The Promise that Things get Better

January 8, 2026 Baptism of the Lord The Promise that things get Better Isaiah 42:1-9 Year A Prelude Greeting Call to Worship Come to the waters, beloved— where Spirit moved over at creation, where Jesus was immersed in justice, where God leaned close to us. We splash in the river of God’s joy. Come to the waters, beloved— where God’s voice thunders, where God whispers kindness. We watch as Jesus steps into the muddy mess of our lives. Come to the waters, beloved— where the Spirit gifts us so we can stand side by side with the broken and forgotten. We come because we are indeed God’s beloved children. (LectionaryLiturgies, Thom Shuman) Opening Prayer Eternal God, at the baptism of Jesus, you revealed him to be your Son, and anointed him with the Holy Spirit, Keep all who are born of water and the Spirit faithful to their calling as your people; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Posted on the Church of Scotland’s Starters for Sunday website, https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/home. Re-posted on the re:Worship blog at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2014/01/collect-baptism-of-our-lord.html. Song O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing UMH 57 A Sermon for all Ages Children’s Sermon: “Remembering Our Yes” (Bring a small bowl of water. If possible, stand near the baptismal font.) Good morning, friends! Does anyone remember a time when you said “yes” to something important? Maybe yes to helping at home… yes to being kind… or yes to following a rule? Today is a special Sunday. It’s the day we remember when Jesus was baptized. When Jesus went into the water, God said, “You are my beloved.” When you were baptized, God said the same thing to you: “You are my beloved child.” Now, I have this bowl of water. (Show water.) This water helps us remember our baptism. Even if you were very little, something important happened that day. The grown-ups—parents, grandparents, the church—said “yes” for you. They said yes to: loving you, helping you grow in faith, and teaching you how to follow Jesus. Later today, the whole church is going to say “yes” again. That’s called renewing our baptismal vows. Renewing our vows means we remember: God loves us. God is with us. And we promise to help each other follow Jesus. The Bible story today says God’s servant is gentle. It says the servant doesn’t break people when they are hurting. That’s part of our baptism promise too. When we say “yes” today, we are saying: We will be kind. We will help others. We will take care of people when they feel sad or weak. And here’s something really important: We don’t say “yes” by ourselves. Look around. (Pause.) The whole church says “yes” together. We help each other keep our promises. So when the water is used later and the questions are asked, listen carefully. That’s the church remembering who we are: God’s beloved children, called to love and serve. Let’s practice saying “yes” together. When I say, “God loves you,” you say “Yes!” God loves you! (Children respond: “Yes!”) God is with you! (“Yes!”) God calls us to help others! (“Yes!”) Let’s pray. Prayer Loving God, Thank you for the water of baptism. Thank you for loving us first. Help us keep saying yes to you, and yes to loving others. Amen Affirmation of faith We trust in God the Holy Spirit everywhere the giver and renewer of life. The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith, sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor, and binds us together with all believers in the one body of Christ, the Church. The same Spirit who inspired the prophets and apostles rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture, engages us through the Word proclaimed, claims us in the waters of baptism, feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation, and calls women and men to all ministries of the Church. (Presbyterian Outlook, A Brief Statement of Faith) Scripture Isaiah 42:1-9 Sermon The Promise that Things get Better The Messianic Age The Messianic Age. This is what every Jewish child of God was hoping, praying, and waiting for. It is easy to see why when we hear God's Old Testament promises about the Messianic Age: (Isa 2:2) In the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. (Isa 2:4) They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. (Isa 35:5-7) Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. (6) Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. (7) The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. (Isa 60:3,10-13) Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. (13) "Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you ... (11) Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations-- their kings led in triumphal procession. (12) For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined. (13) "The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the pine, the fir and the cypress together, to adorn the place of my sanctuary; and I will glorify the place of my feet. (Isa 65:20-21,25) "Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. (21) They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit ... (25) The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the LORD. What wonderful, beautiful promises. No wonder God's Jewish children could hardly wait for the Messianic Age. The Old Testament Scriptures clearly state that the beauty and wonder of the Messianic Age will become a reality; but this will be so only with the coming of the Messiah. The Messiah. It is He Who brings about the Messianic Age. Today, in the story of Jesus' baptism, Matthew tells his Jewish audience that the Messiah has come and that the Messianic Age is about to begin. And, in a departure from Jewish expectations about the Messiah, Matthew tells his Jewish audience that Messiah Jesus has come to take the sinner's place. Adrian Dieleman, Jesus: A Baptism of Repentance? ____________________ The book of Isaiah gives us such wonderful words of hope. It paints a picture of a wonderful world that works for everyone. A world of shalom – peace, justice, wholeness and wellbeing. A world where a supportive community provides all of those things for each individual. The book of Isaiah spans 500 years where the hope, that dream never fades. Our scripture for today – Isaiah 42:1-9 stands somewhere in the middle of that time period. This scripture introduces the concept of the suffering servant. A person who carries the spirit of God, who is called to lead, who cares for the community, but who would not hurt a fly. This person is able to make things happen, but in a calm, peaceful, gentle manner. We are grateful for this person, and we assume that this person is Jesus. And yet Isaiah speaks long before Jesus was born, and he speaks long after Jesus has Risen. The words of Isaiah are still relevant for today. Welcoming Mr. Forsythe Argile Smith Isaiah 42:1-9, Acts 10:34-43 Mr. Forsythe made his work as an elementary school principal look easy. He had a knack for managing his swarm of teachers, coaches, administrators, students, and parents so that teaching and learning could happen every school day. Even though he didn't try to rule with an iron hand, everyone seemed to have tremendous respect for him. He certainly didn't look like a top-shelf administrator. Not a tall man at all, he had a few strands of unruly gray hair on the top of his head with a little more hanging on for dear life around his hat line. A portly fellow, he cut a heavy-in-the-middle figure that would remind you of Santa Claus, and he always looked like he had been dressed by committee. Nothing he wore seemed to match really well or fit quite right. His signature accessory to his garbled wardrobe happened to be a pair of thick glasses that perched precariously on the end of his nose all the time. Mr. Forsythe had incredible power over the school. Teachers lived with the reality that he could fire and replace each one of them as he deemed necessary. Students knew that the stroke of his pen could have them imprisoned to detention, Saturday school, or worse. Parents learned that he had the clout to make things happen. Every member of the school board understood his depth of his influence in the community. But power didn't matter to him very much. The children in his school, however, meant the world to him. He cared deeply about them -- each one of them. For instance, he liked to drop by the third-grade classes and quiz the students on their multiplication tables. All third-graders should have a firm grip on everything from "two times one" to "nine times nine" as far as he was concerned. That's why he would arrange "surprise" visits to each of the third-grade classes. On a typical surprise visit, he would say to the teacher, "I dropped by to see if these students were as smart as the other third-grade classes." Then he would ask, "Would you mind if I asked a few questions?" That's when the fun would begin. He would walk down the aisles, point to a student at random, and throw out a question like, "Two times seven?" A correct answer got a hearty, "Great!" Answering incorrectly got an encouraging "you'll get it next time" reply. Up and down the aisle he would go, hurling multiplication table questions left and right. Then he would leave, thanking the teacher for allowing him to interrupt and adding so everyone could hear, "They're really smart, aren't they?" One day he made a surprise visit to a class in which Charlie sat quietly trying to deal with a toothache. Charlie came from a poor family that couldn't afford dental care. He didn't wear nice clothes either, and he knew it. In fact, Charlie spent much of his time at school trying to be invisible. To make matters worse, his tooth hurt on the very day Mr. Forsythe made one of his surprise visits his class. In usual fashion, Mr. Forsythe made his way up and down the aisle and quizzed one student after another, getting closer to Charlie with each step he took. Then he flashed the question at Charlie, "Six times nine?" Forgetting his pain for a split second, Charlie spoke up, "Fifty-four." Then Mr. Forsythe launched a follow-up query, "Nine times eight?" "Seventy-two!" Charlie shot back. "You're good." Mr. Forsythe said. Then he turned to the teacher and confirmed, "He's really good." After Mr. Forsythe left the classroom, Charlie thought about Mr. Forsythe's visit. The most powerful person in his third-grade world had just said in public that he mattered. For a while, his tooth stopped hurting, and his self-esteem healed a little too. As far as he was concerned, Mr. Forsythe could visit his classroom anytime. Jesus came, powerful yet gentle and caring. People who know Him that way always welcome Him into their lives. Mr. Forsythe was an ordinary man, who came to an ordinary student and give them a really profound calling. When Jesus was baptized, he knew it was time to step into his calling. God made that calling known to all of the world. His calling was to be the suffering servant of the day. In Isaiah – in the first half of the scripture – God is talking about the suffering servant, he talks in third person. He says he/him. But