The New Ten Commandments

Luke 6::27-38 7th Sunday of Epiphany Year C Fill My Cup with Grace The New Ten Commandments Prelude Greeting Call to Plenty Leader: In this series, we have reframed the four pillars of economics: earning, spending, saving, and investing. We have been reminded that our yearn to earn can become misplaced as fear of scarcity ravages our energy and keeps us only mindful of caring for “our own.” We have been reminded that when we spend the true commodities of hope, purpose, healing, meaning, and grace at the center of God’s vision of the future, we will never run out. Savings becomes salvific when are offering gratitude and storing up the will for generosity spurred by the gifts we are given by God every day. And investing our interest in the wellbeing of all is the way of freedom from fear. Today we hear that the measure of goodness will overflow into our laps when we dip from the stone jars of God’s love. In this world of striving, we feel the yearn to earn. The world measures our worth in those earnings. But Jesus had different ideas. Where they obsessed over payback and worried about how much is “enough,” he offered love freely and fully to everyone, even his enemies. When we feel our own resources are lacking, we can view our lives and practices again from the economy of Jesus. Let us pray: God of Everlasting Love, we come to you today, knowing that our earnings can never fulfill our deepest human yearnings for security, peace, and connection. In the midst of our greed, remind us of your grace and the calling to love one another with extravagant generosity, giving freely to others just a piece of what you so selflessly have given us. Amen. Song Help Us Accept Each Other UMH 560 A Sermon for All Ages Leader: Welcome, children! We are so glad you are here [and for those joining us through the screen, welcome to you, too]. What a good time we’ve had practicing the generosity of Jesus! Our big jars and our little piggy banks have taught us so much about the overflowing abundance of God’s love and that we can share our resources as Jesus asked us to do. He wanted everyone to have plenty of everything they need, and it is up to us to keep helping him do that. “Dear children. We have been calling these “Jesus’ Piggy Banks” but really, they are yours. You are my hands and feet in this world, and if you keep practicing the economy of Jesus by letting things flow right on through the piggy bank, then the world will be a better place! Remember to always look at the gifts you already have, and have fun figuring out how to give it away! Always yours, Jesus.” What a cool thing that we can be the love of Jesus in the world. OK… let’s see what is in here [spill out all the little cards and give multiples to each child]. These are cards we can have on hand to give to anyone we see caring or sharing! They say “Thank you for caring and sharing. The world is better because of you.” You know what? When we see acts of goodness and thank someone for giving that away, we have multiplied goodness even more because we gave them thanks! I love these kinds of multiplication tables! There’s a saying that when there is a lot of something, our “cup runs over!” Just like the cups of the guests at the celebration ran over with goodness when they dipped into the big jars, our own cup of love runs over every day if we only open our eyes to notice it. Gratitude is unlimited, so you can give away as much as you want! Let’s pray a repeat-after-me prayer, and then we’ll go Dear Jesus… thank you for showing us… how to to share… thank you for showing us… how to to care… help us to know… that there is no doubt… the gifts that you give us… can never run out… there’s so much in store… that we’ll give it away… making sure there’s enough… for ALL every day… Amen Responsive Reading Psalm 37 UMH 772 Passing the Peace Leader: Just as our worth as humans is not dependent on the bottom line of our bank accounts, our relationships are not dependent upon the earning of favors and the limitations of “quid pro quo.” The peace of Christ has no limits, and we get more just by giving it. So may jar-fulls of peace be with you today. People: And also with you. Leader: You are invited to pass the “plethora of peace” among you, remembering to pass it to those joining us remotely. Scripture Luke 6:27-38 Sermon The New Ten Commandments Every religion and every culture on the planet teaches and practices some version of the golden rule – do unto others as you would have others do unto you. At the 1993 Parliament of World Religions, which was held right here in Chicago. signed by 143 leaders from all of the world's major faiths, including Baháʼí Faith, Brahmanism, Brahma Kumaris, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Indigenous, Interfaith, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Native American, Neo-Pagan, Sikhism, Taoism, Theosophist, Unitarian Universalist and Zoroastrian.[ They all agreed that the was the way in which we would treat one another as human beings. Even Confucious in Asian thought had a saying What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others. In the African tradition there is a proverb which says One who is going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts. So it is not strange that Jesus would grow up in a culture based on the golden rule. In the Jewish culture he was very familiar with the concept of reciprocity. Give as you receive, borrow return. All throughout the bible we are told how to be in relationships and how to live in reciprocity. The bible speaks of three levels of reciprocity. General reciprocity – which means that when you give, you always get something in return. You may not get it directly from the person that you are giving to, but somehow you get what you give. There is balanced reciprocity – that if someone gives to you, you should give back to them. Or at least pass it forward and give to someone else, because it was given to you. And in the bible there is also negative reciprocity. If someone hurts you, you have every right to hurt them back to the same degree. We have all heard the term an eye for an eye. But we know that Jesus doesn’t encourage us to practice the third one an eye for an eye. Jesus went through a lot of trouble to teach us grace, and forgiveness, and trusting God. Jesus made it his mission to teach us the golden rule, but to encourage us to go at least one step above it. Luke 6 is that teaching that he gave to his disciples. First he gives us the sermon on the plain, to remind us to take care of one another. To empathize with the pain of our brothers and sisters and to do what we can to make the world a better place for everyone to live in. To spread a love that makes a difference in the lives of those who are touched by it. In our scripture today – Jesus encourages his followers to live a life of love. At first he tells the rules that everyone would know – the golden rule. He reminds us of reciprocity, which is okay. But he goes on to say “But I say to those who are willing to hear”. In Luke 6:27-38 he gives us a new set of ten commandments – 1. Love your enemy. 