"Where is our theology of life?" by Mark Lockard
It has been a violent week.
Earlier this week, in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, the state of Georgia executed Kelly Gissendaner for her role in planning the murder of her husband Doug Gissendaner in 1997. Throughout her time in prison, Kelly came to model what we think of when we talk about rehabilitated convicts. While the “prisoner finding religion” story may be cliché, there are times when it is beautifully true. Kelly lived out her Christian faith, becoming a pillar of strength for inmates struggling with the depression and hopelessness that often accompanies long prison terms. She pursued theological education, looking to better herself and build on the knowledge of the divine which sustained her. She even formed a friendship with renowned theologian Jurgen Moltmann. In his last letter, he reminded her of her identity as a “beloved daughter of God” and a “beloved sister of Jesus Christ."
Despite numerous pleas for clemency, with protestations coming from figures like a former Georgia Supreme Court justice who upheld her sentence 15 years prior, and even Pope Francis, Kelly was executed by lethal injection. She sang “Amazing Grace” to the end.
On Wednesday night, Richard Glossip had his third “last meal.” His execution by lethal injection was canceled an hour before its scheduled time because the state of Oklahoma apparently purchased the wrong drug. This is despite the fact that more and more evidence has come to light that Glossip is likely innocent of his crime (coincidentally, he was also convicted of plotting a murder but not committing it). His death has been postponed indefinitely, citing problems with the drugs on hand. Oklahoma has a recent troubled history with injections.
On Thursday night, the state of Virginia executed Alfredo R. Prieto, a convicted serial rapist and murderer who remained unrepentant and defiant to the end. He was put to death via lethal injection, despite, as Scott Martelle noted for the LA Times, compelling evidence that he suffered from intellectual disabilities that should have made him ineligible for the death penalty.
And on Thursday afternoon, a 26-year-old man slaughtered ten people and wounded seven others with guns on the Umpqua Community College campus in Roseburg, Oregon. More details will surely come to light, but it appears to be a story we can identify as familiar in this country, routine even. President Obama named it as such in his remarks yesterday, claiming that we have become “numb” to mass shootings and the discussions that follow. He’s right about that.
But I’d argue that we’re numb to all of our society's violence, as we have lazily accepted a theology of death rather than do the work to reflect the theology of life so many of us profess to believe. I’m glad for the separations of church and state in this country, so don’t confuse this for me claiming that American society should be run as a Christian institution. Rather, I’m saying that a lot of people in this country who profess to be Christian buy into this acceptance of violent death all too easily. The proof of this is that, shooting after shooting, execution after execution, violent death after violent death, we as a society have not changed. And it is our lack of change that keeps the door open for history to repeat itself.
So what? What do we do? As the President remarked, “our thoughts and prayers are not enough.” They just aren’t. And not only are they not enough, they are increasingly disingenuous. Christians are not called to just talk about God’s healing and mercy and grace. We’re called to live it out. If our prayers, which connect us and guide us to the divine life, are not followed by action, which is how we answer God’s call, then they are fruitless. While we can’t ask our nation, one based in religious free expression, to act only as a Christian would, we as Christians can model actions for our communities that will hopefully spread far and wide.
Photo by Mike Dubose, UMNS
We can join together across denominational lines and protest the death penalty, on the ground and through our voting decisions. This won't always be easy in practice, but living out faith isn't dictated by how easy the tasks are. In cases like Kelly Gissendaner's, it will be easier for us to lift up one who changed for the better. It'll be easier to show the Kellys in our system grace and mercy. It'll be harder to protest the execution of the Alfredo Prietos among us; yet Christ loves all, and none are beyond the redemption of God. So we must protest for the Alfredos, too.
We can be the first to put down the tools of violence. We can elect leadership who agree that doing so is critical for healthy communal life. I’ve written previously about Christians and handgun/assault rifle ownership, naming what I see as an incompatibility when it comes to trusting in, and in some cases worshiping, guns instead of trusting in God. I’ll continue arguing the same thing in the wake of the shooting at UCC, and in every subsequent shooting until we see change by choosing our neighbors over a particular possession.
We can vote for and work for complete access to healthcare that reflects the sacredness of life to which we give lip-service, knowing that truly caring for an individual in Christian terms means unconditionally lifting them up regardless of their age, regardless of their status, regardless of their troubles, regardless of their actions. Innocent or enemy, we are to be graceful as God is graceful.
We follow and trust in God made flesh in Jesus Christ, and a crucial part of that trust is cemented in the three-fold truth: God lived, God died, God lived again. We are a people who gather regularly to affirm that our hope is in life, in redemption, in renewal. When we support (and rest assured, it is support, even if it’s just our idleness that props up the status quo) death by violence as a narrative of our shared lives together, we are living antithetically to a gospel which says that human life is sacred. We don’t get to skip the sacredness by passing off the responsibility of these violences onto the state, or antiquated bureaucratic systems, or even onto “bad guys with guns.”
Vigil in Roseburg, Oregon. Photo courtesy UMNS via Twitter.
We are our community, and Christians who make up our community should be among the first decrying this theology of death. All of us are either complicitly or explicitly involved, as our duty is to live out the gospel by loving God and loving our neighbors. We do neither when we turn a blind eye to the violences in our midst.
We have a hope as individuals, as congregations, as Christians in the body politic. It is a hope brought to us by Jesus the Christ, himself tortured and murdered as a form of legally-sanctioned state punishment. It is a hope borne out of the empty tomb. This hope says, “death does not have to be the way.” Living out such a hope is our path toward a less violent society. How long until this hope becomes the consistent message from our pulpits? How long until it rings out clearly from every voice in the church? How long until we start living as if life is our way?
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"Redeeming Halloween by rediscovering Allhallowtide" by Shane Raynor
All Saints Church, Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, U.K.
One weakness some Christians have, myself included, is the tendency to become so focused on avoiding something potentially bad that we overcompensate and throw out too much of what’s good. Protestants in particular have a history of this. In our attempts to avoid what we’ve perceived to be “too Catholic,” we’ve no doubt stripped our worship experience and our theology of much that’s good over the years. And our faith traditions are all the poorer for it.
Take Halloween, for example.
Depending on whom you ask, Halloween probably falls somewhere between harmless secular celebration on one end of the spectrum and pagan or satanic holiday on the other. Most of us probably don’t even think of it as a Christian holiday. But that’s actually what it is.
The word Halloween (sometimes written Hallowe’en) is simply a contraction of All Hallows’ Evening. You may be familiar with the adjective hallowed, which means set apart or consecrated. The verb hallow means to make or set apart as holy. But hallow can also be a noun, and it means a holy person or a saint.
That’s where we get Halloween. Essentially it’s another term forAll Saints’ Eve, and that makes it pretty significant, because on November 1, All Saints’ Day is observed by Roman Catholics and by many Protestants all over the world. It’s a day of celebrating the communion of saints, a community made up of all past, present and future Christians.
The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs, Fra Angelico, c.1423
As with other feasts and holy days (e.g. Christmas and Easter), some Christians have traditionally celebrated All Saints’ Day with a vigil the evening before. That vigil became All Hallows’ Eve. This comes from the Jewish practice of beginning days at sunset, not midnight, a practice that carried over into early Christianity.
Halloween and All Saints’ Day are followed on November 2 by a third, lesser known day: All Souls Day. The combined three-day observance is called Allhallowtide.
What’s the difference between All Saints’ and All Souls’, you ask? These days, not much, because the two have been conflated over time and many churches don’t even observe All Souls’ Day anymore. But the original purposes of the two days are quite different.
All Saints’ Day can likely be traced back to the early seventh century, when Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the Virgin Mary and all the martyrs and ordered a yearly celebration to commemorate it. This happened on May 13, which coincided with the final day of Lemuralia, a festival in Ancient Rome during which the Romans attempted to exorcise ghosts of the dead from their homes.
In the eighth century, Pope Gregory moved the day to November 1 to mark the dedication of an oratory in St. Peter’s Basilica. Some argue that this was an attempt by Gregory to Christianize Samhain, a pagan festival of the dead observed by the ancient Celts.
Although the focus and purpose were quite different, the common theme of the dead was present in all three festivals. As time passed, no doubt the Christians influenced the pagans, and vice versa.
But All Saints’ Day isn’t just about those who’ve died.
Yes, All Saints’ is a day when we recognize Christians who have gone before us, but it’s also a day of asking how we should live as saints now and how we intend to pass on the faith to future generations of believers. That’s what the Communion of Saints is all about.
All Souls Day, on the other hand, is a day set aside exclusively for commemorating the faithfully departed, particularly one’s relatives and friends. While All Saints’ Day has traditionally been a celebration of more well-known believers, martyrs and heroes of the faith, All Souls’ Day is meant to be a more solemn occasion with an emphasis on lesser-known Christians, especially the ones we’ve known personally.
The day was established on November 2 after an 11th century French abbot, Odilo of Cluny, chose it as a day of general intercession for Christians who had died. He commanded all Cluniac monks to keep it, and by the end of the 13th century, All Souls' Day was observed throughout the Western church.
Many Protestants merged All Souls’ Day with All Saints’ Day at the time of the Reformation, and the Roman Catholic emphasis of purgatory on All Souls’ Day has no doubt played a role in the blurring of the line between the two days by non-Catholics. Nowadays, many American churches fuse All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day into one day and celebrate it on the Sunday following All Saints’ if November 1 doesn’t fall on a Sunday. Unfortunately, this has probably further separated Halloween from All Saints’ Day in the minds of many Christians.
Like Christmas and Easter, the modern secular holiday of Halloween has been shaped by a number of factors, including paganism, Christianity and commercialism. (And the greatest of these is commercialism!) Because of Halloween’s association with death and evil, some believers and churches have avoided observing All Hallows’ Eve entirely. Others have attempted to Christianize the celebration of Halloween, which I find somewhat puzzling — how do you Christianize something that’s technically already Christian?
Perhaps we should do something radical and return Halloween to its roots as an All Saints’ vigil. Many churches already hold harvest festivals and trunk or treat events on the evening of October 31. Why not plan those along with a simple All Hallows’ Eve worship service and mark it as the beginning of Allhallowtide, a three-day period of celebration and remembrance?
All Souls' Day, Painting by J. Schikaneder, 1888
Allhallowtide is also an opportunity to have some meaningful spiritual experiences in a small group or as part of a family worship time. Try having a love feast on All Hallows’ Eve and an All Souls’ prayer vigil the evening before November 2. If you’re up for doing something unusual, have the prayer vigil in a church cemetery. (If you really want to live on the edge, try a public cemetery!)
Christians love talking about resurrection but we’re not usually comfortable dealing with the subject of death. It’s an enemy, after all, per 1 Corinthians 15:26: “Death is the last enemy to be brought to an end…” The CEB Study Bible note for this verse says, “Mortality, which is connected to human sin, is humankind’s final and unwavering enemy until the resurrection.”
Make no mistake, death is an enemy. But we need not fear it.
I suspect the saints who’ve gone before us would concur.
Helpful links:
All Saints’ Vigil (All Hallows’ Eve)
A global celebration of All Saints' Day
All Hallows’ Eve liturgy (from the Episcopal Digital Network)
All Saints’ Day (Textweek)
The Great Thanksgiving for All Saints and memorial occasions
John Wesley on All Saints’ DayFamily litany for All Saints' Day
A prayer meditation for All Saints' Day
All Souls’ Day (1 and 2)
All Souls’ Day (Textweek)
This is the first article in Shane Raynor's Dark Matter series. Throughout the month of October, he'll be writing from a Christian perspective about topics related to death, evil and the occult.
"How churches can be relevant" by Joseph Yoo
In the past month, I’ve had several conversations with other church leaders about relevance and being relevant as a church. The thing that struck me was that we all talked mostly about the things we can do to be relevant.
Some mentioned having edgy liturgy (I don’t really know what that meant.) A few suggested hiring young worship leaders who look, act, and smell like hipsters. Others talked about making their worship more relevant with newer songs, fog machines and light shows.
A few brought up relevant ministries and programs their churches do.
In the middle of one of the conversations, something occurred to me: Why are we talking only to each other? We need to find a way to engage those whom we’re trying to reach in a conversation.
Some of us have been part of a church for such a long time, we forget what it’s like to not be part of a church; we forget what it was like before we became Christians, which means we also tend to forget how to communicate with those who don’t share the same beliefs we do. I realized that a big mistake I make is trying to figure out what is relevant for us that would also be relevant for those who don't attend our church.
What happens sometimes is that we come off as disingenuous or trying too hard to be “cool.”
When I was in high school, we had a youth pastor who just tried too hard to connect with us. He’d show up wearing leather bomber jacket (in tropical weather), revving his Ford Mustang, then popping his trunk to show us his speakers blasting Tupac. Yeah, I guess it was kind of cool that he was blasting Tupac in a church parking lot, but it was clear to us that all he knew about Tupac was that he wasn’t Biggie. It was so obvious to us that he was trying to act like us that we didn’t want much to do with him.
Don’t even get me started on the 90s lingo he (mis)used.
(I realized I entered a different stage in my life when a former student said to me, “Hey, uh, you’re too old to be using that phrase. Just. Stop. Please.”)
Truthfully, we hardly gave the youth pastor a chance to connect with us anyway. We were already angsty teenagers who couldn’t decide if Nirvana or Tupac spoke on our behalf. (We coped by wearing baggy pants with flannel shirts.) And we felt he was pretending to be like us so so we would help him keep his job, especially since I was the pastor’s kid.
We would’ve probably connected with him more had he just been real and met us where we were without pretending to be “down” with all the things we were “down” with.
Back to my recent conversations, in trying to figure out what would be relevant to the unchurched folks in our communities, we all sort of implied that we only need to get those folks into our buildings so they can meet us where we are, or at the least, meet us halfway.
Perhaps that’s the biggest mistake we make. It’s not about ministries or programs; it’s not about the look of your staff; it’s not about how much your building looks like a church (or a coffee shop); it’s not about the coffee or the beer; it’s not about the music or style; and it’s definitely not about light shows and fog machines.
It’s really about meeting people where they are; engaging them in their current storyline and chapter of life; joining them in the conversations they are having.
Sadly, most of our churches seem to want to to require the unchurched to join us in the middle of the conversation that we are having; to come be part of the journey we’re already on.
If I remember correctly, the Great Commission doesn’t begin with, “Stay where you are with arms wide open and wait for people to come to you.”
The best way to be relevant is meeting people where they already are and inviting ourselves to be part of their journey, joining in their conversations and getting to know them.
Once we start doing that, we create opportunities to let them know that not only has God been with them their entire lives, but God continues to go with them, and has a purpose and plan for them.
Being relevant is less about what we can do or offer as a church and more about genuinely connecting with the people around us.
Joseph Yoo is pastor of St. Mark United Methodist Church in Santa Barbara, California. He is the author of Practical Prayer and Encountering Grace. He blogs at JosephYoo.com.
"What it means to take up your cross"
By Dave Barnhart
When Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me,” his first followers probably did not hear it metaphorically. Crucifixion was reserved for enemies of the state, so Jesus’ summons would have been heard as a call to insurrection. They knew that would-be messiahs and revolutionaries who proclaimed a new, imminent kingdom of God had said, “Take up your sword and follow me.” Some of these rebellions led to huge mass executions by crucifixion.
So, when Jesus says, “Take up your cross,” he’s skipping steps. He calls his followers to do the kinds of swordless, nonviolent things that would lead to martyrdom. Stephen, James and Paul all answered that call and died (their stories are in the book of Acts). “Take up your cross and follow me” is a call to nonviolent yet revolutionary action, the kind that would invite persecution.