right after he names the characteristics of the suffering servant – he changes – he says you. I have called you for a good reason, I will hold you hand. When God says you – who is God talking about? There is some speculation that you is Jesus, or some other modern figure. But what if when God says I have called you for a reason, God is actually talking about – you – the people listening, the people who claim Jesus Christ as a savior, the people who follow Jesus, the ones who have been baptized? Jesus was baptized, and claimed – but so are we. Blessing brings responsibility When Jesus was baptized, he was given an identity, a mission and a purpose. When we are baptized we are given a mission to fulfill also. When the church forgets to stay united in its mission, when we get so caught up on ourselves, that we forget that all that we do is for the good of others, we are like a ship without a sail. Jesus mission to feed the hungry, to help the blind to see, to set the prisoners free is our mission. Our assignment throught baptism, our call to be obedient servants. God is trying to do a new thing in the world, he calls you, he accepts you, because he needs you. A young girl treasures the times with her granddad, because everyday he prays with her and for her and makes her feel important in the eyes of God. She misses her grandfather deeply when he passes away, because no one else prays for her. One day she asks her mom why she doesn’t bless her the way her grandfather did. Her mom tells her that she blesses her daughter everyday, she prays to God everyday on her behalf, but she doesn’t have to wisdom to make sure that she knows. How many of the people in our lives know that we pray for them, that we accept them, that they are important to us. Being baptized, blessed by God is not only a gift, it is a responsibility. Your responsibility is to be a blessing to other people. What if baptism was God’s way of starting a quiet revolution today – not a revolution of protest, force, or violence. But a revolution of humble love. Baptism is not just a ticket to heaven, it is an invitation to be the body of Christ for the world. We are called to care for others, to build community, to model God’s love for people who cant see it any other way. Through the words of Isaiah – baptism is connected to justice, but also to mission. The Connection between Baptism and Mission There is a vital connection between baptism and mission. Another way to put it is that there is a vital connection between going down and going out. We do not play our part in the world's redemption when we climb ladders so much as when we are pulled downward. It is out of our pain that we heal. It is out of our poverty that we make others rich. It is from our ignorance that we enlighten others. It is by our brokenness that others become whole. It is from our dying that others come to life. We must follow Jesus in his descent, we must accept his downward mobility and our own if we are to be his true disciples, if we are to allow resurrection in our lives. In this terrible demand that we go down with Jesus in downward mobility, that we go down with him in the murky waters of the river and the dark waters of death -- in this terrible demand there is good news for us. For we already know what it means to go down. Perhaps you went down at some time in the past -- an unhappy childhood, a broken marriage, a career failure, a horrible bereavement. Perhaps you find yourself down at the bottom right now -- estranged from a loved one, troubled by an aging body, upset at a world that's changed too fast. You already know what it means to go down. You feel confused, ashamed, and without any power. Your downward descent leaves you groggy. The good news is this: there is power in that downward descent. Not power to grab and keep yourself, but power to use in serving other people. Whatever it is that has taken you to the bottom has been a baptism – if you stand out of the way and let it work. The death you have experienced can be life for someone else. That baptism of yours, horrible and unwelcome though it was, can lead you to some unexpected mission where Christ will rise again in you and your neighbor. Charles Hoffacker, Downward Mobility _____________________________________ Through baptism we have been given the power not just to assess the world – but to change the world. We have the power to make a difference. Remember your baptism and be thankful. Let’s Pray…….. Song Breathe on me Breath of God UMH 420 Prayer Lord’s Prayer Baptismal Renewal (You do not have to mention to invitation at all) Invitation Leader: Beloved of God, today we remember that we are a people formed in water and Spirit. We remember that Jesus stepped into the waters of the Jordan, not because he needed to be cleansed, but to show us what it means to be fully human— to say yes to God, yes to belovedness, yes to the work of gentle justice. Today we step into that yes again. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Michael Anthony Howard) Renunciation of Sin and Profession of Faith UMH page 40 Thanksgiving over the Water UMH 41 Prayer of Dedication As a river carries life to land, take our gifts and carry them into the world, God of waters. There, may they set people free, open closed eyes and clenched fists, proclaim faith instead of fear, share peace instead of platitudes. This we pray in the name of the Beloved. Amen. Affirmation God is the creator of wind which stirs us to compassion and the mover of wind which carries God’s cries for justice into every corner of creation. Jesus is the Beloved who stepped out of Glory into the water of baptism, who muddied his feet walking the dusty road to death, who was raised to make us new. The Spirit still comes, resting upon us like a dove, transforming our ordinary lives into gifts of peace and reconciliation, sending us into a broken world to bring healing and hope. God in Community, Holy in One, you are our faith, our hope, our life, our love. This we believe. Amen. (Lectionary Liturgies, Thom Shuman, 2026) A Moment for Stewardship Prayer of Thanksgiving God of all good gifts, thank you for the gift of baptism, which marks us for life here and life eternal. Please accept our offerings as signs of our love for you and our desire to share Good News with all who are eager to claim new life. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook The heavens have opened and we have heard God’s voice. Let us go to speak up for all whom the world ignores. We have stood in the waters of baptism gathered into the welcoming arms of Jesus. Let us go to embrace everyone who finds the doors of hope, justice, life slammed in their faces. We have felt the touch of the Spirit resting upon us like a gentle dove. Let us go to be light in the shadows cast by the privileged and powerful, and bring peace to the broken places. (Lectionary Liturgies, Thom Shuman,2026) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Hear the voice of God that claimed you in baptism: you are precious and beloved in God’s sight. God has claimed our lives in baptism that we might die to sin and be raised to new life. God’s Spirit empowers us now to follow Jesus into our world, so as you go, lift up the broken hearted and stand with the oppressed. Love God with your whole lives and love neighbors as yourselves. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Roger Gench) Additional Illustrations Welcome To a Journey The story is told of a pastor's words to a baby shortly after he had baptized her. No doubt, the minister was speaking as much to the congregation as to the infant. "Little sister, by this act of baptism, we welcome you to a journey that will take your whole life. This isn't the end. It's the beginning of God's experiment with your life. What God will make of you, we know not. Where God will take you, surprise you, we cannot say. This we do know and this we say -- God is with you." And God will be with us as we live out our baptism. William B. Kincaid, III, And then Came the Angel, CSS Publishing Company Jesus' Consecration Some years ago, a Scottish minister told his congregation about dreaming he had died. When he came to the pearly gates, to his dismay, he would be denied entrance until he presented his credentials. Proudly the Pastor articulated the number of sermons preached and the prominent pulpits occupied. But Saint Peter said no one had heard them in heaven. The discouraged servant enumerated his community involvement. He was told they were not recorded. Sorrowfully, the pastor turned to leave, when Peter said, "Stay a moment, and tell me, are you the man who fed the sparrows?" "Yes," the Scotsman replied, "but what does that have to do with it?" "Come in," said Saint Peter, "the Master of the sparrows wants to thank you." Here is the pertinent, though often overlooked, point: great and prominent positions indicate skill and capacity, but small services suggest the depth of one's consecration. And so it is with Jesus' Baptism. He submits to John's baptism of repentance even though he himself was perfect and had no need to repent. Jesus identified with our sins by being baptized. He joined in the popular movement of his day. It was a grass roots movement started by a desert monk named John the Baptist. John was calling for the repentance of Israel. Jesus chose to be baptized because he wanted to participate with the people in their desires to be close to God. Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com. Adapted from G. Curtis Jones, 1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching, Nashville: Broadman, p. 241. _____________________ Meaning of Baptism Those who are baptized in Jesus do not need to strive after a new life. They have already attained new life through dying with Christ. But they do need to nurture that new life so it can grow and mature. That's what church is for. That's what Bible study is for. That's what prayer is for. It is like the Parable of the Sower. Many of those seeds sprouted up, but only a few grew into maturity. The rest withered and died. A wealthy businessman was horrified to see a fisherman sitting beside his boat, playing with a small child. "Why aren't you out fishing?" asked the businessman. "Because I caught enough fish for one day," replied the fisherman. "Why don't you catch some more?" "What would I do with them?" "You could earn more money," said the businessman. "Then with the extra money, you could buy a bigger boat, go into deeper waters, and catch more fish. Then you would make enough money to buy nylon nets. With the nets, you could catch even more fish and make more money. With that money you could own two boats, maybe three boats. Eventually you could have a whole fleet of boats and be rich like me." "Then what would I do?" asked the fisherman. "Then," said the businessman, "you could really enjoy life." The fisherman looked at the businessman quizzically and asked, "What do you think I am doing now?" The baptism of Jesus is dying to our self-centered endeavors and being resurrected into a life marked by grace and love. When we live in the baptism of Jesus, we touch the hearts of others and help open them to the Holy Spirit and new life in Christ. Are you living and growing in the new life you have been given? Paul Peterson, The Waters of Death ___________________ We Draw the Circle Too Small Roy Lloyd, a Lutheran minister, once interviewed Mother Teresa. He said that one of his questions and one of her answers stands out in his mind as "a bright sun burning in my mind." He asked her, "What's the biggest problem in the world today?" And she answered, without hesitation, "The biggest problem in the world today is that we draw the circle of our family too small. We need to draw it larger every day." With all that is evil and wrong in this world today it would be easy to answer that question with a hundred different events. That's what makes Mother Teresa's response so jilting. She is saying that the problem is not so much with the world as it is with us. We need to see more people as our neighbor than we are currently doing. I see Jesus doing this in his baptism. In his baptism he included us in his righteousness. He identified with humanity, with our need to be cleansed, and our need to be made pure. If you have been baptized you have been drawn, by Jesus' baptism, into the circle of God's family. Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com. ____________________ What Will You Do with Your Gift? There is a folk tale from India that summarizes our thoughts this morning. It seems that there was a good king who ruled wisely and who ruled well. One day the king called his three daughters together and told them he was leaving on a long journey. "I wish to learn about God, so I will need to go away and spend a long time in prayer. In my absence I will leave the three of you in charge. Before I leave I would like to leave each of you with a gift; a gift I pray will help you learn how to wisely use your power to rule." Then he placed in each of their hands a single grain of rice. The first daughter tied a long golden thread around her grain of rice and placed it in a beautiful crystal box. Every day she looked at it and reminded herself that she was powerful. The second daughter took one look at the common grain of rice, and threw it away, thus squandering her father's mysterious gift. The third daughter just looked at her grain of rice for a long, long time - until she finally understood what to do with it. She went outside and planted it in the ground. And it became a seed, giving life beyond itself, eventually turning into vast fields of hope and nourishment for others. When the father returned years later, he asked his three daughters what they had done with their grains of rice. Though he was polite to his first two daughters, he did not respond to their explanations with much enthusiasm. It was only after the king saw the fields of grain resulting from his third daughter's wisdom that he responded with delight. Taking the crown off his head, he placed it on hers, saying, "Beloved, you alone have learned the meaning of power." From that day forward, the youngest daughter ruled the kingdom. She ruled long, and she ruled wisely, and she ruled well. Brothers and sisters, this day as we remember the blessings and power of our baptism, as we set apart brothers and sisters for particular tasks of ministry, I pray that all of us will continue to be God's delight - powerful servants - pouring out our power for the hope and nourishment of the world. William R. White, Stories For The Journey (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1988), adapted by Susan R. Andrews, The Offense of Grace, CSS Publishing Company Messages from God A few years ago there were billboards scattered throughout the United States with messages from God. Some guy had purchased the space and conducted an advertising campaign for God. Actually, the person responsible for these "Messages from God" chose to remain anonymous. The Smith Agency in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, launched the advertising campaign in September 1998. Andrew Smith, the agency's president, said that an individual simply appeared in their office one day and hired them on the spot. He said that their agreement with this individual prohibited them from releasing his name but he did say that the person is quite well known. These 15 messages signed by God have appeared on billboards and buses: 1. Let's Meet at My House Sunday Before the Game.--God 2. C'mon Over and Bring the Kids.--God 3. What Part of "Thou Shalt Not ..." Didn't You Understand?--God 4. We Need to Talk.--God 5. Keep Using My Name in Vain And I'll Make Rush Hour Longer.--God (This add is placed in congested Urban areas). 6. Loved the Wedding, Invite Me to the Marriage.--God 7. That "Love Thy Neighbor" Thing, I Meant It.--God 8. I Love You ... I Love You ... I Love You.--God 9. Will The Road You're on Get You to My Place?--God 10. Follow Me.--God 11. My Way Is the Highway.--God 12. Need Directions?--God 13. You Think It's Hot Here?--God (During the Summer) 14. Tell the Kids I Love Them.--God 15. Have You Read My #1 Best Seller? There Will Be a Test.--God It's a cute campaign and clever and it would be nice if God actually would spend a little more time advertising his thoughts. But this exposes the fault in us humans. We want a definitive answer. We want some rules to go by and we want to be told how to behave and what we should do. The Ten Commandments do this for us but we slowly found out --through centuries and centuries of countless sins and human atrocities--that we were not able to abide by them. So what is God to do? Take out an add campaign on our city buses and billboards? No, I don't think so. Instead he does something very different. He says, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." What a difference! Instead of rules written on tablets, buses, and billboards, he says, "I'd like to introduce you to someone special. Here, I want you to meet my son. I love him a great deal. I am so proud of him." What do you do about that? It's one thing to forget a commandment. It's quite another to slam the door in the face of a relative. Brett Blair, Sermons.com. ____________________ The Unbaptized Arm Ivan the Great became the great sovereign ruler of all of Russia during the Fifteenth Century. He brought together warring tribes and independent provinces. He has been called the gatherer of all of Russia. As a fighting man he was courageous. As a general he was brilliant. He drove out the Tartars and established peace across the nation. However, Ivan was so busy waging his campaigns that he did not have a family. His friends and advisers were quite concerned. They reminded him that there was no heir to the throne, and should anything happen to him the union would shatter into chaos. “You must take a wife who can bear you a son.” The busy soldier statesman said to them that he did not have the time to search for a bride, but if they would find a suitable one, he would marry her. The counselors and advisers searched the capitals of Europe to find an appropriate wife for the great tsar. And find her, they did. They reported to Ivan of the beautiful dark eyed daughter of the King of Greece. She was young, brilliant, and charming. He agreed to marry her sight unseen. The King of Greece was delighted. It would align Greece in a favorable way with the emerging giant of the north. But there had to be one condition, “He cannot marry my daughter unless he becomes a member of the Greek Orthodox Church.” Ivan’s response, “I will do it!” So, a priest was dispatched to Moscow to instruct Ivan in Orthodox doctrine. Ivan was a quick student and learned the catechism in record time. Arrangements were concluded, and the tsar made his way to Athens accompanied by 500 of his crack troops--his personal palace guard. He was to be baptized into the Orthodox church by immersion, as was the custom of the Eastern Church. His soldiers, ever loyal, asked to be baptized also. The Patriarch of the Church assigned 500 priests to give the soldiers a one-on-one catechism crash course. The soldiers, all 500 of them, were to be immersed in one mass baptism. Crowds gathered from all over Greece. What a sight that must have been, 500 priests and 500 soldiers, a thousand people, walking into the blue Mediterranean. The priests were dressed in black robes and tall black hats, the official dress of the Orthodox Church. The soldiers wore their battle uniforms with of all their regalia — ribbons of valor, medals of courage, and their weapons of battle. Suddenly, there was a problem. The Church prohibited professional soldiers from being members; they would have to give up their commitment to bloodshed. They could not be killers and church members too. After a hasty round of diplomacy, the problem was solved quite simply. As the words were spoken and the priests began to baptize them, each soldier reached to his side and withdrew his sword. Lifting it high overhead, every soldier was totally immersed-everything baptized except his fighting arm and sword. That is a true historical fact. The unbaptized arm. What a powerful picture of Christianity today. How many unbaptized arms are here this morning? How many unbaptized wills are here? How many unbaptized talents? Unbaptized check books? Unbaptized social activities? How many are there here this morning? Wayne Dehoney, Walnut Street Baptist Church. ______________________________ The Majesty of God Roy L. Smith tells about an aged and scholarly minister with a flair for astronomy who spent the night on a California mountaintop with a group of young men from his church. It so happened that a little after midnight two great stars came into conjunction, and the dear old man went from sleeping bag to sleeping bag, shaking them and shouting, “Get up! Get up! Don’t miss it! Don’t let God Almighty put on such a show as this for just this old mule and me!” Anyone who is sensitive to the beauty of nature sees God daily. When was it that you first realized the majesty of God? Perhaps it was at the birth of your first child. What greater miracle in all of creation is there than this--the birth of a new human being? As we watch that child learn to smile and to make sounds--then to talk and to walk and finally to grow into a mature person, we are led to the dramatic realization that there is more to life than mere physics and chemistry. Behind creation stands a Creator. When was it that you first realized the majesty of God? King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com

Marching to Zion

