The Prodigal Family

March 30, 2025 Luke 15:1-3,11-32 The Prodigal Family Year C 4th Sunday of Lent UMCOR Sunday “Delight” Lent Four Prelude Greeting Over the Threshold Leader: We might not think of Albert Einstein as a mystic, but his quotes about life and spirituality have lived as long as his scientific theories. He said this: “We are slowed down sound and light waves, a walking bundle of frequencies tuned into the cosmos. We are souls dressed up in sacred biochemical garments and our bodies are the instruments through which our souls play their music.” Sing Verse 1 of Open My Eyes that I May See UMH Lent is a time of spiritual journeys and spiritual practices. We have visited several elements of spiritual depth thus far, including Beauty, Wonder, Meaning, and Curiosity. When we incorporate these as spiritual practices, research shows that there are all kinds of benefits to our lives and our involvement with the world around us. Biblical authors often used these words to describe our response to the Holy, and this week’s word is no different. ‘Delight’ is a word that winds itself through scripture–we are invited to delight in the presence of the Holy, to delight in God’s creation. In a time when our delight is often depleted by the forces that threaten destruction or simply what feels like the tediousness of everyday life, we hear the call to co-create experiences of delight. Sing Verse 2 of Open My Eyes that I May See UMH We humans love repetition… up to a point. But sometimes, we just need a good “Wow!” and some goosebumps to help us feel fully alive. Our physical response to awe-filled moments come from a very ancient part of our evolution–even before language. And those goosebumps? They helped us forge connections with others as we faced the vast mysteries of life together. Delight still plays an important role in our spiritual needs and in our sense of a deeply relational life. Let us rise in body and/or spirit and pray: Awe-inspiring God, we come together this day because we need to be reminded to see through the lens of delight. Too often, we forget that we are made to delight in the diversity and abundance of your gifts. Open us to perceive anew. Inspire us to receive our surroundings with awe. Forgive us when we get complacent, when we choose routine over opportunities for new experiences. Be with us on this journey as we seek again to marvel at your works. Sing Verse 3 of Open My Eyes that I May See UMH [fade into silence… after a time, the leader speaks softly into the silence] The Holy delights in their creation, in our very existence. God forgives us. Jesus embraces us. The Spirit enlivens us. We are whole. With awe, we accept this belovedness. And all God’s people say, “Amen.” Opening Hymn/Song Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling UMH348 In Awe of Children (A Sermon for all Ages) Children’s Message (Luke 15:1-3; 11-32) Parable of the Prodigal Son. By Kristin Highley Message: Note: All elements are open to adjustment. Cater to the needs of your group “Good morning! I hope you’re doing well today. I have a couple of things to show you, and I want to see if you can recognize what they might be for. (hold up a trophy or medal). What is this? That’s right, it’s an award. Would you receive this for doing something bad? Of course not! This is a special winner’s treat. Now, what do you think about this one…do you know what this is? (Display speeding ticket, or maybe a poor report from school if it’s more familiar) This is something your mom or dad might see if they do something wrong while they are driving…and it usually means you have to pay money. You wouldn’t expect to get a medal for speeding down the highway. But it sort of happened in the gospel reading today. Someone got what they did not deserve! You see, the son in the story asked his dad for all of his money, basically. But then he ran away and wasted it. Have you ever disobeyed your parents or done something wrong? (allow responses if time and children willingness allow) Well, this guy did much worse things. He pretty much abandoned his family. But eventually, the money and fun times ran out, and he realized he’d made some pretty big mistakes. He thought he could make it and ignore his dad, but finally decided he needed to apologize and hope that maybe he could accept punishment and just live like a servant. He didn’t think his dad would even let him back home as a son. But did you hear what happened? Not only did his dad rejoice when he saw his wandering son, he even through him a party and gave him special presents! He was so happy to see the boy, it was like he hadn’t done anything wrong. This may seem strange. Shouldn’t we be disciplined when we do bad things? Well, in a lot of ways we should… But, the good news of the Bible is that even though we sin and do bad things, God still lets us be part of His family. It’s called “grace.” We deserve the punishment that our sins have earned. But when we tell God we’re sorry and let Jesus rule in our lives, grace gives us positive rewards instead. God loves us so much that He wants to find us no matter where we are or how far we stray. Nothing can get us so far away from God that He won’t let us back in His arms. And He lets the death of Jesus cover over the things we do. Jesus didn’t do anything wrong, so He didn’t deserve to die. But He took on the punishment for our bad things, so that we could get the reward of His goodness. That hardly seems fair! But we can thank God that life is not always fair. Just like the Father in the story, God celebrates over us when we come to Him. Isn’t that great? Optional take home: give each child a small “winner” ribbon or star sticker to remind them that we are winners in God’s eyes, no matter what we do. Prayer of Confession Lord, it is interesting that it is easy for us to identify with today’s scripture about the “Prodigal Son”. Some of us are easily reminded of our own selfishness and stubbornness when we willfully sought our own way. Others are reminded about how angry we were when others were not held accountable for their actions, when we have been so careful not to displease anyone. Still others can identify with the father who, feeling the loss of his son, welcomes him home again, reminding the brother that he has always been in the love and care of the Father. We hear this story and it’s a pleasant memory. But do we really understand what it is about? Do we know that we have also been stubborn and selfish, angry and unforgiving, sorrowful and caught between two conflicting factions? We are no different from these characters, in our own unique way. Yet, in God’s infinite love, we also are forgiven and healed. We are called to turn our lives back to God’s care, which is always extended to us. Forgive us and heal us, gracious God. Open our hearts and our spirits to truly receive the blessings of your healing love. For it is in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, that we pray. AMEN. Words of Assurance Once we were “dead” to all the things that God hoped for us; but in God’s love we are again brought to life. Rejoice, dear ones, you are forgiven! (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) The Peace The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you. I invite you to share the peace of Christ with those around you, [remembering to greet those online with a wave to the camera]. Contemporary Reading Reader: Our first reading is a contemporary one–an excerpt from Dacher Keltner’s research called, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life: “Our tears register our awareness of vast things that unite us with others. Our goose bumps accompany notions of joining with others and facing mysteries and unknowns together. Today we may sense these laws of bodily awe when moved by a favorite musical group, or in calling out in protest with others in the streets, or in bowing our heads together in contemplation. And in such rushes of tears and chills… we may glean a sense of what our souls might be.” Ancient Reading Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 (Make Sure you gave Margaret the right verses) In Awe of Music In Awe of the Word The Prodigal Family How this story fits in with Luke chapter 15 There are three stories of things that are lost in chapter 15 – There is a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son. All three of these things are cause for celebration. A time to gather and to think about the important things in life and to celebrate when you finally find them. The most well known of these stories is the story of the lost son, the Prodigal Son. This is a story of a family, it is the story of their complicated relationship. In each of these stories Jesus uses the yearning for possessions to point out his love for God’s people. Jesus’ whole mission was to find God’s lost people. In his search for lost people, even Jesus recognized that the mission was so much bigger than that. God is not in search of lost bodies, but lost hearts. Sometimes it can seem like life is a constant pursuit of physical things, but we are really looking for more. Money Can Buy a Bed But Not Sleep Someone said that money can buy you a bed, but it can’t buy you sleep. It can buy you books, but not brains. It can buy you food, but not an appetite. It can buy a house, but not a home. It can buy medicine, but it can’t buy health. It can buy all kinds of amusements, but it can’t buy happiness. Money can buy a fine dog, but only love will make the dog wag its tail. What kind of wealth do you want? We celebrate the wealth of God’s love in Jesus Christ. The wealth of God's love brings us what the wealth of the world cannot touch: Peace, understanding, fulfillment, life. These things are eternal. In Milan, Italy, there is a great cathedral with three doors. On the door to the right is written, "All that pleases lasts only for a moment." The door on the left proclaims, "All that troubles lasts only for a moment." And the large center door reminds all that approach, "Nothing is important except that which is eternal." In this life you will experience pleasures and troubles. What lasts forever is the wealth of God in Jesus. Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com This is a very familiar story You know it is interesting, I have preached this story 3 different times in this congregation alone. I have preached it countless other times in other congregations. As a matter of fact, this is one of the most famous stories in the bible. People who don’t know anything else about the bible know this story. Most of us have heard it a million times before. The lesson of the son who squandered away his inheritance is so famous. I struggled all week with how to make this sermon different from all of the other sermons that I have preached about this. We usually hear this story during the Lenten season. But this story has not always been a part of lent. It wasn’t added to the lectionary until 1992. It used to be told during Pentecost, but telling this story during lent gets to the heart of why this season is an important part of our relationship with God. There are so many lessons that we can learn. We learn about family dynamics, we learn about forgiveness, we learn about ourselves. This is a popular story, but it is not always a well liked story. I can speak for older siblings everywhere who take this story as a personal conviction. I shared this story at preschool chapel this week – even preschoolers recognized that siblings in a family are not always treated equal. There is always someone in the family who gets away with everything and never gets held accountable. In this story, the father forgives the son and welcomes him back into the family. But this is also a story about judgement. This is the first time that I actually thought about the first sentence of our scripture. There was a man who had 2 sons. The younger son is really not the center of attention in this story. He is not the only person in need of forgiveness. Some people judge the father because they think that he went way too far in forgiving. But we don’t have to like it What Would You Have Given the Prodigal Son? Fred Craddock preached one Sunday in a neighboring town when the regular minister happened to be away. Fred preached on this text ... not by choice, so much as by assignment. Leading a fellow to say after the service: "I really didn't care much for that, frankly." Fred continues: I said, "Why?" He said, "Well, I guess it's not your sermon. I just don't like that story." I said, "What is it you don't like about it?" He said, "It's not morally responsible." I said, "What do you mean by that? "Forgiving that boy," he said. I said, "Well, what would you have done?" He said, "I think when he came home he should've been arrested." This fellow was serious. He's an attorney, I thought. I thought he was going to tell me a joke. But he was really serious. He belonged to this unofficial organization nationwide, never has any meetings and doesn't have a name, but it's a very strong network that I call "quality control people." They're the moral police. Mandatory sentences and no parole, mind you, and executions. I said, "What would you have given the prodigal?" He said, "Six years." William A. Ritter, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com We Can be very judgemental I have been so caught up in sympathizing with the older son in the past, that I never really payed attention to the heart to heart talk that he has with the older son. He had to remind him that it was his right to do what he wanted with his own money – if he wanted to spend it on welcoming the brother back that was his business. He would have done the same for the older brother. He reminds the older son of the importance of forgiveness. As a matter of fact he had to look past the older son’s need to judge and forgive him too. The elder brother showed himself a Pharisee. He was quick to judge his brother. Right was right and wrong was wrong and there was no room for shades of grey. Such persons are possessed of a judgemental spirit. The problem with pharisees, and I readily admit that I have a tendency within myself, is that we tend to view principles and rules as having greater weight than people. There were clearly in the wrong, their behavior is destructive; throw the book at them! An extreme case of this mind set was exhibited by Carrie Nation, the fanatical abolitionist of the pre prohibition days. Carrie was an extremely manipulating woman. Her husband was a minister and Carrie sat in the front pews, orchestrating his sermon. When she felt that he had said his piece, she summarily announced “That is all for today, David.” If he displayed the temerity to continue, she would simply mount the pulpit, close the Bible, and hand her husband his hat. She also despised smoking and was known to knock cigars from the mouths of unsuspecting smokers. Her zeal for righteousness, really self righteousness, robbed her of respect and consideration for those whom she purported to want to help. I am afraid there is a little bit of Carrie Nation in all of us. There is a little bit of the older son in all of us. Especially when we are Christians striving to do the right thing and we see others who are not. I called this sermon the Prodigal Family – there is a little bit of ourselves in each of the characters in the story. Sometimes we are need of forgiveness, sometimes