The Sacrifice of Service

Rev. Harriette Cross First United Methodist Church of Wilmington May 26, 2024 Isaiah 6:1-8 Trinity Sunday Year B “The Sacrifice of Service” Prelude Greeting Welcome: Welcome! It’s so good to be together to celebrate faith and community today. My name is ____ and I’ll be leading our worship time today. Tomorrow [or this weekend] is Memorial Day, a very special day when we remember and honor the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Who here served either stateside or overseas in any war? Which branch of the service were you in? [Let people mention their branch.] We salute you today and give thanks for your service, as we remember those who fell in the line of duty. And we recall God’s promise and fulfillment of triumph over death. Today is also Trinity Sunday, and Peace with Justice Sunday) Spiritual Eldercare Call to Worship One: Let us begin our time of worship with a moment of remembrance. All: We remember fallen soldiers, and the sacrifice they made for the sake of others. One: Let us begin our time of worship with a moment of thanksgiving. All: We thank God for brave men and women that have given their lives so that we may worship without fear. One: Let us begin our time of worship with a moment of silence; for a moment is the least we can do for those that gave their eternity.(Rev. Robb McCoy) Opening Prayer God of majesty and power, how awesome you are to us! The mountains tremble, the seas roar at the sound of your name! Yet you have chosen to come to us in love and tenderness. You have called us to be people who will act in ways of peace and justice in your world. Open our hearts and our spirits, Lord, to hear your word, and having heard, to act in ministries of hope and peace for all your earth. These things we pray in Jesus’ Name. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Song Holy, Holy,Holy! Lord God Almighty UMH 64 A Sermon for all Ages Children's Sermon: Memorial Day (1 Corinthians 7:23-24, John 15:13) I brought an American flag with me this morning in honor of a very special holiday we get to celebrate this week. How many of you know what holiday it is? (Pause for response.) On Monday we’ll celebrate Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a day we stop to remember and to honor the military men and women who’ve died while fighting to defend our freedom. Ask: Tell about some freedoms we have living in the U.S. We enjoy a lot of freedom in our country. We are free to attend church and worship. We are free to choose what we want to be when we grow up. We are free to choose where we want to live. And we are free to choose most of the things that affect our daily lives. But that freedom wasn't free. Many courageous men and women gave their lives to pay the price for the freedom that you and I enjoy every day. They are who we honor this week as we celebrate Memorial Day. Just like so many brave men and women sacrificed their lives for our freedom here on earth, Jesus sacrificed His life for our freedom as well. In fact, the greatest freedom that we have is the freedom that we have in Jesus. The Bible teaches that the penalty for sin is death, but you and I have been set free from this penalty. We have been set free because Jesus paid the price for us. Instead of death, we have been given eternal life. This freedom wasn't free, Jesus paid the price. This week as we celebrate Memorial Day, let us remember to stop and thank God for those who have paid the price for our freedom. Let us also remember to thank God for Jesus, who has set us free from the penalty for sin, because He was willing to pay the price for us. Dear God, thank You for the freedom we enjoy. We are thankful for those who paid the price for that freedom, but even more importantly, we thank You for the freedom we have because Jesus was willing to pay the price for our sin. In Jesus’ name, amen Sermons4Kids.com Prayer of St. Francis Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. Scripture Isaiah 6:1-8 Sermon The Sacrifice of Service We Have Forgotten God - Abraham Lincoln In a speech made in 1863, Abraham Lincoln said, “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us. (Jeff Simms, Sermon Central) Remembering to stay humble, and focused on God is a struggle for the ages. It is something that is always a struggle. Isaiah’s lesson is important to us. Any time an important person dies, people are faced with a vacuum that must be filled, a time to question the purpose of life, a search for a pathway forward. King Uzziah died from being disrespectful. The prophet had reminded him to stay in a King’s place and to let the priest handle dealing with the presence of God. He had been told to listen to them. But Uzziah felt that no one should tell him what to do. He touched the Holy of Holies on his own, and died from leprosy. So now, only are the people trying to process his death, they are also trying to process what his disrespectful act will mean for them. Isaiah encourages them to look for God in the midst of everyday. To praise God and call God holy. To listen to God’s call on your life, humble yourself, prepare yourself, purify yourself, and live your life in service to God and to others. We are to acknowledge the holiness of God in everything that we do. We have a constant need for purification. Whether it is of the lips, or the feet, or the hand, the heart, the thought, there is need for cleansing. Is it maybe at crisis times in our lives, or in our families, or in our nation and world that we are most conscious of our frailties and sins? God uses especially these critical times to address us. When we think the end for us has come, God gives a new beginning. When the difficult times come, the days of extreme guilt or remorse; when the sins of the hour, the day, or a life-time weigh heavy on us, and we pronounce our own "woes" upon ourselves, and beg freedom from them, God has a word for us. It is a word of forgiveness. In his book, Reality In Worship, J. P. Allen likens our worship to entering a planetarium from a busy, noisy street. Dimming lights hush the sounds and the universe opens up over our heads. Earth becomes one of the smallest of planets and we become one of its smallest creatures. In that awesome moment, we focus upon the greatness, the goodness, and the grace of God. Our worship should be like that. It should not begin with the focus upon ourselves and our own needs, but upon the character of God; we should not proceed without the expectation of the visitation of his Spirit, but wait in his holy presence until He comes; we should not assume there is nothing new under the sun that we have not seen, but come expecting a glimpse of his glory.