2. Do good to those who hate you. 3. Bless those who curse you. 4 pray for those who mistreat you. 5 if someone slaps you on the cheek, offer the other one. 6 if someone asks for your coat, give them your shirt too. 7 give to anyone who asks. 8 don’t just remember the golden rule, live it, 9. Don’t judge. 10. Forgive. Jesus takes the law of reciprocity and ups the ante not just one level, but a few. Just as most of us felt that we had mastered the original 10 commandments and learned how to treat those in our lives, Jesus ups the ante. And even the most seasoned followers struggle a bit with these new rules. How many of us are really willing if someone slaps us to say – slap me again on the other cheek. But If He Strikes the Other Cheek… A friend of mine, a fine Christian man, was struggling with this text. He didn't like the "turn the other cheek" idea very much. He finally resolved it! He said, "If someone strikes me on one cheek, I will turn the other. But if he strikes me on that cheek, watch out!" Richard Niell Donovan, Peacemaking Dr. Robert Schuller, pastor of the Crystal Cathedral, always during the course of his worship services says, God loves you and so do I. This phrase has really caught on in some circles. Some years ago, he told of a personal incident that reflects how really difficult it is to love others as God loves us. He and a man in another car met rather suddenly and unexpecterdly when their two autos collided. The other man got out of his car and unleashed a salvo of expletives and epithets that bruised Schuller’s soul and was threatening to kindle his anger. Dr. Schuller claims to have looked the assailant straight in the face and exclaimed: “Mister, God loves you and I’m trying.” Just last week, I attended a conference. Every three months I take a class sponsored by the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center. It is a group of clergy who look examine our relationships in church, family and otherwise. And look at ways to be more loving and understanding. The facilitator challenged us to think about how to be friends with people who normally get under our skin. The facilitator told us that if we remember the teachings of Jesus, we should be able to get along with anyone. By learning to calm ourselves down and get in touch with what is triggering us in that interaction. I reminded him that it is hard to deal with people who do not like us, because usually the problem in not in us. When people don’t like you, the calmer you are in dealing with them, the more likely they are to react and get upset. So how to you deal with their reactivity – he laughed at me and said that is the challenge in life. The first thing that Jesus says to us today – love your enemy, and do good to those who hate you. But how do you do that? Jesus came into Jewish society, and then into the world – to remind us that we have to learn to be in relationship with one another. But more importantly we have to remember to be in relationship with God. God should be in the center of everything that we do in life. God should be in the center of every relationship that we have. Every interaction that we have - is between God and the other person. Jesus reminds us that when we have God on our side, we have been given access to a reserve of energy that doesn’t come from the other person. That reserve of energy is grace. So even if we receive nothing from the other person, God gives us what we need. If that person takes from us, God’s grace will restore what we need. Sometimes in relationships I think that it is important to set boundaries, but we also have to remember that we have more than our inner resources to act upon. How do we love our enemies, turn the other cheek, go beyond the golden rule, forgive others – through the grace of God. Jesus message to us – that it may be challenging. But it is also possible. I heard someone say that the Bible is like a score waiting for the right choir to sing it. The bible is a set of rules to live by. And the world convinces us that those rules are not normal, as a matter of fact the world tells us that these rules are impossible. Everybody lives according to the golden rule – and that is all that is required, as a matter of fact, that is all that is necessary. Jesus comes to tell us that with God all things are possible. The bible is only true if we choose to make it true. If no one lives according to Jesus new commandments – then they are not true and they really don’t matter. And yet what are we here for. I had a dream the other night. Actually it was more of a nightmare. I was preaching this sermon, using this text. Someone in the back row came up to the front and stood right next to the pulpit and wanted to interrogate me about this text. "Now tell me, Dick. Tell me about this text. Do you live this out any better than we do?" In the dream I remember, and this is reality, too, I said, "Of course not. Of course not. What do you think I am doing here? The only reason I am in this pulpit is because one time I read in the book of Hebrews that the one whom we call our priest is the same one who participates in the various sins we preach against. When I read that as a very young man, I said, 'For that reason alone I can enter ministry.' As for perfection, you can forget it. I am the same as you are, no better." "Then, Dick, I have one question to leave you with, 'Why do you preach this message?' " And in the dream I remember saying to him that I have discovered that if we keep looking at this text that makes us so uncomfortable, if we keep reading it and confess in the presence of God how much we fail it, then someday without even knowing it, we will find ourselves living this word rather than discussing it. The day that you live this word out when it is needed most in the life of another will be at a moment that you are not even conscious you have done it. Meanwhile, we stand, arms linked together, as we affirm: "Love your enemies." Confess how much we fail it, and listen to the voice of God that nudges us slowly toward the goal. CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio, Deep Joy For A Shallow World, by Richard A. Wing TV news reporter Peter Arnett was visiting the West Bank in Israel when a bomb exploded in the middle of town. He was surrounded by anguished screams and clouds of smoke. A man holding an injured girl ran up to Peter and asked for a ride to a hospital. As they sped through the streets, the