes we also get scared. We need the assurance of familiar things like a pillow or a blanket or a friend. But we also have the assurance and comfort that Jacob discovered. Jacob didn’t even have his favorite pillow with him! The dream, however, reminded him that God’s presence provides the assurance we need.
When he awoke, Jacob said, “Wow! This is incredible! God was in this place, and I didn’t even know it.” The same experience can happen to us. When we are scared God comes to us in unexpected ways, so that we can also say “Surely God was in this place!”
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The Immediate Word, July 23, 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.