[4] It is in this humbling experience that we begin to realize that we can be imprinted by his holy mark on our lives. There is nothing in all the world that we can do to imprint ourselves when it comes to holiness. If we have been with God, we will bear his holy mark and people will observe his mark upon our lives. They will see his purity, compassion, joy, reverence, justice, and love stamped all over us. Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart. And try to love the questions themselves. Do not seek the answers that cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer. Prayer: O God, thank you for the sheet wonder of our creation, preservation, and redemption - and for stout promises and bright hopes that keep us thinking kindly of the future. CSS Publishing Co., Inc., Promise Of Life, The, by Roger Prescott MEMORIAL DAY, A TIME FOR HEALING Memorial Day, perhaps more than any other holiday, was born of human necessity. Deep inside all of us lies a fundamental desire to make sense of life and our place in it and the world. What we have been given, what we will do with it and what we will pass to the next generation is all part of an unfolding history, a continuum that links one soul to another. Abraham Lincoln pondered these thoughts in the late fall of 1863. His darkest fear was that he might well be the last president of the United States, a nation embroiled in the self-destruction of what he described as "a great civil war..testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure." He began his remarks with those words as he stood on the battlefield near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on November 19th of that year. The minute’s speech that became known as Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address turned into what might be called the first observance of Memorial Day. Lincoln’s purpose that day was to dedicate a portion of the battlefield as a cemetery for the thousands of men, both living and dead, who consecrated that soil in the sacrifice of battle. Said Abraham Lincoln: "That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause which they gave the last full measure of devotion...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom..." The next year, a pleasant Sunday in October of 1864 found a teenage girl, Emma Hunter, gathering flowers in a Boalsburg, Pennsylvania cemetery to place on the grave of her father. He was a surgeon who had died in service to the Union Army in that great Civil War. Nearby, Mrs. Elizabeth Meyer was strewing flowers upon the grave of her son Amos, a private who had fallen on the last day of the battle of Gettysburg. Emma respectfully took a few of her flowers and put them on the grave of Amos. Mrs. Meyer, in turn, laid some of her freshly cut blooms on the grave of Dr. Hunter. Both women felt a lightening of their burdens by this act of honoring each other’s loss, and agreed to meet again the next year. This time they agreed they would also visit the graves of those who had no one left to honor them. Both Emma Hunter and Elizabeth Meyer returned to the cemetery in Boalsburg on the day they had agreed, Independence Day, July 4, 1865. This time, though, they found themselves joined by nearly all the residents of the town. Dr. George Hall, a clergyman, offered a sermon, and the community joined in decorating every grave in the cemetery with flowers and flags. The custom became an annual event at Boalsburg, and it wasn’t long before neighboring communities established their own "Decoration Day" each spring. About that same time in 1865, a druggist in Waterloo, New York, Henry C. Welles, began promoting the idea of decorating the graves of Civil War veterans. He gained the support of the Seneca County Clerk, General John B. Murray, and they formed a committee to make wreaths, crosses and bouquets for each veteran’s grave. On May 5, 1866, war veterans marching to martial music led processions to each of three cemeteries, where the graves were decorated and speeches were made by General Murray and local clergymen. The village itself was also decorated with flags at half-mast, evergreen boughs and mourning black streamers. Also, as the Civil War was coming to a close in the spring of 1865, Women’s Auxiliaries of the North and South moved from providing relief to the families and soldiers on their own sides to joining in efforts to preserve and decorate the graves of both sides. A woman of French extraction and leader of the Virginia women’s movement, Cassandra Oliver Moncure, took responsibility of coordinating the activities of several groups into a combined ceremony on May 30. It is said that she picked that day because it corresponded to the Day of Ashes in France, a solemn day that commemorates the return of the remains of... On Holy Ground The 5th New York Volunteer Infantry, "Duryée’s Zouaves," was one of the most renowned fighting regiments of the American Civil War. Their colorful Zouave uniform, precise maneuvers, effectiveness in combat and steady bearing under fire, won them universal respect and recognition. "I doubt whether it had an equal," General George Sykes said of the 5th New York. On the afternoon of August 30, 1862, the third day of the Second Battle of Manassas, John Bell Hood’s famed "Texas Brigade" launched a massive attack. There were few Union troops to meet the onslaught, among those, were two Zouave regiments: the 5th and 10th New York In less than 10 minutes, 85 lives of approximately 525 men of the 5th New York were lost. Brevet Brigadier General Hiram Duryea, former commander of the 5th New York, would later comment on that fateful day in a Memorial Day tribute at Manassas in 1907, on land he had purchased for the erection of a monument to his beloved Zouaves: “We stand on holy ground! For this field was the altar of God. The Master said, ’Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’ Here, our comrades laid down their lives for love of country, for human right, for the love and service of man. We sorrow at their