November 27, 2022 First Sunday of Advent Year A Isaiah 2:1-5 Marching to Zion Opening Song Welcome Advent Song Comfort, O Comfort My People by Sally Ahner Advent Candle lighting Call to Worship (Isaiah 2, Psalm 122) I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord! In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains. Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord!(United Methodist Ministry Matters, Laura Bartlett) Song O Come, O Come, Emmanuel UMH 211 Children’s Sermon Come rushing in, pretending to look for lost items or appearing very frazzled… Oh no, I’m late, it’s my turn to talk, where are my things? I’m not ready for this at all…where did I put the…? Oh, hi, kids! Well….I’m sorry. It looks like I can’t find…I’m not sure…you know, I am not very prepared right now. See, it’s my clock’s fault! (Hold up broken clock, or day planner or calendar). Yeah, it doesn’t seem to be working, so I didn’t realize what time it really was, and I didn’t know that… well, I guess I’m just not very ready today. Have you ever felt like something was happening, and you weren’t prepared for it? Maybe you had a test at school you didn’t study for…or a game or performance that you wanted to practice for more. Or you woke up late and felt rushed. What about preparing for visitors? What kinds of things do you have to do if you have a friend coming over, or family visiting for holidays? You probably have to clean your room, make sure you have plenty of snacks, figure out when company will arrive…(allow some child responses) Well, today we are talking about a very special sort of preparation. We are talking about getting ready for Jesus! Now, we are entering the season of Advent…do you know what “Advent” means? It means “coming”, and we are getting ready for the coming of Jesus! A lot of people around this time of year get ready for Christmas, maybe by shopping or decorating or getting busy with baking and wrapping andthings…but in the church, we are getting ready to honor the birth of Jesus. God came to Earth as a baby… the people in that time had been hearing prophecies and predictions about Him, and they were eagerly awaiting the birth of the Messiah. We know that Jesus already came, and we get to celebrate and be grateful for how God kept His promises in that way! But guess what? Jesus is going to come back someday! The Bible tells us that Jesus will return again, and all the sadness will go away and he’ll scoop us up and take us to Heaven! Do you know when that will be? Well…me neither. In fact, no one knows when Jesus will come back again. It might be tomorrow…it might be in a hundred years! But He tells us to be ready…wait…how can we be ready for something if we don’t know when or how it will happen?? Well, we want to prepare our hearts. God is always present with us, and He wants us to be mindful of that presence and live in a way that pleases Him. We should daily be in prayer and study our Bibles. And we can be excited that He will come back again. So as we get ready for Christmas, remember to be thankful for the coming of Jesus. And rejoice in the excitement that we will one day see Him face to face! Children’s Prayer MomentDear God, Thank you for coming to Earth for us Thank you for keeping your promises to save us Help us to live in your presence And know what it means to prepare our hearts for You Thank you for your love We love you, God! Thank you for Jesus. In His name, Amen! (Kristin Schmidt) Confession and Grace We gather together in this season of Advent anticipating hope, praying for peace, attempting to cultivate joy and share love amidst commotion, grief, despair and uncertainty. Moment of silence All: In a world full of hopelessness, We have sometimes forgotten that you are our hope, dear God. Consumed by the chaos of the world, We lean into helplessness instead of your loving embrace. We cling to the stony roads and the bitter rods Felt in days when unborn hope had died; We’ve forgotten that you promised us hope for a future. So, stimulate our memory, dear God. Remind us of that hope you assured us of. Be with us as we cling to it in the midnight hours of waiting. WORDS OF GRACE Let us know that God gives us unmerited hope for a future, peace like a river, joy everlasting, and love. No misstep can separate us from the gifts of God. Amen. (United Church of Christ, Rev. Mia McClain) Responsive Reading Psalm 122 UMH 845 Passing of the Peace Scripture Isaiah 2:1-5 Sermon Marching to Zion Advent always starts upside down and at the ending. There is a popular Facebook post that has been circulating for a few weeks now. Advent is about learning to wait and preparing ourselves. But the post explains, we are not waiting and preparing for Baby Jesus and Christmas. We are waiting and preparing for a better world. We are waiting and preparing for the second coming of Christ. In order to prepare for a better world, we have to get in touch with what needs to change about this one. Because of rumors and the images of films and television. We all have a vision of what the end of the world will look like. It is going to be a terrible time. There are going to be earthquakes, the government is going to fall apart, people are not going to have access to food and essentials. There is going to be a lot of chaos and confusion. And then Jesus comes out of the sky. And then comes the day that we have all been dreading – judgment day – Where we are on one side of the scale and a feather is on the other side, and we get punished for all of the bad things that we have done in life – and we have to beg Jesus to let us into heaven because deep down inside we are a really nice person living in bad circumstances. That is not how it works. That is not what judgement day is all about. God’s judgement is not intended to punish us, it is intended to hold us accountable. And it doesn’t happen at the end of the our lives, or even the end of the world as we know it. It happens in the midst of our lives. In a lot of ways the book of Isaiah is known as the book of judgement. The entire book is a warning of God’s impending doom on the nation if they do not return to the ways of God. People have gotten greedy, self centered. They think that life is about their comfort and not about the wellbeing of all people. Isaiah is reminding them that God is watching them and calling them back to being a kind and caring people who take care of one another. But instead of speaking judgment as a bad thing – Isaiah speaks judgement as a primary source of hope. Isaiah 2 – the beginning of a very long book is a vision of the way things could be. It is a vision of peace, justice and wellbeing. Even us who read it today – know that things will never be this way. It says Jerusalem will be the place where everyone will come to know peace. It is the nature of the wolf to kill the lamb, and yet Isaiah says that the wolf will lie with the lamb, and the weapons of mass destruction will be turned into tools used for feeding people. And then the world will turn back to being a place where God is the center of everything and we love one another. We all know that will never happen. That is about as likely as Jesus coming back to earth and living amongst us a second time. And yet Isaiah tells that story and the people find hope in it. And it is that hope that sustains them. Insert Martin Luther story. I Would Plant an Apple Tree The story is told of the Reformation leader Martin Luther being asked what he would do if he were to discover that the world were coming to an end tomorrow. Luther’s response: “I would plant an apple tree.” It was Luther’s way, I suspect, of asserting that our calling is ever to trust in God’s faithfulness and to seek to be faithful followers of Jesus, day in and day out. Our calling is to embrace the sharp edge of expectant hope, to affirm that, even now, God may well be at work in the world around us. Joel D. Kline, The Sharp Edge of Expectation As Christians – we are told that we are the people who should carry that hope to the rest of the world. And yet where does that hope come from in a world that is so obsessed with violence. So much so, that we spend thousands of dollars on ways to kill others. We all see the stories of the war in Ukraine, and how they are being ravished with weapons of mass destruction. And there have been countless wars before that one. The history of society has been the history of war. The story of Isaiah is told in the backdrop of a violent take over, where their country was being destroyed by opressors. And Isaiah reminds us that in order to find the peace of God, first we have to put down our weapons. And turn them into plowshares. Guns aren’t the only weapons that hurt people. There are many things that we use to tear down others. Monty Python. Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition In Monty Python's sketch, "The Spanish Inquisition," a man is being questioned in a way that surprises him and he says, "Mr. Wentworth just told me to come in here and say that there was trouble at the mill, that's all - I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition." As if on cue, inquisitors burst into the room and one of them says, "NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise…surprise and fear…fear and surprise…. Our two weapons are fear and surprise…and ruthless efficiency…. Our three weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency…and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope…. Our four…no… Amongst our weapons…. Amongst our weaponry…are such elements as fear, surprise…. I'll come in again." The inquisitors exit the scene to re-enter and begin the speech again. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition. "If the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into" (Matthew 24:43). The Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. Mary Hinkle Shore, The Element of Surprise How are people being hurt today? What are the weapons besides guns that need to be turned around? How do we hurt others? What weapons do we need to put down? Story In the late 1930’s, Max Schneider, a tenant farmer, was having a tought time of it on the land he farmed in North Dakota. The great depression still had a tight grip on the nations, and farmers ere victoims perpahs as much as anyone in the country. Prices for cash crops had hit rock bottom and for Max and oter farmers, it cost as much to raise the crops as the money they received for harvest. Max countly continue to fee his family. As he and his wife discussed the situation, Max told her what he had hears from other farmers when he was in town. I don’t know if it is true or not, he said, but I hear that scrap dealers are buying up old rusted machinery – in fact, metal of any kind. I thought I would scout around the countryside and collect some of those old rusted pieces we see in the fields and sell the stuff to a dealer – I hear there’s one not too far from here. What in the world do they do with the stuff? His wife wanted to know. I a not sure Max replied after thinking about it for a moment. But I have heard that a lot of that scrap metal is being sold to Japan for war. They need it to make bombs and guns for a war that started in the Far East. His wife thought it was horrible to turn old machinery into bombs. Max agreed, but was willing to sell it if it meant some extra money. They needed it for the kids school clothes. For the next few years, Max roamed all over the county to find scrap iron. He did not make a lot of money, but it did help a little. Years passed, and the kids grew up, went to college, moved out of the house. He stopped selling to Japan when WWII started and they were not allowed to sell to Japan. When they retired they moved to Arizona. While there, they noticed that there were acres and acres of old planes just sitting as if they were in a junk yard. Max