Changing the Rules

Genesis 25:19-34 Changing the Rules 7th Sunday after Pentecost Year A Prelude Greeting Call to Worship Your grace is a lamp for our hearts, O God. Light our way through the shadows of this world. When we struggle with questions and doubts, tell us your stories of hope and grace. When we are about to wander off into the wilderness, show us the paths to your peace and joy. (Lectionary Liturgies, Thom Shuman) Invocation God who gathers us together, we delight to be in community with you and one another. Let your word be proclaimed in truth. Let us burst into songs that reflect the depths of our spirits. May our prayers be formed in your name and granted by your wisdom. May we know you, Divine Mystery, and ourselves better and deeper because we have entered your presence as a community of faithful, questioning, and hope-seeking participants in your kindom. Amen. (United Church of Christ, Cheryl Lindsay) Song Thy Word is a Lamp UMH 601 A Sermon for all Ages Children's Sermon: "God Has Enough Love for Everyone" Scripture: Genesis 25:19-34 Object Lesson: Two toy cars (or stuffed animals) and a small gift box Good morning, boys and girls! Today I brought two toys with me. (Hold up the two toys.) Let's pretend these are two brothers. Can anyone tell me if you have a brother or sister? (Allow a few responses.) Now, here's another question. Have you ever argued with your brother or sister? Maybe you argued about who gets the front seat in the car. Maybe who gets the biggest cookie. Maybe whose turn it is to play with a favorite toy. Brothers and sisters don't always get along, do they? In today's Bible story, we meet two brothers named Jacob and Esau. They were twins! But even before they were born, they were pushing and bumping each other. As they grew up, they became very different people. Esau loved hunting outside, and Jacob liked staying closer to home. One day Esau came home hungry, and Jacob had made some delicious stew. Instead of being kind to his brother, Jacob asked Esau to give him something very important in exchange for a bowl of soup. The brothers were thinking mostly about themselves instead of loving each other. Have you ever wanted something so badly that you forgot to be kind? We all do that sometimes. (Hold up the gift box.) This gift box reminds me of something important. Sometimes we think that if someone else gets something good, there won't be enough left for us. But God's love isn't like cookies in a cookie jar. God's love never runs out! There is enough love, enough grace, enough forgiveness, and enough blessings for everyone. Jacob didn't have to trick his brother because God already had a plan for his life. Esau didn't have to make a quick decision just because he was hungry. He could have trusted God to take care of him. Sometimes we get jealous when someone else gets attention, wins a prize, or gets to do something special. But God reminds us that He has a special plan for every one of us. When we trust God, we don't have to fight to be first. We don't have to be jealous. We don't have to compare ourselves with others. Instead, we can celebrate each other, help each other, and remember that every person is loved by God. The next time you argue with your brother, sister, or friend, stop and ask yourself: "Can I trust God instead of trying to get my own way?" When we trust God, He helps us choose kindness over fighting and love over jealousy. Let's pray. Prayer: Dear God, Thank You for loving each one of us. Help us not to be jealous or selfish. Teach us to be kind to our brothers, sisters, and friends. Help us trust that You have a wonderful plan for each of our lives. Thank You for loving us more than we can imagine. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. (ChatGPT) Responsive Reading Psalm 119:105-112 UMH 840 Passing of the Peace Prayer for illumination Holy Creator, the earth is yours, and all that is in it. We give you thanks for the beauty of the earth, for the creatures that fill it, and for your providence, which stands beneath and above and within it all. Now grant us hearts open to your grace, eyes open to your wonders and ears open to your Holy Word. Let your Holy Spirit dwell with us, that we may be renewed in our commitment to the way, the truth and the life of Jesus Christ. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Aaron Shepherd) Scripture Genesis 25:19-34 Sermon Changing the Rules Jesus tells us that the first be last and that the last shall be first. As disciples of Christ we are told to celebrate the great reversal of life. For many of us, it is the only way that we will get ahead, if God’s grace turns the tables. Even though Jesus teaches us this principle, it is older than him. As a matter of fact, his mother Mary says these exact words when she learns that she will become pregnant with Jesus. She celebrates that the first will be last and the last shall be first. She says that those who are rich will be pulled down, and those who are struggling will be lifted up. Life does not always go as expected. The people who get ahead in this world do not get ahead in God’s world. Life has a way of helping us out. The bible has always told us that God favors those on the bottom, the underdog, the one least expected to succeed. I think we can all relate to being the underdog. We can all celebrate grace in our lives. Unfortunately, we tend to associate grace with God and the old Testament with the law. Yet this important concept goes all the way back to our story today. The story of Isaac’s twins, Jacob and Esau. Esau the hairy one was still the oldest by just a few seconds. His brother Jacob was born grabbing his brother’s ankles – he spent the rest of his life grabbing a hold of his older brother’s life. Even in the womb these 2 brothers fought. They brought a conflict into the world that many say continues even today. This story is important – it is called the reversal of the primogeniture. Primogeniture is just a fancy way of saying that the first son inherits most of his father’s money, title and life. The biblical stories were all about establishing order and the Jewish law. This order, was just how things were done, you didn’t question it, you just knew your place in life. So far in Genesis, we have heard of the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Neither of them were oldest brothers, yet they were the ones who carried on the promises of God into modern times. This is the story of the promise, the order and the law. But it is also the story of how grace works in our lives, our family and in history. In life the only this that you can expect – is the unexpected. In the bible stories it is usually the underdog, the unexpected, that God’s grace works through. Jacob the grabber was the underdog of the story – but he was far from nice. He was a trickster who had to connive for everything that he achieved in life. Paul, the greatest missionary of the Christian era, once remarked that God doesn't always use the wisest, strongest and most moral people to bring his message. Instead God uses the foolish, the weak and the lowly -- just to prove a point (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). That truth certainly holds when it comes to those chosen by God as the patriarchs of ancient Israel. God works through us, in spite of us and even on our behalf. God works in spite of our drama. There is just as much drama in the bible as any soap opera on television. We each have flaws but we are a vital part of the story. Just as each person in this story was a part of the drama. Rebekah didn’t really want kids. She went through 20 years of marriage with children. When she finally got pregnant, it wasn’t one it was twins. She had a very difficult pregnancy. When the twins were born she favored on over the other. She manipulated their whole lives, so that her favorite would come out ahead. Isaac was blind, but he was also spiritually blind. He let his son’s live life with no supervision. Jacob had no right to belittle his brother over a meal intended for the whole family. Esau – gave up his birthright for a meal. He was so entrenched in survival mode that he totally lost sight of the future. Jacob was a trickster. He had not concept of trusting God. He thought he has to outthink everyone to get what he wanted. He lived his whole life looking over his shoulder – even as an adult – he did not trust his relatives. The interesting thing is – God has no part in this story. God is silent in the midst of all of this. In earlier stories, God speaks clearly to tell people what to do. In this story there is nothing. And yet when we read it today, we can see clearly that grace permeates the whole story. The first becomes last and the last becomes first. In spite of the drama, all a part of God’s plan. Jacob grabbed his brother’s birthright. I think at some point we have played a part of each of the characters. Who needs soap operas when you have life, family and church members. But the lesson for us is that in our relationships with one another, to remember our relationship with God. Other lessons – in times of barronness and the feeling that God has forgot us – be careful what you ask for. And be prepared for the drama that comes with it. It is ok to be hungry – just stay hungry for the right things. Hunger for righteousness, for God for grace. Don’t let our hunger rob us of our trust in God’s promises. A minister had a conversation with a fellow in his late 30s who expressed concern about his inability to earn enough money to support his family adequately. "I dropped out of college to get this lousy job. If only I had finished school, my life would be so different. This job has no future." That fellow's lack of present discipline cost him dearly. He sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. That happens regularly in a multitude of ways. Without present discipline, future possibilities are sacrificed. Never sell yourself short. You have enormous potential. We can be grateful that we all inherited the birthright form Jacob, we are all children of God. Like many people, Esau mistook the difference between price and value. Price is what you pay for something. Value is what it's worth. A long time ago, Archbishop Taylor is reported to have said something to the effect, "Life is a display window in a store in which some mischievous person has gotten in overnight and changed all the price tags so that the cheap things are priced quite highly, while the truly valuable things are priced quite cheaply." Therein lies a wonderful lesson. Your birthright is the same. You are the loved child of God. You are worthwhile. Don't relinquish that gift. Circumstances may not be easy. You may have grown up in a dysfunctional home -- like Esau. You may not be a particularly gifted person -- like Esau. Others may take advantage of you -- as they did Esau. Your mother may not like you. Rebekah didn't like Esau. You may encounter one problem right after another -- as did Esau. But you are God's loved child. You are worthwhile. That is your birthright. You can rise above anything. Believe that and live as though you believe it. Finally, be grateful for grace. Many of those strict rules that serve a few and oppress many are still in effect today. Those rules don’t have the final word in life. In history, Jacob became the hero, but I think Esau was also a hero. The story says that he despised his inheritance. It is interesting that if the oldest inherited 50% of his fathers wealth, then Jacob would have gotten the other 50% anyway. But for Esau, inheritance meant nothing without his brother. Both twins went on to have big families. For centuries the Edomites and the Israelites lived side by side. Sometime peacefully, sometimes not. Eventually after the temple was destroyed, the Jews conquered the Edomites and forced them to convert to Judaism. Today they are an integrated part of Israel. Today it is Jacob’s story that remains. Jacob, who was renamed Israel later in life realized that in spite of all of his conniving, he still needed God. And so do we. Our only hope comes from the fact that he who calls us never said, "Be certain that your lives are pure and spotless and your motives beyond reproach, and then you can come and follow Me." If he had, there could be no followers. Most of us can identify with one or the other of these brothers; occasionally, we might even be able to identify with both. Our part, in the whole process of growing in grace, is to recognize our lives are tainted, we are saved by God's grace alone, and - like the sons of Isaac - though we might be dominated by different kinds of sins, none of us can boast of our superior moral character. In our better moments, that realization has a beneficial effect on us, because it helps us to recognize the power and the glory and the redemption of the world are not ours, never ours, but his, always his. Yet, as in the case of Jacob, he chooses to use such flawed instruments to work out his purposes. If we choose to follow him, even though we are weak, half-hearted, and of little faith, he will put us to work for him. And such is his love, his ingenuity, and his power, that even such feeble witnesses as we can be used to lead others to him. CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio, There is a poem that says To live above with those we love, Well, that will be glory. To live below with those we know, Well, that’s another story. If we plan