Early followers of Jesus generalized his revolutionary call to other kinds of suffering. When the disciples were publicly flogged, they rejoiced that they could share in Jesus’ suffering (Acts 5:11). Paul connected personal and private suffering (his “thorn in the flesh” in 2 Corinthians 12:7) with his persecution for the sake of the gospel: “Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10).”
Today, “bearing your cross” is a Christian metaphor that can carry many different meanings. It’s often used to indicate the trials and temptations that we experience in life, covering everything from addiction to cancer, lust to poverty or financial hardship. One story goes that an 18th century preacher was asked if he would visit his estranged wife while he was in London. He replied, “Sir, I will gladly bear a cross, but I will not seek one out.”
“Take up your cross” has lost some of the power of its original meaning. It’s gone from changing the world and threatening the established order to struggling against our cravings for chocolate during Lent or tolerating people we don’t like.
This change in meaning has also led to a perverse Christian glorification of human suffering: If bearing a cross makes us holy, then encouraging others to bear crosses, or actively nailing them to their crosses, must also be holy. In this way we invert the cross and the gospel of Christ, and make ourselves agents of the Empire rather than martyrs for the gospel.
For example, we invert the call to take up our cross with poverty, treating the suffering that comes with poverty as a noble thing. Sure, Jesus said “blessed are the poor,” and encouraged Christians to sell what they had and give the proceeds to the poor. Saint Francis and other Christian saints have embraced voluntary poverty, and found that they could have joy in the midst of their suffering.
But too many Christians see poverty as benign instead of something to be alleviated, challenged and fought against. I often hear middle-class Christians who have gone on mission trips or served the poor say things like, “I was amazed at how happy they were. It just goes to show that you don’t need money to be happy.” This is not what “blessed are the poor” means. When Jesus said to sell all you have and give the money to the poor, the goal was not to increase the total number of people living in poverty — it was to decrease it. Being poor does not mean being joyless, but that’s hardly the point. The reason that God has a special concern for the financially poor is that poverty is cruel.
The romanticization of poverty ignores the neurological damage done to children who grow up in chronic poverty as well as the stress that generates an ongoing public health crisis and poor health outcomes for people in poverty. It ignores the systemic injustices that perpetuate poverty. When people talk about poverty as a cross to bear, or quote Jesus saying, “You will always have the poor with you” as an excuse for public policy inaction, they abandon the witness of the gospel in favor of the status quo.
We also invert the call to take up our cross with sexuality and gender identity. In our ethical and theological debates about sexual orientation and gender identity, many straight Christians have said that celibacy for gay and lesbian persons, or assimilation for trans, intersex, or genderqueer persons is just “the cross one has to bear.” This cross is not voluntarily taken up, nor does it threaten the Established Order of Things. It is assigned by a majority straight and cisgender culture, and those who reject this cross have often been nailed to it against their will.
Peter, by contrast, calls this kind of imposed obligation a “yoke,” not a cross. When he stands to address the church over the circumcision controversy, Peter (who was circumcised) asks the leaders, “why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10). Some of the Christians in Acts 15 probably thought mandatory circumcision was a cross that everyone — every male, anyway — should be willing to bear. But Peter’s speech challenges this assumption: The cross of Christ is something we take up voluntarily; a yoke is what we place upon another.
We invert the call to take up our cross with euthanasia. One meme asserts, “Suffering is a grace-filled opportunity to participate in the passion of Jesus Christ. Euthanasia selfishly steals that opportunity.”
Certainly, it is possible to approach suffering and death with an openness to know God as a co-sufferer with us. We may be able to experience transcendent grace in the midst of pain, and to come to a deeper appreciation of what it meant for God to be incarnate in Christ. But if suffering is such a grace-filled opportunity, why would we work to alleviate any suffering at all? Why establish hospitals? Why work to end poverty? Why take aspirin for a headache? Only the one who is suffering can decide if their suffering ennobles them and draws them closer to Christ, or if it leads them to bitterness and alienation. Even Jesus prayed to be delivered from suffering.
I’ve named some ways we rhetorically invert the call to take up a cross and follow Jesus: with poverty, with sexual orientation and gender identity and with euthanasia. There are certainly more ways that the improper use of this metaphor turns the Good News into bad news: Preachers have told folks to stay in bad or abusive relationships and to silently endure racial oppression as a way of “bearing a cross.” We should be suspicious of any rhetoric which places the cross on the shoulders of another. We are called to take up crosses — not nail others to them.
There’s one more important aspect to remember about suffering and Christ’s call to take up a cross: When Christ carried the cross, Simon of Cyrene bore it with him. There is a sense in which whatever metaphorical cross we take up, there should be others, a community of support, to carry it with us in solidarity. The natural response to anyone who tells you to bear a cross should be, “Then will you carry it with me?” If the answer is, “No, thanks,” then perhaps they aren’t that serious about it.
This is why we need to pay attention to the revolutionary meaning of “take up your cross.” Revolutions only happen when followers do the kinds of things that might get them crucified as a community. Brave individuals can do heroic things and suffer heroic martyrdom without leading to any significant change. But a community of people who do not fear the cross is an unstoppable force.
Bravery and a willingness to suffer itself is not the measure of what makes a cross. When Christians claim they are being persecuted, we need to ask critical questions about who is placing a burden on whom, and who is asking whom to endure suffering and for what end.
The cross of Christ, and the call to take up our own (instead of taking up arms), should not be stripped of its scandal and offensiveness to the world and the Empire. It is a call to change the order of things with our vulnerability instead of the power of the sword, with love rather than coercion. We take up a cross instead of a sword because the world is heavily invested in inequality, in patriarchy, in the coercive use of force and in the fear of suffering and death. Those who live by the sword die by the sword, but those who die by their cross live for God.
By all means, take up your cross and follow Jesus. But don’t nail someone else to one.
Dave Barnhart is the pastor of Saint Junia UMC in Birmingham, Ala. He blogs at DaveBarnhart.net.
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"7 characteristics of the bottleneck leader"
By Ron Edmondson
Leaders should aim to never be a bottleneck in the process of building a healthy and growing organization.
When I owned a small manufacturing company I had to learn the language of the field. I obviously knew the term bottleneck, but I never really understood it until it became the difference in being profitable or not. When the bottom line depends on productivity being at its highest, as the one ultimately in control, you learn what the term means first-hand.
A bottleneck is defined as “A point of congestion in a system that occurs when workloads arrive at a given point more quickly than that point can handle them.”
In an organization, the bottleneck is many times the leader. When this happens, progress stalls, growth is limited and people are frustrated.
Here are seven characteristics of the bottleneck leader:
Every decision ultimately goes through the leader. People are annoyed because they feel devalued — like their ability to make a good decision is in question. When everyone has to wait for the leader to make a decision things become awkward and valuable time is wasted. Productivity slows. Frustration rises.
New ideas or opinions are discouraged. People want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, nd they want to play a part in helping it become a reality. When their input isn’t welcomed they feel stifled, unfulfilled and unnecessary.
The leader is change-resistant. I know I just typed this sentence, but I’m not even sure I believe those two can go together. Leadership in its very definition involves change. Leaders are taking people somewhere new. You can’t get to new without change. The leader should be among the least afraid of change on the team.
There is no clear vision or information isn’t readily available. People flounder because they don’t know what to do next. They don’t know how things are going or what is important to the leader. This bottleneck encourages laziness in some and discouragement in others. Leaders who spur movement in an organization are quick with information. They are transparent and continually sharing what they see as the future — as far as they can see.
The leader never delegates. When people feel empowered they think like “owners.” When the leader takes on unnecessary assignments the leader is overburdened and the team is underutilized. Both suffer in the long-term.
Potential leaders aren’t recruited, they are controlled. Leaders are built through a recruit, invest and release process. Consider Jesus. He recruited the disciples, invested in them and then sent them out to do the work. When people are controlled, they never develop. And they learn to resent the leader.
Only the leader can launch a new initiative. The best leaders I know encourage people to take a risk. They create a “go for it” environment. When only the leader is allowed to “pull the trigger” or “push the first button” the organization faces a huge opportunity cost.
Leaders, ask yourself this question: In what ways am I a bottleneck in this organization?
If you aren’t certain, perhaps you should ask your team, even doing so anonymously.
What would you add to my list? What bottlenecks of leadership have you seen?
Ron Edmondson blogs at RonEdmondson.com.
"Billy Graham warns of fire and brimstone in ‘final’ book"
By Adelle M. Banks / Religion News Service
Billy Graham on June 25, 2005 in Flushing, New York. Photo: Bigstock
(RNS) In his latest book, evangelist Billy Graham declares that non-Christians are doomed to live in a fiery hell, a message his son said he has wanted to share for several years.
“There were some family members who thought that he shouldn’t do it because it was a negative subject,” said Franklin Graham in an interview Friday (Oct. 2). “And Daddy said, ‘It is a negative subject. It’ s a real subject. It’s a real place.’”
Where I Am: Heaven, Eternity and Our Life Beyond, released last week and billed as the “final work” by the 96-year-old, offers a vivid depiction of hell that harkens back to his youthful zeal as an emerging evangelist on the national stage.
“As a Christian and a preacher of the Gospel, I am always grieved to have to interrupt a marvelous picture, such as eternal life in Heaven, to talk about another eternal place that Jesus calls Hell,” Graham writes. “It has no similarities to what is typically called home, nor is Hell a resting place, a holding place, or a graveyard. Hell is a burning inferno.”
Scholars who have followed Graham’s ministry say his words are a significant shift from the approach he took after the first decade of his ministry, which gained prominence in a Los Angeles crusade in 1949.
“In the 1950s, especially the early years, he could be pretty specific and colorful, but as early as 1954 during the London Crusade he noted that he was not sure if fire would be involved,” said William Martin, author of a 1991 biography of Graham and a senior fellow for religion and public policy at Rice University's Baker Institute.
Michael Hamilton, chair of the history department of evangelical Seattle Pacific University, said Graham spoke often of “the hell of the contemporary state of the world and the hell of the chaotic personal life. Those are the two hells that are really dominant through most of his ministry, though in the earlier years he talked more about an actual Bible hell.”
But Franklin Graham said of his father: “He’s always pictured hell as what the Bible teaches.”
In the new book, Billy Graham hedges his bets, but just a bit.
“I can say with certainty that if there is no literal fire in Hell, then God is using symbolic language to indicate something far worse,” he writes. “Just as there are no words to adequately describe the grand beauty of Heaven, we cannot begin to imagine just how horrible the place called Hell is.”
Matt Baugher, W Publishing Group’s senior vice president and publisher, said the book project included collaboration with Franklin Graham and Donna Lee Toney, who read portions back to the elder Graham, who suffers from macular degeneration.
The younger Graham said he encouraged his father but did not write the book.
“One of his concerns was that hell and heaven were being distorted by Hollywood,” said Franklin Graham. “And you have these films that have come out and books and so forth about heaven or hell. And my father wanted people to know what the Bible has to say about them.”
The younger Graham, who is now president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, was at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday, when North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed a bill requesting the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall include a statue of the evangelist to replace that of Charles Aycock, a former governor and white supremacist.
“I think for another generation it will give an opportunity for my father to reach out from the grave with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Franklin Graham said. “As people read and study his life, they’ll read and understand the message that he preached.”
In a chapter titled “Forever Separated and Forever United,” Billy Graham emphasizes his belief that individuals can choose to avoid what the Scripture describes as “unending death in a lake of fire and brimstone that burns forever.”
“God does not send unrepentant souls into the pit of darkness; those souls choose their destiny,” he said.
Franklin Graham said his father no longer has the Parkinson’s disease-like symptoms he once had but sometimes needs people to speak up so he can hear them. He watches the morning news, football and golf on his big-screen television and keeps up with current events.
The book, filled with passages from the Bible. dwells on the evangelist’s views of eternity. But it also gives glimpses of Billy Graham’s personal life, including his love for his wife Ruth, who died in 2007.
“She no longer has detours to maneuver; she has traveled the smooth highway to Heaven,” he writes. “I will join her soon.”
Here are a few excerpts of what Billy Graham wrote about heaven and hell in Where I Am:
HEAVEN
“We will know morning glories that never cease because the Son will shine His eternal light upon us forever, and all of Heaven will be filled with resounding joy. Being in His presence will be our treasure. I look forward to that.”
“Heaven captures the imagination, but it is not an imaginary place. It is not a fantasyland in which to dwell. It is not a place one can travel to and come back again — at least not in our earthbound life. Heaven is a literal place.”
“We need to say either yes or no. But some of us say maybe. Some of us try to straddle the fence and live in both worlds, but Jesus will not compromise with us. The Gospel plan is all set. We must accept His Son if we are to enter into His eternal kingdom. If your answer is not yes, then the choice is made.”
HELL
“You may be thinking, ‘Billy surely you do not believe all of this Hellfire and brimstone!’ My dear friends, it is not what I say that counts; it is what the Word of God says.”
“The worst kind of death is described in Scripture — unending death in a lake of fire and brimstone that burns forever. Just as we cannot fathom the wonder of living forever in glory, we cannot possibly comprehend the alternative.”
“Every person who rejects Christ and His atoning work will be cast into this horrible pit of despair. Worse will be to remember that it was by choice — that God called you to salvation but you rejected His wonderful gift. God does not send unrepentant souls into the pit of darkness; those souls choose their destiny. You’ve heard the saying, ‘They aren’t living; they are just existing!’ There will be ‘no purposeful living’ in Hell, just an existence beyond all misery.”
“You may wonder what Hell is really like. Don’t look to comedians for answers. The Bible tells you the truth. Hell is a place of sorrow and unrest, a place of wailing and a furnace of fire; a place of torment, a place of outer darkness, a place where people scream for mercy; a place of everlasting punishment.”
"‘How about that pope?’" by Rebekah Simon-PeterI recently attended a post-Yom Kippur meal designed to break the fast with the little Jewish community here in Casper, Wyoming. As we washed dishes and put away food, talk turned to politics and the diverse lineup of presidential hopefuls on both sides of the aisle. While Trump got the usual rolling of eyes, some painted the current Democratic and Republican members of Congress with the same pope with congressbroad brush strokes of contempt. “They’re all too much. No one wants to compromise.” It looked like the conversation might degenerate quickly into partisan opinion slinging when one of our members piped up: “How about that pope?” A statement more than a question it quickly served to unite us as heads nodded and smiles emerged.
How about that pope?
It’s not just Jews of various political affinities he has managed to unite — if for a season. Also rich and poor, Catholics and non-Catholics, Republicans and Democrats, immigrants and citizens. Most surprising of all though, is the way he has inspired the religious, the spiritual but not religious and the “nones.”
A few nights after the Yom Kippur break fast, I was at a meeting with some friends who don’t identify with a faith tradition at all. “I’m not religious or anything,” Eddie, said, “but the pope has restored my faith.” This from a man who doesn’t have or want any. Eddie went on to say that Pope Francis restored his faith in religion, in leaders, in humanity itself. Wow! How about that pope?
Who says religious leaders have no positive impact anymore? Pope Francis shows us how it can be done, all while staying true to our own particular values.
I offer six leadership lessons we can all learn from the pontiff — regardless of your beliefs:
Don’t pander to the crowd. Pope Francis doesn’t lead by opinion polsl. He’s not trying to be all things to all people. He holds some values that liberal voters resonate with and some that conservative voters resonate with. He doesn’t apologize for what he believes or try to hide it or change it. Good leaders don’t pander to the crowd or change their stripes when polls fluctuate. They stick with what they believe.
Don’t pander to the institution. At the same time that Pope Francis doesn’t change his talking points for the crowd, he has distinguished himself from the institution he serves. Apparently he hasn’t changed Catholic doctrine, but he sure has donned new interpretive lenses, and a new narrative to go with it. Because of this he has somehow managed to inspire left and right alike. He has shown us how to be true to yourself and true to your core beliefs, even as you lead an ancient/aging institution into a new day. This kind of leadership is not for the faint of heart.