got an idea – what if he bought some of those planes and sold them for scrap metal. When he told his wife, she chuckled and asked if he was in the business again. I cant imagine what they would do with scrap metal now. Perhaps they will turn it into innovative farm machinery he said. It is not just a matter of putting our weapons down – how can we turn them into creative ways to help people to live better lives. When we think of Isaiah’s story – we think that it is not possible. When we look at our world – to think that we will never live in peace. And yet Isaiah’s message is that it is possible and that it starts with us. In order for the world to change, first we have to change. Little girl – I Don’t Like This World The door slammed. There was a rush upstairs. The man looked at the clock; it was time for his daughter to be home from school. Fourth grade was not going very well, and from the sound of the slam of the door, it had not improved. He went up to her room and asked about her day. “It was awful,” she said, and then she filled in the details. When she unzipped her backpack at school, her homework was nowhere to be found. Her normally charming teacher snarled at the class. The morning dragged on to lunch, when none of the cafeteria choices looked appetizing. The class went outside to the playground and her best friend decided to play with somebody else. To top it off, a big kid named Kevin had made fun of her on the bus. “It was a rotten day,” she sobbed, and he held her. After about ten minutes, she stopped quivering. He rubbed her back and she blew her nose. One more hug, and then he went downstairs. About a half hour later, he thought it sounded unnaturally quiet, so he sneaked upstairs to see what was happening. To his surprise, she was down on her knees with her hands clasped and her eyes shut, and she was murmuring something. “Honey,” he said, “is everything all right?” “I’m okay, Daddy, I’m just praying.” “That’s good,” he whispered. “What are you praying for?” “Dad, I’ve decided I don’t like this world, so I’m praying for a new one.” Whether she knew it or not, cute as she was, she was rooting herself in thousands of years of Christian tradition. Ever since Jesus appeared among us, Christians have been praying for a whole new world. That’s what lies behind Scripture texts like the one we heard from the twenty-first chapter of Luke. William G. Carter, Praying for a Whole New World, CSS Publishing Company That is what Advent is all about – praying for a new world. Being aware of the chaos and confusion and understanding that just because that is who it is, it doesn’t have to be that way. We are not getting ready for Christmas, we are getting ready for Christ’s reign in our lives and in the world. Judgement is not about punishment, judgement is about justice. Where there is justice, there is peace, where there is peace there will be wellbeing. Shalom only happens when God is the center of everything that we do. We don’t have to fight for God, or create God, or make people do anything different. All we have to do is recognize God in the world around us and stay focused on what God calls us to do for others. If Christ did come back, it could happen, would we even know that he looks like? Probably this advent – there is some work for us to do to get ready for his return. First we have to see the chaos and confusion of the world. We have to get in touch with the needs of the world for a saviour. Second we have to see the vision for how things can be better. Have hope that Christ has the power to make it so. And that Christ will use that power – one day. Every good deed that we do to help others puts us one step closer to Christ and his fulfillment of peace, justice and wellbeing for all people. This advent our them will be the hope of Isaiah. He encourages us to imagine a world of peace and set forward to live in it. We have to have the freedom to imagine that world and the courage to redeem it. This advent as we make our journey up to the house of God – Isaiah vision does include us. In verse 5 Isaiah has instructions for each of us – Come children of Jacob – let us walk in the light of the world. Amen. Song We’ve a Story to Tell the Nations UMH 569 Pastoral Prayer God of love and mercy, thank you for your great gift of your Child, Jesus Christ, who fills us with all that we need. Merciful God, we are fully aware that not all your children are able to bask in joy or peace during this season. We pray for peace within all walls: walls within our own homes, walls that surround each city and town. We pray that during this season of Advent we may usher your promise of salvation into our lives and that we may share the Good News of our Savior with others. We pray that the promise of your birth may be the promise that we live in and share at home, at work and at school. May we be moved to compassion and action in your name. We pray this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ who taught us all to pray, saying... (United Methodist Board of Discipleship, Rev. Elizabeth Aguilar) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment (only print the prayer) Invitation to the Offering If this Advent is to be about more than going through the motions, then we must get ready for the Prince of Peace in new and radical ways. What can we do to signal our readiness for the coming of Christ into this very place? We can start with a total commitment of our resources and our lives to the cause of God’s peace in the world. When we give our financial gifts to the ministry of this church, the benefits travel widely through the connections of our denomination, but nowhere is the impact greater than in our own hearts. I invite you to use this time of offering as an opportunity to get ready for Christ’s arrival. Offering Prayer (Isaiah 2, Psalm 122, Matthew 24) Thank you, God. Thank you for the wake-up call, reminding us to be ready. Thank you for not giving up on your vision of peace. Thank you for the opportunity to gather each week in your house, that we might encourage one another to stay on your path. And thank you for the opportunity to give these gifts for your ministry, that together we might help the world be ready to receive the Prince of Peace, in whose name we pray. Amen. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Laura Bartlett) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook As you begin the journey of Advent, remember that you are partners with Christ in bringing in the realm of God, and that in the days of uncertainly as the world is transformed, be watchful and stay awake, remembering that Christ prays for you, and draws you into the very heart of God. May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and may God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, remain with you always. Amen (Presbyterian Outlook, Barbara Chaapel) Community Time Benediction Go forth and walk the path of the Lord. Go forth and live as one instructed in the ways of the Lord. Take the weapons of your life and turn them into instruments of peace and justice. Praise be to our God who shows us the way! (United Methodist Board of Discipleship, Randy Clay) Additional Illustrations Keeping Hope Alive At the university there was a piano teacher that was simply and affectionately known as "Herman." One night at a university concert, a distinguished piano player suddenly became ill while performing an extremely difficult piece. No sooner had the artist retired from the stage when Herman rose from his seat in the audience, walked on stage, sat down at the piano and with great mastery completed the performance. Later that evening, at a party, one of the students asked Herman how he was able to perform such a demanding piece so beautifully without notice and with no rehearsal. He replied, "In 1939, when I was a budding young concert pianist, I was arrested and placed in a Nazi concentration camp. Putting it mildly, the future looked bleak. But I knew that in order to keep the flicker of hope alive that I might someday play again, I needed to practice every day. I began by fingering a piece from my repertoire on my bare board bed late one night. The next night I added a second piece and soon I was running through my entire repertoire. I did this every night for five years. It so happens that the piece I played tonight at the concert hall was part of that repertoire. That constant practice is what kept my hope alive. Everyday I renewed my hope that I would one day be able to play my music again on a real piano, and in freedom." Source Unknown Modern Day Perils I will never forget one particular testimony I heard on one particular occasion in the church I served in Atlanta. He was a seminary professor, and he and his family were joining the church. And when it came his turn, he said, “I’m joining this church because those cannons across the street on the grounds of the State Capitol Building are pointed directly at us.” I thought at the time, “That’s a strange answer.” I had never noticed the cannons across the street. And I would look for them the next day, and, sure enough, there they would be, sitting there as mute relics of some war and pointing straight at the stone gothic sanctuary of my church across the street. I would note that, were they loaded, they could blow away the whole narthex. But at that particular moment in that particular Session meeting, I thought to myself, “That’s a strange answer.” “I’m joining this church,” he said, “because those cannons are pointed directly at us.” People join the church for many reasons, but have you ever heard a reason like that? As I got to know this seminary professor, I began to understand why he would join a church because of cannons pointed at it. Holding a Ph.D. from Duke, he was a student of Stanley Hauerwas. If you’ve never read any Hauerwas, I hope you will before you leave this place. Hauerwas has written widely about the modern-day perils of attempting to follow Jesus Christ in this culture. He and others have described Christians in our time as being something like “resident aliens” — faithful colonists in an otherwise hostile, post-Christian, secular society. He has tracked the decline of what he calls “the Constantinian arrangement” between the church and the powers-that-be, and he has asserted — rightly, I think — that that arrangement between the church and the emperor, which got started with Constantine, is breaking down in our time. I know enough about Stanley Hauerwas to have a sense of why a student of his would be intrigued at the thought of joining a church because it sits across the street from a hall of power and has cannons pointed at it. Theodore J. Wardlaw, Ethics and Eschatology Never Give Up Hope In Anne Tyler's novel, “The Amateur Marriage,” we witness a sad series of events. The book's main characters are Michael and Pauline, a pair of World War II-era sweethearts who get married and eventually have three children. But then one day their oldest child, Lindy, just disappears. She runs away from home and promptly falls off the face of the earth. For the first days, weeks, and even months, they watch for her return. They seize on any and every clue as to her whereabouts. The pace, they peer out windows, they listen for a key scratching at the front door's lock, they sit bolt upright each time they think they hear footfalls on the driveway. But Lindy does not return. Over the years, her absence becomes just another part of life. They never finally give up on the idea that they'd see her again, but they stop watching for her. At first they were certain she'd be back soon. They would not have been at all surprised had she walked back through that front door. Years later, though, the surprise flipped: after a while, they would have been surprised if she had come back. Lindy does return eventually, although her mother Pauline never lives to see it. When Lindy shows back up, her father says to her, "Your mother never gave up hope, I could tell." Of course, Pauline had gotten on with life. But she just had a way of glancing out the window that let you know the hope was still there. When she had the chance to take a cruise with a group of friends, she refused. She came up with a dozen excuses but everyone knew that deep down the real reason was that she didn't want to be gone in case Lindy came back. We may not live to see our Lord's return. But as we go through our routines in these days of Noah, we certainly want it to be true that as people look at the shape of our lives, they can say of also us, "Those Christians never give up hope. We can tell." Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observations