we are judging others, sometimes we are the one who forgives. We are all a part of the story. We all play a part. You don’t want to be a the fatted calf Who Resented The Prodigal’s Return? The Religious Ed teacher was reading this story of the Prodigal Son to his class, clearly emphasizing the resentment the older brother expressed at the return of his brother. When he was finished telling the story, he asked the class, “Now who was really sad that the prodigal son had come home?” After a few minutes of silence, one little boy raised his hand and confidently stated, “The fatted calf.” Staff, www.Sermons.com God actions are love We probably don’t want to see ourselves as the fatted calf. We don’t learn anything from being the fatted calf. He is cooked and eaten, do don’t want that to happen to us. Jesus tells this story to help us to understand our own relationship with God. God is actually not a character in the story. The father in the story does not represent God. This is a story about the people of God. All of the people in the story were in need of understanding, grace and forgiveness. All of them needed to work on their relationship with God. Maya Angelou was a famous African American poet. At one time she was the Poet Laureate of the U.S. I did not realize that she was United Methodist. She was a member of Glide Memorial UMC in San Fransico. He Seeks Until He Finds You There is a wonderful story about Maya Angelou. She is an active member now of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco. She wrote that years ago when she first came to San Francisco as a young woman she became sophisticated. She said that was what you were supposed to do when you go to San Francisco, you become sophisticated. And for that reason she said she became agnostic. She thought the two went together. She said that it wasn't that she stopped believing in God, just that God no longer frequented the neighborhoods that she frequented. She was taking voice lessons at the time. Her teacher gave her an exercise where she was to read out of some religious pamphlet. The reading ended with these words: "God loves me." She finished the reading, put the pamphlet down. The teacher said, "I want you to read that last sentence again." So she picked it up, read it again, this time somewhat sarcastically, then put it down again. The teacher said, "Read it again." She read it again. Then she described what happened. "After about the seventh repetition I began to sense there might be some truth in this statement. That there was a possibility that God really loves me, Maya Angelou. I suddenly began to cry at the grandness of it all. I knew if God loved me, I could do wonderful things. I could do great things. I could learn anything. I could achieve anything. For what could stand against me with God, since one person, any person, with God form a majority now." There are many people who are just like that. They think it is unbelievable that God would know me, that God would love me, that God would know my name. Just the grandness of it, as Maya Angelou says, that God would really love me. But that is the gospel. He seeks you until he finds you. She found that God found her, in San Francisco. Mark Trotter, Collected Sermons, Sermons.com I Have Been Found In every other religion we have to go to God. In every other religion God's holiness meant that we couldn't get close to God until we, ourselves, became holy. So in every other religion, God is way, way up there, and we are down here, and some of us are way, way down here. The job of the priests in all those religions is to mediate, to appease God through offering sacrifices so that God will like us, and we will be acceptable to God. But in Christianity the proclamation is just the opposite. It says we don't have to find our way to God, because God has found his way to us. What is unique, Montefiore said, is that God seeks us and God finds us. That is why the classical, prototypical Christian experience is, "I have been found." "I once was lost, but now am found." Mark Trotter, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com The Greatest Sentence Ever Written A teacher, every year in her fifth grade class, had what she called the Scholastic Olympics. What happened was that she would ask each child to pick a sentence from literature, name the author and source from which it came, and then explain why this sentence could be called the most important sentence ever written. You can probably guess what some of the entries were, like "Fourscore and seven years ago," and "All people are created equal." A lot of political phrases like that. There were also a lot of literary phrases, like "To be or not to be." The girl who got the most points for knowing that "To be or not to be" was from a play got some points taken away because she said the author was a writer for the Bill Cosby Show. There were fourteen entries of the same biblical verse, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," probably because the teacher had said that was her favorite verse. You know what sentence won? It was not written by a famous author at all. It wasn't to be found in any literary source. It appeared on a postcard from Hawaii that one of these fifth grade girls received from her stepfather, who was on a honeymoon with the girl's mother. The teacher was uneasy about this, because the children were supposed to explain why this is the most important sentence ever written. But she let her speak. The girl said that until she received that postcard, she didn't know how her stepfather felt about her. The girl's entry won the prize. It was written on the back of a postcard from Waikiki Beach . It said, "Charlotte , I love you." That's the greatest sentence ever written. And there are many variations of it. And wherever it is heard, and from whatever source it comes, it constitutes a blessing. It is here in this text this morning. It's here in the parable of the Prodigal Son, and it's addressed to everyone. To sons and to daughters, to prodigals and to the righteous: "Come home. I love you." Mark Trotter, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com __________________________________ God loves us in so many ways. And are pursuit of money possessions is a hunt for the love of God. God shows love in so many ways, God’s love comes through so many people. God loves us in so many circumstances. God’s love comes through in rebellion, judgement, and extravagant forgiveness. How do we take the time to say thank you? In the meantime let us pray. Amen. Hymn There is a Wideness in God’s Mercy UMH 121 Approaching an Awesome God [Prayers] Holy and Living God, we approach this time of prayer with delight at your world. With all our senses, we open to you. Give us lenses of awe with which to perceive and love others as you perceive and love us. We imagine in our mind’s eye now the people in our lives, the people of our communities, and the people of our world. Each of them is beloved by you, and this alone creates awe in us. We especially lift up those who need our prayers in this moment… [continue with prayers of thanksgiving and care for people]. For all these people and those we name in our hearts, Hear our prayer, Awesome God. Give us lenses of awe with which to perceive and love your creation as you perceive and love it. Each resplendent rainbow, each stunning snowflake, each chirping squirrel reminds us that delight can be found everywhere. You are making all things new all around us. Help us to care for the nature around us. This week, we name… [continue with prayers about specific entities of nature in your area]. For all these places, creatures, and lifeforms, and those we name in our hearts, Hear our prayer, Awesome God. Give us lenses of awe with which to perceive and love life as you perceive and love the life you have given us. Fill us with delight in your presence and your work in our lives. Slow us down in this season of Lent so that we might savor anew the gift of life. We pause in this silence, setting intentions of awe for the week ahead. [pause in silence] For all these intentions, Hear our prayer, Awesome God. Let us pray the prayer Jesus taught us… Lord’s Prayer Responding with Awe (Stewardship Moment) (Do not Print) UMCOR is present wherever there is a disaster. This year they have been present to help those affected by the wildfires in California. Last year they were present in places that had tornados, hurricanes, winter storms, and other natural disasters. They are also present in Ukraine, Gaza and Honduras. It is such a blessing to be able to help them in their work. Let us Pray this prayer for the ministry as a whole. PRAYER (Print) Gracious and loving God, we thank you for your faithfulness and provision in the midst of every storm. We thank you for organizations like UMCOR that reflect your love in the world. We offer our hearts, our hands and our resources to you, asking for your guidance as we walk with those who suffer. May we be vessels of your love, bringing hope where there is despair and restoration where there is brokenness. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Offering/Offertory Doxology Prayer of Thanksgiving "Loving and Compassionate God, as we give today, we lift up this offering with hearts full of gratitude, knowing it will support UMCOR's vital work in responding to disasters and helping those in need. May our generosity ensure that UMCOR's hands are never tied, so that when help is needed, they can act immediately. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen." (AI generated) We Go Forth with Awe (Closing Prayer for Facebook) Benedictions are blessings. And blessings are all around us. So for this season, instead of bowing your head as I offer a Benediction blessing, I invite you to open your palms in a position of receiving, and hold your head high, imagining a radiant stream of light from above shining upon you and everything else around you. And this week when you need to be reminded of the delight of this life, take this stance again. Open your palms to receive, look around to perceive, and notice one small thing that can light up your heart for a moment. And now may you go forth remembering “Mystic” Einstein’s words: “We are souls dressed up in sacred biochemical garments and our bodies are the instruments through which our souls play their music.” Be a purveyor of awe this week. Be an instrument of awe through the music of your soul, as you play and imagine and dream a better world into being, as you invite delight to live and breathe new life in you. Be a “purveyor of awe,” curating a life of spiritual depth that inspires others to join you on the journey. May the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of Awe, the Holy One-in-Three, be with you now and throughout these days, Amen. Community Time Joys and Concens Benediction May God’s grace go ahead of you, trail behind you, and encircle you each and every moment, that with every move you make you would know with absolute assurance that God’s steadfast love will never leave you alone. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, September 2024. Postlude Worship Notes Contemporary reading excerpted from the following source: Keltner, D. (2023). Awe: The new science of everyday wonder and how it can transform your life. Penguin Random House. Additional Illustrations God Said... Is there a better picture of forgiveness in the whole Bible? It reminds me of a story about a woman who had upset her pastor because she claimed that she had conversations with God. She had attracted quite a following in the church and every day people gathered at her house, got on their knees, prayed, sang hymns and listened to her describe what God was saying to her. The pastor thought all this was getting out of hand, so he went to visit her. "I know you say you are talking with God," he said, "but what you hear talking back at you is just your imagination. Just to prove it, I want you to ask God to name three of the sins that I confessed this morning. Then tell me what God said. If you can name those sins, I'll believe that you really are talking with God." The woman sat there for a long while, praying. Then she looked up and said, "I asked God to name your three sins, but God said, 'I forgot.'" Norm Linville, The Prodigal Father Where Are We At the Parable’s End? Let's step back outside with the older brother, still in need of a shower, arms folded across his chest, the moral high road. "But when this son of yours came back ... you killed the fatted calf for him." He cannot even bring himself to acknowledge his brother with a name -- "this son of yours." A sense of unfairness, as you know, can turn venomous rather quickly. So where are we at parable's end? Are we inside the party celebrating? Or are we standing outside with our arms folded, refusing to come in? Jesus will not tell us how this story will end. The father passionately invites the older son inside, "pleads with him" to join in the welcome. Curiously, however, we are never told what the older brother decides to do. The story ends but it doesn't end. You can almost hear the voice of Walter Cronkite saying, "You are there." Will we RSVP to a party thrown by an unfair God? Or will we stubbornly remain outside? In a world where God does not play fair, this parable forces us to make a choice. Who is the real "prodigal" here? Who is the real "waster"? From the beginning Jesus says that this is a story about two brothers. Which one is the authentic prodigal? Which one has yet to come home to the Father's extravagant love? Frank G. Honeycutt, Sermons on the Gospel Reading, Cycle C, CSS Publishing God Loves the Elder Brother Too God loves the older brother just as much as he does the younger brother, and I think that it is time that the older brother hear about it. There have been a lot of elder brothers in the history of the church. There was St. Teresa, who lived in the 16th century. She never left the Father’s home. She went into a convent at an early age and developed a life of self-discipline that would fill anyone with awe. She spent hours a day in prayer. One day, when she was in her mid 40’s, she was entering the chapel to pray as she did everyday. And as she entered she noticed a picture, a picture which had been on the walls for years. It was a picture of Jesus being scourged prior to the crucifixion. And suddenly the realization came to her the Christ had been scourged for her. And those who have studied her life say that this was the great turning point. She had stayed at home in the Father’s house. She had done the right thing. But she needed to know that the Christ who was whipped was whipped for Teresa. And there was joy in heaven that day — not over a soul returning from wild living but for a soul returning from the fields after a hard day’s work. United Methodists certainly know about the elder brother, because their own John Wesley was the best of them. He was so earnest, so methodical about his devotional life that people called him a Methodist and the name stuck. But it was not until his 35th year, after years of ministry, when he was at Aldersgate, that Wesley experienced God in such a way that he was able to write: “I suddenly felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt that Christ had died for my sins, even mine and had saved me from the law of sin and death.” Wesley had never