Wisdom Speaks

September 12, 2021 Proverbs 1:20-33 Wisdom Speaks 16th Sunday After Pentecost Year B Opening Song Welcome This is a day of celebrations – literally this whole service will be a time of celebration. Communion Sunday – those on facebook are welcome to join us – may want to have something to eat and something to drink on hand at that time. New member Sunday a week early Biggest celebration – church 30 minutes later – back to regular time 9:30 pm. Since the delta variant of COVID is spreading there is a mask mandate – governor asked to wear masks inside. Health team are honoring that mandate – ask to wear mask, social distance, do as little congregational participation as possible. Safe space for all of us, especially those who are not vaccinated. Opening Prayer Loving and caring God, we come this morning seeking wisdom and guidance for our lives. Open us to your words of life and love and truth. May we proclaim with our tongues what we know in our hearts. In this time of worship, help us more fully understand what it means to truly be a disciple, a follower of the way of Jesus, a follower of the path of wisdom. May the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer. Amen. Stewardship Moment Today is September 12th – yesterday was the 20th anniversary of September 11th incident in new York. Yesterday many commemorations of what that still means for our world. We will always remember. It is important for to remember that on September 12th – we pulled together in unity as Americans – happened to all of us. We also were reminded of what it means to be people of faith. People who look to God for our strength and guidance. 20 years later, let us hold onto the faith. Let us be the people of God who seek God’s wisdom. Who are working to build God’s kingdom. A part of being a faithful person,is giving our offering to the ministry of the church. Offering is at the back . need an offering plate. Invitation to the Offering (Proverbs 1, Mark 8) We are called to listen to the words of wisdom and to re-spond with our whole lives. Let us give thanks to God with all that we are and all that we have — in word, thought, and action. Offering Prayer God, we hear and we respond to your words of wisdom, your words of call and life. May these gifts, not only of our money, but of our very selves— our words, our thoughts, our actions— be acceptable to you, and help spread your words of life and love. Amen. Welcoming of New Members (Baptismal Covenant I – page 33) Scripture Proverbs 1:20-33 Common English Bible Listen to “Woman Wisdom” 20 Wisdom shouts in the street; in the public square she raises her voice. 21 Above the noisy crowd, she calls out. At the entrances of the city gates, she has her say: 22 “How long will you clueless people love your naïveté, mockers hold their mocking dear, and fools hate knowledge? 23 You should respond when I correct you. Look, I’ll pour out my spirit on you. I’ll reveal my words to you. 24 I invited you, but you rejected me; I stretched out my hand to you, but you paid no attention. 25 You ignored all my advice, and you didn’t want me to correct you. 26 So I’ll laugh at your disaster; I’ll make fun of you when dread comes over you, 27 when terror hits you like a hurricane, and your disaster comes in like a tornado, when distress and oppression overcome you. 28 Then they will call me, but I won’t answer; they will seek me, but won’t find me 29 because they hated knowledge and didn’t choose the fear of the LORD. 30 They didn’t want my advice; they rejected all my corrections. 31 They will eat from the fruit of their way, and they’ll be full of their own schemes. 32 The immature will die because they turn away; smugness will destroy fools. 33 Those who obey me will dwell securely, untroubled by the dread of harm. Sermon Wisdom Speaks Have you ever thought about what God looks like? If you were to see God walking down the street, would you be able to know who you were looking at? I was in Kankakee yesterday and I noticed this man with a distinctive long white beard – but it wasn’t God, not really. Really there is a little spark of God in each of us. God is in everyone of us, God is in every thing , God is in every moment, God is in every situation. God is a spirit, an inspiration. Jesus Christ is the spirit of God that came to earth to give us wisdom. The gospel of John says that Jesus is the logos – the word of God and has been with God since the beginning of creation. John’s creation story also says that wisdom was alongside of God in the creation of all things, even the word of God. The Greek word for wisdom is Sophia. The Hebrew word is chakem. When you think of wisdom, what does wisdom look like? For me, wisdom personified is my grandmother. My grandmother had a word of advice for everything, and she had no problem giving advice morning noon and night. I remember on day in the 8th grade – I don’t even remember what my grandmother was talking about. But I do remember bursting out – Grandma please just shut up. What ever it is, just let me make a mistake, if I am wrong let me