The Problem with Two Masters

October 13, 2018 Matthew 6:24 Year B The Problem with two masters (based on the Treasure stewardship program) Children’s Sermon: PREPARATION: This lesson can be given with no preparation OR you can cut a heart out of "fun foam" and attach a magnet to the back. (At a craft store you can buy strips of magnet with sticky back that you can cut into strips.) With a sharpie, write, "Jesus wants my heart" on the heart. LESSON: There is a story in the Bible about a rich young man. He came to Jesus and wondered what he needed to do to get into heaven. Jesus told him he needed to follow the 10 commandments. The young man assured Jesus that he had always done that, even since he was a child about the same age as some of you. Jesus loved this man very much. He could tell what was in his heart--what he treasured most. Jesus told the young man there was only one thing left. He should sell everything that he owned and give the money to the poor and then he would have treasures in heaven. The young man went away very sad because he had many possessions and he wanted to keep them. Now, Jesus wasn't telling the man that his possessions were bad. Jesus was telling the man that he wanted him to love him, Jesus, above everything else and then he would give the young man the free gift of heaven. Jesus wanted his heart. Jesus wants our hearts too. He wants each of us to love Him more than anything else because that is how much he loves us. If we love him most of all, we will get to go to heaven with Him. [If you have hearts for the children, pass them out now and say, "This is a reminder for you that Jesus wants you to love him most of all."] PRAYER: Dear Jesus, Help each of us here to give you all of our heart - to put you first in our lives so we can go to heaven. Thank you for loving us so much. AMEN Sermon #2 “The Problem with Two Masters” OUTLINE Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Outline I. A House Divided Perhaps you have seen the license plates that show the phrase A House Divided accompanied by the logos of two rival college football teams. This phrase often reminds people of Abraham Lincoln’s famous speech in 1858. Lincoln was speaking about a nation divided on the issue of slavery. What many people don’t know is that the line was not unique to Lincoln but that instead Lincoln was quoting Jesus. Jesus said, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand” (Mark 3:24-25 NRSV). Jesus is telling us, in other words, that competing allegiances in a kingdom, a house, or a heart will lead to destruction. Division leads to war in which either there is constant strife or one side wins out. II. A Reminder about Heart Investment Last week we were challenged to consider where we are investing our hearts. If we look at where we spend our time, money, and energy, we will see where our hearts are invested. One easy way to check this investment is to look at our budget or our calendar. In doing so, most of us would find that our hearts indeed are divided. We have said yes to too many commitments, signed too many contracts, and swiped too many credit cards. Now we must work to pay off a bunch of stuff that doesn’t make us happy. I want us to look at this short video on serving a master…. Who is the master of your life? is it God or is it the cares of the world. Today I thought rather than dwelling on the problem of living a life divided, that I would talk about the solution. The solution is to put God first, front and center of everything that we are and that we do. As we talk about stewardship this week, all of us can’t help but to ask the question of why. Why should I give. What is the point of spending 4, 5 weeks talking about such an uncomfortable topic. We talk about it because the bible talks about it. We talk about it because the jews learned that tithing was one of the best kept spiritual secrets in the universe. Money is never really about the green stuff that we have in our pockets. Money, and spending money is always a matter of where our spirits are. When we are able to make a plan to give God the first 10% of everything that we earn – we learn to have a sense of purpose and intention for our lives, we learn how to have discipline, we are able to clearly see the gifts that God gives us in return for putting God first. We learn that not only can we put God first in our bank accounts, but we can put God first in everything in our lives. If the Jewish society was anything – it was full of purpose, and order. They organized their whole society around the concept of purpose and order. We have all heard of the word Shalom. We have heard that shalom is the jewish word for peace. But shalom means much more than that. Shalom means that in a community where there is justice, there will be peace, and where there is peace, there will be wellbeing and wholeness. And where there is peace, justice, and wellbeing for the community. There will be justice, peace, and wellbeing for the entire society. But the only way to have a shalom – a whole society is for the society to be centered around the presence of God. Shalom means to put God into the center of everything that you do. (show the shalom center). The funny thing about a community centered around God – is that it looks like a circle. In a circle- you will notice that there are no sides. And there is only one center. God is the glue that holds everything together. When you are in the shalom circle – then it is harder to attack, define and separate yourself from others – because if we are focused on God. we are all facing the same direction – the center. When we are standing in a circle, and God is in the center of that circle, not only do we have a focusing point, but we also have a purpose and a uniting point. The one thing that I remember that Adam Hamilton said at the Leadership Institute at the Church of the Resurrection, was that the church had a mission statement. And that mission statement was read every Sunday in church, it was said at the beginning of every church council meeting, at every event. It was read together for everyone to remember their center. And their purpose for coming together in community. Not just in any community – but in Christian community. When Englewood and Rust Methodist churches merged they too developed a mission statement. I would have them read that mission statement every Sunday as a way of centering us together for one purpose. Now I had a program where if a child could remember and recite the Lord’s Prayer in front of the congregation they would get a $10 gift certificate to the restaurant of their choice. All of my kids – even the two year olds know the Lord’s Prayer. For the adults – if they could remember and recite the mission statement in front of the congregation they too got a $15 gift certificate. The adults were not as successful. But the point is that I wanted to keep that mission statement in existence – by saying it all of the time. It was a centering point. Why is it that we deal with people that we really can’t stand in any other setting? Why is it that we come to meetings and take trainings when there is so many other things that we could be doing, why is it that we sins corny songs every Sunday, why is it that we give our money to church- when there are so many other things to spend it on. In order to support our common mission. Our reason for being a church. First United Methodist Church does have a mission. This week it is printed in the bulletin, to inform some and to remind others of why we are here in the first place. I want us to read it together now. Our mission is based on putting God in the center of our community, which means putting God in the center of our lives. Our mission challenges to follow the mission of Jesus Christ to witness to grace, to love others and to life as followers of Christ. It is our purpose for living in a shalom circle, where there is only one center and no sides. If we choose to stand in the shalom circle it is impossible to serve two master, because there is only one center. Where are you in the circle? What is your place in the mission? Who is your master? Let us pray….. Amen. The rest of the sermon that I did not use…… III. Serving One Master A. Two Is Too Many Jesus says in Matthew 6 that no one can serve two masters. A person trying to do so will inevitably like one master and hate the other, be to devoted to one master and despise the other. Jesus says that we can’t serve both God and money. As we examine our lives, we may see that we have many more than two masters calling for hearts! B. Our Hearts Are Hurting When we are serving two, three, or ten masters and are dividing our hearts among them, we are not living as God intends us to. I think this may explain why we resent or even hate the things that pull us away from our intended treasure. We end up hating our job or our boss, because they have become an unintended master in our lives. Does this mean you can’t make money? No! Does this mean you can’t have a healthy relationship with money? No! It does mean that you can’t serve God and money. They can’t both be your master. You can’t live under the lordship of God and the lordship of money; you must choose. C. Jesus Has to Be Lord God doesn’t want shared allegiance. God doesn’t want a piece of your life. God wants to be everything to you. If you make Jesus Lord and Master, the other allegiances will find their proper place. You still will have to work and be committed to other people. But you will not have a heart or house or life that’s divided. You will be standing on firm ground. For additional commentary and articles on this theme, please go to MinistryMatters.com/Treasure.