Align your behavior with your values. Many of us leaders say one thing but do another. Not Pope Francis. He says he cares about the poor and he spends time ministering to poor people. He says he cares about the common good and he lives in a modest apartment, not the papal palace. He says he cares about the well-being of the earth and he writes and speaks on it extensively. It almost goes without saying, but good leaders practice what they preach.
Use a big umbrella. While Pope Francis is the spiritual leader of some 1.2 billion Catholics, he addresses his message to all of humanity. One has the sense that he cares about all of us, not just “his” people. How very Jesus-like of him. Pope Francis is leading with a very large vision that encompasses the common good for all humanity, all creation, all religions, all immigrants, the whole planet. How can you expand your message to address people beyond your own circle?
Talk softly and carry a large vision. Pope Francis spoke softly, almost cautiously, before Congress. But his words, and his life, packed a wallop. He didn’t need to shout. He didn’t need to worry about stage presence. His vision, his values, his life, his encyclical were his message.
Be for something. A vision is most positive and engaging when it is for something, not against. Pope Francis is for the family, for religious freedom, for the poor. (Personally, I hope that his vision will expand and he and the Church will one day soon be for gay marriages and families.) Polarization increases when we only name what we are against. Jesus stood for the Kingdom of God. What and who do you stand for?
Here’s a bonus leadership lesson for us spiritual leaders: Be steeped in your own spiritual life. Pray, read scripture, examine your soul, grow, pray some more. Let the very presence of God precede you, infuse you, and linger long after you have left. So may it be.
Rebekah Simon-Peter blogs at rebekahsimonpeter.com. She is the author of "The Jew Named Jesus" and "Green Church."
"When tragedy strikes, partisan politicking offers cold comfort"
By Trevin Wax / Religion News Service
Brittany Gaddis prays during a candlelight vigil for victims of the Umpqua Community College shooting, in Winston, Ore., on Oct. 3, 2015. Photo courtesy of Reuters/Lucy Nicholson
(RNS) Less than 24 hours after a gunman began killing people at Umpqua Community College, our country’s political fires were raging at maximum intensity.
President Obama was clamoring for more gun control laws.
Gun rights advocates were blaming “gun-free zones” for making it possible for public places to become killing fields.
An out-of-context comment by Jeb Bush spread like wildfire through social media, as if to prove that heartless conservatives care more about guns than people.
Witnessing all the fury, I can’t help but feel like this unspeakable tragedy in Oregon has just become — if possible — even sadder.
There once was a time in American life when a crime of this magnitude would bring people together. We carried with us a sense of patriotic grace, a river of pathos flowing underneath common ground. Moments like this hushed our lips and led our hearts to reflect. More often than not, that reflection led to empathy: "That might have happened here. That could have been my child. What if I had been there? Oh, God — give us peace."
Those sentiments dissipated all too quickly this week. Perhaps due to the callousness of our hearts or the fact that mass shootings have become common, we now rush to the computer to vent our frustrations rather than turn to God and to each other to express our grief.
I understand how the feeling of helplessness intensifies the desire to just do something — to promote some person or push some policy. Make a statement. Pass a bill. Do whatever it takes to help us at least feel like we’re making progress in preventing these senseless horrors.
What troubles me is not that these tragedies lead to advocacy for policy change, but that our country’s imagination is held captive to the idea that the only place where such change can take place is in the legislature or courthouse. That’s why the conversation turned immediately to governmental blame and governmental solutions:
From the right: Government is to blame for preventing good citizens from being able to act quickly and protect people in situations like this!
From the left: Government won’t pass common sense legislation to keep guns out of the hands of criminals!
All sides of the gun control debate seem to think government is partly to blame and government is our only hope.
But this raises an interesting question: Why do we turn to government first? Are there no other places to turn for comfort, for consolation, for change?
Perhaps our public discourse has been impacted by our country’s gradual secularization. Polls and surveys show that secularism in the United States does not do away with religious observance; it does however relegate the role of religion to the margins of civic life, where it occupies a small compartment of privatized belief and therapeutic benefit.
Is it possible that, in the absence of religion, political activism has grown up to take its place? Where do we turn in times of tragedy? If not prayer, then policy. If not church, then state. If not the warmth of a common humanity, then the fire of our partisan divides.
“For more and more Americans, politics has become a religion,” writes Peggy Noonan. “People find their meaning in it. They define themselves by their stands.”
Noonan is right. Our country is still faith-filled; it is just that today our faith is misplaced. Too often, it’s directed toward government, not God. And many of our frustrations come when we realize government can’t ultimately save us. It was never meant to.
This explains why we so easily fall back into the trenches of our political warfare, and why our political wrangling is so exhausting. Noonan adds: “When politics becomes a religion, then simple disagreements become apostasies, heresies. And you know what we do with heretics.”
There will always be partisanship. That’s not something we should rule out, or something we should “rise above.”
But to put the political process in perspective requires us to remember and reaffirm truths that transcend our party lines. It means we must extend to one another grace, and soundly reject political cheap shots and manipulative sound bites.
I hope that, in the wake of the Oregon tragedy, we can reaffirm the commonalities that unite us, and then lean on that common ground when we engage in the inevitable debates about the best way forward. I hope we can assume the best of our political opponents and not immediately tar them with the worst possible motives.
For that to take place, however, the embers of our commitment to one another must burn hotter than the flames of our political discourse. Tragedies should stir up those ancient embers, not fan the new flames.
"When jail shift ends, he’s off to preach"
By Sam Hodges / United Methodist News Service
The Rev. Bradley Barton is a correctional officer at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail in Belington, W.Va., and a licensed local pastor in The United Methodist Church. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.
Two weekends a month, the Rev. Bradley Barton works an overnight shift as a guard at Tygart Valley Regional Jail. He goes in at 8 p.m. Saturday and gets off at 8 a.m. Sunday.
Then he hightails it to the first of three Sunday morning worship services where he preaches. If he runs late, he preaches in his uniform.
“The people are forgiving about that,” he said. “They know I have a job.”
Barton has a fourth church that doesn’t meet until Sunday at 6 p.m. When he finishes there, he goes right back to the prison for another overnight shift.
The other weekends are easier, but the 63-year-old Barton balances his full-time work as a corrections officer with serving as pastor to the Leadmine, St. George, Macedonia and Union Chapel United Methodist churches.
All are in the northeast West Virginia mountains, and to ride the circuit in a conventional way is a 61-mile trip. Barton knows shortcuts and takes them as needed on Sunday morning.
The Rev. Bradley Barton drives between churches on his four-point charge near Belington, W.Va. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS
“I won’t show you the backroads,” he told a visitng reporter. “I don’t want to terrify you.”
Barton grew up in tiny Kitzmiller, Maryland, across the North Branch of the Potomac River from West Virginia. His was a deeply involved United Methodist family, to the point that seven pastors and two district superintendents attended his mother’s funeral. His great-grandfather was a Methodist circuit rider.
As a boy in church, Barton felt his first call to ministry. “Heard” would be more precise.
“I was walking down the aisle, and a voice behind me said, ‘This is going to be your home for life,’” Barton remembers. “That would have been nothing unusual, but I was in the church all by myself.”
Barton did not go the usual route to ministry — college, followed by seminary. He had a long career in a lumber mill and became a corrections officer about 10 years ago.
In 2013, Barton was a certified lay minister at Hambleton United Methodist Church in West Virginia, when he was asked to be associate supply pastor to the four churches of the St. George Charge.
Barton jumped in, and his life became much busier. His wife, LuAnn, a home health-care nurse, goes with him to most worship services and keeps his schedule.
“I wake up in the morning, and she tells me what I’m doing,” Barton said.
Barton has learned the personalities of his four churches, which total about 120 members. He recalls encountering the consternation of a woman at St. George.
“She said, ‘We don’t know who keeps locking the doors,’” Barton recalled. “I said, ‘That’s me, Jane.’ She said, ‘Well, quit it.’ She informed me that you do not lock the doors of that church.”
This spring, Barton went to local pastor licensing school. Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball of the West Virginia Conference has formally appointed him as part-time local pastor to the four churches.
Though he is eligible for Social Security, Barton has no plans to retire from guarding prisoners and certainly not from preaching.
“You show me where Moses entered the retirement center on Mount Sinai,” he said.
Sam Hodges, a United Methodist News Service writer, lives in Dallas.
"This Sunday, October 11, 2015
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost: Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Psalm 22:1-15; Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31
DO WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THIS? by Chris Andrews
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WORSHIP ELEMENTS: OCTOBER 11, 2015 by Shelley Cunningham
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We can join together across denominational lines and protest the death penalty, on the ground and through our voting decisions. This won't always be easy in practice, but living out faith isn't dictated by how easy the tasks are. In cases like Kelly Gissendaner's, it will be easier for us to lift up one who changed for the better. It'll be easier to show the Kellys in our system grace and mercy. It'll be harder to protest the execution of the Alfredo Prietos among us; yet Christ loves all, and none are beyond the redemption of God. So we must protest for the Alfredos, too.
We can be the first to put down the tools of violence. We can elect leadership who agree that doing so is critical for healthy communal life. I’ve written previously about Christians and handgun/assault rifle ownership, naming what I see as an incompatibility when it comes to trusting in, and in some cases worshiping, guns instead of trusting in God. I’ll continue arguing the same thing in the wake of the shooting at UCC, and in every subsequent shooting until we see change by choosing our neighbors over a particular possession.
We can vote for and work for complete access to healthcare that reflects the sacredness of life to which we give lip-service, knowing that truly caring for an individual in Christian terms means unconditionally lifting them up regardless of their age, regardless of their status, regardless of their troubles, regardless of their actions. Innocent or enemy, we are to be graceful as God is graceful.
We follow and trust in God made flesh in Jesus Christ, and a crucial part of that trust is cemented in the three-fold truth: God lived, God died, God lived again. We are a people who gather regularly to affirm that our hope is in life, in redemption, in renewal. When we support (and rest assured, it is support, even if it’s just our idleness that props up the status quo) death by violence as a narrative of our shared lives together, we are living antithetically to a gospel which says that human life is sacred. We don’t get to skip the sacredness by passing off the responsibility of these violences onto the state, or antiquated bureaucratic systems, or even onto “bad guys with guns.”
Vigil in Roseburg, Oregon. Photo courtesy UMNS via Twitter.
We are our community, and Christians who make up our community should be among the first decrying this theology of death. All of us are either complicitly or explicitly involved, as our duty is to live out the gospel by loving God and loving our neighbors. We do neither when we turn a blind eye to the violences in our midst.
We have a hope as individuals, as congregations, as Christians in the body politic. It is a hope brought to us by Jesus the Christ, himself tortured and murdered as a form of legally-sanctioned state punishment. It is a hope borne out of the empty tomb. This hope says, “death does not have to be the way.” Living out such a hope is our path toward a less violent society. How long until this hope becomes the consistent message from our pulpits? How long until it rings out clearly from every voice in the church? How long until we start living as if life is our way?
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"Redeeming Halloween by rediscovering Allhallowtide" by Shane Raynor
All Saints Church, Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, U.K.
One weakness some Christians have, myself included, is the tendency to become so focused on avoiding something potentially bad that we overcompensate and throw out too much of what’s good. Protestants in particular have a history of this. In our attempts to avoid what we’ve perceived to be “too Catholic,” we’ve no doubt stripped our worship experience and our theology of much that’s good over the years. And our faith traditions are all the poorer for it.
Take Halloween, for example.
Depending on whom you ask, Halloween probably falls somewhere between harmless secular celebration on one end of the spectrum and pagan or satanic holiday on the other. Most of us probably don’t even think of it as a Christian holiday. But that’s actually what it is.
The word Halloween (sometimes written Hallowe’en) is simply a contraction of All Hallows’ Evening. You may be familiar with the adjective hallowed, which means set apart or consecrated. The verb hallow means to make or set apart as holy. But hallow can also be a noun, and it means a holy person or a saint.
That’s where we get Halloween. Essentially it’s another term forAll Saints’ Eve, and that makes it pretty significant, because on November 1, All Saints’ Day is observed by Roman Catholics and by many Protestants all over the world. It’s a day of celebrating the communion of saints, a community made up of all past, present and future Christians.
The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs, Fra Angelico, c.1423
As with other feasts and holy days (e.g. Christmas and Easter), some Christians have traditionally celebrated All Saints’ Day with a vigil the evening before. That vigil became All Hallows’ Eve. This comes from the Jewish practice of beginning days at sunset, not midnight, a practice that carried over into early Christianity.
Halloween and All Saints’ Day are followed on November 2 by a third, lesser known day: All Souls Day. The combined three-day observance is called Allhallowtide.
What’s the difference between All Saints’ and All Souls’, you ask? These days, not much, because the two have been conflated over time and many churches don’t even observe All Souls’ Day anymore. But the original purposes of the two days are quite different.
All Saints’ Day can likely be traced back to the early seventh century, when Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the Virgin Mary and all the martyrs and ordered a yearly celebration to commemorate it. This happened on May 13, which coincided with the final day of Lemuralia, a festival in Ancient Rome during which the Romans attempted to exorcise ghosts of the dead from their homes.
In the eighth century, Pope Gregory moved the day to November 1 to mark the dedication of an oratory in St. Peter’s Basilica. Some argue that this was an attempt by Gregory to Christianize Samhain, a pagan festival of the dead observed by the ancient Celts.
Although the focus and purpose were quite different, the common theme of the dead was present in all three festivals. As time passed, no doubt the Christians influenced the pagans, and vice versa.
But All Saints’ Day isn’t just about those who’ve died.
Yes, All Saints’ is a day when we recognize Christians who have gone before us, but it’s also a day of asking how we should live as saints now and how we intend to pass on the faith to future generations of believers. That’s what the Communion of Saints is all about.
All Souls Day, on the other hand, is a day set aside exclusively for commemorating the faithfully departed, particularly one’s relatives and friends. While All Saints’ Day has traditionally been a celebration of more well-known believers, martyrs and heroes of the faith, All Souls’ Day is meant to be a more solemn occasion with an emphasis on lesser-known Christians, especially the ones we’ve known personally.
The day was established on November 2 after an 11th century French abbot, Odilo of Cluny, chose it as a day of general intercession for Christians who had died. He commanded all Cluniac monks to keep it, and by the end of the 13th century, All Souls' Day was observed throughout the Western church.
Many Protestants merged All Souls’ Day with All Saints’ Day at the time of the Reformation, and the Roman Catholic emphasis of purgatory on All Souls’ Day has no doubt played a role in the blurring of the line between the two days by non-Catholics. Nowadays, many American churches fuse All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day into one day and celebrate it on the Sunday following All Saints’ if November 1 doesn’t fall on a Sunday. Unfortunately, this has probably further separated Halloween from All Saints’ Day in the minds of many Christians.
Like Christmas and Easter, the modern secular holiday of Halloween has been shaped by a number of factors, including paganism, Christianity and commercialism. (And the greatest of these is commercialism!) Because of Halloween’s association with death and evil, some believers and churches have avoided observing All Hallows’ Eve entirely. Others have attempted to Christianize the celebration of Halloween, which I find somewhat puzzling — how do you Christianize something that’s technically already Christian?
Perhaps we should do something radical and return Halloween to its roots as an All Saints’ vigil. Many churches already hold harvest festivals and trunk or treat events on the evening of October 31. Why not plan those along with a simple All Hallows’ Eve worship service and mark it as the beginning of Allhallowtide, a three-day period of celebration and remembrance?