figure it out for myself. Well today I am hear to testify that it was only because of my grandmothers infinite that I am alive and well to even tell you that story. She chose to bite her tongue rather than respond. Now If I had been bold enough to tell my mother to shut up, history would have been much different. A grandmother giving her wise advice is also the biblical image of the bible. The book of proverbs is one of the five books of wisdom in the old testament along with Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. The book of James is considered the new testament book of wisdom. The book of proverbs is a book of advice that a mother is giving her son – who will one day be king. The son is a young adult – just starting to experience life for himself. She wants him to know how important it is to make wise decisions – about friends, activities, even choosing a wife. She tells him that wisdom is the birthright of the people of God. There are 2 types of people in the world – the wise and the silly. There are 2 women out in the streets of life trying to get out attention. There is lady wisdom – Sophia and there is the woman of foolishness. How do we know which one we are listening to in life? Very good question. Sophia has been at the side of God since before creation. Not only does God place a high value on wisdom, God goes out of the way to speak to us – through Jesus Christ, the bible, church, through living right, through prayer. And most people are like me in the 8th grade – telling God to shut up and let us figure it our for ourselves. Yet God is determined to speak every day, all of the time if we are just willing to listen. Our scripture says that Sophia is so determined to speak that she goes out in the middle of the crossroad and shouts at the top of her lungs. Telling us to listen for the voice of God. when we stop to listen, we start to recognize the voice of God. Sophia says that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. A man says that he used to play a game with his kids, where he would be a monster. The game would start out as fun. But as he roared with his deep voice and started to make faces at the kids, they would become afraid. The daddy that the loved and adored would become something that might hurt them. They would always start crying before the game ended. One of the first hebrew words in the bible for fear or the lord is indeed paschad. Paschad means terror. When we are sinners and not honoring the willof God – we indeed should be terrified of his wrath. Isaiah 2:10 says go into the rocks, hide in the ground from the fearful presence of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty. Fear of the Lord is not a bad feeling – it is awe, wonder, reverence, obedience, and a right relationship with God, Jesus and those around us. when we learn to hear God – God will give us wisdom. We don’t have to search for wisdom, we just have to be careful not to run away. Wisdom comes to find us out in the crossroads of life and tells us the way. Many of us forget that every decision that we make has a consequence. That is why it is so important for us to seek wisdom as fervently as God seeks us. Let us pray…. Prayer We come together with persons all over the world to remember the day our world changed. We come together in faith, in hope, in God’s infinite love. Heavenly Father, we commend to your mercy and grace all who died in the September eleventh attacks and all who have died in the past twenty years while laboring to end terrorism. In New York City: 2,342 persons In Arlington, Virginia: 184 persons In Shanksville, Pennsylvania: 40 persons 411 New York City rescue workers that day plus so many more from the aftereffects Thousands of military personnel and civilians in the following years of war Over 70 countries lost loved ones that day: family members, friends, co-workers, neighbors, heroes. In the face of all this loss we claim your grace, your faithfulness, and your power to bring good out of evil. Compassionate One, it’s been twenty years, yet the pain is fresh and the need is great. Comfort all who continue to mourn the loss of loved ones. Come with assurance and peace for all who remain traumatized, anxious, or fearful for the future. Come with protection and freedom for all who continue to live in the midst of hostility and oppression. Bring wholeness and hope to every broken place- to broken bodies, broken hearts, and broken spirits. To broken relationships, broken systems, and broken faith. Draw together leaders of every nation. Give them ears to hear your wisdom and the courage to respond. Inspire them to work together for peace, justice, and freedom. Inspire us, too. Strengthen all who risk their lives to protect others. Guard and favor all who work to make your world a place of peace. Guard and guide us, too. God of the Nations, hear our prayer for our enemies and for ourselves. Help us love and pray for those who hate us. We claim your abiding, your humility, and your strength as we strive to fulfill this call. Save us from revenge, false teaching, and