The Ten Commandments

October 8, 2017 Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, 12-20 The Ten Commandments Children’s time: 1. "I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before me." Hold up one index finger for the number one. We worship one God. 2. "You shall not worship idols." Idols, false gods, are not only things like statues, but anything in which we place our ultimate trust and allegiance — for example, money, possessions or weapons. Hold up two fingers. Should we worship more than one God? No, two is too many! One of them must be an idol, and we should not worship it! 3. "You shall not take the Lord's name in vain." Use three fingers to form the letter "W" which stands for "words." Watch your words! God wants us to use his name in loving, caring ways, as we pray and as we talk about him, not in swearing or in anger. 4. "Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy." Hold up four fingers, and fold your thumb under to let it rest. The thumb has the right idea. It's the Sabbath, and the thumb is following the commandment to take a day of rest. God does not want anyone to overwork or be stressed, so we need a day to rest, to be at peace, and to worship with others. God also gave us the Sabbath so that working people would not be taken advantage of by their employers (Deut. 5:14) 5. "Honor your father and your mother." Hold up all five fingers on one hand as if you are taking a pledge, to honor your parents. God wants there to be peace and love in all our family relationships. 6. "You shall not kill." Pretend the index finger on your second hand is a gun, shooting at the first five fingers. God's sixth commandment teaches us not to do anything that would hurt another person unfairly. 7. "You shall not commit adultery." Hold one hand out flat. The five fingers and hand becomes the floor of the church. Two fingers on the other hand are the man and woman to be married, standing in the church, making promises to each other. This seventh commandment calls for couples to keep the marriage promises they make. 8. "You shall not steal." Hold up four fingers on each hand, for the eighth commandment. If you stretch out your fingers slightly, these become the prison bars, which hold someone who was been arrested for stealing. Our Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Study Catechism says "God forbids all theft and robbery, including schemes, tricks or systems that unjustly take what belongs to someone else." (Question # 112) 9. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." Hold up all five fingers on one hand and four on the other. Fold your second thumb under and turn your hand around, so the thumb is hiding. It is secretly going around telling the other four fingers on that hand lies and rumors about the five fingers on the other hand. It is "bearing false witness," as it talks behind people's backs, spreading gossip, criticizing others without talking directly to the people involved. Again, our Study Catechism teaches us "Negative stereotyping is a form of falsehood that invites actions of humiliation, abuse, and violence as forbidden by the commandment against murder." (Question # 115) 10. "Do not covet what belongs to your neighbor." Hold out your hands, palms up, and wiggle all ten fingers to show that they've got the "gimmies." Your fingers are saying, "Gimmie what belongs to my neighbor. I want all those things my neighbor has." This is not the way God wants us to live. Exodus 20:1-4Common English Bible (CEB) The Ten Commandments 20 Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 You must have no other gods before[a] me. 4 Do not make an idol for yourself—no form whatsoever—of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 7 Do not use the LORD your God’s name as if it were of no significance; the LORD won’t forgive anyone who uses his name that way. 8 Remember the Sabbath day and treat it as holy. 9 Six days you may work and do all your tasks, Exodus 20:12-20Common English Bible (CEB) 12 Honor your father and your mother so that your life will be long on the fertile land that the LORD your God is giving you. 13 Do not kill.[a] 14 Do not commit adultery. 15 Do not steal. 16 Do not testify falsely against your neighbor. 17 Do not desire your neighbor’s house. Do not desire and try to take your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox, donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor. 18 When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the horn, and the mountain smoking, the people shook with fear and stood at a distance. 19 They said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we’ll listen. But don’t let God speak to us, or we’ll die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, because God has come only to test you and to make sure you are always in awe of God so that you don’t sin.” Footnotes: a. Exodus 20:13 Or murder Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible I didn’t make it to the football game this Friday. But last week sitting in the stands, I remember thinking – what would the game be like if there were no referees. It seems like every play that are blowing their whistle and throwing out a flag. Would the game be harder or easier if their were no rules, and the players were allowed to do what they wanted? What would our world be like if there were no rules. Would it be more fun or less fun. Ted Turner, a multimillionare – does not believe in God. Since we as modern American don’t like to be told what to do – he actually invented his own rules. Instead of calling them the ten commandments – calls them the to voluntary inititives. Here are his Big 10: 1. I love and respect planet Earth and all living things thereon, especially my fellow species, mankind. 2. I promise to treat all persons everywhere with dignity, respect and friendliness. 3. I promise to have no more than two children, or no more than my nation suggests. 4. I promise to use my best efforts to help save what is left of our natural world in an untouched state and to restore damaged or destroyed areas where practical. 5. I pledge to use as little non-renewable resources as possible. 6. I pledge to use as little toxic chemicals, pesticides and other poisons as possible. 7. I promise to contribute to those less fortunate than myself to help them become self-sufficient and enjoy the benefits of a decent life, including clean air and water, adequate food, health care, housing, education and individual rights. 8. I reject the use of force, in particular military force, and back United Nations arbitration of international disputes. 9. I support the total elimination of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and, in time, the total elimination of all weapons of mass destruction. 10. I support the United Nations in its efforts to collectively improve the conditions of the planet. He totally does not get what it means to live life in relationship to God. He totally does not understand the significance of the 10 commandments. Ronald Reagan once wondered that the10 commandments would be like if congress had designed them – would we have the same concerns. If there were no 10 commandments there would be no congress. Legal experts, historians, theologians all agree that the ten commandments were the cornerstone to people living in community. These are the 10 rules which are legal system is based on – that is why you can find them in so many courtrooms. They are known simply as the 10 words – you can find them in exodus and also in Deuteronomy 5. If you think that all of my sermons are about how we live in community – you are right- the bible is all about how we live in community. How we order ourselves in order to have peace and justice in our lives. – how we become the shalom community. The shalom community is a community that lives in concentric circles. God is in the center, then the family, the community and the rest of the world. The ten commandments give you rules about how to live in community. How to relate to each of those rings in the circle. – rule number 1 – there is only one God, and God always comes first. The next two are about how to have a relationship with God. Number 4 – is about creating a calendar and establishing holy time. Five is to honor the family – which your parents are the backbone. And the last 5 are about how to live in relationship to other people. A mother and her two small boys were having a serious discussion about stealing and why it was wrong. “Tell me,” she said, “Why do you think stealing is wrong?” Five-year-old Luke said that stealing was against God’s laws. He had learned about the Ten Commandments in Sunday school. Mother asked the boys if they knew any of the other Ten Commandments. Luke remembered two others: “You shall not murder,” and “Honor your father and mother.” But the boys couldn’t think of any other commandments, until little Patrick piped up, “I know one: “Pick up your toys!” It could be there somewhere – but the 10 commandments is about how we order ourselves in the world. A world where god always comes first. As a United Methodist elder – the book of discipline says that I have 3 main jobs - word, order and sacrament. I am supposed to give a sermon every Sunday, chase you down and make sure that you turn in your charge conference reports, and preside over the Lord’s supper. Of course there is a lot more that goes into the second job of keeping order. We are called Methodist – because there is