gone to the far country. But Wesley needed to know how much God loved him too. He needed to feel some excitement about his religion. He needed a homecoming party. Staff, www.Sermons.com Our Own Sin Is Hard To See Let me tell you a true story. Back in 1893 there were a group of four sisters. The Cherry Sisters they called themselves, who made their stage debut in Cedar Rapids in a skit they wrote themselves. For three years, the Cherry Sisters performed to packed theaters throughout the Midwest. People came to see them to find out if they were as bad as they had heard. Their unbelievably atrocious acting enraged critics and provoked the audience to throw vegetables at the would-be actresses. Wisely, the sisters thought it best to travel with an iron screen which they would erect in front of the stage in self-defense. Amazingly, in 1896 the girls were offered a thousand dollars a week to perform on Broadway -- not because they were so good, but because they were so unbelievably bad. Seven years later, after the Cherry Sisters had earned what in that day was a respectable fortune of $200,000, they retired from the stage for the peaceful life back on the farm. Oddly enough, these successful Broadway "stars" remained convinced to the end that they were truly the most talented actresses ever to grace the American stage. They never had a clue as to how bad they truly were! The parable this morning does not tell us what the elder brother did when his father came out to speak to him. It doesn't reveal to us whether he realized that his envy and disdain had made him just as bad as his younger brother. Yes, the elder brother had never stooped to find himself in the pigpens of life. He would never have been caught dead carousing with prostitutes or wasting his resources in riotous living but in the end his refusal to rejoice at the return of his sinful brother was, to Jesus, just as offensive. The tragedy was that he never realized just how bad HE truly was! Lee Griess, Taking The Risk Out Of Dying, CSS Publishing Company. We Prefer Justice to Mercy Perhaps you remember the cartoon strip, Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin is a little boy with an overactive imagination and a stuffed tiger, Hobbes, who comes to life as his imaginary friend. In one cartoon strip, Calvin turns to his friend Hobbes and says, "I feel bad I called Susie names and hurt her feelings. I'm sorry I did that." Hobbes replies, "Maybe you should apologize to her." Calvin thinks about it for a moment and then responds, "I keep hoping there's a less obvious solution." We have trouble accepting those whom God accepts because we take God's acceptance for granted and God's forgiveness as our right. We are much like the elder brother who preferred justice to mercy. We have worked for what we have (or so we think), and it's unfair that everyone else should not have to do the same. We have earned God's favor (or so we think) by "staying at home." We have merited his acceptance by the good life that we live. So how dare God receive and accept our sinful brother who has returned home saying he's sorry. Lee Griess, Taking The Risk Out Of Dying, CSS Publishing Company. Familiarity Breeds Contempt In 1986 Henri Nouwen, a Dutch theologian and writer, toured St. Petersburg, Russia, the former Leningrad. While there he visited the famous Hermitage where he saw, among other things, Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Son. The painting was in a hallway and received the natural light of a nearby window. Newman stood for two hours, mesmerized by this remarkable painting. As he stood there the sun changed, and at every change of the light’s angle he saw a different aspect of the painting revealed. He would later write: “There were as many paintings in the Prodigal Son as there were changes in the day.” It is difficult for us to see something new in the parable of the Prodigal son. We have heard the story so many times we believe that we have squeezed it dry of meaning. Not only that, but, as the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt. When we hear the opening words of the parable once again, “And there was a Father who had two sons,” we greet the words with ho-hum. Heard it. Heard it. Heard it. Yet, I would suggest that just as Henri Nouwen saw a half dozen different facets to Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Son, so too are there many different angles to the story itself. Staff, www.Sermons.com Humor: He Took Out His Lunch and I Took Out Mine There is a story out of the Middle Ages that goes something like this. It seems people were putting pressure on the Pope, saying to him, "Your Holiness, this is the capital of Christendom. There ought to be only Christians in Rome. Let's get rid of the Jews." The Pope however, replied, "I don't know. Before I do anything, I will have a theological discussion with the chief rabbi of Rome. If the rabbi says the right things, the Jews will be allowed to stay. If he says the wrong things, they will have to go." So they invited the rabbi in. The Pope dismissed all the Cardinals and said, "Rabbi, we are both theologians. Theologians deal in symbols. Since we use symbols in our communication, let this discussion be entirely in symbols." The rabbi said that was fine with him. First, the Pope made a large circle with one hand and the rabbi responded by pointing to him. Then the Pope thrust out both arms to the chief rabbi. The rabbi responded by pointing to the Pope with two fingers. Finally, the Pope looked around for an apple and held it up. The rabbi went through the pockets of his long caftan and took out a piece of matzoh. The Pope concluded, "This is one of the finest statements I have heard of. Of course the Jews will be allowed to stay," and he sent the rabbi away. The Pope, then, brought in the Cardinals and said, "I don't know what you people have been fussing about. I said to the rabbi, 'There is one church and it encompasses the world.' And he said, 'You are the head of it.' Then I said to him, 'There are two swords, the secular and the ecclesiastical,' and he said, 'You hold them both.' And then I said, 'There are foolish people who say the earth is round,' and he said, 'No, the earth is flat.' " The rabbi went home to his wife and told her. "You know, I haven't the foggiest idea what the fuss was all about. I got in there and the Pope said, ‘We’ve got you surrounded.’ And I said, 'But we can get to you too.' Then he said, 'We can hack you to pieces,' and I said, 'We can poke your eyes out.' Then he took out his lunch and I took out mine." Communicating with our hands and arms can be dangerous, it appears. But there are many times and in many ways that we do communicate with symbols and most of them are easily understood. For instance, what does this stand for ... (peace)? How about this ... (number one)? This ... (okay)? And this ... (power)? And what do we try to teach babies even before they can speak ... (bye-bye)? How about this one ... (bad person)? Or ... (come here)? Or ... (come here now!)? I think there is a symbol present in the story of our gospel for today that is worth pondering for a few moments. The story is all too familiar. There was this son who got tired of working in his father's pizza shop, so he went to his dad and asked him for his part of the inheritance now, so he could go out on his own. The father agreed and the son was off. He immediately bought himself a Porsche 944, picked up Donna Rice, and headed for Las Vegas. There he bought drugs and booze and friends and when the money ran out, so did the drugs and booze and the friends. He ended up working as a busboy for Wayne Newton, so he could pay off his gambling debts, and he had to eat the leftover food on the plates he cleaned from the table to keep alive. One day, while gnawing on a leftover rib, he realized how foolish he had been and wrote home to dad for help. Without a moment's hesitation and without reading the whole letter which was full of apologies and regrets, dad sent a first class plane ticket back home. The son arrived home and was greeted by dad with the biggest pizza party ever thrown in Baltimore. Now, your translation may be different from that, but what symbol do you see at work here? Can't you just see the father running to greet that long lost son with arms outstretched and hands opened in welcome and love? That's precisely how God loves us -- arms outstretched, running toward us always, welcoming us home. Jesus says through this parable, "That's how God loves us." Glenn E. Ludwig, Walking To Walking With, CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio. ___________________ There Always Comes an End Brady Whitehead, chaplain of Lambuth College in Tennessee, tells the true story of a student whose parents were tragically killed in an accident. This student suddenly became the beneficiary of the estate. According to Brady, he started squandering the money on lavish trips. He would even invite other students to go along at his expense. He was spending the money so fast that Brady called him into his office one day and had a talk with him. He said that as Chaplin of the school he felt it was his responsibility to question his spending habits. The student responded: “But what you don’t understand is just how much money I have inherited.” Well, that may be so, said Brady, but even to a large estate there comes an end. Well, the student did not listen, and Brady revealed that by the time he graduated from Lambuth, all of his parent’s money was gone. Brett Blair and Staff, The Prodigal Son, www.Sermons.com A Heart that Sings with Joy “I saw them eating and I knew who they were.” That saying, or some version of it, is well-known now. And it certainly describes the Pharisees whom we encounter in Luke 15:1-2. Jesus was welcoming the very folks whom the religious establishment had written off. Worse, he was at table with them, which was an intimate act of fellowship that implied a kind of personal bond and connection. So we’re told the Pharisees muttered into their beards about this. Jesus overheard their comments and knew their hearts and so told them three stories that reveal the heart of God. And that’s really what is going on in Luke 15: we’re not here first of all being given stories of the “go and do likewise” variety. The parable in verses 11-32 is not in Scripture first of all to encourage fathers to be forgiving of their naughty kids any more than the first two stories were an instruction to shepherds or a cautionary tale to take better care of your fiscal assets. No, all three reveal the heart of God — a heart that is broken clean in two by lostness but a heart that sings with a joy as wide as the cosmos when even the silliest sheep or the meanest of sons comes back and/or is found again. Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observations

Time to Celebrate?

Zephaniah 3:14-20 December 15, 2024 3rd Sunday of Advent Year C Time to Celebrate ? Prelude Greeting Lighting of the Advent Candle Reader One: No matter what troubles overwhelm us today, Isaiah reminds us that in all of our preparation and passionate pursuit of God’s coming kin-dom, we must not forget that God’s salvation has come and is coming. “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3). With joy you will remember that God’s salvation is already present among us. Congregation: Faced with the troubles and the suffering of the world, we choose to live in joyful presence to God and one another. We will not turn away from the pain and the hurt in our world, and we will not stop rejoicing in God, whose salvation fills us to overflowing that God’s love might flow through us and flood our troubled world with hope, peace, and joy. Reader Two: We light this candle of joy as a sign of our commitment to be present to ourselves, our friends, our families, and our neighbors that in sharing our vulnerable lives we might share in the glorious joy of God’s salvation together. Light the third (pink/rose) candle of the Advent wreath. Call to Worship L: Good friends, Rejoice. God is with you. P: Even though we are imperfect and too often have turned our backs on God, still God is with us. L: God's love is forever. You are beloved. P: Even when we behave in ways which are contrary to what God would have us do. L: God forgives and loves you and seeks your well-being. P: Praise be to God for such wondrous love. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Opening Prayer Mighty God, in the face of challenges and difficulties, we turn to you. In the midst of great joy and deep appreciation, we turn to you. In this season of anticipation, we eagerly watch and actively wait for the gift of Jesus. Renew in us the ability to focus on you in these days which get so hectic. For some, we’re finishing the semester, for many, we’re wrapping up the calendar year, and for others, we anticipate a time of vacation. In the midst of it all, help us breathe deeply, slow our pace, and hear your still, small voice. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Song Hail to the Lord’s Anointed UMH 203 A Sermon for all Ages Title: "God's Special Clean-Up Day". (AI generated) Story: • Introduction: Imagine your room is really messy with toys all over the floor, dirty clothes, and maybe even some old food crumbs. It's a big mess! But what happens when your mom says it's "clean-up day"? You pick up the mess and put things away, right? • Zephaniah's Message: Today we're going to learn about a special "clean-up day" that God wants to do in our hearts. A long time ago, there was a prophet named Zephaniah who told people that God was going to come and clean up all the bad things in their lives, like being mean to others, not listening to their parents, or forgetting to say thank you. • "The Day of the Lord": This special clean-up day is called "The Day of the Lord". It's like when you clean your room, you throw away the trash and keep the good things. God wants to throw away all the bad things in our hearts and keep the good things like kindness, love, and sharing. • Repentance: But before God can clean up our hearts, we need to do something important called "repenting." That means saying sorry for the things we've done wrong and asking God to help us be better. • God's Love: Even though God is going to clean up the bad things, he still loves us very much. Just like when you clean your room, your mom still loves you, right? God wants to make our hearts clean so that he can be really happy with us. Activities: • "Clean-Up" Game: Have the kids pretend to clean up a messy room, picking up "bad things" like anger, selfishness, and putting them in a pretend trash can. • "Clean Heart" Drawing: Give the kids paper and crayons to draw a picture of a heart and decorate it with happy things that show a clean heart. • Prayer Time: Ask the kids to pray and ask God to help them clean up the bad things in their hearts and let him fill them with love. Prayer of confession Great God, as we prepare to behold the birth of Jesus again, we are mindful of how we have failed to receive the fullness of that gift. The story points us to your glory, yet we struggle to join in the song of praise and thanksgiving. We are distracted and confused, so fo- cused on things of little significance we overlook the good news of great joy that you have prepared. Tell us again that the Savior is born. Tell us again that we are for- given. Tell us again that our lives can be abundant in faith, hope and love because of what you have given us in Jesus Christ. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, John Wurster) Assurance of pardon The angel tells Joseph that the child forming in Mary’s womb is to be named Jesus. “Call him Jesus,” the angel says, “For he will save the peo- ple from their sins.” From his birth through his resurrection, from age to age, Jesus is about salvation. This is good news! In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven! (Presbyterian Outlook, John Wurster) Passing of the Peace Scripture Zephaniah 3:14-20 Prayer for illumination Gracious God, illumine these words by your Spirit that we might hear what you would have us hear and be who you would us be, for the sake of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, John Wurster) Sermon Time to Celebrate? So last night was the Merry Mary Christmas at the Mar Theater in town. It was a packed house – many people from town and even many from church that gathered for an amazing Christmas concert. Diane Oswald’s son was a part of the band, and he has an amazing voice as he song the Grinch song. There were several artist who sang the songs of the season. Some of the songs were classics, some modern, popular songs that we are all familiar with, some new, there was even an original song – but they were all about the joy of Christmas. I don’t know about anyone else, but for me, it is just not Christmas until we start the singing. Music has a way of touching the spirit, of setting the mood, of getting us out of our seats. Neitchze – was a philosopher with a very pessimistic view on life – he said Friedrich Nietzsche said, “Without music life would be a mistake.” He’s right! The joy of Christmas is all in the music. Today is the third Sunday of the advent candle – pink Sunday. The Sunday where we celebrate even though we still live in the darkness of winter. Listening to music reminds us that our savior is coming and things will be okay. In the meantime keep a song in our hearts. One Mom says that when her children first received a video of Walt Disney’s Cinderella, they watched it almost nonstop for three days. Since it was warm outside, the family kept their windows open. Their neighbors were having their roof re-shingled by three burly men. As the Mom went out to get the mail one afternoon, she heard a roofer singing, “. . . put it together and what do you get?” From the other side of the house came a chorus of two more husky voices: “Bibbidi bobbidi, bibbidi bobbidi, bibbidi, bobbidi boo!” Personally, I can attest to the importance of keeping a song in our hearts. Long ago, annual conference was always at Northern Illinois University – and the first this we would do when we gather was have a worship service. The bishop would start out with a message. I didn’t want to be there at annual conference, I was in a terrible mood. All throughout the bishop’s sermon I sat frowning with my hands folded – I wanted him to know that I was unhappy. And he noticed that I was upset. After his sermon – we song one of the great hymns of the church, I don’t even remember what it was. I just know that I got so caught up in singing the song, that I forgot to be angry. In singing that song my whole mood changed, my experience of life changed, and I was able to fully be a part of annual conference and to be happy that I was there. Throughout this advent season, we have been looking at the promises of the lesser prophets. Many of these lessons we don’t get any other time of the year. The prophet of the day is Zephaniah. He was a nephew of King Hezekiah. His prophecy was during the reign of his cousin, Josiah. Josiah was one of the good kings he encouraged everyone to return to the ways of God. Things had declined in the nation so much, things were out of hand and there seemed to be no rules of conduct. People were looking for change, but all they saw was darkness. Zephaniah’s message was similar to what we heard last week from Micah. Be careful what you ask for – God’s presence means judgement for all of us. In order for things to get better there has to be judgement. But the good news is that God’s presence also brings mercy, grace, peace, love. Things will get better, but that is God’s doing not ours. Zephaniah’s advice to us – if you want things to get better then sing, rejoice, Praise God. He tells us to start singing, even in the darkness. Rev. Roy T. Lloyd tells a story that takes place in the midst of the Great Depression when a family of three Mom, Dad, and little six year old Peter had absolutely no money for store bought presents. Nevertheless, they were very inventive in celebrating Christmas. They decided to make pictures of the presents they would like to give one another if money were no object. So they drew pictures or cut out pictures from catalogs and magazines. They put the pictures into boxes, stuck some old bows on them, and put them under a scraggly Christmas tree. On Christmas morning the tree was heaped with riches. The gifts were only pictures, to be sure, but they were symbols of Christmas giving. There was a shiny new car for Dad and a red motor boat, some golf clubs, a new suit, some sweaters, and an all weather coat. Mom found her dream house and a diamond necklace, dresses, coats, and a vacation cruise. Most of the make believe presents were for little Pete. There were pictures of a camping tent, a new bicycle, a pedal car, and all kinds of toys and games. Now, of course, Mom and Dad didn’t expect anything from little Pete. But Pete, with a squeal of delight, crawled under the tree and pulled out a gift he had prepared all by himself. He handed his present to his parents with a smile and they opened it. They found a picture-gift more precious than all the others. It was drawn with first grade crayons. It was a picture of three people standing together with big smiles on their faces. They had their arms around each other. And under the picture, little Pete had printed a single word “us.” The light dawned and tears of joy filled the eyes of the parents because they realized that, in years to come, they may be able to give some of those Christmas presents they had only imagined, but they could never give a present more precious than the one they had received that year the gift of love they had for each other. (4) That is a story that must be told at Christmas. If that doesn’t make you heart sing, nothing will. Our lives are filled with love. God sings over us. And we sing of the wonders of Christmas. It begins with love. So do we sing because we are happy, or are we happy because we sing? Have you noticed that we all don’t sing the same songs? Every generation seems to have it own style of music. Driving home from church one Sunday, a father turned the radio to a country station. “How can you stand that stuff?” complained his 16-year-old son. “It’s all sad stuff about dogs and pickup trucks and bar rooms and broken hearts.” Knowing his son preferred rather loud rock music, the dad asked, “Well, what’s your music about?” “That’s the beauty of it,” the son said. “You just don’t know!” That is how many people feel about contemporary music – the lyrics are much simpler and less inventive. Last night I sat next to Sandy Hobbs, who gave wonderful commentary on the songs that were sung at the Christmas concert. Most of the songs she thought were wonderfully done. There were a few songs that she had never heard of, and one song – she commented that she could have done without – it made no sense to her. With every age and generation, words change, the tempo changes, even our response to the song changes. But when we sing sacred music – the topic that we sing about does not change. – We sing about God with us, we sing about our savior coming, we sing about the joy of God’s love. David Devine told a revealing story in the Washington Post sometime back. It was about a youngish white man in jeans, a long-sleeved tee shirt and a baseball cap who emerged from a subway station in Washington one Friday evening. He positioned himself against a wall beside a trash basket. From a small case, the young man removed a violin. Placing the open case at his feet, he threw in a few dollars and pocket change as seed money. Then he swiveled his case to face the people who passed by, and began to play. “In the next 43 minutes, as the violinist performed 6 great classical pieces, 1097 people passed by. Almost all of them on their way to work in mid-level Government jobs. No one knew that the violinist was one of the world’s leading classical musicians, Joshua Bell. Bell is an acclaimed virtuoso, who fills concert halls. One composer said of him: ‘He plays like a god.’” On this Friday morning Bell played on one of the most valuable violins ever made a Stradivari valued at $3.5 million. The train station provided good acoustics for Bell’s performance. His beautiful music filled the morning air. “A reporter stood observing and recording the event. In the first 3 minutes, 63 people walked past without seeming to notice the virtuoso. Then a man stopped, looked and quickly walked on. Across the 45 minutes Joshua Bell played, 7 people stopped to listen for at least a minute. 27 people gave money. Usually, in concert, Bell gets paid $1000 per minute. This day, in total, he received $32.17. At the end of each piece, there was no applause just silent indifference. The master musician was ignored. People walked past musical glory without giving it a second glance. “Except for two people. A postal worker named John described as a ‘smallish man with a baldish head.’ John had learned the violin as a youth. He recognized the quality of Joshua Bell’s performance and stood enjoying it from the distance. And then there was a demographer named Stacy. Stacy had seen Bell in concert 3 weeks before. She recognized him. And here he was, the international virtuoso, sawing away, begging for money. She had no idea what was going on, but whatever it was, she wasn’t about to miss it. Stacy positioned herself 3 meters away from Bell, front row, center. She had a huge grin on her face. The grin, and Stacy, remained planted in that spot until the end. Stacy told the reporter: ‘It was the most astonishing thing I’ve ever seen in Washington. Joshua Bell was standing there playing in rush hour, and people were not stopping, not even looking, and some were flipping quarters at him! Quarters! I was thinking, Omigosh, what kind of a city do I live in that this could happen?’” (5) One of the world’s great musicians playing on the street for coins. Only a few recognized him. It sounds somewhat familiar. Only a few recognized Christ in the stable of Bethlehem. Some star-struck shepherds, some magi from the East and a humble carpenter and his bride-to-be. But not many. And yet that event turned the world upside down. It was enough to start the whole world singing. And why shouldn’t it? Why shouldn’t all creation sing? And why shouldn’t we sing? After all, the God of all creation the God of the moon and the stars and the wind and the waves sings over us. Can you hear it? Listen closely. It is the song of everlasting love, hope peace and joy. It is the song of Jesus Christ. In the meantime, we still live in some dark times. And now it is about the get even colder. Let us follow Zephaniah’s advice and sing of Christ presence coming into the world. Gavin Ellis says that growing up he had a piano teacher who belonged to a musical society. This society did something quite interesting. They would make a point of listening for the song of angels on Christmas Eve. They believed that the angels rejoiced and celebrated each Christmas in honor of Christ . . . and so they would listen very closely at night on Christmas Eve. They would listen to the dogs bark. They would listen to the wind through the trees. They would listen to the things going on around them in the world . . . in creation to see if they could hear angel song. What would this angel song sound like? It would sound perfect. They listened for harmony and perfect pitch in the sounds of nature. It’s a strange thing to do; it’s kind of an odd way to spend Christmas Eve. But that’s what this piano teacher and his friends did. “There’s a romantic notion to what they did,” says Gavin Ellis, but he wondered to himself how many of them actually believed that angels were singing and how many of them were a part of the group because they just thought it would be neat if angels really did sing. How many of them believed, Gavin Ellis wondered, and how many of them just hoped? (2) Some people believe; others merely hope. Still, this is the testimony of Zephaniah: God sings over us. There is a carol that comes to mind when I think of God singing. This carol was written in 1962, only forty-seven years ago. It is the little carol, “Do You See What I see?” It begins like this: “Do see what I see, said the night wind to the little lamb?” The story of the song is very simple. It begins with the night wind, and the night wind sees what Christmas is all about. So the night wind tells the little lamb, and then the little lamb sees what Christmas is all about, and goes to the shepherd boy. The little shepherd boy sees the meaning of Christmas, and he goes to the mighty king and he says to the mighty king, “Do you know what I know?” Then the mighty king says to everyone, everywhere, in a deep, gruff voice, “Listen to what I say.” Then the king makes this announcement to his kingdom: “A child, a child, will bring you goodness and light.” (3) Do you see what I see? Do you hear what I hear? If we listen closely maybe we will hear the voice of God singing over us. Now you may wonder why we sing at Christmas time. And you may wonder why in the world would God sing over us? Let us pray….. Song Come Thou Long Expected Jesus UMH 196 Prayers of the People (Just print the title) Come, Lord Jesus. Bring your presence; bring your peace; bring your light. Comfort the sick, soothe the sorrowful, bind up the wounded. Calm our spirits. Ease our burdens. Mend our hearts. Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Lord Jesus. Bring your justice; bring your righteousness; bring your goodness. Reorder our priorities. Direct our efforts. Strengthen our resolve. Break down walls. Dismantle oppression. Overthrow tyrants. Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Lord Jesus. Bring your love; bring your compassion; bring your mercy. Heal our divisions. Seek out the lost. Restore the guilt-ridden. Widen our embrace. Teach us generosity. Show us how to forgive. Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Lord Jesus. Bring your passions; bring your fire; bring your stead- fastness. Inspire our witness. Motivate our mission. Energize your church. Open our minds. Extend our hands. Overcome our lethargy. Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Lord Jesus. Bring your hope; your tenderness; your promise. Build up our common life. Hold us in our frustrations. Brighten our dark- ness. Release us. Renew us. Redeem us. Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Lord Jesus, hear our cries; hear our whispers; hear our prayers. Now, with the confidence of the children of God, let us pray as Jesus taught, saying, “Our Father …”. (Presbyterian Outlook, John Wurster) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment John the Baptist (as we know him) had not gotten the message about this being “Rejoice” Sunday. In Luke 3, John’s pointed preaching pushed hard against those who believed their connection to Abraham would provide a safe route around the mayhem which was coming. Those who were in the crowd wanted John to answer their question: “What should we do?” John’s instructions are clear! Share from your abundance! Give your second coat to someone without a coat. Feed the hungry. Two thousand years later, we still ask: “What should we do?” And the answer continues to ring out. Share from your abundance! Do you have more than one coat? Do you have more food than you can possibly eat? Friends, when we DO THIS, then it’s time to rejoice! Let us share our financial support, AND let us share from our abundance to encourage those who are without. Prayer of Thanksgiving God of all good gifts, thank you for this opportunity to respond to the teaching of John. Thank you for these gifts, filling the offering trays today. May we now be eager to respond to the needs of those around us. AMEN. (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Those on Facebook Advent invites each of us into a new way of living in a world to which the kin-dom of God has come and is yet coming. Go, now, blessed with the gift of togetherness, for it is only in being truly present with God and one another that we live as followers of the coming Messiah. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, June 2024. Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Let us go trusting in Jesus Christ, the one who is surely coming. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the com- panionship of the Holy Spirit be with you and abide with you today and always. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, John Wurster) Additional Illustrations The songs encouraged by the prophet are quite different from the songs of our age. So much of the contemporary literature composed for the symphony orchestras is dissonant, discordant, and harsh sounding. Composers have always been wary of imitating models from other periods lest they be regarded as being uncreative and lacking in originality. In the search for new expressions, the composers reflect the times in which we live. They portray for us the confusion and incongruities of our age by creating music that grates both on our ears and our emotions. It is no small secret that the conductors of great symphony orchestras of our land have considerable difficulty with their boards of directors when they include too many of the contemporary works in their scheduled concerts. The same observations can be made about the popular music of the day. The complaints about the loud harsh music that is electrically amplified are not simply from an older generation that is out of sync with the younger. The questions are raised about music that it is totally unwholesome for the ears and may impair the hearing of young people at an early date. However, the more serious complaints are about music that also reflects a lack of morality and expresses only the more primitive passions of people. Besides complaining about loudness, the repetition, and the lack of artistry, one critic asked, “Why don’t the songs have an ending?” The answer is that bad music has no soul to reflect a genuine and positive hope. A Special Song One certainly cannot characterize all contemporary music, popular or classical, as decadent or lacking in soul. There is much contemporary composition that is commendable. However, it is important to note that the prophet who called for a song from God’s people did not look for them to express their sense of depression and lack of hope. He encouraged a song that would express divine hope in the midst of human confusion and terror. Martin Rinkart was such a hymn writer. Born in the latter part of the sixteenth century in Eilenburg, Germany, he received theological training and held several positions before returning to his home town as archdeacon. He served in that city for some thirty years, most of that time being during the Thirty Years War. Because Eilenburg was a walled city, people from miles around sought refuge there. The overcrowding resulted in famine and pestilence. One pastor left and two died, leaving Rinkart to minister alone. He read burial services for as many as forty and fifty persons in one day. His wife succumbed to the pestilence, and he survived an illness. Rinkart received little support from the town authorities, and eventually was even harassed by them. Totally exhausted he went to his grave, December 8, 1649. What he bequeathed to us was not only his untiring example of unselfishness but his great hymn, “Now Thank We All Our God.” In the midst of great tragedy and suffering he could offer the song of promise encouraged by the prophet. A New Song In the Advent Season it is customary for the Christian Church to sing the “Magnificat,” the Song of Mary. The Evangelist Luke placed this song on the lips of Mary, the Mother of our Lord, when she visited her relative, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. The song celebrates how God turns everything upside down and makes everything right. Johann Sebastian Bach interpreted this great hymn in the beautiful cantata “The Magnificat.” The one who gave real meaning to Mary’s song was our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises of mercy which God had spoken to the patriarchs, to Abraham and his posterity. By his humble and impoverished birth Jesus gave hope to the world. The life, death, and resurrection of the One born in the ignoble conditions of Bethlehem assured the world that God is always present working to give us hope and make our hearts glad. The world will be singing Christmas carols lustily again this year. The carols have been ringing out in McDonald’s and Burger King since the first of December. The Christmas music expands and grows yearly to be the largest repertoire devoted to one subject in all the world. People want their songs to bring them joy in the season meant to create joy. Yet many of those songs are ditties with no message of hope or promise. The song of promise the prophet teaches us is one we can sing when there is nothing to be joyful about. The song of promise does not fall flat when a season ends. The song of promise does not fade when the Christmas trees are taken down and the holly and tinsel are removed. This is a song of real promise. The song of which the prophet wrote is the song the Holy Spirit impresses on our hearts to celebrate the goodness of God. The song holds out hope and gladness for us as we realize, in the prophet’s word, that God daily “renews” God’s love for us in Christ Jesus. CSS Publishing Company, The Presence in the Promise, by Harry N. Huxhold A little boy was sitting at the table in the kitchen looking gloomy and sour: he had just been punished. Suddenly, he asked his mother, "God can do anything He wants, can't He?" To which the mother replied, "Of course." Then the boy asked rhetorically "God doesn't have any parents, does He?" Have you ever felt that way? Probably. At some time or another, we have all felt terribly hemmed in and beaten down by our supposedly loving parents. To Zephaniah, it was clear that what a person or a nation believes about God will largely determine their conduct. If God is seen as a kindly old grandfather in the sky who will simply wink at things done wrong, then there is no reason for anyone to make any change. If God is seen as impotent in the face of the all the other gods that can be worshiped, there is no reason to make any change. If God is seen as not being there at all, there is certainly no reason for anyone to make any change. But Zephaniah knew that none of these pictures was accurate, and so he was called to preach what he knew to be the truth. There will come a day. This last question may be the most relevant of all. A lot of people today seem to look upon the God question as a dead issue. They may still give casual assent to the concept as an interesting mental artifact brought over from the past, but see little utility in it for their own living. The stance of such persons is, at best, much like that of the little girl who wanted to know where God was. When told that God was everywhere she wanted to know if he was in the house, in her bedroom, behind the dresser, even under the bed on which she was being put to sleep. After having been assured that God was in all those places, she was later overheard saying an interesting and very candid prayer. "God," she was saying, "I know you are everywhere. I know you are in the house. I know you are in this room. I know you are behind that dresser and under this bed. But, God, if you move you’ll scare me to death." Several studies have shown, for instance, that persons who identify themselves as Christians and church members are more harshly judgmental and punitive in their attitudes toward social offenders than are persons who make no claims to such identity. The parallel to Jesus’ description of the self-righteous Pharisee is so close as to be truly shocking. We should be grateful to Harvard’s Professor Gordon Allport, however, for having done a study that shows that the Christians and church members who have seriously internalized the faith are more inclined to be compassionate and non-punitive in their attitudes than are persons who do not claim to be Christians or church members. A few years ago a group of junior high school students was given a test of musical terms. Here were some of their answers: 1. Music sung by two people at the same time is called a duel,” one young man wrote. Then he added, “I know what a sextet is but I had rather not say. 2. A xylophone is an instrument used mainly to illustrate the letter X, answered someone else. 3. Dirges are music written to be played at sad, sad occa¬sions . . . such as funerals, weddings, and the like. [Did they play a dirge at your wedding?] 4. Here’s one I like: What’s a refrain? Refrain means "don’t do it!" A refrain in music is the part you better not try to sing. 5. A virtuoso is a musician with real high morals. 6. Beethoven wrote music even though he was deaf. He was so deaf he wrote loud music . . . Beethoven expired in 1827 and later died from this. 7. Handel was half German, half Italian, and half English. He was rather large!” Regardless of our age or our vocation, most of us have a kind of music we can relate to. right! 1. Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies (Pantheon, 1998), pp. 47 50. Cited by W. Gregory Pope, http://www.crescenthillbaptistchurch.org/oldsite/sermon 9 25 05.htm. 2. (http://www.day1.net/index.php5?view=transcripts&tid=90). 3. Cited by Edward F. Markquart, http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/christmas_do_you_see.htm. 4. http://pastorgavinellis.blogspot.com/2005/11/luke 28 15 from silence came music.html. 5. John Mark Ministries. http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/20684.htm. ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Dynamic Preaching Sermons Fourth Quarter 2009, by King Duncan "Hum," went the phone. She had put me on hold for what seemed like the hundredth time. I had a cold which made me even more irritated. I was at the end of my rope - angry, disgusted, and stressed to what I thought was the limit. I was beginning to forget the reason I had phoned. Suddenly out of the background from the "hold" position of the telephone system of this mammoth mortgage corporation came some music. This was the ultimate insult. They were trying to calm an irate customer with "elevator music." Only it wasn't "elevator music." It was a Christmas carol. I listened as a secular mortgage company telephone system played: "Silent night, Holy night. All is calm; all is bright." I was laughing by the time the supervisor came to the phone. Music centered in God can do that. It can be a reminder of who you are. My sin of impatience became a laughing matter in the light of the coming Messiah. By the way, the supervisor could not answer my questions, but she told me that I could call her back. Music can soothe the savage beast in all of us. God-centered music can keep us close to God when we reach the breaking point. A gospel musician was away from home singing and inspiring people with his music. The phone rang. It was for him. The news was bad. His wife who was pregnant had lost the baby. "The baby is dead," he was told. That's staggering news. He started for home. A few days later his wife died. He had sung the gospel of comfort to many, but he could not find comfort anywhere. Friends and relatives tried in vain to help him with his grief, but it was all to no avail. He went to God in prayer ... and expressed his need in music. From his sorrow, Thomas A. Dorsey wrote the spiritual: Precious Lord, take my handLead me on, let me stand;I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.Through the storm, through the night,Lead me on to the light.Take my hand, precious Lord,Lead me home. Music centered in God can calm the violent darkness in all of us. Such music is the voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Through the storm, through the light, Lead me on to the light ..." John the Baptist along with Zephaniah and all the prophets were voices crying in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord." John and Zephaniah are vivid reminders of the remnant seeking the glory of God in everything. Our hopes and expectations can rise above the maddening crowd: "Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand." Sing aloud, O Daughter of Zion; Shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem. C.S.S. Publishing Company, PREVIEWS OF COMING ATTRACTIONS, by Ron Lavin Christmas cards, which once were sent to wish others peace on earth, goodwill, and blessings of the season, are now serving more commercial purposes. I love the story about an apartment building in New York City. It was early in December when all the residents awoke to find a greeting card taped to the outside of their apartment doors. The cards read, "Merry Christmas from the custodial staff." "Well, isn't that nice," one of the new residents thought to herself. "What a lovely, caring staff we have at our service." Then she promptly forgot all about the card. A week later, she came home from work to find another card taped to her door. This one said, "Merry Christmas from the custodial staff. Second notice." The third Sunday of Advent is traditionally "Rejoicing Sunday," as we remember and give thanks for God's great gifts to us. Imagine Zechariah and the people of God celebrating, and God is there in their very midst. All are singing and dancing in the streets, and God is singing louder than anyone else. There is rejoicing because the people have been forgiven. They were imprisoned in sin, but all is forgiven and their sentence is commuted. God is their salvation. God has come into their midst to save them. Zephaniah speaks in past, present, and future tenses. His words are fulfilled in the coming of Christ. He also points us to Christ's coming again. Christ is in our midst now, of that we can be assured. There will be a time still to come, when we will have our final homecoming with God. That will be the greatest celebration of all. Fear. One day in hot July, a farmer sat on the porch of his shack, smoking his corncob pipe. Along came a stranger from the city who asked, “How’s your cotton