to live above with those we love Well, here’s the rest of the story. We must live below with those we know Empowered by God’s grace and glory. Thank God for grace and glory. Let us pray……… Song Hymn of Promise UMH 707 Pastoral Prayer Holy God, you are a mystery hidden beyond all sense and understanding, yet you are as near to us as our very breath. As we breathe this word of prayer together, allow your Holy Spirit to enter into the deepest ground of our being, and bind us as one body with you and all the communion of the faithful in every time and place. Lord, we live in a time of great struggle: of nation against nation, of faction and faction, party against party, neighbor against neighbor. So many struggle to put food on the table, or keep a roof over their head, or to provide care to those they love. Meet us in the struggle, and comfort us with your quiet courage to struggle on. Holy Jesus, you know us by name; hear us now as we name those who need your tender care. (Here, the worship leader may add prayer concerns and joys from the community, being sure to address them by name[first name only is suggested].) God, your thoughts are not our thoughts, and your ways are not our ways, yet we abide in your peace for you have given it freely to us. Loosen our anxiously tightened hearts; open our fearfully clenched hands; shake us out of our screen-induced reveries. Let us see the world with a new vision: through the eyes of faith, let us perceive your way of justice in places of injustice. Let us recognize the humanity in those who are treated inhumanely. Let us know that you are God alone, and that in serving you, we are made stronger. Bless these prayers, and those offered in the silence of our hearts, and receive them with grace. (Presbyterian Outlook, Aaron Shepherd) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment In Matthew 13, we hear Jesus’ telling of the parable of the sower and an explanation of the meaning behind the parable. Using everyday language which could be easily understood by those who planted and waited eagerly for the harvest, Jesus uses familiar images to inspire his disciples to be good soil which bears fruit. How do we see and understand these images today? Some of us may find we don’t actually hear or understand anything at all about God’s Realm…like seed scattered on a hard path. Some of us may feel excited as we experience worship, but as soon as we walk out the door, our minds and hearts are focused somewhere completely removed from what we’ve heard or experienced…like seed unable to root into the ground. Yet others find their energies completely absorbed by everyday cares and concerns…like seed in the thorns. However, some of us are like good soil, allowing Good News to take root and flower into lives of justice, love and compassion. When THAT happens, we’re energized to share our time, our talents and yes, even our treasure. Today, I invite you to make an offering. We’re eager to turn your gifts into ministry, so let your desires to work, to lead, to pray, to pay, let your gifts become part of nurturing not only your life but the life of this congregation! Joyfully, let’s share what we’ve been given as we receive our morning offering. Prayer of Thanksgiving Loving God, We freely offer these gifts, eager to be part of your beloved Realm on earth. Accept our finances and the time and talents we offer, eager to translate what’s here into a harvest which is 30, 60 or 100 times greater than what is before us today. In joyful anticipation, we give thanks! AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Sending Prayer for YouTube Go forth as God's people. We will sow seeds of love and joy in the world. Go forth as Christ's true friends. We will sow seeds of justice and hope in oppression-strewn paths. Go forth as the Spirit's love. We will sow seeds of peace and reconciliation in every corner of creation. (c) Thom M. Shuman Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction May the Spirit who dwells in you bless you with open minds to receive God’s wisdom, open hearts to follow God’s guidance, and open doors that we may together build God’s kingdom of life and peace on earth as it is in heaven. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, January 2026. Additional Illustrations But first let me say a word about the birthright itself. In the Hebrew tradition, a birthright was really the right of the first-born son. It included holding “a position of honor as head of the family and a double share of the inheritance.” In this particular case, one would assume it also meant inheriting the promise made to Abraham of a great nation and of a new land. So this was no small thing that Esau traded away in a matter of minutes -- and all for a bowl of lentils! Why did he do so? The easy answer is that he was just stupid. He did not understand the value of the birthright and so he was easily tricked out of it by a cunning younger brother. Jesus evidently was aware of the “birthright blues” syndrome. He even dedicated an entire parable to speak to it. You do remember the story about the talents, don’t you? The master called his servants together and to one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one. When he returned to receive back the money he had entrusted to them, the ones with two and five talents had used them wisely and doubled their worth, but the one who had only one talent had buried it in the ground. If you ask me, he had a bad case of the “birthright blues.” He was ashamed of what had been given to him. He treated it as if it had little value at all. The master was very angry with this ungrateful servant! But I have to admit, it is very easy to slip into those “birthright blues.” It is very easy to feel sorry for oneself. It is very easy to find others who receive “more” or “better.” So when we stand next to someone with a better body, a better brain, a prettier face, why not succumb to a little “birthright blues?” And why not follow Esau’s example? Why not misuse what we have been given? Why not settle for the moment instead of waiting for a future payoff? Why not take something that God gave as special and treat it as though it were worth nothing? This human dilemma is why this Old Testament lesson is so important to us and so relevant. It asks us if we join Esau in hating our birthright. It asks us if we are willing to settle for the moment, if we treat cheaply what has great value, if we pity ourselves when we have been given much. Then, as Buechner would say, "However, if tragedy is inevitable, comedy is unforeseeable. Esau valued his birthright cheaply and paid a high price for a bowl of lentil soup. When you see someone driving a $40,000 car, but they tell you they don't have time to spend with their children or their spouse, you're talking to someone who has sold his birthright for a bowl of stew. When somebody tells you that they don't have the time or the desire to take care of their health--they're too busy to exercise or eat right--you're talking to someone who has sold her birthright for a bowl of stew. When somebody tells you they don't have time for the things of God--to read their Bible or to be in worship--you're talking to someone who has sold his birthright for a bowl of stew. Martha and Mary, Samson, David, Esau –these are all stories of distraction. It is not always by a conscious sin that we turn away from God, but more often from the simple things in everyday life that at the time feel more important than worship, more important than prayer. They make us anxious. They make us turn away. It is in the moment of turning away that we lose sight of God. The word “despised” (bazah) as in “Esau despised his birthright” means to dis-esteem, to scorn, to be reckless or careless with, to disdain.* The birthright of Esau is a sacred right to bear or carry the covenant forward. But Esau doesn’t not seem to care much about that. He easily gives away that honor with God in order to seek that “red stuff.” Whether red stew or vegetables of the field or earth, the word adom (red stuff), Edom (to boil, to act presumptuously) is related also to the word adama. Esau is concerned with the things of the world, the things he can sensorily know. He is therefore easily deceived. Esau came in from the “field” exhausted and was distracted by both his exhaustion and the smell of Jacob’s stew. He was reckless with his right to God’s covenantal line and therefore lost it.** The “deception” later carried out by mother and son Jacob was therefore not a deception but the carrying out of prophecy. The metaphor of “stew” is wonderful in its link to edom (boiling over) and the plot cooked up by Jacob’s mother. As the stew boils, so too does the plot, as prophecy is fulfilled. There are five more verbs that report that rest of Esau's behavior in this incident. They are ate, drank, rose, departed, and despised. The first four tell us that he did not savor his costly meal; he just shoveled it in and left. The last verb, "despised," is the narrator's comment on Esau's awful decision. In trading off his valuable birthright for a meal — and a pretty ordinary one at that — he, in effect, despised his birthright, treated it as though it wasn't worth much. There is a Yiddish folk expression that comes out of this biblical story. When someone is rude at the table or just "stuffs his face," it is said pejoratively that he "eats like Esau."2 In the eighth chapter of the letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul describes his own experience of coming into relationship with God, and also the relationship with God into which we can come. The chapter starts with the words, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). Paul goes on to talk about discovering that we are beloved children of God and about living in a growing, life-shaping relationship with God. And he ends by saying that nothing in the whole creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. If we can find our way into that kind of a relationship with God, we will have a new confidence in our own personhood and that can change a lot of things in our lives. It can enable us to deal constructively with conflicts by claiming God's assurance for ourselves and by sharing it with others. That kind of affirmation of personhood can make a difference. We can imagine that it could have made a difference if both Isaac and Rebecca had made a conscious effort to affirm the unique personhood of both of their sons. Could it be that the first step in the resolution of our conflicts is to find our way into that wholeness that takes away our vulnerability? Could it be that the second step is to affirm the personhood of the other so that he or she can also gain the freedom that comes with identity and security? Of course, that will not solve all of our problems and make all of our conflicts go away. But it will set us free to do the hard work of resolving conflicts. The play, 1776, dramatizes the meetings of the Second Continental Congress that eventually produced the Declaration of Independence that made this country a separate nation. The play does a great job of laying bare all of the different kinds of conflict that existed between the people who were delegates to the conference. There were personality differences, differences in disposition, regional prejudices, conflicting economic interests, and differences in personal ambitions. At times, it seemed that the conflicts would prevent the congress from taking any decisive action. But eventually, through long and painful processes, the conflicts were worked through. The Declaration of Independence was signed, and a new nation was born. The story of Jacob and Esau eventually had a happy ending. Jacob lived away from his family for years and learned a lot through interactions with God and with life. The Bible tells us his story. It doesn't tell us much about what was going on in Esau's life at the time, but he must have been doing some learning, too. Finally, Jacob returned to his homeland bringing with him the family and servants and possessions that he had gained. As he approached the border of his homeland, he learned that Esau was coming to meet him leading a large company of men. At first, it seemed that the stage was set for a battle -- or a massacre. But when Jacob and Esau finally met, they fell into an embrace and established a relationship that enabled them to live together in peace. They had both learned a lot during their time of estrangement. We can learn it, too. ________________________________________ 1. Thomas A. Harris, I'm OK, You're OK (New York: Avon, 1967). CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost (First Third): Getting in Touch with God, by James L. Killen Esau lost sight of the long-term goals of life under the pressure of present pressing physical needs. He gave up the lasting values to satisfy the present posing need. He traded off a kind of family last will and testament promised to the older son - for a bowl of stew. We cannot walk away from our crossroads of life, but we can face them courageously through prayer, faith, compassion, impartial love of our fellow human beings, and personal esteem. Always walking in the strength of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob we find our way in his Son, Jesus Christ, who said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio, They, Isaac and Rebekah, were at one of their crossroads. There was no child; what