loss, but we rejoice at their glorious death and achievements. God grant that the fruits of their sacrifice be preserved to our country." SOURCE: http://www.zouave.com How will you honor the sacredness of Memorial Day tomorrow? Whatever we do let us make sure that we are reminded of the important lessons of sacrifice, service, dedication and remembering to say Thank you for the countless Americans who have made that sacrifice for us to enjoy the day. Memorial Day is always a bittersweet day, a day where life and death intermingle. A day of rest, but also a day of intention. A day of celebration of the beginning of summer, yet the end of life. A day where we are at places that give us life, but we are also at the cemetary. ILLUSTRATION Someone has said that life is like a piano, the white keys represent happiness and the black keys represent sorrow... APPLICATION As you go through life, remember that when played together, they make beautiful music. "And we know that God causes black and white keys to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them" (Romans 8:28). On Memorial Day, but on each and every day of our lives, it is so important for us to find ways to keep God present in our lives. God can come to us in so many different ways with a message. We all have a calling to which God has summoned us. God uniquely equips each of us with gifts and graces for the special calling that is ours. This is how we actively fulfill God's plan for our lives as we work among God's human family members. At a young age, Rick Curry felt called to be a Jesuit priest. As he pursued holy orders, he was told that the priesthood was not open to him. The reason? He had been born without a right hand and forearm, a handicapping condition that would render him incapable of elevating and breaking the communion bread during mass. The Jesuits did welcome him as a monk, however. While studying for his Ph.D. at New York University, Brother Curry was surprised to learn that several of his classmates were supplementing their incomes by acting in television commercials. This was in the old days when you did not have to be a famous superstar to act in commercials. An "average Joe or Jane" could get paid to brush their teeth on national television. Curry was living in New York City under a tremendous financial strain. After obtaining approval from his Jesuit superior, Curry scheduled an appointment to audition for a mouthwash commercial. He thought he would be wonderful gargling nationally.4 Arriving at the agency prepared to audition for a mouthwash commercial, he was greeted by a receptionist who burst out laughing at the man with the empty right sleeve. She was sure her boyfriend had put Curry up to this as a joke on her. When Curry assured her that he was a serious applicant, she replied, "Please leave. I couldn't possibly send you upstairs to audition. If I send you upstairs, I could lose my job."5 Curry felt deep hurt and anger. Painful as it was, that moment of looking directly into the face of prejudice changed his life. "Nothing had prepared me for this rejection," he said. Two days later, Brother Curry decided to begin the "National Theatre Workshop for the Handicapped," which has now been in existence for over thirty years. This theater experience has been transforming the lives of performers and audiences alike for over three decades. Brother Curry urges all people to celebrate their differences and to use their imaginations to change the world. "Artists," he explained, "have the gift of imagination, and imagination has no physical boundaries." Prophets are like artists, helping us to see what we had been looking at but had not noticed. Jesus did not call any rabbis or priests to be his disciples. He called laypersons exclusively. God calls disciples from all walks of life to seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. The church is called to equip disciples and to send them into the world to accomplish God's work. Some of you, I know, have found your ministry among us, while others are searching for a way to use your gifts. Some of you even believe you don't have any gifts God can use, but let me assure you that God can use you. God empowers and equips us for the work within the church and community. Prayer is important. Take time to pray and take time to listen. Each one of us is an integral part of the body. God's work in our lives is not entirely contingent on our knowledge or even our agreeing to work for God. Throughout your lifetime, God has always been at work within you. Examine your skills, interests, the needs of the Christian community, and even the needs of the world. Each of you is invited to participate in God's work of reconciling the world to God. When holiness comes calling, what will be your response? God is calling you right now with a special job that only you can do. Is your spiritual cell phone turned on? Listen to God's call. Every day we can live under God I live under His heavens, The nations are under His authority, My destiny is under His direction, My past is under His grace, My future is under His control, My cares are under His wing, My sin is under the blood! Conclusion The really meaningful times in our lives come when we realize how very small we are - yet cared for and important. The mystery overwhelms us. We see ourselves in Isaiah as he struggles with the mystery and awe of his vision, in the year when King Uzziah died. And a more recent poet helps put it all in perspective for us: We look, too, to the sensational in human activity to catch a glimpse of the Creator who put all things together. But, once again, that Creator steals in through the smallest of activities. God is so close sometimes that we can’t see the presence. For instance, I see the Spirit of God working in the simple imagination of one human being: There was a family who always had trouble on vacations. Each year they would get about 75 miles out of town, and Mom would cry, "Oh, no! I left the iron on." Each year they would turn around and go back. But it was never plugged in. One time the carload was headed for Yellowstone National Park and, sure enough, almost to the mile marker, Mom gasped, "I just know I left the iron on." Her husband didn’t say a word. He just pulled over, got out, opened the trunk and handed her the iron. And every year after that, he made sure