coming?” “Ain’t got none,” he replied. “Didn’t plant none. ’Fraid of the boll weevil.” “Well, how’s your corn?” “Didn’t plant none. ’Fraid o’ drought.” “How about your potato garden?” “Ain’t got none. Scairt o’ tater bugs.” The city stranger finally asked, “Well, what did you plant?” The farmer answered, “Nothin’, I just played it safe."1 Some of us are fearful of action because there may be some¬thing out there in life that we are not prepared to meet, so we play it safe and do nothing. Paralysis grips us. Sing! Shout! Rejoice! Exult! Why? because your Lord is King. The picture is that of the enthronement of a mighty king. It is a king who is triumphant, who "has turned away your enemies" (v. 15a). This king is enthroned in the midst of the people. He has a mighty presence among them; therefore, they do not need to fear disaster any more (v. 15b). On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory ... He has the power to remove disaster (v. 18) and to deal with all oppressors (v. 19a). During the spring of their senior year, seminary students begin the parish interview process in preparation for their first call as pastor. At one seminary, seniors are asked by a professor to respond to two specific questions. The first question is: What expectations do lay persons have for their next pastor? Seniors are overwhelmed by their own responses, which include the following: visionary leader, dynamic preacher (interpreted as entertaining and brief), excellent administrator, caring counselor, frequent visitor, fabulous fund-raiser, great with youth and children and elderly, super evangelist (interpreted as recruit new members to help meet the budget), young but experienced, twenty-four-hour crisis availability, and willing to accept less than the recommended minimum compensation package. Seniors are stunned. After class, one told her professor, "They anticipate that I will be a Messiah." Great anticipation, but neither realistic or achievable. The second question for these seminary students is: What do you expect from parishioners in your first congregation? Their answers are theologically articulate and conceptually sound. They focus on the theme of living out one's baptism as a member of the priesthood of believers. Now that's a theological mouthful! Students often expect their future parishioners to assume eagerly and willingly the actions of early Christians as evangelists, stewards, visitors of the sick and troubled, administrators, and teachers. Bible and prayer groups would abound. In their ideal congregation, parishioners would want their pastor to be a theologian-in-residence. They would hear the Word of God with joy and share the sacrament with zeal and excitement. They would be active in both member care and community outreach. They would bring an inclusive, open, and global perspective to ministry. Wow! If parishioners are anticipating the Messiah, seminarians are anticipating doing ministry in the Messianic Kingdom of Glory. his promise is for us today. It is just as real today as it was for Zephaniah 2,600 years ago. The Lord speaks to us, saying, "I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise" (v. 19). So, then, do not let your hands grow weak. Learn from the collective experience of God's people. The Lord your God is in your midst and has promised to deliver you. That's a fact. That's reason to rejoice. Here is Zephaniah's "anticipation proclamation." Here is the good news of Advent. Christ has come. Christ is coming. Christ will come again." CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio, Where Is God In All This, by Tony Everett

Forgiveness and Beyond

September 17, 2023 Romans 14:1-12 Forgiveness and Beyond 16th Sunday After Pentecost Prelude Welcome Call to Worship (Inspired by Psalm 103) One: Bless the Holy One with our whole selves. Praise the Maker of our being! Many: Remember the mighty deeds and the good works of our God. One: The Sovereign One endows us with many gifts and equips us to do good work. Many: Remember the mighty deeds and the good works of our God. One: Holy Love entered the world without condemnation but with grace and forgiveness, mercy and compassion, redemption and restoration. Many: Hallelujah! We give thanks for the mighty deeds and the good works of our God! (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay) Invocation God who calls, it is you who gathers us together and forms us as a community. It is you who makes us uniquely individual and who designs us for companionship. Let us journey together this day in your presence reminded of our interdependence with one another. May we see your glory and be inspired to demonstrate your goodness and care through our lives. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay) Song. There is a Wideness in God’s Mercy. UMH 121 Children’s Sermon Romans 14:1-12 Choices Made in Peace By Lois Parker Edstrom Suggestions: Play tug-a-war if appropriate to your setting and situation. Teenagers playing tug of war Tug of war is a game that was first played hundred of years ago and it is still a sport enjoyed in many parts of the world. At one time a tug of war competition was part of the Olympic Games. It is a good game to play at a family reunion or other events where several people are gathered together. You need a long, strong rope. Then the people divide into two teams with the same number of people on each team. A line is marked on the ground and the purpose of the game is to pull the opposite team over that line. The two teams move back and forth as each team pulls in opposite directions. The team that causes the other team to step over the line is the winner. Playing tug of war reminds me of what it is like when two people argue. In an argument each person thinks they are right and they try to get the other person to come over to their side and agree with them. Arguments often happen when we are angry. Perhaps someone did or said something hurtful. The argument goes back and forth and, now and then, cruel things are said to one another. The Bible asks us this question: “…why do you judge your brother?” (14:10) and reminds us that “each one of us will give account of himself to God” (14:12). When you are angry it may be helpful to remember that we are all accountable to God. Instead of fretting about the actions of another person, we should try to make good choices for our own behavior. Choices made in love and peace honor God. Scripture quotations from the World English Bible Copyright 2013, Richard Niell Donovan Prayer for Transformation and New Life God of grace, we need your strength in our weakness. We confess that we can be judgmental and hyper-critical of our neighbors, family, and friends. We project our own shortcomings on others in order to deflect attention from our mistakes. We withhold and condition forgiveness, mercy, and grace from those who wrong us at the same time we seek it for the wrongs we have done. Even still, we struggle to forgive ourselves. You have shown us the better way. Help us to follow your path–receiving and extending forgiveness in a world in need of an infusion of grace for transformation. In your mercy, O God, hear our prayer, and let us forgive as you forgive. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay) Words of Grace Beloved, grace has always been part of God’s relationship with humanity. God does not want you condemned or held captive by unresolved anger leading to bitterness. Rather, Creator desires you to be released as both forgiven and forgiver so that all may live a life that is whole, free, and flourishing. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay) Passing the Peace Prayer for Illumination Open us, Eternal God, to you Word read and proclaimed. Help us not to turn from your truth or avoid your message. Help us to be receptive to the wisdom that you offer. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Teri McDowell Ott) Scripture Romans 14:1-12 Sermon Forgiveness and Beyond As we come to understand nutrition, our diets have evolved. As a matter of fact, we have lots of healthy choices for a diet. Is there a diet that is healthiest for us? Which diet brings us closer to God? Does God prefer meat eaters or vegetarians? Romans 14 starts out by saying that being a vegetarian is a weaker choice, and eating meat is a stronger choice. Really? Well when Paul talks about eating meat that has been blessed at the temple, he is not concerned about diets, but about how we like to judge the choices of one another and them separate ourselves accordingly. Sometimes it is hard for us to accept the choices of people that we do not understand. All summer, as we read through Matthew, Jesus has been preparing us for ministry to new people. Jesus led the disciples across the lake, out of their comfort zones to meet new people and to change their lives. What the disciples did not expect was the fact that the experience would change them just as much. As they got new people to take on their faith, they started to wonder if God puts us all under the same standard. Do you have to become a Jew before you become a Christian? With new people, came a whole new standard for the church. A new understanding of what grace really means. All throughout the history of our church, we have had to find a new standard of grace. Do we force new people to accept new rules? When we bring new people in, do we mold them into who we are, or do we let them be? If we are a culture where the women wear dresses to church, is it okay for young girls to come to church in shorts? And when they do come to church and don’t quite understand the rules, how do we treat them? With judgement or with grace? A certain pastor was visiting one of his parishioners, and as they were talking the conversation began to lag. The lady of the house, wanting to pick up the conversation, pointed out her window to her neighbor's back yard where the wash was hanging on the line. She said: "See that lady next door and the wash she hangs out, see how dirty it is, she never hangs out a clean wash." The pastor felt somewhat uncomfortable and tried to change the subject and quickly drew the visit to a close. As he was departing from the house the lady of the house walked out on the front porch with him and again the wash next door was clearly visible to both of them. They both realized at the same time that this wash was sparkling white, just as white as any wash could ever be. The truth began to dawn on them that it wasn't the neighbor's wash which was dirty, rather it was the window through which they had viewed the wash. (4) How clean are your windows? Where Do You Live? Which house do you live in? Judgment House or Grace and Mercy House? You and I have been challenged to deviate from the world, to be abnormal. We've received a prescription for holiness and we've put on Christ. And now we are called and challenged to live to the Lord. But we can't do it by ourselves and we sure can't do it in Judgment House. We can only do it in Grace and Mercy House. How clean are your windows? Where Do You Live? Our lesson for today – is how to give people grace and not judgement. It is about making sure that the church is a house of grace and not a house of judement. God’s grace not only welcomes new people with new ways, but it also reminds us to find joy in ourselves and what we do to serve God. Welcoming Grace In our experience "no vacancy" happens. We sometimes hear the words "no room," but we also hear a different voice. "Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be open to you" (Matthew 7:7). Lewis Smedes writes: "Why do we call grace amazing? Grace is amazing because it works against the grain of common sense. Hard-nosed common sense will tell you that you are too wrong to meet the standards of a Holy God; pardoning grace tells you that it's all right in spite of so much in you that is wrong. Realistic common sense tells you that you are too weak, too harassed, too human to change for the better; grace gives you power to send you on the way to being a better person."2 We can welcome him because he first welcomed us. This past summer a group of radio control model airplane pilots had a public demonstration of their skills: flying aerial acrobatics hundreds of feet in the air, explaining the techniques of flying, and building the model planes. The highlight of the day was when the children in the crowd were invited to become "pilots." With an instructor by their side and with special dual controls, the children flew the planes high into the sky -- two mistakes high. This implied that there was little a child could do to place a plane in irretrievable danger (beyond an expert instructor's ability to recover) if it was high enough. And it was almost a perfect rule that day, until a child and an instructor crashed the club plane, the one which had been purchased by club members so that young people could learn the sport without incurring at first the expense of a plane. Club members didn't seem to mind much. After all this is what the club plane is for: to bring along another generation in the sport they love. Risking what you have to share your joy. A welcoming grace which creates free space, welcoming space for those who will come. Thus, welcoming grace is the hospitality of which Henri Nouwen speaks when he writes, "Hospitality, therefore, means primarily the creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend...."3 And Paul instructs: Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you (15:7). So two travelers offered lodging to the stranger who had joined them on the road to Emmaus, and he made himself known to them as their Savior and Lord in the breaking of bread (Luke 24:13-35). When "No Vacancy" or "No Room" is converted into welcoming, hospitable grace, "fearful strangers can become guests revealing to their hosts the promise they are carrying with them." Welcoming grace diminishes the distinction between guest and host and allows sharing of gifts precious.4 I like that story because it turns the table on judgement and shows us that grace is possible to new people. When reaching out to people in some way we have to accept them for who they are and love them as God would love them. It is beyond love the person and hate the sin. But bringing out the God in them, and seeing God in a whole new way. Grace Chooses Love Storyteller Bill Harley tells a simple story about a children's T-ball game he witnessed a few years ago. On one of the T-ball teams was a young girl named Tracy. Tracy ran with a limp. She couldn't hit the ball to save her life. But everyone cheered for her anyway. Finally, in her team's last game, Tracy did the unthinkable. She hit the ball. Tracy's coach began hollering for her to run the bases. She landed on first base, only to be told to keep on running. She rounded second base, and the fans stood to their feet and cheered. With one voice, they were all urging Tracy to head home. But as she neared third base, Tracy noticed an old dog that had loped onto the field. It was sitting near the baseline between third plate and home. Moments away from her first home run, Tracy made a momentous decision. She knelt in the dirt and hugged the dog. Tracy never made it to home plate. But the fans cheered for her anyway. Tracy had made her priorities clear. Love was more important than winning. And the fans cheered for her anyway. That is Grace. Those fans were living