man nursed the bloody girl in the backseat. The doctors did everything to save the girl’s life, but to no avail. Peter turned to comfort the man on the loss of his child, but the man interrupted him. She wasn’t his child, he said. She was a Palestinian. He was Israeli. He found her lying in the street and decided to help. “Mister,” he said through his tears, “there must come a time when we realize that we are all family.” (3) Do you know of any other hope? I don’t. How do you treat your enemies? Jesus said to love them. Think what might happen if we, like the shepherd-soldier, young David, let our religion affect how we regard those who would do us wrong. The whole world might be changed. We are here to gain the courage to be the ones to take the first step, to spread love, to make us all family. An enemy is by definition someone who you despise, or someone who despises you. No matter how nice we are, and how much we think we love everyone – there are people out there who don’t like us. Someone said that if you love them, then the dissention goes away and they are no longer an enemy. So how can you truly love an enemy? And maybe that is what Jesus was trying to teach us – that through God’s grace – we are all God’s children. If every religion and every culture knows that golden rule – imagine what the world would look like if we all lived it. If we all took the golden rule up two notches – and lived according to Jesus rule – we would have heaven on earth. Let is pray……….. Song Hymn of Promise UMH 707 Prayers of the People Leader: In the economy of Jesus, we claim goodness and plenty for everyone–this is the savings that are, in the end, salvific for our communities. We know there is more than enough to go around, and we in this community are committed to acts of mercy and grace for all people. For we have freely received so much, and so we freely give. Leader: Each week of this series we have been focusing on naming gifts of abundance we have received in the week, instances where we have seen the abundance of Christ at work in the world, and we will ask for the wisdom and strength to change so that abundance is more available to all. In this pause, O God, we ponder the many gifts you have given us. Our gratitude seems never enough for the plenty you provide. We call to mind the gifts of creation, of relationships, of sustenance. In this pause, Christ Jesus, we ponder the ways your love is still at work in the world. Our awe and wonder at the goodness of others is profound. We call to mind acts of kindness, generosity, and selflessness. In this pause, Holy Spirit, we come asking you for strength. The temptation to live by the economics of not-enough is so strong in us. We ask for revelation in our thinking and doing, so that we might live with grace in the house. Loving God, Christ Jesus, Holy Spirit, we are yours. May these prayers over these weeks continue as we discern how best to share in the economy of Jesus moving forward. We bring to you now the concerns of our day, of our communities, knowing that already you are present, already you are working to bring about comfort and healing. Today we pray for…. Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Have you heard this scripture in church, or from your parents, or Sunday School teachers: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31). For some congregations, this Sunday helps us focus on the work of the Week of Compassion. What’s that about? Week of Compassion is the Christian Church (Disciples) organization which reaches around the world, across the whole year to respond to all kinds of disasters. Can you imagine what it would mean for us to be faced with the destruction of our church building and our homes? What would we want others to do for us? Can you imagine if we had such a long drought it became impossible for everyone to grow food across our whole country? What would we want others to do for us? We would want folks to do what Week of Compassion suggests: Stay! (it’s not yet time to go help repair) Pray! And Pay! Today, every dollar you give for disaster relief to Week of Compassion will provide the whole dollar go respond to disasters around the world. Every dollar which is contributed in general support will continue allowing Week of Compassion to keep on working. Long after the headlines have faded and the cameras have been turned off, Week of Compassion and its partners will still help with long-term recovery. Our offering today includes our regular giving, and our appeal to give generously for Week of Compassion, knowing our gifts will help both right now and in the months and years to come. With gratitude, let us do to/for others as we would have them do to/for us! Prayer of Thanksgiving Mighty God, you brought all of creation into being and saw it was good. You sent Jesus to show humanity the Way of Love. Thank you for opening our hearts and our hands as we seek to do to others as we would have them do to us. Let these gifts be the measure we give because we yearn to remain in love. AMEN Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook The jars are full in the Kin-dom of God. The cup of salvation is full of the grace we need and the grace we are called to give away. We are transformed in the economy of Jesus, bearing the witness of dividends of grace. We have heard the call to invest our interest in the transformation of our communities. And so we go, doing likewise in the world, with the help of God, the guidance of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Now and forever. Amen. Community Time Benediction Beloved, go from this place ready to listen. Listen for the opportunities to extend mercy. Notice the moments to forgive instead of condemn. Watch for the person who needs help without any strings attached. For the blessing of the Triune God goes with you, pouring out mercy and compassion on you so that you may share mercy and compassion with everyone you meet. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, August 2024. Additional Illustrations World - Love friends and neighbors – hate enemies - Do good to those you love – get even with enemies - Give to those who can give back Jesus - Love enemies – love everybody - Do good to enemies – leave judgement to God - Give to who need it – even if they don’t pay you back Sermon Opener - Can We Really Love Our Enemies? - Luke 6:27-38 I am often uncomfortable when someone tells me they love me. I am not talking about an honest affirmation, but about a critic who has just taken my hide off and concludes the shellacking with an account of her godly affection. "Brother Bayer, you are a rotten, no good, pagan, secular-humanist, but I want you to know that because I am Christian and I love you." Thanks just the same, but I'd rather be despised. Occasionally someone that I have a difficult time loving will cross my path. When I'm honest I admit I would be just as happy if he dropped off the face of the earth. But I refuse to snarl and then describe how my Christian love extends even to him. Will Rogers may never have met a man he didn't like, but the rest of us know that somewhere along the line we have run into folk we flat-out detest. At least I have. The gospel lesson this morning is a continuation of Jesus' Sermon on the Plain. It is plain talk -- tough talk -- hard to listen to talk. We come today to his most difficult teaching. Here is what sets apart the Christian faith from other religious perspectives, philosophic constructs, psychological systems and elemental common sense. And yet, at the end of the day, it defines the core of Christian ethics. "Love your enemies," Jesus says. "Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you." Can we really love our enemies? If not, why did Jesus lay on us this impossible demand? If the teaching troubles you, fear not, you are not the first to back away from this bit of divine fire…. A GPS for Your Life - Luke 6:27-38 If I were to ask you your philosophy of life, could you tell it to me? Most of us don’t think about our life philosophy, the operating set of beliefs that drives our worldview. Our philosophy of life comes out of us in subtle ways: the attitude we wake up with in the morning, how we treat other people, how we approach a new situation, the things we spend our time, energy and money on. It’s worth taking a moment to examine our life philosophy because, in many ways, it creates our legacy. It’s like a GPS for our life. Most of you have had some experience with a GPS system in your automobile or, perhaps, your smart phone and know how it works. You program your destination into your GPS and it gives you the directions you need to get where you need to go. These technological wonders are a great gift to many of us, especially those who are “directionally challenged.” Of course, it’s possible for a GPS to malfunction. I read recently of three women who escaped after the GPS system in their rented Mercedes SUV drove them into a lake. Talk about a living nightmare. According to one of the women, the driver thought she was on a road, but instead the GPS directed them down a boat launch and into a shallow lake near Bellevue, Washington. It was dark and the women were trying to find their way to a conference they were attending when, without warning, the SUV crashed into the water at a local state park. One of the women immediately jumped to safety. The other two women tried to stay with the SUV as long as they could by standing on the side door frames, but they finally had to wade to safety when the vehicle kept drifting out farther into the lake. All three women made it out safely, but the SUV was completely under water. So, be careful out there. Even GPS systems, as wonderful as they are, can mislead you. Of course, GPS systems have benefits besides generally being reliable guides through unfamiliar cities... __________________________ Petty Wins by Revenge Some years ago, as a hundred thousand fans watched, Richard Petty ended a 45 race losing streak and picked up stock racing's biggest purse--$73,500. It all happened at the Daytona 500. Petty's win, however, was a complete surprise. Going into the last lap, he was running 30 seconds behind the two leaders. All at once the car in second place tried to pass the No. 1 man on the final stretch. This caused the first car to drift inside and force the challenger onto the infield grass, and slightly out of control. What happened next was incredible. The offended driver pulled his car back onto the track, caught up with the leader, and forced him into the outside wall. Both vehicles came to a screeching halt. The two drivers jumped out and quickly got into an old-fashioned slugging match. In the meantime, third-place Petty cruised by for the win. Source Unknown _______________ Forgiveness Is a New Life Immaculee Ilibagiza was a 22-year-old university student in the 1990s when terrible violence broke out in her home country of Rwanda. Hutus killed her parents, her brothers, and hundreds of her Tutsi friends. A Hutu pastor, who risked his life to save her, hid her and six other women. They lived in a small bathroom, a wooden wardrobe covering the door. For three months, they endured hunger, fear, and the sounds of soldiers in the house unsuccessfully searching for Tutsis. In those cramped quarters, she began to pray the Rosary. Always she stumbled over the Lord's Prayer: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." She knew that the prayer called her to forgive those who had killed her family and endangered her. She didn't think she could do it, but she realized she was consumed by hate. She was afraid she would become like the people who had killed her family. Nevertheless, in her mind, forgiving her family's killers was like forgiving the devil. Finally, afraid that her hate would crush her heart, she asked God to forgive those who had done her so much harm. Slowly, with God's help, she was able to let go and forgive her family's killers. Eventually, she even visited one of her brother's killers in prison, taking his hand and offering forgiveness. She says that forgiveness saved her life. "It's a new life, almost like a resurrection." Charles L. Aaron, Jr., Becoming The Salt and The Light, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. ______________________ Who Are My Enemies? I have asked myself this week, "Who are my enemies, and who do I feel justified in putting outside my circle of concern?" I have found the words of Thomas Merton most helpful: “Do not be too quick,” he wrote, “to assume that your enemy is a savage just because he is your enemy. Perhaps he is your enemy because he thinks you are a savage. Or perhaps he is afraid of you because he feels you are afraid of him. And perhaps if he believed you were capable of loving him he would no longer be your enemy. "Do not be too quick to assume that your enemy is an enemy of God just because he is your enemy. Perhaps he is your enemy precisely because he can find nothing in you that gives glory to God. Perhaps he fears you because he can find nothing in you of God's love and God's kindness and God's patience and mercy and understanding of the weakness of men. "Do not be too quick to condemn the man who no longer believes in God. For it is perhaps your own coldness and avarice and mediocrity and materialism and sensuality and selfishness that have killed his faith.” In other words, who I label as enemy may say more about me than about them. Phil Thrailkill, Loving Like God Loves _______________ Historian Richard Norton Smith wrote: "Instantly rebellion melted into