that the iron was in the trunk before they left on vacation. We smile at that, but such quiet imagination puts us in awe. We can see God smile too. God is revealed in the drama of humanity as well as in the awesomeness of the ordinary. The voice of God came to Elijah as he was holed up in a cave, not in the strong wind, earthquake or fire, but in "a still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12). A few years ago, while on a retreat at the Dunrovin Retreat Center, just north of Stillwater, Minnesota, I noticed a banner hanging on the wall with these words, attributed to Peter Marshall: There is a beauty in homely things which many people have never seen: • Sunlight through a jar of peach-plum jelly; • A rainbow in soapsuds in dish water; • An egg yolk in a blue bowl; • White ruffled curtains sifting moonlight; • The color of cranberry glass; • A little cottage with blue shutters; • Crimson roses in an old stone crock; • The smell of newly baked bread; • Candlelight on old brass; • The soft brown of a cocker’s eyes. If we read this slowly and reverently, we catch a glimpse, I think, of what Isaiah must have felt when he saw the seraphim and exclaimed, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. (6:3) Song This is My Song UMH 437 Pastoral Prayer We are struggling, Lord. You know how difficult it is for us to hear the news of violence and warfare and to see dear lives lost in battle and strife. We long for your peace to flood the world. We cry out for your presence. We wonder if you hear our cries. How small is our faith! From the very beginnings of time, you have poured your love into the world. People have made decisions about how to respond to that love. Some have chosen to act in ways of peace, justice and mercy, loving ministries of kindness and compassion. Some have chosen to impose their will on others, never acknowledging the rights and lives of those they oppress. Sometimes, we, by our attitudes as well as actions, have acted in ways of oppression. But you forgive and heal us. You call us to be your witnesses of peace to the world. We do not need to crawl to you during the night of our fears for healing. You have given us new life in Jesus Christ, who taught us about your love. Through Christ we are adopted as your heirs, your beloved children. You have given us opportunities to bring hope and peace to others. Let us seize these opportunities for ministries of hope. Encourage our hearts. Strengthen our spirits and our commitment to serve you. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Scripture has a way of working inside us as we hear, read and contemplate. In Romans, Paul teaches clearly that “brothers and sisters” have not been given a spirit of slavery, but a spirit of adoption. For many who have been adopted, their adoptive parents work to assure them of their place in the family. Sometimes adoption means a change of name. Paul uses this image to assure those who will hear his language that “adopted” means “claimed”. Adopted children are heirs, just as children born into a family. Believers, now adopted into the family of God, are God’s heirs, and joint heirs with God’s Son, Jesus Christ. What a gift! In joyful recognition of being claimed and named as heirs, our natural instinct is gratitude. So, with full delight, let us share our gifts to support this part of the Body of Christ as we receive our morning offering. Prayer of Thanksgiving We are grateful, Abba/God, for the ways you claim us and name us as your own beloved children. Thank you for this adoption, and for our ability to recognize we are fully yours. Receive our thanks offerings. Inspire us to use them wisely. Help us be a nurturing community into which all your adopted children will be welcomed. AMEN ( Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Prayer For Our Country UMH 427 Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook As we go into the world May the Divine Parent lead us to be agents of peace with justice May the Holy Spirit fill us with a spirit not of fear, but of adoption So that all who we meet will know the love and grace of Jesus Christ. Go now in peace. (United Methodist New York Annual Conference, Rev. Melissa Hinnen) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benedictions God of infinite patience, loving presence, and dazzling surprises, be with us as we leave this place today. Guide and guard our lives and bless our witness to your love. We go in peace seeking ministries of justice and hope. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Additional Illustrations Interactive Homily: Let’s pause our singing for a moment and reflect a little more on the meaning of sacrifice. • What does it mean to sacrifice? o Give up something • What would make a person do that? Why would you give up something for something else? o You’re willing to pay a price for something more valuable or worthy than what you have to give. o Who here loves baseball? In baseball, what’s a sacrifice hit or bunt? ▪ “a bunted ball that puts the batter out but allows a base runner or runners to advance.” • With sacrifice, there’s a tradeoff: something is willingly given up to gain something more valuable. o When we consider the sacrifice that men and women made as part of their service in the U.S. Armed Forces, what does that mean? What did those men and women sacrifice? ▪ their lives, health, time with family, other careers o Why did these men and women sacrifice these good and valuable things? What did they consider more worthy or valuable than even their lives? ▪ freedom, democracy, safeguarding our country▪ We often say the Pledge of Allegiance at patriotic events: (recite with the group:) “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” ▪ “Liberty and justice for all” – is this yet a full reality? • No. Those who serve in our military are still sacrificing for this great goal of liberty and justice for all. • Where do we see this notion of sacrifice in the Bible? o John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that God gave (that is, sacrificed) his only Son, that whoever believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.” o What did God determine as so valuable that he was willing to sacrifice his son? ▪ US! For God SO LOVED us…. to build a bridge between us, faulty people, and himself, holy and pure. • “The message for