should be done? First, it is notable that this family possessed some qualities which are just as valuable in today’s family: • A strong prayer life • Faith and trust in the Lord • Compassion for each family member • Impartiality toward each person • A sense of self-esteem and respect for each other • Assistance so that the child might have a meaningful vocation Isaac, as husband, showed commendable reactions. He was sensitive to his wife’s feelings; he was concerned for her because of her inability to become pregnant and therefore, multiply and help people the earth. Consider our scripture lesson for this morning which concerns the brothers Jacob and Esau, children of Isaac. Unfortunately, people still do that sort of thing. You are, after all, a loved child of God. That is your birthright and it comes with enormous possibility. Unfortunately, tomorrow's potential doesn't have much present market value. One of life's most demanding skills is learning to stay hungry today in order to realize tomorrow's possibilities. As much as we might like it otherwise, everything in this life doesn't happen when we want it to happen. Learn to stay hungry in the pursuit of the worthwhile. Accept that you are not going to fulfill every material and professional goal immediately. Understand that most things worth accomplishing take time -- many times they take decades. Learn to stay a little hungry. It can make such a difference in your life. For one thing, stay hungry for knowledge. In fact, develop a deep hunger for knowledge. Too many people want to quit learning when they reach a certain age. Don't do that. Keep on thinking. As the poet plans his life, Let me die thinking. Let me fare forth still with an open mind, Fresh secrets to unfold, new truths to find. My soul undimmed, alert, no questions blinking. Let me die thinking.1 Learn to stay hungry, not only for information, but for God. Unlike other institutions, we never graduate from Sunday school because we never learn all we need to know about our faith. Never let your beliefs harden to concrete. Be open to grow in your faith. You never know when God is going to confront you with a new idea and a new set of circumstances. When that happens, your faith can be stretched to such new limits it can never shrink back to the same size it was before. Stay hungry for God. Staying hungry now leaves us open to future possibilities. Develop a deep hungering for life. Remember this truth: the best time in your life is wherever you are right now. After all, today is the only day of your life over which you have any say. Therefore, believe today the best and make the best of today. Life will, however, get even better wherever it takes you tomorrow, if you continue to believe that possible. God has created us in such a way that every age has its special problems and its special joys. God gives us the strength to deal with the problems as we encounter them. He also provides the grace to make the most of the joys. Don't wallow in guilt over yesterday. It is forgiven. Don't worry about the darkness of what is to come. There will be light enough to get through. Live in the fullness of today and stay hungry for tomorrow. What a difference that attitude can make. Having your life unfold day by day like a beautiful flower is your God-given birthright. Don't sell it for cabbage soup. Develop a deep hungering for life. Remember this truth: the best time in your life is wherever you are right now. After all, today is the only day of your life over which you have any say. Therefore, believe today the best and make the best of today. Life will, however, get even better wherever it takes you tomorrow, if you continue to believe that possible. God has created us in such a way that every age has its special problems and its special joys. God gives us the strength to deal with the problems as we encounter them. He also provides the grace to make the most of the joys. Don't wallow in guilt over yesterday. It is forgiven. Don't worry about the darkness of what is to come. There will be light enough to get through. Live in the fullness of today and stay hungry for tomorrow. What a difference that attitude can make. Having your life unfold day by day like a beautiful flower is your God-given birthright. Don't sell it for cabbage soup. Because Esau couldn't wait for dinner, the history of Israel is traced to Jacob. In many respects, it is a sad, sad story. Obviously, Esau was no rocket scientist. Jacob constantly took advantage of him. Physically he never made it as a male model. His entire body was covered with thick, red hair. I'm sure the kids in school constantly tormented him about that. His mother liked his brother best. This kid Esau had some serious problems. He had every reason to be a miserable failure in life. Surely any failure he experienced could be attributed to circumstances beyond his control. ________________________________________ 1. "Let Me Die Thinking," Anonymous. CSS Publishing, Tenders of the Sacred Fire, by R. Robert Cueni The story begins before our text, in the dim days of primal history, with a promise of God. Before there was Jacob, there was a promise. God told Abraham that a great family, more numerous than the stars of heaven, would arise out of his poor octogenarian loins. From Abraham and Sarah came Isaac and Isaac married Rebekah. But not yet a family. Rebekah could not have children. How then the promise to make a family? Rebekah's barrenness is not a problem of gynecology but of theology. How then the promise? How can God be faithful when there is no child, therefore no future? Will God keep the promise? Isaac prays to God for a child. And with that prayer (people, be careful when you pray!), the trouble begins. "Rebekah conceived," and even in her womb, there was trouble. There, in the mysterious uterine darkness, there is conflict, for there is not one but two fetuses in the womb and they are already in dark struggle. Rebekah feels the conflict even before the children are born. Feeling the rumblings within she exclaims, "If motherhood is this, why do I live?" (verse 22). She demands a refund from her Lamaze Classes. "I thought you said this was going to be painless!" Rebekah inquires of the Lord. The Lord explains, "At first I thought I'd just bless you with a child. Then I decided, while I was at it, to give you twins, just to make it interesting. Not just two boys, two whole nations in your womb, struggling. You thought this birth was a little something sweet to comfort you and the old man in your autumn years? No, I'm doing something cosmic here, big. That kick you just felt was me, kicking at the door of the future of the world!" And Rebekah says, "This is your idea of a blessing?" There is no such thing as "painless birth," particularly if that birth be a gift of God. Sermon point one (write this down): The promises of God, paradoxically, involve pain. So sermon point two: The promises of God subvert the older order. Point one: The promises of God involve pain. A major source of the pain is that God's promises invariably involve the subversion of the way things are in order to create the way things, by God, will be. No social convention was more dear to the people of Jacob and Esau's day than the right of primogeniture. The right of the firstborn ensured order, stability in the Near Eastern world. You knew your place from the day you were born. First born son gets it all. Second born gets leftovers. Neat. Clean. Orderly. It was a secure, stable "Ozzie and Harriet" world where father knows best, Mom is a bit mushy in the head but at least she's at home in the kitchen, and older brother David is thoughtful and stable while little brother Ricky is unpredictable but that's 0.1(. since David is going to inherit it all in the end anyway. Fixed at birth.·Fate determined in utero by the color of your skin, or your gender, or your parent's economic level, the order of birth. It's a story about getting mixed up in our conventions--and destabilizing us in the process. In Rebekah's womb, early, in the primal darkness, cosmic, international purposes are being worked out. In the clash of two all too typical brothers, God is dismantling conventional systems of power distribution. So we find ourselves in the story, surprised as Esau, when little brother Jacob clutches our heel. Is there anyone here who cannot identify with the once self-assured nation, planning to use the same power that our forebears enjoyed, shocked to wake up from our national stupor of instant material gratification to find little brother, once a nobody nation, with the economic birthright that we always thought was ours? Is there a divine upsetting of our arrangements in such a way that, as one has said, the "first shall be last and the last first" (Luke 13:30)? Is there some force behind the lives of ordinary people of the story, one who has chosen, "what is low and despised in the world to bring to nothing the things that are?" To be continued... Duke University, Duke Chapel Sermons, by Will Willimon

Beginnings and Forgiveness

Genesis Back to School Blessing August 20, 2023 Year A Prelude Welcome Call to Worship L: This is the day that the Lord has made! P: Let us rejoice and be glad in it! L: This is a day of new beginnings! P: This is a time for growing into new disciples for Jesus. L: Come, let us prepare ourselves for worship P: Let us be prepared for service to God. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters) Song This is a Day of New Beginnings. UMH 383 Children’s Sermon (eraser object lesson) Responsive Prayer Leader: There is always something wonderful about returning to school, O God. Even those of us who no longer go to school remember it fondly at this time of the year. People: Seeing old friends again, meeting new ones, having good teachers, going to ball games, exploring new subjects—it is always exciting and promising because it opens new vistas in our lives. Leader: We thank you for the opportunity of pursuing our education. Learning is one of the great privileges of life. People: We are grateful for chances to grow all of our lives, and to develop constantly into wiser and better persons. Leader: We pray that you will help us to seek renewal of our selves in this new season. People: Let your Holy Spirit challenge us to new goals and achievements in our spiritual lives, so that we may become the persons you have intended us to be. Leader: Teach us the things Jesus knew about love and service and sacrifice. People: And show us how to share our wonderful lives with other people who have been less fortunate than we, so that together we may attain your kingdom, All: And rejoice in your power and your glory, through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen. (United Methodist Ministry Matters) Scripture Genesis 45:1-15 Sermon Beginnings and Forgiveness The title of our sermon today is Beginnings and Forgiveness. As we take the time to bless all those who are beginning a new school year, what does that have to do with a scripture on forgiveness. One of the prayers for back to school that I saw this week was a prayer for peace in dealing with all of the mess we have to deal with in the coming year. As long as there are a community of people in school there will be conflict and the need to forgive. Anyplace that there is a community of people – there is the need to forgive. All of us have been in a situation where we feel slighted. How do you deal with that situation? How do you move on? We had a friend who had a good sales position, making almost $50,000 a year. But then the office ran into hard times. Stress mounted and relations between sales representatives and the management broke down. When the office closed down, those who remained refused to give our friend a helpful reference. He was unemployed for two-and-a-half years and never did find a decent job in his profession. He was bitter. He often wished he could bring down those executives who still had cushy jobs but had sent him out without even as much as a good word. I would say that one of the most important lessons of the bible – is that when something happens to us in life, we need to get over it and move on. Whatever it is, deal with it, and get over it and move on. That is hard to do in real life. There are things that we are going through that will take years to get over, and many times we never move on. And yet that is what life is all about. Perhaps that is why Jesus spends so much time teaching us how to forgive, teaching us what forgiveness means and teaching us that God is always in the act of learning how to forgive. Suddenly that world hears a familiar voice: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." Are you listening, Joseph? "If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you." We have to remember, that forgiveness is not about releasing our feelings for the situation. Forgiveness is about releasing ourselves and not carrying around the pain. Chuck Swindoll illustrates this in his book, Seasons of Life. He writes that during his time in the Marine Corps he and his wife rented a studio apartment from a man in south San Francisco named Mr. Slagle. During World War II Mr. Slagle was captured at Wake Island and for years he languished in a prison camp. It was in the prison camp that an enemy soldier struck him with a rifle butt and injured his back, which plagued him the rest of his life. Swindoll tells that every single time he visited his landlord he would relate story after story of how barbarically he had been mis¬treated. Using vile language and intense emotion, he spoke of the tortures he endured at the hands of his Japanese captors and his utter hatred for them. His pain and misery were constant reminders of his hatred. But there was another factor which made his existence even more lamentable. Our landlord became a bitter man. Even though (at that time) he was thirteen years removed from the war ... even though he had been safely released from the concentration camp and was now able to carry on physically ... even though he and his wife owned a lovely dwelling and had a comfortable income, the crippled man was bound by the grip of bitterness. He was still fighting a battle that should have ended years before. In a very real sense, he was still in prison.