blind suspicion. Help us recognize our contributions to conflict. Help us understand the hurt that feeds the hate. Change the hearts of all who seek their way by evil and violent means, by coercion and corruption and privilege, including our own. Create in us clean hearts that beat with your unconditional compassion. Leave no one in the shadows of evil and death, O God. Fill us all with your light and make us all instruments of your peace. Our world remains a dangerous place, O God, but with you there is shalom and hope. With you there is persevering and purpose. You are our Rock, our Shield, our Defender forever. Amen. ______________ 9/11 Anniversary Prayer © 2011, Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia and Nicole Sallee Updated 2021 God of mercy and of hope, be with us this day. We have gathered here to learn of your will for us. Sometimes it is not easy for us to realize that if we are to follow Jesus we will have to make a total commitment to his ways. We will have to actually put into practice the good news of compassionate love, and healing mercies. Our hearts are filled with situations concerning family and friends, concerning neighborhood and world. We seek your healing mercies for these situations. Help us to remember that the same healing mercy is offered to each one of us.. Give us strength and courage to really follow Jesus. For it is in His Name, we pray. AMEN. Song for Reflection Lord of the Dance UMH 261 Communion (Page 13) Prayer of Dedication/Offering (no need to print) All around us, we are reminded that we are not on our own, but our lives intersect with the poor, the hungry, the hopeless, our sisters and brothers. As we seek to follow you, may we share from the abundance you have poured out upon us, so all might experience your grace and life. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Announcements Health team meeting after church,all welcome to attend or to express thoughts on being church in the near future until things get better. We present this refrigerator to be consecrated to the glory of God and for service in this church. We accept this refrigerator as a sacred trust and will guard and use it reverently in the name of Jesus we consecrate this to the glory of God. This refrigerator has faithfully served in ministry for many years. We are grateful for the use that we got out of it, we now release you from service of any honorable use. Blessings upon your future use. Prayer list out in the narthex. At the bottom of the page is a prayer for the church. Invite everyone to pray at some time in the day – for the month of September and beyond. So that God hears our prayers. Debbie and I have prayer time in the sanctuary at noon – everyone invited to join us. or even to pray at the same time at home. Regular prayer changes our hearts. . Closing Prayer for Facebook Go forth with the words of wisdom crying in your ears. Go forth with songs of hope singing in your heart. Know that you are called to be faithful followers of the One who will always be near you, will always guide and encourage you to walk the path of life. Amen. Community Time Benediction Go in peace and know that God walks with you on this journey. Bring the good news of Christ’s healing love to all whom you meet. AMEN. Children’s time – I am sure that most of you have seen one of these ribbons. Many people are wearing these red, white and blue ribbons right now as a way to help them to remember what happened on September 11, 2001. These ribbons help us to remember the people who died in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania during terrorist attacks against our nation and it reminds us to pray for their friends and families. It also reminds us to pray for those who are still working to clean up the sites of these terrible tragedies and recover the bodies of those who died there. The ribbon also reminds us to pray for our nation and for our President as he leads us. This ribbon is a very special way to help us to remember what happened on September 11th. Jesus has also given us a very special way to help us remember him and what he has done for us by his death on the cross. On the night before Jesus was betrayed, he met together with his disciples for a final meal. As he sat at the table with his disciples, Jesus took a piece of bread and broke it. He said, "This is my body which is broken for you. Eat this in remembrance of me." Then he took a glass of wine and said, "This is my blood which is shed for you. Drink it in remembrance of me." We still use the bread and wine as a way to remember what Jesus did for us when he died on the cross. The Bible also tells us that when we do this, we are telling others about Jesus' death. Just as wearing a ribbon is a good way to tell others that we remember what happened on September 11th, the bread and wine are a good way to tell others about Jesus. Dear Jesus, we pause today to remember the tragic events of September 11th and to pray for the families of those who died. We also pause to remember your death on the cross which gives us life.