Remembrance Day [Memorial Day] is the message that lies at the core of our faith: that death is not the end, because Jesus has defeated death.”2 … Let’s take a moment to silently pray and reflect on the meaning of sacrifice. (Spiritual Eldercare) A pastor stood at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and watched as a man in tears lay a wreath at the base of the memorial. The pastor put his hand on the man’s shoulder, and the man said, “Twenty-five years ago he stepped into the line of fire for me, the least I can do is say, ‘Thanks.’” Source: Unknown However horrible the incidents of war may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country is the noblest development of mankind.” — Douglas MacArthur “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”— President Ronald Reagan Top Five Memorial Day Illustrations A History of Memorial Day The custom of placing flowers on the graves of the war began on May 5, 1866, in Waterloo, NY, and Waterloo has been recognized by Congress as the official birthplace of Memorial Day. In 1868, Gen. John A. Logan, then president of the Grand Army of the Republic, declared that May 30 would be a day to decorate with “flowers the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion.” After World War I the day was set aside to honor the of all American wars, and the custom was extended to pay homage to deceased relatives and friends, both military and civilian. The most solemn ceremony conducted on Memorial Day is the placing of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns located in Arlington national Cemetery. Some Southern states observe Confederate Memorial Day--April 26 in Georgia, the last Monday in April in Alabama and Mississippi, and May 10 in South Carolina. Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina do not observe the general holiday, and in Virginia the last Monday in May is called Confederate Memorial Day.” SOURCE: Encyclopedia Americana, 1991 edition Contributed by: David Whitten Jeff Greenfield is a news correspondent for ABC News. He lives in Salisbury, Connecticutt and has attended the same Memorial Day observance in his community for the last 15 years. He writes: "At 10 a.m., the parade begins moving down Main Street. It is a small parade: two vintage cars, bearing the region’s oldest war veterans; the men and women who served in the military; the Salisbury Town Band; the Scouts; the Housatonic Day Care Center; the fire trucks from the volunteer fire departments in and around the Northwest Corner. We fall in line behind the fire trucks, and follow the parade to the cemetery. There’s a hymn, and a prayer, followed by a Scout who reads the Gettysburg Address, haltingly, shyly. Then come the names of the men who died in the World Wars, in Korea, in Vietnam. A minister recites the 23rd Psalm, a bugler plays taps (with another bugler far away playing the echo), the flag is raised from half-staff, and we all walk the few steps back to the Village Center. It is as artless, as unaffected a ceremony as can be imagined. There are no speech writers, no advance men measuring the best angles for TV (there is no TV) and by the end of it, I—along with many other allegedly sophisticated urban types, are in tears. The men whose names have been read indeed gave what Lincoln called “the last, full measure of devotion”—some in wars whose purpose no one could doubt—some in wars whose purpose will never be clear, some for the folly and arrogance of the men in charge. When they fell, their deaths were a small part of a bigger story. But every Memorial Day, the lives they never got to live, and the people they left behind, are the only story that matters. That is why it matters that their names are uttered aloud before people who never knew any of them. That is why it matters that we were there this year—and will be there the next and the next and the next. SOURCE: Jeff Greenfield. ABC News InFocus, May 28, 1997. During World War II a young soldier named David Webster of Easy Company of the 101st Airborne wrote his mother: "Stop worrying about me. I joined the parachutists to fight. I intend to fight. If necessary, I shall die fighting, but don’t worry about this because no war can be won without young men dying. Those things which are precious are saved only by sacrifice." A little 7-year-old boy named Alex was staring at a large plaque in the church foyer. The plaque was covered with names and small American flags. As Alex looked at it, his pastor walked up and said, “Good morning Alex.” Alex said, “Pastor, what it this?” “Well, it is a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service.” Soberly, they stood together staring at the plaque. In a tender voice Alex asked, “Which service, the 8:30 or the 11:00?” The custom of placing flowers on the graves of the war veterans began on May 5, 1866, in Waterloo, New York. Waterloo has been recognized by Congress as the official birthplace of Memorial Day. In 1868, General John A. Logan, then president of the Grand Army of the Republic, declared that May 30 would be a day to “decorate with flowers the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion.” After World War I the day was set aside to honor all of the American wars, and the custom was extended to pay homage to deceased relatives and friends, both military and civilian. (Source unknown).

Worship the God you Know

Acts 17:22-34 Sixth Sunday of Easter Year A Worship the God you Know What is Memorial Day It is Memorial Day Weekend, and that can mean a lot of different things. It can mean a long weekend, cook outs, parades. Maybe it is just me, but it seems that the retailers have discovered a new holiday. Memorial Day has always meant sales, but this year I have noticed that every other email that I have gotten this weekend, and every other commercial on tv is an advertisement for someone one’s special sale. Memorial day is the first unofficial day of the summer. For us in the black community, that is a scary thing. It means that it is about to get hot, and that tempers are about to rise. Who knows what the summer will bring. We have to pray. In the midst of all that we have made Memorial Day to mean, let us not forget that there is a real meaning for the day. It is to remember our servicemen who have passed on, in order to preserve our ability to have fun, and our ability to be