[2] You cannot conceal bitterness because it raises its ugly head often. The root of bitterness bears the fruit of bitter actions. Bitter¬ness imprisons us as we refuse to forgive a friend, relative, or stranger for a sinful, foolish, or sometimes ignorant act. Inner tor¬ment will ride alongside us every day of our lives until we forgive. When we decide to disclose the problem to Christ, that is the be¬ginning of forgiveness and healing. We all know that bitter person who holds a grudge for something that happen years ago. When the man fired was able to move on, he was able to enter in to a new field of work and was much more fulfilled in life. The landlord on the other hand remained bitter for years, It was as if he was carrying that burden with him forever. When we think of the lessons that Jesus taught us, we often assume that Jesus was correcting the religious values that he grew up with. We have all heard that the old testament is all about justice. That it was an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If someone did something wrong to you, then justice was making sure that the same thing happened to them. Revenge was a part of justice. But we forget that where there is God’s justice, there is also God’s mercy. The book of Genesis, the very first book of the bible has two very moving stories about forgiveness. We read the first one a few weeks ago, when Essau embraces his brother Jacob after years of disrespect. The story of Joseph is the second story of reconciliation and forgiveness within the family. Joseph was a man of integrity, he showed mercy along with justice. Our lesson in this story is we all should do the same. Joseph was spoiled and entitled growing up as a child. He was a terror to his older brothers, so much so that they felt that they had to get rid of him. They sold him into slavery in Egypt. The circumstances in his life helped to develop his character. Not only was he honest and upright. But as he matured in a strange environment, he chose to remain a God fearer. God was a big part of his life. He paid for his faith, and yet he stuck with it. The bible tells us of the struggles that he went through, but his faith allowed him to overcome. His greatest temptation was how to treat the brothers who has wronged him so long ago. Joseph not only forgives them, he helps them. Before Jesus, Joseph is our example of faith and integrity. Mark Twain once quipped, "Don't expect too much of human beings. We were created at the end of the week when God was tired and looking forward to a day off." Nonetheless Richard J. Leider and David Shapiro have listed common threads of people who possess lifestyles rich in purpose: • They have a purpose larger than their own needs, wants, and desires -- a sense of how their lives and work fit into the larger scheme of things. • They have an internal compass which keeps them "truing" to their purpose in life. • They have clear boundaries around their two most precious currencies -- time and money. • They have a sense of their potential talents, the limits of which have not been fully tested. • They have marked adaptability when faced with obstacles. • They have a strong spiritual core. • Their abundant energy is infectious. • They have a feeling of lightness -- a sense of being unburdened by the burdens they are carrying.2 Do you need to forgive someone? "To forgive is to put down your 50-pound pack after a 10-mile climb up a mountain. To forgive is to fall into a chair after running a marathon. To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that prisoner is you. To forgive is to reach back into your hurting past and recreate it in your memory so that you can begin again."(6) Then that ancient spiritual takes on a wonderful new meaning: "Free at last, Free at last. Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last." Amen! Close your eyes. I want us to use our imagination now. God, sanctify the imagination of each person here. Help each of us to use this remarkable capacity of imagination which you’ve given us to bring healing and power to our lives. Now keep your eyes closed as I guide your imagination. Picture yourself with a trash bag. Get it. A big trash bag, moving through every room of your life; select the stuff you need to leave behind, I’m talking about self-pity and illegitimate responsibility. Put it into the trash bag. What cancelled sin still has power over you, what hidden hatred, what frustrating fear, what devastating doubt, what powerful prejudice. Put it in the trash bag. Do it. Act it out in your imagination. Put it into the trash bag. Is there an unresolved relationship with a husband or wife, a parent or a child, a neighbor? Is there a jealousy you’ve never brought out into the open? Put it into the bag. It could be any number of things. You know what weighs you down, and what stuff you don’t need to take into the New Year. Put it into the bag. Be specific now, in identifying and visualizing all the stuff in your mind to put into that bag. Now stay with me in your imagination. Get in your mind the picture with which be began the sermon – the junk man with his cart filled with cast off clothing, discarded furniture, all sorts of abandoned useless things. Do you see it in your mind? He’s passing by. In your imagination now, throw your trash bag onto the junk wagon and let it be taken away. Have you done it? In your imagination, just cast it onto the junk wagon to be taken away. Be silent now and enjoy the relief and release of getting rid of that burden. Open your eyes now, but keep the image of the trash man in your mind for a moment, taking all your trash away. Now substitute for the image of the junk man, Christ himself. Do you see him? Jesus. Listen. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Leave your stuff behind - all your junk. Leave it. You are forgiven. Your failure and weakness is accepted. Your past is buried in the sea of God’s loving forgetfulness. Go into the New Year with Christ, and go joyfully. Maxie Dunnam, MaxieDunnam.com, by Maxie Dunnam Forgiveness is a lesson for us all. We have to learn to trust God’s presence in the situation. If we let go, then God will take over. God whole point of being involved in human history is to being reconciliation to all of creation, but especially to us as people. Reconciliation happens one relationship at a time. That is why Jesus spends so much time teaching us how to relate to one another. brothers went into business together. Their fights continued and, if anything, the older brother was even more critical and hostile. Yet the younger brother remained diligent in their business and faithful in their relationship. Everyone marveled at this saintly behavior. One day a terrible accident ended both of their lives. Saint Peter was waiting patiently for the younger brother's arrival at the heavenly gates. Finally when he did not appear, Saint Peter ventured down into the fiery place of torment. "You belong in heaven," said Saint Peter. "Come up with all the saints." Up to his neck in slime and stench, the younger brother replied, "No. I choose to remain here." Puzzled, Saint Peter urged him even more fervently. "Please come with me. You have been faithful. A place has been made ready for you. Why won't you take your rightful place in eternity?" By this time the burning slime had nearly covered the chin of the younger brother. Lifting his face to Saint Peter, he shouted, "If I come with you, I will have to stop standing on my brother's head." We have all found ourselves caught up to our chins in hot, bubbling, boiling conflict. We have all felt the gut-wrenching anxiety of discord and dissension. We have all tried in vain to control for ourselves that which seems to be unending chaos. But God is in charge. We are not. God's plan is forgiveness and reconciliation through Jesus Christ. God takes initiative. In the midst of chaos, God brings order to preserve life. In the midst of an apparently hopeless conflict, God invites us to a transforming opportunity for love and forgiveness. Here is a story of what could happen in church It happened to a rural Lake County, South Dakota, Lutheran church in August of 2000. Vandals attacked the fieldstone St. Peter Lutheran Church building with vengeance -- breaking windows, smashing light fixtures, flipping over the baptismal font, slashing a large "Jesus the Good Shepherd" painting, scribbling, and carving obscenities into the sanctuary walls and fixtures. The golden altar cross had been swung like a bat to gouge pews and walls. In the basement, kitchen dishes were broken and objects flung hither and yon. The vandals caused more than $40,000 worth of interior damage to the congregation's building. Services were held outdoors that following Black Sunday. "There were many tears. Everyone was so devastated and shocked that someone could do this to a church," recalls Susan Janssen, congregational vice-president. "No one could believe how terrible it was." Three months after the vandalism took place, police arrested two area teenagers, ages sixteen and nineteen, who confessed to the crime. When the boys, let out of jail on bond, returned to apologize publicly to the congregation before serving their sentences, they were shocked to be received with love and forgiveness. As the nineteen-year-old left the lectern to return to his seat, a member greeted him and hugged him. Others stood to shake his hand and, after the worship, members surrounded the two boys, saying they forgave them. The act of forgiveness shocked the two families so much that they joined the church, and the church in turn has experienced a revival. Worship attendance has tripled in two years and membership in this 117-year-old declining country church is growing. "We had been separated from organized religion since our oldest daughter died of cancer," said the father of one of the boys. "We rejected the whole religion thing. This event has pulled us back into the church." Pastor Terry Knudson likens the dramatic episode at St. Peter to the Old Testament story of Joseph. "The vandalism was one of our darkest moments," he says. "God can find a way to bring good from evil." The book of Genesis is important for the church. It is the story of a family. Throughout the book, we learn about the ups and downs of the family. We hear about the members shortcoming and graces. The story of salvation is the story of how this family survived. What is interesting about this family – is how normal they are. We can all relate to this family. The bible constantly points out that these were not really nice people. They were actually pretty mean people that God had a use for. Joseph is the last story in this book. Joseph is unique in that he had a little growing up to do, but he was not a bad person. He was a model of intrgrity. He became a leader in this family. But we was respected even by others not in the family. Not only did he save the family from starvation, he took them in and gave them a better life in Egypt. When he reconciles with his brothers, he tells them not to feel guilty -that God had a plan. God meant for him to not only save his family, but to save the world with his story. Several bible characters tell us that things always work out for the good of those who follow the Lord. Joseph is not justifying slavery. He not justifying his brother’s behavior. He is not saying that when things happen that the damage is okay in the end. He is saying that the act of being able to move on from a situation when we are wronged, is an act of God. We have to trust God to make things right. This story sticks out to me, because it is not a happy ending. It is actually the beginning of all of their troubles as a people. After Joseph dies, they stay in Eqypt in bondage for 400 years. The story is not a happy ending. It is told as an answer to the question how did we get hear in the first place. Genesis answers all of those questions of why life is the way it is for our family. Well at one time we have an ancestor who was a really nice person, who had really good intentions. He taught us how to forgive and to be free. And then life happened and what had freed us at one time, put us in bondage in another. Genesis is a human story. It is a story that we learn about Joseph’s limited perspective. But in spite of all of its humanness, we learn to forgive one relationship at a time. Forgiveness wont change the course of history, but it does help us to move forward from our present situation. The Bible states, "Forgive as the Lord forgave you" (Colossians 3:13). As we battle forgiving others we should remember that we are forgiven