All Souls' Day, Painting by J. Schikaneder, 1888
Allhallowtide is also an opportunity to have some meaningful spiritual experiences in a small group or as part of a family worship time. Try having a love feast on All Hallows’ Eve and an All Souls’ prayer vigil the evening before November 2. If you’re up for doing something unusual, have the prayer vigil in a church cemetery. (If you really want to live on the edge, try a public cemetery!)
Christians love talking about resurrection but we’re not usually comfortable dealing with the subject of death. It’s an enemy, after all, per 1 Corinthians 15:26: “Death is the last enemy to be brought to an end…” The CEB Study Bible note for this verse says, “Mortality, which is connected to human sin, is humankind’s final and unwavering enemy until the resurrection.”
Make no mistake, death is an enemy. But we need not fear it.
I suspect the saints who’ve gone before us would concur.
Helpful links:
All Saints’ Vigil (All Hallows’ Eve)
A global celebration of All Saints' Day
All Hallows’ Eve liturgy (from the Episcopal Digital Network)
All Saints’ Day (Textweek)
The Great Thanksgiving for All Saints and memorial occasions
John Wesley on All Saints’ DayFamily litany for All Saints' Day
A prayer meditation for All Saints' Day
All Souls’ Day (1 and 2)
All Souls’ Day (Textweek)
This is the first article in Shane Raynor's Dark Matter series. Throughout the month of October, he'll be writing from a Christian perspective about topics related to death, evil and the occult.
"How churches can be relevant" by Joseph Yoo
In the past month, I’ve had several conversations with other church leaders about relevance and being relevant as a church. The thing that struck me was that we all talked mostly about the things we can do to be relevant.
Some mentioned having edgy liturgy (I don’t really know what that meant.) A few suggested hiring young worship leaders who look, act, and smell like hipsters. Others talked about making their worship more relevant with newer songs, fog machines and light shows.
A few brought up relevant ministries and programs their churches do.
In the middle of one of the conversations, something occurred to me: Why are we talking only to each other? We need to find a way to engage those whom we’re trying to reach in a conversation.
Some of us have been part of a church for such a long time, we forget what it’s like to not be part of a church; we forget what it was like before we became Christians, which means we also tend to forget how to communicate with those who don’t share the same beliefs we do. I realized that a big mistake I make is trying to figure out what is relevant for us that would also be relevant for those who don't attend our church.
What happens sometimes is that we come off as disingenuous or trying too hard to be “cool.”
When I was in high school, we had a youth pastor who just tried too hard to connect with us. He’d show up wearing leather bomber jacket (in tropical weather), revving his Ford Mustang, then popping his trunk to show us his speakers blasting Tupac. Yeah, I guess it was kind of cool that he was blasting Tupac in a church parking lot, but it was clear to us that all he knew about Tupac was that he wasn’t Biggie. It was so obvious to us that he was trying to act like us that we didn’t want much to do with him.
Don’t even get me started on the 90s lingo he (mis)used.
(I realized I entered a different stage in my life when a former student said to me, “Hey, uh, you’re too old to be using that phrase. Just. Stop. Please.”)
Truthfully, we hardly gave the youth pastor a chance to connect with us anyway. We were already angsty teenagers who couldn’t decide if Nirvana or Tupac spoke on our behalf. (We coped by wearing baggy pants with flannel shirts.) And we felt he was pretending to be like us so so we would help him keep his job, especially since I was the pastor’s kid.
We would’ve probably connected with him more had he just been real and met us where we were without pretending to be “down” with all the things we were “down” with.
Back to my recent conversations, in trying to figure out what would be relevant to the unchurched folks in our communities, we all sort of implied that we only need to get those folks into our buildings so they can meet us where we are, or at the least, meet us halfway.
Perhaps that’s the biggest mistake we make. It’s not about ministries or programs; it’s not about the look of your staff; it’s not about how much your building looks like a church (or a coffee shop); it’s not about the coffee or the beer; it’s not about the music or style; and it’s definitely not about light shows and fog machines.
It’s really about meeting people where they are; engaging them in their current storyline and chapter of life; joining them in the conversations they are having.
Sadly, most of our churches seem to want to to require the unchurched to join us in the middle of the conversation that we are having; to come be part of the journey we’re already on.
If I remember correctly, the Great Commission doesn’t begin with, “Stay where you are with arms wide open and wait for people to come to you.”
The best way to be relevant is meeting people where they already are and inviting ourselves to be part of their journey, joining in their conversations and getting to know them.
Once we start doing that, we create opportunities to let them know that not only has God been with them their entire lives, but God continues to go with them, and has a purpose and plan for them.
Being relevant is less about what we can do or offer as a church and more about genuinely connecting with the people around us.
Joseph Yoo is pastor of St. Mark United Methodist Church in Santa Barbara, California. He is the author of Practical Prayer and Encountering Grace. He blogs at JosephYoo.com.
"What it means to take up your cross"
By Dave BarnhartWhen Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me,” his first followers probably did not hear it metaphorically. Crucifixion was reserved for enemies of the state, so Jesus’ summons would have been heard as a call to insurrection. They knew that would-be messiahs and revolutionaries who proclaimed a new, imminent kingdom of God had said, “Take up your sword and follow me.” Some of these rebellions led to huge mass executions by crucifixion.
So, when Jesus says, “Take up your cross,” he’s skipping steps. He calls his followers to do the kinds of swordless, nonviolent things that would lead to martyrdom. Stephen, James and Paul all answered that call and died (their stories are in the book of Acts). “Take up your cross and follow me” is a call to nonviolent yet revolutionary action, the kind that would invite persecution.
Early followers of Jesus generalized his revolutionary call to other kinds of suffering. When the disciples were publicly flogged, they rejoiced that they could share in Jesus’ suffering (Acts 5:11). Paul connected personal and private suffering (his “thorn in the flesh” in 2 Corinthians 12:7) with his persecution for the sake of the gospel: “Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10).”
Today, “bearing your cross” is a Christian metaphor that can carry many different meanings. It’s often used to indicate the trials and temptations that we experience in life, covering everything from addiction to cancer, lust to poverty or financial hardship. One story goes that an 18th century preacher was asked if he would visit his estranged wife while he was in London. He replied, “Sir, I will gladly bear a cross, but I will not seek one out.”
“Take up your cross” has lost some of the power of its original meaning. It’s gone from changing the world and threatening the established order to struggling against our cravings for chocolate during Lent or tolerating people we don’t like.
This change in meaning has also led to a perverse Christian glorification of human suffering: If bearing a cross makes us holy, then encouraging others to bear crosses, or actively nailing them to their crosses, must also be holy. In this way we invert the cross and the gospel of Christ, and make ourselves agents of the Empire rather than martyrs for the gospel.
For example, we invert the call to take up our cross with poverty, treating the suffering that comes with poverty as a noble thing. Sure, Jesus said “blessed are the poor,” and encouraged Christians to sell what they had and give the proceeds to the poor. Saint Francis and other Christian saints have embraced voluntary poverty, and found that they could have joy in the midst of their suffering.
But too many Christians see poverty as benign instead of something to be alleviated, challenged and fought against. I often hear middle-class Christians who have gone on mission trips or served the poor say things like, “I was amazed at how happy they were. It just goes to show that you don’t need money to be happy.” This is not what “blessed are the poor” means. When Jesus said to sell all you have and give the money to the poor, the goal was not to increase the total number of people living in poverty — it was to decrease it. Being poor does not mean being joyless, but that’s hardly the point. The reason that God has a special concern for the financially poor is that poverty is cruel.
The romanticization of poverty ignores the neurological damage done to children who grow up in chronic poverty as well as the stress that generates an ongoing public health crisis and poor health outcomes for people in poverty. It ignores the systemic injustices that perpetuate poverty. When people talk about poverty as a cross to bear, or quote Jesus saying, “You will always have the poor with you” as an excuse for public policy inaction, they abandon the witness of the gospel in favor of the status quo.
We also invert the call to take up our cross with sexuality and gender identity. In our ethical and theological debates about sexual orientation and gender identity, many straight Christians have said that celibacy for gay and lesbian persons, or assimilation for trans, intersex, or genderqueer persons is just “the cross one has to bear.” This cross is not voluntarily taken up, nor does it threaten the Established Order of Things. It is assigned by a majority straight and cisgender culture, and those who reject this cross have often been nailed to it against their will.
Peter, by contrast, calls this kind of imposed obligation a “yoke,” not a cross. When he stands to address the church over the circumcision controversy, Peter (who was circumcised) asks the leaders, “why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10). Some of the Christians in Acts 15 probably thought mandatory circumcision was a cross that everyone — every male, anyway — should be willing to bear. But Peter’s speech challenges this assumption: The cross of Christ is something we take up voluntarily; a yoke is what we place upon another.
We invert the call to take up our cross with euthanasia. One meme asserts, “Suffering is a grace-filled opportunity to participate in the passion of Jesus Christ. Euthanasia selfishly steals that opportunity.”
Certainly, it is possible to approach suffering and death with an openness to know God as a co-sufferer with us. We may be able to experience transcendent grace in the midst of pain, and to come to a deeper appreciation of what it meant for God to be incarnate in Christ. But if suffering is such a grace-filled opportunity, why would we work to alleviate any suffering at all? Why establish hospitals? Why work to end poverty? Why take aspirin for a headache? Only the one who is suffering can decide if their suffering ennobles them and draws them closer to Christ, or if it leads them to bitterness and alienation. Even Jesus prayed to be delivered from suffering.
I’ve named some ways we rhetorically invert the call to take up a cross and follow Jesus: with poverty, with sexual orientation and gender identity and with euthanasia. There are certainly more ways that the improper use of this metaphor turns the Good News into bad news: Preachers have told folks to stay in bad or abusive relationships and to silently endure racial oppression as a way of “bearing a cross.” We should be suspicious of any rhetoric which places the cross on the shoulders of another. We are called to take up crosses — not nail others to them.
There’s one more important aspect to remember about suffering and Christ’s call to take up a cross: When Christ carried the cross, Simon of Cyrene bore it with him. There is a sense in which whatever metaphorical cross we take up, there should be others, a community of support, to carry it with us in solidarity. The natural response to anyone who tells you to bear a cross should be, “Then will you carry it with me?” If the answer is, “No, thanks,” then perhaps they aren’t that serious about it.
This is why we need to pay attention to the revolutionary meaning of “take up your cross.” Revolutions only happen when followers do the kinds of things that might get them crucified as a community. Brave individuals can do heroic things and suffer heroic martyrdom without leading to any significant change. But a community of people who do not fear the cross is an unstoppable force.
Bravery and a willingness to suffer itself is not the measure of what makes a cross. When Christians claim they are being persecuted, we need to ask critical questions about who is placing a burden on whom, and who is asking whom to endure suffering and for what end.
The cross of Christ, and the call to take up our own (instead of taking up arms), should not be stripped of its scandal and offensiveness to the world and the Empire. It is a call to change the order of things with our vulnerability instead of the power of the sword, with love rather than coercion. We take up a cross instead of a sword because the world is heavily invested in inequality, in patriarchy, in the coercive use of force and in the fear of suffering and death. Those who live by the sword die by the sword, but those who die by their cross live for God.
By all means, take up your cross and follow Jesus. But don’t nail someone else to one.
Dave Barnhart is the pastor of Saint Junia UMC in Birmingham, Ala. He blogs at DaveBarnhart.net.
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"7 characteristics of the bottleneck leader"
By Ron EdmondsonLeaders should aim to never be a bottleneck in the process of building a healthy and growing organization.
When I owned a small manufacturing company I had to learn the language of the field. I obviously knew the term bottleneck, but I never really understood it until it became the difference in being profitable or not. When the bottom line depends on productivity being at its highest, as the one ultimately in control, you learn what the term means first-hand.
A bottleneck is defined as “A point of congestion in a system that occurs when workloads arrive at a given point more quickly than that point can handle them.”
In an organization, the bottleneck is many times the leader. When this happens, progress stalls, growth is limited and people are frustrated.
Here are seven characteristics of the bottleneck leader:
Every decision ultimately goes through the leader. People are annoyed because they feel devalued — like their ability to make a good decision is in question. When everyone has to wait for the leader to make a decision things become awkward and valuable time is wasted. Productivity slows. Frustration rises.
New ideas or opinions are discouraged. People want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, nd they want to play a part in helping it become a reality. When their input isn’t welcomed they feel stifled, unfulfilled and unnecessary.
The leader is change-resistant. I know I just typed this sentence, but I’m not even sure I believe those two can go together. Leadership in its very definition involves change. Leaders are taking people somewhere new. You can’t get to new without change. The leader should be among the least afraid of change on the team.
There is no clear vision or information isn’t readily available. People flounder because they don’t know what to do next. They don’t know how things are going or what is important to the leader. This bottleneck encourages laziness in some and discouragement in others. Leaders who spur movement in an organization are quick with information. They are transparent and continually sharing what they see as the future — as far as they can see.
The leader never delegates. When people feel empowered they think like “owners.” When the leader takes on unnecessary assignments the leader is overburdened and the team is underutilized. Both suffer in the long-term.
Potential leaders aren’t recruited, they are controlled. Leaders are built through a recruit, invest and release process. Consider Jesus. He recruited the disciples, invested in them and then sent them out to do the work. When people are controlled, they never develop. And they learn to resent the leader.
Only the leader can launch a new initiative. The best leaders I know encourage people to take a risk. They create a “go for it” environment. When only the leader is allowed to “pull the trigger” or “push the first button” the organization faces a huge opportunity cost.
Leaders, ask yourself this question: In what ways am I a bottleneck in this organization?
If you aren’t certain, perhaps you should ask your team, even doing so anonymously.
What would you add to my list? What bottlenecks of leadership have you seen?
Ron Edmondson blogs at RonEdmondson.com.
"Billy Graham warns of fire and brimstone in ‘final’ book"
By Adelle M. Banks / Religion News ServiceBilly Graham on June 25, 2005 in Flushing, New York. Photo: Bigstock
(RNS) In his latest book, evangelist Billy Graham declares that non-Christians are doomed to live in a fiery hell, a message his son said he has wanted to share for several years.
“There were some family members who thought that he shouldn’t do it because it was a negative subject,” said Franklin Graham in an interview Friday (Oct. 2). “And Daddy said, ‘It is a negative subject. It’ s a real subject. It’s a real place.’”
Where I Am: Heaven, Eternity and Our Life Beyond, released last week and billed as the “final work” by the 96-year-old, offers a vivid depiction of hell that harkens back to his youthful zeal as an emerging evangelist on the national stage.
“As a Christian and a preacher of the Gospel, I am always grieved to have to interrupt a marvelous picture, such as eternal life in Heaven, to talk about another eternal place that Jesus calls Hell,” Graham writes. “It has no similarities to what is typically called home, nor is Hell a resting place, a holding place, or a graveyard. Hell is a burning inferno.”
Scholars who have followed Graham’s ministry say his words are a significant shift from the approach he took after the first decade of his ministry, which gained prominence in a Los Angeles crusade in 1949.
“In the 1950s, especially the early years, he could be pretty specific and colorful, but as early as 1954 during the London Crusade he noted that he was not sure if fire would be involved,” said William Martin, author of a 1991 biography of Graham and a senior fellow for religion and public policy at Rice University's Baker Institute.
Michael Hamilton, chair of the history department of evangelical Seattle Pacific University, said Graham spoke often of “the hell of the contemporary state of the world and the hell of the chaotic personal life. Those are the two hells that are really dominant through most of his ministry, though in the earlier years he talked more about an actual Bible hell.”
But Franklin Graham said of his father: “He’s always pictured hell as what the Bible teaches.”
In the new book, Billy Graham hedges his bets, but just a bit.