free. It was actually the black community that first celebrated Memorial Day. They would lay wreaths on the graves of soldiers, whether they were in the union army or the confederate army. From there is seemed to catch on to other communities. It is important for us to remember that we did not get where we are alone. We are here because of the sacrifice of others. In order to remember, we often build memorials, or monuments, or even buildings. So it is fitting that our scripture is about a monument. A monument to an unknown God. Mars Hill A few years ago, I took a trip following in the footsteps of Paul. The trip started in Athens, and the first place that we visited was Mars Hill. I remember there were monuments to different Gods everywhere. And we stood at the monument that Paul stood, dedicated to an unknown God. Legend has it that the city of Athens was in danger, so they set a bunch of sheep to roam around, and they sacrificed them wherever they were. They build monuments where the sheep fell and worshipped the God near that sheep. They noticed that one sheep was laying near a place with no monument, so they built one to an unknown God. Paul was in town trying to tell gentiles about Jesus. He wanted them to become Christians. So he appealed to what he already saw – that they were religious. They were obviously in search for God – but did not know Who God was. Paul wanted them to know. God is the creater. God is the maker, not the made. A monument is not enough to explain who God is. The point of Acts 17 As a matter of fact, Paul reminds us that we live in God, God does not live in us. Our being is dependent on God. God is a judge. As long as we don’t know, things are okay. But once we know God we have to obey God. God is a savior – who saves us through the sacrifice of his son Jesus. The point of the book of Acts The book of Acts is a book of the first sermons about the power of Jesus Christ. Each disciples went our into the world to tell gentiles what they saw in the miracle of Christ. Each disciples depended on the power of the holy spirit in order to change hearts. Paul is talking. Telling his story. After telling his story, most people sneered, some wanted to hear more, only two were willing to give their life to Christ. Most wanted to rely on their own understanding. They were not willing to change. There is a story about Richard J. Daly. We Need Help Some of you are old enough to remember Richard Daly who was mayor of Chicago for 21 years (1955-1976). Mayor Daly was known as a rather forbidding guy to work for. One story goes like this. One of Mayor Daly’s speech writers came in and demanded a raise. Mayor Daly responded as could be expected. He said “I’m not going to give you a raise. You are getting paid more than enough already. It should be enough for you that you are working for a great American hero like myself.” And that was the end of it...or so the mayor thought. Two weeks later Mayor Daly was on his way to give a speech to a convention of veterans. The speech was going to receive nationwide attention. Now one other thing Mayor Daly was famous for was not reading his speeches until he got up to deliver them. So there he stood before a vast throng of veterans and nationwide press coverage. He began to describe the plight of the veterans. “I’m concerned for you. I have a heart for you. I am deeply convinced that this country needs to take care of its veterans. So, today I am proposing a seventeen point plan that includes the city, state and federal government, to care for the veterans of this country.” Now by this time everyone, including Mayor Daly, was on the edge of their seat to hear what the proposal was. He turned the page and saw only these words: “You’re on your own now, you great American hero.” I don't know if Daly learned anything at that moment. With his great ego perhaps he did not. But he should have learned that all of us, no matter how great we think we are, need help. We need advocates who work behind the scenes to make us who we are. God has an advocate for you. He is the Holy Spirit. Story of Daly taken from: Journey Toward God, New Community Small Group study on Exodus (Zondervan), p.33. Brett Blair,www.eSermons.com Sometimes when I think of a monument to an unknown God, I think of the church. Because there are still so many people outside of the church who don’t know God, and don’t know what they are missing by not coming inside of the church. The book of Acts was written to give us hope. To help us to remember that the power of God is not in us, but in the holy spirit. We just have to be willing to be used by the spirit. Acts has a very important message for those who call themselves Christians. Being a Christian is more than just feeling good, smiling and being nice. It is more than having peace of mind, givng and going to church. It is worshipping God in Jesus Christ. It is about remembering that our whole being is inside of God. Without the spirit of God in us, we are absolutely nothing. But the good news is that when we look for God, God is very near by. He is always with us. He always helps us. Always Alongside Us A student named Steve Winger from Lubbock, TX was taking a challenging class in Logic. The course and teacher were known for exacting and demanding exams. The final exam was looming, and the professor mercifully told the class that each student would be permitted to bring in a single 8 x 11 ½ inch sheet with as much information as they could put on that one sheet for help during the test. On exam day, each student came to class clutching their precious pieces of paper with as much information as possible. Some students had crammed lines and lines of font so tiny and so numerous onto that single sheet that you had to wonder how they could read it. But Steve walked in with a single blank sheet and a friend who was a senior student and who had an ‘A’ in logic. Steve bent down and placed that single, blank sheet of paper on the floor next to his desk. His expert friend stood on the paper. The professor noticed the extra body in the room and asked what he was doing. Steve piped up, “You said we could bring in whatever we could fit on a single piece of paper for help on this test, well, this is my help and he can fit on the paper!” He had followed the instructions to the letter and was the only student in that class to score