tears. It was a galvanizing moment, and the rebellion..." and the rebellion was put down because they had seen before them a second miler. Becoming a Christian is one thing; being a Christian is another one. Every chance you get for the glory of Jesus, for the goodness of others, and because of the grace of God, go the second mile. James Merritt, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com What We Grab Also Grabs Us Once there was an eagle which hovered over a lake and suddenly swooped down and caught a two-foot long fish in its talons. Slowly, the bird rose with its ten pound catch, but when it reached about 1,000 feet, it began to descend, until it splashed into the water. Later, both the bird and fish were found dead. Apparently the fish was too heavy for the eagle, but it could not let go, for its talons were embedded in the flesh of the fish. The truth is that what we grab, grabs us. When we grab alcohol, drugs, or sex, it grabs us and brings us down to death. John Brokhoff, Old Truths For New Times, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. Look at the Lord's prayer. We pray it every week and yet it is so dangerous. We become so familiar with it, it is as if we own it. But in the moment that we own it, we can't hear it, and we certainly can't do it. If only we could stand away from the Lord's prayer in such a way that it would be received new every time we say it. My friend Glen had a man who came to him, wrestling with forgiveness. "I can't. I just can't forgive. I just can't do it." You know that emotion. We all know it. He asked Glen, "How can you help me?" Glen said, "Well, why don't you pray the Lord's prayer each day and then for the next thirty days list all of your trespasses that need forgiveness. Then I want you to come back to me in thirty days, and we'll talk about the trespasses that you feel you need to forgive in another that you don't feel you can." You know the rest of the lesson already. Oddly enough the lists will look very much the same. That is the deeper truth that resides here. There is the Jewish story about a man named Abraham who found a beggar and invited him into his home to feed him. The beggar just kept cursing him and being rude. Finally, Abraham kicked him out, saying, "I don't need this." And that night when Abraham went to speak to God in his prayers, he heard the voice of God saying, "This man you kicked out has cursed me for fifty years, and yet I have given him food to eat every day. Could you not put up with him for just a single meal on my behalf?"

We Receive what we Give

February 20, 2022 Luke 6:27-38 Year C 7th Sunday after Epiphany We Receive what we Give Opening Song Welcome (Don’t print) The command to “love your neighbor as yourself” means not only to love them as much as you love yourself, but to love them as if they are your self. We don’t live according to the flesh, our “self” defined by and confined to our physical bodies, but according to the Spirit: even though we appear in separate bodies we are all one, in one spirit. You and your neighbor are part of the same body. To love our neighbor is to love ourselves. Call to Worship (Luke 6) Come and learn the ways of life. We have come to follow Jesus. Love your enemies, and do good to those who hate you. We have come to follow Jesus. Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who persecute you. We have come to follow Jesus. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. We have come to follow Jesus. Come and learn the ways of life. Opening Prayer (Luke 6) Inexhaustible source of love and life, be with us in our time of worship as we seek the love it takes to walk in the ways of your Son. Help us love our enemies and bless those who wrong us, for we cannot do so alone. Teach us the joy of treating others with all the same respect and goodness with which we hope to be treated. May our every word and deed make known that we are your beloved children and vessels of your love. Amen. (B.J. Beu) Stewardship Moment Moment for Stewardship (from Luke 6) What difficult teachings we have from Jesus! Have you heard this: “Do to others as you would have them do to you?” For some congregations, this Sunday we focus on the work of the Week of Compassion, the Christian Church organization which reaches around the world, across the whole year. Can you imagine what it would mean for us to be faced with the destruction of our church building and our homes? What would we want others to do for us? Can you imagine what a challenge it would be for drought to make it impossible for us to grow food across our whole country? What would we want others to do for us? Your gifts provide the means by which we engage in ministry here and around the world. Let’s see what happens when we respond with compassion and generosity, even in the face of life-threatening challenges With gratitude, let us do to/for others as we would have them do to/for us! Prayer of Thanksgiving Mighty God, you brought all of creation into being and saw it was good. You sent Jesus to show humanity the Way of Love. Thank you for opening our hearts and our hands as we seek to do to others as we would have them do to us. Let these gifts be the measure we give because we yearn to remain in love. AMEN (From The Center for Faith and Giving) Passing the Peace of Christ (Luke 6) Let us be known as children of the Most High by sharing our love with all as we pass the peace of Christ. (B.J. Beu) Scripture Luke 6:27-38 Common English Bible Behaving as God’s children 27 “But I say to you who are willing to hear: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on the cheek, offer the other one as well. If someone takes your coat, don’t withhold your shirt either. 30 Give to everyone who asks and don’t demand your things back from those who take them. 31 Treat people in the same way that you want them to treat you. 32 “If you love those who love you, why should you be commended? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, why should you be commended? Even sinners do that. 34 If you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, why should you be commended? Even sinners lend to sinners expecting to be paid back in full. 35 Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend expecting nothing in return. If you do, you will have a great reward. You will be acting the way children of the Most High act, for he is kind to ungrateful and wicked people. 