individuals when we yield our lives to Christ. God sets the standard and mentors us in the process of forgiveness. * Forgiveness is a debt of sin cancelled. Everything that we have done against him all of our lives is forgiven when we ask for his forgiveness. * Forgiveness is a journey. The awful gulf of sin that separates us from God has been bridged by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We can continually walk across that bridge as necessary. When the mind or emotion resurfaces those feelings, we can go immediately to God and ask him to help us deal with the feelings. The fact that forgiveness has taken place does not necessarily mean that feelings don't resur¬face. It is a process. * Forgiveness is also a choice. I choose to forgive as part of my willingness to give it up. Forgiveness is not done with¬out our knowledge. It is not a surprise! It is a choice. * Forgiveness allows God's love to flow through me to some¬one else. As a Christian I cannot horde Christ's love, but rather, I must give it away. Even when hurt comes I want to demonstrate God's love. I have to be practical in my response, but I must love. There are few stories in all of literature more important for our lives than this one. Why? Because following his example, we can live successful lives, too. It requires no special talents or gifts. Be a person who can be trusted. Be forever true to your values. Trust in the goodness of God. And no matter what twists or turns your life may take, I can assure you that when the final record is written of your life, yours too will be a life of success. ________________________________________ 1. James H. Billington, "Keeping the Faith in the USSR after a Thousand Years," SMITHSONIAN (April, 1989), pp. 131-142. As a child, I remember reading this story. I was touched at how Joseph was able to regain his brothers, and how as an adult he was able to help them and to move them forward. He gives each brother the gift of land and blesses them. The book of Genesis is about how that is all that they ever wanted was a blessing of love and belonging. I remember, at the end of he story Joseph makes one request of them. When you leave Egypt and go home – make sure that you take my bones with you and bury me at home. Joseph’s bones are buried in the promisedland and the story moves on. In life, we have to be free to move on too. Forgiveness is the first step in that process. Forgiveness is the first step in reconciliation. And God will not stop that process until all of us are free. The story continues on, forgiveness is not an ending or a beginning – forgiveness is an ongoing journey Mahatma Gandhi once said something that deserves our thought. "The weak," he said, "can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." Dynamic Preaching, Collected Sermons, by King Dunc Amen Song God of all Learning (Sung to the tune of Morning Has Broken UMH 145) Insert Pastoral Prayer OUR LIVES ARE MARKED, O God, by the changing of the seasons. We take unusual delight in these times, for they are periods of heightened expectancy and new growth. It has been a long and busy summer. We have exulted in our various activities. And now it is time to prepare for the fall and winter, and many are going back to school, some here at home and others at a distance. We thank you for all the good events of the summer months—for work and play and relaxation, for fun and friendships and frivolity, for trips to the lake or the beach or the mountains, for a chance to unwind and experience more leisure time. Now we thank you for all the good events that lie ahead—for exciting classes and new friends and ball games and plays and concerts and a raft of holidays. We pray for all our students at every level, and ask that this may be a good year for them. Let their learning be rewarding as well as challenging, and let them enjoy the growth that comes from new experiences. Give them spirits of joy and confidence, and help them to live gratefully at all times, aware of the gift of life and its incredible richness. Bless their teachers and coaches and counselors, and all others who are involved in their educational process. And grant that all of us may share the excitement of the season, whether we are in school or not. For you have made our world extraordinarily beautiful and fascinating, and we are happy to praise you for everything through Christ our Lord. Amen. (United Methodist Ministry Matters) Lord’s Prayer Blessing of Backpacks Stewardship Moment Thanksgiving Prayer In faith and love, help me to do your will. I am listening, Lord God. Speak your words into the depth of my soul, that I may hear you clearly. I offer to you this day all the facets of my life, whether it be at home, at work, or at school—to be patient, to be merciful, to be generous, to be holy. Accept this offering as our part to build your kingdom on Earth. Amen. (adapted from prayer from the Catholic Diocese of Springfield,IL) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook May the Lord Bless You . . . Bless you with courage, patience and understanding for the challenges ahead. And Keep You . . . Keep you sane, engaged and safe in all that you do. May the Lord Make His Face to Shine Upon You . . . Shine upon you with love that never ends and never wavers Shine upon you with the truth that you are completely worthy of that love. And Be Gracious to You . . . Grace to everyone as they get through their daily activities May the Lord Turn His Face Toward You . . . And Give You Peace . . . Peace with yourself Peace with teachers. Peace with students Peace for each day. One. Day. At. A. Time. (adapted from John Page) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Live without fear: your Creator has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Go in peace to follow the good road and may God’s blessing be with you always. Amen.
 (source: from Saint Clare, Enriching Our Worship 1) God of All Learning BUNESSAN 5.5.5.4 D ("Morning Has Broken") God of all learning, God of all knowing, We bring these backpacks filled with supplies. Bless all these tools of learning and growing. Use them, we pray, to change many lives. Bless all the students, young ones and old ones — Walking or riding, traveling by bus. May they remember that you go with them, And that they all are precious to us. Some kids are poor and some kids are wealthy; May we give all the tools that they need. May we make sure they're safe, loved and healthy So that they all may thrive and succeed. Bless all who learn and bless those who guide them, Bless those who teach and counsel and care. May they remember you walk beside them. Through all their school days, you, Lord, are there.

An Encounter with Yourself

August 6, 2023 Genesis 32:22-31 An Encounter with yourself 10th Sunday of Pentecost Year A Prelude Welcome Call to Worship L: Good Morning! Welcome to a celebration of God’s love for us! P: We surely need to see that love; stresses weigh us down. L: You’ve come to the right place. This is a place where all of us can seek God’s presence and share our deepest inmost concerns with God. P: We are glad to hear that, for we wrestle with our faith far too often. L: Don’t fear! God is with you always, loving and transforming your lives. P: Lord of mercy and compassion, be in our hearts this day. Help us to reach out with love to others. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Opening Prayer In the darkness of night and the brightness of day, you, O Lord, are present to us. As we wrestle with situations which seem to drain us of our energy; as we struggle to find out who you call us to be, you reach out to us with reassurance of empowerment and courage for the days ahead. Calm our spirits and prepare our hearts and lives to receive your awesome grace. It is in Jesus’ name that we pray. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Song Break Thou the Bread of Life UMH 599 Children’s Sermon Put the ice cubes in a bowl and keep them frozen until you’re ready to use them. Set out the rest of the supplies. Keep the hair dryer out of sight until you use it. You’ll need to be near an electrical outlet. Have you ever watched a wrestling match? Wrestling is a popular sport all over the world. Wrestlers have to be strong and determined to win. Wrestling isn’t a modern invention, though. It’s one of the oldest sports in the world, and it dates back thousands of years. Have everyone show you their best wrestler face and pose. In today’s Bible lesson, Jacob spent an entire night wrestling with an angel of God. After an entire night of wrestling, God’s angel told Jacob to walk away. Jacob left the wrestling match with a new name and a limp from his hurt hip. We sometimes struggle with God, too. We may want to do things our way instead of His way. When is it hard for you to obey God? (Allow time for responses.) Give each child a paper towel. Explain that they’re in charge now. They’ll each have to choose how they think they can most quickly melt an ice cube. They can use a straw to blow hot air on it, sprinkle salt on it, or hold it to try to melt it most quickly. Pass around the supplies so kids can choose, then distribute the ice cubes. Give kids one minute to try to melt their ice cube using their chosen method. Meanwhile, turn on the hair dryer and blow hot air on your ice cube. Call time, then compare everyone’s efforts. How did your way compare to my way of melting the ice cube? Why was my way more effective? My ice cube melted much faster because I had more power. And with God’s power, we can do greater things. We can stop doing things our way. We can surrender to God’s will and trust that He knows best. Dear God, please help us remember that You are the One who knows what’s best for us. We can surrender to Your will and trust You. In Jesus’ name, amen! Responsive Reading Psalm 17 UMH 749 Prayer for illumination Since we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from your divine mouth, make us hunger for heavenly food, that it may nourish us today in the ways of eternal life; through Jesus Christ, the bread of heaven. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Dana Mould) Scripture Genesis 32:22-31 Sermon An Encounter with yourself How many of you are into the sport of wrestling? I guess I should clarify which kind of wrestling I’m talking about, because there are a surprising number of competitions with the word “wrestling” in them that aren’t exactly sports. I’m sure all of us have tried arm wrestling or thumb wrestling at one time or another. But have you tried toe wrestling? Two barefoot opponents lock their big toes together and try to pin each other’s foot down. Ouch. Some folks in Staffordshire, England, created the World Toe Wrestling Championships in 1976. Reportedly, they were trying to create a competition “where Brits could reign supreme” and this is the best one they could think of. (1) Lancashire, England is home to the World Gravy Wrestling Championship, which happens every year in August. There are separate competitions for men and women. Wrestlers earn points for “fancy dress, entertainment value and wrestling ability.” The man and woman wrestlers with the most points at the end are declared the winners. The World Gravy Wrestling Championship is a charity event that raises funds for the East Lancashire Hospice. (2) In case you’re envious of the Brits for getting all the good wrestling competitions, Barnesville, Minnesota, is home to a mashed potato wrestling competition every year during its Potato Days Festival. The competition takes place in the parking lot of the Assumption Catholic Church in Barnesville. A pool is set up and filled with potato flakes and water. Competitors get two three-minute rounds in the pool. The competitor with the most 3-second pins per round moves on to the next round. At the end of the day, local cattle are brought in to eat up all the leftover mashed potatoes in the pool. (3) Wrestling, no matter whether it’s with arms or thumbs or toes, in gravy or in mashed potatoes, is not for the faint of heart. For many competitors, the secret to success is in holding on until your opponent simply wears out. Of course, that strategy won’t work if you’re wrestling an angel of God. So, what did Jacob hope to get from his wrestling match in Genesis 32? In our scripture, Jacob is in a wrestling match that changes his life. Who don’t know who he’s wrestling with, or even if he wins the fight. This story is a good one to remind ourselves that life is difficult. Now Life is a blessing, life is a gift, life is a journey. But most of all, life is a struggle. No ones comes out of life alive. And at some point in the midst of that ongoing struggle, we find ourselves in a wrestling match – with an opponent that we can clearly see, but we just can’t give it a name. We may wrestle with a relationship, a feeling, a challenge, a situation, a condition that we just can’t overcome. For Jacob, it was all fo the above. The book of Genesis tells is Jacob’s whole life story. He was born on the heels of his twin brother. That is what he name Jacob means – grabber. The modern translation of the name Jacob, is John. Jacob had to fight for everytrhing in his life, his blessing, his wives, his children, his animals, his livelihood. And now he must face the fight of his life, reuniting with his twin brother. After living in exile for 14 years, on the night before his encounters his brother. He sends his family on ahead of him. He is