an ‘A’ since he had his expert friend standing alongside him. The Holy Spirit is like that friend, standing alongside us, supporting us, and guiding us. Adapted from an unknown source, Staff, www.Sermons.com The message of all of Acts for us is that the spirit is promised to those who live in God, the spirit is knowable in the risen Christ, the spirit makes a difference in our lives. Paul reminds us that our life does not have to be a monument to an unknown God. We have to know that God is present in the resurrected Christ. If we remember that, the spirit will do the rest. I want to end as I started, with a story about memorial day. An anonymous e-mail tells a story we need to hear on this Memorial Day weekend. It’s about an old man and his wife sitting in the parking lot of a supermarket. The hood is up on their car. Evidently they are having engine problems. A young man in his early twenties with a grocery bag in his arm walks in the direction of the elderly couple. The old gentleman emerges from the car and takes a few steps in the young man’s direction. He points to the open hood and asks the young man for assistance. The young man puts his grocery bag into his expensive SUV, turns back to the old man and yells at him: “You shouldn’t even be allowed to drive a car at your age.” And then with a wave of his hand, he gets into his car and speeds out of the parking lot. The old gentleman pulls out his handkerchief, mops his brow and goes back to his car. Again he looks at the engine. He then goes to his wife and appears to reassure her that things will be okay. A stranger approaches the old man. “Looks like you’re having a problem,” he says. The old man smiles sheepishly, and quietly nods his head. The stranger looks under the hood of the car, but he has no more expertise with automobile engines than the old man. He assures the elderly gentleman he will return and heads to a nearby service station. He explains the situation to a mechanic and says he will pay him if he would help the elderly couple with their car. Returning with the mechanic, the stranger gets into a conversation with the old gentleman. The stranger is wearing a ring signifying that he had been a Marine. Coincidentally, so had the old man. He confides that he had served in some of the harshest battles in our nation’s history, including Guadalcanal and Okinawa. He had retired from the Marine Corps after the war. After the car was repaired and running, the old gentleman handed a card to the stranger and they shook hands and parted. A little while later the stranger happened to look at the card. The name of the old gentleman was on the card in golden leaf and under his name was written: Congressional Medal of Honor Society. It was only then that the former Marine realized that he had come to the aid of one of America’s heroes. Just a reminder this Memorial Day weekend that there are men and women who have served their country, and received very little in return. It is only right that we recognize their sacrifice and honor their memory this holiday weekend. As we remember the sacrifice of those unnamed men and women – let us remember the sacrifice of Jesus crist for our sins. So that we can have life and have it abundantly. Amen. Children’s Sermon WHAT IS GOD MADE OF? by Wesley T. Runk Passage: Acts 17:16-34 • Lectionary: Easter 6 Item 26 of 36 | Back to Results Objects: A statue in marble or bronze, a painting of some classical origin depicting God or a likeness of Him, and then maybe a rock, leaf or wood carving. A four leaf clover or a lucky penny Good morning (evening) to you boys and girls and how are you on this beautiful day? This is our third time together and so that means that we get to talk about one of the questions that you have wondered about so often. Remember we have already asked where God is, and how old is God? Today we have an especially difficult question for you and for everybody. We want to know what God is made of, and that is especially hard since no one has ever felt God. For instance if I could tell you that God felt like steel or fur or mud you would know what kind of material God is made of. A long time ago, boys and girls, people thought that their God's were made of things like this statue I have here. Do you know what I mean'? People thought that this statue was a god and they put the statue on a shelf and everybody thought that their house was protected from any kind of evil spirits. This statue is made of marble. Other people liked to think their god was made in the form of a painting and they had a great artist paint them a copy so that everyone would picture god in the same way. A real long time ago, boys and girls, there were people who believed that their god lived in a rock like this or in a tree or in a very fast running river. That's what people used to think. Today some people have other kinds of gods, although they don't call them gods. Some people have to have something that they can feel. Let me show you what I mean. Have you ever seen someone carry one of these? (Hold up a four leaf clover or a rabbit's foot). What is it? That's right, a rabbit's foot. People think if they rub that rabbit's foot nothing will happen to them and that everything will be all right. They trust the rabbit foot, or a four leaf clover. Or some people I know carry a lucky penny in their pocket and rub it whenever they need something to happen. People like to feel their god and know what He is made of, but our God tells us that He is a spirit, something that you cannot even see, or touch or smell or feel. He is different than anything else that we know. And that is one of the reasons that He is God. There is nothing else like him in the whole world. He does not like us to make other things and call them god and when people trust in pennies or rocks or gold or anything else, then God gets very angry. What is a Spirit? That is a good question. You know that He is near and He speaks to you in prayer but you can't reach out and touch Him, nor can you hear Him. Do you remember what it's like when you go to school or away from home and you get lonely and wish that your mother was very near but you can't go and find her? When you think about her you get very warm and just thinking makes you feel better all over. Well in a way that is a spirit because even though you can't feel or see or hear or