a defined method for doing everything. John Wesley founded a religious club in college – they got the nickname Methodist and it stuck. Our method is contained in the book of discipline. It orders the way we are a church in everyway. It is unfortunate that we live in a world where we think we are supposed to be free to do anything. We have been conditioned to think that the law is bad – and the ten commandments represent the law. The quickest way to tell if a stick is crooked is to sit it next to a straight stick as a standard of measure. The law is our standard of measure to see how crooked we are. How crooked are we in our lives. What do we need to straighten out in order to get right with God? Someone has said that there was a reason why the Ten were written on stone instead of parchment. They were written in stone so that people could only keep them or break them -- they cannot bend them. We need to be disciplined in our living. The laws of the United Methodist Church, for example, are included in a document known as the Book of Discipline. It seeks to tell what United Methodists can and cannot do. Rather than a curse, it is a blessing because of its clarity. A Jewish Rabbi was addressing his congregation where the high school graduates were being recognized. He used an illustration of water. He stated that water which is allowed total freedom, soon loses its power and becomes still, constituting a swamp, breeding harmful insects. Water, on the other hand, that is totally free, but is confined by two banks, never loses its power and is called a river, generating power for electricity that will light up the whole town. We are to be like the water, disciplined by two banks so that we will never lose our power. The ten commandments give us the freedom to live our lives and to move forward as individuals and as a body. And not to destroy ourselves. The new testament does not negate the Hebrew testament. Jesus does not supercede Moses. Without the ten commandments – Jesus words mean nothing. Jesus' Two Commandments Jesus did not destroy the Law written in the Decalogue; he simply boiled the ten down to two. "Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind (Mark and Luke added, "and with all thy strength" This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:37-39) Colonel Sanders added the Extra Crispy to his Original chicken. Jesus did not do away with the Original Ten; he simply lets us know in this New Commandment that the relationship with God is not so much founded on obedience as on love. John Wesley wrote to Charles Wesley saying he had become convinced "the Law can be fulfilled evangelically by love." The religion of love," he said, "is the religion of the Bible. Moses, and the Prophets, and Christ and his Apostles, proclaim with one voice thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and thy neighbor as thyself. They all declare that love is the fulfilling of the Law." Dr. Graham Scroggie was a well-known preacher of another generation, a powerful and forceful orator. One day, while preaching in England on the Lordship of Christ, he saw, when the crowd had left, a young college student who had stayed behind. He went to her, and asked if she needed any help. She replied, "Dr. Scroggie, your message was so compelling, but I am afraid to truly make Christ the Lord of my life. I'm afraid of what he might ask of me!" The preacher opened his Bible, turned to the story of Peter at Joppa, and began to read to her how God had taught Peter about his racial and cultural discrimination. Three times God brought down a sheet laden with animals which were unclean to the orthodox Jew, and said, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." Three times Peter replied, "No, Lord." Then the wise minister said to the young lady, "Do you realize it is possible to say 'No,' and you can also say 'Lord,' but it is not really possible to say, 'No, Lord.' You have to decide if you will say one or the other, 'No' or 'Lord'." He then left the young lady to think about it and to pray, and he went into another room to pray for her while the struggle went on. When he came back he found her with a pad and pencil in front of her, and on it she had written the word "No" and the word "Lord." As he looked over her shoulder, he saw that the word "No" was crossed out. Softly she was saying, "He's Lord, He's Lord, He's Lord." One Commandment is enough; if you can say "I will have no other gods before him; I will love him with all my heart and soul and mind and strength; he is Lord, all other rules will fall neatly into their proper place." Ultimately, there is only one commandment – love God, if you put God first, the rest of your life should fall into place, without the 10 voluntary initiatives. One Sunday school teacher asked her class if they knew what the last commandment was. One little girl proudly stood and said, “Thou shall not take the covers off thy neighbor’s wife.” Not quite thou Shall not Covet – But it can remind us order our steps in the name of God, our families, our church and one another. Amen. Additional illustrations…… One of our advanced students at Lutheran Northwestern Seminary, motivated by what he had learned in a missions class, went to Haiti a couple years ago with a local church group. Assigned to work at an orphanage, he was involved in the construction of a building. He was repairing a ladder one day when he noticed a young dark-skinned boy watching him. The boy spoke some English. The student said, "Hi," and asked the boy about himself, seeking information about why he was in the orphanage. The young boy answered, "My mother and father are dead. I live here with my older brothers and sisters." The orphan asked the seminarian about his family: "I have a mother and father and a sister," he was told. "No brothers?" the boy inquired. "No brothers," answered the seminary student. There was a pause and then the orphan replied, "But you do have brothers. Jesus is your brother," and adding after another pause, "And I am your brother, too." Recently, I read a little fable about a young girl who was walking through a meadow. She saw that a beautiful butterfly had one wing impaled by a thorn. Very carefully, so as not to further damage the wing, she released the butterfly from the thorn and it began to fly away. Then, the butterfly came back and changed into a beautiful fairy princess right before the little girl. "For your kindness," the fairy told the little girl, "I will grant you your fondest wish." The little girl thought for a moment and replied, "I want to be happy." The fairy princess smiled and leaned over and whispered something into the girl’s ear. Then, the fairy princess vanished into thin air. But, as the girl grew older, there was no one in the kingdom who was happier than she. Whenever anyone asked her for the secret of her happiness, she would only smile and say, "I listened to a beautiful fairy princess." As she reached the last years of her life, her friends and neighbors were afraid that her fabulous secret of happiness would die with her. "Tell us, please," they asked. "Tell us what the fairy said!" The little girl, who was now a lovely old lady, smiled and said, "The beautiful fairy princess told me that the secret to happiness is to realize that everyone, no matter how secure they seem, has need of me." One of the great secrets of life is to realize that everyone has need of us. And the willingness to give ourselves to others ... the willingness to develop a relationship with others the willingness to love others, is one of the rules of living ... which leads to a happy life. A young fellow answered matter of factly, “Adultery is when a kid lies about his age.” And, of course, there is that central commandment to all boys and girls, the fifth commandment: “Humor thy father and thy mother.” Sometime back the little newsletter of Christian humor, The Joyful Noiseletter carried what it called, “A Cowboy Ten Commandments.” I thought you might enjoy hearing how a cowboy might interpret this ancient code. It goes like this: First commandment: Just one God. 2. Honor yer Ma and Pa. 3. No tellin’ tales or gossipin’. 4. Git yerself to Sunday meeting. 5. Put nothin’ before God. 6. No foolin’ aroun’ with another fellow’s gal. 7. No killin’. 8. Watch yer mouth. 9. Don’t take nothin’ what ain’t yers. 10. Don’t be hankerin’ for yer buddy’s stuff. (2) here is a silly little story about Moses. It seems that Moses wasn’t feeling well and was very upset. He decided he would go up on the mountain and see God. “You know my life has not been easy. First my mother put me in a basket and floated me down a river,” Moses said. “Then I left Egypt for 40 years. You remember the burning bush, the plagues, and then the Passover.” God allowed that, yes, He remembered. “There’s a lot more,” Moses continued. “You remember everything, so I don’t have to tell you the rest. But I really can’t handle much more, and I have this splitting headache.” God looked at Moses and said, “Here, take these two tablets. That should help.” (3) The 10 Commandments List, Short Form 1. You shall have no other gods before Me. 2. You shall not make idols. 3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. 4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 5. Honor your father and your mother. 6. You shall not murder. 7. You shall not commit adultery. 8. You shall not steal. 9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 10. You shall not covet.