all alone with his thoughts in the middle of the night. At least he thinks he is alone. But he ends up wrestling with all of his regrets, his misdeeds, his resentments. All of the things that stand in the way of reununting with his brother. The story says that he ends up wrestling with a man. But the story never tells us who the man is. Was it his conscious? An angel, God or even Jesus. The poet, James Thurber, once said, “All men must learn before they die, what they are running from and to and why.” Henri Nouwen, in one of his last writings, says, “I found myself in a hospital following a car accident. At first I thought it was nothing. Then I was told I was bleeding internally and might not live. Surprisingly, I found the threat of death to be peaceful beyond my understanding. It was when I woke up and discovered myself still alive in this world, that I became re Sometimes the struggle that makes for growth is simply a tension between an old idea and a new one. For years all sane and stable people knew that human beings could never fly. But when the Wright brothers flew their airplane, the world had to adjust its thinking – but not without a struggle. Centuries ago, some crazy people came along insisting that the world is round instead of flat. They were ridiculed and persecuted until someone sailed around the globe and reached the east by sailing west. We’ve had to change our way of thinking – but not without a struggle. In fact, some people haven’t given up yet. In England there is a group of people called “The Flat Earth Society,” still stubbornly insisting that the earth is flat! An old, false, or inaccurate idea will not be released until it is pushed out of our minds by a new and better idea. I may insist that the sum of two and two is three – I may invest myself emotionally in that contention – and I will stubbornly hold on to that until someone, in the battle of ideas, proves to my satisfaction that the correct sum is four. Without such a conflict of ideas there is no intellectual growth. Such growth is often difficult and painful. It does not come without the struggle of ideas. Now, as difficult and painful as that is, even more difficult is the growth occasioned by changes in our life situation. We lose a job, or we take on a new job. We experience divorce or difficulty in our family. We experience a terrorist attack or a natural disaster. A financial reversal comes to us. We or a loved one becomes ill. Someone close to us dies. Someone we care about betrays us or disappoints us. We are presented with an opportunity and our resources are inadequate. You could add to this list, but you know what I am talking about: something happens to shake us to our foundation. All of our trusted ways of coping are called into question and we are forced to grow. We have to think new thoughts, or try new things, or reach out for new resources. That’s all called growth! It’s frightening. It’s unsettling. Often it’s painful. But without such experiences we would not grow. I’m convinced of it. We would settle down and become comfortable with far less than our best efforts. The familiar and the safe would become good enough for us, and we would never become all that we can be. God has a way of coming to us in so many ways and forcing us to rethink, reform and move forward in a whole new way. For Jacob, before he could even think about forgiving his brother, he had to forgive himself. But that was a process, a struggle, a wrestling match. But when we wrestle, we learn 2 things. We learn to encounter God and we learn that there is always a blessing in the end. There is no way for us to grow without a struggle and without some pain. This story has a lot of meaning. But one important theme is the forgiveness with our sisters and brothers. The ten commandments gives us direction on the relationship with our parents. In Sunday School a teacher, was teaching about the ten commandments. She said the commandment for our relationship with our parents is honor your mother and father. She asked what is the one for sibling. One little boy said – Thou shalt not kill”. But this story is closest to what it means to deal with our siblings. We fight all of the time, but how do you move beyond that. We have brothers and sisters that we grew up with, but we also have brothers and sisters in church, in the groups that the live in, in the nation that we live in and even on the plane together. We have to learn to get along. There can be no continuing relationship without forgiveness and reconciliation. The story says that Jacob wrestled with his opponent all night, until daylight. No one won the fight, but the opponent was getting tired of fighting. He touched Jacob in the side wounding his hip socket, But Jacob said that he would not give up until he received a blessing. Once he got that blessing he was at peace with himself, so he could not seek peace with his brother. The reconciliation with Essau is not a part of our story – but I think it is one of the most important story in the bible. It gives us hope that reconciliation with our siblings can happen. First Jacob sends gifts to his brother, then he sends his family. At last he comes face to face with his brother. All is forgiven. They agree that they can live together in the same land and be civil with each other. Their parting words to one another becomes a beautiful Christian benediction. May the Lord watch between you and me, one another, while we are absent one from another. What a wonderful blessing. But it actually meant that reconciliation is tentative. They were twins, they knew each other. They still didn’t trust one another, but they both trusted God. And may that is how it should be with us all – we don’t know what will happen in the future, but we put our people, relationships, situations, conditions, our unnamed opponents, into the hands of God and just leave them their. Throughout this process, God gives Jacob.a wound that all of his desendents carry on from generation to generation. But God also gives Jacob a new name. He was born the grabber. His new name Isra el. Isra means one who prevails. El means God. Life is a struggle for all of us. All of us are wrestling with things that we cant name. God is there for us. The good news is that in Jesus – we are all new people. We all receive God’s blessing. We all have to the power to prevail. The writer of Genesis closes this chapter in Jacob's life with a beautiful picture. It is a picture of a limping Jacob preparing to meet his brother Esau. He is no longer afraid of Esau. After all, he has wrestled all night with God. How can he fear a mere mortal? But now he is a new Jacob. He even has a new name, Israel. He will become a prince among men. Forevermore his descendants, millions of them, will be known as the children of Israel. As the sun rises over Peniel we see him standing there with a dislocated thigh indicating his brokenness. Yet, he is stronger than he has ever been before. His life is now aligned with the eternal purposes of God. How about you? Have you been wrestling with God? Isn't it time to let God be Sovereign over your life? There is a story about a man who had mis-spent most of his life. A friend was teasing him about it. "Say John," he asked mischievously, "You still spending a lot of time wrestling with the old Devil?" The fellow answered good-naturedly, "Nowadays, I spend most of my time wrestling with God." His friend asked incredulously, "Wrestling with God? How do you hope to win a wrestling match with God?" John smiled and answered, "Oh, you misunderstand. In this wrestling match, I'm hoping to lose." Dynamic Preaching, Collected Sermons, by King Duncan When our will loses, God wins. When God wins – everybody wins. Amen. Song Let us Break Bread Together UMH 618 Prayer As the crowds followed Jesus, eager to be filled with hope, we come this day to this place, seeking nourishments for our souls. We hunger and thirst for the word of hope and truth, but our lives are battered by anger and hostility. Our hearts are filled with concerns for family and friends, for our country and our world. We don’t see how we can be of help to others. Sit us down, as Jesus seated the multitude. Calm us down, as Jesus reassured the disciples that all would receive care. Lift us up, as Jesus encouraged others to reach out in compassion. Give us hearts of confident faith in your presence, O Lord. Place your hands of healing on the many situations which we name at this time with our voices and in our hearts. [Prayer concerns are lifted up here]. Lord, we ask your merciful goodness for these situations and these loved ones. It is in Jesus’ name that we pray. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Perhaps some of you can sympathize with Jesus. He’d been working non-stop, healing, teaching, and responding to the demands of the crowds. When he heard of the murder of John the Baptist, he tried to break away for some time alone. Yet when he looked up from the boat he’d taken across to what he hoped would be a deserted place, a crowd had already gathered! Instead of turning around, or simply dropping anchor out on the water, Jesus came ashore, and “had compassion for them”. Even when we are exhausted, discouraged, uncertain or depressed, we have the model of Jesus standing before us. Jesus engaged, once more, with people who needed food in that deserted place. So he took what was available, gave thanks to God for the bread and fish, and gave the food to his disciples to pass to the crowds. Today, we have opportunity to demonstrate our compassion – our “pity with” others. Not the only way, but one way to respond to the needs of those without food, without shelter, without clothing, without hope, comes by sharing our morning offering. Will you put compassion to the forefront for this moment? Will you respond, knowing a portion of our offering goes to ____________________ (support the food pantry, provide new underwear for those coming to our free clothing shop, pay our minister as s/he counsels with disconsolate folks)? Let us present our gifts as signs and symbols of the compassion we know most clearly from the life of Jesus, the Christ. Prayer of Thanksgiving As one family we sing while these, our gifts, to God we bring; who in love has made us one in the church of Christ, God’s Son. Use us and use our gifts, good Lord, for holy service in the world. Hope to all your people give as to your glory we now live. AMEN (adapted from P. 126, Gifts of Many Cultures, Maren C. Tirabasi and Kathy Wonson Eddy, 1995, Pilgrim Press) Invitation to Communion (inspired by Matthew 14) Each time we come to this Table, we hear an invitation extended to all who will come. Here there are no tests to pass, no threshold of giving to exceed, no affirmation from some authority to present. Here we find the gifts of God for the people of God, presented in simple bread and juice. Counting on the compassion of Jesus Christ, we recognize our hunger and our thirst may be assuaged here even as we remember in a deserted place, long ago, Jesus took simple foods, blessed them, broke the bread and gave the bread and fish. So, today, knowing these gifts will not fill our stomachs, but can satisfy our soul hunger, we remember Jesus taking bread, blessing it, breaking it, giving it. With gratitude, come to receive the bread of life and the cup of salvation. Communion Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Go out into the world in peace; have courage; hold onto what is good; return no on evil for evil; send no one away; instead, feed all those who are hungry; support the weak; help the suffering; honor all people; love thy neighbor as thyself; love and serve the gracious and merciful Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Dana Mould) Community Time - Joys and Concerns Benediction Go today full of God’s love and ready to notice God in your neighbors’ hungers. Go today at rest in God and ready to struggle in loving service for your neighbors. And as you go, may you find the face of God in the hungering, feeding, wrestling, and resting. Amen. (United Methodist Discipleship Ministries) Additional Illustrations

The Prodigal Mother