a life of Grace before the entire world In Romans, Paul is telling us that we are all different. That being a disciple means learning to accept that everybody is different. We have to accept those differences in love. When we lead people to Christ, that we let grace lead the way. And that each of us in on our own faith journey, where we have to stand before God on our own. We judge ourselves and love others. In the matter of choice, we let others chose. In the matter of faith, we all come together. In practice we are many, in discipleship we are one. I love to use the words of Romans 14 a lot in ministry – every knee shall now every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. Vegetarians and meat eaters can worship the same God and sit alongside one another. The Joy Will Be Our Own Frederick Buechner has often said that as much as anything, one of the things that finally made him turn his life over to God was something that the preacher George Buttrick said in a sermon one Sunday. Buttrick said that every time Jesus is crowned as Lord and King within someone's heart, this wonderful moment takes place amid "confessions, and tears, and great laughter." Buechner says that it was the joy of that last item, the "great laughter" that caused something within him to awaken and led him to want to have this holy hilarity in his own heart. Such holy mirth and deep delight should be true of everyone who receives the gift of grace. Barbara Brown Taylor imagines that in the parable, when the farmer improbably hands the one-hour pickers a whole day's wage, there must have been hoots of laughter and some "ain't we the lucky ones" good-natured back-slapping going on. But on that great and final day when Christ shall come again and bring us to himself, we should pray not only that we will indeed discover that the grace of Jesus is more than enough to get us into the kingdom. We should also pray thatwhenwe discover that eternally joyful fact, the great laughter and joyful back-slapping will be our very own. This is the last lesson that we will learn from Romans this year. Romans tells us all that we need to know about believing in Christ, about following Christ and about being together in Christian fellowship. The closer we get to following Christ, the more obvious is becomes that we are not the same. It is impossible for any of us to love together in harmony about anything – we can never agree about anything. We will never accept the same diet, or follow the same rules, or get anything done. Unless we honor the power of grace. It is God’s grace the brings us together as the church, it is God’s grace that holds us together. It is God’s grace that works in each of our lives that keeps us devoted to Christ. One day each of us will have to stand before God and give an account of our life and of our faith. Paul’s message to us – work on our faith, create a space where others are free to do the same. Each of us lives a life where we delight in God, so that God can delight in us. The holiness of laughter reminds me of a story about C. S. Lewis. A group of theologians and scholars approached the great Christian thinker and asked him, “What is the most important theological discovery you have ever made?” Lewis smiled and responded, “I exist to enjoy God’s enjoyment of me.” I came across a wonderful quote from Nadine Stair, an 85-year-old woman from the hill country of Kentucky: “If I had to live my life over again, I would dare to make more mistakes next time. I would relax. I would be sillier… I’ve been one of those persons who never went anyplace without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat, and a parachute. If I had to do it over again, I’d travel lighter.” What would you say if you had to finish this sentence: “If I had to live my life over, I would ...”? Don’t wait to experience God’s joy in your life. Do it now! Learn to play again. Enjoy God’s enjoyment of you. Remember Paul’s words: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13 NRSV). Amen! CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lose the Cape: Cycle A sermons based on second lessons for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, by Charley Reeb The real question is not even what is a “guilty pleasure” or what is a “sacred pleasure.” The real test of discipleship is whether we use our lives, our hands, our heads and our heart “to bring God pleasure,” to “honor the Lord,” to “glorify God and enjoy God forever” (as the Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it). Does your life bring the God who is just pleasure? Does your life bring the God who is love pleasure? Does your life bring the God who created a world overflowing with “milk and honey” pleasure? Enjoying the tastes, colors, sights, smells, textures, sounds of all that caused the Creator to proclaim “it is good” — thatis what “honors” the Lord and “glorifies” God. Too many times we get sucked into piling up “pleasantries” instead of enjoying sacred pleasures. Every lesson that. Jesus teaches us in intended to give us a sense of hope to move forward You may know that the great comedian W.C. Fields died with money in hundreds of bank accounts which were never located. Wherever he went he opened a bank account. Often he used fictitious names and kept no records whatsoever of his deposits. At one point, Fields told a friend in confidence that he had over seven hundred accounts and knew exactly where they were. Unfortunately he died without telling anyone else the locations of those accounts or the name in which they were held. He had one account in Berlin that alone was said to have $50,000 in it. During the bombing of that city, however, all traces of that bank and the money were destroyed. Fields attributed this strange behavior of storing money in all these cities to a dream he had repeatedly in which he saw himself stranded in a strange city without money or friends. The dread which this dream produced in Fields’ heart caused him to open these strange, anonymous accounts in every city in which he played. (1) Still, we all want to belong to someone. If we feel we have no one to love us, no one who cares, no one to whom we belong, life becomes drab and meaningless. Mary Gordon, in her novel, Final Payments, introduces a character who represents humanity in microcosm in this need. Mrs Riesart is a patient in a nursing home where she receives generous, personal care, yet she is a deeply unhappy old woman. One of the other characters in the novel, Isabel, asks her why she is so unhappy. Mrs. Riesart replies, "I’m alone I’m old and I’m dying. There’s no one who loves me enough ... What I want is to be with someone who wants me. Wants me. Or else I want to die. I don’t seem to be dying fast enough." St. Paul speaks boldly from the pages of the New Testament to Mrs. Riesart and to all the rest of us lonely people to remind us that Christians belong first of all to Jesus Christ The key to joy within ourselves and within our community is when we find our life inside of Christ. Romans 14 says that we are never alone, our lives do not belong to us alone, we belong to Christ. When we live, we live in Christ and when we die we die in Christ. Romans 8 says that there is nothing that can separate us from Christ. Not even the judgement of another person. When I was at a craft fair yesterday, I saw a cute baby onesie that said I still live with my parents. That is true – when we are children, we belong to our parents, we are a part of a family unity that takes care of us. When we get older, we belong to our spouses – they are the ones to take care of us. When we get sick, it is the doctor who has the responsibility of taking care of us, when we die the funeral director has a legal responsibility to take care of us, and during the funeral – the pastor says a prayer and gives us back to God. In life and in death, there is someone who has the responsibility to care for us and to be with us. But all along the way, Jesus has been with us. Jesus cares for us, Jesus gives us strength Jesus gives us grace, and our hope is in Jesus. Jesus prepares a place for us in life and in death. As we stand here today – it is only through the grace of God that we stand together. Romans 14:13 says Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another, Instead make up your mind not to put any stumbling block in the way of a sister of brother. Amen. Song Freely, Freely UMH 389 Prayer Loving and merciful God, we come before you this day, fresh from a week in which we have been challenged. Some of the challenges have caused us worry and strife; other challenges bring to us clear directions for our lives. In all of this, you are with us bringing healing and peace for our lives. We offer to you names of those who are ill, who mourn, who feel lost and alienated, wondering if anyone cares about them. [Congregation may offer name of someone in the above categories for prayer]. Hear our prayers, O Lord. Bring your healing mercies to all these people we have named with our hearts and our voices. We also bring to you, loving God, names and situations of great joy and celebration, for you have been in our midst during these times as well as during the difficult times. [Congregation may offer name of someone in the above categories for prayer]. Hear our praises, O God. Bring your loving presence to all these people we have named with our hearts and our voices. For it is in confidence of your abiding love and mercy that we offer this prayer. AMEN. (United Methodist Worship Ways, Nancy Townley) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Invitation to Generosity Romans 14:7 tells us, “We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.” We are in covenant with God and joined in community with one another. Let us give of our resources as those who live for the good and well-being of all. Prayer of Thanksgiving Holy God, it would have been enough if you had just breathed into each one of us and given us life. It would have been enough if you had sent Jesus to show us the Way of Love. It would have been enough if you had poured blessings into our lives and challenged us to be a blessing. And yet…you continue to lead us into lives of gratitude and service. Thank you for this opportunity to share a portion of what we’ve received. Help us be spurred on to greater acts of giving and forgiving. AMEN. (Disciples of Christ, Center for Faith and Giving). Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Go in peace into God’s world to serve and help others. Go in confidence of God’s presence with you. Go into this world with messages of hope and reconciliation. Go in love. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Community Time Benediction God does not abandon us. God’s love is steadfast. May this love inspire all our relationships as we leave this house of worship, knit together in God’s love, bound as a community of Christ, guided by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Teri McDowell Ott) Additional Illustrations Sacred Pleasures by Leonard Sweet – Romans 14:1-12 There is an old Hasidic tradition. You may have heard of it before. A large drop of honey is placed on the first page of the Torah the first time a Jewish child opens the Bible to read and study it. The child is instructed to lick the honey from the page, forever imprinting the young scholar with the memory-paste of pleasure, the conviction that the study of God’s “Word” is sweet. It is what we are calling a “sacred pleasure.” “Pleasure” in life is not something most of us immediately connect to the “sacred.” Instead the word “pleasure” is more typically coupled with another word, “guilty,” as in “guilty pleasure” or even “naughty pleasures.” It’s almost as if we think that to find some activity enjoyable, or pleasurable, means it must also be suspect. Here’s my proof: an extra rich, extra dense chocolate torte. What is it usually dubbed? “Chocolate decadence.” And of course there is the old standby favorite of “Devil’s food.” AOL just came out with a list they dubbed “Ten Guilty Pleasure Movies” — meaning movies you know you shouldn’t like, but you do anyway! (Maybe like “The Blob,” or some really weepy “chick flick,” or anything with Steven Segal). What are your “guilty pleasures?” Anyone? [This is a opening for you to get interactive here if you wish.] Let me tell you one of mine . . . . My “therapists” are named Bill and Gloria Gaither. Whenever I’m depressed, I take out from hiding one of their homecoming videos, and spend the next hour or so weeping my eyes out and cleansing my body of all those built-up toxins. Come on, now. I’m not alone here. I know some of you listen to Barry Manilow when no one else is listening. I even suspect that some of you actually like music that involves an accordion. You’d just never admit it to your kids or pewmates. For some of us, a day dug into a sandy beach, listening to the waves and scanning a stack of magazines, is our guilty pleasure. For others of us, it might be making way through an eight course, five-star meal with a two-inch-thick wine list. “Guilty Pleasures.” Why do we think we have to feel guilty about our pleasures? Are we secretly convinced that deep down God doesn’t want us to have a good time and enjoy life? Are we under the impression that our Creator couldn’t possibly take pleasure in watching us creatures savor all that creation has to offer us?... . Billy D. Strayhorn, Luxuriate In God's Grace First, read the scriptural promises. The message of hope is not really going to do us much good unless we read about it. I know that millions of Bibles are printed each year. You can find a Bible almost anywhere you go. But is the Bible read? Someone has said that if all the neglected Bibles were dusted simultaneously, we would have a record dust storm, and the sun would go into eclipse for a whole week. Perhaps the situation is not quite that bad; nonetheless, it is serious. You probably have heard about the test given to students in a prominent New England high school. Asked to give answers to simple factual questions about the Bible, among the replies were: Eve was created from an apple. Sodom and Gomorrah were lovers. Jezebel was Ahab's donkey. Jesus was baptized by Moses. The New Testament gospels were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Johnny Appleseed is a folk hero in the American heartland. Born in 1774 he traveled through the frontier country planting apple trees. What is not as well-known is that he also was a great student of the Bible and further that he shared his enthusiasm for the Bible with others. As he went about his travels he often would be welcomed to stay the night in the home of a kindly settler. During his sojourn he was observant of the personal needs of the host family. Many of these people living on the harsh, bleak frontier were lonely, frustrated and worried. Before Johnny left the home in the morning he would rip out a page in his Bible and leave it with the family. Not any old page would do but one that he thought would fit the condition of this particular family, a passage that would exude hope. In this Advent season we can be certain that God's Word has a promise to suit our personal need. Let us make this scriptural hope our own. Let us believe that the light will shine again, spring will come again, the birds will sing again, and we will hope again. Paul's final words in the lectionary text consist