36 Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate. 37 “Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good portion—packed down, firmly shaken, and overflowing—will fall into your lap. The portion you give will determine the portion you receive in return.” Sermon – We receive what we give Home Economics was one of my favorite classes in jr high school. I would love learning about baking techniques and then baking cakes and other goodies in the middle of the day. Of course we learned that when you are baking with flour that you don’t pack it down to measure it our your measurments will be off. And yet when you are using brown sugar, you want to pack it down and level it off with a knife. And then I would go home and tell my mother all that I learned in class. When it was my turn to bake something at home, I would reach for the measuring cups and spoons and she would yell at me. She said that in real life cooking you don’t use measuring cups, you learn to measure by eye to know the right amount. Of course the key to old style cooking is just that – you have to know the right amount to put it for it to be effective. Today I use a combination of both old ways and new ways – I still depend on my measuring cup. Did you know that the Bible talks a lot about measuring cups and other measuring tools. There are over 30 references in the old testament alone to God’s measurements. Apparently God loves to bake. Our scripture for today ends by saying A good portion – packed down, firmly shaken and over flowing – will fall into your lap. The portion you give will determine the portion you receive in return. God bakes using the old fashion measurments – God is not so concerned about what the measuring cup says – but what the heart says. It is said that the most important ingredient to any meal is love- We have been learning that love is the most important ingredient for our faith, our decisions, our lifestyle. Luke 6 is called the sermon on a level plain (as opposed to the sermon on the mount). Jesus is face to face with the people and with their problems. He tells them about God. Today we come in the middle of that conversation, the lectionary divides chapter 6 into three parts. Last week we would have heard the beatitudes, and if there were 8 Sundays in ephiphany, we would have heard the end of the chapter. In our scripture today Jesus encourages us to go beyond the morality in the old testament. A big concern for the Hebrew bible were balanced and fair measurements. The people depended on fair measurements when they bought grain and other things to the market to live off of. What’s fair was important for the Hebrews and it is a concern for all of us as well. We all know the law of retribution – an eye for an eye. For us Christians it is a bad thing, but at the time it was intended to be a good thing. Undo violence was prohibited – if someome robbed you, you were not justified in setting their house on fire. You did to them what they did to you – no more, no less. That was what was fair. In life you always made sure that your measurments were balanced that was God’s law. God is a god of justice. Jesus points out that Gid is indeed the God of justice. But Jesus teaches us that God is also the God of mercy. Justice and mercy go hand in hand – they are opposites of the same coin. Our scripture starts our with the word but – yes God want justice, But I say to those who are listening that you are called to take justice one step further – and love, do good, bless and pray. The advice that Jesus gives us:Love your enemies, do good to those who have you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you, turn the other cheek, share with those who don’t have and do unto others as you would want done to you. There is a scene in the movie ghandi where the british occupation soldiers are about to break up a demonstration for Indian independence with billy clubs, but the resistance keeps coming. The soldiers run into the crowd and the people do nothing, they let the soldiers hit them and bloody them the soldiers keep attacking and the resistors do nothing. Finally the soldiers stop and start to cry at the harm they are causing. Mohandas Ghandi was not a Christian, but he followed the ways of Jesus very closely. They were turning the other cheek as Jesus told them to. The soldiers had no choice but to stop and to show love. Love is the main ingredient of our faith. I think that we all know that there are people who are hard tolove, there are situations that are hard to deal with. Love Your Enemies Former Boston Red Sox Hall-of-Fame third baseman Wade Boggs hated Yankee Stadium. Not because of the Yankees; they never gave him that much trouble but because of a fan. That's right: one fan. The guy had a box seat close to the field, and when the Red Sox were in town he would torment Boggs by shouting obscenities and insults. It's hard to imagine one fan getting under a player's skin, but this guy had the recipe. One day as Boggs was warming up, the fan began his routine, yelling, ‘Boggs, you stink’ and variations on that theme. Boggs had enough. He walked directly over to the man, who was sitting in the stands...and said, ‘Hey fella, are you the guy who's always yelling at me? The man said, ‘Yeah, it's me. What are you going to do about it?’ Wade took a new baseball out of his pocket, autographed it, tossed it to the man, and went back to the field to his pre-game routine. The man never yelled at Boggs again; in fact, he became one of Wade's biggest fans at Yankee Stadium. Love your enemies. It might change them, and we know it will change you. Phil Thrailkill, Loving Like God Loves It is love that changes us. The bible points out that revenge should be turned into retribution, but Jesus tells us that retribution should turn into restoration restoration stops the cycle in its tracks, Love turns and enemy into a friend. When that doesn’t work – Romans 12 offers some good advice. Romans 12:17-21 New International Version 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[a] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. At the end of the day – we all have to answer to God. Justice and mercy are coming to all of us. Who Are My Enemies? I have asked myself this week, "Who are my enemies, and who do I feel justified in putting outside my circle of concern?" I have found the words of Thomas Merton most helpful: “Do not be too quick,” he wrote, “to assume that your enemy is a savage just because he is your enemy. Perhaps he is your enemy because he thinks you are a savage. Or perhaps he is afraid of you because he feels you are afraid of him. And perhaps if he believed you were capable of loving him he would no longer be your enemy. "Do not be too quick to assume that your enemy is an enemy of God just because he is your enemy. Perhaps he is your enemy precisely because he can find nothing in you that gives glory to God. Perhaps he fears you because he can find nothing in you of God's love and God's kindness and God's patience and mercy and understanding of the weakness of men. "Do not be too quick to condemn the man who no longer believes in God. For it is perhaps