March 31, 2019 – repreach of 3/11/13 – 3/17/07 The Prodigal Mother Fourth Sunday of Lent Year B Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 Children’s Sermon "For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." And they began to make merry. Objects: Some horns, drums, and other party items. Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you like a good party? (Let them answer.) Do you remember the last party that you went to? (Let them answer.) I brought along some things that I thought might help us think about a party. (Pass out the party toys.) If we were planning a really special party, we might even call in some clowns. Wouldn't that be an exciting way to have a party? When do we have parties? (Let them answer.) That's right, birthdays and other times when we want to celebrate something that is really happy or important. Jesus told a story about a father who had two sons. The older son was always good to his father and worked hard on their farm. But the younger son did not like to work and asked for his share of the family's money, then ran away to have a good time. It wasn't too long until he had spent all of the money, and he was broke. He got a job taking care of some pigs, but he also had to live with the pigs. Finally, one day, he made up his mind to go back and ask his father to forgive him. So he went back, but before he could say anything to his father about how sorry he was, his father ran out to greet him and tell him how much he had missed him. Finally, the father had a big party to celebrate his son's happy return. Jesus told this story to show us how glad God is when we change our minds, and come back to tell him how sorry we are for our sins. God is so happy to have us back that it is almost like a party in heaven. God loves us a lot, and he misses us when we leave him to go off in another direction. But God is so happy when we come back, that it is like a very happy and wonderful party. It isn't easy to come back to God. Sometimes we are afraid, or we think that God doesn't want us when we have been bad, but this isn't true. God always loves us and is really pleased when we change our minds and come back to him. Remember, going back to God is like being a part of a party in heaven. We don't know whether there will be any clowns, but we do know we will have a wonderful time there! C.S.S. Publishing Co., CALL IN THE CLOWNS!, by Wesley T. Runk Luke 15:1-3 Common English Bible (CEB) Occasions for celebration 15 All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to listen to him. 2 The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 Jesus told them this parable: Luke 15:11-32 Common English Bible (CEB) 11 Jesus said, “A certain man had two sons. 12 The younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the inheritance.’ Then the father divided his estate between them. 13 Soon afterward, the younger son gathered everything together and took a trip to a land far away. There, he wasted his wealth through extravagant living. 14 “When he had used up his resources, a severe food shortage arose in that country and he began to be in need. 15 He hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.16 He longed to eat his fill from what the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything. 17 When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have more than enough food, but I’m starving to death! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I no longer deserve to be called your son. Take me on as one of your hired hands.” ’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion. His father ran to him, hugged him, and kissed him.21 Then his son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! 23 Fetch the fattened calf and slaughter it. We must celebrate with feasting 24 because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life! He was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate. 25 “Now his older son was in the field. Coming in from the field, he approached the house and heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the servants and asked what was going on. 27 The servant replied, ‘Your brother has arrived, and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he received his son back safe and sound.’ 28 Then the older son was furious and didn’t want to enter in, but his father came out and begged him. 29 He answered his father, ‘Look, I’ve served you all these years, and I never disobeyed your instruction. Yet you’ve never given me as much as a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours returned, after gobbling up your estate on prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’ 31 Then his father said, ‘Son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.32 But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found.’” Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible You don’t hear of me that story that was just read to you did you? I am Lydia, the mother of those two boys. Those two very different boys. Nathaniel, my oldest, and then there is Zachariah, he will always be my baby. And of course I am Simon’s wife. I am beginning to think that the whole world knows my story – some people seem to think that our last name must be prodigal. They refer to the prodigal son, the prodigal father, the prodigal sons. But I never get mentioned as the prodigal mother. Prodigal means either extremely wasteful, or extremely abundant. The funny thing is, I don’t think of my family as extreme at all. We are very normal, just like any other family. And the story told is not about the behavior of any one of us – it is about all of us, together as a family. It is a story of our families struggles with faith – faith in ourselves, faith in one another- faith in a God who goes out of the way to love us. But anyway, let me tell you a little more about my family. Do any of you have children? So you know that no matter how much you try to raise them the same- they come out so different. Each with their own personalities and their own stories. Take for instance, my baby, Zachariah. He was always so active and always asking questions. When he has younger, it was easy to keep up with him, and to keep up with his questions. Mommy, why did God make the sky blue? Why is it that we don’t eat the meat of pigs, like the people who live in the camp down the way? Why can’t I go play with the kids that I see in that camp – they seem to be having so much more fun. As he got older, his question got a little harder – why do I have to work in the fields with daddy- I would rather have time to dance and to learn to play my music. And then it just seemed that his questions got to hard for us to answer as parents- why do I have to stay here? Why do you want to find a wife, I am don’t want to settle down here. And then one day I think that Zach’s questions got to big, even for himself to answer. My gosh, I will never forget that day – the day that he asked my husband for his inheritance. My husband said that he felt like a knife had been struck through his heart. And it had, after all asking for his inheritance was the same as saying I wish you were dead- so that I could go on with my life. My hsband, simon, swallowed his pride, put aside his hurt. He did it – he gave Zach his inheritance and let him go- out into the world that he has always seemed to look to. We had to let him go- let him go to find what he was looking for. But I was greatful on that day that I have two sons- two very different sons. My oldest son Nathaniel never asked any of those questions. As a matter of fact, he never gave me any trouble at all. Whatever we told him – he accepted it, whatever we taught him he did it. He never wondered what was going on out there- he was always there to help his dad. We knew, from the moment that he was born that Nathaniel would be the one to take over the family business. And he has never not for one moment in his life, given us any reason to doubt that decision. Now that he and his new wife are expecting, we are looking forward to passing the business on to the next generation. And passing on our faith, which our family has held onto for many generations before. But of course, my mind always goes back to Zach, my baby. It’s like he needed to go on a journey to find himself. Those questions had to be answered. He is not a bad boy- and I know that I raised him to do the right thing. I don’t think that he will get too out of hand, when he goes onto town. And the faith that I taught him- he hasn’t come to temple with us in a very long time. But I know that God is in his heart- and God will take care of him. And Zach will return to the faith that we taught him in time. I just need to give him some time. God promised that anything that is lost will always been found. Anything that is lost will eventually be found- even family members that you don’t understand. Have you ever lost something? My family has a history of being lost, and being found. Lost to God and found by God. For years we wondered in the desert, trying to escape the oppression of Egypt. But I think the oppression of being lost in our own wilderness, is far worse than anything that someone else can do to you. To be lost somewhere between who you are and who God calls you to be – can be a horrible feeling. To be stuck between a past that you know doesn’t work – and a future that you don’t know or understand- that can be a hard thing. A friend of mine-her name was Virginia Daily, talks about a personal wilderness this way – she says that we look back with dismay upon our wrong decisions, poor choices, we dwell endlessly on our past mistakes until we make ourselves miserable and physically or emotionally ill, we are haunted by those the past, we keep dragging it out- continually rehashing of previous mistakes can cause us to lead gloomy lives. We don’t become free of that past, until we stop rehashing it in our spirits, and we are willing to give it up to God. There is a time to hold on to things, and there is a time to let go. There is a time to be lost, there is a time to be found. My family knows that well, being lost and being found. They wandered around in the desert for 40 years- trying to erase their past. It took a young man by the name of Joshua to lead the out of the wilderness, to the land that God had promised. They crossed the Jordan river, over into Gilgal – the place of a circle, the entryway into a new life that God had always promised them. A land of abundance, a land of freedom, a land of new ways, a land full of promise. And at that moment, you know a funny thing happened. In the wilderness, where they had no sense of direction, and no understanding of God’s promise. God provided a miracle for them. They ate that stuff there, on the tree. (see photo on the screen). Manna – a gift of sustenance from God. That was the miracle food that got them through the tough times. When the tough times were over, the miracle disappeared. But you know that funny thing is- that they didn’t need it anymore. Because the land that they entered-the promisedland- was full of food and many opportunities to create new ways of providing a new living. It is those times of transition in all of our lives, where we can realize that God has supported us, in ways that we couldn’t support ourselves. just as we realize that support as a gift of God- before we can become thankful enough to depend upon it- it disappears. And we are stuck in that moment of transition – when we ask ourselves the question – what do we do now. I bet you are in that transitional time right now- you are probably asking yourself what to do next? We all need resources to live- we’ve all experienced those times when those resources dry up and disappear. It’s funny, there is nothing in this world that last forever. Things that we think our very life depends upon can be taken away at a moments notice. I thank God for my faith during those times of transition. That story about Joshua helps me to realize that God had taken care of my in my past, and I may not know how, and I may not know why- but God will provide. In new and exciting ways- if I am open minded enough to listen and to learn. Everything that I need is growing right now, somewhere in the future that God has led me to. I just have to put aside old ways of thinking, leave old questions- and let God reveal a future that has always been promised to me. That happened to my family when they were finally willing to let the Egypt of the past go, and they entered into Canaan. I don’t know about your family- when good things happen my family celebrates with a feast. They had a Passover that people have been talking about for years. Anything that is lost will always be found. That is because God is always working – working to find us when we are lost, working to bring us back to the table, working to prepare us for the celebration. The celebration of life, the celebration of new life. I wouldn’t say even that God is a prodigal. God is not extravagant, or wasteful, or ridiculous. God know what god is doing. Bit I would say that God has a prodigal love for God’s family. An extravagant, ridiculous, abundant love for each and every one of us. God will do anything that I takes to find each and every one of us. God will go as far as sacrificing God’s own son for each of us. We are all gods children – and you know what- in those times when we are lost in our own personal wilderness- we can never find our true identity outside of God’s love for us. Speaking of personal wilderness, of searching for one’s true identity, asking questions that can’t be answered. He came home today! My baby Zach came home. I have never seen my husband run so fast for anything. But he welcomed him home. We are preparing for the feast now- to celebrate his being found. To celebrate being family. To celebrate God’s ridiculous, abundant love for our son, our all of us no matter who we are. I have two sons, one that had to leave to find himself, and one who has been here all of the time and just didn’t know. Maybe you can see yourself in their story. Maybe you can see your story somewhere in the story of my family? We are celebrating together, because God found all of us in the wilderness of our lives and bought us together to the promiseland. As you stand in the entryway of a life, what is is that you have to celebrate finding? Now that the manna has dried up, what are the new fruits of the land being offered to you? What preparations are you doing for the celebration? What have you found in the presence of God that you thought you had lost? And most importantly who is it that sits at the family table with you? And who in your family are you still praying for to come in from the wilderness and join the family meal?