“I can say with certainty that if there is no literal fire in Hell, then God is using symbolic language to indicate something far worse,” he writes. “Just as there are no words to adequately describe the grand beauty of Heaven, we cannot begin to imagine just how horrible the place called Hell is.”
Matt Baugher, W Publishing Group’s senior vice president and publisher, said the book project included collaboration with Franklin Graham and Donna Lee Toney, who read portions back to the elder Graham, who suffers from macular degeneration.
The younger Graham said he encouraged his father but did not write the book.
“One of his concerns was that hell and heaven were being distorted by Hollywood,” said Franklin Graham. “And you have these films that have come out and books and so forth about heaven or hell. And my father wanted people to know what the Bible has to say about them.”
The younger Graham, who is now president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, was at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday, when North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed a bill requesting the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall include a statue of the evangelist to replace that of Charles Aycock, a former governor and white supremacist.
“I think for another generation it will give an opportunity for my father to reach out from the grave with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Franklin Graham said. “As people read and study his life, they’ll read and understand the message that he preached.”
In a chapter titled “Forever Separated and Forever United,” Billy Graham emphasizes his belief that individuals can choose to avoid what the Scripture describes as “unending death in a lake of fire and brimstone that burns forever.”
“God does not send unrepentant souls into the pit of darkness; those souls choose their destiny,” he said.
Franklin Graham said his father no longer has the Parkinson’s disease-like symptoms he once had but sometimes needs people to speak up so he can hear them. He watches the morning news, football and golf on his big-screen television and keeps up with current events.
The book, filled with passages from the Bible. dwells on the evangelist’s views of eternity. But it also gives glimpses of Billy Graham’s personal life, including his love for his wife Ruth, who died in 2007.
“She no longer has detours to maneuver; she has traveled the smooth highway to Heaven,” he writes. “I will join her soon.”
Here are a few excerpts of what Billy Graham wrote about heaven and hell in Where I Am:
HEAVEN
“We will know morning glories that never cease because the Son will shine His eternal light upon us forever, and all of Heaven will be filled with resounding joy. Being in His presence will be our treasure. I look forward to that.”
“Heaven captures the imagination, but it is not an imaginary place. It is not a fantasyland in which to dwell. It is not a place one can travel to and come back again — at least not in our earthbound life. Heaven is a literal place.”
“We need to say either yes or no. But some of us say maybe. Some of us try to straddle the fence and live in both worlds, but Jesus will not compromise with us. The Gospel plan is all set. We must accept His Son if we are to enter into His eternal kingdom. If your answer is not yes, then the choice is made.”
HELL
“You may be thinking, ‘Billy surely you do not believe all of this Hellfire and brimstone!’ My dear friends, it is not what I say that counts; it is what the Word of God says.”
“The worst kind of death is described in Scripture — unending death in a lake of fire and brimstone that burns forever. Just as we cannot fathom the wonder of living forever in glory, we cannot possibly comprehend the alternative.”
“Every person who rejects Christ and His atoning work will be cast into this horrible pit of despair. Worse will be to remember that it was by choice — that God called you to salvation but you rejected His wonderful gift. God does not send unrepentant souls into the pit of darkness; those souls choose their destiny. You’ve heard the saying, ‘They aren’t living; they are just existing!’ There will be ‘no purposeful living’ in Hell, just an existence beyond all misery.”
“You may wonder what Hell is really like. Don’t look to comedians for answers. The Bible tells you the truth. Hell is a place of sorrow and unrest, a place of wailing and a furnace of fire; a place of torment, a place of outer darkness, a place where people scream for mercy; a place of everlasting punishment.”
"‘How about that pope?’" by Rebekah Simon-PeterI recently attended a post-Yom Kippur meal designed to break the fast with the little Jewish community here in Casper, Wyoming. As we washed dishes and put away food, talk turned to politics and the diverse lineup of presidential hopefuls on both sides of the aisle. While Trump got the usual rolling of eyes, some painted the current Democratic and Republican members of Congress with the same pope with congressbroad brush strokes of contempt. “They’re all too much. No one wants to compromise.” It looked like the conversation might degenerate quickly into partisan opinion slinging when one of our members piped up: “How about that pope?” A statement more than a question it quickly served to unite us as heads nodded and smiles emerged.
How about that pope?
It’s not just Jews of various political affinities he has managed to unite — if for a season. Also rich and poor, Catholics and non-Catholics, Republicans and Democrats, immigrants and citizens. Most surprising of all though, is the way he has inspired the religious, the spiritual but not religious and the “nones.”
A few nights after the Yom Kippur break fast, I was at a meeting with some friends who don’t identify with a faith tradition at all. “I’m not religious or anything,” Eddie, said, “but the pope has restored my faith.” This from a man who doesn’t have or want any. Eddie went on to say that Pope Francis restored his faith in religion, in leaders, in humanity itself. Wow! How about that pope?
Who says religious leaders have no positive impact anymore? Pope Francis shows us how it can be done, all while staying true to our own particular values.
I offer six leadership lessons we can all learn from the pontiff — regardless of your beliefs:
Don’t pander to the crowd. Pope Francis doesn’t lead by opinion polsl. He’s not trying to be all things to all people. He holds some values that liberal voters resonate with and some that conservative voters resonate with. He doesn’t apologize for what he believes or try to hide it or change it. Good leaders don’t pander to the crowd or change their stripes when polls fluctuate. They stick with what they believe.
Don’t pander to the institution. At the same time that Pope Francis doesn’t change his talking points for the crowd, he has distinguished himself from the institution he serves. Apparently he hasn’t changed Catholic doctrine, but he sure has donned new interpretive lenses, and a new narrative to go with it. Because of this he has somehow managed to inspire left and right alike. He has shown us how to be true to yourself and true to your core beliefs, even as you lead an ancient/aging institution into a new day. This kind of leadership is not for the faint of heart.
Align your behavior with your values. Many of us leaders say one thing but do another. Not Pope Francis. He says he cares about the poor and he spends time ministering to poor people. He says he cares about the common good and he lives in a modest apartment, not the papal palace. He says he cares about the well-being of the earth and he writes and speaks on it extensively. It almost goes without saying, but good leaders practice what they preach.
Use a big umbrella. While Pope Francis is the spiritual leader of some 1.2 billion Catholics, he addresses his message to all of humanity. One has the sense that he cares about all of us, not just “his” people. How very Jesus-like of him. Pope Francis is leading with a very large vision that encompasses the common good for all humanity, all creation, all religions, all immigrants, the whole planet. How can you expand your message to address people beyond your own circle?
Talk softly and carry a large vision. Pope Francis spoke softly, almost cautiously, before Congress. But his words, and his life, packed a wallop. He didn’t need to shout. He didn’t need to worry about stage presence. His vision, his values, his life, his encyclical were his message.
Be for something. A vision is most positive and engaging when it is for something, not against. Pope Francis is for the family, for religious freedom, for the poor. (Personally, I hope that his vision will expand and he and the Church will one day soon be for gay marriages and families.) Polarization increases when we only name what we are against. Jesus stood for the Kingdom of God. What and who do you stand for?
Here’s a bonus leadership lesson for us spiritual leaders: Be steeped in your own spiritual life. Pray, read scripture, examine your soul, grow, pray some more. Let the very presence of God precede you, infuse you, and linger long after you have left. So may it be.
Rebekah Simon-Peter blogs at rebekahsimonpeter.com. She is the author of "The Jew Named Jesus" and "Green Church."
"When tragedy strikes, partisan politicking offers cold comfort"
By Trevin Wax / Religion News ServiceBrittany Gaddis prays during a candlelight vigil for victims of the Umpqua Community College shooting, in Winston, Ore., on Oct. 3, 2015. Photo courtesy of Reuters/Lucy Nicholson
(RNS) Less than 24 hours after a gunman began killing people at Umpqua Community College, our country’s political fires were raging at maximum intensity.
President Obama was clamoring for more gun control laws.
Gun rights advocates were blaming “gun-free zones” for making it possible for public places to become killing fields.
An out-of-context comment by Jeb Bush spread like wildfire through social media, as if to prove that heartless conservatives care more about guns than people.
Witnessing all the fury, I can’t help but feel like this unspeakable tragedy in Oregon has just become — if possible — even sadder.
There once was a time in American life when a crime of this magnitude would bring people together. We carried with us a sense of patriotic grace, a river of pathos flowing underneath common ground. Moments like this hushed our lips and led our hearts to reflect. More often than not, that reflection led to empathy: "That might have happened here. That could have been my child. What if I had been there? Oh, God — give us peace."
Those sentiments dissipated all too quickly this week. Perhaps due to the callousness of our hearts or the fact that mass shootings have become common, we now rush to the computer to vent our frustrations rather than turn to God and to each other to express our grief.
I understand how the feeling of helplessness intensifies the desire to just do something — to promote some person or push some policy. Make a statement. Pass a bill. Do whatever it takes to help us at least feel like we’re making progress in preventing these senseless horrors.
What troubles me is not that these tragedies lead to advocacy for policy change, but that our country’s imagination is held captive to the idea that the only place where such change can take place is in the legislature or courthouse. That’s why the conversation turned immediately to governmental blame and governmental solutions:
From the right: Government is to blame for preventing good citizens from being able to act quickly and protect people in situations like this!
From the left: Government won’t pass common sense legislation to keep guns out of the hands of criminals!
All sides of the gun control debate seem to think government is partly to blame and government is our only hope.
But this raises an interesting question: Why do we turn to government first? Are there no other places to turn for comfort, for consolation, for change?
Perhaps our public discourse has been impacted by our country’s gradual secularization. Polls and surveys show that secularism in the United States does not do away with religious observance; it does however relegate the role of religion to the margins of civic life, where it occupies a small compartment of privatized belief and therapeutic benefit.
Is it possible that, in the absence of religion, political activism has grown up to take its place? Where do we turn in times of tragedy? If not prayer, then policy. If not church, then state. If not the warmth of a common humanity, then the fire of our partisan divides.
“For more and more Americans, politics has become a religion,” writes Peggy Noonan. “People find their meaning in it. They define themselves by their stands.”
Noonan is right. Our country is still faith-filled; it is just that today our faith is misplaced. Too often, it’s directed toward government, not God. And many of our frustrations come when we realize government can’t ultimately save us. It was never meant to.
This explains why we so easily fall back into the trenches of our political warfare, and why our political wrangling is so exhausting. Noonan adds: “When politics becomes a religion, then simple disagreements become apostasies, heresies. And you know what we do with heretics.”
There will always be partisanship. That’s not something we should rule out, or something we should “rise above.”
But to put the political process in perspective requires us to remember and reaffirm truths that transcend our party lines. It means we must extend to one another grace, and soundly reject political cheap shots and manipulative sound bites.
I hope that, in the wake of the Oregon tragedy, we can reaffirm the commonalities that unite us, and then lean on that common ground when we engage in the inevitable debates about the best way forward. I hope we can assume the best of our political opponents and not immediately tar them with the worst possible motives.
For that to take place, however, the embers of our commitment to one another must burn hotter than the flames of our political discourse. Tragedies should stir up those ancient embers, not fan the new flames.
"When jail shift ends, he’s off to preach"
By Sam Hodges / United Methodist News ServiceThe Rev. Bradley Barton is a correctional officer at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail in Belington, W.Va., and a licensed local pastor in The United Methodist Church. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.
Two weekends a month, the Rev. Bradley Barton works an overnight shift as a guard at Tygart Valley Regional Jail. He goes in at 8 p.m. Saturday and gets off at 8 a.m. Sunday.
Then he hightails it to the first of three Sunday morning worship services where he preaches. If he runs late, he preaches in his uniform.
“The people are forgiving about that,” he said. “They know I have a job.”
Barton has a fourth church that doesn’t meet until Sunday at 6 p.m. When he finishes there, he goes right back to the prison for another overnight shift.
The other weekends are easier, but the 63-year-old Barton balances his full-time work as a corrections officer with serving as pastor to the Leadmine, St. George, Macedonia and Union Chapel United Methodist churches.
All are in the northeast West Virginia mountains, and to ride the circuit in a conventional way is a 61-mile trip. Barton knows shortcuts and takes them as needed on Sunday morning.
The Rev. Bradley Barton drives between churches on his four-point charge near Belington, W.Va. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS
“I won’t show you the backroads,” he told a visitng reporter. “I don’t want to terrify you.”
Barton grew up in tiny Kitzmiller, Maryland, across the North Branch of the Potomac River from West Virginia. His was a deeply involved United Methodist family, to the point that seven pastors and two district superintendents attended his mother’s funeral. His great-grandfather was a Methodist circuit rider.
As a boy in church, Barton felt his first call to ministry. “Heard” would be more precise.
“I was walking down the aisle, and a voice behind me said, ‘This is going to be your home for life,’” Barton remembers. “That would have been nothing unusual, but I was in the church all by myself.”
Barton did not go the usual route to ministry — college, followed by seminary. He had a long career in a lumber mill and became a corrections officer about 10 years ago.
In 2013, Barton was a certified lay minister at Hambleton United Methodist Church in West Virginia, when he was asked to be associate supply pastor to the four churches of the St. George Charge.
Barton jumped in, and his life became much busier. His wife, LuAnn, a home health-care nurse, goes with him to most worship services and keeps his schedule.
“I wake up in the morning, and she tells me what I’m doing,” Barton said.
Barton has learned the personalities of his four churches, which total about 120 members. He recalls encountering the consternation of a woman at St. George.
“She said, ‘We don’t know who keeps locking the doors,’” Barton recalled. “I said, ‘That’s me, Jane.’ She said, ‘Well, quit it.’ She informed me that you do not lock the doors of that church.”
This spring, Barton went to local pastor licensing school. Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball of the West Virginia Conference has formally appointed him as part-time local pastor to the four churches.
Though he is eligible for Social Security, Barton has no plans to retire from guarding prisoners and certainly not from preaching.
“You show me where Moses entered the retirement center on Mount Sinai,” he said.
Sam Hodges, a United Methodist News Service writer, lives in Dallas.
"This Sunday, October 11, 2015
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost: Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Psalm 22:1-15; Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31
Lectionary Texts:Job 23:1 Then Iyov answered:
[2] Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.
To-day — Even at this time, notwithstanding all your pretended consolations.
Stroke — The hand or stroke of God upon me.
Groaning — Doth exceed my complaints.
Verse 3
[3] Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!
O — I desire nothing more than his acquaintance and presence; but alas, he hides his face from me.
Seat — To his throne or judgment-seat to plead my cause before him.
Verse 5
[5] I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.
Know — If he should discover to me any secret sins, for which he contendeth with me, I would humble myself before him, and accept of the punishment of mine iniquity.
Verse 6
[6] Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.
No — He would not use his power against me, but for me; by enabling me to plead my cause, and giving sentence according to that clemency, which he uses towards his children.
Verse 7
[7] There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.
There — At that throne of grace, where God lays aside his majesty, and judges according to his wonted clemency.
Dispute — Humbly propounding the grounds of their confidence.
So — Upon such a fair and equal hearing.
Delivered — From the damnatory sentence of God. This and some such expressions of Job cannot be excused from irreverence towards God, for which God afterwards reproves him, and Job abhorreth himself.
Verse 8
[8] Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
Is not — As a judge to hear and determine my causes, otherwise he knew God was essentially present in all places.
2 “Today too my complaint is bitter;
my hand is weighed down because of my groaning.
3 I wish I knew where I could find him;
then I would go to where he is.
4 I would state my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know his answering words
and grasp what he would tell me.
6 Would he browbeat me with his great power?
No, he would pay attention to me.
7 There an upright person could reason with him;
thus I might be forever acquitted by my judge.
8 “If I head east, he isn’t there;
if I head west, I don’t detect him,
9 if I turn north, I don’t spot him;
in the south he is veiled, and I still don’t see him.