your own coldness and avarice and mediocrity and materialism and sensuality and selfishness that have killed his faith.” In other words, who I label as enemy may say more about me than about them. Phil Thrailkill, Loving Like God Loves Jesus calls us to love others just as God loves us – we have all heard it said do unto others as you would have others do unto us – Jesus says do unto others as God has done to you. The Fourth Wise Man The story is told of the fourth wise man who had followed the Star announcing the birth of Jesus. He, too, went to Bethlehem with a gift for the Savior. His gift was that of precious jewels to give to Jesus. On his way to Bethlehem he found a man who had been beaten and robbed by thieves and left to die. The wise man took the injured man to an inn and paid for his care with one of the jewels that had been meant for Jesus. When he finally arrived in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph had fled to Egypt with Jesus. He found that Herod and his soldiers were killing children and that Mary and Joseph had escaped with Jesus. The wise man saw a soldier preparing to kill one of the children of Bethlehem and so he bribed him with another jewel to save the child's life. The child's mother was relieved and very grateful. The wise man went on to Egypt in pursuit of Jesus and his parents. However, while in Egypt the wise man became ill and a kind but poor woman nursed him back to health. On one occasion he found this woman crying and soon discovered why. Her son had been forced to join the army and now this woman was very distraught. The wise man was so grateful to this woman for all she had done that he used his last jewel and bought her son out of the army. Now he had nothing to offer Jesus. Thirty years had passed and the wise man thought that he should return to his home. On his journey when he was passing through Jerusalem it was the day that Jesus was to be crucified. Upon learning this he stood with the crowd hoping that he still might see Jesus. As he stood waiting to see Jesus, a tile from a nearby roof fell and landed on the wise man's head and killed him. Some might argue that his life was a failure because he never brought his gifts to Jesus. Yet, because he believed in Jesus as God's anointed, he was transported to heaven. There in heaven he finally saw Jesus. Jesus was on his throne and wearing a crown. The wise man could barely believe his eyes when he saw the crown of Jesus. For there in the center of the crown were the three jewels he had given to help others. "When we do it to the least we do it unto Jesus." Source: Stuart Robertson, Balanced Burdens (London: Hodder and Stoughton, Limited), p. 142." John R. Steward, Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit, CSS Publishing Lima, Ohio Ephesians 3:17-19 New International Version 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. God’s love for us is immeasurable and beyond our understanding. How measurable is your love for others? Prayer O Holy One, as you spoke your creative Word in the beginning, as you spoke through prophets and teachers, as you spoke through evangelists and apostles, so you still speak to us today. You speak to us words of invitation to live into your abundant mercy. You speak to us inviting us to seek your thoughts and live your love. You speak to us inviting us to delight in your grace freely give to us and all creation. Be with our congregation, O God. Continue to blend our voices and weave our lives together in ways beautiful, faithful, profound, and holy. May all we say and do as disciples of Jesus Christ, who alone is the head of our church, be an offering of praise and thanksgiving for your steadfast love. Amen Brian Coulter and Michael Washchevski) Lord’s Prayer Song Hymn of Promise UMH 707 Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Jesus calls us to live as his faithful disciples: to love our enemies, to do good expecting nothing in return, offering mercy and forgiveness to others just as God is merciful and forgives. Friends, live into our high calling in Jesus Christ. And go with the blessing of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen. (Brian Coulter and Michael Washchevski) Community Time Benediction God of love, you have loved us perfectly. Fill us and guide us with your Spirit, that we may perfectly love and serve you, and love others—even our enemies—as ourselves. By your grace may be love one another ass you have loved us, and be merciful as you are merciful. We pray in the name and the unity and the companionship of Jesus. Amen. (From Unfolding Light) Children’s Sermon Prepare: Ideally this works best as a little skit. You can set up something with another worship leader, or with one of the children. You can also try to just set it up to happen as you go! The idea is that the other person takes something from you and walks away. It can be almost anything, your cup of coffee, a pencil, your Bible, anything! You can work out what the goal of them taking it was – it could be because they don’t have a Bible, or that they needed something to write with, or that they were just trying to have fun and didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. You decide. Set your skit in motion as the children gather! Have the other person in the skit walk up to you and take whatever they were set up to take from you. Say something like, “Hey! What are you doing? That’s mine!” They should respond with something typically bully-ish, like, “Well it’s mine now!” OK – wait a minute . . . I read something about this very situation in the Bible! Even though they just took something from me I should treat them with love. I think it’s today’s Gospel reading! Let me look . . . yes, Jesus says that we should love our enemies, we should treat other people as we would want them to treat us. Ok, that’s super not easy in this case. I need that back and they were just really mean to me. I don’t want to be loving! And I would never just walk up and grab something from someone, so why should I have to be nice back? I have a hard time with this, too. Jesus is asking a lot of us. It’s hard to be loving when we don’t feel loved in return. It’s hard to be caring when we are afraid we will be hurt. It’s hard to give up the things that we like and care about because someone else might need them more. And it gets even harder! Being loving and caring doesn’t mean you should put yourself in danger of getting hurt, and it doesn’t mean that you should just let people take anything they want from you. Because when you think about how you would want to be treated, you would probably want to know if what you did hurt someone else’s feelings, right? This is one of those really hard stories from Jesus. It was difficult for the disciples to understand, and