What's in your Bag?

January 6, 2019 Isaiah 60 What’s in your Bag? Year C Epiphany "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you." Theme: Revelation; light; brokenness; life. Visual Aid: An acorn which has begun to sprout and a plain-looking rock which has been split in two to reveal a bright red interior. (A geode would also be very useful for this sermon.) Lesson: "I have a word I would like to ask you to think about this morning. It may be a new word for many of you. It's 'Epiphany.' Can you all say 'Epiphany'?" Dutifully the children respond in chorus, "Epiphany!" "That's very good. Now, does anyone know what it means?" The children look thoughtful. Then two boys' hands shoot up almost simultaneously. I nod to the first, who says, "I think it has something to do with love." And so it does. "That's true, Tommy," I answer. I nod then to the second boy whose hand is still aloft. "I think it's before Easter," Alex responds. Realizing he must have Epiphany confused with Lent, but not wanting to tell him his answer isn't right, I quickly review his words in my head and reply, "Yes, Epiphany is before Easter. In fact, it's way before Easter. It's just twelve days after Christmas!" Alex grins as if to acknowledge that I appreciate his risking a "wrong" answer in front of the entire congregation. "Epiphany is also called 'Twelfth Night,' " I continue, "coming, as it does, twelve days after Christmas. It is set apart on the church calendar as the day the wise men traditionally arrived at the stable in Bethlehem and found Jesus, the Messiah, the Light of the World. And because Jesus is thought of as the Light coming into human darkness, light is a symbol of Epiphany. "We all need light in our lives, don't we?" Most of the children nod in agreement, but some look doubtful. So I add, "Just think about it for a moment. Think how grumpy many of us get when we have cloudy weather day after day after day. We get grumpy because we aren't getting enough light! Do any of you ever get grumpy?" "Oh no!" David assures me with a big grin. Most of the others laugh as Jonathan announces: "Well, I get grumpy sometimes." "Ah! An honest man! How wonderful!" I respond. "Well," I continue, "all living things need light to survive. I was out walking in the woods yesterday and came across this acorn. Now I know most of you have seen acorns, but we usually don't see them after they have started to sprout. As you can see, the plant inside of this acorn, which would become a big oak tree some day if it were left in the ground to grow, has split the shell. It had to split the shell in order to get to the sunlight. It needs the light to grow. "On another walk a couple of months ago, I found this rock." I hold up an nondescript-looking rock. It's not very pretty, is it? In fact, it's an ugly rock. So you may wonder why I picked it up at all. But you see, it was split into two pieces when I found it." I separate the pieces and hand them to the children to pass around as I continue. "As you can see, the rock is quite pretty on the inside; it's bright red. Now I never would have bothered to pick it up, I never would have seen its beauty, if it hadn't been split open -- to the light. That makes me think about the things in life that split us apart sometimes. Sometimes we get hurt or something we like a lot breaks and we feel hurt. But I wonder if it's not those events in our lives, the ones that split us open, that cause us to grow like the seed, or cause us to reveal our inner beauty like the rock, or cause us to turn toward the Light of Jesus in our pain and hurt. We need light in our lives, and as Christians, we need Jesus, the Light of the World, in our lives in order to be truly alive. As Tommy said, Epiphany has to do with love -- the love of God, who sent his son into the world to bring us light. That's what Epiphany is all about. One more time now, so you don't forget, let's say the word we've been talking about together: 'Epiphany!' Yes, Epiphany. May its Light shine brightly in your lives this week." CSS Publishing Company, Inc, Cows In Church, by B. Kathleen Fannin Isaiah 60:1-6 Common English Bible (CEB) Jerusalem’s coming radiance 60 Arise! Shine! Your light has come; the LORD’s glory has shone upon you. 2 Though darkness covers the earth and gloom the nations, the LORD will shine upon you; God’s glory will appear over you. 3 Nations will come to your light and kings to your dawning radiance. 4 Lift up your eyes and look all around: they are all gathered; they have come to you. Your sons will come from far away, and your daughters on caregivers’ hips. 5 Then you will see and be radiant; your heart will tremble and open wide, because the sea’s abundance will be turned over to you; the nations’ wealth will come to you. 6 Countless camels will cover your land, young camels from Midian and Ephah. They will all come from Sheba, carrying gold and incense, proclaiming the LORD’s praises. Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Today is the twelfth day of Christmas – epiphany. Every year we have epiphany Sunday. But rarely is epiphany actually on Sunday. The church has celebrated epiphany much longer than Christmas. Epiphany was the time when you got gifts, because it was the time when Jesus received gifts. – the time when we remember the wise men who followed a star to a place where they would see the messiah. Advent was the season of promise, Christmas is the season of fulfillment, epiphany is the season of salvation and grace. The star has been on our altar all throughout those seasons. Today I will take the star down.- even though the stars are the most important part of the epiphany season. The star represents the light of God come into our lives. In the season of darkness and cold, we rely on the light of God for guidance. Epiphany means manifestation, realization, discovering something that was there all of the time, but you never saw it. In order to have an epiphany in life you have to have light – but not just any light – but God’s light to shine upon your life and give you a new understanding. The scriptures for epiphany are the same, every year. The gospel lesson is about the journey of the wise men to see the new born king. The psalm speaks about the glory or light of God in our lives. Ephesians speaks of the reaction of the gentiles when they learned about the light of God. And we have the old testament lesson – Isaiah 60. I love the message of this verse. Arise my people your light has come, the glory of the light is upon you. That is such a powerful message. It was God’s message to those who had been kicked out of their country – that it was time for them to stop living in darkness, to be encouraged and to see the light of God, to get up take action, to live. Things would get better with God – but this was our moment in history to be a part of life and to make a difference. What a powerful message that is for the church. That our time has come. All those people who left are coming back, all those things that we lost we will retain. There will be a time of reunion for those who we have been cut off from. All we have to do is arise and shine. Sometimes life gets in the way of that. My favorite epiphany story actually comes from asia. There once was a man who lived in a village in Asia. He got married to a wonderful woman, and they had a wonderful son. The man built a house – and built a wonderful life for his family. He was so happy to go to work every day so that he could take care of his family. One day, he went off to work, and returned home to find that his house and his entire village had been destroyed. Thieves had come that day and pillaged the neighborhood and burned down all of the houses. The man was devastated to see that his wife and son had been killed in the horrible fire. In his grief, he ashes of his young son – he picked them up and sewed a cloth holder so that he could keep the ashes with him all of the time. It was the memory of these ashes that inspired him to rebuild his house and his life. He continued to go to work every day, with his shoulder bag of ashes with him. He continued on his life and yet never remarried, because he wanted to stay close to his family which had perished in the fire. But in reality his son did not die in the fire. The thieves had kidnapped him as a toddler so that they could take him home and make him slave. This little boy spent his whole childhood waiting until he would be big enough and strong enough to escape. That day finally came – and he ran for three days back to his village. He would recognize his house anywhere- he knew that his dad had rebuilt the house. Eagerly he ran to the door and knocked - dad it’s me please open the door. His dad was in the house reading a book when he heard the knock. Unlike Mary when she heard the knock at the door – he got defensive. Young man –I don’t know who you are- but this is a very cruel trick for you to play – you are not my son, please go away. The son tried to explain what had really happened, that he had not died, but had been kidnapped. The father’s natural response was to hold onto his bag of ashes – his real son. He told the young man to please go away. Dad – if you will just come and open the door all of this will make sense. The father replied – I don’t know who you are but you really must stop knocking at my door- But dad – I am not going to tell you again – go away! The son went away and lived his life – very sad that he would never have a relationship with his dad. Meanwhile, his dad held onto his bag of ashes and finished reading his book. Living his life never even aware of the opportunity for new life and a new relationship that he had just missed. What are you holding in your bag? In order to hold onto life what it is that you have been holding onto, believing that it was sustaining you? For many of us – we are holding on to the way things are, when a bright new future, a new understanding is knocking at our door, asking to come in and we don’t listen. That is how Jesus comes into our lives- always in unexpected ways, always bringing alternatives that we didn’t think about, calling us to accept things in a brand new way. That is an epiphany – a new realization of life. Arise my people and shine – the glory of the lord is upon you. Arise is both a directive and an invitation from God. The scripture goes on to say that people will come to restore the city of Zion. People will flock to help to make a difference. They are not coming to see you, but to see the God around you. It wont be the light of people that will hold them, but the glory of God present in this place. It says that your children will come back and there will be a reunion. Life in the presence of And we are all invited to take part in that party – we have been through the promise, we have seen the fulfillment, and now it is time for the celebration. We just have to be willing to see the light and to renew our commitment. This year our covenant service will be a modern litany – inviting us to be a part of God’s plan for this church. I also included a bookmark in each bulletin, so that people don’t have to sign the bulletin, but keep the bookmark in your bible. To remind you of your commitment to your relationship with God. And that God always invites us to be active participants in his plan for salvation.