16 God has undermined my courage;
Shaddai frightens me.
17 Yet I am not cut off by the darkness;
he has protected me from the deepest gloom.
Psalm 22:(0) For the leader. Set to “Sunrise.” A psalm of David:
2 (1) My God! My God!
Why have you abandoned me?
Why so far from helping me,
so far from my anguished cries?
3 (2) My God, by day I call to you,
but you don’t answer;
likewise at night,
but I get no relief.
4 (3) Nevertheless, you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Isra’el.
5 (4) In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted, and you rescued them.
6 (5) They cried to you and escaped;
they trusted in you and were not disappointed.
7 (6) But I am a worm, not a man,
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
8 (7) All who see me jeer at me;
they sneer and shake their heads:
9 (8) “He committed himself to Adonai,
so let him rescue him!
Let him set him free
if he takes such delight in him!”
10 (9) But you are the one who took me from the womb,
you made me trust when I was on my mother’s breasts.
11 (10) Since my birth I’ve been thrown on you;
you are my God from my mother’s womb.
12 (11) Don’t stay far from me, for trouble is near;
and there is no one to help.
13 (12) Many bulls surround me,
wild bulls of Bashan close in on me.
14 (13) They open their mouths wide against me,
like ravening, roaring lions.
15 (14) I am poured out like water;
all my bones are out of joint;
my heart has become like wax —
it melts inside me;
Hebrews 4:12 See, the Word of God is alive! It is at work and is sharper than any double-edged sword — it cuts right through to where soul meets spirit and joints meet marrow, and it is quick to judge the inner reflections and attitudes of the heart. 13 Before God, nothing created is hidden, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.
14 Therefore, since we have a great cohen gadol who has passed through to the highest heaven, Yeshua, the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we acknowledge as true. 15 For we do not have a cohen gadol unable to empathize with our weaknesses; since in every respect he was tempted just as we are, the only difference being that he did not sin. 16 Therefore, let us confidently approach the throne from which God gives grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need.
Mark 10:17 As he was starting on his way, a man ran up, kneeled down in front of him and asked, “Good rabbi, what should I do to obtain eternal life?” 18 Yeshua said to him, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good except God! 19 You know the mitzvot — ‘Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t give false testimony, don’t defraud, honor your father and mother, . . .’”[Mark 10:19 Exodus 20:12–13(16); Deuteronomy 5:16–17(20)] 20 “Rabbi,” he said, “I have kept all these since I was a boy.” 21 Yeshua, looking at him, felt love for him and said to him, “You’re missing one thing. Go, sell whatever you own, give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come, follow me!” 22 Shocked by this word, he went away sad; because he was a wealthy man.
23 Yeshua looked around and said to his talmidim, “How hard it is going to be for people with wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!” 24 The talmidim were astounded at these words; but Yeshua said to them again, “My friends, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God! 25 It’s easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.” 26 They were utterly amazed and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Yeshua looked at them and said, “Humanly, it is impossible, but not with God; with God, everything is possible.” 28 Kefa began saying to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Yeshua said, “Yes! I tell you that there is no one who has left house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, 30 who will not receive a hundred times over, now, in the ‘olam hazeh, homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and lands — with persecutions! — and in the ‘olam haba, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first!”
John Wesley's Notes-Commentary for Job 23:1-9Verse 2[2] Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.
To-day — Even at this time, notwithstanding all your pretended consolations.
Stroke — The hand or stroke of God upon me.
Groaning — Doth exceed my complaints.
Verse 3
[3] Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!
O — I desire nothing more than his acquaintance and presence; but alas, he hides his face from me.
Seat — To his throne or judgment-seat to plead my cause before him.
Verse 5
[5] I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.
Know — If he should discover to me any secret sins, for which he contendeth with me, I would humble myself before him, and accept of the punishment of mine iniquity.
Verse 6
[6] Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.
No — He would not use his power against me, but for me; by enabling me to plead my cause, and giving sentence according to that clemency, which he uses towards his children.
Verse 7
[7] There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.
There — At that throne of grace, where God lays aside his majesty, and judges according to his wonted clemency.
Dispute — Humbly propounding the grounds of their confidence.
So — Upon such a fair and equal hearing.
Delivered — From the damnatory sentence of God. This and some such expressions of Job cannot be excused from irreverence towards God, for which God afterwards reproves him, and Job abhorreth himself.
Verse 8
[8] Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
Is not — As a judge to hear and determine my causes, otherwise he knew God was essentially present in all places.
16-17
Verse 16
[16] For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:
Soft — He hath bruised, and broken, or melted it, so that I have no spirit in me.
Verse 17
[17] Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.
Because — God did not cut me off by death.
Before — These miseries came upon me.
Covered — By hiding me in the grave.
[1] My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
My God — Who art my friend and father, though now thou frownest upon me. The repetition denotes, the depth of his distress, which made him cry so earnestly.
Forsaken — Withdrawn the light of thy countenance, the supports and comforts of thy spirit, and filled me with the terrors of thy wrath: this was in part verified in David, but much more fully in Christ.
Roaring — My out-cries forced from me, by my miseries.
Verse 3
[3] But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
But thou art — Just and true in all thy ways, this he adds to strengthen his faith, and to enforce his prayers, and prevail with God for the honour of his holy name, to hear and help him.
Inhabitest — Whom thy people are perpetually praising.
Verse 6
[6] But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
A worm — Neglected and despised.
People — Not only of the great men, but also of the common people. Which doth not so truly agree to David as to Christ.
Verse 7
[7] All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
Shoot out — They gape with their mouths, in mockery. This and the next verse are applied to Christ, Matthew 27:39,43.
Verse 12
[12] Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
Bulls — Wicked and violent, and potent enemies; for such are so called, Ezekiel 39:18; Amos 4:1.
Of Bashan — As the cattle there bred were, and therefore fierce and furious.
Verse 14
[14] I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
Water — My spirits are spent and gone like water which once spilt can never be recovered; my very flesh is melted within me, and I am become as weak as water.
Bones — I am as unable to help myself, and as full of torment, as if all my bones were disjointed.
Wax — Melted, through fear and overwhelming grief.
Verse 15
[15] My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
Dried — I have in a manner no more moisture left in me, than is in a dry potsherd.
Cleaveth — Through excessive thirst and drought.
Death — Thy providence, delivering me into the power of mine enemies, and by thy terrors in my soul.
[12] For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
For the word of God — Preached, Hebrews 4:2, and armed with threatenings, Hebrews 4:3.
Is living and powerful — Attended with the power of the living God, and conveying either life or death to the hearers.
Sharper than any two-edged sword — Penetrating the heart more than this does the body.
Piercing — Quite through, and laying open.
The soul and spirit, joints and marrow — The inmost recesses of the mind, which the apostle beautifully and strongly expresses by this heap of figurative words.
And is a discerner — Not only of the thoughts, but also of the intentions.
Verse 13
[13] Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
In his sight — It is God whose word is thus "powerful:" it is God in whose sight every creature is manifest; and of this his word, working on the conscience, gives the fullest conviction.
But all things are naked and opened — Plainly alluding to the sacrifices under the law which were first flayed, and then (as the Greek word literally means) cleft asunder through the neck and backbone; so that everything both without and within was exposed to open view.
Verse 14
[14] Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Having therefore a great high priest — Great indeed, being the eternal Son of God, that is passed through the heavens - As the Jewish high priest passed through the veil into the holy of holies, carrying with him the blood of the sacrifices, on the yearly day of atonement; so our great high priest went once for all through the visible heavens, with the virtue of his own blood, into the immediate presence God.
Verse 15
[15] For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
He sympathizes with us even in our innocent infirmities, wants, weaknesses, miseries, dangers.
Yet without sin — And, therefore, is indisputably able to preserve us from it in all our temptations.
Verse 16
[16] Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Let us therefore come boldly — Without any doubt or fear. Unto the throne of God, our reconciled Father, even his throne of grace - Grace erected it, and reigns there, and dispenses all blessings in a way of mere, unmerited favour.
[17] And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
Matthew 19:16; Luke 18:18.
Verse 20
[20] And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
He answering, said to him, Master — He stands reproved now, and drops the epithet good.
Verse 21
[21] Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
Jesus looking upon him — And looking into his heart, loved him - Doubtless for the dawnings of good which he saw in him: and said to him - Out of tender love, One thing thou lackest - The love of God, without which all religion is a dead carcass. In order to this, throw away what is to thee the grand hinderance of it. Give up thy great idol, riches. Go, sell whatsoever thou hast.
Verse 24
[24] And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
Jesus saith to them, Children — See how he softens the harsh truth, by the manner of delivering it! And yet without retracting or abating one tittle: How hard is it for them that trust in riches - Either for defence, or happiness, or deliverance from the thousand dangers that life is continually exposed to. That these cannot enter into God's glorious kingdom, is clear and undeniable: but it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a man to have riches, and not trust in them. Therefore, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom.
Verse 28
[28] Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
Lo, we have left all — Though the young man would not.
Verse 30
[30] But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
He shall receive a hundred fold, houses, … — Not in the same kind: for it will generally be with persecutions: but in value: a hundred fold more happiness than any or all of these did or could afford. But let it be observed, none is entitled to this happiness, but he that will accept it with persecutions.
[16] For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:
Soft — He hath bruised, and broken, or melted it, so that I have no spirit in me.
Verse 17
[17] Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.
Because — God did not cut me off by death.
Before — These miseries came upon me.
Covered — By hiding me in the grave.
Psalm 22:1-15
Verse 1[1] My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
My God — Who art my friend and father, though now thou frownest upon me. The repetition denotes, the depth of his distress, which made him cry so earnestly.
Forsaken — Withdrawn the light of thy countenance, the supports and comforts of thy spirit, and filled me with the terrors of thy wrath: this was in part verified in David, but much more fully in Christ.
Roaring — My out-cries forced from me, by my miseries.
Verse 3
[3] But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
But thou art — Just and true in all thy ways, this he adds to strengthen his faith, and to enforce his prayers, and prevail with God for the honour of his holy name, to hear and help him.
Inhabitest — Whom thy people are perpetually praising.
Verse 6
[6] But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
A worm — Neglected and despised.
People — Not only of the great men, but also of the common people. Which doth not so truly agree to David as to Christ.
Verse 7
[7] All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
Shoot out — They gape with their mouths, in mockery. This and the next verse are applied to Christ, Matthew 27:39,43.
Verse 12
[12] Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
Bulls — Wicked and violent, and potent enemies; for such are so called, Ezekiel 39:18; Amos 4:1.
Of Bashan — As the cattle there bred were, and therefore fierce and furious.
Verse 14
[14] I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
Water — My spirits are spent and gone like water which once spilt can never be recovered; my very flesh is melted within me, and I am become as weak as water.
Bones — I am as unable to help myself, and as full of torment, as if all my bones were disjointed.
Wax — Melted, through fear and overwhelming grief.
Verse 15
[15] My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
Dried — I have in a manner no more moisture left in me, than is in a dry potsherd.
Cleaveth — Through excessive thirst and drought.
Death — Thy providence, delivering me into the power of mine enemies, and by thy terrors in my soul.
Hebrews 4:12-16
Verse 12[12] For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
For the word of God — Preached, Hebrews 4:2, and armed with threatenings, Hebrews 4:3.
Is living and powerful — Attended with the power of the living God, and conveying either life or death to the hearers.
Sharper than any two-edged sword — Penetrating the heart more than this does the body.
Piercing — Quite through, and laying open.
The soul and spirit, joints and marrow — The inmost recesses of the mind, which the apostle beautifully and strongly expresses by this heap of figurative words.
And is a discerner — Not only of the thoughts, but also of the intentions.
Verse 13
[13] Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
In his sight — It is God whose word is thus "powerful:" it is God in whose sight every creature is manifest; and of this his word, working on the conscience, gives the fullest conviction.
But all things are naked and opened — Plainly alluding to the sacrifices under the law which were first flayed, and then (as the Greek word literally means) cleft asunder through the neck and backbone; so that everything both without and within was exposed to open view.
Verse 14
[14] Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Having therefore a great high priest — Great indeed, being the eternal Son of God, that is passed through the heavens - As the Jewish high priest passed through the veil into the holy of holies, carrying with him the blood of the sacrifices, on the yearly day of atonement; so our great high priest went once for all through the visible heavens, with the virtue of his own blood, into the immediate presence God.
Verse 15
[15] For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
He sympathizes with us even in our innocent infirmities, wants, weaknesses, miseries, dangers.
Yet without sin — And, therefore, is indisputably able to preserve us from it in all our temptations.
Verse 16
[16] Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Let us therefore come boldly — Without any doubt or fear. Unto the throne of God, our reconciled Father, even his throne of grace - Grace erected it, and reigns there, and dispenses all blessings in a way of mere, unmerited favour.
Mark 10:17-31
Verse 17[17] And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
Matthew 19:16; Luke 18:18.
Verse 20
[20] And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
He answering, said to him, Master — He stands reproved now, and drops the epithet good.
Verse 21
[21] Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
Jesus looking upon him — And looking into his heart, loved him - Doubtless for the dawnings of good which he saw in him: and said to him - Out of tender love, One thing thou lackest - The love of God, without which all religion is a dead carcass. In order to this, throw away what is to thee the grand hinderance of it. Give up thy great idol, riches. Go, sell whatsoever thou hast.
Verse 24
[24] And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
Jesus saith to them, Children — See how he softens the harsh truth, by the manner of delivering it! And yet without retracting or abating one tittle: How hard is it for them that trust in riches - Either for defence, or happiness, or deliverance from the thousand dangers that life is continually exposed to. That these cannot enter into God's glorious kingdom, is clear and undeniable: but it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a man to have riches, and not trust in them. Therefore, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom.
Verse 28
[28] Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
Lo, we have left all — Though the young man would not.
Verse 30
[30] But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
He shall receive a hundred fold, houses, … — Not in the same kind: for it will generally be with persecutions: but in value: a hundred fold more happiness than any or all of these did or could afford. But let it be observed, none is entitled to this happiness, but he that will accept it with persecutions.
____________________________
Upper Room Ministries
a ministry of Discipleship Ministries
PO Box 340004
Nashville, Tennessee 37203-0004, United States
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Sermon Story "Seeking The Presence of God" by Gary Lee Parker for Sunday, 13 October 2015 with Scripture: Job 23:1 Then Iyov answered:
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Sermon Story "Seeking The Presence of God" by Gary Lee Parker for Sunday, 13 October 2015 with Scripture: Job 23:1 Then Iyov answered:
2 “Today too my complaint is bitter;
my hand is weighed down because of my groaning.
3 I wish I knew where I could find him;
then I would go to where he is.
4 I would state my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know his answering words
and grasp what he would tell me.
6 Would he browbeat me with his great power?
No, he would pay attention to me.
7 There an upright person could reason with him;
thus I might be forever acquitted by my judge.
8 “If I head east, he isn’t there;
if I head west, I don’t detect him,
9 if I turn north, I don’t spot him;
in the south he is veiled, and I still don’t see him.
16 God has undermined my courage;
Shaddai frightens me.
17 Yet I am not cut off by the darkness;
he has protected me from the deepest gloom.