it’s still difficult for us! So (turn to the person who took you stuff), I don’t think that you really wanted to be mean to me. Is there some reason that you took that? Is there something that you need? (let the story play out the way you decided when you set it up) Loving God, you give us some many good things, and so often we forget that the people around us are part of those good things! Teach us to be loving, especially to the people who are the hardest to love. Amen. God Loves you no matter what! Make a “ways to be loving” list. Even better if this is part of a congregational idea to think about being loving as a church in the community. Ask people for ideas about how to care for the neighborhood, or for a park, or for the people in your town, etc. Additional Illustrations Going Beyond Duty: The Second Mile Shortly after the battles ended the American Revolution, but before the peace had been negotiated, George Washington was with his troops in Newburgh, New York. But they began to grow very restless because they hadn't been paid. Washington had begged the Continental Congress to do what they said they would do and pay the soldiers, but they refused. Well, some of the officers began to organize a rebellion. They talked about marching on Philadelphia, which was at that time the seat of the reigning national government, and overthrowing that government and letting the army rule the nation. With the fate of America in the balance, George Washington made a surprise appearance before these officers. After praising them for their service and thanking them for their sacrifice, he pulled from his pocket a copy of a speech that he wished to read. But then he fumbled with a paper and finally reached for a set of reading glasses-glasses those men had never seen him wear before. Washington made this simple statement: "I have already grown grey in the service of my country, and now I am going blind." Historian Richard Norton Smith wrote: "Instantly rebellion melted into tears. It was a galvanizing moment, and the rebellion..." and the rebellion was put down because they had seen before them a second miler. Becoming a Christian is one thing; being a Christian is another one. Every chance you get for the glory of Jesus, for the goodness of others, and because of the grace of God, go the second mile. James Merritt, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com _____________________________ Mark Twain once said, "The rain is famous for falling on the just and unjust alike, but if I had the management of such affairs, I would rain softly and sweetly on the just, but if I caught a sample of the unjust outdoors, I would drown him." Mark Twain A minister, Woody Garvin, spent his first years in ministry working among the Native Americans on the Hoopa Reservation in northern California. He tells the story of two young men who grew up in his congregation. Gerald Marshall was reared by his mother, Marie, a single parent. Gerald was somewhat retarded mentally, but he did all right. He worked at the post office as the night custodian, and served as a leader in the little reservation church. Pliny Doud was the other young man. His father, George, was also a single parent, and had raised Pliny. Pliny drifted away from the church. He started drinking heavily, and fell in with a rough crowd. One night, he and his friends decided to have some fun. They went to the post office to harass Gerald Marshall, the night custodian. But things did not go well. Gerald became confused, and began to resist. One thing led to another. Pushing turned to hitting. When it was all over, Gerald was lying on the floor. He didn't move. The other boys ran. When someone finally found Gerald lying on the floor, he was dead. Both the Marshall family and the Doud family had been members of the little reservation church. Both families left the church after the murder. Sometime later, Marie Marshall, Gerald's mother, began to attend church again. So did George Doud, the father of the boy who had killed Marie's son. One day, George came late to church and searched for a place to sit. The little church was nearly full. There was only one seat available. It was right next to Marie Marshall. So George sat down. It was Communion Sunday. Woody Garvin, the pastor, wondered what would happen when the communion elements were passed. What he saw was this: When the bread was passed, George Doud handed Marie Marshall the bread and said, "The love of Christ be with you!" And Marie responded, "And also with you!" When he handed her the cup, he said, "The peace of Christ be with you!" And she replied, "And also with you!" Christ always challenges us. He always calls us to be better than we are. He loves us too much to leave us the way we are. Sometimes he asks the impossible. But then he makes it possible. Richard Niell Donovan, Peacemaking What We Grab Also Grabs Us Once there was an eagle which hovered over a lake and suddenly swooped down and caught a two-foot long fish in its talons. Slowly, the bird rose with its ten pound catch, but when it reached about 1,000 feet, it began to descend, until it splashed into the water. Later, both the bird and fish were found dead. Apparently the fish was too heavy for the eagle, but it could not let go, for its talons were embedded in the flesh of the fish. The truth is that what we grab, grabs us. When we grab alcohol, drugs, or sex, it grabs us and brings us down to death. John Brokhoff, Old Truths For New Times, CSS Publishing Company, Inc God Can Take Our Anger A father went to see his little daughter who was in critical condition in St. Catherine's Children's Hospital next to the church. A friend made her a birthday cake with decorative icing. Before going to the hospital, he stepped into the church to pray for his daughter and went off leaving the cake in a pew. When he got to the hospital, he found the child near death. Shortly after she died, he went back to the church and picked up the cake. On the front steps he paused and looked up at a statue of a cross-crowned Christ. He took the cake out of the box, balanced it in the palm of his hand, and then with all his strength, he threw the cake into the face of Jesus. It was his way of saying, "Take that, Jesus, for letting my child die!" It was an experience and expression of anger with one he thought was unjust. It may be all right to be mad at God because God is big enough to take it. Our outburst of anger is good for us in that it expresses our despair and frustration. In time hopefully the frustration will turn to faith. Later, we may get an eternal perspective in what we considered an injustice. In God's providence, today's temporary loss may be a permanent gain, for God is good and God is just. John Brokhoff, Old Truths For New Times, CSS Publishing Company