of a prayer or a blessing: "May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." All we can say is -- Amen! CSS Publishing Company, EMPOWERED BY THE LIGHT, by Richard Hasler Second, study the scriptural promises. It is not enough to read the Bible; we also must study it. Now, I know that the common complaint is that the Bible is too difficult to understand. But I have always liked the method of Bible study proposed by D. L. Moody, the Chicago businessman turned evangelist. He said that he studied the Bible the way he ate fish. When he came to a bone he did not throw away the whole fish. Instead, he put the bone aside and finished the rest of the fish. Even so, if he came across a difficult passage in the Bible, he did not cast away the whole Bible. He just put those verses aside for the moment and went on with his reading. Inevitably he discovered that the additional knowledge he gained could be used to go back and help explain the previously obscure passage. Third, memorize the scriptural promises. Read, study and also memorize the Bible. Why do I say that? You probably know someone like the person I met once during a hospital visit. Despite his serious illness he radiated calmness, a cheerful spirit and hope in the future. He told me his secret. He had memorized the 23rd Psalm, and each day in the morning and in the evening he repeated these words to himself. Although we have just noted that millions of Bibles are available, yet there are circumstances when we do not have ready access to the Bible. For example, in the middle of the night when we cannot sleep, when we are so sick that we cannot read, and at numerous other times the Bible itself may not be handy and we desperately need to hear God's Word. The words of scripture that we memorize will be invaluable to us in those critical moments, and further they will be with us a lifetime. Fourth, and last of all, incarnate the scriptural promises. Read, study, memorize and incarnate. In other words, let us put flesh on these words of hope, and live out in our daily existence what we say that we believe. Everyone wants to belong to someone. None of us want to go through life alone, with no one to love us, no one to care. We human beings are social creatures, made for fellowship with one another, intended to live in a community. Without someone with whom we can share our lives and our love, our hopes and our hurts, we are incomplete. God was aware of this from the very first moment of creation. "It is not good that the man should be alone," God mused after his creation of Adam. "I will make him a helper fit for him" (Genesis 2:18) - and he did! God made Eve, the first woman, and Adam knew that he would never he lonely again because Eve was "bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh." Adam knew that Eve was forever his, and Eve knew that Adam was forever hers, and they both knew they belonged to somebody. The problem, however, is that we human beings have forgotten to whom we belong first of all. When we are children, it is assumed that we belong to our parents. When people become adults, many assume that they belong first of all to their husbands or wives, or in these days of easy morality, to their live-in companions. A popular song of the seventies was entitled, "You Belong to Me," and its theme was that the object of the singer’s love belonged to him exclusively. Certainly this is not a But Paul also says we Christians belong to Jesus when we die. "None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord." Not only do we belong to Jesus first of all while we live as Christians, but we also belong to him first of all when we die as Christians. This sort of statement sounds strange to many people because the prevailing opinion today is that when we die, we belong first to the attending physician and then to the undertaker. When a person dies, nothing can be done until the attending physician pronounces that person officially dead. Even when that is accomplished, the physician must sign a release before anything else can be done. It is as though the dead person belongs to the doctor. Then the undertaker takes charge and the dead person belongs to him. It is the undertaker who prepares the body for burial and who makes all of the arrangements. Only when the dead person is lowered into the ground is the minister allowed to give the body back to him to whom the person belonged all of the time. The minister intones, "Forasmuch as the spirit of the departed hath returned to God who gave it, we therefore commit his (her) body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust ..." - and at last, the dead person is formally given back to God to whom he (she) belonged first of all. Years ago there was a Jules Feiffer strip that went something like this: A man is speaking into the telephone and you hear only his side of the conversation. "Yes, mother, I've had a hard day. Gladys has been most difficult ” I know I ought to be more firm, but it is hard. Well, you know how she is. Yes, I remember you warned me. I remember you told me she was a vile creature who would make my life miserable, and you begged me not to marry her. You were perfectly right. You want to talk to her? All right." He looks up from the telephone and calls to his wife in the next room, "Gla Comedian Danny Kaye frequently entertains at the Palladium in London where he draws standing-room-only crowds. On free afternoons, he loves to roam around the city or take in matinees. On one such afternoon, he took in a play that was being received with the reserve we've come to associate with the British. As the play was letting out, Danny overheard the play being discussed by three British army officers who were standing stiffly to one side: "Ghastly," said one. "Beastly," agreed the second. The third was tight-lipped. He didn't say a word. One of the vocal ones turned to him. "And what was your opinion, Colonel?" he asked. The Colonel explained that he had come on a pass. "Hardly cricket to speak out under the circumstances," he added. "But if you gentlemen will excuse me . . ." and with that he strode to the box office a few feet away and bought a ticket. He was back in a moment with a ticket. "A stinker, gentlemen," he said tersely, "a stinker." (6) I like that third man's approach. Until he bought a ticket he felt he was in no position to criticize. When you are tempted to complain about what kind of parent someone else is, first ask whether you are entirely the kind of parent you ought to be. Before criticizing someone else's character, ask if you have arrived at perfection yourself. If we put our criticism to that test, most of us will be mute. For we, too, are sinners saved by grace. Do you know all the facts? Have you earned the right to pass judgement? There is a little story that actually comes from the Islamic religion that sums up the biblical attitude toward the very human tendency to pass judgement on others. There was an old man who earned his living by selling all sorts of odds and ends. It seemed as if the man had no judgment because people would frequently pay him in bad coins, and he would accept them without a word of protest; or people would claim they had paid him when they hadn't, and he accepted their word for it. When it was time for him to die, he raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Oh, Allah! I have accepted many bad coins from people, but never once did I judge them in my heart. I just assumed that they were not aware of what they did. I am a bad coin too. Please do not judge me." And a Voice was heard that said, "How is it possible to judge someone who has not judged others?" (7) Do you know all the facts? Have you earned the right to judge others? Only One has earned the right to judge others. He did it on a cross 2,000 years ago. And the amazing thing is that he was the most tolerant, loving, accepting man who ever lived Our natural human tendency is to homogenize our surroundings and our acquaintances so that they are virtually indistinguishable from ourselves. But this is not a healthy environment for a body of Christ. In order to remain fit, we've got to stretch and grow, reaching out to and welcoming all God's children home to Christ even those we dislike and find distasteful. While walking along a street with one of his disciples, a sage met his rival. The sage politely greeted his rival, but the man arrogantly disregarded the greeting. The sage's young disciple was furious, condemning the ostentatious behavior of the rival sage. Waiting for a while, the sage asked his disciple a question: "Are you angry at a person with an ugly face?" "No," replied his disciple. "Then, why are you angry at a person with an ugly heart?" the sage calmly reasoned. (AndrewSunghoPark, et al., "Epiphany 6: Anger," Korean Family Devotions [Nashville: Upper Room Books, 1994], 31. Where is Christ calling you to go right now to spread the gospel? Where is the "anywhere goes" in your walk with Christ? In the irreverent comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which is a send up of the King Arthur tales, there is a scene where one of the knights, Sir Bedevere is confronted by a group of villagers. It seems they have gripped one of the local women and claim she is a witch. It's very obvious that her long crooked nose is fake and has been tied on and she's been dressed up to look like a witch. Sir Bedevere questions the evidence and the people confess that they made it all up. But they still want to burn the woman as a witch. You know, we may not judge people as witches anymore, but we do judge them by everything else under the sun. We judge people by their clothing, jobs, friends, the kind of car they drive, the music they listen to, their hair style, their family and even where they live. We love jumping to conclusions, don't we? Sometimes that's ALL the exercise some of us get. That's what normal people do, right? But don't forget, we're not the normal people. We're the abnormal people. We've given our lives to Christ. And through Christ, we're called to live by different standards. God calls us to love each other and treat each other the same, no matter what. (1) The movie Coach Carter, starring Samuel L. Jackson, is based on a true story of a basketball Coach who locked his players out of the gym and the game until they focused on their schoolwork. But in the process taught them how to play, how to succeed and how to be champions on the court and in life. There's one scene where, after quitting the team, Timo Cruz wants back on, but the price to rejoin the team is impossible to pay. Coach Carter requires him to do 2500 push-ups 1000 suicide sprints within a week. Committed, Cruz hits the deck and begins. The week is over, and Coach Carter goes to Cruz to give him the assessment of his work. Carter tells him, "I'm impressed with what you've done, but you've come up short. You owe me 80 suicides and 500 push-ups. Please leave my gym." Cruz is crushed. He's worked hard every day to try to complete the impossible task, but he failed. Coach Carter turns to his team and says he'll see them tomorrow. As the coach turns to leave the gym, one of the players says, "I'll do push-ups for him. You said we're a team. When one person struggles, we all struggle. One player triumphs, we all triumph, right?" He goes to the floor with Cruz and begins doing push-ups. A moment later, another teammate says, "I'll do some. I'll run suicides too." And then, one by one, every player but one has begun to do push-ups or run for Cruz. And even though he is weary beyond belief, Cruz continues to participate along with his teammates. And finally, the last player chooses to join in as well, saying, "I'll do some..." While Carter is encouraged by their attitude, he doesn't let them off the hook. He tells his assistant coach to, "Keep countin'. Call me when it's done." But as he leaves, you know he's proud of the boys. And you know they finally get what being a team is all about. That scene teaches us a couple of things. One, like Timo Cruz, the task of standing accountable and blameless before God is impossible. There is no way we can be perfect and not sin in a fallen world. We can give it our best shot, but we will always come up short and alone. But the Good News is that we don't have to do it alone. Christ Jesus stepped into the scene and said, "I'll take his burden of sin. I'll take her burden of sin. When they triumph, we all triumph." Or as the apostle Paul writes The great writer, Pirandello once told a story about a man filled with so much dread that it drove him mad. When he fell in love with the woman of his dreams, he pretended that he did not care about her. He was afraid that if he gave in to his feelings of love for her he would lose her. He kept up this display of disinterest so long that he nearly did lose her. When he did finally ask her to marry him and she accepted, he nearly went crazy planning the honeymoon. He told everyone that they would be going to Florence and Venice. Instead he took his bride to Naples--in the opposite direction. This way he felt he could trick the misery he knew would be awaiting him in Florence and Venice. That was the only way he could enjoy the honeymoon in Naples. (2) There are some people who live with such a feeling of dread and doom about their lives that they dismiss the possibility of joy. Even when life is being good to them, they just know that it cannot last. Somewhere--sometime--somehow--something out there is going to happen to them that will wreck their best-laid plans--that will frustrate their fondest dreams--that will crush everything they hold dear. H.G. Wells once wrote a story titled “In the Days of the Comet.” Well’s story is a somewhat typical science fiction fantasy. A mysterious green vapor of unknown origin descends from the clouds and covers the earth. The vapor has the immediate effect of putting all the earth’s people into a deep sleep for three days. When they finally awake, something amazing has happened. Their inner nature is radically transformed. Petty quarreling comes to an end. Instead of seeking fame, power and wealth the people of the world seek to serve one another. Love, kindness and generosity become more important than greed or success. In short, the perfect society emerges--a society in which the dignity of every human being is honored. (3) The God of Hope. You and I are free to choose the attitude with which we confront life. We can believe that there is a five per cent chance of today and tomorrow or we can believe the Good News of Christmas that God is alive and well and at work in our world bringing in a kingdom of love and justice and freedom. We can face the future with fear and foreboding, or we can trust in the God who has sustained us through the years and has promised us that He will never forget us nor forsake us regardless of our situation. We can choose to live in continued darkness, or we can step out into the light of hope and triumph and eternal victory. We can live for ourselves alone, or we can make the world a better place to live for all persons. Doesn’t the Good News of Advent and Christmas change your attitude about life? Doesn’t it make you anticipate that sometime--somewhere--somehow--something good, not evil, is out there waiting to happen in your life? That is the kind of change that takes place when the Christ Child is born anew in our hearts.