As we heard this passage of Scripture, we still struggle with whether or not this man Job really existed. Yer, we see this man's suffering as an example of The Messiah coming to redeem His creation through suffering and death. Job comes to the place where he did not listen to the people who tried to get him to confess His sins that he had not committed, but now comes to seek the Presence of God. He cries out that his own suffering of the loss of his children and wealth then his sickness yet he is calling out to God that he will be able to defend himself that he has not sinned. He says that the defense is not his own, but the defense is not his but God's own defense. He even speaks that though he is suffering, God has kept him from seeing the darkness or death of this life despite some asking him to curse God and die. Here he is in a similar state that Jesus found Himself except Jesus died on the cross as He cried out asking the Father why He has abandoned Him as is written in the Psalm 22 for today. Then, the rich young ruler coming to Jesus asking Him what he must do to gain eternal life responding that he has kept all the commandments perfectily. Yet, Jesus said to sell all he holds on to and give to the poor and come and follow Him. In Job's case, the temptation came with God's permission from Satan to see how Job's faith was in God or what God has blessed him with. Job cries out that God would come to him in His Presence as the Father did three days after Jesus died to resurrect Him up for all eternity. How do you understand Job's cry for an opportunityto defend himself in God's Presence? How do you feel when your suffering comes to more than you think you can bare? How do you respond to your suffering because of your faith? We come to realize that people who are differently abled suffer much yet many keep their faith in God. Yet the community and church do not see their suffering as beneficial to build up God's KIngdom on earth as it is in Heaven, but God says differently. We are reminded that when we give up all that in this life we will be given back as much as we gave up that comes with persecution. Will you take your suffering as a way to be drawn closer to God or will you desire to what to be given the opportunity to die without pain? Lord, Have mercy on us. We come to seek God's Mercy and Love to go through whatever we do as we take and eat the Body of Jesus and drink His Blood through the participation in the Holy Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. We come to receive singing the Hymn "Be Strong" by Ken Bible
1. Be strong and courageous and bold;
Be strong and courageous and bold.
Away with your fear, For God will be near.
Be strong and courageous and bold.
2. He's with you wherever you go;
He's with you wherever you go.
He's there by your side To help and to guide.
He's with you wherever you go.
3. So trust Him with all of your heart;
So trust Him with all of your heart.
Believe and obey Each hour of the day,
And trust Him with all of your heart.
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Gary Lee Parker
4147 Idaho Street, Apt. 1
San Diego, California 92104-1844, United States
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DO WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THIS? by Chris Andrews
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Mark 10:17-31
The great poet and author Carl Sandburg was once asked by a reporter to name the ugliest word he knew. Sandburg is reported to have reflected for several minutes, pondering the question. And then he spoke, saying in effect that the ugliest word was exclusive. Now, don’t you find that ironic? For most of our society the word exclusive is pretty. We like exclusive. We drive exclusive cars, wear exclusive clothes, and visit exclusive places. In the world for most of us, the more exclusive, the better. But Sandburg said it was an ugly word.
Here’s another word for you. See what you think of it. The word is intrusive. How do you react to it? If you are like me, your reaction is not very positive. For most Americans the word intrusive is truly an ugly word. We love freedom, privacy, and autonomy. The greatest threat for many of us is that someone will intrude upon our cherished freedoms. We do not want the government, friends, or society to intrude.
Hold that thought for a moment and consider today’s scripture lesson. A good man with a legitimate religious question approaches Jesus to talk about eternal destiny. The man knows and keeps the Commandments. He is faithful in his religious practices. The Bible says that he was a model of religious faithfulness and that Jesus loved him.
But the response of Jesus is so intrusive! It is almost harsh. The man is told to sell what he has and give it to the poor and come follow Jesus. It is too much for this earnest seeker and he walks away from the presence of Jesus. What follows is a word from Jesus about how difficult it is for a rich person to get into the kingdom of heaven.
Admittedly, this is not one of the more comforting gospel lessons. Does Jesus have the right to tell us what to do with our possessions? According to the New Testament, the answer is clearly yes.
So here we are, at a time of the year when we think about financial stewardship and our support of the church’s ministry. Do we have to talk about this? Again, the Bible’s answer is an emphatic yes.
Now it may seem that this text is about money, and it is. But it is not exclusively about money. It is about idolatry. It is about that which stands between a person and God. In the Bible there are consistent warnings about the danger of two things: a short memory and false worship. This text invites us to consider the second of these warnings.
The man in this encounter with Jesus is not sinful because he is wealthy. He is a sinner because he has a limited view of faith. The obstacle between this man and eternal life was not some blatant sin. Our idols are seldom that easily identified. Rather, his sin was about a value that he valued too much.
Jesus knew that there is something about riches that is spiritually hazardous. But the problem is not limited to money. Whatever we trust to save us is truly our God. It can be power, talent, beauty, intelligence, or a host of other things. We can give to these riches our heart and soul. We trust them, love them, pursue them, and promote them. They easily become the “one thing” that we may need to let go of in order to truly trust the Lord’s grace.
The man in our story trusted money for his salvation. Many people in our society do the same thing. Psychologists call money the “last taboo.” It is easier to tell a therapist about our sex lives than it is to tell our accountant about our finances. Money—not necessarily how much we have, but how we feel about it—governs the lives of some of us more than any other factor. Money and how we relate to it is important because behind money are very real spiritual forces that energize it and give it a life of its own. The rich young ruler’s wealth was a rival god seeking his complete devotion. It had become an all-consuming idol and it had to be rejected totally.
Do we have to talk about this? Yes, we do, intrusive though it is. It is not for nothing that Jesus spoke about money as much as he spoke about the kingdom of God. Money is important, and how we relate to it can affect our spiritual destiny. A lot of people are in the faith up to the point of their money. Like the crusaders who baptized all of their bodies except the hand that wielded the sword, we, too, have our ways of holding back from God that which has become most precious to us.
The rich young ruler had given almost all he had to the service of God. He lacked one thing, and Jesus gave him very practical and concrete instruction as to what to do with that one thing. It was intrusive. It was instructive. Today’s text invites us to get in touch with that which stands between God and us.
The Bible says Jesus loved the earnestly seeking rich man. It is this love Jesus feels for us that makes him intrude upon our carefully ordered ways of doing things. Jesus did not want the man to be poor; he wanted him to experience joy—the kind of joy that giving it all to God can bring to our lives.
And that, my dear friends, is why we have to talk about this; for we can know the price of everything and the value of nothing. This text is a good prescription for spiritual health. May it be for you the blessing that allows you to take stock and put away whatever it is that would stand between you and your Savior.
WORSHIP ELEMENTS: OCTOBER 11, 2015 by Shelley Cunningham
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Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
COLOR: Green
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Psalm 22:1-15; Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31
THEME IDEAS
Psalm 22 is so commonly associated with Jesus’ torment on Good Friday that it seems unworthy to be applied to our own lives. Yet, the psalm speaks of the suffering and emptiness that so many feel in times of unimaginable sorrow— the death of a child, the devastation of a hurricane, the anguish of a loved one away at war. There is power in acknowledging this suffering and the church’s response to it. We are not called to explain life’s hardships; rather, like Job, we are called to seek God’s presence with us in their midst. The Hebrews text reassures us that Jesus is with us in times of trial because he himself endured such trials for our sake. Mark reminds us that when we question God’s intentions for us, it is often our own choices that turn us away from God—choosing money, family, or security over God’s will for our lives.
INVITATION AND GATHERING
Call to Worship (Hebrews 4, Mark 10)
The kingdom of God is at hand.
We want to enter this kingdom.
The mercy of God is made known.
We want to receive this mercy.
The grace of God is abundant for all.
We praise you, O God, for your compassion
and your love. Accept our grateful praise
as we come to worship you today.
Opening Prayer (Job 23, Hebrews 4)
Almighty God,
we long to rest
in your gentle arms.
We need your compassion
as we face the challenges
and disappointments of life.
When our hearts are hard,
and our concern is only for ourselves,
turn us back to you.
Remind us of your saving love
and keep us close to you, Lord.
Love us as only you can love,
in Jesus’ name. Amen.
PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE
Prayer of Confession (Psalm 22, Job 23, Mark 10)
Lord,
we look for you
in the wrong places.
We put our trust
in material things.
We worry about things
we cannot change.
We wonder
if you are even there at all.
For all the times
we have doubted you, Lord,
forgive us.
For all the ways
we have neglected your word
and ignored your people,
forgive us.
Do not be far from us, Lord.
There is no one else
we can turn to for help.
Renew our fickle hearts
and help us put our trust in you.
Words of Assurance (Psalm 22, Hebrews 4)
There is no wrong
that God cannot make right.
There is no chasm
that can separate us
from God’s love.
The Lord is patient and kind,
generous and good.
God will not forsake you
or leave you.
Turn to the Lord with confidence
and put your faith in God’s great mercy.
By the power of Jesus Christ,
we are made whole. Amen.
Passing the Peace of Christ (Mark 10)
In Christ we are mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters to one another. As members of God’s family, let us share God’s peace with one another.
Response to the Word (Job 23, Hebrews 4)
Mighty Lord,
help us look for you
in the north and in the south,
in our homes and in our workplaces,
in our families and in our relationships.
May we never stop pursuing your truth.
Assure us with your word
that you are with us wherever we go,
in Jesus’ name. Amen.
THANKSGIVING AND COMMUNION
Invitation to Communion (Mark 10)
In this meal, Christ fills the hungry. All are welcome—rich and poor, old and young, healthy and sick. You, who long to taste heaven’s goodness, come. Come to our Lord’s table and be fed.
Offering Prayer (Mark 10)
With open hands and thankful hearts,
we offer to you all that is already yours, O Lord.
Everything we possess is a gift from you.
You so freely give us what we need,
and you promise even greater treasures
that await us in heaven.
Take what we offer
and use it for the goodness of your kingdom.
Help us share generously with others
all that you so graciously give to us. Amen.
SENDING FORTH
Benediction (Mark 10, Hebrews 4)
With God all things are possible.
May you carry that confidence
into your daily life and work,
as you walk in Christ’s footsteps,
guided by God’s hand.
CONTEMPORARY OPTIONS
Contemporary Gathering Words (Hebrews 4)
In God’s mercy, we are rich.
In Jesus’ love, we are welcomed.
In the Spirit’s peace, we are satisfied.
Come; let us worship our savior and our king!
Praise Sentences (Mark 10)
With you, O Lord, all things are possible.
We bless you and praise your name forever.
In you, O Lord, we find our home.
We bless you and praise your name forever.
Through you, O Lord, we are made one in Christ.
We bless you and praise you, O Christ,
for your saving love.
From “The Abingdon Worship Annual 2009,” edited by Mary J. Scifres and B.J. Beu, Copyright © 2008 by Abingdon Press. “The Abingdon Worship Annual 2016” is now available.
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LIFE’S HARD QUESTIONS
JOB 23:1-9, 16-17
It is easier for us to reflect on the story line of Job without entering into the pain of his conversations with his friends. In these conversations we see a Job who is human. He is a man of integrity, yet he is also a man of questions and a man who struggles with his agony. We are not only told of Job’s incredible faith and great feats; we are also told of his weaknesses and shortcomings.
Here, Job is wrestling with his questions by giving a response to Eliphaz’s rebuke in chapter 22. Eliphaz has just admonished Job to turn to God in repentance so that he may be restored—he assumes Job’s calamity is based on sin in his life.
I. The Questions of Agony (vv. 1-2)
Job begins his response to Eliphaz by describing his emotional and attitudinal condition. He has a “complaint” against God. As he perceives God putting him through his ordeal, Job is asking the wrenching question, “Why?” God’s hand remained heavy despite his pleas. Within the cycle of grieving all humans enter into a time of asking why. We cannot forbid this questioning nor can we give answer for God. This is a stage in which the human heart simply cries out, “I do not like what I am feeling!”
II. The Futility of Arguing One’s Righteousness (vv. 3-9)
If he could speak to God face-to-face, Job believes that he could state his case. In reality he wants to rationalize his questions and find answers for his calamity. However, even Job is theologian enough to know that God would not use supernatural power to destroy him. He is convinced that he would be acquitted of the wrongdoing of which Eliphaz is accusing him.
Yet God is not a human who can be found and met face-to-face to discuss the issues. Job argues that he is practically defenseless because God cannot be found and bring to rest the accusation of sin, which supposedly has brought Job disaster. The process of rationalization of our righteousness or our circumstances is truly futile. God’s ways and thoughts are beyond human capacity. In all, Job is left with frustration, which is shared by many people who are struggling in the face of helplessness.
III. Reverent Questions (vv. 16-17)
Job responds by noting the true awesomeness of God and his power to make the human heart faint. Even in his questioning, Job still has the wisdom to “fear God.” Verse 17 points out, though, that it does not silence his questions. He does not understand his dilemma and still has agonizing and self-searching questions that remain unanswered. It’s a little messy when you do not have black and white answers to difficult situations.
Our text seems to indicate there is a way to question and yet fear God. Perhaps that is what faith is. Maybe we must believe and reverence God without all of our questions being answered. Life is messy, but faith is holding onto God, even when it doesn’t feel like God is there. Because the promise of Scripture is that God is always with his children, even when they are struggling. Trust him—he is there. (Joseph Byrd)
AN AUDIENCE WITH THE KING
HEBREWS 4:12-16
Most of us have never had the need or opportunity to seek an audience with a king. Nigeria is a country, however, in which kings are still very real social powers. Although the country holds elections, traditional kings are still acknowledged. Every village, town, and city have a king. Anyone who wants to promote an event has to visit the king to get permission to do so. A king may be very rich or very poor, but he is still king and must be consulted about events in his domain.
An audience with the king can be a challenging experience. Approaching the throne requires courage and humility, and frequently a previously scheduled appointment. To speak to the king, one needs an advocate, someone who can introduce you to the king and explain your cause.
In the Old and New Testaments, God is described as Israel’s king despite the presence of earthly rulers. The priest was the intermediary or advocate between the people and God. The book of Hebrews announces that the most superior of intermediaries is now available, God’s own Son. He is the high priest who intercedes for us and answers us.
I. Awareness of the Need for Grace
Verses 12 and 13 describe for us what the word of God does in our lives. It strips us of pretense and lays us bare before God. There is no room for denial of guilt or projection of fault. The word of God is so precise that it separates us joint from marrow—distinguishing between the soul, that which Greek thought defined as a living being, and the spirit, which is the center of thought. Only God could so separate our selves and scrutinize our very being.
It is the quality of God to so know us that we recognize we are being judged. Is it any wonder then that we become keenly aware of our need for God’s grace?
II. Assurance of Grace
Grace is that wonderful word for God’s favor and blessings. Verses 14 and 15 assure us that grace becomes available to us—we are not to despair. Our judge is not a distant king but one who has joined with us in the adventure so completely that he, as the Son of God, put on our flesh and thus knew every attack that we have known. He has experienced our limitations and been subjected to our weaknesses, liabilities, and infirmities. And he was triumphant. In contrast to us, he did not sin. He never allowed anything to separate him from God.
III. Abundance of Grace
Verse 16 urges us to make use of our audience with God the king to receive the abundant grace God desires to give us. We are to go to God fearlessly and confidently, with the assurance we shall receive God’s favor and earthly blessings—help that is appropriate and well-timed for every need. We can endure God’s intimate scrutiny because in Jesus Christ we see God’s great love for us. Therefore we come as we are.
God in his grace recognizes our human weaknesses but does not allow us to stay trapped by those conditions. Jesus Christ, the high priest, provides companionship with God, which produces the holiness intended in our lives.
The author of Hebrews encourages us to bring to the audience with the king our weakness and receive his strength. We bring our infirmity and receive health. We bring our trouble and receive help. Thanks to Jesus Christ the mediator, the priest, life is no longer a trap but an adventurous assignment from the king. (Carolyn Volentine)
TAKING THE LAST STEP
MARK 10:17-31
Sitting in a park one day, I saw a group of children playing on a slide. In the midst of all the energy and excitement there was one boy who held back. He was reluctant to go down the slide. The others were encouraging him to try. All of a sudden you could see the look of determination on his face as he boldly marched to the slide.