taste her you still know that she loves you and will be there when you get home. God is a spirit and while we don't know what He is made of we do know that the Bible teaches that He is not made of anything like rocks, or pennies. God is a spirit. Questions Children Ask About God, Wesley T. Runk, CSS Publishing Co., Inc., 1971, 0-89536-199-X Back to Results | Item 26 of 36 Other illustrations not used…… I’ve purchased a town lot in heaven On the city not built with hand, I’m sending material daily To build in that happy land. I’d like a mansion on Main Street, Where streets are all paved with gold. With a clear view of the pearly gates Where Christ takes care of the soul. I want to send good material That will stand the test of time, So I’ll not be disappointed When I reach that home sublime. Prayer is for the foundation, Faith and love for the walls, Good deeds for the reinforcement, That will stand when the Saviour calls. I would like you for my neighbor In that city so divine— Maybe just across the street Or your home close to mine. Up there we will know no sorrow, Tears will never dim the eyes. There we will rest in peace forever In that happy home on high. So my friends, start to building Your home beyond the sky Where we can all be together In the sweet by and by. —Author Unknown In the nineteenth century people who passed the Rothschild mansion in the fashionable quarter of London noticed that the end of one of the cornices was unfinished. The question may be asked: Could not the richest man in the world afford to pay for that cornice, or was the lack due to carelessness? The explanation is a very simple yet suggestive one when it is known. Lord Rothschild was an orthodox Jew, and every pious Jew’s house, tradition says, must have some part unfinished, to bear testimony to the world that its occupant is only, like Abraham, a pilgrim and a stranger upon the earth. —Selected Acts 17:22-31 -- Good and Bad “Magical Thinking” – by Leonard Sweet We live in an age where incredible scientific advancements take place everyday. Take GRIN, the acronym for (G) genetic engineering, (R) robotics, (I) information technology and (N) nanotechnology. The human genome has been mapped. Nanotechnology is constructing miniscule machines that can deliver inter-cellular messages or make molecular level repairs. Astrophysicists have mapped the curvature of the universe, delved into black holes, listened to the echoes of the Big Bang. Scientific inquiry and experiment have revealed the “hows” and “whys” and “whats” never before known. We think we’re so smart. We think we have a handle on how the universe works. So why did the builders of the new Yankee Stadium spend five hours and $50,000 digging through two feet of concrete last week? They did this to extract a David Ortiz Red Sox jersey that had been secretly buried in the concrete floor of the visiting team’s dug out. A construction worker, an unrepentant Red Sox fan, had slipped the jersey into the concrete in order to permanently “jinx” the new Yankee stadium. The story of the jersey finally came to light because another construction worker who had seen the shirt go into the slab got worried and confessed: “I don’t want to be responsible for sinking the franchise,” he said. The stadium, a 1.3 billion dollar project, was brought to a screeching halt; the glowing new future for the Yankees was endangered; immediate, expensive action was taken: why? Because everyone believed in the jinxing power of a piece of cloth submerged down in a concrete floor in a locker room. That was one high-powered hex! Or not. No one can completely escape what has been called “magical thinking” (see Matthew Hutson, “Magical Thinking,” Psychology Today, March-April 2008, 90-95. The subtitle is “Even Hard-Core Skeptics Can’t Help But Find Sympathy in the Fabric of the Universe----And Occasionally Try to Pull Its String”). We “knock on wood,” throw spilled salt over our shoulders, can’t resist reading our horoscopes, always take notice of a “Friday the 13th.” Or if you think you’re immune to “magical thinking,” answer me this: how many of you here this morning wouldn’t think twice about wearing the jacket of a murderer? Little children have that special “blankie” or stuffed animal that magically imparts peace and serenity. But big corporations hire specialists to organize the “feng shui” in their work spaces. Musician George Michael bought the Steinway piano that John Lennon composed his best know work on: “Imagine.” Michael ships this piano off to places that are in need of some kind of spiritual support: to New Orleans after Katrina; to Virginia Tech after the shootings. The piano is put on public display, with its pedigree, open for any and all to sit down and plunk out a few notes, to seek out a bit of solace in its noteworthy presence. No matter how much scientific knowledge we acquire about the world we live in, physical reality is never enough. The human spirit knows there is always more to be revealed, that there is something more out there if we could only lift the veil. Paul’s speech to the Athenians gathered at the elite Court of the Areopagus was designed to get his audience thinking about that inner yearning for “something more,” that “groping” for the “unknown God.” But Paul also warned them that there was a difference between religiosity and righteousness. The God who created the universe, who gave life to human beings, “does not live in shrines made by human hands” (v.24) and is not “an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals” (v.29). Idols of gold, silver, or stone will never contain God, and can never move beyond the “magical” to real faithfulness… _______________________ Service Is Our Highest Honor It is Memorial Day weekend. More than a weekend to frolic in the sun and picnic on the grounds, Memorial Day is a day to remember. Remember we have been bought with a price. Thousands of people have died that you and I might live in the freedom that we regularly take for granted. In World War II alone 406,000 Americans gave their lives. We are bought with a price. So let us not reduce freedom to licentiousness nor rights to unrestraint. Remember there is a reason to be born save to consume the corn, eat the fish and leave behind a dirty dish. Not selfishness, but service is our highest honor. J. Howard Olds, Faith Breaks,www.Sermons.com