Step by step he climbed the ladder. But when he reached the top and his young eyes saw how far it was to the end of the slide, his resolve crumbled. You could see the fear and disappointment on his face and in his shaky knees as he slowly made his way back down the ladder. He stood on the brink of a momentous decision and was unable to take the last step.
I. Another Young Man Faced a Decision
This passage is about decision making, commitment, and separation from God. It’s wrapped around wealth and a rich man’s struggle. It calls into question the things, attitudes, and practices in our lives that keep us from total commitment. It’s about ending the separation and taking that last step. Like the young boy on the slide, the rich young man comes to Jesus and stands on the brink of a momentous decision.
The rich young man responded to the compelling nature of Jesus voice and message. He was good and faithful, but he realized something was missing. So he came seeking answers. Jesus loved him immediately. Jesus saw the boundless potential in him.
The Great Physician diagnosed the problem and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me” (v. 21). But the price was too high. With shaky knees, the rich man slowly backed down. He couldn’t take the last step and “went away grieving.”
II. God Will Not Take Second Place
Jesus wasn’t condemning money or wealth. Jesus was warning the disciples, the crowds, and us about decisions concerning money. Money and things cannot have first place in our lives. When they take first place we view everything in terms of price, not value. Money and things fix our heart on the world, not God. They can separate us from God.
It’s not just love of money that separates. A thousand things can separate us from God. An attitude. A prejudice. Jealousy, political positions, indifference, a hobby, an unforgiving spirit, even a theological position; all of these can separate us from God if they take first place in our lives. We’re called to fix our heart on God. God will not take second place in our lives.
III. It Is a Challenge Beyond All of Us, but Not Beyond God
The disciples were amazed at Jesus pronouncement concerning the rich. It was popular belief that riches were a sign of God’s favor. They asked, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible” (v. 27).
We can’t do it on our own. But God can do it for us. That’s grace. Salvation comes through faith in God through Christ. That’s the step the rich young man couldn’t take, giving up all and following Jesus. This passage confronts us in the one area we don’t like being confronted—our commitment. It challenges us to probe deeply and honestly into our faith relationship with God. It calls us to stand on the brink with shaky knees. It challenges us to take that last step. (Billy D. Strayhorn)
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From a Child's Point of View
Old Testament: Job 23:1-9, 16-17. As children learn to accept responsibility for their actions and for the results of their actions, they often mistakenly conclude that they are responsible when any bad things happen to people or pets they love. They fear that God is punishing them when someone or something they love is hurt or dies. The result is crushing guilt. Job's insistence that he does not deserve what has happened to him can be used to help children identify the difference between natural results of our bad actions and the fact that sad things do happen to good people.
Job's speech is also an indication that it is OKto feel angry with God and far away from God. When children are helped to understand Job's angry loneliness as he missed his family and nursed his hurting body, they empathize. They then find permission for their own angry, lonely feelings after all, Job and his feelings were printed in the Bible!
Children will, however, gather neither of these important messages from the reading of the text. They depend on the preacher to set Job's speech in context and paraphrase its content.
Psalm: 22:1-15. This is another prayer that Job might have prayed. When children are told that Jesus also prayed this prayer aloud while he was dying on the cross, it reenforces the messages found in the Job passage. (The Good News Bible's presentation of the psalm's poetic images is the easiest version for children to understand.)
Epistle: Hebrews 4:12-16. This passage makes sense only to readers who know the Jewish sacrificial system and can decode the poetic images. Children are lost in it. Alert older children often draw the frightening conclusion that God is a severe judge, from whom we are protected by the more understanding Jesus. (Using the text as a foil to Job's sense of isolation only increases the likelihood of such misunderstanding.) Because the core ideas of this Epistle text are better expressed in other places, it is advisable to skip it in favor of the Old Testament or Gospel readings.
Gospel: Mark 10:17-31. When they hear the story read dramatically, children understand it quickly and are as concerned as adults about its point. They are relieved by Jesus' recognition that it is hard to be a disciple, a fact children often feel that adults fail to appreciate. They know from experience that doing disciples' work, such as being kind to those who are mean to you, really is about as impossible as putting a camel through the eye of a needle.
Few younger children see themselves as wealthy. But fifth- and sixth-graders are beginning to recognize their relative wealth among their friends, in their community, and even worldwide. These older children need to hear that having money enables us to pay more attention to what we wear, what toys we want, where we can go, and what we can do. Money makes it so much easier for us to pay attention to what we want that we forget to be disciples.
Watch Words
In a day when few people sew at home, many children do not know that the eye of a needle is the hole in the needle that the thread goes through. (Illustrate threading a needle, using a large darning needle and some yarn.)
The Word that is like a sharp sword and also is equated with God, together with the great high priest, mercy, and grace, make the Hebrews passage unintelligible to children.
In describing Job's feelings, avoid such words as alienation, isolation, and existential despair in favor of loneliness, hopelessness, and the feeling of being lost or forgotten.
Let the Children Sing
The powerful feeling in the spiritual "Nobody Knows the Trouble I See," when sung dramatically by a choir or soloist, may best match the feelings of Job and Jesus. The mood of the hymn "Be Still, My Soul" also communicates with young readers, even before they begin singing the repeated phrase. "Kum Ba Yah" is a hymn about God's presence that many children know.
The Liturgical Child
1. Briefly review Job's story and the accusations of his friends, then assume Job's role to present today's lection. At the very least, read it with the passion Job expresses. Use your hands, posture, and facial expressions to emphasize these feelings. For maximum impact, present the passage from memory. (Remember that even children who do not understand all the words can still understand Job's feelings.)
2. Read the story of the rich young man, taking the parts of various people. Face slightly one way when reading the rich young man's lines, the other way when reading Jesus' words. Speak directly to the congregation when delivering Jesus' words to his disciples. Use your hands and facial expressions to show how people reacted to what was said.
3. Invite worshipers to write or draw on slips of paper, or in the eye of the needle on their Worship Worksheet, one disciple's promise for this week, to place with their offering in the plate as it is passed. Dedicate both the promises and the money with prayer.
4. Offer bidding prayers for disciples, being sure to include child disciples. For example:
We pray for Christians who work for your justice: For children who insist on fair play on the playground; for students who refuse to cheat; for business men and women who will not take unfair advantage, to make bigger profits; for those who write letters to the editor and to public officials, to demand just laws. Each of us offers our prayers for disciples who thread needles for justice. (PAUSE) Strong God of Justice, give your disciples the courage we need to stand up for your justice.
We pray for Christians who care for the mistreated: . . .
5. Ask groups of two or more children to form arches just inside each sanctuary door as the worshipers leave. Instruct them to say to each worshiper who passes through their arch, "Go in peace. God loves you." The spoken benediction is as follows:
As you leave, you will find that children's arms have formed an arch that is rather like the eye of a needle. Listen for their encouragement as you thread through their needle to enter a week of discipleship. And as you do, remember that what is impossible with human power is possible with God. So go in peace, in love, in strength, and in joy. Thread those disciples' needles! Serve God, who loves you more than you can imagine and who can work through you to do mighty deeds. Amen.
Sermon Resources
1. To explore why bad things happen, compare two stories about responsibility. In the first, a boy leaves a gate open after he has been warned to keep it closed. His dog gets out and is hit by a car. In the second, a boy is at school when his dog digs under a fence, gets out, and is hit by a car. The boy sadly remembers that he chose to watch TV rather than play with his dog the night before and concludes that God is punishing him for his unkindness.
2. If Job's list of complaints leads you to make a list of today's complaints, be sure to include a variety of children's complaints: rain on game day; the kid who gets straight A's (or is a star athlete) without trying, while you work hard to get C's (or come in last); illnesses and handicaps that limit what you can do; your parents getting a divorce; someone you love dying; and so forth.
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Ministry Matters
2222 Rosa L. Parks Boulevard
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
COLOR: Green
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Psalm 22:1-15; Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31
CALLS TO WORSHIP
Call to Worship #1
L: It was easy to come to worship this morning.
P: We feel welcome and look forward to the worship service.
L: How hard it is to enter God’s kingdom.
P: We have to be ready to let go of the things that tie us down.
L: Get ready. God is waiting for you.
P: Open our hearts and our spirits, Lord, to receive your word for us. AMEN.
Call to Worship #2
L: Welcome to worship today. Bring your joys and sorrows to the Lord.
P: We come from busy lives, filled with a host of banes and blessings.
L: Give your fears to the Lord, for God will heal your souls.
P: Praise to God who listens to our cries and heals us.
L: Open your ears and your hearts to the Lord.
P: We open our lives to do God’s will. AMEN.
Call to Worship #3
[Note: using THE FAITH WE SING, p. 2165, "Cry of My Heart" offer the following call to worship]
Choir: singing the refrain of "Cry of My Heart"....
L: Come, bring your hopes and dreams to Jesus.
P: We come to him, wanting to follow his ways.
Choir: Singing the refrain, verse 1 and refrain of "Cry of My Heart".....
L: The way of God is Love.
P: The way of Christ is Peace and Hope.
L: Open our eyes, Lord, to see the wondrous ways in which you touch our lives.
P: Open our spirits, Lord, to discern what you would have us do to serve you.
Choir: Singing the refrain, verse 2, and the refrain of "Cry of My Heart"
Call to Worship #4
L: God has called all God’s people to lives of hope and service.
P: We want to serve God, but sometimes life gets to be too difficult for us.
L: Place your trust in God’s power and love.
P: God understands our needs, our sorrows, and our joys.
L: Come, let us worship God who is with us always.
P: Praise God for God’s eternal presence. AMEN.
PRAYERS, LITANY, BENEDICTION
Opening Prayer
Lord, you have called us here this day for healing, hope, and transformation. As we listen to the Scripture, pray our prayers, sing our hymns, and hear the words of wisdom, open our hearts to hear your claim on our lives; that we may fully and joyfully serve you. AMEN.
Prayer of Confession
Merciful God, we become so enamored of the glitz and glitter of the world. It is as though our lives were lived in "catalog shopping" design. We have so much and want so much more. We listen to the pitches in the media about the latest and best of everything, and rather than striving to serve you more faithfully, we strive to gather more and more possessions. Forgive our crass materialism. Break the bonds and chains of our oppression and enslavement to greed. Open our hearts to know that the riches of the kingdom are in service to you. Help us to understand the call you have given us to service, and having heard and understood that call, may we be about the work of the kingdom. For we offer this prayer in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.
Words of Assurance
Jesus understands our cries and our weakness. He forgives and heals our souls. In the name of Jesus Christ we are healed and transformed. AMEN.
Pastoral Prayer
God of infinite patience and wisdom, we come to you with so many things that claim our time, our energy, our resources, our very lives. We are easily drawn away from serving you by the enticements of the world for wealth, ease, and comfort. Just like the young man in the scriptures, we are owned by our possessions, held captive by our treasures. You continue to offer to us healing and hope. You seek to transform our lives from captivity to freedom in witness and service. We look at the world in which there is so very much warfare and strife, anger and hatred, and we easily become overwhelmed by the needs and the stresses. Help us to place our lives and our trust in you, knowing that with your help, many wonderful things can be accomplished which will provide hope and peace for others and ourselves. Give us courage and strength to truly be your disciples. For we ask this in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.
Litany/Reading
[Note: This reading can be effectively done as "readers’ theatre", having the participants in the worship area, scripts in hand. It should be rehearsed several times so that it is not rushed. Following the last lines of Reader 1; have a soloist or choir sing the first verse of "You Are Mine", p. 2218, from THE FAITH WE SING]
Reader 1: Wow! I got seventeen catalogues in the mail today. Lots of things to look at and order. I know that I will find just the things I want to make me very happy. It’s got to be in these catalogues. Now all I have to do is find it.
Reader 2: What does the Lord want you to do?
Reader 1: I don’t know. The preacher always says God wants us to be happy and I’m happiest when I’m buying stuff.
Reader 2: What is it about buying that makes you happy?
Reader 1: Well, you know........it means I have what I want. I have control. I can look around and say that I made these choices and that all this stuff is mine, all mine.
Reader 2: Does that make you feel complete? You seem to need a steady stream of catalogues.
Reader 1: You never know when just the right thing will come along.
Reader 2: The right thing has come along - the thing that will make you truly happy.
Reader 1: OK, Let me see the catalogue. I’ll buy it!
Reader 2: You won’t find it in catalogues. You will find it - true happiness - in serving God by helping others.
Reader 1: I’d like to truly be happy, you know.
Reader 2: Let go of all the false things that are tying you down, your need for control, for possessions, anything which is keeping you from listening to God’s word and following God’s way. Don’t be afraid. God is with you and will support you in your transition from captive to one who freely and joyfully serves. Come now. Serve the Lord. You have been given the gifts to help others.
Reader 1: I’m a little frightened, but I will open my heart to God, fully and freely.
Soloist: singing verse 1 of "You Are Mine" - THE FAITH WE SING, p. 2218
Benediction/Blessing
You have been made free by the love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Go into the world to serve God by helping others. Be at peace and bring God’s peace and love with you wherever you go. AMEN.
ARTISTIC ELEMENTS
The traditional color for this Sunday is GREEN
Note: I recommend putting a brief paragraph describing or explaining the symbolism used in your visual display. These become good teaching tools for a congregation.
Definitions:
Risers refer to any structure or support which will raise a portion of the worship center above the main level. Some risers may be a stack of books, others may be made from wood or whatever will give the necessary support to the object which is going to be placed on the riser. I have used pieces of 2" x 4" wood, stacked on top of each other to achieve the height I desired. Most risers will be covered with fabric.
Worship Center: Because so many churches have different worship spaces, I have chosen to call the main space for worship display (worship center). It may be called an altar, a communion table, a platform - whatever is the focal point of the worship area.
Flowers/plants: I am not a "purist" if the definition means having only real flowers and plants in the chancel/worship area. I believe that there are some really beautiful silk flowers which will suffice in times when real plants are not available. However, go with the tradition of your local church. Generally speaking I like to use foliage plants (minimal or non flowering) as accent pieces. "Spiky" plants such as sanseveria, mother-in-law’s tongue, snake plant, are good when you are looking for a harsh, hard, angular effect. Fern (particularly asparagas or Boston) are wonderful along with some ivys, to soften the effect.
Puddling the fabric: Currently interior decorators use the technique with draperies of letting the fabric spill to the floor in a heap, sort of a puddle. It is a less formal design. Puddling the fabric means not creating even edges with the fabric, which is drawing a line, but rather softening the look by creating a "puddle".
SURFACE: Place one riser, approximately 6" on the back center of the worship table. Place one riser, about 1 foot lower than the main surface of the table, in front of the worship center.
FABRIC: Using dark green fabric, cover the entire worship center, puddling the fabric in front of the floor riser.
CANDLES Use three pillar candles, 10", 8", and 6" on the right front side of the worship center
FLOWERS/PLANTS: Use non-flowering plants at the back of the worship center on the right and left of the cross riser. Jade plants and ferns might work in this setting. Do not let the plants dominate the worship center. Do not use any plants in front of the worship center.
ROCKS/WOOD If you wish, get some rough stones and spray paint them gold, or take a broom handle, cut it into "coins" and spray paint them gold. They will be placed in the basket, spilling out onto the worship center. Make some extra nuggets to place on the front riser.
OTHER: Create a set of "prison bars" using one sheet of foam core display board cut out to resemble prison bars (spray or hand paint them black). Get some chains and place them spilling out from the worship center, left, side, to the middle, down the front and across the front table onto the floor. Use smaller chains to drape around near the candles and over the edge of the worship table on the right. Place a basket, tipped over on its side on the left side of the worship center facing diagonally toward the center front. Place the coins in this basket and have them spilling out from it. The larger chains should also come from the basket.
____________________________Ministry Matters
2222 Rosa L. Parks Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37228 United States
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